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Congressional Statistics

These statistics were generated based on the data GovTrack has collected. Because GovTrack collects its data automatically from various sources, the data may contain errors, and these statistics may not be fully accurate. Stats are updated weekly.

Bill Sponsorship and Success

Successful Bills

These representatives have brought to the floor the greatest number of bills that were later enacted. (View All Representatives)

BillsRepresentative
64Sen. Orrin Hatch [R-UT] since Jan 14, 1991
59Rep. Donald Young [R-AK] since Jan 3, 1989
35Edward Kennedy since Jan 14, 1991
33Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT] since Jan 14, 1991
33Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA] since Jan 21, 1993
32Sen. John McCain [R-AZ] since Jan 14, 1991
Mean: 4.37; Standard Deviation: 3.78.

Unsuccessful Bills

These prolific representatives have introduced the highest number of bills that never made it out of committee. (View All Representatives)

BillsRepresentative
581Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY] since Jan 3, 1989
546Rep. Robert Andrews [D-NJ1] since Jan 3, 1991
539Sen. Olympia Snowe [R-ME] since Jan 3, 1989
532Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA] since Jan 21, 1993
452Sen. Daniel Inouye [D-HI] since Jan 14, 1991
447Sen. John McCain [R-AZ] since Jan 14, 1991
Mean: 63.21; Standard Deviation: 59.25.

Leader-Follower Scores

These representatives have the highest leader-follower scores in this session of Congress. (View All Representatives)

ScoreRepresentative
0.66Rep. Howard Berman [D-CA28]
0.65Rep. Earl Pomeroy [D-ND]
0.54Rep. Rosa DeLauro [D-CT3]
0.51Rep. Anna Eshoo [D-CA14]
0.48Rep. Christopher Van Hollen [D-MD8]
0.45Rep. Michael Thompson [D-CA1]
To compute a leader-follower score for a Member of Congress, call him X, we make a table that lists all other Members of Congress. Each row has the number bills sponsored by X and cosponsored by the other Member of Congress divided by the number of bills sponsored by the other Member of Congress and cosponsored by X. This is a measure of who is following who. The higher the number, the more times others are cosponsoring X's bills without X returning the favor. We then take the mean of (the logorithms of) these ratios. Only sponsorship in the current two-year Congress is considered. Thanks to Joe Barillari for the idea. Mean: -0.03; Standard Deviation: 0.12.

Cosponsorship

These representatives have cosponsored the greatest number of bills. (View All Representatives)

BillsRepresentative
4788Rep. Bob Filner [D-CA51] since Jan 5, 1993
4764Rep. Barney Frank [D-MA4] since Jan 3, 1989
4262Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D-NY22] since Jan 5, 1993
4159Rep. Edolphus Towns [D-NY10] since Jan 3, 1989
3960Rep. James McGovern [D-MA3] since Jan 7, 1997
3873Rep. James McDermott [D-WA7] since Jan 3, 1989
Mean: 1,154.7; Standard Deviation: 879.28.

Other Statistics

The Incumbency Advantage

Check out how incumbents have become more and more popular over the last two centuries!

(This plots the percent of Members of Congress ending their term in any given year who were present in Congress the following year.)

The Political Spectrum

GovTrack's own political spectrum analysis is another perspective on the behavior of our legislators. The analysis uses each senator or representative's pattern of cosponsorship to place them near others with similar patterns of cosponsorship.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

These representatives have the highest percentage of missed votes. (View All Representatives)

Missed VotesRepresentative
41% (297)Del. Eni Faleomavaega [D-AS] since Feb 8, 2007
24% (173)Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU] since Feb 8, 2007
13% (1493)Rep. Bobby Rush [D-IL1] since Jan 5, 1993
13% (204)Rep. Jackie Speier [D-CA12] since Apr 10, 2008
12% (1580)Rep. Donald Young [R-AK] since Jan 23, 1990
12% (32)Res.Com. Pedro Pierluisi [D-PR] since Jan 15, 2009
12% (88)Del. Donna Christensen [D-VI] since Feb 8, 2007
12% (846)Sen. John McCain [R-AZ] since Jan 25, 1989
11% (1429)Rep. Fortney Stark [D-CA13] since Jan 23, 1990
11% (82)Del. Eleanor Norton [D-DC] since Feb 8, 2007
11% (1249)Rep. Luis Gutiérrez [D-IL4] since Jan 5, 1993
11% (1388)Rep. John Conyers [D-MI14] since Jan 23, 1990
10% (1306)Rep. Edolphus Towns [D-NY10] since Jan 23, 1990
10% (873)Rep. Ronald Paul [R-TX14] since Jan 7, 1997
Mean: 0.03; Standard Deviation: 0.02.