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Sen. Barbara Boxer

Former Senator for California

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Boxer was a senator from California and was a Democrat. She served from 1993 to 2016.

She was previously the representative for California’s 6th congressional district as a Democrat from 1983 to 1992.

Photo of Sen. Barbara Boxer [D-CA, 1993-2016]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2016 Report Card for Boxer.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Boxer is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the Senate in 2016 positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Boxer sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 5, 2011 to Dec 10, 2016. See full analysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

Boxer was the primary sponsor of 41 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 41 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Boxer sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

International Affairs (16%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (16%) Health (15%) Armed Forces and National Security (11%) Environmental Protection (11%) Education (10%) Crime and Law Enforcement (9%) Government Operations and Politics (9%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Boxer recently introduced the following legislation:

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Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Boxer voted Yea

Bill Passed 72/26 on Sep 28, 2016.
The Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (H.R. 5325) is an appropriations …

Boxer voted Nay

Bill Passed 95/3 on Apr 19, 2016.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for fiscal year 2017. The bill was introduced as …

Boxer voted Yea

Conference Report Agreed to 83/16 on Dec 3, 2015.
H.R 22, formerly the Hire More Heroes Act, has become the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the …

Boxer voted Yea

Joint Resolution Passed 78/22 on Sep 18, 2014.

Boxer voted Nay

Bill Passed 89/9 on Sep 8, 2011.
The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack …

Boxer voted Nay

Bill Passed 95/5 on Mar 8, 2011.

Boxer voted Yea

Motion Agreed to 81/19 on Dec 15, 2010.
The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–312, H.R. 4853, 124 Stat. 3296, enacted December 17, 2010), also known …

Missed Votes

From Feb 1993 to Dec 2016, Boxer missed 344 of 7,878 roll call votes, which is 4.4%. This is much worse than the median of 1.8% among the lifetime records of senators serving in Dec 2016. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

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Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: