Sen. Benjamin Cardin’s 2017 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Maryland
Democrat
Serving Jan 4, 2007 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Cardin’s record during the 2017 legislative year (Jan 3, 2017-Dec 31, 2017) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 6, 2018.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Cardin’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Got the most cosponsors on their bills compared to All SenatorsCardin’s bills and resolutions had 635 cosponsors in 2017. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (98th percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (99th percentile). |
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Introduced the most bills compared to Senate DemocratsCardin introduced 55 bills and resolutions in 2017. View Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (96th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate Democrats12 of Cardin’s bills and resolutions in 2017 had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward. Those bills were: S. 27: A bill to establish an …; S. 411: ERRPA; S. 690: HUBZone Investment Protection Act; S. 720: Israel Anti-Boycott Act; S. 905: Syrian War Crimes Accountability Act …; S. 1430: Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails …; S. 1513: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation …; S. 1537: Migratory Birds of the Americas …; S.Res. 116: A resolution condemning the Assad …; S.Con.Res. 4: A concurrent resolution clarifying any …; S.Con.Res. 8: A concurrent resolution clarifying any …; S.J.Res. 5: A joint resolution removing the … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (96th percentile). |
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Ranked the top leader compared to Senate DemocratsOur unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2017 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Cardin’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (97th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the most often compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 1 other)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Cardin introduced 13 bills in 2017 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 690: HUBZone Investment Protection Act; S. 832: AGOA and MCA Modernization Act; S. 861: Federal Employee Fair Treatment Act …; S. 905: Syrian War Crimes Accountability Act …; S. 1221: Countering Russian Influence in Europe …; S.Res. 35: A resolution expressing profound concern …; S.Res. 82: A resolution congratulating the Johns …; S.Res. 116: A resolution condemning the Assad …; S.Res. 128: A resolution designating April 2017 …; S.Res. 168: A resolution supporting respect for …; S.Res. 258: A resolution designating the week …; S.Res. 293: A resolution commemorating the 150th …; S.Res. 300: A resolution recognizing the 150th … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (80th percentile); Senate Democrats (96th percentile); All Senators (91st percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 2nd most bills compared to All SenatorsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 27 of Cardin’s 55 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2017. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (95th percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (98th percentile). |
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Ranked 11th most politically left compared to Serving 10+ YearsOur unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2017 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Cardin’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (24th percentile); Senate Democrats (54th percentile); All Senators (26th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedCardin introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2017. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: S. 1221: Countering Russian Influence in Europe … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (49th percentile); Senate Democrats (65th percentile); All Senators (49th percentile). The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill. |
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Working with the HouseThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 720: Israel Anti-Boycott Act; S. 852: Retirement Security Preservation Act of …; S. 977: Medicare Home Health Flexibility Act …; S. 1537: Migratory Birds of the Americas …; S.Res. 50: A resolution reaffirming a strong …; S.Con.Res. 4: A concurrent resolution clarifying any …; S.J.Res. 5: A joint resolution removing the … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (46th percentile); Senate Democrats (35th percentile); All Senators (43rd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsCardin held a leadership position on 1 committee and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Cardin’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (39th percentile); Senate Democrats (61st percentile); All Senators (67th percentile). |
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Bills CosponsoredCardin cosponsored 195 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (63rd percentile); Senate Democrats (37th percentile); All Senators (68th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 195 bills that Cardin cosponsored, 33% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (70th percentile); Senate Democrats (61st percentile); All Senators (71st percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Missed VotesCardin missed 0.0% of votes (0 of 325 votes) in 2017. View Cardin’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Cardin supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Cardin 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); Senate Democrats (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of 2017) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
