Bennie Thompson, Representative for Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District

Thompson is the representative for Mississippi’s 2^nd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Apr 13, 1993. Thompson is next up for reelection in 2018.

Alleged misconduct & resolution

In 2009 Thompson was investigated for receiving impermissible travel gifts. The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct concluded Thompson did not knowingly accept impermissble travel gifts.

Jun. 8, 2009	House Office of Congressional Ethics recommended the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct further review the allegations
Feb. 26, 2010	House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct concluded Representative Thompson did not knowingly accept impermissble travel gifts

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2017 Report Card for Thompson.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Thompson is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Thompson has sponsored and cosponsored. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

American Civil Liberties Union: 100% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 100% NIAC Action: A League of Conservation Voters: 81% Human Rights Campaign: 80% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: B United States Chamber of Commerce: 38% NumbersUSA: 8% Americans for Prosperity: 6% FreedomWorks: 5% The Club for Growth: 0%

Committee Membership

Bennie Thompson sits on the following committees:

Ranking Member, House Committee on Homeland Security
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Transportation and Protective Security

Enacted Legislation

Thompson was the primary sponsor of 11 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

View All »

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 about one third or more of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Thompson sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Transportation and Public Works (31%) Government Operations and Politics (26%) Emergency Management (23%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (14%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (6%)

Recent Bills

Some of Thompson’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Thompson’s Vote	Vote Description
Nay	H.R. 1695: Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017 Apr 26, 2017. Passed 378/48. This bill would change the appointment process for the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, known as the Register of Copyrights. Currently the Register of Copyrights is hired by the Librarian of Congress (who is the head of the Library of Congress). This bill would ...
Yea	H.R. 2017: Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015 Feb 12, 2016. Passed 266/144. Legislation scheduled for a House vote this week seeks to change the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) labeling requirements for nutrition information displayed by restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, and pizzerias. The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015 (H.R. 2017) would direct the Secretary ...
No	H.Res. 546: Providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 22) to authorize funds for Federal-aid ... Dec 3, 2015. Passed 384/40.
No	H.R. 2146: Defending Public Safety Employees’ Retirement Act Jun 18, 2015. Passed 218/208. This vote made H.R. 2146 the vehicle for passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal currently being negotiated. H.R. 2146 was originally introduced as a bill to address issues with retirement funds of federal law enforcement officers and firefighters. ...
Yea	H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015 May 13, 2015. Passed 338/88. The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of the Patriot Act, which had expired the day before. The act imposes some new limits on the bulk collection of ...
Nay	H.R. 83 (113th): Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 Dec 11, 2014. Passed 219/206. This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 [pdf], which was approved by the House on December 11, 2014 and by the Senate on December 13, 2014. The bill was originally introduced on January 3, 2013 by ...
No	H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 Sep 17, 2014. Passed 319/108.
Aye	H.R. 6233 (112th): Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012 Aug 2, 2012. Passed 223/197.
Aye	H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act Jun 23, 2011. Passed 304/117. 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 Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, and ...
Nay	S. 3729 (111th): National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 Sep 29, 2010. Passed 304/118.

Missed Votes

From Apr 1993 to Apr 2018, Thompson missed 618 of 16,681 roll call votes, which is 3.7%. This is worse than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1993 Apr-Jun	181	53	29.3%	98^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	4	2.4%	65^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	1	0.7%	22^nd
1994 Jan-Mar	95	4	4.2%	68^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	8	3.7%	66^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	22	15.5%	91^st
1994 Oct-Nov	51	1	2.0%	50^th
1995 Jan-Mar	279	2	0.7%	42^nd
1995 Apr-Jun	189	6	3.2%	63^rd
1995 Jul-Sep	232	6	2.6%	66^th
1995 Oct-Dec	185	1	0.5%	25^th
1996 Jan-Mar	110	4	3.6%	55^th
1996 Apr-Jun	182	4	2.2%	45^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	13	8.0%	93^rd
1997 Jan-Mar	71	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Apr-Jun	174	6	3.4%	68^th
1997 Jul-Sep	232	7	3.0%	67^th
1997 Oct-Nov	163	6	3.7%	70^th
1998 Jan-Mar	89	0	0.0%	0^th
1998 Apr-Jun	185	4	2.2%	46^th
1998 Jul-Sep	199	24	12.1%	91^st
1998 Oct-Dec	74	5	6.8%	82^nd
1999 Jan-Mar	77	2	2.6%	57^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	4	2.2%	53^rd
1999 Jul-Sep	204	10	4.9%	86^th
1999 Oct-Nov	146	4	2.7%	52^nd
2000 Jan-Mar	95	6	6.3%	69^th
2000 Apr-Jun	277	10	3.6%	64^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	2	1.5%	47^th
2000 Oct-Dec	101	36	35.6%	97^th
2001 Jan-Mar	75	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	1	0.7%	21^st
2001 Jul-Sep	149	1	0.7%	26^th
2001 Oct-Dec	153	18	11.8%	93^rd
2002 Jan-Mar	79	1	1.3%	34^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	17	8.4%	90^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	2	0.8%	31^st
2003 Jul-Sep	193	4	2.1%	56^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	15	9.3%	83^rd
2004 Oct-Dec	58	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	1	1.1%	19^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	1	0.7%	27^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	3	1.8%	35^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	1	1.2%	38^th
2006 Apr-Jun	276	4	1.4%	39^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	9	5.7%	82^nd
2006 Nov-Dec	27	0	0.0%	0^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	1	0.5%	20^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	2	0.5%	19^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	1	0.3%	5^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	1	0.4%	11^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	21	14.1%	92^nd
2008 Apr-Jun	321	12	3.7%	61^st
2008 Jul-Sep	205	9	4.4%	67^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	5	33.3%	95^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	2	1.1%	36^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	15	5.0%	78^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	12	4.5%	82^nd
2009 Oct-Dec	246	0	0.0%	0^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	4	2.1%	39^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	3	1.4%	28^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	3	2.0%	50^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	0	0.0%	0^th
2011 Jan-Mar	212	3	1.4%	57^th
2011 Apr-Jun	281	5	1.8%	60^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	0	0.0%	0^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	16	7.7%	88^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	18	11.9%	93^rd
2012 Apr-Jun	299	21	7.0%	82^nd
2012 Jul-Sep	152	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Nov-Dec	51	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	2	2.2%	58^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	3	1.4%	43^rd
2013 Jul-Sep	200	7	3.5%	74^th
2013 Oct-Dec	137	7	5.1%	78^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	1	0.7%	23^rd
2014 Apr-Jun	219	25	11.4%	91^st
2014 Jul-Sep	147	5	3.4%	76^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	1	2.0%	55^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	5	3.5%	70^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	5	2.0%	65^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	18	12.9%	93^rd
2015 Oct-Dec	177	0	0.0%	0^th
2016 Jan-Mar	137	15	10.9%	85^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	3	1.5%	40^th
2016 Jul-Sep	232	6	2.6%	73^rd
2016 Nov-Dec	48	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	4	1.9%	61^st
2017 Apr-Jun	136	5	3.7%	74^th
2017 Jul-Sep	199	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	16	9.6%	90^th
2018 Jan-Mar	129	0	0.0%	0^th
2018 Apr-Apr	18	3	16.7%	91^st

Primary Sources

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

@unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
GPO Member Guide for the photo
GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills

Bennie Thompson is pronounced:

BE-nee // TOMP-sun

The letters stand for sounds according to the following table:

Letter	Sounds As In
B b	bat
E e	bed
EE ee	meet
M m	man
N n	not
O o	top
P p	pen
S s	sit
T t	top
U u	cup

Capital letters indicate a stressed syllable.

Rep. Bennie Thompson

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