Braley was the representative for Iowa’s 1st congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 2007 to 2014.
![Photo of Rep. Bruce Braley [D-IA1, 2007-2014]](/static/legislator-photos/412208-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2014 Report Card for Braley.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Braley is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2014 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 Braley sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2009 to Dec 11, 2014. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Braley was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 6503 (111th): To require reports on the management of Arlington National Cemetery.
- H.R. 946 (111th): Plain Writing Act of 2010
Does 2 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
Braley sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Taxation (30%) Armed Forces and National Security (24%) Health (16%) Education (10%) Government Operations and Politics (6%) Energy (5%) International Affairs (5%) Commerce (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Braley recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 5560 (113th): Helping College Students Cross the Finish Line Act
- H.R. 5509 (113th): College Tuition and Debt Relief Act of 2014
- H.R. 5453 (113th): To authorize health insurance issuers to continue to offer for sale current …
- H.R. 5123 (113th): Country-of-Origin Labeling for Fuels Act
- H.R. 4964 (113th): Seniors’ Access to Social Security Act of 2014
- H.R. 4595 (113th): School Bus Safety Act
- H.R. 4422 (113th): Veterans’ Job Corps Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2007 to Dec 2014, Braley missed 313 of 6,341 roll call votes, which is 4.9%. This is much worse than the median of 2.5% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2014. 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.
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
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
