Diggs was the representative for Michigan’s 13th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1955 to 1980.
Misconduct
In October 1978, Diggs was convicted of taking kickbacks. He was re-elected the next month, but on July 31, 1979, the House of Representatives censured him in a 414-0 vote and in 1980 he resigned after losing the criminal appeal.
| October 1978 | Convicted on charges that he had taken kickbacks from three of his Congressional employees. |
| Nov. 7, 1978 | Re-elected after conviction. |
| Jul. 31, 1979 | House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct recommended censure, 11-0 |
| Jul. 31, 1979 | House of Representatives censured, 414-0 |
| Jun. 3, 1980 | Resigned after losing criminal appeal. |
![Photo of Rep. Charles Diggs [D-MI13, 1955-1980]](/static/legislator-photos/403462-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Diggs is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 1980 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 Diggs sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 14, 1975 to Dec 13, 1980. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Diggs was the primary sponsor of 22 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 12117 (95th): A bill to transfer certain real property of the United States to the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency.
- H.R. 7766 (95th): A bill to authorize the Mayor of the District of Columbia to enter into an agreement with the U.S. Postal Service with respect to the use of …
- H.R. 3215 (95th): An Act for the relief of Mrs. Olive M. V. T. Davies and her children, Samira D. K. Davies, Ola-Tomi K. Davies, Ola-Yinka K. Davies, Ilesha E. …
- H.R. 6530 (95th): An Act to amend the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act with respect to the borrowing authority of the District of Columbia, and for other …
- H.R. 5813 (95th): A bill to revise the basis for estimating the annual Federal payment to the District of Columbia for water and water services and sanitary sewer services furnished …
- H.R. 4549 (95th): District of Columbia Reciprocal Tax Collection Act
- H.R. 12261 (94th): A bill to extend the period during which the Council of the District of Columbia is prohibited from revising the criminal laws of the District.
Does 22 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
Diggs sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Law (21%) Crime and Law Enforcement (18%) Government Operations and Politics (17%) International Affairs (13%) Economics and Public Finance (9%) Taxation (9%) Education (7%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Diggs recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.Res. 50 (96th): A resolution authorizing the printing of the publication entitled “History of the …
- H.Con.Res. 729 (95th): A resolution in support of the United Nations Security Council plan for …
- H.R. 13548 (95th): A bill to enhance the flexibility of contractual authority of the Temporary …
- H.R. 13330 (95th): A bill to increase the contractual authority of the Temporary Commission on …
- H.R. 13273 (95th): South Africa Investment Prohibition Act
- H.R. 13224 (95th): A bill to provide for the transfer of certain real property in …
- H.R. 12808 (95th): A bill to increase the contractual authority of the Temporary Commission on …
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Jan 1955 to May 1980, Diggs missed 2,741 of 7,778 roll call votes, which is 35.2%. This is much worse than the median of 8.6% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in May 1980. 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
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
