Wilson was the representative for Texas’s 2nd congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1973 to 1996.
Misconduct
Wilson faced an allegation of improper use of campaign funds and inadequate financial disclosure. On Aug. 25, 1995, the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) transmitted information to the committee on Standards developed during an investigation On Dec. 7, 1995, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct dismissed the complaint and issued a letter released publicly after Wilson admitted his error and paid a $90,000 fine.
![Photo of Rep. Charles Wilson [D-TX2, 1973-1996]](/static/legislator-photos/411725-200px.jpeg)
Enacted Legislation
Wilson was the primary sponsor of 11 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 922 (101st): To designate the building located at 1515 Sam Houston Street in Liberty, Texas, as the “M.P. Daniel and Thomas F. Calhoon, Senior, Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 923 (101st): To redesignate the Federal hydropower generating facilities located at Dam B on the Neches River at Town Bluff, Texas, as the “Robert Douglas Willis Hydropower Project”.
- H.R. 1473 (100th): A bill to designate the building which will house the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Lufkin, Texas, as the “Ward R. Burke Federal …
- H.R. 4685 (99th): Texas Wilderness Act Amendments of 1986
- H.R. 3150 (98th): A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, without consideration, to the Sabine River Authority of Texas approximately 34,000 acres of land within the Sabine …
- H.R. 5631 (98th): A bill to provide for the acquisition of a visitor contact and administrative site for the Big Thicket National Preserve in the State of Texas.
- H.R. 4580 (96th): District of Columbia Appropriation Act, 1980
Does 11 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
Wilson sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Public Lands and Natural Resources (40%) Government Operations and Politics (19%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (17%) Environmental Protection (10%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Wilson recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 826 (104th): To extend the deadline for the completion of certain land exchanges involving …
- H.R. 686 (104th): To designate the maintenance facility and future visitor center at the Big …
- H.R. 687 (104th): To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain lands in the …
- H.R. 688 (104th): To extend Federal restrictions on the export of unprocessed timber to timber …
- H.R. 689 (104th): To require the Secretary of Agriculture to take action to control the …
- H.R. 683 (104th): Texas County Minimum Payment Act of 1995
- H.R. 685 (104th): F.B.I. Volunteer Act of 1995
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Jan 1973 to Sep 1996, Wilson missed 2,464 of 13,012 roll call votes, which is 18.9%. This is much worse than the median of 2.7% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Sep 1996. 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
- 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
