Atkins was the representative for Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1985 to 1992.
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Atkins is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 1992 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 Atkins sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 1987 to Oct 9, 1992. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Atkins was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 2896 (102nd): Minute Man National Historical Park Amendments of 1991
- H.J.Res. 602 (100th): A joint resolution in support of the restoration of a free and independent Cambodia and the protection of the Cambodian people from a return to power by …
- H.R. 2035 (100th): A bill to increase the amount authorized to be appropriated for property acquisition, restoration, and development, and for transportation, educational, and cultural programs, relating to the Lowell …
Does 3 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
Atkins sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Environmental Protection (23%) Water Resources Development (16%) International Affairs (16%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (14%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (14%) Families (7%) Government Operations and Politics (7%) Health (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Atkins recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 6141 (102nd): Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge Expansion Act of 1992
- H.R. 5681 (102nd): Unemployment Extension bill
- H.R. 4543 (102nd): Health Benefits for Small Businesses and Their Employees Act of 1992
- H.R. 2896 (102nd): Minute Man National Historical Park Amendments of 1991
- H.R. 2779 (102nd): Cigarette Export Labeling Act
- H.R. 2781 (102nd): Cigarette Export Reform Act
- H.R. 2220 (102nd): National Appliance Energy and Water Conservation Amendments of 1991
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Jan 1985 to Oct 1992, Atkins missed 192 of 3,665 roll call votes, which is 5.2%. This is on par with the median of 4.4% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Oct 1992. 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
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
