Sen. Christopher Coons’s 2013 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Delaware
Democrat
Serving Nov 15, 2010 – Jan 3, 2027
These year-end statistics cover Coons’s record during the 2013 legislative year (Jan 3, 2013-Dec 26, 2013) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Dec 1, 2014. On Dec. 1, 2014, the statistics were updated to remove Sen. Schatz from the list of Senate sophomores. Schatz only served for several days in the preceding Congress.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Coons’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 4th highest % of bills compared to All SenatorsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 58% of Coons’s 19 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2013. Compare to all Senate Democrats (93rd percentile); All Senators (95th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Got the 12th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Senate DemocratsCoons’s bills and resolutions had 61 cosponsors in 2013. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (21st percentile); All Senators (23rd percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 13th most bills compared to All SenatorsCoons cosponsored 188 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (79th percentile); All Senators (87th percentile). |
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Ranked the 13th bottom/follower compared to Senate DemocratsOur unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2013 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Coons’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Democrats (23rd percentile); All Senators (26th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 10th least often compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 7 others)1 of Coons’s bills and resolutions in 2013 had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward. Those bills were: S. 1385: Federal Judgeship Act of 2013 Compare to all Senate Democrats (17th percentile); All Senators (18th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 15th most often compared to All Senators (tied with 2 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Coons introduced 6 bills in 2013 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 393: White Clay Creek Wild and …; S.Res. 90: A resolution congratulating the people …; S.Res. 144: A resolution concerning the ongoing …; S.Res. 166: A resolution commemorating the 50th …; S.Res. 268: A resolution condemning the September …; S.Res. 314: A resolution commemorating and supporting … Compare to all Senate Democrats (75th percentile); All Senators (83rd percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 25th least often compared to All SenatorsOf the 188 bills that Coons cosponsored, 17% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (46th percentile); All Senators (25th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Laws EnactedCoons introduced 0 bills that became law in 2013. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Senate Democrats (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). We only count enacted bills (and joint resolutions) that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through companion bills or incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Bills IntroducedCoons introduced 19 bills and resolutions in 2013. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (32nd percentile); All Senators (47th percentile). |
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Working with the HouseThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 393: White Clay Creek Wild and …; S. 795: Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act; S. 918: American Dream Accounts Act of …; S. 1790: Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage …; S. 1799: Victims of Child Abuse Act …; S.Res. 268: A resolution condemning the September … Compare to all Senate Democrats (53rd percentile); All Senators (58th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsCoons held a leadership position on 0 committees and 2 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Coons’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Democrats (23rd percentile); All Senators (18th percentile). |
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Ideology ScoreOur unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2013 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Coons’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Democrats (47th percentile); All Senators (26th percentile). |
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Missed VotesCoons missed 1.4% of votes (4 of 291 votes) in 2013. View Coons’s Profile » Compare to all All Senators (49th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Coons supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Coons 2 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Coons cosponsored S. 994: Digital Accountability and Transparency Act …; S. 1467: FISA Court Reform Act of … Compare to all Senate Democrats (58th percentile); All Senators (74th percentile). |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of 2013) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
