![Photo of Rep. Christopher Shays [R-CT4, 1987-2008]](/data/photos/400370-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Our unique analysis of the bills Shays sponsored and cosponsored provides insight into his position in the House of Representatives.
Each dot in the chart below was a member of the House of Representatives in 2008. The dots are positioned horizontally according to our progressive—conservative ideology score and vertically according to our leadership score (leaders toward the top). Shays is shown as a purple triangle. (analysis methodology)
Enacted Legislation
Shays was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 5150 (108th): National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004
- H.R. 3724 (108th): Energy Efficient Housing Technical Correction Act
- H.R. 2356 (107th): Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
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 about one third or more 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
Shays sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (24%) Law (13%) Armed Forces and National Security (13%) Economics and Public Finance (12%) Science, Technology, Communications (12%) Labor and Employment (10%) Crime and Law Enforcement (9%) International Affairs (8%)
Recent Bills
Some of Shays’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 7235 (110th): To amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act the amount of deposits insured ...
- H.Res. 1522 (110th): Honoring the life, achievements, and contributions of Paul Newman.
- H.R. 7127 (110th): Total Learning Curriculum Implementation Act
- H.R. 6784 (110th): Home Heating Oil Assistance Act of 2008
- H.R. 6626 (110th): To authorize the Secretary of the Navy to repay Federal educational loans ...
- H.Res. 1289 (110th): Urging the President to direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to work ...
- H.Con.Res. 334 (110th): Supporting the goals and objectives of a National Military Appreciation Month.
Voting Record
Key Votes
| Shays’s Vote | Vote Description |
|---|---|
| Aye |
H.R. 6899 (110th): Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act
Sep 16, 2008. Passed 236/189.
|
| Yea |
H.R. 2768 (110th): S-MINER Act
Jan 16, 2008. Passed 214/199.
|
| Aye |
H.R. 2764 (110th): Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008
Dec 17, 2007. Passed 206/201.
|
| Aye |
H.Res. 801 (110th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3688) to implement the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.
Nov 7, 2007. Passed 349/55.
|
| Yea |
H.R. 1830 (110th): To extend the authorities of the Andean Trade Preference Act until February 29, 2008.
Jun 27, 2007. Passed 365/59.
|
Missed Votes
From Sep 1987 to Dec 2008, Shays missed 287 of 12,648 roll call votes, which is 2.3%. This is on par with the median of 3.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2008. ProPublica has tracked 75 explanations for these missed votes. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- Congress-Legislators, a community project collecting election 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
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills
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