Rep. Daniel Rostenkowski

Former Representative for Illinois’s 5^th District

Rostenkowski was the representative for Illinois’s 5^th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1993 to 1994.

He was previously the representative for Illinois’s 8^th congressional district as a Democrat from 1959 to 1992.

Bioguide

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Misconduct

Rostenkowski faced allegations of mail fraud, wire fraud, witness tampering, concealing a material fact, false statements, embezzlement, and conspiracy, for which he was indicted. On Jun. 30, 1994, member complaint was filed. On Aug. 17, 1994, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct deferred action at request of U.S. Attorney On Nov. 8, 1994, he defeated for reelection. On Apr. 10, 1996, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud. On Dec. 23, 2000, he was pardoned by President Clinton having already served 15 months in prison and two months in a halfway house in addition to paying a $100,000 fine.

Jun. 30, 1994	Complaint filed.
Aug. 17, 1994	House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct deferred action at request of U.S. Attorney
Nov. 8, 1994	Defeated for reelection.
Apr. 10, 1996	Pleaded guilty to mail fraud.
Dec. 23, 2000	Pardoned by President Clinton having already served 15 months in prison and two months in a halfway house in addition to paying a $100,000 fine.

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Rostenkowski is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 1994 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 Rostenkowski sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 1989 to Nov 29, 1994. See full analysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

Rostenkowski was the primary sponsor of 71 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 71 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 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Rostenkowski sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Taxation (26%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (16%) Health (14%) Social Welfare (9%) Labor and Employment (9%) Economics and Public Finance (9%) Housing and Community Development (9%) Government Operations and Politics (7%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Rostenkowski recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

From Jan 1959 to Nov 1994, Rostenkowski missed 1,965 of 14,287 roll call votes, which is 13.8%. This is much worse than the median of 3.4% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Nov 1994. 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.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1959 Jan-Apr	16	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 May-Aug	54	1	1.9%	56^th
1959 Sep-Sep	17	0	0.0%	0^th
1960 Feb-Apr	23	0	0.0%	0^th
1960 May-Aug	70	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 Jan-Apr	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 May-Aug	65	3	4.6%	70^th
1961 Sep-Sep	29	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Jan-Mar	21	1	4.8%	55^th
1962 Apr-Jun	32	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Jul-Sep	49	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Oct-Oct	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Jan-Mar	9	1	11.1%	86^th
1963 Apr-Jun	31	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Jul-Sep	28	1	3.6%	64^th
1963 Oct-Dec	50	2	4.0%	40^th
1964 Jan-Mar	26	0	0.0%	0^th
1964 Apr-Jun	34	0	0.0%	0^th
1964 Jul-Sep	49	2	4.1%	60^th
1964 Oct-Oct	4	1	25.0%	73^rd
1965 Jan-Mar	28	3	10.7%	57^th
1965 Apr-Jun	53	15	28.3%	91^st
1965 Jul-Sep	98	10	10.2%	65^th
1965 Oct-Oct	22	3	13.6%	70^th
1966 Jan-Mar	30	9	30.0%	91^st
1966 Apr-Jun	51	11	21.6%	74^th
1966 Jul-Sep	72	18	25.0%	78^th
1966 Oct-Oct	40	3	7.5%	35^th
1967 Jan-Mar	31	2	6.5%	83^rd
1967 Apr-Jun	57	0	0.0%	0^th
1967 Jul-Sep	59	4	6.8%	79^th
1967 Oct-Dec	98	6	6.1%	86^th
1968 Jan-Mar	38	4	10.5%	90^th
1968 Apr-Jun	79	4	5.1%	79^th
1968 Jul-Sep	91	3	3.3%	45^th
1968 Oct-Oct	25	2	8.0%	48^th
1969 Jan-Mar	16	1	6.2%	39^th
1969 Apr-Jun	28	4	14.3%	59^th
1969 Jul-Sep	45	13	28.9%	91^st
1969 Oct-Dec	88	35	39.8%	88^th
1970 Jan-Mar	35	7	20.0%	67^th
1970 Apr-Jun	74	13	17.6%	45^th
1970 Jul-Sep	76	27	35.5%	85^th
1970 Oct-Dec	81	31	38.3%	88^th
1971 Jan-Mar	22	8	36.4%	87^th
1971 Apr-Jun	90	20	22.2%	82^nd
1971 Jul-Sep	74	4	5.4%	42^nd
1971 Oct-Dec	134	36	26.9%	84^th
1972 Jan-Mar	64	18	28.1%	89^th
1972 Apr-Jun	114	7	6.1%	24^th
1972 Jul-Sep	101	9	8.9%	55^th
1972 Oct-Oct	50	17	34.0%	87^th
1973 Jan-Mar	36	12	33.3%	93^rd
1973 Apr-Jun	191	50	26.2%	95^th
1973 Jul-Sep	131	15	11.5%	84^th
1973 Oct-Dec	182	19	10.4%	69^th
1974 Jan-Mar	79	29	36.7%	98^th
1974 Apr-Jun	170	28	16.5%	78^th
1974 Jul-Sep	148	19	12.8%	76^th
1974 Oct-Dec	141	18	12.8%	75^th
1975 Jan-Mar	68	17	25.0%	95^th
1975 Apr-Jun	199	35	17.6%	90^th
1975 Jul-Sep	154	2	1.3%	12^th
1975 Oct-Dec	191	10	5.2%	53^rd
1976 Jan-Mar	106	28	26.4%	94^th
1976 Apr-Jun	267	81	30.3%	94^th
1976 Jul-Sep	281	33	11.7%	73^rd
1976 Oct-Oct	7	0	0.0%	0^th
1977 Jan-Mar	100	4	4.0%	39^th
1977 Apr-Jun	273	57	20.9%	96^th
1977 Jul-Sep	198	28	14.1%	82^nd
1977 Oct-Dec	135	18	13.3%	83^rd
1978 Jan-Mar	150	55	36.7%	96^th
1978 Apr-Jun	300	52	17.3%	75^th
1978 Jul-Sep	308	43	14.0%	73^rd
1978 Oct-Oct	76	2	2.6%	25^th
1979 Jan-Mar	63	3	4.8%	61^st
1979 Apr-Jun	221	27	12.2%	79^th
1979 Jul-Sep	198	25	12.6%	79^th
1979 Oct-Dec	190	53	27.9%	93^rd
1980 Jan-Mar	148	29	19.6%	85^th
1980 Apr-Jun	197	40	20.3%	87^th
1980 Jul-Sep	192	37	19.3%	89^th
1980 Oct-Dec	67	3	4.5%	30^th
1981 Jan-Mar	15	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Apr-Jun	90	6	6.7%	53^rd
1981 Jul-Sep	106	8	7.5%	65^th
1981 Oct-Dec	142	7	4.9%	44^th
1982 Feb-Mar	48	25	52.1%	97^th
1982 Apr-Jun	119	2	1.7%	26^th
1982 Jul-Sep	193	13	6.7%	62^nd
1982 Oct-Dec	99	7	7.1%	51^st
1983 Jan-Mar	43	6	14.0%	76^th
1983 Apr-Jun	182	19	10.4%	70^th
1983 Jul-Sep	130	15	11.5%	90^th
1983 Oct-Nov	143	18	12.6%	84^th
1984 Jan-Mar	53	15	28.3%	94^th
1984 Apr-Jun	223	32	14.3%	86^th
1984 Jul-Sep	96	32	33.3%	98^th
1984 Oct-Oct	36	2	5.6%	49^th
1985 Jan-Mar	36	7	19.4%	91^st
1985 Apr-Jun	154	28	18.2%	96^th
1985 Jul-Sep	101	9	8.9%	77^th
1985 Oct-Dec	148	7	4.7%	63^rd
1986 Jan-Mar	61	35	57.4%	99^th
1986 Apr-Jun	128	8	6.2%	75^th
1986 Jul-Sep	202	20	9.9%	86^th
1986 Oct-Oct	60	3	5.0%	57^th
1987 Jan-Mar	39	6	15.4%	87^th
1987 Apr-Jun	187	47	25.1%	98^th
1987 Jul-Sep	95	31	32.6%	98^th
1987 Oct-Dec	167	14	8.4%	67^th
1988 Feb-Mar	49	9	18.4%	91^st
1988 Apr-Jun	161	12	7.5%	72^nd
1988 Jul-Sep	152	13	8.6%	75^th
1988 Oct-Oct	89	5	5.6%	65^th
1989 Jan-Mar	14	2	14.3%	84^th
1989 Apr-Jun	105	3	2.9%	43^rd
1989 Jul-Sep	128	8	6.2%	82^nd
1989 Oct-Nov	121	14	11.6%	89^th
1990 Jan-Mar	60	1	1.7%	31^st
1990 Apr-Jun	150	18	12.0%	89^th
1990 Jul-Sep	183	21	11.5%	93^rd
1990 Oct-Oct	143	17	11.9%	91^st
1991 Jan-Mar	62	15	24.2%	98^th
1991 Apr-Jun	139	13	9.4%	89^th
1991 Jul-Sep	81	3	3.7%	49^th
1991 Oct-Nov	162	15	9.3%	89^th
1992 Jan-Mar	66	5	7.6%	73^rd
1992 Apr-Jun	185	11	5.9%	74^th
1992 Jul-Sep	196	3	1.5%	34^th
1992 Oct-Oct	41	1	2.4%	44^th
1993 Jan-Mar	127	15	11.8%	94^th
1993 Apr-Jun	190	15	7.9%	80^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	8	4.9%	78^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	7	5.2%	82^nd
1994 Jan-Mar	95	22	23.2%	96^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	27	12.3%	92^nd
1994 Jul-Sep	142	21	14.8%	91^st
1994 Oct-Nov	51	8	15.7%	90^th

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