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Rep. David “Phil” Roe’s 2020 Report Card

Representative from Tennessee's 1st District
Republican
Served Jan 6, 2009 – Jan 3, 2021


These statistics cover Roe’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.

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 Roe’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.

 

Held the most committee positions compared to Tennessee Delegation

Roe held a leadership position on 1 committee and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Roe’s Profile »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (78th percentile); House Republicans (89th percentile); All Representatives (87th percentile).


 

Wrote the 3rd most laws compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Roe introduced 5 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills »

Those bills were: H.R. 203: Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans …; H.R. 1812: Vet Center Eligibility Expansion Act; H.R. 3608: To amend title 38, United …; H.R. 6194: To authorize the Secretary of …; H.J.Res. 80: Approving the request of the …

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (95th percentile); House Republicans (98th percentile); All Representatives (95th percentile).

The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill.


 

Got their bills out of committee the 5th most often compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Roe introduced 8 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 203: Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans …; H.R. 1812: Vet Center Eligibility Expansion Act; H.R. 1947: To amend title 38, United …; H.R. 3608: To amend title 38, United …; H.R. 6036: VA Family Leave Act of …; H.R. 6194: To authorize the Secretary of …; H.R. 7111: Veterans Economic Recovery Act of …; H.J.Res. 80: Approving the request of the …

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (83rd percentile); House Republicans (97th percentile); All Representatives (88th percentile).


 

Got influential cosponsors the 4th most often compared to House Republicans (tied with 3 others)

8 of Roe’s bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress 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: H.Res. 451: Expressing support for the designation …; H.R. 203: Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans …; H.R. 1812: Vet Center Eligibility Expansion Act; H.R. 1855: Employee Rights Act; H.R. 5312: AIM HIGH Act; H.R. 6194: To authorize the Secretary of …; H.R. 7111: Veterans Economic Recovery Act of …; H.R. 7728: COVID–19 Benefits for Active Duty …

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (76th percentile); House Republicans (96th percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile).


 

Ranked 6th most politically right compared to Serving 10+ Years

Our 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 the 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Roe’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (97th percentile); House Republicans (90th percentile); All Representatives (95th percentile).


 

Got bicameral support on the 8th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 4 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 7 of Roe’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.R. 1956: Voluntary Protection Program Act; H.R. 3826: Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act; H.R. 4899: Rural America Health Corps Act; H.R. 4900: Telehealth Across State Lines Act …; H.R. 6365: Immediate Relief for Rural Facilities …; H.R. 7728: COVID–19 Benefits for Active Duty …; H.J.Res. 80: Approving the request of the …

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (67th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (77th percentile); House Republicans (94th percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.


 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 12th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 3 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 17 of Roe’s 28 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Roe caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (77th percentile); House Republicans (92nd percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.


 

Introduced the 24th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Roe introduced 28 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (65th percentile); House Republicans (87th percentile); All Representatives (67th percentile).


 

Ranked the 27th top leader compared to House Republicans

Our 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 the 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Roe’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (49th percentile); House Republicans (86th percentile); All Representatives (59th percentile).


 

Got the 28th most cosponsors on their bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Roe’s bills and resolutions had 361 cosponsors in the 116th Congress. 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 Tennessee Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50th percentile); House Republicans (85th percentile); All Representatives (59th percentile).


 

Cosponsored the 39th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Roe cosponsored 301 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 Tennessee Delegation (67th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (44th percentile); House Republicans (80th percentile); All Representatives (42nd percentile).


 

Joining Bipartisan Bills

Of the 301 bills that Roe cosponsored, 35% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (67th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (66th percentile); House Republicans (30th percentile); All Representatives (68th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.


 

Missed Votes

Roe missed 3.2% of votes (31 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Roe’s Profile »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (67th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (63rd percentile); All Representatives (66th percentile).

The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics.


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 the 116th Congress) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.