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Rep. Diane Black’s 2013 Report Card

Representative from Tennessee's 6th District
Republican
Served Jan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2019

These year-end statistics cover Black’s record during the 2013 legislative year (Jan 3, 2013-Dec 26, 2013) and compare her to other representatives 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 Black’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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Was most present in votes compared to Tennessee Delegation

Black missed 0.9% of votes (6 of 641 votes) in 2013. View Black’s Profile »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (35th percentile); Safe House Seats (25th percentile); All Representatives (26th 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.
 

Wrote the most laws compared to Tennessee Delegation (tied with 1 other)

Black introduced 1 bill that became law in 2013. 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. 2775: Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (78th percentile); House Sophomores (88th percentile); House Republicans (84th percentile); Safe House Seats (90th percentile); All Representatives (90th 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.
 

Got the 2nd most cosponsors on their bills compared to House Sophomores

Black’s bills and resolutions had 626 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 Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); House Sophomores (98th percentile); House Republicans (97th percentile); Safe House Seats (97th percentile); All Representatives (97th percentile).

 

Introduced the 4th most bills compared to House Sophomores (tied with 1 other)

Black introduced 19 bills and resolutions in 2013. View Bills »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (78th percentile); House Sophomores (94th percentile); House Republicans (91st percentile); Safe House Seats (88th percentile); All Representatives (88th percentile).

 

Ranked the 6th top leader compared to All Representatives

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 2013 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Black’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); House Sophomores (99th percentile); House Republicans (97th percentile); Safe House Seats (98th percentile); All Representatives (99th percentile).

 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 9th lowest % of bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Black tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 16% of Black’s 19 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2013.

Compare to all House Sophomores (12th percentile); House Republicans (10th percentile); Safe House Seats (16th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile).

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

Joined bipartisan bills the 23rd least often compared to All Representatives

Of the 127 bills that Black cosponsored, 3% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (11th percentile); House Sophomores (9th percentile); House Republicans (10th percentile); Safe House Seats (5th percentile); All Representatives (5th percentile).

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

Got influential cosponsors the 30th most often compared to House Republicans (tied with 21 others)

3 of Black’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: H.R. 217: Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition …; H.R. 940: Health Care Conscience Rights Act; H.R. 1868: Legally Binding Budget Act of …

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (78th percentile); House Sophomores (76th percentile); House Republicans (78th percentile); Safe House Seats (74th percentile); All Representatives (75th percentile).

 

Ranked 73rd most politically right compared to All Representatives

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 2013 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Black’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (44th percentile); House Sophomores (71st percentile); House Republicans (69th percentile); Safe House Seats (83rd percentile); All Representatives (83rd percentile).

 

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Black introduced 0 bills in 2013 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Working with the Senate

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 2 of Black’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. 940: Health Care Conscience Rights Act; H.R. 2511: Federal Land Freedom Act of …

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (44th percentile); House Sophomores (68th percentile); House Republicans (68th percentile); Safe House Seats (66th percentile); All Representatives (66th percentile).

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

Committee Positions

Black held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Black’s Profile »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Bills Cosponsored

Black cosponsored 127 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 (33rd percentile); House Sophomores (29th percentile); House Republicans (46th percentile); Safe House Seats (34th percentile); All Representatives (33rd percentile).

 

Government Transparency

GovTrack looked at whether Black supported any of 12 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Black 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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.