Watson was the representative for California’s 33rd congressional district and was a Democrat. She served from 2003 to 2010.
She was previously the representative for California’s 32nd congressional district as a Democrat from 2001 to 2002.
![Photo of Rep. Diane Watson [D-CA33, 2003-2010]](/static/legislator-photos/400423-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Watson is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2010 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 Watson sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 4, 2005 to Dec 21, 2010. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Watson was the primary sponsor of 8 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 5450 (111th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3894 Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, as the “Tom Bradley Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 2760 (111th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1615 North Wilcox Avenue in Los Angeles, California, as the “Johnny Grant Hollywood Post Office …
- H.R. 2131 (111th): To amend the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 to reauthorize the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.
- H.R. 1003 (110th): To amend the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 to reauthorize the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.
- H.R. 504 (109th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4960 West Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, as the “Ray Charles Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 1822 (108th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3751 West 6th Street in Los Angeles, California, as the “Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post …
- H.R. 1821 (108th): To award a congressional gold medal to Dr. Dorothy Height in recognition of her many contributions to the Nation.
Does 8 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 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Watson sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (20%) Government Operations and Politics (17%) Education (14%) Health (11%) Arts, Culture, Religion (11%) Sports and Recreation (10%) Commerce (9%) Crime and Law Enforcement (7%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Watson recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.Res. 1711 (111th): Commemorating the eminently successful performance and record of excellence of Barbara A. …
- H.Res. 1626 (111th): Commending the National Student Leadership Conference for organizing college campus experiences for …
- H.Res. 1480 (111th): Commending the University of Southern California Trojan men’s tennis team for its …
- H.R. 5589 (111th): To amend the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 to …
- H.R. 5450 (111th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at …
- H.Res. 1357 (111th): Commending and congratulating the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the occasion of …
- H.Res. 1350 (111th): Recognizing June 20, 2010, as World Refugee Day.
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jun 2001 to Dec 2010, Watson missed 416 of 6,808 roll call votes, which is 6.1%. This is much worse than the median of 3.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2010. 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.
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
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
