Edward Boland, former Representative for Massachusetts's 2nd Congressional District

Boland was the representative for Massachusetts’s 2^nd congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1953 to 1988.

Enacted Legislation

Boland was the primary sponsor of 39 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

H.R. 4800 (100th): Department of Housing and Urban Development-Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1989
H.J.Res. 517 (99th): A joint resolution to provide for the reappointment of David C. Acheson as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
H.J.Res. 713 (99th): A joint resolution making a repayable advance to the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund.
H.J.Res. 573 (99th): A joint resolution making a repayable advance to the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund.
H.J.Res. 518 (99th): A joint resolution to provide for the reappointment of Murray Gell-Mann as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
H.R. 3038 (99th): Department of Housing and Urban Development-Independent Agencies Appropriation Act, 1986
H.J.Res. 411 (99th): A joint resolution to provide for the reappointment of Carlisle H. Humelsine as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

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Does 39 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

Boland sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Government Operations and Politics (27%) Arts, Culture, Religion (18%) Economics and Public Finance (13%) Armed Forces and National Security (11%) Environmental Protection (10%) International Affairs (7%) Housing and Community Development (7%) Native Americans (7%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Boland recently introduced the following legislation:

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Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

From Jan 1953 to Oct 1988, Boland missed 1,069 of 11,818 roll call votes, which is 9.0%. This is worse than the median of 5.5% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Oct 1988. 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
1953 Jan-Mar	13	0	0.0%	0^th
1953 Apr-Jun	28	1	3.6%	22^nd
1953 Jul-Aug	30	0	0.0%	0^th
1954 Jan-Mar	14	0	0.0%	0^th
1954 Apr-Jun	24	0	0.0%	0^th
1954 Jul-Aug	38	1	2.6%	70^th
1955 Jan-Mar	21	0	0.0%	0^th
1955 Apr-Jun	36	1	2.8%	67^th
1955 Jul-Aug	19	0	0.0%	0^th
1956 Jan-Mar	12	1	8.3%	77^th
1956 Apr-Jun	30	0	0.0%	0^th
1956 Jul-Jul	31	1	3.2%	77^th
1957 Jan-Mar	12	0	0.0%	0^th
1957 Apr-Jun	36	2	5.6%	87^th
1957 Jul-Aug	52	0	0.0%	0^th
1958 Jan-Mar	21	0	0.0%	0^th
1958 Apr-Jun	32	1	3.1%	87^th
1958 Jul-Aug	40	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 Jan-Apr	16	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 May-Aug	54	1	1.9%	59^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	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 Sep-Sep	29	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Jan-Mar	21	0	0.0%	0^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	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Apr-Jun	31	2	6.5%	85^th
1963 Jul-Sep	28	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Oct-Dec	50	1	2.0%	37^th
1964 Jan-Mar	26	0	0.0%	0^th
1964 Apr-Jun	34	0	0.0%	0^th
1964 Jul-Sep	49	3	6.1%	71^st
1964 Oct-Oct	4	0	0.0%	0^th
1965 Jan-Mar	28	3	10.7%	52^nd
1965 Apr-Jun	53	10	18.9%	81^st
1965 Jul-Sep	98	6	6.1%	54^th
1965 Oct-Oct	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1966 Jan-Mar	30	5	16.7%	78^th
1966 Apr-Jun	51	12	23.5%	80^th
1966 Jul-Sep	72	13	18.1%	57^th
1966 Oct-Oct	40	6	15.0%	51^st
1967 Jan-Mar	31	1	3.2%	56^th
1967 Apr-Jun	57	2	3.5%	69^th
1967 Jul-Sep	59	1	1.7%	44^th
1967 Oct-Dec	98	1	1.0%	29^th
1968 Jan-Mar	38	0	0.0%	0^th
1968 Apr-Jun	79	1	1.3%	31^st
1968 Jul-Sep	91	18	19.8%	95^th
1968 Oct-Oct	25	1	4.0%	35^th
1969 Jan-Mar	16	0	0.0%	0^th
1969 Apr-Jun	28	1	3.6%	22^nd
1969 Jul-Sep	45	1	2.2%	16^th
1969 Oct-Dec	88	7	8.0%	33^rd
1970 Jan-Mar	35	6	17.1%	67^th
1970 Apr-Jun	74	3	4.1%	11^th
1970 Jul-Sep	76	6	7.9%	32^nd
1970 Oct-Dec	81	5	6.2%	19^th
1971 Jan-Mar	22	3	13.6%	64^th
1971 Apr-Jun	90	3	3.3%	14^th
1971 Jul-Sep	74	6	8.1%	47^th
1971 Oct-Dec	134	11	8.2%	40^th
1972 Jan-Mar	64	7	10.9%	54^th
1972 Apr-Jun	114	14	12.3%	54^th
1972 Jul-Sep	101	8	7.9%	51^st
1972 Oct-Oct	50	11	22.0%	66^th
1973 Jan-Mar	36	0	0.0%	0^th
1973 Apr-Jun	191	8	4.2%	25^th
1973 Jul-Sep	131	19	14.5%	83^rd
1973 Oct-Dec	182	11	6.0%	46^th
1974 Jan-Mar	79	9	11.4%	62^nd
1974 Apr-Jun	170	29	17.1%	78^th
1974 Jul-Sep	148	7	4.7%	42^nd
1974 Oct-Dec	141	23	16.3%	73^rd
1975 Jan-Mar	68	9	13.2%	81^st
1975 Apr-Jun	199	25	12.6%	78^th
1975 Jul-Sep	154	6	3.9%	36^th
1975 Oct-Dec	191	10	5.2%	50^th
1976 Jan-Mar	106	8	7.5%	56^th
1976 Apr-Jun	267	16	6.0%	35^th
1976 Jul-Sep	281	20	7.1%	53^rd
1976 Oct-Oct	7	0	0.0%	0^th
1977 Jan-Mar	100	14	14.0%	83^rd
1977 Apr-Jun	273	22	8.1%	53^rd
1977 Jul-Sep	198	25	12.6%	77^th
1977 Oct-Dec	135	9	6.7%	54^th
1978 Jan-Mar	150	7	4.7%	35^th
1978 Apr-Jun	300	20	6.7%	41^st
1978 Jul-Sep	308	26	8.4%	56^th
1978 Oct-Oct	76	6	7.9%	60^th
1979 Jan-Mar	63	5	7.9%	69^th
1979 Apr-Jun	221	15	6.8%	49^th
1979 Jul-Sep	198	17	8.6%	66^th
1979 Oct-Dec	190	19	10.0%	53^rd
1980 Jan-Mar	148	15	10.1%	59^th
1980 Apr-Jun	197	22	11.2%	66^th
1980 Jul-Sep	192	21	10.9%	65^th
1980 Oct-Dec	67	6	9.0%	48^th
1981 Jan-Mar	15	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Apr-Jun	90	12	13.3%	78^th
1981 Jul-Sep	106	6	5.7%	55^th
1981 Oct-Dec	142	7	4.9%	39^th
1982 Feb-Mar	48	9	18.8%	79^th
1982 Apr-Jun	119	16	13.4%	84^th
1982 Jul-Sep	193	22	11.4%	77^th
1982 Oct-Dec	99	10	10.1%	57^th
1983 Jan-Mar	43	6	14.0%	76^th
1983 Apr-Jun	182	20	11.0%	69^th
1983 Jul-Sep	130	9	6.9%	72^nd
1983 Oct-Nov	143	13	9.1%	69^th
1984 Jan-Mar	53	17	32.1%	96^th
1984 Apr-Jun	223	21	9.4%	66^th
1984 Jul-Sep	96	11	11.5%	80^th
1984 Oct-Oct	36	1	2.8%	29^th
1985 Jan-Mar	36	7	19.4%	90^th
1985 Apr-Jun	154	19	12.3%	90^th
1985 Jul-Sep	101	7	6.9%	68^th
1985 Oct-Dec	148	18	12.2%	90^th
1986 Jan-Mar	61	6	9.8%	60^th
1986 Apr-Jun	128	13	10.2%	85^th
1986 Jul-Sep	202	40	19.8%	96^th
1986 Oct-Oct	60	17	28.3%	96^th
1987 Jan-Mar	39	3	7.7%	69^th
1987 Apr-Jun	187	26	13.9%	89^th
1987 Jul-Sep	95	12	12.6%	86^th
1987 Oct-Dec	167	25	15.0%	89^th
1988 Feb-Mar	49	1	2.0%	26^th
1988 Apr-Jun	161	28	17.4%	92^nd
1988 Jul-Sep	152	30	19.7%	91^st
1988 Oct-Oct	89	1	1.1%	32^nd

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
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

Rep. Edward Boland

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