Studds was the representative for Massachusetts’s 10th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1983 to 1996.
He was previously the representative for Massachusetts’s 12th congressional district as a Democrat from 1973 to 1982.
Misconduct
On Jul. 14, 1983, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct investigated Studds for sexual relationship with 17-year old male House page that occurred 10 years earlier in 1973 and recommended reprimand and filed report, 11-1. On Jul. 20, 1983, the House of Representatives rejected the reprimand recommendation, 289-136; censured Studds instead, 420-3.
| Jul. 14, 1983 | House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct recommended reprimand and filed report, 11-1 |
| Jul. 20, 1983 | House of Representatives rejected the reprimand recommendation, 289-136; censured Studds instead, 420-3 |
![Photo of Rep. Gerry Studds [D-MA10, 1983-1996]](/static/legislator-photos/410496-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Studds is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 1996 positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Studds sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 1991 to Oct 3, 1996. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Studds was the primary sponsor of 35 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 4111 (104th): Federal Law Enforcement Dependents Assistance Act of 1996
- H.R. 3049 (103rd): To extend the current interim exemption under the Marine Mammal Protection Act for commercial fisheries until April 1, 1994.
- H.R. 5617 (102nd): Oceans Act of 1992
- H.R. 2152 (102nd): High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act
- H.R. 5419 (102nd): International Dolphin Conservation Act of 1992
- H.R. 5013 (102nd): Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992
- H.R. 3836 (102nd): Pacific Yew Act
Does 35 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
Studds sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Environmental Protection (26%) Government Operations and Politics (16%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (12%) Transportation and Public Works (11%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (10%) Economics and Public Finance (10%) International Affairs (8%) Science, Technology, Communications (8%)
Recent Bills
Some of Studds’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 4111 (104th): Federal Law Enforcement Dependents Assistance Act of 1996
- H.R. 4101 (104th): Rescue Diver Training Act of 1996
- H.R. 3022 (104th): Cardiac Arrest Survival Act
- H.R. 2957 (104th): To deauthorize a portion of the navigation project for Weymouth-Fore and Town ...
- H.R. 2956 (104th): Fisheries Disaster Assistance Act of 1996
- H.R. 2763 (104th): To establish the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, and for other ...
- H.R. 2187 (104th): To deauthorize a portion of the navigation project for Cohasset Harbor, Massachusetts.
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Jan 1973 to Sep 1996, Studds missed 368 of 13,012 roll call votes, which is 2.8%. This is on par with the median of 2.7% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Sep 1996. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
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
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
