Rep. Henry Cuellar’s 2020 Report Card
Representative
from Texas's 28th District
Democrat
Serving Jan 4, 2005 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Cuellar’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 Cuellar’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 3rd most present in votes compared to Texas Delegation (tied with 1 other)Cuellar missed 0.7% of votes (7 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Cuellar’s Profile » Compare to all Texas Delegation (6th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (13th percentile); All Representatives (20th 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. |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 4th most often compared to House DemocratsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 367 bills that Cuellar cosponsored, 33% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Texas Delegation (60th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (63rd percentile); House Democrats (98th percentile); All Representatives (65th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Got the 7th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to House DemocratsCuellar’s bills and resolutions had 43 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 Texas Delegation (9th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (11th percentile); House Democrats (3rd percentile); All Representatives (10th percentile). |
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Introduced the 9th fewest bills compared to House DemocratsCuellar introduced 9 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Texas Delegation (17th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (13th percentile); House Democrats (3rd percentile); All Representatives (11th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 10th least often compared to House Democrats (tied with 6 others)1 of Cuellar’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.R. 951: United States-Mexico Tourism Improvement Act … Compare to all Texas Delegation (17th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (13th percentile); House Democrats (4th percentile); All Representatives (13th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 25th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 9 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 5 of Cuellar’s 9 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Cuellar caucused with in the 116th Congress. Compare to all Texas Delegation (31st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (26th percentile); House Democrats (10th percentile); All Representatives (23rd percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Cosponsored the 40th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 1 other)Cuellar cosponsored 367 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 Texas Delegation (71st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50th percentile); House Democrats (16th percentile); All Representatives (51st percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 31st least often compared to House Democrats (tied with 27 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Cuellar introduced 2 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 132: North American Development Bank Improvement …; H.R. 951: United States-Mexico Tourism Improvement Act … Compare to all Texas Delegation (43rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (31st percentile); House Democrats (13th percentile); All Representatives (32nd percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 53rd fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 34 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 132: North American Development Bank Improvement …; H.R. 2522: HUMANE Act of 2019; H.R. 6864: Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila … Compare to all Texas Delegation (51st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); House Democrats (22nd percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Laws EnactedCuellar introduced 1 bill 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. 132: North American Development Bank Improvement … Compare to all Texas Delegation (46th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); House Democrats (25th percentile); All Representatives (37th 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. |
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Committee PositionsCuellar held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Cuellar’s Profile » Compare to all Texas Delegation (37th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (19th percentile); House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (42nd 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 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.
