Rep. James “Jim” Clyburn’s 2019 Report Card

Got bicameral support on the most bills compared to South Carolina Delegation

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 3 of Clyburn’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. 870: To reauthorize the Historically Black …; H.R. 3887: Student Loan Debt Relief Act …; H.R. 3936: Southern Campaign of the Revolution …

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (86^th percentile); House Party Leaders (44^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53^rd percentile); House Democrats (50^th percentile); All Representatives (62^nd percentile).

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

Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to South Carolina Delegation

Of the 97 bills that Clyburn cosponsored, 4% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (0^th percentile); House Party Leaders (11^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (1^st percentile); House Democrats (2^nd percentile); All Representatives (1^st percentile).

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

Ranked most politically left compared to South Carolina Delegation

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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Clyburn’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (0^th percentile); House Party Leaders (22^nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (35^th percentile); House Democrats (47^th percentile); All Representatives (25^th percentile).

Cosponsored the 4^th fewest bills compared to House Democrats

Clyburn cosponsored 97 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 South Carolina Delegation (29^th percentile); House Party Leaders (67^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (13^th percentile); House Democrats (1^st percentile); All Representatives (11^th percentile).

Was 6^th most absent in votes compared to Serving 10+ Years

Clyburn missed 13.1% of votes (92 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Clyburn’s Profile »

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (86^th percentile); House Party Leaders (89^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (96^th percentile); All Representatives (95^th 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.

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 24^th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 8 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 3 of Clyburn’s 11 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Clyburn caucused with in 2019.

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (29^th percentile); House Party Leaders (56^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (19^th percentile); House Democrats (10^th percentile); All Representatives (23^rd percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.

Introduced the 51^st fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 12 others)

Clyburn introduced 11 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills »

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (43^rd percentile); House Party Leaders (44^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (32^nd percentile); House Democrats (21^st percentile); All Representatives (41^st percentile).

Got influential cosponsors the 51^st least often compared to House Democrats (tied with 48 others)

2 of Clyburn’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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. 1943: Community Health Center and Primary …; H.R. 2055: An Act Targeting Resources to …

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (57^th percentile); House Party Leaders (33^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (31^st percentile); House Democrats (21^st percentile); All Representatives (40^th percentile).

Laws Enacted

Clyburn introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. 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. 972: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park …

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (43^rd percentile); House Party Leaders (67^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53^rd percentile); House Democrats (57^th percentile); All Representatives (63^rd 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.

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Clyburn introduced 3 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.Res. 41: Rejecting White nationalism and White …; H.R. 972: Reconstruction Era National Historical Park …; H.R. 1112: Enhanced Background Checks Act of …

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (57^th percentile); House Party Leaders (33^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (57^th percentile); House Democrats (48^th percentile); All Representatives (66^th percentile).

Committee Positions

Clyburn 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 Clyburn’s Profile »

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (0^th percentile); House Party Leaders (0^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0^th percentile); House Democrats (0^th percentile); All Representatives (0^th percentile).

Cosponsors

Clyburn’s bills and resolutions had 288 cosponsors in 2019. 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 South Carolina Delegation (71^st percentile); House Party Leaders (56^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (51^st percentile); House Democrats (50^th percentile); All Representatives (67^th percentile).

Leadership Score

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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Clyburn’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (71^st percentile); House Party Leaders (56^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (51^st percentile); House Democrats (47^th percentile); All Representatives (66^th percentile).