McGovern is the representative for Massachusetts’s 2nd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. McGovern is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
He was previously the representative for Massachusetts’s 3rd congressional district as a Democrat from 1997 to 2012.
![Photo of Rep. James “Jim” McGovern [D-MA2]](/static/legislator-photos/400263-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
McGovern is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives 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 McGovern has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to May 24, 2022. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
James “Jim” McGovern sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
McGovern was the primary sponsor of 12 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 6256: To ensure that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the United States market, and …
- H.R. 4331 (116th): Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019
- H.R. 1872 (115th): Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018
- H.R. 3105 (115th): Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act
- H.R. 4405 (112th): Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012
- H.R. 4017 (111th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 43 Maple Avenue in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, as the “Ann Marie Blute Post Office”.
- H.R. 2478 (111th): Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009
Does 12 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
McGovern sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (39%) Health (27%) Agriculture and Food (12%) Private Legislation (8%) Armed Forces and National Security (6%)
Recently Introduced Bills
McGovern recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.Res. 1118: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States recognizes …
- H.Res. 1052: Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Move Over Law Day.
- H.Res. 973: Providing for consideration of Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 2471) to measure …
- H.Res. 972: Providing for consideration of Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 2471) to measure …
- H.Res. 950: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3967) to improve health care and …
- H.R. 6743: LUNCHES Act of 2022
- H.R. 6718: Healthy Breakfasts Help Kids Learn Act of 2022
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1997 to May 2022, McGovern missed 242 of 16,343 roll call votes, which is 1.5%. This is on par with the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. 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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills