James Sensenbrenner Jr., Representative for Wisconsin's 5th Congressional District

Analysis

Our unique analysis of the bills Sensenbrenner has sponsored and cosponsored provides insight into his position in the House of Representatives.

Each dot in the chart below is a member of the House of Representatives. The dots are positioned horizontally according to our progressive—conservative ideology score and vertically according to our leadership score (leaders toward the top). Sensenbrenner is shown as a purple triangle. (analysis methodology)

2015 Statistics

Read our 2015 Report Card for Sensenbrenner for more statistics.

Committee Membership

James Sensenbrenner Jr. sits on the following committees:

House Committee on the Judiciary
- Chairman, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations
- Member, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
- Member, Subcommittee on Environment
- Member, Subcommittee on Oversight

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Sensenbrenner sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Crime and Law Enforcement (30%) Health (15%) Taxation (15%) Energy (12%) Environmental Protection (10%) Immigration (7%) International Affairs (7%) Transportation and Public Works (5%)

Recent Bills

Some of Sensenbrenner’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » (including bills from previous years)

Voting Record

See how presidential campaigns affect voting records.

From Jan 1979 to Sep 2016, Sensenbrenner missed 340 of 22,553 roll call votes, which is 1.5%. This is better than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. ProPublica has tracked 8 explanations for these missed votes. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1979 Jan-Mar	63	0	0.0%	0^th
1979 Apr-Jun	221	2	0.9%	10^th
1979 Jul-Sep	198	0	0.0%	0^th
1979 Oct-Dec	190	4	2.1%	10^th
1980 Jan-Mar	148	9	6.1%	30^th
1980 Apr-Jun	197	2	1.0%	0^th
1980 Jul-Sep	192	0	0.0%	0^th
1980 Oct-Dec	67	2	3.0%	30^th
1981 Jan-Mar	15	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Apr-Jun	90	3	3.3%	13^th
1981 Jul-Sep	106	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Oct-Dec	142	1	0.7%	7^th
1982 Feb-Mar	48	0	0.0%	0^th
1982 Apr-Jun	119	0	0.0%	0^th
1982 Jul-Sep	193	6	3.1%	20^th
1982 Oct-Dec	99	0	0.0%	0^th
1983 Jan-Mar	43	1	2.3%	13^th
1983 Apr-Jun	182	0	0.0%	0^th
1983 Jul-Sep	130	0	0.0%	0^th
1983 Oct-Nov	143	3	2.1%	30^th
1984 Jan-Mar	53	1	1.9%	30^th
1984 Apr-Jun	223	130	58.3%	96^th
1984 Jul-Sep	96	1	1.0%	17^th
1984 Oct-Oct	36	5	13.9%	74^th
1985 Jan-Mar	36	1	2.8%	24^th
1985 Apr-Jun	154	0	0.0%	0^th
1985 Jul-Sep	101	3	3.0%	36^th
1985 Oct-Dec	148	3	2.0%	28^th
1986 Jan-Mar	61	3	4.9%	52^nd
1986 Apr-Jun	128	2	1.6%	32^nd
1986 Jul-Sep	202	1	0.5%	16^th
1986 Oct-Oct	60	0	0.0%	0^th
1987 Jan-Mar	39	0	0.0%	0^th
1987 Apr-Jun	187	4	2.1%	33^rd
1987 Jul-Sep	95	0	0.0%	0^th
1987 Oct-Dec	167	5	3.0%	27^th
1988 Feb-Mar	49	1	2.0%	43^rd
1988 Apr-Jun	161	0	0.0%	0^th
1988 Jul-Sep	152	3	2.0%	40^th
1988 Oct-Oct	89	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Jan-Mar	14	1	7.1%	50^th
1989 Apr-Jun	105	2	1.9%	35^th
1989 Jul-Sep	128	2	1.6%	35^th
1989 Oct-Nov	121	1	0.8%	19^th
1990 Jan-Mar	60	2	3.3%	55^th
1990 Apr-Jun	150	0	0.0%	0^th
1990 Jul-Sep	183	0	0.0%	0^th
1990 Oct-Oct	143	0	0.0%	0^th
1991 Jan-Mar	62	1	1.6%	28^th
1991 Apr-Jun	139	0	0.0%	0^th
1991 Jul-Sep	81	1	1.2%	14^th
1991 Oct-Nov	162	2	1.2%	20^th
1992 Jan-Mar	66	0	0.0%	0^th
1992 Apr-Jun	185	0	0.0%	0^th
1992 Jul-Sep	196	0	0.0%	0^th
1992 Oct-Oct	41	6	14.6%	91^st
1993 Jan-Mar	127	0	0.0%	0^th
1993 Apr-Jun	190	0	0.0%	0^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	0	0.0%	0^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	0	0.0%	0^th
1994 Jan-Mar	95	0	0.0%	0^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	0	0.0%	0^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	0	0.0%	0^th
1994 Oct-Nov	51	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Jan-Mar	279	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Apr-Jun	189	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Jul-Sep	232	1	0.4%	22^nd
1995 Oct-Dec	185	0	0.0%	0^th
1996 Jan-Mar	110	0	0.0%	0^th
1996 Apr-Jun	182	0	0.0%	0^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Jan-Mar	71	7	9.9%	91^st
1997 Apr-Jun	174	3	1.7%	46^th
1997 Jul-Sep	232	1	0.4%	12^th
1997 Oct-Nov	163	1	0.6%	18^th
1998 Jan-Mar	89	1	1.1%	23^rd
1998 Apr-Jun	185	4	2.2%	46^th
1998 Jul-Sep	199	1	0.5%	17^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Jan-Mar	77	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Jul-Sep	204	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Oct-Nov	146	0	0.0%	0^th
2000 Jan-Mar	95	0	0.0%	0^th
2000 Apr-Jun	277	7	2.5%	52^nd
2000 Jul-Sep	130	0	0.0%	0^th
2000 Oct-Dec	101	3	3.0%	26^th
2001 Jan-Mar	75	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	6	4.4%	76^th
2001 Jul-Sep	149	1	0.7%	24^th
2001 Oct-Dec	153	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Jan-Mar	79	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	1	0.5%	14^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	4	6.6%	77^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	2	2.1%	52^nd
2003 Apr-Jun	239	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	1	0.7%	21^st
2004 Jan-Mar	104	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Oct-Dec	58	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	9	5.5%	76^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	5	6.2%	80^th
2006 Apr-Jun	276	4	1.4%	37^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	0	0.0%	0^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	6	22.2%	90^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	4	1.9%	53^rd
2007 Apr-Jun	393	1	0.3%	9^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	3	0.9%	22^nd
2007 Oct-Dec	263	0	0.0%	0^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	0	0.0%	0^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	11	3.4%	57^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	10	4.9%	71^st
2008 Oct-Dec	15	7	46.7%	96^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	0	0.0%	0^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	0	0.0%	0^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	0	0.0%	0^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	1	0.7%	22^nd
2010 Nov-Dec	99	1	1.0%	19^th
2011 Jan-Mar	212	0	0.0%	0^th
2011 Apr-Jun	281	1	0.4%	18^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	2	0.8%	36^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Apr-Jun	299	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Jul-Sep	152	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Nov-Dec	51	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	6	6.7%	82^nd
2013 Apr-Jun	215	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jul-Sep	200	8	4.0%	79^th
2013 Oct-Dec	137	1	0.7%	29^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	2	1.4%	39^th
2014 Apr-Jun	219	0	0.0%	0^th
2014 Jul-Sep	147	0	0.0%	0^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Oct-Dec	177	0	0.0%	0^th
2016 Jan-Mar	137	0	0.0%	0^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	0	0.0%	0^th
2016 Jul-Sep	214	0	0.0%	0^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
Congressional Biographical Directory for elected positions
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
GPO Member Guide for the photo
GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills

Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr.

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