Sensenbrenner is the representative for Wisconsin’s 5th congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 7, 2003. Sensenbrenner is next up for reelection in 2020 and serves until Jan 3, 2021 unless re-elected.
He was previously the representative for Wisconsin’s 9th congressional district as a Republican from 1979 to 2002.
![Photo of Rep. James Sensenbrenner [R-WI5]](/static/legislator-photos/400365-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Sensenbrenner.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Sensenbrenner 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 Sensenbrenner has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Sep 29, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
James Sensenbrenner Jr. sits on the following committees:
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House Committee on the Judiciary
- Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law subcommittee Ranking Member
Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security subcommittees - House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Enacted Legislation
Sensenbrenner was the primary sponsor of 43 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 6896 (115th): United States Parole Commission Extension Act of 2018
- H.R. 4447 (115th): CyberTipline Modernization Act of 2017
- H.R. 510 (115th): Rapid DNA Act of 2017
- H.R. 2899 (115th): Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2017
- H.R. 5046 (114th): Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016
- H.R. 1428 (114th): Judicial Redress Act of 2015
- H.R. 2048 (114th): USA FREEDOM Act of 2015
Does 43 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
Sensenbrenner sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Crime and Law Enforcement (32%) Taxation (16%) Health (14%) Immigration (11%) International Affairs (7%) Environmental Protection (7%) Government Operations and Politics (7%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Sensenbrenner’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 5447: To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans ...
- H.R. 3972: Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2019
- H.R. 3954: To amend title 35, United States Code, to include the exclusive economic zone ...
- H.R. 3493: United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs Act of 2019
- H.R. 3396: Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders Research Enhancement Act of 2019
- H.R. 2935: Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues Act
- H.R. 2835: Deterring Undue Enforcement by Protecting Rights Of Citizens from Excessive Searches and Seizures ...
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1979 to Sep 2020, Sensenbrenner missed 500 of 24,743 roll call votes, which is 2.0%. This is on par with the median of 2.2% 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
- 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
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
