Rep. Joaquin Castro’s 2020 Report Card

Got bicameral support on the most bills compared to Texas Delegation

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 9 of Castro’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. 883: Families Belong Together Act; H.R. 1062: National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act …; H.R. 3551: Restoring Oversight for Members of …; H.R. 4864: Global Child Thrive Act of …; H.R. 6595: Expanding Vital American Citizen Services …; H.R. 8913: COVID–19 in Immigration Detention Data …; H.J.Res. 46: Relating to a national emergency …; H.J.Res. 75: Relating to a national emergency …; H.J.Res. 85: Relating to a national emergency …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (97^th percentile); House Democrats (78^th percentile); All Representatives (86^th percentile).

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

Introduced the 3^rd most bills compared to Texas Delegation

Castro introduced 39 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (91^st percentile); House Democrats (77^th percentile); All Representatives (86^th percentile).

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 3^rd most bills compared to Texas Delegation

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 18 of Castro’s 39 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Castro caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (91^st percentile); House Democrats (73^rd percentile); All Representatives (83^rd percentile).

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

Wrote the 4^th most laws compared to Texas Delegation

Castro introduced 2 bills 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. 4864: Global Child Thrive Act of …; H.R. 6315: COVID–19 National Service Response Act

Compare to all Texas Delegation (89^th percentile); House Democrats (57^th percentile); All Representatives (67^th 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.

Got their bills out of committee the 3^rd most often compared to Texas Delegation (tied with 2 others)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Castro introduced 7 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.Res. 349: Reaffirming the vital role of …; H.R. 115: Protecting Diplomats from Surveillance Through …; H.R. 753: Global Electoral Exchange Act of …; H.R. 4864: Global Child Thrive Act of …; H.R. 6315: COVID–19 National Service Response Act; H.R. 8409: Department of State Student Internship …; H.J.Res. 46: Relating to a national emergency …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (86^th percentile); House Democrats (72^nd percentile); All Representatives (83^rd percentile).

Ranked the 4^th top leader compared to Texas Delegation

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 the 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Castro’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (89^th percentile); House Democrats (70^th percentile); All Representatives (83^rd percentile).

Got influential cosponsors the 5^th most often compared to Texas Delegation

7 of Castro’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.Res. 349: Reaffirming the vital role of …; H.Res. 820: Expressing support for designation of …; H.Res. 858: Condemning Stephen Miller for his …; H.R. 115: Protecting Diplomats from Surveillance Through …; H.R. 5346: Jakelin Caal Death in Custody …; H.R. 8409: Department of State Student Internship …; H.J.Res. 46: Relating to a national emergency …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (86^th percentile); House Democrats (65^th percentile); All Representatives (79^th percentile).

Got the 5^th most cosponsors on their bills compared to Texas Delegation

Castro’s bills and resolutions had 697 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 (86^th percentile); House Democrats (70^th percentile); All Representatives (83^rd percentile).

Joined bipartisan bills the 6^th least often compared to Texas Delegation

Of the 347 bills that Castro cosponsored, 9% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (14^th percentile); House Democrats (49^th percentile); All Representatives (26^th percentile).

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

Ranked 6^th most politically left compared to Texas 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 the 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Castro’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (14^th percentile); House Democrats (46^th percentile); All Representatives (25^th percentile).

Cosponsored the 33^rd fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 1 other)

Castro cosponsored 347 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 (66^th percentile); House Democrats (14^th percentile); All Representatives (47^th percentile).

Committee Positions

Castro 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 Castro’s Profile »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (37^th percentile); House Democrats (40^th percentile); All Representatives (42^nd percentile).

Missed Votes

Castro missed 3.7% of votes (35 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Castro’s Profile »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (60^th percentile); All Representatives (70^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.