Sestak was the representative for Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 2007 to 2010.
![Photo of Rep. Joe Sestak [D-PA7, 2007-2010]](/static/legislator-photos/412232-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Sestak is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2010 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 Sestak sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 4, 2005 to Dec 21, 2010. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Sestak was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 4547 (111th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 119 Station Road in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, as the “Captain Luther H. Smith, U.S. Army Air …
- H.R. 3625 (110th): To make permanent the waiver authority of the Secretary of Education with respect to student financial assistance during a war or other military operation or national emergency.
Does 2 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
Sestak sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (27%) Taxation (13%) Government Operations and Politics (12%) Economics and Public Finance (10%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (10%) Education (10%) Commerce (9%) Health (8%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Sestak recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 6141 (111th): Marcellus Shale On-the-Job Training Act of 2010
- H.R. 6121 (111th): Renewable Energy Investment Incentive Act of 2010
- H.Res. 1609 (111th): Recognizing the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure …
- H.R. 6101 (111th): To amend part A of title IV of the Energy Conservation and …
- H.R. 5864 (111th): Small Business Innovation through Investment Act of 2010
- H.R. 5799 (111th): Transportation Efficiency Act
- H.R. 5775 (111th): Grant Accessibility and Transparency Enhancement Act of 2010
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2007 to Dec 2010, Sestak missed 195 of 3,531 roll call votes, which is 5.5%. This is much worse than the median of 3.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2010. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
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
- Office of Congressman Sestak for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
