Rep. Joe Wilson’s 2015 Report Card
Representative
from South Carolina's 2nd District
Republican
Serving Dec 18, 2001 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Wilson’s record during the 2015 legislative year (Jan 6, 2015-Dec 31, 2015) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 9, 2016.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Wilson’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Got the most cosponsors on their bills compared to South Carolina DelegationWilson’s bills and resolutions had 258 cosponsors in 2015. 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 South Carolina Delegation (86th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (64th percentile); House Republicans (75th percentile); Safe House Seats (72nd percentile); All Representatives (74th percentile). |
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Was 2nd most present in votes compared to South Carolina Delegation (tied with 1 other)Wilson missed 2.8% of votes (20 of 704 votes) in 2015. View Wilson’s Profile » Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (14th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (58th percentile); Safe House Seats (65th percentile); All Representatives (67th 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. |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 36th least often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 1 other)Of the 192 bills that Wilson cosponsored, 10% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (57th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (21st percentile); House Republicans (53rd percentile); Safe House Seats (32nd percentile); All Representatives (30th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Got influential cosponsors the 33rd least often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 28 others)1 of Wilson’s bills and resolutions in 2015 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.R. 1594: Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (43rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (19th percentile); House Republicans (22nd percentile); Safe House Seats (20th percentile); All Representatives (21st percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 53rd most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 2 others)Wilson cosponsored 192 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 South Carolina Delegation (71st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (56th percentile); House Republicans (78th percentile); Safe House Seats (59th percentile); All Representatives (59th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedWilson introduced 0 bills that became law in 2015. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). A bill or joint resolution is considered enacted if it or an exactly identical bill to it is enacted as law. We only consider bills that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Bills IntroducedWilson introduced 8 bills and resolutions in 2015. View Bills » Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (71st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (30th percentile); House Republicans (37th percentile); Safe House Seats (34th percentile); All Representatives (35th percentile). |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Wilson introduced 0 bills in 2015 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 524: Local Control of Education Act; H.R. 4022: National Labor Relations Board Reform … Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (71st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (49th percentile); House Republicans (55th percentile); Safe House Seats (53rd percentile); All Representatives (55th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsWilson 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 Wilson’s Profile » Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (43rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); House Republicans (38th percentile); Safe House Seats (36th percentile); All Representatives (38th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Wilson supported any of 28 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Wilson 1 point, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Wilson cosponsored H.R. 4177: Stop Foreign Donations Affecting Our … Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (43rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (41st percentile); House Republicans (69th percentile); Safe House Seats (41st percentile); All Representatives (43rd percentile). |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of 2015) was the 114th Congress (freshmen) or 113th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
