Burton was the representative for California’s 5th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1975 to 1982.
He was previously the representative for California’s 6th congressional district as a Democrat from 1973 to 1974.
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Burton is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 1982 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 Burton sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 4, 1977 to Dec 21, 1982. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Burton was the primary sponsor of 12 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.J.Res. 207 (97th): A joint resolution to require the Secretary of the Interior to place a plaque at the United States Marine Corps War Memorial honoring Joseph Rosenthal, photographer of …
- H.R. 3478 (97th): An act for the relief of Mrs. Haruko Kubota Smith.
- H.R. 7072 (96th): A bill to amend sections 5702 and 5704 of Title 5, United States Code, to increase the maximum rates for per diem and actual subsistence expenses and …
- H.J.Res. 244 (96th): A joint resolution to authorize and request the President to issue annually a proclamation designating the first Sunday of September following Labor Day of each year as …
- H.R. 2291 (95th): A bill for the relief of Carmen Cecilia Blanquicett.
- H.R. 13767 (95th): A bill to amend the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to permit the recovery of replacement cost of motor vehicles and other related equipment …
- H.R. 12583 (95th): Federal Information Centers Act
Does 12 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
Burton sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (20%) Private Legislation (18%) Families (17%) Social Welfare (12%) Health (11%) Armed Forces and National Security (9%) Immigration (7%) Economics and Public Finance (7%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Burton recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 5407 (97th): A bill to amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 for …
- H.R. 5408 (97th): A bill to amend the Small Business Act with respect to disaster …
- H.R. 5065 (97th): A bill to protect retired and disabled persons by preserving the integrity …
- H.R. 5035 (97th): A bill to amend the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 as it …
- H.Res. 249 (97th): A resolution calling for an international nuclear weapons ban.
- H.R. 4256 (97th): A bill for the relief of Reynaldo B. Nidoy and Bella Anderson …
- H.R. 3945 (97th): A bill to provide benefits under part B of the medicare program …
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Jan 1973 to Dec 1982, Burton missed 1,833 of 5,806 roll call votes, which is 31.6%. This is much worse than the median of 7.8% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 1982. 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
- 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
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
