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Rep. John R. Carter’s 2018 Report Card

Representative from Texas's 31st District
Republican
Serving Jan 7, 2003 – Jan 3, 2025

These statistics cover Carter’s record during the 115th Congress (Jan 3, 2017-Jan 3, 2019) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 20, 2019.

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 Carter’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 bicameral support on the 6th fewest bills compared to Texas Delegation (tied with 6 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 1 of Carter’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. 4854: Justice Served Act of 2018

Compare to all Texas Delegation (14th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (9th percentile); House Republicans (16th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile).

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

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 9th fewest bills compared to Texas Delegation (tied with 2 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 5 of Carter’s 8 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Carter caucused with in the 115th Congress.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25th percentile); House Republicans (29th percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile).

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

Cosponsored the 15th fewest bills compared to Serving 10+ Years

Carter cosponsored 114 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 (8th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (7th percentile); House Republicans (11th percentile); All Representatives (8th percentile).

 

Joined bipartisan bills the 32nd least often compared to Serving 10+ Years

Of the 114 bills that Carter cosponsored, 13% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (47th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); House Republicans (50th percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile).

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

Wrote the 27th most laws compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 15 others)

Carter introduced 3 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 115th 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. 1133: Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of …; H.R. 3355: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations …; H.R. 4854: Justice Served Act of 2018

Compare to all Texas Delegation (72nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (78th percentile); House Republicans (72nd percentile); All Representatives (81st 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.
 

Introduced the 49th fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 14 others)

Carter introduced 8 bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (14th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (12th percentile); House Republicans (11th percentile); All Representatives (11th percentile).

 

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Carter introduced 5 bills in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 495: Protection of Children Act of …; H.R. 1133: Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of …; H.R. 3355: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations …; H.R. 4854: Justice Served Act of 2018; H.R. 6447: Department of Homeland Security Chief …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (64th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (70th percentile); House Republicans (50th percentile); All Representatives (68th percentile).

 

Powerful Cosponsors

4 of Carter’s bills and resolutions in the 115th 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. 613: Supporting the goal of ensuring …; H.R. 1133: Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of …; H.R. 4854: Justice Served Act of 2018; H.R. 6447: Department of Homeland Security Chief …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (53rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50th percentile); House Republicans (62nd percentile); All Representatives (56th percentile).

 

Committee Positions

Carter 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 Carter’s Profile »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (19th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (21st percentile); House Republicans (37th percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile).

 

Cosponsors

Carter’s bills and resolutions had 136 cosponsors in the 115th 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 (28th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (27th percentile); House Republicans (37th percentile); All Representatives (30th percentile).

 

Missed Votes

Carter missed 3.2% of votes (39 of 1,210 votes) in the 115th Congress. View Carter’s Profile »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50th percentile); All Representatives (58th 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.
 

Government Transparency

GovTrack looked at whether Carter supported any of 32 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Carter 2 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Carter cosponsored H.R. 24: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of …; H.R. 4396: ME TOO Congress Act

Compare to all Texas Delegation (53rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (45th percentile); House Republicans (47th 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 the 115th Congress) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.