Rep. John Culberson’s 2018 Report Card
Representative
from Texas's 7th District
Republican
Served Jan 3, 2001 – Jan 3, 2019
These statistics cover Culberson’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 Culberson’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.
|
|
Got the 5th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Serving 10+ YearsCulberson’s bills and resolutions had 16 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 (3rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (2nd percentile); House Republicans (4th percentile); All Representatives (4th percentile). |
|
|
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 Those bills were: H.R. 650: MANIFEST for Human Spaceflight Act … 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. |
|
|
Joined bipartisan bills the 30th least often compared to Serving 10+ YearsOf the 187 bills that Culberson cosponsored, 13% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Texas Delegation (42nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (16th percentile); House Republicans (48th percentile); All Representatives (27th 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)Culberson 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. 3267: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related …; H.R. 4477: Fix NICS Act of 2017; H.R. 6672: Republic of Texas Legation Memorial … 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. |
|
|
Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 28th fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 21 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 2 of Culberson’s 8 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Culberson caucused with in the 115th Congress. Compare to all Texas Delegation (8th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (6th percentile); House Republicans (6th percentile); All Representatives (6th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
|
|
Cosponsored the 46th fewest bills compared to Serving 10+ YearsCulberson cosponsored 187 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 (42nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (24th percentile); House Republicans (42nd percentile); All Representatives (26th percentile). |
|
|
Introduced the 49th fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 14 others)Culberson 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 CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Culberson introduced 4 bills in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 3267: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related …; H.R. 4477: Fix NICS Act of 2017; H.R. 5952: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related …; H.R. 6672: Republic of Texas Legation Memorial … Compare to all Texas Delegation (44th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (58th percentile); House Republicans (35th percentile); All Representatives (55th percentile). |
|
|
Powerful Cosponsors0 of Culberson’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. Compare to all Texas Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
|
|
Committee PositionsCulberson 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 Culberson’s Profile » Compare to all Texas Delegation (19th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (21st percentile); House Republicans (37th percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile). |
|
|
Missed VotesCulberson missed 2.6% of votes (31 of 1,210 votes) in the 115th Congress. View Culberson’s Profile » Compare to all Texas Delegation (47th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (41st percentile); All Representatives (48th 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 TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Culberson supported any of 32 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Culberson 3 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Culberson cosponsored H.R. 24: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of …; H.R. 4396: ME TOO Congress Act; H.Res. 630: Requiring each Member, officer, and … Compare to all Texas Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68th percentile); House Republicans (70th percentile); All Representatives (68th 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.
