Rep. John D. Dingell’s 2014 Report Card
Representative
from Michigan's 12th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2015
These statistics cover Dingell’s record during the 113th Congress (Jan 3, 2013-Jan 2, 2015) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 12, 2015. Although Rep. Suzan DelBene [D-WA1], Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY4], Rep. Donald Payne [D-NJ10], and Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] served in the 112th Congress, they took office within the last two months of the 112th Congress and here are grouped with other freshmen for the 113th Congress.
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 Dingell’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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Introduced the fewest bills compared to Michigan DelegationDingell introduced 3 bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (5th percentile); House Democrats (3rd percentile); Safe House Seats (4th percentile); All Representatives (3rd percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the least often compared to Michigan Delegation0 of Dingell’s bills and resolutions in the 113th 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 Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Got the fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Michigan DelegationDingell’s bills and resolutions had 23 cosponsors in the 113th 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 Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (8th percentile); House Democrats (7th percentile); Safe House Seats (7th percentile); All Representatives (7th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 3rd most often compared to Michigan DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 172 bills that Dingell cosponsored, 31% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (79th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (78th percentile); House Democrats (49th percentile); Safe House Seats (79th percentile); All Representatives (75th 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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Cosponsored the 18th fewest bills compared to House DemocratsDingell cosponsored 172 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 Michigan Delegation (29th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); House Democrats (8th percentile); Safe House Seats (21st percentile); All Representatives (20th percentile). |
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Was 30th most absent in votes compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)Dingell missed 9.3% of votes (112 of 1,204 votes) in the 113th Congress. View Dingell’s Profile » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (93rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (90th percentile); Safe House Seats (92nd percentile); All Representatives (93rd 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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Got bicameral support on the 45th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 41 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 4421: MotorCities National Heritage Area Extension … Compare to all Michigan Delegation (36th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (18th percentile); House Democrats (21st percentile); Safe House Seats (23rd percentile); All Representatives (23rd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Laws EnactedDingell introduced 0 bills that became law in the 113th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (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 Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Dingell introduced 0 bills in the 113th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Compare to all Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Committee PositionsDingell held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Dingell’s Profile » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Dingell supported any of 12 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Dingell 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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 113th Congress) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
