Reed is the senior senator from Rhode Island and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 7, 1997. Reed is next up for reelection in 2020.
He was previously the representative for Rhode Island’s 2nd congressional district as a Democrat from 1991 to 1996.
![Photo of Sen. John “Jack” Reed [D-RI]](/static/legislator-photos/300081-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Reed.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Reed is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Reed has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to May 21, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
John “Jack” Reed sits on the following committees:
- Senate Committee on Armed Services Ranking Member
- Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Ex Officio
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Senate Committee on Appropriations
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies subcommittee Ranking Member
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, Department of Defense, Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies subcommittees - Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Enacted Legislation
Reed was the primary sponsor of 25 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 3496: Preventing Layoffs During a Public Health Emergency Act of 2020
- S. 2997: Title VII Health Care Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019
- S. 1272: A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 575 Dexter Street in Central Falls, Rhode Island, as the “Elizabeth Buffum Chace Post ...
- S. 45: Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Wild and Scenic River Act
- S. 3530 (115th): Museum and Library Services Act of 2018
- S. 3414 (115th): A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 20 Ferry Road in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, as the “Captain Matthew J. August ...
- S. 292: Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research Act of 2018
Does 25 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
Reed sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Finance and Financial Sector (32%) Health (16%) Education (14%) Government Operations and Politics (9%) Labor and Employment (9%) Armed Forces and National Security (7%) Housing and Community Development (7%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Reed’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 3671: State & Local Emergency Stabilization Fund Act of 2020
- S. 3619: Strengthening Unemployment Insurance for Coronavirus Impacted Workers and Students Act
- S. 3620: A bill to establish a Housing Assistance Fund at the Department of the ...
- S. 3526: Protecting Taxpayer’s Return on Investment Act of 2020
- S. 3494: Layoff Prevention Act of 2020
- S. 3496: Preventing Layoffs During a Public Health Emergency Act of 2020
- S. 3198: Suicide Prevention Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1997 to May 2020, Reed missed 38 of 7,364 roll call votes, which is 0.5%. This is better than the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
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
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
