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 Feb 13, 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 23 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- 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
- S. 2376: A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 515 Hope Street in Bristol, Rhode Island, as the “First Sergeant P. Andrew McKenna ...
- S. 2271: Museum and Library Services Act of 2017
Does 23 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%) Education (21%) Health (16%) Government Operations and Politics (8%) Armed Forces and National Security (6%) Taxation (6%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (5%) Labor and Employment (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Reed’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 3198: Suicide Prevention Act
- S. 3028: Partnerships for Affordability and Student Success Act
- S. 2997: Title VII Health Care Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019
- S. 2847: A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located ...
- S. 2801: A bill to strengthen the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.
- S. 2685: Consumer Credit Control Act of 2019
- S. 2443: Investment in Tomorrow’s Pediatric Health Care Workforce Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1997 to Feb 2020, Reed missed 38 of 7,314 roll call votes, which is 0.5%. This is better than the median of 1.5% 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
