Lieberman was a senator from Connecticut and was most recently an Independent (2007-2012) and previously a Democrat (1989-2006). He served from 1989 to 2012.
![Photo of Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I-CT, 1989-2012]](/static/legislator-photos/300067-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Lieberman is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the Senate in 2013 positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Lieberman sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 4, 2007 to Jan 2, 2013. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Lieberman was the primary sponsor of 28 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 3564 (112th): Public Interest Declassification Board Reauthorization Act of 2012
- S. 3625 (112th): A bill to change the effective date for the internet publication of certain information to prevent harm to the national security or endangering the military officers and …
- S. 2038 (112th): STOCK Act
- S. 1990 (112th): A bill to require the Transportation Security Administration to comply with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
- S. 4023 (111th): Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010
- S. 4022 (111th): Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010
- S. 1510 (111th): United States Secret Service Uniformed Division Modernization Act of 2010
Does 28 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
Lieberman sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (31%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (24%) Emergency Management (10%) Armed Forces and National Security (8%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (8%) Education (7%) International Affairs (7%) Economics and Public Finance (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Lieberman recently introduced the following legislation:
- S. 3695 (112th): EACH Act
- S. 3696 (112th): New Columbia Admission Act
- S.Res. 621 (112th): A resolution condemning the horrific attacks in Newtown, Connecticut, and expressing support …
- S.Res. 613 (112th): A resolution urging the governments of Europe and the European Union to …
- S.Res. 583 (112th): A resolution designating September 2012 as “National Preparedness Month”.
- S. 3625 (112th): A bill to change the effective date for the internet publication of …
- S. 3564 (112th): Public Interest Declassification Board Reauthorization Act of 2012
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1989 to Jan 2013, Lieberman missed 485 of 7,907 roll call votes, which is 6.1%. This is much worse than the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of senators serving in Jan 2013. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
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
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
