Skeen was the representative for New Mexico’s 2nd congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 1981 to 2002.
![Photo of Rep. Joseph Skeen [R-NM2, 1981-2002]](/static/legislator-photos/400534-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Skeen is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2002 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 Skeen sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 7, 1997 to Nov 19, 2002. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Skeen was the primary sponsor of 18 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 706 (107th): Lease Lot Conveyance Act of 2002
- H.R. 1913 (107th): To require the valuation of nontribal interest ownership of subsurface rights within the boundaries of the Acoma Indian Reservation, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 2217 (107th): Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002
- H.R. 4461 (106th): Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001
- H.R. 1906 (106th): Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000
- H.R. 3731 (105th): To designate the auditorium located within the Sandia Technology Transfer Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the “Steve Schiff Auditorium”.
- H.R. 3035 (105th): National Drought Policy Act of 1998
Does 18 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
Skeen sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Public Lands and Natural Resources (17%) Government Operations and Politics (16%) Economics and Public Finance (14%) Law (14%) Energy (11%) Water Resources Development (11%) Environmental Protection (10%) Agriculture and Food (10%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Skeen recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 5093 (107th): Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003
- H.R. 2217 (107th): Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002
- H.R. 1913 (107th): To require the valuation of nontribal interest ownership of subsurface rights within …
- H.R. 706 (107th): Lease Lot Conveyance Act of 2002
- H.R. 5426 (106th): Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, …
- H.R. 5359 (106th): Lease Lot Conveyance Act of 2000
- H.R. 4724 (106th): To require the valuation of nontribal interest ownership of subsurface rights within …
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Jan 1981 to Nov 2002, Skeen missed 158 of 11,242 roll call votes, which is 1.4%. This is better than the median of 2.8% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Nov 2002. 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
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
