Clark is the representative for Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Dec 12, 2013. Clark is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
She is also Assistant Speaker of the House, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.
![Photo of Rep. Katherine Clark [D-MA5]](/static/legislator-photos/412600-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 Report Card for Clark.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Clark is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives 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 Clark has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Mar 3, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Enacted Legislation
Clark was the primary sponsor of 6 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 5314 (116th): Support for Veterans in Effective Apprenticeships Act of 2019
- H.R. 5102 (115th): Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Act of 2018
- H.R. 3528 (115th): Every Prescription Conveyed Securely Act
- H.R. 909 (115th): Pet and Women Safety Act of 2017
- H.R. 4599 (114th): Reducing Unused Medications Act of 2016
- H.R. 1462 (114th): Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015
Does 6 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
Clark sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Education (33%) Crime and Law Enforcement (26%) Health (17%) Taxation (7%) International Affairs (7%) Government Operations and Politics (5%) Labor and Employment (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Clark’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.Res. 35: Electing Members to certain standing committees of the House of Representatives.
- H.R. 8533 (116th): SAVE Federally-Assisted Housing Act
- H.R. 7201 (116th): Child Care is Infrastructure Act
- H.R. 6025 (116th): Clean Air Sharp Minds Act
- H.R. 5477 (116th): To prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from denying home loans for ...
- H.R. 5314 (116th): Support for Veterans in Effective Apprenticeships Act of 2019
- H.R. 5189 (116th): BABIES Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
As Assistant Speaker of the House, Clark may be focused on her responsibilities other than introducing legislation, such as setting the chamber’s agenda, uniting her party, and brokering deals.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Dec 2013 to Mar 2021, Clark missed 85 of 4,118 roll call votes, which is 2.1%. This is on par with the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of representatives 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
