Rep. Katherine Clark’s 2020 Report Card
Representative
from Massachusetts's 5th District
Democrat
Serving Dec 12, 2013 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Clark’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare her to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Clark’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Introduced the fewest bills compared to Massachusetts DelegationClark introduced 16 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (13th percentile); All Representatives (33rd percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the least often compared to Massachusetts Delegation (tied with 1 other)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Clark introduced 1 bill in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 5314: Support for Veterans in Effective … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (4th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the least often compared to Massachusetts Delegation (tied with 1 other)2 of Clark’s bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward. Those bills were: H.R. 1581: Reproductive Rights are Human Rights …; H.R. 2148: BE HEARD in the Workplace … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (7th percentile); All Representatives (24th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 2nd fewest bills compared to Massachusetts DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 7 of Clark’s 16 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Clark caucused with in the 116th Congress. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (11th percentile); House Democrats (19th percentile); All Representatives (35th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Cosponsored the 2nd fewest bills compared to Massachusetts DelegationClark cosponsored 351 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (11th percentile); House Democrats (14th percentile); All Representatives (48th percentile). |
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Got the 3rd fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Massachusetts DelegationClark’s bills and resolutions had 390 cosponsors in the 116th Congress. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (22nd percentile); House Democrats (41st percentile); All Representatives (63rd percentile). |
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Ranked the 3rd bottom/follower compared to Massachusetts DelegationOur unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Clark’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (22nd percentile); House Democrats (46th percentile); All Representatives (67th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 23rd least often compared to All RepresentativesOf the 351 bills that Clark cosponsored, 5% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (11th percentile); House Democrats (9th percentile); All Representatives (5th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Ranked 56th most politically left compared to All RepresentativesOur unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Clark’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (33rd percentile); House Democrats (23rd percentile); All Representatives (13th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 72nd most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 15 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 1581: Reproductive Rights are Human Rights …; H.R. 1724: Higher Education Access and Success …; H.R. 2148: BE HEARD in the Workplace …; H.R. 4102: Screening All Fentanyl-Enhanced Mail Act …; H.R. 4381: Elementary and Secondary School Counseling …; H.R. 5314: Support for Veterans in Effective …; H.R. 5477: To prohibit the Secretary of … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (67th percentile); House Democrats (68th percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Laws EnactedClark introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: H.R. 5314: Support for Veterans in Effective … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (44th percentile); House Democrats (25th percentile); All Representatives (37th percentile). The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill. |
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Committee PositionsClark held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Clark’s Profile » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Missed VotesClark missed 1.5% of votes (14 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Clark’s Profile » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (33rd percentile); All Representatives (35th percentile). The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics. |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of the 116th Congress) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
