Boswell was the representative for Iowa’s 3rd congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1997 to 2012.
![Photo of Rep. Leonard Boswell [D-IA3, 1997-2012]](/static/legislator-photos/400042-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Boswell is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives 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 Boswell sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 4, 2007 to Jan 1, 2013. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Boswell was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 3386 (111th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1165 2nd Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa, as the “Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Memorial Post …
- H.R. 1045 (110th): To designate the Federal building located at 210 Walnut Street in Des Moines, Iowa, as the “Neal Smith Federal Building”.
- H.R. 327 (110th): Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act
Does 3 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
Boswell sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Agriculture and Food (18%) Health (18%) Taxation (16%) Armed Forces and National Security (12%) Government Operations and Politics (10%) Energy (10%) Education (10%) Transportation and Public Works (8%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Boswell recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.Res. 782 (112th): Supporting the goals and ideals of National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month.
- H.R. 5836 (112th): Veterans and Service Members Educational Benefits Safety Act
- H.R. 5834 (112th): National Education for Service Heritage Act
- H.R. 5835 (112th): Veterans Access to Capital Act of 2012
- H.R. 4869 (112th): Armed Forces Breast Cancer Research Act of 2012
- H.R. 4313 (112th): To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to require …
- H.Con.Res. 103 (112th): Expressing the sense of Congress that the effective Federal tax rate paid …
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1997 to Jan 2013, Boswell missed 360 of 10,969 roll call votes, which is 3.3%. This is on par with the median of 2.6% among the lifetime records of representatives 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
