Sen. Maria Cantwell’s 2013 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Washington
Democrat
Serving Jan 3, 2001 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Cantwell’s record during the 2013 legislative year (Jan 3, 2013-Dec 26, 2013) and compare her to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Dec 1, 2014. On Dec. 1, 2014, the statistics were updated to remove Sen. Schatz from the list of Senate sophomores. Schatz only served for several days in the preceding Congress.
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 Cantwell’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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Cosponsored the 4th fewest bills compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembsCantwell cosponsored 92 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 Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (7th percentile); Senate Democrats (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (14th percentile); All Senators (16th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 6th highest % of bills compared to All Senators (tied with 2 others)In this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 53% of Cantwell’s 15 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2013. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (89th percentile); All Senators (89th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Got bicameral support on the 9th fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 3 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 41: A bill to provide a …; S. 497: San Juan Islands National Conservation … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (20th percentile); Senate Democrats (15th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (18th percentile); All Senators (21st percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 11th least often compared to Serving 10+ YearsOf the 92 bills that Cantwell cosponsored, 15% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (20th percentile); Senate Democrats (35th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (18th percentile); All Senators (19th 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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Introduced the 12th fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 2 others)Cantwell introduced 15 bills and resolutions in 2013. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (24th percentile); Senate Democrats (21st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25th percentile); All Senators (33rd percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 11th least often compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 8 others)2 of Cantwell’s bills and resolutions in 2013 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: S. 919: Department of the Interior Tribal …; S. 1352: Native American Housing Assistance and … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (24th percentile); Senate Democrats (32nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (27th percentile); All Senators (39th percentile). |
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Ranked 23rd most politically left compared to All SenatorsOur 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 2013 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Cantwell’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (22nd percentile); Senate Democrats (40th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); All Senators (22nd percentile). |
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Was 17th most present in votes compared to All Senators (tied with 13 others)Cantwell missed 0.3% of votes (1 of 291 votes) in 2013. View Cantwell’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (17th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (16th percentile); All Senators (16th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedCantwell introduced 0 bills that became law in 2013. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (0th percentile); Senate Democrats (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). We only count enacted bills (and joint resolutions) that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through companion bills or incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Cantwell introduced 2 bills in 2013 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 507: Manhattan Project National Historical Park …; S. 1352: Native American Housing Assistance and … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (37th percentile); Senate Democrats (34th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (39th percentile); All Senators (48th percentile). |
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Committee PositionsCantwell held a leadership position on 1 committee and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Cantwell’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); All Senators (64th percentile). |
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CosponsorsCantwell’s bills and resolutions had 96 cosponsors in 2013. 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 Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (37th percentile); Senate Democrats (32nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (30th percentile); All Senators (38th percentile). |
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Leadership ScoreOur 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 2013 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Cantwell’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (39th percentile); Senate Democrats (34th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (34th percentile); All Senators (47th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Cantwell supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Cantwell 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (0th percentile); Senate Democrats (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). |
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 2013) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
