Meehan was the representative for Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1993 to 2007.
![Photo of Rep. Martin “Marty” Meehan [D-MA5, 1993-2007]](/static/legislator-photos/400269-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Meehan is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2008 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 Meehan sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 7, 2003 to Dec 10, 2008. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Meehan was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 394 (109th): To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a boundary study to evaluate the significance of the Colonel James Barrett Farm in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts …
- H.R. 193 (106th): Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Wild and Scenic River Act
Does 2 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
Meehan sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (22%) Crime and Law Enforcement (14%) Law (13%) Science, Technology, Communications (12%) Economics and Public Finance (10%) Armed Forces and National Security (10%) Commerce (10%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (9%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Meehan recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 2815 (110th): Minute Man National Historical Park Boundary Revision Act
- H.Res. 476 (110th): Condemning bigotry, violence, and discrimination against Iranian-Americans.
- H.R. 2093 (110th): To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to provide for additional …
- H.R. 1246 (110th): Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2007
- H.R. 1170 (110th): Comprehensive Awareness of Problem Gambling Act of 2007
- H.R. 776 (110th): Presidential Funding Act of 2007
- H.R. 420 (110th): 527 Reform Act of 2007
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1993 to Jun 2007, Meehan missed 501 of 8,900 roll call votes, which is 5.6%. This is much worse than the median of 3.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Jun 2007. 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
