Waters is the representative for California’s 43rd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 3, 2013. Waters’s current term ends on Jan 3, 2023.
She was previously the representative for California’s 35th congressional district as a Democrat from 1993 to 2012; and the representative for California’s 29th congressional district as a Democrat from 1991 to 1992.
![Photo of Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA43]](/static/legislator-photos/400422-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Waters 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 Waters has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Dec 2, 2022. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Maxine Waters sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Waters was the primary sponsor of 9 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 6340: To establish the United States policy on Burma at the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, and the Asian Development Bank, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 4111: Sovereign Debt Contract Capacity Act
- H.R. 1725: Emergency Assistance for Renters Act of 2021
- H.R. 1724: Emergency Housing Voucher Act of 2021
- H.R. 3827 (114th): Project-Based Voucher Improvement Act of 2015
- H.R. 5569 (111th): National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2010
- H.R. 4573 (111th): Haiti Debt Relief and Earthquake Recovery Act of 2010
Does 9 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
Waters sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Finance and Financial Sector (35%) Housing and Community Development (24%) Health (13%) Armed Forces and National Security (7%) International Affairs (7%) Education (5%) Crime and Law Enforcement (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Waters recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 8907: Kevin and Avonte’s Law Reauthorization Act of 2022
- H.R. 8833: Making Communities Stronger through the Community Reinvestment Act
- H.R. 8798: The INCSR Improvement Act
- H.R. 8797: Caribbean Stakeholders Engagement Act
- H.R. 8484: Aligning SEC Regulations for the World Bank’s International Development Association Act
- H.R. 8483: Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act of 2022
- H.R. 7977: Promoting Opportunities for Non-Traditional Capital Formation Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1991 to Dec 2022, Waters missed 1,390 of 19,974 roll call votes, which is 7.0%. This is much worse than 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
