Rep. Neal Smith

Former Representative for Iowa’s 4^th District

Smith was the representative for Iowa’s 4^th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1973 to 1994.

He was previously the representative for Iowa’s 5^th congressional district as a Democrat from 1959 to 1972.

Bioguide

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Enacted Legislation

Smith was the primary sponsor of 15 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

H.R. 4606 (103rd): Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1995
H.R. 2519 (103rd): Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1994
H.R. 5678 (102nd): Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993
H.R. 2608 (102nd): Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992
H.R. 5021 (101st): Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1991
H.R. 2991 (101st): Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1990
H.R. 4782 (100th): Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1989

View All »

Does 15 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 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Smith sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Government Operations and Politics (16%) International Affairs (13%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (13%) Economics and Public Finance (13%) Environmental Protection (13%) Commerce (11%) Agriculture and Food (11%) Health (11%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Smith recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

From Jan 1959 to Nov 1994, Smith missed 858 of 14,287 roll call votes, which is 6.0%. This is worse than the median of 3.4% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Nov 1994. 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.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1959 Jan-Apr	16	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 May-Aug	54	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 Sep-Sep	17	0	0.0%	0^th
1960 Feb-Apr	23	0	0.0%	0^th
1960 May-Aug	70	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 Jan-Apr	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 May-Aug	65	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 Sep-Sep	29	2	6.9%	80^th
1962 Jan-Mar	21	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Apr-Jun	32	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Jul-Sep	49	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Oct-Oct	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Jan-Mar	9	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Apr-Jun	31	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Jul-Sep	28	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Oct-Dec	50	0	0.0%	0^th
1964 Jan-Mar	26	0	0.0%	0^th
1964 Apr-Jun	34	0	0.0%	0^th
1964 Jul-Sep	49	0	0.0%	0^th
1964 Oct-Oct	4	0	0.0%	0^th
1965 Jan-Mar	28	2	7.1%	35^th
1965 Apr-Jun	53	3	5.7%	30^th
1965 Jul-Sep	98	12	12.2%	78^th
1965 Oct-Oct	22	5	22.7%	78^th
1966 Jan-Mar	30	11	36.7%	96^th
1966 Apr-Jun	51	2	3.9%	17^th
1966 Jul-Sep	72	8	11.1%	48^th
1966 Oct-Oct	40	2	5.0%	22^nd
1967 Jan-Mar	31	1	3.2%	62^nd
1967 Apr-Jun	57	2	3.5%	72^nd
1967 Jul-Sep	59	0	0.0%	0^th
1967 Oct-Dec	98	0	0.0%	0^th
1968 Jan-Mar	38	0	0.0%	0^th
1968 Apr-Jun	79	0	0.0%	0^th
1968 Jul-Sep	91	1	1.1%	24^th
1968 Oct-Oct	25	0	0.0%	0^th
1969 Jan-Mar	16	2	12.5%	74^th
1969 Apr-Jun	28	1	3.6%	25^th
1969 Jul-Sep	45	6	13.3%	59^th
1969 Oct-Dec	88	12	13.6%	48^th
1970 Jan-Mar	35	0	0.0%	0^th
1970 Apr-Jun	74	19	25.7%	76^th
1970 Jul-Sep	76	4	5.3%	27^th
1970 Oct-Dec	81	9	11.1%	33^rd
1971 Jan-Mar	22	5	22.7%	66^th
1971 Apr-Jun	90	7	7.8%	29^th
1971 Jul-Sep	74	5	6.8%	50^th
1971 Oct-Dec	134	6	4.5%	13^th
1972 Jan-Mar	64	14	21.9%	71^st
1972 Apr-Jun	114	9	7.9%	32^nd
1972 Jul-Sep	101	6	5.9%	39^th
1972 Oct-Oct	50	7	14.0%	54^th
1973 Jan-Mar	36	2	5.6%	39^th
1973 Apr-Jun	191	8	4.2%	27^th
1973 Jul-Sep	131	34	26.0%	95^th
1973 Oct-Dec	182	16	8.8%	58^th
1974 Jan-Mar	79	6	7.6%	40^th
1974 Apr-Jun	170	16	9.4%	49^th
1974 Jul-Sep	148	9	6.1%	53^rd
1974 Oct-Dec	141	8	5.7%	35^th
1975 Jan-Mar	68	0	0.0%	0^th
1975 Apr-Jun	199	5	2.5%	26^th
1975 Jul-Sep	154	5	3.2%	28^th
1975 Oct-Dec	191	11	5.8%	54^th
1976 Jan-Mar	106	2	1.9%	23^rd
1976 Apr-Jun	267	12	4.5%	25^th
1976 Jul-Sep	281	26	9.3%	68^th
1976 Oct-Oct	7	0	0.0%	0^th
1977 Jan-Mar	100	8	8.0%	64^th
1977 Apr-Jun	273	31	11.4%	70^th
1977 Jul-Sep	198	7	3.5%	34^th
1977 Oct-Dec	135	5	3.7%	39^th
1978 Jan-Mar	150	2	1.3%	15^th
1978 Apr-Jun	300	5	1.7%	13^th
1978 Jul-Sep	308	25	8.1%	58^th
1978 Oct-Oct	76	1	1.3%	16^th
1979 Jan-Mar	63	12	19.0%	85^th
1979 Apr-Jun	221	18	8.1%	61^st
1979 Jul-Sep	198	34	17.2%	88^th
1979 Oct-Dec	190	20	10.5%	55^th
1980 Jan-Mar	148	0	0.0%	0^th
1980 Apr-Jun	197	9	4.6%	38^th
1980 Jul-Sep	192	20	10.4%	66^th
1980 Oct-Dec	67	2	3.0%	21^st
1981 Jan-Mar	15	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Apr-Jun	90	3	3.3%	28^th
1981 Jul-Sep	106	5	4.7%	49^th
1981 Oct-Dec	142	5	3.5%	32^nd
1982 Feb-Mar	48	2	4.2%	39^th
1982 Apr-Jun	119	1	0.8%	11^th
1982 Jul-Sep	193	7	3.6%	33^rd
1982 Oct-Dec	99	3	3.0%	25^th
1983 Jan-Mar	43	3	7.0%	48^th
1983 Apr-Jun	182	11	6.0%	49^th
1983 Jul-Sep	130	0	0.0%	0^th
1983 Oct-Nov	143	7	4.9%	49^th
1984 Jan-Mar	53	15	28.3%	94^th
1984 Apr-Jun	223	21	9.4%	68^th
1984 Jul-Sep	96	1	1.0%	20^th
1984 Oct-Oct	36	1	2.8%	30^th
1985 Jan-Mar	36	0	0.0%	0^th
1985 Apr-Jun	154	7	4.5%	49^th
1985 Jul-Sep	101	5	5.0%	58^th
1985 Oct-Dec	148	5	3.4%	53^rd
1986 Jan-Mar	61	11	18.0%	86^th
1986 Apr-Jun	128	13	10.2%	88^th
1986 Jul-Sep	202	5	2.5%	42^nd
1986 Oct-Oct	60	0	0.0%	0^th
1987 Jan-Mar	39	1	2.6%	38^th
1987 Apr-Jun	187	9	4.8%	56^th
1987 Jul-Sep	95	8	8.4%	79^th
1987 Oct-Dec	167	8	4.8%	37^th
1988 Feb-Mar	49	8	16.3%	88^th
1988 Apr-Jun	161	20	12.4%	90^th
1988 Jul-Sep	152	10	6.6%	66^th
1988 Oct-Oct	89	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Jan-Mar	14	3	21.4%	94^th
1989 Apr-Jun	105	20	19.0%	97^th
1989 Jul-Sep	128	4	3.1%	56^th
1989 Oct-Nov	121	11	9.1%	84^th
1990 Jan-Mar	60	2	3.3%	56^th
1990 Apr-Jun	150	2	1.3%	29^th
1990 Jul-Sep	183	6	3.3%	57^th
1990 Oct-Oct	143	0	0.0%	0^th
1991 Jan-Mar	62	6	9.7%	88^th
1991 Apr-Jun	139	10	7.2%	81^st
1991 Jul-Sep	81	4	4.9%	61^st
1991 Oct-Nov	162	7	4.3%	72^nd
1992 Jan-Mar	66	1	1.5%	32^nd
1992 Apr-Jun	185	15	8.1%	82^nd
1992 Jul-Sep	196	5	2.6%	50^th
1992 Oct-Oct	41	3	7.3%	67^th
1993 Jan-Mar	127	6	4.7%	71^st
1993 Apr-Jun	190	5	2.6%	49^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	12	7.3%	87^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	1	0.7%	28^th
1994 Jan-Mar	95	3	3.2%	53^rd
1994 Apr-Jun	219	6	2.7%	55^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	9	6.3%	72^nd
1994 Oct-Nov	51	0	0.0%	0^th

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
United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills