Rep. Paul Cook’s 2016 Report Card
Representative
from California's 8th District
Republican
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Dec 7, 2020
These statistics cover Cook’s record during the 114th Congress (Jan 6, 2015-Jan 3, 2017) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Aug 24, 2017. The statistics were updated on Jan 20, 2017 and Aug 24, 2017 to improve how we counted enacted laws. Originally published on Jan 7, 2017.
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 Cook’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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Ranked 3rd most politically right compared to California DelegationOur 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 the 114th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Cook’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all California Delegation (94th percentile); House Sophomores (63rd percentile); House Republicans (41st percentile); All Representatives (67th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 10th least often compared to California DelegationOf the 291 bills that Cook cosponsored, 18% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all California Delegation (17th percentile); House Sophomores (37th percentile); House Republicans (78th percentile); All Representatives (47th 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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Got the 12th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to House SophomoresCook’s bills and resolutions had 82 cosponsors in the 114th Congress. 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 California Delegation (19th percentile); House Sophomores (15th percentile); House Republicans (20th percentile); All Representatives (20th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 9th most often compared to House Sophomores (tied with 7 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Cook introduced 3 bills in the 114th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 496: Alabama Hills National Scenic Area …; H.R. 1992: American Soda Ash Competitiveness Act; H.R. 3286: Honoring Investments in Recruiting and … Compare to all California Delegation (75th percentile); House Sophomores (78th percentile); House Republicans (52nd percentile); All Representatives (69th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 12th most bills compared to California Delegation (tied with 1 other)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 9 of Cook’s 13 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 114th Congress. Compare to all California Delegation (75th percentile); House Sophomores (67th percentile); House Republicans (70th percentile); All Representatives (74th percentile). |
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Ranked the 36th bottom/follower compared to House RepublicansOur 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 the 114th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Cook’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all California Delegation (21st percentile); House Sophomores (14th percentile); House Republicans (14th percentile); All Representatives (18th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 53rd most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)Cook cosponsored 291 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 California Delegation (46th percentile); House Sophomores (40th percentile); House Republicans (78th percentile); All Representatives (57th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedCook introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 114th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all California Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill. |
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Bills IntroducedCook introduced 13 bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all California Delegation (35th percentile); House Sophomores (26th percentile); House Republicans (39th percentile); All Representatives (38th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors3 of Cook’s bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress 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: H.R. 3286: Honoring Investments in Recruiting and …; H.R. 4313: Historic Routes Preservation Act; H.R. 6234: Private Corrado Piccoli Purple Heart … Compare to all California Delegation (44th percentile); House Sophomores (40th percentile); House Republicans (46th percentile); All Representatives (44th percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 1992: American Soda Ash Competitiveness Act Compare to all California Delegation (19th percentile); House Sophomores (18th percentile); House Republicans (19th percentile); All Representatives (18th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsCook held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Cook’s Profile » Compare to all California Delegation (33rd percentile); House Sophomores (66th percentile); House Republicans (38th percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile). |
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Missed VotesCook missed 1.7% of votes (23 of 1,325 votes) in the 114th Congress. View Cook’s Profile » Compare to all California Delegation (38th percentile); House Sophomores (42nd percentile); All Representatives (41st percentile). The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics. |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Cook supported any of 40 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Cook 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all California Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (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 the 114th Congress) was the 114th Congress (freshmen) or 113th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
