Rep. Peter DeFazio’s 2015 Report Card
Representative
from Oregon's 4th District
Democrat
Served Jan 6, 1987 – Jan 3, 2023
These year-end statistics cover DeFazio’s record during the 2015 legislative year (Jan 6, 2015-Dec 31, 2015) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 9, 2016.
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 DeFazio’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.
|
|
Joined bipartisan bills the 2nd most often compared to House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 287 bills that DeFazio cosponsored, 41% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (96th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (91st percentile); House Democrats (85th percentile); Safe House Seats (94th percentile); All Representatives (93rd percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
|
|
Cosponsored the 5th most bills compared to House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembsDeFazio cosponsored 287 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 House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (91st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (86th percentile); House Democrats (73rd percentile); Safe House Seats (87th percentile); All Representatives (88th percentile). |
|
|
Supported government transparency the 5th most often compared to House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 2 others)GovTrack looked at whether DeFazio supported any of 28 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave DeFazio 3 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. DeFazio cosponsored H.R. 430: DISCLOSE 2015 Act; H.R. 425: Stop Super PAC-Candidate Coordination Act; H.R. 20: Government By the People Act … Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (87th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (79th percentile); House Democrats (66th percentile); Safe House Seats (81st percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile). |
|
|
Was 11th most absent in votes compared to All RepresentativesDeFazio missed 12.1% of votes (85 of 704 votes) in 2015. View DeFazio’s Profile » Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (96th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (95th percentile); Safe House Seats (97th percentile); All Representatives (97th 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. |
|
|
Ranked the 13th bottom/follower compared to House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembsOur 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 2015 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from DeFazio’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (23rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (37th percentile); House Democrats (50th percentile); Safe House Seats (40th percentile); All Representatives (41st percentile). |
|
|
Got influential cosponsors the 14th least often compared to House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 9 others)2 of DeFazio’s bills and resolutions in 2015 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. 1945: Targeted Use of Sanctions for …; H.R. 2410: Generating Renewal, Opportunity, and Work … Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (25th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (36th percentile); House Democrats (38th percentile); Safe House Seats (43rd percentile); All Representatives (44th percentile). |
|
|
Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 19th lowest % of bills compared to All RepresentativesDeFazio tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 12% of DeFazio’s 17 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2015. Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (16th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (12th percentile); House Democrats (13th percentile); Safe House Seats (10th percentile); All Representatives (9th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
|
|
Got their bills out of committee the 14th least often compared to House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 14 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. DeFazio introduced 1 bill in 2015 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 2791: Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (25th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (45th percentile); House Democrats (66th percentile); Safe House Seats (45th percentile); All Representatives (46th percentile). |
|
|
Introduced the 70th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 10 others)DeFazio introduced 17 bills and resolutions in 2015. View Bills » Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (68th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (73rd percentile); House Democrats (81st percentile); Safe House Seats (81st percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile). |
|
|
Laws EnactedDeFazio introduced 0 bills that became law in 2015. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). A bill or joint resolution is considered enacted if it or an exactly identical bill to it is enacted as law. We only consider bills that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
|
|
Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 913: Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act; H.R. 1436: Cow Creek Umpqua Land Conveyance …; H.R. 4134: Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement … Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68th percentile); House Democrats (71st percentile); Safe House Seats (71st percentile); All Representatives (71st percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
|
|
Committee PositionsDeFazio held a leadership position on 1 committee and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View DeFazio’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (71st percentile); House Democrats (89th percentile); Safe House Seats (87th percentile); All Representatives (88th percentile). |
|
|
CosponsorsDeFazio’s bills and resolutions had 151 cosponsors in 2015. 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 House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (36th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50th percentile); House Democrats (55th percentile); Safe House Seats (55th percentile); All Representatives (56th percentile). |
|
|
Ideology ScoreOur 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 2015 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from DeFazio’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (30th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (40th percentile); House Democrats (72nd percentile); Safe House Seats (34th percentile); All Representatives (32nd 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 2015) 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.
