Rep. Peter Visclosky’s 2019 Report Card
Representative
from Indiana's 1st District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 1985 – Jan 3, 2021
These year-end statistics cover Visclosky’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.
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 Visclosky’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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Held the most committee positions compared to Indiana DelegationVisclosky held a leadership position on 0 committees and 2 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Visclosky’s Profile » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (66th percentile); House Democrats (80th percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile). |
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Got the fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Indiana DelegationVisclosky’s bills and resolutions had 15 cosponsors in 2019. 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 Indiana Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (7th percentile); House Democrats (1st percentile); All Representatives (8th percentile). |
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Wrote the most laws compared to Indiana Delegation (tied with 1 other)Visclosky introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: H.R. 2968: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, … Compare to all Indiana Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53rd percentile); House Democrats (57th percentile); All Representatives (63rd 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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Joined bipartisan bills the 2nd least often compared to Indiana DelegationOf the 160 bills that Visclosky cosponsored, 14% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (57th percentile); House Democrats (81st percentile); All Representatives (44th 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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Introduced the 4th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 2 others)Visclosky introduced 4 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (7th percentile); House Democrats (1st percentile); All Representatives (8th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 10th fewest bills compared to House DemocratsVisclosky cosponsored 160 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 Indiana Delegation (44th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (26th percentile); House Democrats (4th percentile); All Representatives (30th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 16th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 7 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 2 of Visclosky’s 4 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Visclosky caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Indiana Delegation (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (11th percentile); House Democrats (6th percentile); All Representatives (14th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Was 31st most present in votes compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 8 others)Visclosky missed 0.9% of votes (6 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Visclosky’s Profile » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (20th percentile); All Representatives (31st 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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Got their bills out of committee the 36th least often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 18 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Visclosky introduced 1 bill in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 2968: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, … Compare to all Indiana Delegation (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); House Democrats (12th percentile); All Representatives (26th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors0 of Visclosky’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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. Compare to all Indiana Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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. 684: Indiana Dunes National Park Act Compare to all Indiana Delegation (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (14th percentile); House Democrats (10th percentile); All Representatives (19th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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 2019) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
