Sen. Rand Paul’s 2013 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Kentucky
Republican
Serving Jan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2029
These year-end statistics cover Paul’s record during the 2013 legislative year (Jan 3, 2013-Dec 26, 2013) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Dec 1, 2014. On Dec. 1, 2014, the statistics were updated to remove Sen. Schatz from the list of Senate sophomores. Schatz only served for several days in the preceding Congress.
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 Paul’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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Got their bills out of committee the most often compared to Senate RepublicansMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Paul introduced 11 bills in 2013 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 81: Default Prevention Act; S. 82: Separation of Powers Restoration and …; S. 83: Government Shutdown Prevention Act of …; S. 164: A bill to prohibit the …; S. 201: A bill to prohibit the …; S. 204: A bill to preserve and …; S. 209: A bill to require a …; S. 558: Accountability in Grants Act of …; S. 583: A bill to implement equal …; S. 1004: Anti-Trust Freedom Act of 2013; S. 1121: Fourth Amendment Restoration Act of … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (92nd percentile); Senate Republicans (98th percentile); All Senators (97th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the fewest bills compared to Senate SophomoresPaul cosponsored 72 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 Senate Sophomores (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (9th percentile); All Senators (8th percentile). |
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Introduced the 2nd most bills compared to Senate RepublicansPaul introduced 38 bills and resolutions in 2013. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (92nd percentile); Senate Republicans (96th percentile); All Senators (82nd percentile). |
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Supported government transparency the 2nd most often compared to Senate RepublicansGovTrack looked at whether Paul supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Paul 4 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Paul sponsored S. 1665: Read the Bills Act Paul cosponsored S. 1130: Ending Secret Law Act Compare to all Senate Sophomores (85th percentile); Senate Republicans (96th percentile); All Senators (93rd percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 3rd least often compared to Senate RepublicansOf the 72 bills that Paul cosponsored, 24% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (15th percentile); Senate Republicans (4th percentile); All Senators (42nd 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 bipartisan cosponsors on the 4th lowest % of bills compared to All SenatorsPaul tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 8% of Paul’s 38 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2013. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (8th percentile); Senate Republicans (6th percentile); All Senators (4th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Was 18th most absent in votes compared to All Senators (tied with 3 others)Paul missed 3.8% of votes (11 of 291 votes) in 2013. View Paul’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (77th percentile); All Senators (79th percentile). |
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Ranked 23rd most politically right compared to All SenatorsOur 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 2013 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Paul’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (62nd percentile); Senate Republicans (49th percentile); All Senators (77th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedPaul introduced 0 bills that became law in 2013. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). We only count enacted bills (and joint resolutions) that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through companion bills or incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Powerful Cosponsors2 of Paul’s bills and resolutions in 2013 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: S. 619: Justice Safety Valve Act of …; S. 890: Defense of Environment and Property … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (38th percentile); Senate Republicans (47th percentile); All Senators (39th percentile). |
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Working with the HouseThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 530: A bill to make participation …; S. 619: Justice Safety Valve Act of …; S. 1664: One Subject at a Time …; S. 1731: Endangered Species Management Self-Determination Act; S.J.Res. 3: A joint resolution proposing an …; S.J.Res. 25: A joint resolution proposing an … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (46th percentile); Senate Republicans (64th percentile); All Senators (58th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsPaul 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. View Paul’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (8th percentile); Senate Republicans (11th percentile); All Senators (18th percentile). |
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CosponsorsPaul’s bills and resolutions had 117 cosponsors in 2013. 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 Senate Sophomores (38th percentile); Senate Republicans (56th percentile); All Senators (47th percentile). |
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Leadership ScoreOur 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 2013 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Paul’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (31st percentile); Senate Republicans (40th percentile); All Senators (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 2013) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
