Rep. Robert Brady’s 2016 Report Card
Representative
from Pennsylvania's 1st District
Democrat
Served May 19, 1998 – Jan 3, 2019
These statistics cover Brady’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 Brady’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 2nd most committee positions compared to Pennsylvania Delegation (tied with 1 other)Brady 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. 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 Brady’s Profile » Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (83rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (74th percentile); House Democrats (89th percentile); All Representatives (88th percentile). |
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Ranked the 3rd bottom/follower compared to Pennsylvania DelegationOur 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 Brady’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (16th percentile); House Democrats (22nd percentile); All Representatives (18th percentile). |
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Was 3rd most absent in votes compared to Pennsylvania DelegationBrady missed 5.4% of votes (71 of 1,325 votes) in the 114th Congress. View Brady’s Profile » Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (83rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (75th percentile); All Representatives (82nd 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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Supported government transparency the 3rd most often compared to Pennsylvania DelegationGovTrack looked at whether Brady supported any of 40 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Brady 3 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Brady cosponsored H.R. 430: DISCLOSE 2015 Act; H.R. 20: Government By the People Act …; H.R. 4177: Stop Foreign Donations Affecting Our … Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (83rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (62nd percentile); House Democrats (36th percentile); All Representatives (67th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 4th most bills compared to Pennsylvania DelegationBrady cosponsored 349 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 Pennsylvania Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (69th percentile); House Democrats (47th percentile); All Representatives (72nd percentile). |
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Ranked 4th most politically left compared to Pennsylvania 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 Brady’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (17th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (46th percentile); House Democrats (82nd percentile); All Representatives (36th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 21st fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 21 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 2 of Brady’s 17 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 114th Congress. Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (11th percentile); House Democrats (10th percentile); All Representatives (12th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 24th least often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 19 others)1 of Brady’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.Res. 726: Recognizing the 100th anniversary of … Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (12th percentile); House Democrats (14th percentile); All Representatives (14th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 37th most often compared to All RepresentativesIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 349 bills that Brady cosponsored, 40% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (88th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (88th percentile); House Democrats (81st percentile); All Representatives (91st 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 47th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Serving 10+ YearsBrady’s bills and resolutions had 106 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 Pennsylvania Delegation (28th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25th percentile); House Democrats (26th percentile); All Representatives (27th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedBrady 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 Pennsylvania Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (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 IntroducedBrady introduced 17 bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (50th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (49th percentile); House Democrats (49th percentile); All Representatives (55th percentile). |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Brady introduced 3 bills in the 114th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 4092: To reauthorize the sound recording …; H.R. 4733: To permit the United States …; H.R. 4734: To amend the Federal Election … Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (69th percentile); House Democrats (91st percentile); All Representatives (69th 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.Res. 596: Recognizing the 146th anniversary of …; H.Res. 601: Recognizing the 146th anniversary of …; H.R. 4734: To amend the Federal Election …; H.R. 5779: Automatic Voter Registration Act of … Compare to all Pennsylvania Delegation (72nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68th percentile); House Democrats (68th percentile); All Representatives (72nd 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 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.
