Sen. Robert “Bob” Menendez’s 2019 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from New Jersey
Democrat
Serving Jan 18, 2006 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Menendez’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other senators 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 Menendez’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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Introduced the most bills compared to All SenatorsMenendez introduced 106 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (98th percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (99th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the most often compared to All SenatorsMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Menendez introduced 45 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 398: Saudi Arabia Accountability and Yemen …; S. 427: Autism CARES Act of 2019; S. 1025: VERDAD Act of 2019; S. 1102: Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy …; S. 1340: Ebola Eradication Act of 2019; S. 1945: SAFE Act; S. 2372: Save Our Seas 2.0: Enhanced …; S. 2977: Venezuela Defense of Human Rights …; S.Res. 35: A resolution supporting democratic principles …; S.Res. 67: A resolution expressing the sense …; S.Res. 95: A resolution recognizing the 198th …; S.Res. 124: A resolution condemning the March …; S.Res. 150: A resolution expressing the sense …; S.Res. 183: A resolution reaffirming the vital …; S.Res. 186: A resolution recognizing April 30, …; S.Res. 187: A resolution recognizing the cultural …; S.Res. 236: A resolution reaffirming the strong …; S.Res. 277: A resolution remembering the 25th …; S.Res. 297: A resolution commending the Inter-American …; S.Res. 319: A resolution designating the week …; S.Res. 321: A resolution designating September 2019 …; S.Res. 352: A resolution recognizing Hispanic Heritage …; S.Con.Res. 1: A concurrent resolution calling for …; S.J.Res. 27: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 28: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 29: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 30: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 31: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 32: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 33: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 34: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 35: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 36: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 37: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 38: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 39: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 40: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 41: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 42: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 43: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 44: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 45: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 46: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 47: A joint resolution providing for …; S.J.Res. 48: A joint resolution providing for … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (98th percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (99th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the most bills compared to All SenatorsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 71 of Menendez’s 106 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Menendez caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (98th percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (99th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Got the most cosponsors on their bills compared to All SenatorsMenendez’s bills and resolutions had 984 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 Serving 10+ Years (98th percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (99th percentile). |
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Ranked the top leader compared to All SenatorsOur 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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Menendez’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (98th percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); All Senators (99th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 2nd most often compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)12 of Menendez’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. Those bills were: S. 437: SALT Act; S. 447: Keep Americans Safe Act; S. 1267: National Museum of the American …; S. 1929: Homeownership for DREAMers Act; S. 1943: HEAR Act; S. 2006: John Stringer Rainey SAFE Act; S.Res. 124: A resolution condemning the March …; S.Res. 129: A resolution honoring the accomplishments …; S.Res. 183: A resolution reaffirming the vital …; S.Res. 296: A resolution congratulating the United …; S.Res. 406: A resolution recognizing that for …; S.J.Res. 15: A joint resolution proposing an … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); Senate Democrats (96th percentile); All Senators (97th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 18th most bills compared to All Senators (tied with 3 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 437: SALT Act; S. 447: Keep Americans Safe Act; S. 698: Child Tax Credit Equity for …; S. 707: Reproductive Rights are Human Rights …; S. 712: Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and …; S. 756: No Stolen Trademarks Honored in …; S. 812: Local Solutions to End Homelessness …; S. 1400: SAVE Act; S. 1658: North Korea Policy Oversight Act …; S. 1862: Citizenship Affordability Act; S. 2187: National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization …; S. 2676: Better Education and Skills Training …; S. 3101: A bill to amend the …; S.Res. 14: A resolution affirming that the …; S.Res. 67: A resolution expressing the sense …; S.Res. 129: A resolution honoring the accomplishments …; S.Res. 150: A resolution expressing the sense …; S.J.Res. 57: A joint resolution opposing the … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (76th percentile); Senate Democrats (60th percentile); All Senators (79th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Was 17th most present in votes compared to All Senators (tied with 8 others)Menendez missed 0.2% of votes (1 of 428 votes) in 2019. View Menendez’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (24th percentile); All Senators (16th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedMenendez introduced 2 bills 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: S. 427: Autism CARES Act of 2019; S. 1102: Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (33rd percentile); Senate Democrats (58th percentile); All Senators (51st 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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Committee PositionsMenendez held a leadership position on 1 committee and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Menendez’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (40th percentile); Senate Democrats (60th percentile); All Senators (67th percentile). |
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Bills CosponsoredMenendez cosponsored 298 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 Serving 10+ Years (60th percentile); Senate Democrats (27th percentile); All Senators (64th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 298 bills that Menendez cosponsored, 28% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (56th percentile); Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); All Senators (53rd 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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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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Menendez’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (33rd percentile); Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); All Senators (29th 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 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.
