Robert Michel, former Representative for Illinois's 18th Congressional District

Michel was the representative for Illinois’s 18^th congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 1957 to 1994.

Photo of Rep. Robert Michel [R-IL18, 1957-1994]

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Michel is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 1994 positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Michel sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 1989 to Nov 29, 1994. See full analysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

Michel was the primary sponsor of 16 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 16 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Michel sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Government Operations and Politics (27%) Taxation (12%) Economics and Public Finance (12%) Crime and Law Enforcement (11%) Finance and Financial Sector (11%) Education (10%) Health (10%) Labor and Employment (9%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Michel recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Missed Votes

From Jan 1957 to Nov 1994, Michel missed 1,467 of 14,480 roll call votes, which is 10.1%. This is much worse than the median of 3.4% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Nov 1994. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1957 Jan-Mar	12	0	0.0%	0^th
1957 Apr-Jun	36	0	0.0%	0^th
1957 Jul-Aug	52	2	3.8%	71^st
1958 Jan-Mar	21	0	0.0%	0^th
1958 Apr-Jun	32	0	0.0%	0^th
1958 Jul-Aug	40	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 Jan-Apr	16	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 May-Aug	54	1	1.9%	56^th
1959 Sep-Sep	17	3	17.6%	89^th
1960 Feb-Apr	23	0	0.0%	0^th
1960 May-Aug	70	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 Jan-Apr	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 May-Aug	65	4	6.2%	80^th
1961 Sep-Sep	29	1	3.4%	60^th
1962 Jan-Mar	21	1	4.8%	55^th
1962 Apr-Jun	32	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Jul-Sep	49	1	2.0%	55^th
1962 Oct-Oct	22	4	18.2%	91^st
1963 Jan-Mar	9	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Apr-Jun	31	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Jul-Sep	28	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Oct-Dec	50	5	10.0%	73^rd
1964 Jan-Mar	26	2	7.7%	93^rd
1964 Apr-Jun	34	3	8.8%	93^rd
1964 Jul-Sep	49	2	4.1%	60^th
1964 Oct-Oct	4	3	75.0%	93^rd
1965 Jan-Mar	28	3	10.7%	57^th
1965 Apr-Jun	53	11	20.8%	83^rd
1965 Jul-Sep	98	11	11.2%	70^th
1965 Oct-Oct	22	9	40.9%	96^th
1966 Jan-Mar	30	1	3.3%	13^th
1966 Apr-Jun	51	9	17.6%	70^th
1966 Jul-Sep	72	9	12.5%	52^nd
1966 Oct-Oct	40	32	80.0%	87^th
1967 Jan-Mar	31	0	0.0%	0^th
1967 Apr-Jun	57	0	0.0%	0^th
1967 Jul-Sep	59	4	6.8%	79^th
1967 Oct-Dec	98	4	4.1%	72^nd
1968 Jan-Mar	38	0	0.0%	0^th
1968 Apr-Jun	79	2	2.5%	48^th
1968 Jul-Sep	91	5	5.5%	66^th
1968 Oct-Oct	25	7	28.0%	83^rd
1969 Jan-Mar	16	0	0.0%	0^th
1969 Apr-Jun	28	2	7.1%	38^th
1969 Jul-Sep	45	7	15.6%	78^th
1969 Oct-Dec	88	14	15.9%	58^th
1970 Jan-Mar	35	6	17.1%	61^st
1970 Apr-Jun	74	2	2.7%	9^th
1970 Jul-Sep	76	10	13.2%	55^th
1970 Oct-Dec	81	34	42.0%	94^th
1971 Jan-Mar	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1971 Apr-Jun	90	13	14.4%	53^rd
1971 Jul-Sep	74	12	16.2%	84^th
1971 Oct-Dec	134	19	14.2%	55^th
1972 Jan-Mar	64	7	10.9%	53^rd
1972 Apr-Jun	114	14	12.3%	53^rd
1972 Jul-Sep	101	32	31.7%	87^th
1972 Oct-Oct	50	13	26.0%	79^th
1973 Jan-Mar	36	2	5.6%	39^th
1973 Apr-Jun	191	24	12.6%	71^st
1973 Jul-Sep	131	16	12.2%	85^th
1973 Oct-Dec	182	44	24.2%	89^th
1974 Jan-Mar	79	16	20.3%	87^th
1974 Apr-Jun	170	19	11.2%	55^th
1974 Jul-Sep	148	8	5.4%	45^th
1974 Oct-Dec	141	34	24.1%	96^th
1975 Jan-Mar	68	8	11.8%	80^th
1975 Apr-Jun	199	27	13.6%	79^th
1975 Jul-Sep	154	13	8.4%	65^th
1975 Oct-Dec	191	21	11.0%	79^th
1976 Jan-Mar	106	15	14.2%	84^th
1976 Apr-Jun	267	37	13.9%	70^th
1976 Jul-Sep	281	22	7.8%	57^th
1976 Oct-Oct	7	0	0.0%	0^th
1977 Jan-Mar	100	14	14.0%	85^th
1977 Apr-Jun	273	49	17.9%	88^th
1977 Jul-Sep	198	26	13.1%	78^th
1977 Oct-Dec	135	5	3.7%	39^th
1978 Jan-Mar	150	10	6.7%	49^th
1978 Apr-Jun	300	52	17.3%	75^th
1978 Jul-Sep	308	17	5.5%	39^th
1978 Oct-Oct	76	7	9.2%	67^th
1979 Jan-Mar	63	21	33.3%	95^th
1979 Apr-Jun	221	18	8.1%	61^st
1979 Jul-Sep	198	10	5.1%	46^th
1979 Oct-Dec	190	34	17.9%	79^th
1980 Jan-Mar	148	12	8.1%	49^th
1980 Apr-Jun	197	29	14.7%	76^th
1980 Jul-Sep	192	18	9.4%	61^st
1980 Oct-Dec	67	5	7.5%	47^th
1981 Jan-Mar	15	1	6.7%	43^rd
1981 Apr-Jun	90	10	11.1%	75^th
1981 Jul-Sep	106	13	12.3%	83^rd
1981 Oct-Dec	142	8	5.6%	48^th
1982 Feb-Mar	48	2	4.2%	39^th
1982 Apr-Jun	119	7	5.9%	64^th
1982 Jul-Sep	193	17	8.8%	71^st
1982 Oct-Dec	99	4	4.0%	33^rd
1983 Jan-Mar	43	9	20.9%	92^nd
1983 Apr-Jun	182	30	16.5%	88^th
1983 Jul-Sep	130	2	1.5%	25^th
1983 Oct-Nov	143	16	11.2%	80^th
1984 Jan-Mar	53	5	9.4%	69^th
1984 Apr-Jun	223	24	10.8%	76^th
1984 Jul-Sep	96	4	4.2%	48^th
1984 Oct-Oct	36	0	0.0%	0^th
1985 Jan-Mar	36	4	11.1%	66^th
1985 Apr-Jun	154	11	7.1%	71^st
1985 Jul-Sep	101	6	5.9%	64^th
1985 Oct-Dec	148	4	2.7%	45^th
1986 Jan-Mar	61	8	13.1%	77^th
1986 Apr-Jun	128	14	10.9%	90^th
1986 Jul-Sep	202	14	6.9%	75^th
1986 Oct-Oct	60	1	1.7%	35^th
1987 Jan-Mar	39	2	5.1%	60^th
1987 Apr-Jun	187	16	8.6%	80^th
1987 Jul-Sep	95	9	9.5%	82^nd
1987 Oct-Dec	167	7	4.2%	31^st
1988 Feb-Mar	49	4	8.2%	69^th
1988 Apr-Jun	161	6	3.7%	48^th
1988 Jul-Sep	152	23	15.1%	89^th
1988 Oct-Oct	89	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Jan-Mar	14	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Apr-Jun	105	4	3.8%	55^th
1989 Jul-Sep	128	9	7.0%	85^th
1989 Oct-Nov	121	8	6.6%	72^nd
1990 Jan-Mar	60	1	1.7%	31^st
1990 Apr-Jun	150	15	10.0%	86^th
1990 Jul-Sep	183	16	8.7%	88^th
1990 Oct-Oct	143	14	9.8%	86^th
1991 Jan-Mar	62	2	3.2%	51^st
1991 Apr-Jun	139	9	6.5%	77^th
1991 Jul-Sep	81	8	9.9%	84^th
1991 Oct-Nov	162	23	14.2%	96^th
1992 Jan-Mar	66	0	0.0%	0^th
1992 Apr-Jun	185	18	9.7%	87^th
1992 Jul-Sep	196	7	3.6%	57^th
1992 Oct-Oct	41	1	2.4%	44^th
1993 Jan-Mar	127	3	2.4%	50^th
1993 Apr-Jun	190	5	2.6%	49^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	6	3.7%	70^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	8	6.0%	84^th
1994 Jan-Mar	95	25	26.3%	97^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	25	11.4%	91^st
1994 Jul-Sep	142	20	14.1%	90^th
1994 Oct-Nov	51	2	3.9%	63^rd

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress for the photo
GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills

Rep. Robert Michel

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