Rep. Robert Wittman’s 2019 Report Card
Representative
from Virginia's 1st District
Republican
Serving Dec 13, 2007 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Wittman’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 Wittman’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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Joined bipartisan bills the most often compared to Virginia DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 203 bills that Wittman cosponsored, 51% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (91st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (83rd percentile); House Republicans (68th percentile); All Representatives (85th 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 2nd fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Virginia DelegationWittman’s bills and resolutions had 38 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 Virginia Delegation (9th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (15th percentile); House Republicans (30th percentile); All Representatives (16th percentile). |
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Ranked the 2nd bottom/follower compared to Virginia 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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Wittman’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Virginia Delegation (9th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (16th percentile); House Republicans (36th percentile); All Representatives (19th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 2nd least often compared to Virginia Delegation (tied with 1 other)1 of Wittman’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: H.R. 1577: VA Procurement Efficiency and Transparency … Compare to all Virginia Delegation (9th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); House Republicans (36th percentile); All Representatives (22nd percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 2nd least often compared to Virginia Delegation (tied with 2 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Wittman introduced 1 bill in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 1747: National Fish Habitat Conservation Through … Compare to all Virginia Delegation (9th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); House Republicans (41st percentile); All Representatives (26th percentile). |
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Introduced the 31st most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 6 others)Wittman introduced 16 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (55th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53rd percentile); House Republicans (82nd percentile); All Representatives (64th percentile). |
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Was 31st most present in votes compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 8 others)Wittman missed 0.9% of votes (6 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Wittman’s Profile » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (55th 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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Cosponsored the 40th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 2 others)Wittman cosponsored 203 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 Virginia Delegation (27th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (36th percentile); House Republicans (79th percentile); All Representatives (42nd percentile). |
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Laws EnactedWittman introduced 0 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. Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Republicans (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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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 6 of Wittman’s 16 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Wittman caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Virginia Delegation (36th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (40th percentile); House Republicans (70th percentile); All Representatives (49th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsWittman held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Wittman’s Profile » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (55th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (14th percentile); House Republicans (44th percentile); All Representatives (42nd 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.
