Sen. Ron Wyden’s 2013 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Oregon
Democrat
Serving Feb 5, 1996 – Jan 3, 2029
These year-end statistics cover Wyden’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 Wyden’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 influential cosponsors the most often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 1 other)10 of Wyden’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. 256: A bill to amend Public …; S. 363: Geothermal Production Expansion Act of …; S. 748: Veterans Pension Protection Act; S. 783: Helium Stewardship Act of 2013; S. 812: A bill to authorize the …; S. 971: Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act; S. 1237: Omnibus Territories Act of 2013; S. 1240: Nuclear Waste Administration Act of …; S. 1419: Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy …; S. 1551: Intelligence Oversight and Surveillance Reform … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (95th percentile); Senate Democrats (94th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (96th percentile); All Senators (97th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 2nd most often compared to All SenatorsMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Wyden introduced 12 bills in 2013 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 256: A bill to amend Public …; S. 352: Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Act of …; S. 353: Oregon Treasures Act of 2013; S. 354: Oregon Caves Revitalization Act of …; S. 363: Geothermal Production Expansion Act of …; S. 659: A bill to reauthorize the …; S. 693: A bill to amend the …; S. 783: Helium Stewardship Act of 2013; S. 1237: Omnibus Territories Act of 2013; S. 1301: Oregon Eastside Forests Restoration, Old …; S. 1309: Military Land Withdrawals Act; S. 1513: High Technology Jobs Preservation Act … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (95th percentile); Senate Democrats (96th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (96th percentile); All Senators (98th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 2nd most bills compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 256: A bill to amend Public …; S. 363: Geothermal Production Expansion Act of …; S. 402: A bill to provide for …; S. 641: Palliative Care and Hospice Education …; S. 748: Veterans Pension Protection Act; S. 915: Student Right to Know Before …; S. 971: Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act; S. 1053: Hospice Evaluation and Legitimate Payment …; S. 1118: Child Sex Trafficking Data and …; S. 1137: Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and …; S. 1196: Aaron’s Law Act of 2013; S. 1228: Medicare Better Health Rewards Program …; S. 1235: Wireless Tax Fairness Act of …; S. 1250: Transportation and Regional Infrastructure Project … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (93rd percentile); Senate Democrats (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (89th percentile); All Senators (92nd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Introduced the 6th most bills compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)Wyden introduced 49 bills and resolutions in 2013. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (91st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (89th percentile); All Senators (93rd percentile). |
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Supported government transparency the 8th most often compared to All Senators (tied with 6 others)GovTrack looked at whether Wyden supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Wyden 3 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Wyden cosponsored S. 375: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act; S. 1130: Ending Secret Law Act; S. 1467: FISA Court Reform Act of … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (77th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (86th percentile); All Senators (86th percentile). |
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Got the 21st most cosponsors on their bills compared to All SenatorsWyden’s bills and resolutions had 202 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 Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (76th percentile); Senate Democrats (64th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (70th percentile); All Senators (79th percentile). |
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Ranked the 24th 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 2013 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Wyden’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (71st percentile); Senate Democrats (58th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (64th percentile); All Senators (76th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedWyden introduced 1 bill that became law in 2013. 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. 256: A bill to amend Public … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (73rd percentile); Senate Democrats (85th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (75th percentile); All Senators (86th 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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Writing Bipartisan BillsWyden tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 39% of Wyden’s 49 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2013. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (64th percentile); Senate Democrats (64th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (63rd percentile); All Senators (68th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsWyden 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 Wyden’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); All Senators (64th percentile). |
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Bills CosponsoredWyden cosponsored 150 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 Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (66th percentile); Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (66th percentile); All Senators (66th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 150 bills that Wyden cosponsored, 18% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (30th percentile); Senate Democrats (52nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (27th percentile); All Senators (28th 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 2013 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Wyden’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (34th percentile); Senate Democrats (58th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (32nd percentile); All Senators (32nd percentile). |
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Missed VotesWyden missed 0.0% of votes (0 of 291 votes) in 2013. View Wyden’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); All Senators (0th 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.
