Johnson was the representative for Texas’s 3rd congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 1991 to 2018.
![Photo of Rep. Sam Johnson [R-TX3, 1991-2018]](/static/legislator-photos/400206-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Johnson.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Johnson is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2018 positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Johnson sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2013 to Dec 21, 2018. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Enacted Legislation
Johnson was the primary sponsor of 28 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 4009: Smithsonian National Zoological Park Central Parking Facility Authorization Act
- H.J.Res. 133: Providing for the reappointment of Barbara M. Barrett as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
- H.R. 4547: Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018
- H.J.Res. 40: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Social Security Administration relating to Implementation of the NICS ...
- H.J.Res. 78: Providing for the reappointment of Stephen M. Case as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
- H.J.Res. 79: Providing for the appointment of Michael Govan as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
- H.J.Res. 80: Providing for the appointment of Roger W. Ferguson as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
Does 28 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 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Johnson sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Social Welfare (37%) Taxation (25%) Government Operations and Politics (13%) Health (10%) Armed Forces and National Security (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Johnson’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 7305: Choices for Increased Mobility Act of 2018
- H.R. 7269: Social Security Trustees Report Accountability, Transparency, and Improvement Act of 2018
- H.R. 7261: Social Security Benefit Payments Choice Act of 2018
- H.R. 7143 (115th): Social Security Number Modernization Act of 2018
- H.R. 6886: HEARTS Act of 2018
- H.R. 6813: Homecare for Seniors Act
- H.R. 6559: Social Security Administration Modernization Act of 2018
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From May 1991 to Dec 2018, Johnson missed 1,226 of 17,995 roll call votes, which is 6.8%. This is much worse than the median of 2.5% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2018. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
