Bishop is the representative for Georgia’s 2nd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 5, 1993. Bishop is next up for reelection in 2020 and serves until Jan 3, 2021 unless re-elected.
Alleged misconduct & resolution
In June 2020, the House Committee on Ethics announced it would continue an investigation into Rep. Bishop for unstated reasons based on an unpublished February 2020 referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics. On July 31, the House Committee on Ethics published the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) Report and Findings and the member's response. The OCE reported that the allegations were of spending Members’ Representational Allowance (MRA) funds on holiday events in his district and converting campaign funds to personal use
| Jun. 16, 2020 | House Committee on Ethics continue an investigation based on an unpublished February 2020 referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics |
| Jul. 31, 2020 | House Committee on Ethics published the Office of Congressional Ethics Report and Findings and the member's response. |
![Photo of Rep. Sanford Bishop [D-GA2]](/static/legislator-photos/400030-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Bishop.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Bishop is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives 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 Bishop has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Aug 7, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Sanford Bishop Jr. sits on the following committees:
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House Committee on Appropriations
- Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies subcommittee Chair
- Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies subcommittee Vice Chair
Financial Services and General Government subcommittees
Enacted Legislation
Bishop was the primary sponsor of 10 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 3164: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020
- H.R. 265: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019
- H.R. 6719 (115th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 120 12th Street Lobby in Columbus, Georgia, as the “Richard W. Williams Chapter of the ...
- H.R. 1941 (112th): Hiring Heroes Act of 2011
- H.R. 6859 (110th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1501 South Slappey Boulevard in Albany, Georgia, as the “Dr. Walter Carl Gordon, Jr. Post ...
- H.J.Res. 70 (110th): Congratulating the Army Reserve on its centennial, which will be formally celebrated on April 23, 2008, and commemorating the historic contributions of its veterans and continuing contributions ...
- H.R. 4692 (107th): To amend the Act entitled “An Act to authorize the Establishment of the Andersonville National Historic Site in the State of Georgia, and for other purposes”, to ...
Does 10 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
Bishop sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (46%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (23%) Economics and Public Finance (15%) Agriculture and Food (15%)
Recent Bills
Some of Bishop’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.Res. 1054: Expressing the profound sorrow of the House of Representatives on the death of ...
- H.R. 7610: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021
- H.Con.Res. 101: Expressing support for democratic elections in the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.
- H.R. 5472: Jimmy Carter National Historical Park Redesignation Act
- H.R. 5471: To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the eligibility of children ...
- H.R. 5060: Medical Retiree Pay Restoration Act
- H.R. 3164: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1993 to Jul 2020, Bishop missed 691 of 18,049 roll call votes, which is 3.8%. This is worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. 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
