Sanford Bishop Jr., Representative for Georgia's 2nd Congressional District

Bishop is the representative for Georgia’s 2^nd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 5, 1993. Bishop is next up for reelection in 2018.

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2017 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. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 96% NIAC Action: A American Civil Liberties Union: 88% Human Rights Campaign: 84% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: B United States Chamber of Commerce: 63% League of Conservation Voters: 49% NumbersUSA: 20% Americans for Prosperity: 17% FreedomWorks: 15% The Club for Growth: 5%

Committee Membership

Sanford Bishop Jr. sits on the following committees:

House Committee on Appropriations
- Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
- Member, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
- Member, Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies

Enacted Legislation

Bishop was the primary sponsor of 7 bills that were enacted:

View All »

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

Bishop sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Armed Forces and National Security (67%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (33%)

Recent Bills

Some of Bishop’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Bishop’s Vote	Vote Description
Nay	H.R. 1695: Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017 Apr 26, 2017. Passed 378/48. This bill would change the appointment process for the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, known as the Register of Copyrights. Currently the Register of Copyrights is hired by the Librarian of Congress (who is the head of the Library of Congress). This bill would ...
No	H.R. 2146: Defending Public Safety Employees’ Retirement Act Jun 18, 2015. Passed 218/208. This vote made H.R. 2146 the vehicle for passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal currently being negotiated. H.R. 2146 was originally introduced as a bill to address issues with retirement funds of federal law enforcement officers and firefighters. ...
Aye	H.R. 2596: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 Jun 16, 2015. Passed 247/178. The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (IAA), H.R. 2596, was passed by the House on June 16. The IAA would authorize funding for intelligence-related agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was passed ...
Yea	H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015 May 13, 2015. Passed 338/88. The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of the Patriot Act, which had expired the day before. The act imposes some new limits on the bulk collection of ...
Yea	H.R. 622: State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act of 2015 Apr 16, 2015. Passed 272/152.
Aye	H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 Sep 17, 2014. Passed 319/108.
Aye	H.R. 6233 (112th): Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012 Aug 2, 2012. Passed 223/197.
Aye	H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act Jun 23, 2011. Passed 304/117. The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, and ...
Nay	H.Res. 317 (111th): Recognizing the region from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri, as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, and ... Sep 15, 2009. Passed 312/108.
Nay	H.Res. 1031 (110th): Providing for the adoption of the resolution (H. Res. 895) establishing within the House of Representatives an ... Mar 11, 2008. Passed 229/182.

Missed Votes

From Jan 1993 to Jul 2018, Bishop missed 659 of 17,049 roll call votes, which is 3.9%. This is worse than the median of 2.4% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1993 Jan-Mar	127	6	4.7%	74^th
1993 Apr-Jun	190	13	6.8%	67^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	1	0.6%	29^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	1	0.7%	22^nd
1994 Jan-Mar	95	1	1.1%	16^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	11	5.0%	77^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	15	10.6%	84^th
1994 Oct-Nov	51	1	2.0%	50^th
1995 Jan-Mar	279	32	11.5%	96^th
1995 Apr-Jun	189	2	1.1%	33^rd
1995 Jul-Sep	232	17	7.3%	93^rd
1995 Oct-Dec	185	3	1.6%	49^th
1996 Jan-Mar	110	4	3.6%	55^th
1996 Apr-Jun	182	1	0.5%	19^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	6	3.7%	68^th
1997 Jan-Mar	71	3	4.2%	61^st
1997 Apr-Jun	174	2	1.1%	38^th
1997 Jul-Sep	232	1	0.4%	12^th
1997 Oct-Nov	163	2	1.2%	39^th
1998 Jan-Mar	89	1	1.1%	24^th
1998 Apr-Jun	185	1	0.5%	21^st
1998 Jul-Sep	199	2	1.0%	37^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	3	4.1%	67^th
1999 Jan-Mar	77	1	1.3%	37^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	5	2.7%	60^th
1999 Jul-Sep	204	8	3.9%	79^th
1999 Oct-Nov	146	5	3.4%	61^st
2000 Jan-Mar	95	4	4.2%	55^th
2000 Apr-Jun	277	16	5.8%	80^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	3	2.3%	59^th
2000 Oct-Dec	101	16	15.8%	78^th
2001 Jan-Mar	75	6	8.0%	90^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	4	3.0%	61^st
2001 Jul-Sep	149	7	4.7%	81^st
2001 Oct-Dec	153	6	3.9%	66^th
2002 Jan-Mar	79	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	6	3.0%	57^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	8	5.7%	70^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	3	1.3%	39^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	3	1.6%	44^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	2	1.9%	31^st
2004 Apr-Jun	221	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	25	15.5%	92^nd
2004 Oct-Dec	58	1	1.7%	42^nd
2005 Jan-Mar	90	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	21	7.7%	86^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	1	0.7%	27^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	9	5.5%	75^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	2	2.5%	61^st
2006 Apr-Jun	276	13	4.7%	80^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	0	0.0%	0^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	0	0.0%	0^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	3	1.4%	43^rd
2007 Apr-Jun	393	8	2.0%	62^nd
2007 Jul-Sep	317	28	8.8%	94^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	6	2.3%	39^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	11	7.4%	78^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	10	3.1%	55^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	14	6.8%	82^nd
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	4	2.3%	51^st
2009 Apr-Jun	303	14	4.6%	76^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	7	2.6%	66^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	4	1.6%	35^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	17	8.7%	87^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	7	3.2%	56^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	7	4.6%	75^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	5	5.1%	61^st
2011 Jan-Mar	212	2	0.9%	45^th
2011 Apr-Jun	281	5	1.8%	60^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	34	13.8%	97^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	12	5.8%	83^rd
2012 Jan-Mar	151	4	2.6%	63^rd
2012 Apr-Jun	299	3	1.0%	40^th
2012 Jul-Sep	152	5	3.3%	73^rd
2012 Nov-Dec	51	1	2.0%	38^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	8	9.0%	88^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	4	1.9%	52^nd
2013 Jul-Sep	200	4	2.0%	62^nd
2013 Oct-Dec	137	30	21.9%	98^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	2	1.4%	40^th
2014 Apr-Jun	219	21	9.6%	90^th
2014 Jul-Sep	147	4	2.7%	70^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	1	2.0%	55^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	1	0.7%	26^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	6	2.5%	71^st
2015 Jul-Sep	139	3	2.2%	64^th
2015 Oct-Dec	177	4	2.3%	68^th
2016 Jan-Mar	137	3	2.2%	44^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	2	1.0%	32^nd
2016 Jul-Sep	232	9	3.9%	83^rd
2016 Nov-Dec	48	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	9	4.3%	80^th
2017 Apr-Jun	136	6	4.4%	79^th
2017 Jul-Sep	199	1	0.5%	37^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	5	3.0%	65^th
2018 Jan-Mar	129	8	6.2%	77^th
2018 Apr-Jun	184	7	3.8%	60^th
2018 Jul-Jul	66	6	9.1%	89^th

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
GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills

Sanford Bishop Jr. is pronounced:

SAN-furd // BISH-uhp

The letters stand for sounds according to the following table:

Letter	Sounds As In
A a	cat
B b	bat
D d	day
F f	fat
H h	hat
I i	pin
N n	not
P p	pen
R r	rag
S s	sit
U u	cup
UH uh	cup

Capital letters indicate a stressed syllable.

Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr.

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