![Photo of Rep. Stephen “Steve” Buyer [R-IN4, 2003-2010]](/static/legislator-photos/400056-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Buyer is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2010 positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Buyer sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 4, 2005 to Dec 21, 2010. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Buyer was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 6342 (109th): Veterans Programs Extension Act of 2006
- H.R. 2043 (107th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2719 South Webster Street in Kokomo, Indiana, as the “Elwood Haynes ‘Bud’ Hillis Post Office …
Does 2 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
Buyer sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (38%) Government Operations and Politics (13%) Health (13%) Economics and Public Finance (9%) Science, Technology, Communications (8%) Education (7%) Labor and Employment (7%) Housing and Community Development (6%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Buyer recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.Res. 1726 (111th): Honoring the service and accomplishments of Kingston Smith, Republican Staff Director and …
- H.R. 6127 (111th): Extension of Health Care Eligibility for Veterans Who Served at Qarmat Ali …
- H.Res. 1501 (111th): Honoring the Patriot Guard Riders for their steadfast dedication in support of …
- H.R. 5641 (111th): Heroes at Home Act
- H.R. 4894 (111th): To amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to ensure appropriate …
- H.R. 4220 (111th): Promoting Jobs for Veterans Act of 2009
- H.R. 4221 (111th): Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Improvement Act of 2009
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1993 to Dec 2010, Buyer missed 954 of 11,825 roll call votes, which is 8.1%. This is much worse than the median of 3.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2010. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
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
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
