![Photo of Rep. Steve Cohen [D-TN9]](/static/legislator-photos/412236-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Cohen.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Cohen 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 Cohen has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Aug 23, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Steve Cohen sits on the following committees:
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House Committee on the Judiciary
- Chair, Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties
- Member, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
- Member, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security
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House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
- Member, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight
- Member, Subcommittee on Research and Technology
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House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Member, Subcommittee on Aviation
- Member, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
- Member, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
Enacted Legislation
Cohen was the primary sponsor of 8 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 3304: National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act of 2019
- H.R. 767 (115th): SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2018
- H.R. 5349 (115th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1325 Autumn Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, as the “Judge Russell B. Sugarmon Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 4246 (114th): National Guard and Reservist Debt Relief Extension Act of 2015
- H.R. 2192 (112th): National Guard and Reservist Debt Relief Extension Act of 2011
- H.R. 2765 (111th): Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act
- H.R. 2587 (110th): A Bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 555 South 3rd Street Lobby in Memphis, Tennessee, as the “Kenneth T. Whalum, ...
Does 8 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
Cohen sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Crime and Law Enforcement (26%) Transportation and Public Works (22%) Government Operations and Politics (14%) Finance and Financial Sector (13%) Health (8%) Taxation (8%) Education (5%) Housing and Community Development (4%)
Recent Bills
Some of Cohen’s most recently sponsored bills include...
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2007 to Jul 2019, Cohen missed 220 of 9,390 roll call votes, which is 2.3%. This is on par with the median of 2.0% 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
