DelBene is the representative for Washington’s 1st congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Nov 13, 2012. DelBene is next up for reelection in 2020.
![Photo of Rep. Suzan DelBene [D-WA1]](/static/legislator-photos/412505-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for DelBene.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
DelBene 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 DelBene has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Feb 21, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Suzan DelBene sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
DelBene was the primary sponsor of 4 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 5368: Faster Access to Federal Student Aid Act of 2019
- H.R. 1380: Timber Innovation Act of 2017
- H.R. 1103: Child Abuse Accountability Enhancement Act
- H.R. 908 (113th): Green Mountain Lookout Heritage Protection Act
Does 4 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
DelBene sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Taxation (23%) Health (18%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (14%) Armed Forces and National Security (11%) Agriculture and Food (11%) Education (9%) Commerce (7%) Emergency Management (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of DelBene’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.Res. 828: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Trade ...
- H.R. 5635: Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act of 2020
- H.R. 5368: Faster Access to Federal Student Aid Act of 2019
- H.R. 5333: Ensuring Patient Access to Critical Breakthrough Products Act of 2019
- H.Res. 707: Congratulating Seattle Sounders FC on winning the 2019 Major League Soccer Cup.
- H.R. 4829: Remote Seafood Employee Meals Tax Parity Act
- H.R. 4414: Electronic Books Opening Opportunity for Knowledge Act of 2019
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Nov 2012 to Feb 2020, DelBene missed 21 of 4,565 roll call votes, which is 0.5%. This is better 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
