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 2018 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 Oct 18, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Suzan DelBene sits on the following committees:
- House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress
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House Committee on Ways and Means
- Member, Subcommittee on Oversight
- Member, Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
- Member, Subcommittee on Trade
Enacted Legislation
DelBene was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- 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 3 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 (17%) Health (17%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (15%) Armed Forces and National Security (15%) Agriculture and Food (12%) Education (10%) Science, Technology, Communications (7%) Commerce (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of DelBene’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 4414: Electronic Books Opening Opportunity for Knowledge Act of 2019
- H.R. 4017: Lifelong Learning and Training Account Act of 2019
- H.R. 4016: Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act
- H.R. 3789: IoT Readiness Act of 2019
- H.R. 3713: To amend title 28, United States Code, provide an additional place for holding ...
- H.R. 3557: To prohibit the imposition of duties on the importation of goods under the ...
- H.Res. 465: Expressing support for the designation of June 26 as “LGBTQ Equality Day”.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Nov 2012 to Oct 2019, DelBene missed 20 of 4,364 roll call votes, which is 0.5%. This is better than the median of 2.1% 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
