![Photo of Sen. Tammy Duckworth [D-IL]](/static/legislator-photos/412533-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Duckworth.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Duckworth is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate 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 Duckworth has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Aug 1, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Tammy Duckworth sits on the following committees:
-
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
- Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety
- Member, Subcommittee on Aviation and Space
- Member, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
- Member, Subcommittee on Security
-
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
- Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife
- Member, Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
-
Senate Committee on Armed Services
- Member, Subcommittee on Airland
- Member, Subcommittee on Personnel
- Member, Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
- Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Enacted Legislation
Duckworth was the primary sponsor of 4 bills that were enacted:
- S. 2679 (115th): Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act of 2018
- S. 1050 (115th): Chinese-American World War II Veteran Congressional Gold Medal Act
- S. 496: A bill to repeal the rule issued by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration entitled “Metropolitan Planning Organization Coordination and Planning Area Reform”.
- H.R. 4797 (114th): GET THE LEAD OUT Act of 2016
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
Duckworth sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (21%) Transportation and Public Works (15%) Health (14%) Environmental Protection (13%) Crime and Law Enforcement (10%) Education (10%) Science, Technology, Communications (9%) Labor and Employment (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Duckworth’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 2272: Blair Holt Firearm Owner Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2019
- S. 2291: Eleanor Smith Inclusive Home Design Act of 2019
- S. 2278: School Bus Safety Act of 2019
- S. 2290: Disabled Access Credit Expansion Act
- S. 2210: Great Lakes Water Protection Act
- S. 2200: Fairness for Housing Communities Act of 2019
- S. 2087: Get the Lead Out of Assisted Housing Act of 2019
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2017 to Aug 2019, Duckworth missed 92 of 861 roll call votes, which is 10.7%. This is much worse than the median of 1.5% among the lifetime records of senators 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
