Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s 2017 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Illinois
Democrat
Serving Jan 3, 2017 – Jan 3, 2029
These year-end statistics cover Duckworth’s record during the 2017 legislative year (Jan 3, 2017-Dec 31, 2017) and compare her to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 6, 2018.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Duckworth’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Introduced the most bills compared to Senate FreshmenDuckworth introduced 26 bills and resolutions in 2017. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (41st percentile); All Senators (52nd percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the most often compared to Senate FreshmenMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Duckworth introduced 4 bills in 2017 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 496: A bill to repeal the …; S.Res. 187: A resolution congratulating and honoring …; S.Res. 275: A resolution congratulating Northeastern Illinois …; S.Res. 339: A resolution designating November 2017 … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (52nd percentile); All Senators (39th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate Freshmen4 of Duckworth’s bills and resolutions in 2017 had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward. Those bills were: S. 1474: REGION Act; S. 1690: CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act; S. 1783: PROVE Act; S. 2250: Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (57th percentile); All Senators (60th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the most bills compared to Senate FreshmenThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 496: A bill to repeal the …; S. 814: Police Training and Independent Review …; S. 1110: Friendly Airports for Mothers Act …; S. 1783: PROVE Act; S. 2250: Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act …; S.Res. 187: A resolution congratulating and honoring …; S.Res. 271: A resolution supporting the goals …; S.Res. 275: A resolution congratulating Northeastern Illinois … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (41st percentile); All Senators (52nd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Ranked the 7th bottom/follower compared to Senate DemocratsOur unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2017 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Duckworth’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Freshmen (75th percentile); Senate Democrats (13th percentile); All Senators (17th percentile). |
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Held the 6th fewest committee positions compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 5 others)Duckworth held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Duckworth’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (50th percentile); Senate Democrats (11th percentile); All Senators (8th percentile). |
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Got the 9th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Senate DemocratsDuckworth’s bills and resolutions had 97 cosponsors in 2017. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (75th percentile); Senate Democrats (17th percentile); All Senators (30th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 10th fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 2 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 5 of Duckworth’s 26 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2017. Compare to all Senate Freshmen (75th percentile); Senate Democrats (20th percentile); All Senators (22nd percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 11th least often compared to Senate DemocratsOf the 204 bills that Duckworth cosponsored, 25% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (50th percentile); Senate Democrats (22nd percentile); All Senators (41st percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Ranked 19th most politically left compared to All SenatorsOur unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2017 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Duckworth’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Freshmen (38th percentile); Senate Democrats (37th percentile); All Senators (18th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedDuckworth introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2017. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: S. 496: A bill to repeal the … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (50th percentile); Senate Democrats (65th percentile); All Senators (49th percentile). The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill. |
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Bills CosponsoredDuckworth cosponsored 204 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (63rd percentile); Senate Democrats (48th percentile); All Senators (74th percentile). |
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Missed VotesDuckworth missed 1.2% of votes (4 of 325 votes) in 2017. View Duckworth’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (50th percentile); All Senators (53rd percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Duckworth supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Duckworth 1 point, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Duckworth cosponsored S.Res. 323: STOP Sexual Harassment Resolution Compare to all Senate Freshmen (38th percentile); Senate Democrats (41st percentile); All Senators (54th percentile). |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of 2017) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
