Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s 2018 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Illinois
Democrat
Serving Jan 3, 2017 – Jan 3, 2029
These statistics cover Duckworth’s record during the 115th Congress (Jan 3, 2017-Jan 3, 2019) and compare her to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 20, 2019.
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 55 bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (90th percentile); Senate Democrats (55th percentile); All Senators (67th 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 10 bills in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 496: A bill to repeal the …; S. 1050: Chinese-American World War II Veteran …; S. 1160: Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area …; S. 2679: Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act …; S. 2861: Passenger Rail Crew Protection Act’.; S.Res. 187: A resolution congratulating and honoring …; S.Res. 275: A resolution congratulating Northeastern Illinois …; S.Res. 339: A resolution designating November 2017 …; S.Res. 463: A resolution authorizing a Senator …; S.Res. 711: A resolution designating November 2018 … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (90th percentile); Senate Democrats (55th percentile); All Senators (46th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate Freshmen (tied with 1 other)8 of Duckworth’s bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress 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. 1050: Chinese-American World War II Veteran …; S. 1474: REGION Act; S. 1690: CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act; S. 1783: PROVE Act; S. 2250: Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act …; S. 2869: EPA Special Hiring Authority Transparency …; S. 3088: Energy Jobs for our Heroes …; S.Res. 383: A resolution expressing support for … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (80th percentile); Senate Democrats (66th percentile); All Senators (69th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the most bills compared to Senate Freshmen (tied with 1 other)The 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. 1401: Get the Lead Out of …; S. 1783: PROVE Act; S. 2250: Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act …; S. 2565: Veteran Employment and Child Care …; S. 2679: Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act …; S. 3432: School Bus Safety Act of …; S. 3687: Breast Cancer Patient Equity 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 (80th percentile); Senate Democrats (51st percentile); All Senators (59th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Was 2nd most absent in votes compared to All SenatorsDuckworth missed 12.9% of votes (77 of 599 votes) in the 115th Congress. View Duckworth’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (90th percentile); All Senators (98th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 2nd most bills compared to Senate FreshmenIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 15 of Duckworth’s 55 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Duckworth caucused with in the 115th Congress. Compare to all Senate Freshmen (80th percentile); Senate Democrats (36th percentile); All Senators (30th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Got the 2nd most cosponsors on their bills compared to Senate FreshmenDuckworth’s bills and resolutions had 260 cosponsors in the 115th Congress. 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 (80th percentile); Senate Democrats (34th percentile); All Senators (49th 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 (60th percentile); Senate Democrats (11th percentile); All Senators (8th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 20th most bills compared to All SenatorsDuckworth cosponsored 411 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 (70th percentile); Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); All Senators (80th percentile). |
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Ranked 20th 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 the 115th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Duckworth’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Freshmen (30th percentile); Senate Democrats (38th percentile); All Senators (19th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedDuckworth introduced 3 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 115th Congress. 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 …; S. 1050: Chinese-American World War II Veteran …; S. 2679: Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (40th percentile); Senate Democrats (43rd percentile); All Senators (36th 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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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 411 bills that Duckworth cosponsored, 29% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (70th percentile); Senate Democrats (47th percentile); All Senators (58th 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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Leadership ScoreOur 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 the 115th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Duckworth’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Freshmen (70th percentile); Senate Democrats (36th percentile); All Senators (39th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Duckworth supported any of 14 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Duckworth 4 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Duckworth cosponsored S. 210: Global Health, Empowerment and Rights …; S. 298: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act; S. 1989: Honest Ads Act; S.Res. 323: STOP Sexual Harassment Resolution Compare to all Senate Freshmen (60th percentile); Senate Democrats (45th percentile); All Senators (69th 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 the 115th Congress) 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.
