Rep. Thomas “Chet” Edwards

Former Representative for Texas’s 17^th District

Edwards was the representative for Texas’s 17^th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 2005 to 2010.

He was previously the representative for Texas’s 11^th congressional district as a Democrat from 1991 to 2004.

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Photo of Rep. Thomas “Chet” Edwards [D-TX17, 2005-2010]

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Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Edwards is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2010 positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Edwards sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 4, 2005 to Dec 21, 2010. See full analysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

Edwards was the primary sponsor of 6 bills that were enacted:

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Does 6 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 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Edwards sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Armed Forces and National Security (30%) Economics and Public Finance (15%) Government Operations and Politics (12%) Finance and Financial Sector (10%) Health (10%) Science, Technology, Communications (8%) Taxation (8%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (8%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Edwards recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Edwards voted Yea

S. 3729 (111th): National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010

Passed 304/118 on Sep 29, 2010.

Edwards voted Nay

H.R. 5297 (111th): Small Business Jobs Act of 2010

Passed 237/187 on Sep 23, 2010.

Edwards voted No

H.R. 5297 (111th): Small Business Jobs Act of 2010

Passed 241/182 on Jun 17, 2010.

Edwards voted No

H.R. 5486 (111th): To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, …

Passed 247/170 on Jun 15, 2010.

Edwards voted No

H.R. 3961 (111th): Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009

Passed 243/183 on Nov 19, 2009.

Edwards voted Nay

H.Res. 317 (111th): Recognizing the region from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri, as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, and …

Passed 312/108 on Sep 15, 2009.

Edwards voted Yea

H.R. 31 (111th): Lumbee Recognition Act

Passed 240/179 on Jun 3, 2009.

Edwards voted Aye

H.Res. 801 (110th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3688) to implement the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.

Passed 349/55 on Nov 7, 2007.

Edwards voted Nay

H.R. 2776 (110th): Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007

Passed 221/189 on Aug 4, 2007.

Edwards voted No

H.R. 3221 (110th): Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

Passed 241/172 on Aug 4, 2007.

Edwards voted Yea

H.R. 1830 (110th): To extend the authorities of the Andean Trade Preference Act until February 29, 2008.

Passed 365/59 on Jun 27, 2007.

Edwards voted No

H.Res. 517 (110th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2829) making appropriations for financial services and general government for …

Passed 213/206 on Jun 27, 2007.

Missed Votes

From Jan 1991 to Dec 2010, Edwards missed 395 of 12,757 roll call votes, which is 3.1%. This is on par with the median of 3.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2010. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1991 Jan-Mar	62	1	1.6%	31^st
1991 Apr-Jun	139	1	0.7%	18^th
1991 Jul-Sep	81	1	1.2%	12^th
1991 Oct-Nov	162	4	2.5%	55^th
1992 Jan-Mar	66	1	1.5%	26^th
1992 Apr-Jun	185	5	2.7%	48^th
1992 Jul-Sep	196	1	0.5%	17^th
1992 Oct-Oct	41	0	0.0%	0^th
1993 Jan-Mar	127	4	3.1%	56^th
1993 Apr-Jun	190	3	1.6%	36^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	1	0.6%	28^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	2	1.5%	45^th
1994 Jan-Mar	95	1	1.1%	21^st
1994 Apr-Jun	219	1	0.5%	16^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	4	2.8%	51^st
1994 Oct-Nov	51	3	5.9%	81^st
1995 Jan-Mar	279	11	3.9%	81^st
1995 Apr-Jun	189	5	2.6%	63^rd
1995 Jul-Sep	232	3	1.3%	41^st
1995 Oct-Dec	185	22	11.9%	94^th
1996 Jan-Mar	110	0	0.0%	0^th
1996 Apr-Jun	182	1	0.5%	17^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	6	3.7%	68^th
1997 Jan-Mar	71	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Apr-Jun	174	2	1.1%	31^st
1997 Jul-Sep	232	17	7.3%	90^th
1997 Oct-Nov	163	5	3.1%	62^nd
1998 Jan-Mar	89	4	4.5%	69^th
1998 Apr-Jun	185	1	0.5%	20^th
1998 Jul-Sep	199	1	0.5%	16^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	2	2.7%	56^th
1999 Jan-Mar	77	1	1.3%	35^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	3	1.6%	43^rd
1999 Jul-Sep	204	9	4.4%	81^st
1999 Oct-Nov	146	3	2.1%	42^nd
2000 Jan-Mar	95	2	2.1%	33^rd
2000 Apr-Jun	277	3	1.1%	29^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	9	6.9%	83^rd
2000 Oct-Dec	101	8	7.9%	54^th
2001 Jan-Mar	75	5	6.7%	84^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	3	2.2%	46^th
2001 Jul-Sep	149	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Oct-Dec	153	2	1.3%	36^th
2002 Jan-Mar	79	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	7	3.4%	58^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	11	4.6%	75^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	16	8.3%	87^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	7	4.6%	63^rd
2004 Jan-Mar	104	10	9.6%	77^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	9	4.1%	65^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	1	0.6%	19^th
2004 Oct-Dec	58	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	3	3.3%	51^st
2005 Apr-Jun	272	4	1.5%	43^rd
2005 Jul-Sep	146	5	3.4%	67^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	9	5.5%	74^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	2	2.5%	60^th
2006 Apr-Jun	276	4	1.4%	38^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	0	0.0%	0^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	1	3.7%	52^nd
2007 Jan-Mar	213	10	4.7%	79^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	25	6.4%	87^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	14	4.4%	79^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	2	0.8%	15^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	8	5.4%	61^st
2008 Apr-Jun	321	15	4.7%	66^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	5	2.4%	49^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	5	2.9%	59^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	15	5.0%	76^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	8	3.0%	68^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	6	2.4%	45^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	11	5.6%	72^nd
2010 Apr-Jun	219	9	4.1%	62^nd
2010 Jul-Sep	151	2	1.3%	34^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	10	10.1%	72^nd

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
Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills

Rep. Thomas “Chet” Edwards

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Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Enacted Legislation

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Recently Introduced Bills

Voting Record

Key Votes

Edwards voted Yea

Edwards voted Nay

Edwards voted No

Edwards voted No

Edwards voted No

Edwards voted Nay

Edwards voted Yea

Edwards voted Aye

Edwards voted Nay

Edwards voted No

Edwards voted Yea

Edwards voted No

Missed Votes

Primary Sources