Rep. Tom Cole’s 2019 Report Card
Representative
from Oklahoma's 4th District
Republican
Serving Jan 7, 2003 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Cole’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.
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 Cole’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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Cosponsored the 4th most bills compared to House RepublicansCole cosponsored 363 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 Serving 10+ Years (73rd percentile); House Republicans (98th percentile); All Representatives (78th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 8th most often compared to Serving 10+ YearsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 363 bills that Cole cosponsored, 60% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (95th percentile); House Republicans (88th percentile); All Representatives (94th 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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Was 13th most present in votes compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 6 others)Cole missed 0.4% of votes (3 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Cole’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (8th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile). The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics. |
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Got the 21st fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 1 other)Cole’s bills and resolutions had 33 cosponsors in 2019. 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 Serving 10+ Years (13th percentile); House Republicans (27th percentile); All Representatives (14th percentile). |
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Introduced the 31st fewest bills compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 5 others)Cole introduced 8 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (20th percentile); House Republicans (44th percentile); All Representatives (24th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 26th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 21 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.Res. 29: Condemning White Supremacist Terrorism and …; H.R. 289: Bipartisan Social Security Commission Act …; H.R. 1401: Bipartisan Social Security Commission Act … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (53rd percentile); House Republicans (76th percentile); All Representatives (62nd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Got influential cosponsors the 27th least often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 20 others)1 of Cole’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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: H.R. 375: To amend the Act of … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); House Republicans (36th percentile); All Representatives (22nd percentile). |
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Laws EnactedCole introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: H.R. 288: Arbuckle Project Maintenance Complex and … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (53rd percentile); House Republicans (69th percentile); All Representatives (63rd 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 Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Cole introduced 2 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 288: Arbuckle Project Maintenance Complex and …; H.R. 375: To amend the Act of … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (36th percentile); House Republicans (69th percentile); All Representatives (46th percentile). |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 1 of Cole’s 8 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Cole caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (3rd percentile); House Republicans (6th percentile); All Representatives (3rd percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsCole held a leadership position on 1 committee and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Cole’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (96th percentile); House Republicans (98th percentile); All Representatives (97th 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 2019) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
