Rep. Tom Cotton’s 2013 Report Card
Representative
from Arkansas's 4th District
Republican
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2015
These year-end statistics cover Cotton’s record during the 2013 legislative year (Jan 3, 2013-Dec 26, 2013) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Dec 1, 2014. On Dec. 1, 2014, the statistics were updated to remove Sen. Schatz from the list of Senate sophomores. Schatz only served for several days in the preceding Congress.
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 Cotton’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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Joined bipartisan bills the 5th least often compared to House FreshmenOf the 195 bills that Cotton cosponsored, 4% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all House Freshmen (5th percentile); House Republicans (13th percentile); Safe House Seats (7th percentile); All Representatives (7th 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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Introduced the 12th most bills compared to House Freshmen (tied with 6 others)Cotton introduced 8 bills and resolutions in 2013. View Bills » Compare to all House Freshmen (76th percentile); House Republicans (45th percentile); Safe House Seats (44th percentile); All Representatives (44th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 32nd most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 2 others)Cotton cosponsored 195 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 House Freshmen (76th percentile); House Republicans (85th percentile); Safe House Seats (73rd percentile); All Representatives (72nd percentile). |
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Was 87th most present in votes compared to All Representatives (tied with 25 others)Cotton missed 0.8% of votes (5 of 641 votes) in 2013. View Cotton’s Profile » Compare to all House Freshmen (25th percentile); Safe House Seats (19th percentile); All Representatives (20th 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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Laws EnactedCotton introduced 0 bills that became law in 2013. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). We only count enacted bills (and joint resolutions) that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through companion bills or incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Cotton introduced 0 bills in 2013 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Compare to all House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors0 of Cotton’s bills and resolutions in 2013 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. Compare to all House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 3595: Show Your Exemption Act Compare to all House Freshmen (53rd percentile); House Republicans (36th percentile); Safe House Seats (37th percentile); All Representatives (36th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsCotton held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Cotton’s Profile » Compare to all House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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CosponsorsCotton’s bills and resolutions had 83 cosponsors in 2013. 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 House Freshmen (63rd percentile); House Republicans (39th percentile); Safe House Seats (41st percentile); All Representatives (40th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Cotton supported any of 12 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Cotton 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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 2013) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
