Sen. Tom Cotton’s 2019 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Arkansas
Republican
Serving Jan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2027
These year-end statistics cover Cotton’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other senators 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 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.
|
|
Joined bipartisan bills the 5th least often compared to Senate RepublicansOf the 152 bills that Cotton cosponsored, 19% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (8th percentile); All Senators (12th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
|
|
Got bicameral support on the 6th most bills compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 645: A bill to amend title …; S. 646: Full Military Honors Act of …; S. 952: Cellphone Jamming Reform Act of …; S. 1016: Stephen Hacala Poppy Seed Safety …; S. 1103: Reforming American Immigration for a …; S. 1383: A bill to amend the …; S. 1433: New START Treaty Improvement Act …; S. 1547: Restoring the Armed Career Criminal …; S. 1684: No Leniency for Terrorists Act …; S. 2494: Fallen Heroes Family Travel Act …; S. 3031: Significant Transnational Criminal Organization Designation …; S.Res. 115: A resolution recognizing the REALTORS …; S.Res. 195: A resolution opposing the lifting …; S.Con.Res. 21: A concurrent resolution strongly condemning … Compare to all Senate Republicans (87th percentile); All Senators (70th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
|
|
Ranked 7th most politically right 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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Cotton’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (87th percentile); All Senators (93rd percentile). |
|
|
Got their bills out of committee the 11th least often compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 4 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Cotton introduced 4 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 440: Preserving Access to Cost Effective …; S.Res. 93: A resolution expressing support for …; S.Res. 331: A resolution instructing the managers …; S.Res. 394: A resolution honoring the members … Compare to all Senate Republicans (19th percentile); All Senators (23rd percentile). |
|
|
Cosponsored the 23rd fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)Cotton cosponsored 152 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 Republicans (42nd percentile); All Senators (22nd percentile). |
|
|
Was 26th most present in votes compared to All Senators (tied with 4 others)Cotton missed 0.5% of votes (2 of 428 votes) in 2019. View Cotton’s Profile » Compare to all All Senators (25th percentile). |
|
|
Laws EnactedCotton introduced 0 bills 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. Compare to all Senate Republicans (0th percentile); All Senators (0th 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. |
|
|
Bills IntroducedCotton introduced 38 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (72nd percentile); All Senators (59th percentile). |
|
|
Powerful Cosponsors3 of Cotton’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: S. 878: Taiwan Assurance Act of 2019; S. 1547: Restoring the Armed Career Criminal …; S. 3031: Significant Transnational Criminal Organization Designation … Compare to all Senate Republicans (43rd percentile); All Senators (33rd percentile). |
|
|
Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 18 of Cotton’s 38 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Cotton caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Senate Republicans (58th percentile); All Senators (58th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
|
|
Committee PositionsCotton held a leadership position on 0 committees and 2 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 Senate Republicans (23rd percentile); All Senators (20th percentile). |
|
|
CosponsorsCotton’s bills and resolutions had 162 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 Senate Republicans (51st percentile); All Senators (34th percentile). |
|
|
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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Cotton’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (36th percentile); All Senators (27th 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.
