Lantos was the representative for California’s 12th congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 1993 to 2008.
He was previously the representative for California’s 11th congressional district as a Democrat from 1981 to 1992.
![Photo of Rep. Tom Lantos [D-CA12, 1993-2008]](/static/legislator-photos/400231-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Lantos is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2008 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 Lantos sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 7, 2003 to Dec 10, 2008. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Lantos was the primary sponsor of 24 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 3890 (110th): Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008
- H.R. 3528 (110th): To provide authority to the Peace Corps to provide separation pay for host country resident personal services contractors of the Peace Corps.
- H.J.Res. 44 (110th): Joint resolution approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 1681 (110th): American National Red Cross Governance Modernization Act of 2007
- H.R. 3858 (109th): Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006
- H.J.Res. 86 (109th): Approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, and for other purposes.
- H.J.Res. 52 (109th): Approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
Does 24 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 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Lantos sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (21%) Government Operations and Politics (21%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (14%) Armed Forces and National Security (10%) Crime and Law Enforcement (10%) Law (9%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (8%) Immigration (8%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Lantos recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 4197 (110th): To prevent the admission of any member or leader of the Magyar …
- H.R. 3912 (110th): Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2007
- H.R. 3887 (110th): William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007
- H.R. 3890 (110th): Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008
- H.R. 3528 (110th): To provide authority to the Peace Corps to provide separation pay for …
- H.R. 3368 (110th): Pulmonary Hypertension Research and Education Act of 2007
- H.R. 2844 (110th): Food Security and Agricultural Development Act of 2007
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1981 to Feb 2008, Lantos missed 1,040 of 14,905 roll call votes, which is 7.0%. This is much worse than the median of 3.1% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Feb 2008. 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.
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
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
