Buchanan is the representative for Florida’s 16th congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Buchanan is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
He was previously the representative for Florida’s 13th congressional district as a Republican from 2007 to 2012.
![Photo of Rep. Vern Buchanan [R-FL16]](/static/legislator-photos/412196-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Buchanan is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives 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 Buchanan has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jun 28, 2022. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Vern Buchanan sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Buchanan was the primary sponsor of 6 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 97 (116th): Rescuing Animals With Rewards Act of 2019
- H.R. 2226 (116th): Fentanyl Sanctions Act
- H.R. 1907 (116th): Retirement Security for American Workers Act
- H.R. 6720 (115th): Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act of 2018
- H.R. 253 (115th): Family First Prevention Services Act of 2017
- H.R. 91 (114th): Veterans Identification Card Act 2015
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 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Buchanan sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (25%) Taxation (19%) Crime and Law Enforcement (14%) Armed Forces and National Security (14%) Science, Technology, Communications (11%) Environmental Protection (6%) Economics and Public Finance (6%) International Affairs (6%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Buchanan recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 7797: To direct the Secretary of the Army to carry out a study relating …
- H.R. 7781: Urgently Feeding America’s Babies Act of 2022
- H.R. 7504: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make a portion of …
- H.R. 7505: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to add a new medical …
- H.R. 7503: American Innovation Act of 2022
- H.R. 6604: Veterans Eligible to Transfer School (VETS) Credit Act
- H.R. 5858: Rachel Booth Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2007 to Jun 2022, Buchanan missed 384 of 10,578 roll call votes, which is 3.6%. This is worse than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
