Vern Buchanan, Representative for Florida's 16th Congressional District

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2016 Report Card for Buchanan.

Sponsorship Analysis

Our unique analysis of the bills Buchanan has sponsored and cosponsored provides insight into his position in the House of Representatives.

Each dot in the chart below is a member of the House of Representatives. The dots are positioned horizontally according to our progressive—conservative ideology score and vertically according to our leadership score (leaders toward the top). Buchanan is shown as a purple triangle. (analysis methodology)

Committee Membership

Vern Buchanan sits on the following committees:

House Committee on Ways and Means
- Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight
- Member, Subcommittee on Health
- Member, Subcommittee on Social Security

Enacted Legislation

Buchanan was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:

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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 about one third or more of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Buchanan sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Taxation (30%) Economics and Public Finance (18%) Social Welfare (12%) Health (12%) Armed Forces and National Security (9%) Families (6%) International Affairs (6%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (6%)

Recent Bills

Some of Buchanan’s most recently sponsored bills include...

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Buchanan’s Vote	Vote Description
Nay	S. 764: A bill to reauthorize and amend the National Sea Grant College Program Act, and for other purposes. Jul 14, 2016. Passed 306/117. This bill was the vehicle for passage of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, which is the form it was enacted it. Prior to amendments, the bill regarded defunding Planned Parenthood and the National Sea Grant College Program. As enacted, the bill created national ...
Nay	H.R. 4889: Kelsey Smith Act May 23, 2016. Failed 229/158.
Aye	H.R. 2146: Defending Public Safety Employees’ Retirement Act Jun 18, 2015. Passed 218/208. This vote made H.R. 2146 the vehicle for passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal currently being negotiated. H.R. 2146 was originally introduced as a bill to address issues with retirement funds of federal law enforcement officers and firefighters. ...
Yea	H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015 May 13, 2015. Passed 338/88. The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of the Patriot Act, which had expired the day before. The act imposes some new limits on the bulk collection of ...
No	H.R. 1560: Protecting Cyber Networks Act Apr 22, 2015. Passed 307/116.
Aye	H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 Sep 17, 2014. Passed 319/108.
Nay	H.R. 5972 (112th): Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013 Jun 29, 2012. Passed 261/163.
Aye	H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act Jun 23, 2011. Passed 304/117. The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, and ...
Aye	H.R. 1752 (111th): To provide that the usual day for paying salaries in or under the House of Representatives may ... Jul 30, 2009. Failed 282/144.
Yea	H.Res. 1031 (110th): Providing for the adoption of the resolution (H. Res. 895) establishing within the House of Representatives an ... Mar 11, 2008. Passed 229/182.

Missed Votes

From Jan 2007 to May 2017, Buchanan missed 241 of 7,939 roll call votes, which is 3.0%. This is worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. ProPublica has tracked 9 explanations for these missed votes. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
2007 Jan-Mar	213	4	1.9%	54^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	9	2.3%	64^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	4	1.3%	32^nd
2007 Oct-Dec	263	0	0.0%	0^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	1	0.7%	9^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	4	1.2%	23^rd
2008 Jul-Sep	205	1	0.5%	15^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	6	3.4%	68^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	4	1.3%	33^rd
2009 Jul-Sep	268	6	2.2%	61^st
2009 Oct-Dec	246	1	0.4%	12^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	10	5.1%	72^nd
2010 Apr-Jun	219	2	0.9%	21^st
2010 Jul-Sep	151	7	4.6%	75^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	4	4.0%	56^th
2011 Jan-Mar	212	6	2.8%	78^th
2011 Apr-Jun	281	2	0.7%	34^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	13	5.3%	84^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	3	1.4%	46^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	1	0.7%	24^th
2012 Apr-Jun	299	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Jul-Sep	152	4	2.6%	65^th
2012 Nov-Dec	51	5	9.8%	84^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	3	3.4%	67^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	3	1.4%	43^rd
2013 Jul-Sep	200	17	8.5%	91^st
2013 Oct-Dec	137	2	1.5%	43^rd
2014 Jan-Mar	148	14	9.5%	91^st
2014 Apr-Jun	219	6	2.7%	65^th
2014 Jul-Sep	147	4	2.7%	70^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	4	8.2%	91^st
2015 Jan-Mar	144	11	7.6%	90^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	19	13.7%	95^th
2015 Oct-Dec	177	3	1.7%	61^st
2016 Jan-Mar	137	7	5.1%	65^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	2	1.0%	32^nd
2016 Jul-Sep	232	36	15.5%	95^th
2016 Nov-Dec	48	1	2.1%	61^st
2017 Jan-Mar	208	8	3.8%	78^th
2017 Apr-May	65	4	6.2%	84^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
Congressional Biographical Directory for elected positions
GPO Member Guide for the photo
GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills

Rep. Vern Buchanan

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