Sen. James Sasser
Former Senator forTennessee
![Photo of Sen. James Sasser [D-TN, 1977-1994]](/image.pl?url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.govtrack.us%2fstatic%2flegislator-photos%2f409580-200px.jpeg&f=jpg&w=240)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Sasser is shown as a purple triangle▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below.Each dot was a member of the Senatein 1994positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills legislators sponsored and cosponsoredfrom Jan. 25, 1989 to Dec. 1, 1994.See fullanalysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Sasser was the primary sponsor of 25 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S.J.Res. 157 (103rd): A joint resolution to designate 1994 as “The Year of Gospel Music”.
- S.J.Res. 143 (103rd): A joint resolution providing for the appointment of Frank Anderson Shrontz as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
- S.J.Res. 144 (103rd): A joint resolution providing for the appointment of Manuel Luis Ibanez as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
- S.J.Res. 149 (103rd): A joint resolution designating the week beginning October 31, 1993, as “National Health Information Management Week”.
- S.J.Res. 102 (103rd): A joint resolution to designate the months of October 1993 and October 1994 as “Country Music Month”.
- S. 464 (103rd): A bill to redesignate the Pulaski Post Office located at 111 West College Street in Pulaski, Tennessee, as the “Ross Bass Post Office”.
- S. 779 (103rd): A bill to continue the authorization of appropriations for the East Court of the National Museum of Natural History, and for other purposes.
Does 25 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
Sasser sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (24%)Economics and Public Finance (22%)Health (14%)Taxation (12%)Environmental Protection (8%)Education (7%)Social Welfare (7%)Agriculture and Food (7%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Sasser recently introduced the following legislation:
- S. 2424 (103rd): A bill to expand the boundaries of the Stones River National Battlefield …
- S. 2347 (103rd): Smithsonian Institution Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act
- S. 2164 (103rd): Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program Act of 1994
- S.Con.Res. 63 (103rd): An original concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United …
- S. 1809 (103rd): A bill to achieve greater cooperation from allies of the United States …
- S.Res. 179 (103rd): A resolution to express the sense of the Senate commending The University …
- S.J.Res. 157 (103rd): A joint resolution to designate 1994 as “The Year of Gospel Music”.
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Jan 1977 to Dec 1994, Sasser missed 342 of 7,289 roll call votes, which is 4.7%.This ison par withthe median of 3.4%among the lifetime records of senators serving in Dec 1994.The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absences, major life events, and running for higher office.
| Time Period | Votes Eligible | Missed Votes | Percent | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 Jan-Mar | 92 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1977 Apr-Jun | 178 | 7 | 3.9% | 32nd |
| 1977 Jul-Sep | 233 | 2 | 0.9% | 3rd |
| 1977 Oct-Dec | 133 | 18 | 13.5% | 68th |
| 1978 Jan-Mar | 78 | 9 | 11.5% | 71st |
| 1978 Apr-Jun | 119 | 7 | 5.9% | 45th |
| 1978 Jul-Sep | 237 | 43 | 18.1% | 81st |
| 1978 Oct-Oct | 86 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1979 Feb-Mar | 32 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1979 Apr-Jun | 121 | 24 | 19.8% | 93rd |
| 1979 Jul-Sep | 171 | 12 | 7.0% | 47th |
| 1979 Oct-Dec | 184 | 38 | 20.7% | 89th |
| 1980 Jan-Mar | 67 | 7 | 10.4% | 69th |
| 1980 Apr-Jun | 216 | 16 | 7.4% | 50th |
| 1980 Jul-Sep | 179 | 13 | 7.3% | 61st |
| 1980 Oct-Dec | 84 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1981 Jan-Mar | 57 | 1 | 1.8% | 36th |
| 1981 Apr-Jun | 125 | 10 | 8.0% | 85th |
| 1981 Jul-Sep | 122 | 4 | 3.3% | 43rd |
| 1981 Oct-Dec | 193 | 28 | 14.5% | 85th |
| 1982 Feb-Mar | 79 | 3 | 3.8% | 60th |
| 1982 Apr-Jun | 127 | 5 | 3.9% | 49th |
| 1982 Jul-Sep | 177 | 12 | 6.8% | 74th |
| 1982 Oct-Dec | 86 | 3 | 3.5% | 58th |
| 1983 Feb-Mar | 54 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1983 Apr-Jun | 122 | 12 | 9.8% | 82nd |
| 1983 Jul-Sep | 92 | 1 | 1.1% | 18th |
| 1983 Oct-Nov | 103 | 7 | 6.8% | 51st |
| 1984 Jan-Mar | 45 | 4 | 8.9% | 69th |
| 1984 Apr-Jun | 144 | 3 | 2.1% | 24th |
| 1984 Jul-Sep | 68 | 5 | 7.4% | 56th |
| 1984 Oct-Oct | 34 | 2 | 5.9% | 51st |
| 1985 Jan-Mar | 22 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1985 Apr-Jun | 116 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1985 Jul-Sep | 60 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1985 Oct-Dec | 183 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1986 Jan-Mar | 51 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1986 Apr-Jun | 103 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1986 Jul-Sep | 149 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1986 Oct-Oct | 56 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1987 Jan-Mar | 50 | 1 | 2.0% | 29th |
| 1987 Apr-Jun | 123 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1987 Jul-Sep | 120 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1987 Oct-Dec | 127 | 1 | 0.8% | 12th |
| 1988 Jan-Mar | 84 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1988 Apr-Jun | 137 | 7 | 5.1% | 64th |
| 1988 Jul-Sep | 127 | 11 | 8.7% | 84th |
| 1988 Oct-Oct | 31 | 1 | 3.2% | 38th |
| 1989 Jan-Mar | 26 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1989 Apr-Jun | 77 | 2 | 2.6% | 66th |
| 1989 Jul-Sep | 118 | 10 | 8.5% | 98th |
| 1989 Oct-Nov | 91 | 1 | 1.1% | 51st |
| 1990 Jan-Mar | 48 | 2 | 4.2% | 78th |
| 1990 Apr-Jun | 95 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1990 Jul-Sep | 114 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1990 Oct-Oct | 69 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1991 Jan-Mar | 41 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1991 Apr-Jun | 74 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1991 Jul-Sep | 96 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1991 Oct-Nov | 69 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1992 Jan-Mar | 61 | 1 | 1.6% | 57th |
| 1992 Apr-Jun | 74 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1992 Jul-Sep | 117 | 1 | 0.9% | 36th |
| 1992 Oct-Oct | 18 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1993 Feb-Mar | 93 | 1 | 1.1% | 52nd |
| 1993 Apr-Jun | 99 | 1 | 1.0% | 30th |
| 1993 Jul-Sep | 109 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1993 Oct-Nov | 94 | 1 | 1.1% | 38th |
| 1994 Jan-Mar | 86 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1994 Apr-Jun | 92 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| 1994 Jul-Sep | 136 | 3 | 2.2% | 53rd |
| 1994 Oct-Dec | 15 | 2 | 13.3% | 85th |
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
- TheHouse andSenate 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
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
