Sen. Thomas Carper
Senator for Delaware
pronounced TOM-iss // KAHR-per
![Photo of Sen. Thomas Carper [D-DE]](/https/www.govtrack.us/static/legislator-photos/300019-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2022 Report Card for Carper.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Carper is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate 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 Carper has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Jun 20, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Thomas Carper sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Carper was the primary sponsor of 38 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 1116 (117th): Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2022
- S. 3650 (117th): PLUM Act of 2022
- S. 3122 (117th): Further Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2021
- S. 1931 (117th): Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021
- S. 1953 (117th): Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021
- S. 375 (116th): Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019
- S. 435 (116th): CASES Act
Does 38 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
Carper sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (23%) Environmental Protection (18%) Government Operations and Politics (13%) Taxation (13%) Transportation and Public Works (11%) Water Resources Development (11%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (6%) Education (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Carper recently introduced the following legislation:
- S.Res. 745: A resolution expressing support for and celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Servicemen’s …
- S.Res. 701: A resolution designating the week of May 19 through May 25, 2024, as …
- S. 4367: Water Resources Development Act of 2024
- S. 4350: Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act
- S. 3891: A bill to amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 …
- S. 3791: America’s Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act of 2024
- S. 3660: A bill to require electronically prepared tax returns to include scannable code when …
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2001 to Jun 2024, Carper missed 64 of 7,761 roll call votes, which is 0.8%. This is better than the median of 2.9% among the lifetime records of senators 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, 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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
