Former member of Congress · last served 106th Congress
John H. Chafee
John Chafee was a Republican U.S. senator from Rhode Island, first elected to Congress in 1977, who sponsored 10 bills that became law (100th–106th Congress).
How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.
Recent votes
No recorded roll-call votes in PORKER’s records. Roll-call records start in 2011.
5 most recent bills
- S. 1752 Coastal Barrier Resources Reauthorization Act of 2000Nov 13, 2000 · Became Public Law No: 106-514.
- S. 835 Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000Nov 7, 2000 · Became Public Law No: 106-457.
- S. 662 Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000Oct 4, 2000 · Returned to the Calendar. Calendar No. 641.
- S. 1653 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act Amendments of 1999Sep 28, 2000 · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 546.
- S. 1327 Foster Care Independence Act of 1999May 24, 2000 · Committee on Finance Subcommittee on Health Care. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 106-473.
Top bills sponsored
- S. 2364 (105th) Economic Development Administration and Appalachian Regional Development Reform Act of 1998Became law
- S.J.Res. 250 (101st) A joint resolution designating April 1990 as "National Recycling Month".Became law
- S. 1853 (101st) A bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Laurance Spelman Rockefeller.Became law
- S.J.Res. 306 (100th) A joint resolution designating the day of August 7, 1989, as "National Lighthouse Day."Became law
- S. 1228 (105th) 50 States Commemorative Coin Program ActBecame law
- S. 1652 (106th) A bill to designate the Old Executive Office Building located at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, in Washington, District of Columbia, as the Dwight…Became law
- S. 1744 (106th) An original bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide that certain species conservation reports shall continue to be submitted.Became law
- S. 476 (103rd) National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Improvement Act of 1994Became law
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Sen. Chafee has won
Sen. Chafee has won 4 U.S. Senate elections (1976, 1982, 1988, 1994). Of the contested races, margins ran from 2.4 to 29.0 points.
Full election history for this seat →
Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
106th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 26 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 26 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 8 | See the 8 → |
| With a committee report listed | 8 | See the 8 → |
| With a Congress.gov note | 1 | See the 1 → |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 106th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
- Fields
- cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
- PORKER copy refreshed
- October 26, 2026 (nightly)
Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.
Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.