Former member of Congress · last served 100th Congress
John Melcher
John Melcher was a Democratic U.S. senator from Montana, first elected to Congress in 1969, who sponsored 8 bills that became law (100th–100th 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. 2751 Montana Natural Resources Protection and Utilization Act of 1988Nov 3, 1988 · Pocket Vetoed by President.
- S. 2457 A bill to transfer certain lands in the State of Montana and to relieve the Town of Neihart, Montana, of any obligation to pay consideration for lands…Nov 3, 1988 · Referred to Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands.
- S. 1849 A bill for the relief of Mr. Conwell F. Robinson and Mr. Gerald R. Robinson.Nov 3, 1988 · Referred to Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands.
- S.J.Res. 335 A joint resolution to designate the last full week of October, October 23 through October 29, 1988, as "National Adult Immunization Awareness Week".Nov 3, 1988 · Became Public Law No: 100-603.
- S. 1704 A bill to authorize the establishment of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Site in the State of Montana.Oct 28, 1988 · Became Public Law No: 100-552.
Top bills sponsored
- S. 2641 (100th) Temporary Emergency Wildfire Suppression ActBecame law
- S. 659 (100th) Agricultural Aid and Trade Missions ActBecame law
- S. 1889 (100th) Geothermal Steam Act Amendments of 1988Became law
- S. 2273 (100th) A bill to provide for the transfer of certain funds to the Secretary of the Interior for the benefit of certain members of the Crow Tribe.Became law
- S.J.Res. 168 (100th) A joint resolution designating the week beginning October 25, 1987, as "National Adult Immunization Awareness Week".Became law
- S. 2117 (100th) Age Discrimination Claims Assistance Act of 1988Became law
- S. 1475 (100th) A bill to establish an effective clinical staffing recruitment and retention program, and for other purposes.Passed a chamber
- S.Con.Res. 88 (100th) A concurrent resolution to facilitate the convening of a Silver Haired Congress.Passed a chamber
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Sen. Melcher has won
Sen. Melcher has won 2 U.S. Senate elections (1976, 1982). Of the contested races, margins ran from 12.8 to 28.3 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
100th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 51 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 51 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 0 | None listed |
| With a committee report listed | 0 | None listed |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 100th 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.