Former member of Congress · last served 111th Congress
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter was a Democratic U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, first elected to Congress in 1981, who sponsored 24 bills that became law (100th–111th 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. 4054 Notice Pleading Restoration Act of 2010Dec 22, 2010 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- S. 4045 Armed Career Criminal Sentencing Act of 2010Dec 17, 2010 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- S. 4033 Restoration of Legal Rights for Claimants under Holocaust-Era Insurance Policies Act of 2010Dec 15, 2010 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- S. 4032 Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2010Dec 15, 2010 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- S. 3940 A bill to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 700 Grant Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the "Richard Lewis Thornburgh…Nov 15, 2010 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Top bills sponsored
- S.J.Res. 240 (102nd) A joint resolution designating March 25, 1992 as "Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy."Became law
- S.J.Res. 162 (103rd) A joint resolution designating March 25, 1994, as "Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy".Became law
- S.J.Res. 133 (101st) A joint resolution designating October 1989 as "National Domestic Violence Awareness Month".Became law
- S.J.Res. 136 (101st) A joint resolution designating August 8, 1989, as "National Neighborhood Crime Watch Day".Became law
- S.J.Res. 279 (101st) A joint resolution to designate the week of September 16, 1990, through September 22, 1990, as "National Rehabilitation Week".Became law
- S.J.Res. 296 (101st) A joint resolution designating August 7, 1990, as "National Neighborhood Crime Watch Day".Became law
- S.J.Res. 143 (100th) A joint resolution to designate April 1988, as "Fair Housing Month".Became law
- S. 1525 (105th) Police, Fire, and Emergency Officers Educational Assistance Act of 1998Became law
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Sen. Specter has won
Sen. Specter has won 5 U.S. Senate elections (1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2004). Of the contested races, margins ran from 2.4 to 26.6 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.
How has Pennsylvania done while Sen. Specter served?
2005 to 2010 in Pennsylvania: typical household income was about the same after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was up 1.5 points, and the share of workers looking for a job was up 2.9 points.
Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Oxblood = state, grey = U.S.
While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Pennsylvania during Specter’s time representing it (1981 to 2011). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.
Survey years start at 2005. The yearly estimates for Pennsylvania begin in 2005, so 1981 to 2004 are not shown. No 2020 yearly estimate exists.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
111th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 134 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 134 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 2 | See the 2 → |
| With a committee report listed | 0 | None listed |
| With a Congress.gov note | 2 | See the 2 → |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 111th 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.