Former member of Congress · last served 117th Congress
Filemon Vela
Filemon Vela was a Democratic U.S. representative from Texas, first elected to Congress in 2013.
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
- H.R. 268 To provide for the boundary of the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park to be adjusted, to authorize the donation of land to the United States for…May 11, 2022 · Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 117-297.
- H.R. 7052 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1535 East Los Ebanos Boulevard in Brownsville, Texas, as the "1st Lieutenant Andres…Mar 9, 2022 · Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
- H.R. 6324 Saving America's Future by Educating Kids Act of 2021Dec 16, 2021 · Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
- H.R. 5907 Water Infrastructure for Rural and Impoverished Communities ActNov 30, 2021 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit.
- H.R. 6053 Protect Minority Student Borrowers ActNov 18, 2021 · Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Top bills sponsored
- H.R. 2281 (115th) Border Enforcement Security Task Force Reauthorization Act of 2017Passed a chamber
- H.R. 4578 (115th) Counter Terrorist Network ActPassed a chamber
- H.R. 2786 (114th) Cross-Border Rail Security Act of 2015Passed a chamber
- H.R. 4139 (116th) To provide for the boundary of the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park to be adjusted, to authorize the donation of land to the United States for…Reported from committee
- H.R. 4940 (115th) Border and Port Security Act22 cosponsors
- H.R. 4482 (116th) Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act of 201921 cosponsors
- H.R. 583 (113th) Putting Our Resources Toward Security (PORTS) Act15 cosponsors
- H.Res. 478 (117th) Commending the men and women of the United States military, our NATO Allies, and our African allies who successfully planned, coordinated, deployed, and…9 cosponsors
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Rep. Vela has won
Rep. Vela has won 5 U.S. House elections (2012–2020). Of the contested races, margins ran from 13.6 to 25.7 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 Texas’s 34th district done while Rep. Vela served?
2013 to 2021 in TX-34: typical household income was up 15% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was down 5.6 points, and the share of workers looking for a job was down 2.1 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. Teal = district, oxblood = state, grey = U.S.
While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Texas’s 34th district during Vela’s time representing it (2013 to 2022). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.
One set of district lines. TX-34 was redrawn in 2012 and again in 2022 (the survey year the new lines first appear), but every survey year in Vela’s term so far (2013 to 2021) uses the same lines, so they can be compared. The Census Bureau has no 2020 yearly estimate.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
117th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 19 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 19 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a sponsor’s constitutional-authority statement | 15 | See the 15 → |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 1 | See the 1 → |
| With a committee report listed | 1 | See the 1 → |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 117th 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.