Former representative · Tennessee's 5th district

Jim Cooper

Jim Cooper served in Congress from 1983 to 2023, last as a Democratic representative for Tennessee's 5th district. In the 117th Congress, 997 roll calls were held while they served; they missed 9, and cast 559 of 567 party-unity votes with the majority of their caucus.

Party
Democrat
Chamber
House
Former
In Congress since
Jan 3, 1983
Last term ended
Jan 3, 2023
Open in the Congress explorerOfficial record
Photo: Government Publishing Office (public domain)

Record by Congress

Counts with their denominators for each Congress and chamber served. Ranks are among members who served most of that Congress (100 or more roll calls): rank 1 did it most often. A description, not a grade.

CongressRoll callsMissedVotes with partySponsoredCosponsored across the aisle
117th CongressHouse of Representatives9970.9%9 of 997 · rank 238 of 44399%559 of 567 · rank 166 of 443101 became law7%31 of 476

Ideology (DW-NOMINATE)

Voteview's DW-NOMINATE first dimension estimates where members sit from all their roll calls: liberal (−1) to conservative (+1). It describes voting patterns, not views. Shown for the 117th Congress (House), with each party's median and the chamber's range.

Liberal −1−0.16+1 Conservative

Source: Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/

Votes against their party

The latest party-unity votes on bills and amendments where the member voted yea or nay against most of their caucus.

  1. H.R. 3843: Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022Nay
    Sep 29, 2022· House· Passage· On Passage· Passed 242–184· Against party
  2. H.R. 7900: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023Nay
    Jul 14, 2022· House· Amendments· On Agreeing to the Amendment· Agreed to 244–179· Against party
  3. H.R. 7900: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023Nay
    Jul 13, 2022· House· Amendments· On Agreeing to the Amendment· Failed 156–270· Against party
  4. H.R. 7900: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023Nay
    Jul 13, 2022· House· Amendments· On Agreeing to the Amendment· Failed 118–309· Against party
  5. H.R. 4350: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022Nay
    Sep 23, 2021· House· Amendments· On Agreeing to the Amendment· Failed 118–299· Against party
  6. H.R. 4350: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022Nay
    Sep 23, 2021· House· Amendments· On Agreeing to the Amendment· Failed 141–286· Against party
  7. H.R. 3684: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs ActYea
    Jun 30, 2021· House· Amendments· On Agreeing to the Amendment· Agreed to 230–178· Against party
  8. H.R. 1620: Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2021Yea
    Mar 17, 2021· House· Amendments· On Agreeing to the Amendment· Agreed to 242–174· Against party

Recent votes

The latest roll calls on bills and amendments, with the member's recorded position.

  1. H.R. 2617: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023Yea
    Dec 23, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Concur in the Senate Adt to the House Adt to the Senate Adt· Passed 225–201
  2. H.R. 7939: Veterans Auto and Education Improvement Act of 2022Yea
    Dec 22, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment· Passed 380–35
  3. S. 1402: Durbin Feeling Native American Languages Act of 2022Yea
    Dec 22, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass· Passed 337–79
  4. S. 989: Native American Language Resource Center Act of 2022Yea
    Dec 22, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass· Passed 342–71
  5. S. 5087: A bill to amend the Not Invisible Act of 2019 to extend, and provide additional support for, the activities of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice Joint Commission on Reducing Violent Crime Against Indians, and for other purposes.Yea
    Dec 22, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass· Passed 374–44
  6. S. 4104: Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022Yea
    Dec 22, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass· Passed 360–55
  7. S. 3773: A bill to authorize leases of up to 99 years for land held in trust for the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation.Yea
    Dec 22, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass· Passed 377–42
  8. S. 1942: National Heritage Area ActYea
    Dec 22, 2022· House· Passage· On Passage· Passed 326–95
  9. H.R. 9640: Presidential Tax Filings and Audit Transparency Act of 2022Yea
    Dec 22, 2022· House· Passage· On Passage· Passed 222–201
  10. S. 3308: Colorado River Indian Tribes Water Resiliency Act of 2022Yea
    Dec 21, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass· Passed 397–12
  11. S. 3168: A bill to amend the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 to modify the enforceability date for certain provisions, and for other purposes.Yea
    Dec 21, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass· Passed 378–33
  12. H.R. 1917: Hazard Eligibility and Local Projects ActYea
    Dec 21, 2022· House· Passage· On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment· Passed 393–19

Sponsored bills

Bills and resolutions the member introduced as sponsor in the loaded Congresses. Volume is not quality: most measures never leave committee.

10 sponsored · 1 became law

How far they got

  1. Introduced990%
  2. Became law110%

Policy areas

  1. Government Operations and Politics3
  2. Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues2
  3. Congress2
  4. Transportation and Public Works2
  5. Science, Technology, Communications1

Latest activity

  1. H.R. 5271 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2245 Rosa L Parks Boulevard in Nashville, Tennessee, as the "Thelma Harper Post Office Building".
    Became law· Government Operations and Politics· Dec 27, 2022
  2. H.Res. 588 Honoring the bravery and legacy of the Clinton 12.
    Introduced· Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues· Nov 1, 2022
  3. H.Res. 1178 Expressing support for the designation of the week of June 27 through July 3, 2022, as "National Tire Safety Week" in the United States, and supporting the goals and ideals of National Tire Safety Week to educate American motorists about the importance of proper tire care and maintenance.
    Introduced· Transportation and Public Works· Jun 16, 2022
  4. H.R. 5729 GIFTS Act
    Introduced· Government Operations and Politics· Oct 26, 2021
  5. H.R. 5111 To amend section 6103 of title 5, United States Code, to establish Rosa Parks Day as a Federal holiday, and for other purposes.
    Introduced· Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues· Aug 27, 2021
  6. H.R. 4634 RETAIN GPS and Satellite Communications Act of 2021
    Introduced· Science, Technology, Communications· Jul 23, 2021
  7. H.R. 3698 D-BLOC Act
    Introduced· Transportation and Public Works· Jun 7, 2021
  8. H.J.Res. 5 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States protecting the right of citizens to vote.
    Introduced· Government Operations and Politics· Mar 4, 2021

Committees

Seats as published by the congress-legislators project. Past seats are those no longer listed since Analisa began recording them.

No committee seats are listed.

Federal contracts in the district

Contract obligations attributed to Tennessee's 5th district by each action's county and its award's ZIP code (land shares through census tracts); an estimate where ZIP codes cross district lines. Shown next to the member's record: neither explains the other.

Contract money is attributed to districts from the 118th Congress boundaries onward; this member's last district predates them.

Campaign money

What the member's campaigns reported receiving, per FEC two-year cycle, and the federal contracts of the organizations that sponsor the giving PACs (each sponsor matched to a contract recipient by AI, with its probability). Comparisons of public records: neither explains the other.

2024 cycle

Raised
$14.3K
through Dec 31, 2023
Cash on hand
$0
From committees
$0
0 committees
From contractor PACs
$0
0 PACs · — of committee money
IndividualsPACsPartySelf

By cycle

CycleRaised (FEC summary)From committeesFrom contractor PACs
2024$14.3K$0$00 PACs · — of committee money
2022$1.3M$442.6K$123.1K46 PACs · 28% of committee money

Raised is the FEC's cumulative summary of the candidacy; committee money counts each contribution reported, so the two cover slightly different dates.

Terms

Every term in the House or Senate, as published by the congress-legislators project.

  1. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 3, 2021 – Jan 3, 2023
  2. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 3, 2019 – Jan 3, 2021
  3. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 3, 2017 – Jan 3, 2019
  4. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2017
  5. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2015
  6. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2013
  7. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 6, 2009 – Jan 3, 2011
  8. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 4, 2007 – Jan 3, 2009
  9. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 4, 2005 – Jan 3, 2007
  10. House · Tennessee's 5th districtJan 7, 2003 – Jan 3, 2005
  11. House · Tennessee's 4th districtJan 5, 1993 – Jan 3, 1995
  12. House · Tennessee's 4th districtJan 3, 1991 – Jan 3, 1993
  13. House · Tennessee's 4th districtJan 3, 1989 – Jan 3, 1991
  14. House · Tennessee's 4th districtJan 6, 1987 – Jan 3, 1989
  15. House · Tennessee's 4th districtJan 3, 1985 – Jan 3, 1987
  16. House · Tennessee's 4th districtJan 3, 1983 – Jan 3, 1985

Identifiers

The same member in other public records.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Congressional district boundaries and relationship files (U.S. Census Bureau)U.S. Census Bureau, Cartographic Boundary Files (congressional districts) and 2020 relationship files · release cd116+cd118+cd119 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Committees, candidates and committee contributions to candidates (Federal Election Commission)FEC bulk data: committee master, candidate master (candidates' names, no addresses), linkages, PAC summaries, all-candidates summaries and contributions from committees (no individual contributors) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov)USAspending.gov, prime award contract transactions (FPDS) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Activity counts describe volume and attendance; they are not a measure of quality.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.