HENRICO, V.A. – U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today was ranked as one of the top five most bipartisan Democrats in the U.S. House and the most bipartisan Member of the Virginia delegation.

In the nonpartisan 2019 Bipartisan Index released by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, Spanberger ranks as the fifth most bipartisan House Democrat in the 116^th Congress. According to the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy, the Bipartisan Index measures how often a Member of Congress introduces bills that succeed in attracting cosponsors from Members of the opposite party, as well as how often they cosponsor a bill introduced from across the aisle.

“We congratulate Rep. Spanberger for ranking in the top 5 percent of House members on the Bipartisan Index,” said Dan Diller, Director of Policy, The Lugar Center. “Her score demonstrates a strong commitment to working across the aisle on bipartisan legislative solutions.”

“Far too often, the message coming from Capitol Hill is focused on the hyper-partisanship that continues to divide our country. Even amid this wave of division, the people of Central Virginia expect me to work with anyone—regardless of their party affiliation—who can help advance legislation that will make a difference in the lives of our families, strengthen the economy for our businesses, and expand opportunity for the next generation of Virginians,” said Spanberger. “I’m honored to be recognized by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School today, and I thank them for their continued focus on fostering bipartisan cooperation, bridging our divides, and striving for the common good. Especially during this moment of crisis, we need to recognize that our challenges are shared—and that the success of our solutions ultimately depends on how we face our challenges together as a country, not as members of warring factions.”

With a bipartisanship score of 1.36993, Spanberger ranks as the most bipartisan Member of the entire Virginia delegation, the fifth most bipartisan House Democrat, and the 16th most bipartisan Member of the House across both parties. In comparison to the U.S. Senate rankings, only U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) has a higher bipartisan score than Spanberger among Senate Democrats.

Since arriving in the U.S. House, Spanberger has prioritized building coalitions with her colleagues across the aisle and advancing bipartisan legislation on behalf of the people of Virginia’s Seventh District. In December 2019, President Trump signed into law Spanberger’s legislation—led alongside U.S. Representative Will Hurd (R-TX-23)—to combat Central American trafficking and smuggling networks and strengthen U.S. border security. Additionally, the President signed into law an amendment introduced by Spanberger and former U.S. Representative Mark Meadows (R-NC-11) to help the Department of Defense stop the use of its internet networks to possess or obtain child pornography.

The Bipartisan Index is based on a formula applied uniformly to all members, and no subjective judgments are made about individual members or bills. The Index is intended to serve as a critical resource for the public and the media—and to encourage lawmakers to be more bipartisan when writing or cosponsoring legislation.

Click here for the full U.S. House Bipartisan Index ranking.

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