Rep. Gregory Meeks
Representative for New York’s 5th District
pronounced GREH-guh-ree // meeks
Meeks is the representative for New York’s 5th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Meeks’s current term ends on Jan 3, 2025. He is 71 years old.
He was previously the representative for New York’s 6th congressional district as a Democrat from 1997 to 2012.
![Photo of Rep. Gregory Meeks [D-NY5]](/https/www.govtrack.us/static/legislator-photos/400271-200px.jpeg)
Earmarks
Meeks proposed $24 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $6 million to India Home, Inc. for “South Asian Cultural Housing and Assisted Living (SACHAL)”
- $3.5 million to Southern Queens Parks Association for “Goodrich Legacy Center”
- $3.2 million to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for “Army Corps Hudson Raritan Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Project For Jamaica Bay”
View all requests and justifications on Meeks’s website »
View analysis and download spreadsheet from Demand Progress Education Fund »
These are earmark requests which may or may not survive the legislative process to becoming law. Most representatives from both parties requested earmarks for fiscal year 2024. Across representatives who requested earmarks, the median total amount requested for this fiscal year was $39 million.
Earmarks are federal expenditures, tax benefits, or tariff benefits requested by a legislator for a specific entity. Rather than being distributed through a formula or competitive process administered by the executive branch, earmarks may direct spending where it is most needed for the legislator's district. All earmark requests in the House of Representatives are published online for the public to review. We don’t have earmark requests for senators. The fiscal year begins on October 1 of the prior calendar year. Source: Appropriations.house.gov. Background: Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Meeks is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills legislators have sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Nov 26, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Gregory Meeks sits on the following committees:
- House Committee on Foreign Affairs Ranking Member
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House Committee on Financial Services
Capital Markets, Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy subcommittees
Enacted Legislation
Meeks was the primary sponsor of 7 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 1842 (117th): Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act
- H.R. 1157 (117th): Department of State Authorization Act of 2021
- H.R. 6125 (115th): To rename a waterway in the State of New York as the “Joseph Sanford Jr. Channel”.
- H.R. 1257 (115th): Securities and Exchange Commission Overpayment Credit Act
- H.R. 3957 (113th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 218-10 Merrick Boulevard in Springfield Gardens, New York, as the “Cynthia Jenkins Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 3001 (112th): Raoul Wallenberg Centennial Celebration Act
- H.R. 4632 (108th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 19504 Linden Boulevard in St. Albans, New York, as the “Archie Spigner Post Office Building”.
Does 7 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Meeks sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (53%) Finance and Financial Sector (29%) Taxation (9%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Meeks recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 9719: Strengthening USAID Management Act
- H.R. 8936: Rohingya GAP Act
- H.R. 8362: To direct the Secretary of State to host regular U.S.-Africa Leaders Summits, and …
- H.Res. 1118: Recognizing the importance of the United States-Japan alliance and welcoming the visit of …
- H.R. 7701: No Russian Tunnel to Crimea Act
- H.R. 7420: Ensuring Diversity in Community Banking Act
- H.R. 7314: Diversify Tech Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Feb 1998 to Nov 2024, Meeks missed 1,283 of 17,206 roll call votes, which is 7.5%. This is much worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
