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MEMBER OF CONGRESS

James E. Risch

Republican ID 42 statements translated

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Risch’s Senate output is dominated by routine committee business: nearly all of his recent floor statements are arms-sale notifications under section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, read in the same fixed procedural wording to place proposed sales before the Senate. On the substantive statements he does give, he presses for hard sanctions on Russia and Iran, especially targeting Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ oil shipping—‘If you can stop them from shipping the oil, you can stop the money flow’—arguing that economic pressure will bring Russia to the negotiating table and end the war in Ukraine. He presents this as bipartisan, cites the 86-to-12 vote as evidence, and frames foreign policy through its effect on Idahoans, listing domestic concerns like lowering prices and domestic energy. He argues with concrete specifics about what the sanctions would do rather than loaded rhetoric, and rarely indulges in positioning talk; his most distinctive habit by far is filling the Record with procedural language, which appears in his statements far more often than for a typical senator.Written by AI from their statements. Updated .

Average grade
A
90 / 100 over 38 statements
Signal 81 / 100
Relevance Not scored
Respect 100 / 100
Clarity 98 / 100
Loses points more than most for Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.2.5 times as often as most members.What the tags mean ×2.5 Loses points less than most for Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.Less often than most members.What the tags mean Thanks and tributes.Less often than most members.What the tags mean Averaged over the 38 of 42 statements graded so far.

Statements 42

Senate ·

Arms Sales Notification

“The law requires Congress to be notified of certain planned weapon sales so we have 30 days to review them. I am entering the notices we received into the official record so all senators can read them.”
Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee’s intention to see that relevant information is still available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications that have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such an annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

View on govinfo.gov Grade A View analysis
“The law requires Congress to be notified of certain planned weapon sales. I am putting these notices into the official record so all senators can see them.”

  • Speech in the House

    Signal 42 of 100

    Much of this statement went to praise, blame, greetings, routine procedure or general stories rather than reasons, requests or specific points.

    See full analysis
Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In keeping with the committee’s intention to see that relevant information is still available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications that have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such an annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

View on govinfo.gov Grade B– View analysis