[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1178 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1178

To amend title 13, United States Code, to make clear that sampling may 
 be used in order to improve the accuracy of the decennial censuses of 
                  population, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 20, 1997

   Mrs. Maloney of New York introduced the following bill; which was 
      referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 13, United States Code, to make clear that sampling may 
 be used in order to improve the accuracy of the decennial censuses of 
                  population, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. USE OF SAMPLING.

    Section 195 of title 13, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Except'' and all that follows through 
        ``the Secretary'' and inserting ``(a) Subject to subsection 
        (b), the Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) In connection with a decennial census of population taken 
under section 141(a) of this title for purposes of the apportionment of 
Representatives in Congress among the several States, sampling may be 
used in such form and manner as the Secretary considers appropriate, 
but only--
            ``(1) in conjunction with a good faith effort using non 
        sampling techniques authorized by this title, (regardless of 
        whether the sampling occurs before, during, or after such 
        enumeration); and
            ``(2) to the extent the Secretary considers its use to be 
        necessary in order to achieve a more accurate census.''.

SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Establishment of Reporting Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (f) of section 141 of title 13, 
        United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as 
                paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so 
                redesignated) the following:
            ``(1) not later than 3 years before the appropriate census 
        date, a report containing the Secretary's determination of--
                    ``(A) how it is proposed that the actual 
                enumeration be carried out;
                    ``(B) what types of surveys or statistical methods 
                are proposed to be used in connection with the actual 
                enumeration; and
                    ``(C) how the surveys or methods under subparagraph 
                (B) would help achieve a more accurate census;''.
            (2) Technical amendment.--Paragraph (4) of section 141(f) 
        of title 13, United States Code (as so redesignated), is 
        amended by striking ``paragraph (1) or (2)'' and inserting 
        ``paragraph (1), (2), or (3)''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to censuses occurring after the date of enactment of 
this Act, except that the deadline for the report under section 
141(f)(1) of title 13, United States Code (as amended by this section) 
with respect to the 2000 decennial census of population shall be the 
90th day after such date of enactment.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT RELATING TO THE COLLECTION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION 
              REQUIRED BY STATUTE.

    Section 141 of title 13, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
    ``(g)(1) This subsection applies with respect to any law of the 
United States which provides for benefits to State, county, or local 
units of general purpose government, based on population or population 
and housing characteristics data.
    ``(2) Except as otherwise expressly provided by law, the population 
or population and housing characteristics data used for purposes of 
administering a law described in paragraph (1)--
            ``(A) shall be data collected--
                    ``(i) as part of the decennial census; and
                    ``(ii) contemporaneously with the collection of 
                data for purposes of the apportionment of 
                Representatives in Congress among the several States; 
                and
            ``(B) may, with respect to any subjects which the Secretary 
        considers appropriate, be collected through sampling.''.
                                 <all>