[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1638 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1638

  To repeal the authority to conduct certain censuses, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2013

 Mr. Duncan of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Harris, 
Mr. Jones, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Ribble, and Mr. Southerland) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture and 
   Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To repeal the authority to conduct certain censuses, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Census Reform Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. REPEAL AND CANCELLATION OF CERTAIN CENSUS ACTIVITIES UNDER 
              TITLE 13, UNITED STATES CODE.

    (a) Repeal of Census Relating to Agriculture.--Chapter 3 of title 
13, United States Code, is repealed.
    (b) Repeal of Economic Census.--Subchapter I of chapter 5 of such 
title is repealed.
    (c) Repeal of Mid-Decade Census.--Section 141 of such title is 
amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (d);
            (2) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(e) If in the administration of any program established by or 
under Federal law which provides benefits to State or local governments 
or to other recipients, eligibility for or the amount of such benefits 
would (without regard to this subsection) be determined by taking into 
account data obtained in the most recent decennial census then in the 
determination of such eligibility or amount of benefits the most recent 
data available from either the mid-decade or decennial census shall be 
used.''; and
            (3) in subsection (f), by striking ``and mid-decade'' and 
        ``or (d)''.
    (d) Repeal of Census of Governments.--Subchapter III of chapter 5 
of title 13, United States Code, is repealed.
    (e) Effect on Census Activities.--Beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce and the Bureau of the 
Census--
            (1) are not authorized to carry out any activities with 
        respect to--
                    (A) a census conducted under chapter 3, subchapter 
                I or subchapter III of chapter 5, or section 141(d) of 
                such title, as in effect on the day before the date of 
                the enactment of this Act; or
                    (B) a survey (including the survey, conducted by 
                the Secretary of Commerce, which is commonly referred 
                to as the ``American Community Survey''), sampling, or 
                other questionnaire conducted under such title;
            (2) shall terminate any activities being carried out with 
        respect to any such census, survey, sampling, or questionnaire; 
        and
            (3) may only conduct the decennial census of population, as 
        authorized under section 141 of title 13, United States Code.
    (f) Rescission of Unobligated Amounts.--Any unobligated amounts 
available to carry out the American Community Survey or the following 
provisions of title 13, United States Code, are rescinded:
            (1) Section 141(d).
            (2) Chapter 3.
            (3) Subchapter I and subchapter III of chapter 5.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON SURVEYS OR QUESTIONNAIRES; LIMITATIONS ON 
              STATISTICS COLLECTED IN A DECENNIAL CENSUS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 1 of title 13, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5 the following:
``Sec. 5a. Prohibition on surveys or questionnaires; limitation on 
              statistics
    ``(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
            ``(1) the Secretary may not conduct any survey, sampling, 
        or other questionnaire, and may only conduct a decennial census 
        of population as authorized under section 141; and
            ``(2) any form used by the Secretary in such a decennial 
        census may only collect information necessary for the 
        tabulation of total population by States.''.
    (b) Repeal of Survey, Questionnaire, or Sampling Authority.--
Sections 182, 193, and 195 of title 13, United States Code, are 
repealed.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--Section 141 of such title is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``The Secretary'' and 
        inserting ``Consistent with the limitations set forth in 
        section 5a, the Secretary''; and
            (2) in subsection (g), by striking ``, housing, and matters 
        relating to population and housing''.

SEC. 4. REPEAL OF CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE ACT OF 1997.

    (a) In General.--The Census of Agriculture Act of 1997 (7 U.S.C. 
2201 note; Public Law 105-113) is repealed.
    (b) Effect on 2013 Census.--Beginning on the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture--
            (1) is not authorized to carry out any activities with 
        respect to the census required to be conducted in 2013 under 
        the Census of Agriculture Act of 1997 (7 U.S.C. 2201 note; 
        Public Law 105-113), as in effect on the day before the date of 
        the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) shall terminate any activities being carried out with 
        respect to such census.
    (c) Rescission of Unobligated Funds.--Any unobligated amounts 
available to carry out the Census of Agriculture Act (7 U.S.C. 2201 
note; Public Law 105-113) are rescinded.
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