[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2578 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2578

  To amend title 13, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
  Commerce to provide advanced notice to Congress before changing any 
       questions on the decennial census, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 20, 2018

  Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Duckworth, and Mr. Peters) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 13, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
  Commerce to provide advanced notice to Congress before changing any 
       questions on the decennial census, 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; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``2020 Census 
Improving Data and Enhanced Accuracy Act'' or the ``2020 Census IDEA 
Act''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The decennial census was embedded in article I of the 
        Constitution of the United States by the founders of the United 
        States to measure the progress of the country and help chart 
        its future.
            (2) The 2020 decennial census will, for the decade to 
        follow, shape the reapportionment of the House of 
        Representatives and the drawing of thousands of State and local 
        political jurisdictions.
            (3) Nearly $700,000,000,000 in Federal assistance to State 
        and local communities every year is informed by the results of 
        the decennial census.
            (4) The President and Congress seek to make the 2020 
        decennial census the most complete, accurate, and fair 
        decennial census in the history of the United States.
            (5) The decennial census is the largest peacetime 
        mobilization undertaken by the Federal Government.
            (6) Any late, untested changes to the operational design of 
        the decennial census will introduce great risk to the success 
        of, the accuracy of, and public cooperation with the decennial 
        census.

SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DECENNIAL CENSUS.

    Section 141 of title 13, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by adding ``and'' at the end;
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a period; and
                    (C) by striking paragraph (3);
            (2) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h);
            (3) by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
    ``(g) Limitations and Requirements.--
            ``(1) Notice to congress of operational design, subjects, 
        types of information, and questions.--In the 2020 decennial 
        census of population and each decennial census thereafter, the 
        Secretary may not--
                    ``(A) with respect to the census, implement any 
                major operational design that has not been researched, 
                studied, and tested for a period of not less than 3 
                years before the date on which the applicable census 
                occurs; or
                    ``(B) include on the questionnaire for the census 
                any subject, type of information, or question that was 
                not submitted to Congress in accordance with subsection 
                (f).
            ``(2) Biannual reports.--
                    ``(A) Submission to congress.--Not later than 90 
                days after the date of enactment of this subsection and 
                biannually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 
                Congress a report that--
                            ``(i) describes each component of the 
                        operational plan for the subsequent decennial 
                        census of population; and
                            ``(ii) includes a detailed statement on the 
                        status of all research, testing, and operations 
                        that are part of the Bureau's comprehensive 
                        plan for the decennial census.
                    ``(B) Internet publication.--On the date on which 
                the Secretary submits a report under subparagraph (A), 
                the Secretary shall publish the report on the public 
                Internet website of the Bureau.
            ``(3) GAO analysis.--Before the date on which a decennial 
        census occurs, the Comptroller General of the United States 
        shall determine and report to Congress on whether the subjects, 
        types of information, and questions to be included in the 
        census have been adequately researched, studied, and tested to 
        the same degree as in previous decennial censuses.
            ``(4) Applicability.--Nothing in this subsection shall be 
        construed to affect--
                    ``(A) the mid-decade census conducted under 
                subsection (d); or
                    ``(B) the survey conducted by the Secretary that is 
                commonly referred to as the `American Community 
                Survey'.''; and
            (4) in subsection (h), as so redesignated, by inserting 
        ``Definition.--'' before ``As used in''.
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