[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 24, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H7738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            CENSUS SAMPLING

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, today this House will begin to address the 
year 2000 census and the adverse effect of sampling. Sampling is not 
about politics. It is about the Constitution. The Constitution clearly 
states that the actual enumeration shall be made within 3 years after 
the first meeting of Congress within every 10 years in such manner as 
Congress shall by law direct.
  Further, title 13 of the U.S. Code authorizes sampling except for the 
determination of population for purposes of apportionment of 
Representatives in Congress shall be allowed. This exception was 
enacted because when determining congressional districts, guessing is 
just not good enough.
  Nowhere in this country is the case against sampling any clearer than 
in my home State of Nevada. Nevada has only two Representatives in 
Congress, and it has nearly 2 million people. Nevada is the fastest 
growing State in the Nation. This sampling could greatly underestimate 
our State's growing population, costing Nevada residents their 
constitutional right of representation.

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