[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 11, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1095-H1096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1900
                       EVERY AMERICAN MUST COUNT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ewing). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to discuss an issue 
that is critical to democracy, fairness and representation in this 
country. The issue to which I am referring is the year 2000 census.
  As a newly appointed member to the Subcommittee on the Census, I look 
forward to working closely with other members to make sure that every 
citizen in America is indeed counted. Since 1790, during the first 
census, there was a significant undercount, especially among the poor 
and disenfranchised. Two hundred years later, in 1990, it is estimated 
that the census missed 10 percent of the population or 26 million 
people. Most of those who were not counted were poor people living in 
cities and rural communities throughout America, African

[[Page H1096]]

Americans, Latinos, immigrants and children.
  The City of Chicago's undercount was about 2.4 percent and the 
African American undercount was about 5.6 percent. We can ill afford to 
have a count in the year 2000 that does not include every American 
citizen. Too much is at stake.
  The census count determines who receives billions of dollars in 
Federal aid. Every year census information directs an estimated $170 
billion in Federal spending. Census data helps to determine where the 
money goes for better roads, highways and transit systems, schools, 
senior citizen centers, health care facilities and programs for Head 
Start and school lunches. In addition to money, representation is at 
stake. Congress, State legislatures, city councils, county boards and 
other political subdivisions are redrawn as a result of the census 
count.
  There are some in this body who would deny representation and 
resources to millions of citizens in the name of maintaining the status 
quo. Under the Census Bureau's plan, everybody counts. All Americans 
will be included in the census. But if we keep taking the census the 
old way, we will continue to miss millions of people, and one might 
wonder if we have learned anything since 1790.
  I was always taught that those who failed to remember the mistakes of 
the past are doomed to repeat them. I have learned from the past, and 
the past dictates that the old way of trying to count every citizen 
will not work. Therefore, business as usual is unacceptable, and we 
must begin to do things a new way.
  In addition to making sure that every American counts, the Census 
Bureau's plan of sampling will save the taxpayers hundreds of millions 
of dollars. Let us put politics aside and use a method that the experts 
agree will yield the most accurate count. The experts have stated that 
if statistical sampling is not used to conduct the 2000 census, then 
the question we will ask is not whether the census was accurate, but 
how many people did we miss.
  I urge grassroots organizations all over America, as well as the more 
traditional ones like the NAACP, Urban League, fraternities, 
sororities, churches and other groups to become actively involved in 
trying to make sure that all of our citizens are counted. Let us 
remember, if you are not counted, then in reality you do not count. 
Census-taking must be a high priority and sampling is the most 
professional way to make sure that there is no significant undercount.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Saxton). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  (Mrs. MALONEY of New York addressed the House. Her remarks will 
appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.)

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