[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1384]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              2000 CENSUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 1997, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, we have a serious problem in 
America today that might seem somewhat paranormal. It might be 
something we would see on ``Ripley's Believe it or Not'' or maybe ``The 
X Files.'' Ten million Americans have become invisible. And even more 
will disappear if this Congress fails to act.
  I am talking about the 1990 census. That is when ten million people 
were not counted, they were simply overlooked. It was as if the 
population of Michigan or Ohio simply fell off the map. Many of those 
who were missed are people who most need the things that being counted 
in the census brings, representation in government and inclusion in 
government's Federal funding formulas. The 1990 census was the first to 
be worse than the census before it, and the difference between the 
undercount for whites and minorities was the worst ever recorded.
  About 4\1/2\ percent of all African Americans were missed, as were 1 
in 20 Latinos, 1 in 14 children, and 1 in 10 black males. But the 
problem does not end with the undercount. In 1990, over 6 million 
people were counted more than once and most of them were white. That 
makes the undercount even more unfair to minorities and poor people, 
because not only are they missed, but their proportional 
representation, the basis for House seats and Federal dollars, is 
further diminished by double-counting.
  The 1990 census cost 20 percent more than the 1980 census and was 33 
percent less accurate. In fact, unless we make some fundamental 
changes, there is every reason to believe that the 2000 census will 
cost even more and be less accurate.
  As we enter a new millennium, our Nation needs an accurate census 
that includes everybody. We cannot be satisfied with the census that 
continues to miss millions of people. But that is exactly what will 
happen 2 years from now unless we use the best knowledge and technology 
available to fix the problems of the past.
  There is some good news. Some people have been thinking about this 
problem already. In 1992, a bipartisan coalition of representatives 
pushed legislation to ask the National Academy of Sciences to review 
the census. They chose the National Academy of Sciences because the 
Academy is fair and independent of political influence.
  Using the recommendations from that independent review, the Census 
Bureau has developed a comprehensive plan for the 2000 census that will 
produce the most accurate census in our Nation's history. It includes 
using the latest technology, shorter forms, more ways to respond, a 
paid advertising campaign, better address lists, and closer 
partnerships with both local governments and community-based 
organizations.

                              {time}  1300

  All of these things will improve the response rate and improve 
accuracy while containing costs. After extensive efforts to count 
absolutely everybody, the plan for the 2000 census calls for the 
application of basic statistical methods to establish the number and 
characteristics of the people who still do not respond based on those 
who do.
  Congress recently approved a test of these methods in 2 of the 3 
dress rehearsals for the census that starts this spring. Under the 
Census Bureau plan, everybody counts. All Americans will be included in 
the census. But the bureau faces one obstacle, and that is this 
Congress. Those who oppose the Census Bureau's plan for the 2000 census 
say they are willing to spend whatever it takes to count everybody the 
old way. But everybody knows that no matter how much you spend, the old 
ways will not count everyone.
  Dr. Barbara Bryant stepped into the breach for President Bush to 
direct the 1990 census. The Republican appointee knew all too well the 
problems with the plans for 1990. But she was brought on board just 4 
months before it was to begin. It takes 24 hours to turn around an 
aircraft carrier. Four months was hardly enough time to stop the 
momentum of an operation as massive as the census. Recently Dr. Bryant 
wrote, and I quote,

       Throwing more money and more temporarily hired census 
     takers at the job of enumeration will not find the missing.

  She echoes what everybody knows. The old methods are as worn out as 
the arguments that keep them.
  One of those arguments being used by the House Leadership is that we 
are under a Constitutional mandate to physically count everyone, nose 
by nose.
  That is an impossibility, and it gives the illusion that the census 
can reach everyone directly, which it cannot and does not. However, it 
can reach many people directly. And it will--because the current plan 
calls for the Census Bureau to make an unprecedented effort to count 
most Americans directly, either through the mail, by telephone, or by 
going door-to-door to find those people who don't respond.
  This is not a ``sample census'' of ``virtual Americans'' as some have 
claimed. In fact, it is the most extensive effort to count everyone in 
the history of the census.
  Every household will receive 4 mailings between the middle of March 
and the middle of April.
  Questionnaires will be available in public places such as libraries, 
post offices, and churches.
  People can even call in their responses by telephone.
  The plans for the 2000 census are on solid legal ground, despite the 
rhetoric.
  The Department of Justice under the Carter, Bush, and Clinton 
administrations has consistently ruled that the Constitution doesn't 
bar sampling or statistical methods to improve a good faith effort to 
count everyone directly.
  We can listen to the experts to get the best count possible. Or we 
can let politics rule the day, and end up with a census that costs too 
much and misses millions of Americans.
  We must put an end to the injustice census.

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