[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3152-S3153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 CENSUS

 Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I was troubled by a recent 
report in Roll Call which details a plan by House Republicans to devise 
a media campaign to support their efforts to shut down the government 
in order to restrict census sampling. I ask that this article be 
printed in the Record at the end of my statement.
  Mr. President, the census is a critical issue for my State and for 
the nation. The census count determines how nearly 200 billion of 
federal funds are allocated. An inaccurate count means that these 
federal funds are misallocated.
  According to a recent study by the nonpartisan General Accounting 
Office, the 1990 census undercounted the United States population by 
about 4 million people--or approximately 1.6 percent of the entire 
population.
  Many states had undercounts above the national average. California's 
undercount was 2.7 percent; New Mexico's was 3.1 percent; Texas' 2.8 
percent; and Arizona's 2.4 percent, just to name a few.
  According to the GAO, 22 of the 25 large formula grant programs use 
census data as part of their allocation formula. Those funds are used 
for our schools, health care facilities, and transit systems. 
California was the most harmed because of the 1990 census undercount, 
losing nearly 2.2 billion in federal funds, or 2,660 per person missed.
  In 1998 alone, California lost 198 million in federal funds for 
Medicaid; 9.4 million for foster care; 3.2 million for Social Security; 
1.9 million for child care and development; and 1.1 million for 
vocational training. Millions more in federal dollars for adoption 
assistance, prevention and treatment of substance abuse, highway 
planning and construction, and other programs did not flow to 
California because of the inaccurate census.

  Other states also suffer: Texas lost almost 1 billion because of the 
1990 undercount, and Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana each lost 
over $100 million.
  Moreover, all areas and groups are not undercounted at the same rate, 
and some members of our society are more likely to be missed than 
others. According to the GAO, 5.7 percent of African Americans were not 
counted in the 1990 Census. Nor were 5 percent of Latinos and 4.5 
percent of Native Americans. Of the 835,000 people undercounted in 
California, most were minorities. Nearly half the net undercount--47 
percent--were Hispanic. Twenty-two percent were African-American and 8 
percent were Asian.
  Such differences in census coverage introduce inequities in political 
representation and in the distribution of federal funds. Because 
Hispanics, African-Americans, and other minority groups had a larger 
undercount than whites in the 1990 Census--as in prior censuses--
minorities and the communities in which they live have been 
disadvantaged in government programs in which population is an 
important factor in fund allocation.
  This is an issue of basic fairness. Every American should be counted. 
And unless we can provide the Census Bureau with our support for an 
accurate census, and do so without any political intervention, then we 
run the risk of doing a grave injustice to our citizens.
  Since the failed 1990 population count, the Census Bureau has worked 
with experts to design a more accurate census for 2000. The National 
Academy of Sciences, in three separate reports, concluded that the key 
to improving accuracy in the census is the use of sound statistical 
methods to count those missed during the conventional ``head count.'' 
This involves detailed ``statistical sampling'' to determine the 
characteristics of those who are missed by the head count.
  But for partisan reasons, some in Congress evidently prefer to ignore 
the expert advice and plan to shut down part of the government rather 
than see an accurate count. They argue that sampling is unnecessary. 
Unfortunately, during the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal the undercount 
was 6.5 percent for Sacramento, California; 3.1 percent for the 
Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin; and 9.1 percent for the 
entire state of South Carolina.
  The magnitude of such undercounts and the implications for the 2000 
Census that fails to correct the problem are particularly great for 
states with large and diverse populations, such as Florida, Texas, 
Arizona, New York, California and many others.
  The Supreme Court has affirmed that sampling is required for purposes 
other than apportionment if `feasible'.
  The census should not be about politics. And Mr. President, I will 
oppose any efforts to include any restrictions on the ability of the 
Bureau of the Census to conduct the most accurate census possible. 
Anything else would simply be unfair.
  The article follows:

[[Page S3153]]

GOP GIRDS FOR CENSUS BATTLE FIRST TO HOLD JOB, HE'S LEAVING FOR PRIVATE 
                                 SECTOR

                  (By Jim VandeHei and John Mercurio)

       Fearing the loss of two dozen House seats if his party 
     blinks, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has tapped former 
     National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Bill 
     Paxon (N.Y.) to prepare GOP troops for a budget fight over 
     the 2000 Census that could provoke a partial government 
     shutdown.
       At Hastert's request, Paxon huddled this week with NRCC 
     Chairman Tom Davis (Va.), Republican media strategist Eddie 
     Mahe and others to help devise a coordinated strategy to 
     block President Clinton's plan to use sampling in the 2000 
     Census.
       ``I am one of a group of people trying to figure out how to 
     keep Mr. Bill Clinton from imposing his political 
     calculations on the census,'' Mahe said in an interview.
       The impending battle will erupt in earnest next month when 
     GOP leaders begin working on the funding bill for Commerce, 
     Justice, State, the judiciary and related agencies. During 
     last year's budget negotiations, Republicans and Clinton 
     agreed to put off final decisions on whether to fund the use 
     of sampling until this June, when the results of the Census 
     Bureau's dress rehearsals would be available and the Supreme 
     Court would have ruled on a much-anticipated legal challenge 
     to sampling.
       The budget fight follows the High Court's decision in late 
     January that the bureau's plan to use sampling in the 
     decennial for reapportionment of House seats violates the 
     Census Act.
       But according to pro-sampling Democrats' interpretation of 
     Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's majority opinion, the federal 
     government can, ``if feasible,'' use sampling for the very 
     different purpose of redistricting, or the redrawing of House 
     district boundary lines, within each state.
       Following the court's ruling, Census Bureau Director 
     Kenneth Prewitt said the Clinton administration will seek an 
     increased level of funding to conduct two counts--one using 
     the GOP-backed practice of trying to count every American, 
     the other using the Clinton-endorsed sampling.
       Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to amend the Census Act to 
     allow sampling for reapportionment, and Republicans will try 
     to place language in the spending bill that would restrict 
     funding for any sampling practices associated with the 
     census.
       The GOP plan, according to informed sources, likely will 
     include a media campaign against Clinton's plan, which most 
     House Democrats support.
       It will also include a lobbying campaign to convince 
     Republican Members to stand up to Clinton if he threatens to 
     shut down the government to scare off opposition.
       ``Everybody knows this is 'do or die' for the party,'' said 
     one GOP official familiar with the nascent strategy. ``We're 
     not going to back down on this.''
       That spending plan will include a provision preventing the 
     bureau from using statistical sampling, which Hastert and 
     Paxon fear will cost Republicans dozens of House seats in the 
     new millennium.
       ``The Speaker and virtually every GOP leader believe no 
     single vote will have greater ramifications on the future of 
     the Republican majority than the vote to block President 
     Clinton from changing the way we conduct the census,'' said 
     one Hastert confidant.
       But Democrats understand that if Clinton backs down, 
     Republicans' chances of retaining their majority will 
     increase.
       He won't capitulate to GOP demands, according to 
     senior Democratic leadership sources.
       ``They have never shown any weakness and I don't know why 
     they would,'' said a top Democratic adviser, who insisted 
     White House officials will shut down the government if 
     Republicans refuse to back down.
       Democrats said the Republican moves show they are preparing 
     to allow this battle to result in a shutdown. A government 
     shutdown in 1995 caused their party's support to plummet and 
     ultimately led to a more conciliatory tone among House GOP 
     leaders.
       ``They weren't able to convince the American people to 
     believe they were justified in doing that in 1995, and I 
     don't see how they would be able to do so in 1999,'' said 
     Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the 
     Government Reform Committee.
       ``If they do make it a partisan issue and close down three 
     departments of government, they're going to need to spend a 
     lot of money to try to convince people they're not being 
     partisan again,'' Waxman said. ``And I don't think they're 
     going to succeed.''
       Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the 
     Government Reform subcommittee on the census, said Democrats 
     can turn back the Republican budget proposal by appealing to 
     ``at least 10 Republicans'' to support sampling. So far, only 
     three Republicans--Reps. Connie Morella (Md.), Christopher 
     Shays (Conn.) and Nancy Johnson (Conn.)--have sided with 
     Democrats in the sampling battle.
       ``I truly believe there are at least 10 Republicans who 
     truly care about their constituents and their country who 
     would not go along with this.''
       But Maloney said the GOP media plan ``wouldn't surprise me. 
     The Republican machine has been focussing like a laser beam 
     on this subject in their attempts to make sure that blacks, 
     Hispanics and Asians are not counted. It's wrong, and they 
     should stop.''
       While talk of a government shutdown may be hyperbole by 
     both sides, the political posturing underscores how 
     contentious the upcoming budget debate will be.
       Last Congress, Republican and Democratic leaders ended 
     months of bickering over the census by delaying a final 
     decision until after the election. They passed a six-month 
     funding bill and agreed to tackle the tricky topic when the 
     pressure of impending elections subsided and the Supreme 
     Court had ruled on a legal challenge to the sampling plan.
       The six-month funding bill expires in June, but Hastert 
     wants appropriators to start work soon, likely early next 
     month, to provide leadership with as much as time as possible 
     to avert a shutdown.
       In the meantime, Paxon is working with several Members and 
     strategists to develop a plan to win the public relations war 
     over the census.
       Besides Davis, Mahe and Paxon, House Administration 
     Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.); Rep. Dan Miller (R-Fla.), 
     chairman of the Government Reform subcommittee on the census; 
     and two GOP strategists, Bill Greener and Chuck Greener, are 
     intimately involved in the strategizing, sources said.
       Paxon's team is considering a paid media campaign to 
     educate voters on the census issue in the weeks leading up to 
     a final vote on legislation and a variety of communications 
     ideas to prevent the PR debacle in the wake of the 1995 
     government shutdown, the sources said.
       GOP leaders have not decided who will run the media 
     campaign or who will pay for it.
       In the meantime, Hastert plans to hand more money to Miller 
     and his census subcommittee to conduct an oversight 
     investigation into how the administration is reacting to the 
     Supreme Court decision on sampling.
       He also plans to educate Members on the topic and lobby 
     them to support the leadership's position.
       Davis said GOP leaders don't anticipate more than one 
     Republican defecting, though both Shays and Morella remain 
     opposed to leadership's position, according to their 
     spokesmen. ``And we'll pick up some Democrats,'' he said, 
     though he refused to list any possibilities.

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