[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 19, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H3371-H3372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON THE POLITICS OF THE CENSUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, last week Democrats were 
accused of trying to place politics in the 2000 Census. A Dear 
Colleague letter was sent out which implied that the Democratic Party, 
organized labor, and the Census Bureau were involved in a conspiracy to 
somehow undermine Republicans through the partnership programs being 
organized to support the 2000 Census.
  This claim would be laughable if it were not so destructive. The 
decennial Census is a national civic ritual. In order to be successful, 
partnerships with literally thousands of organizations must be 
established. The Census Bureau is working hard to do that, regardless 
of the political leanings of any group. From Fortune 500 companies to 
the AARP to the NAACP to the National League of Cities, organizational 
support for the largest national peacetime mobilization in our Nation's 
history is essential to the success of the 2000 Census.
  The claim that it is Democrats who are politicizing the Census is 
also ironic, coming as it does almost 2 years to the day after the 
Republican memo which began the blatant politics in the Census.
  So I rise today first to set the record straight and share with the 
Members some of the history of the Republican attempts to place 
politics in the Census, but also to commend some recent moves by the 
Speaker which indicate that a more bipartisan spirit may be prevailing 
over this issue.
  On May 20, 1997, 2 years ago, the GOP sent a memo to Republican State 
chairs. In it, the Chair of the Republican National Committee said that 
the 2000 Census was, and I quote, ``an issue of unusual importance to 
the future of the Republican Party,'' and that at stake is ``our GOP 
majority in the House.''
  In that memo was nothing about the importance of counting all 
Americans, regardless of race, age, or income; nothing about the impact 
of the Census on the lives of real people: about how State and local 
governments use Census information to plan schools and highways, about 
how the Federal government uses it to distribute funds for health care 
and other programs; and nothing about how businesses use it in making 
their economic and marketing plans. Instead, we find only cynical, 
partisan rhetoric about how to make sure the 2000 Census benefits 
Republicans.
  That was just the beginning. In June of 1997 Republicans tried to ban 
statistical methods for the Census on the disaster relief bill for the 
flood victims in the Midwest. Then in September of 1997 the majority 
put language in the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill to ban 
the use of statistical methods.
  They tried again in 1998 to kill the use of statistical methods and 
failed. Then they turned to the courts. In January they lost that 
battle, too, when the Supreme Court ruled that the Census Bureau could 
not use modern scientific methods for apportionment, but they are 
required to use it for everything else, if feasible. The majority has 
done everything it can to prevent the most accurate Census possible in 
2000.

                              {time}  1930

  They have recently begun throwing up legislative obstacles to an 
accurate census here in the House and have also begun a campaign at the 
State level to prevent the use of accurate numbers.
  The 1990 census had an error rate of over 10 percent. There were 8.4 
million missed and 4.4 million people that were counted twice. The 1990 
census missed one in 10 African-American males, one

[[Page H3372]]

in 20 Latinos, one in eight American Indians on reservations, and one 
in 16 rural non-Hispanic whites.
  Up until just recently, the sole focus of the majority's agenda has 
been to make sure that these people are left out of the 2000 census. 
But there are signs of hope. Call me a starry-eyed optimist, but I 
think the Republican leadership may be coming to its senses.
  They have finally agreed with us on one census problem and will not 
shut down the government this June 15 as they originally planned. The 
emergency supplemental appropriation which passed last night contained 
a provision eliminating that artificial deadline. It also included 
almost $45 million in additional money the Census Bureau will need to 
conduct the census using old methods. That, too, is a hopeful sign. I 
welcome these signals of a new spirit of bipartisanship on census 
issues.
  Let me just add that I hope it continues through the fiscal year 2000 
appropriations process, as we are about to begin it.
  Mr. Speaker, last week Democrats were accused of trying to politicize 
the 2000 Census.
  A Dear Colleague letter was sent out which implied that the 
Democratic party, organized labor, and the Census Bureau were involved 
in a conspiracy to somehow undermine Republicans through the 
Partnership programs being organized to support the 2000 Census.
  This claim would be laughable if it weren't so destructive.
  The Decennial Census is a national civic ritual. In order to be 
successful, partnerships with literally thousands of organizations must 
be established, and the Census Bureau is working hard to do that--
regardless of the political leanings of any group.
  The Decennial Census is a national civic ritual. In order to be 
successful, partnerships with literally thousands of organizations must 
be established, and the Census Bureau is working hard to do that--
regardless of the political leanings of any group.
  From Fortune 500 companies, to the AARP, to the NAACP to the National 
League of Cities--organizational support for the largest national peace 
time mobilization in our nation's history is essential to the success 
of the 2000 Census.
  The claim that it is Democrats who are politicizing the census is 
also ironic, coming as it does almost two years to the day after the 
Republican memo which began the blatant politicization of the Census.
  And so I rise today first to set the record straight and share with 
you some of the history of the Republican attempts to politicize the 
Census, but also to commend some recent moves by the Speaker which 
indicate that a more bipartisan spirit may be prevailing over this 
issue.
  On May 20th 1997, two years ago, the GOP began their blatant attempts 
to politicize the 2000 Census with a memo to Republican State Chairs.
  In it, the Chair of the Republican National Committee said that the 
2000 Census was ``an issue of unusual importance to the future of the 
Republican Party,'' and that ``At stake is our GOP majority in the 
House. . . .''
  In that memo was nothing about the importance of counting all 
Americans, regardless of race, or age, or income.
  Nothing about impact of the census on the lives of real people--about 
how state and local governments use census information to plan schools 
and highways, about how the federal government uses it to distribute 
funds for health care and other programs, and nothing about how 
businesses use it in making their economic and marketing plans.
  Instead you find only cynical, partisan rhetoric about how to make 
sure the 2000 Census benefits Republicans.
  That was just the beginning.
  In June of 1997, Republicans tried to ban statistical methods for the 
Census on a disaster relief bill for the flood victims in the Midwest.
  Then in September of 1997 the majority put language in the Commerce, 
Justice, State appropriations bill to ban the use of statistical 
methods.
  They tried again in 1998 to kill the use of statistical methods and 
failed.

  Then they turned to the courts. In January, they lost that battle too 
when the Supreme Court ruled that the Census Bureau could not use 
statistical methods for apportionment, but that they are required to 
use it for everything else, if feasible.
  The majority has done everything it can to prevent the most accurate 
census possible in 2000.
  They have recently begun throwing up legislative obstacles to an 
accurate census here in the House, and have also begun a campaign at 
the state level to prevent the use of accurate numbers.
  The 1990 census had an error rate of over 10 percent. There were 8.4 
million people missed, and 4.4 million people counted twice.
  The 1990 census missed 1 in 10 African American males; 1 in 20 
Latinos; 1 in 8 American Indians on reservations; and 1 in 16 rural 
non-Hispanic Whites.
  Up until just recently, the sole focus of the majority's agenda has 
been to make sure that these people are left out of the 2000 Census as 
well.
  But there are signs of hope. Call me a starry-eyed optimist, but I 
think the Republican leadership may be coming to its senses.
  They have finally agreed with us on one census problem and will not 
shut down the government this June 15th as they originally planned.
  The Emergency Supplemental Appropriation which passed last night 
contained a provision eliminating that artificial deadline.
  It also included $45 million in additional money the Census Bureau 
will need to conduct the census using old methods. That too is a 
hopeful sign.
  I welcome these signals of a new spirit of bipartisanship on Census 
issues.
  Let me just add that I hope it continues through the fiscal year 2000 
appropriations process we are about to begin.
  We also need to realize that conducting the Census using the old 
methods that Republicans have insisted upon will cost a lot of money--
as much as $2 billion more than originally planned.
  I urge Republicans and Democrats alike to support full funding for 
the 2000 Census.
  There is one clear and simple issue here--will the next census count 
everyone, or will it repeat the mistakes of 1990 leaving millions of 
people unrepresented and unfairly left out.
  I call upon the Republican Party to build upon its recent gestures 
and allow the Census Bureau to conduct the most accurate census 
possible.
  The first census of the 21st century must be as accurate and complete 
as we can make it.
  The Constitution of the United States and the American people demand 
no less.

                          ____________________