[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 152 (Tuesday, November 2, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H11250-H11255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING SUPPORT OF CONGRESS FOR INCREASING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN 
                            DECENNIAL CENSUS

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 193) expressing the 
support of Congress for activities to increase public participation in 
the decennial census.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 193

       Whereas the decennial census is required by article I, 
     section 2, clause 3 of the Constitution of the United States;
       Whereas, in order to achieve a successful decennial census, 
     the joint efforts of Federal, State, and local government, 
     and of other institutions, groups, organizations, and 
     individuals will be needed;
       Whereas the Bureau of the Census has implemented a 
     partnership program through which a comprehensive outreach, 
     education, and motivation campaign is being carried out to 
     encourage all segments of the population to participate in 
     the upcoming census; and
       Whereas it is fitting and proper that Congress seek to 
     promote the efforts of the Bureau of the Census, and of the 
     other aforementioned institutions, organizations, groups, and 
     individuals to achieve a successful decennial census: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) recognizes the importance of achieving a successful 
     decennial census;
       (2) encourages State and local governments, community 
     leaders, and all other parties involved in this joint 
     undertaking to continue to work to ensure a successful 
     census;
       (3) reaffirms the spirit of cooperation that exists between 
     Congress and the Bureau of the Census with respect to 
     achieving a successful census; and
       (4) asserts this public partnership between Congress and 
     the Bureau of the Census to promote the decennial census.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Miller) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller).
  (Mr. MILLER of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks on H. Con. Res. 193.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I think it is very appropriate 
that we take up this legislation immediately following the legislation 
on civility. This has been a very controversial issue for the past 
several years, and today we have an issue that with respect to the 
census is something that we on both sides of the aisle, I think, will 
agree on.
  Specifically, this important bipartisan effort of Congress and the 
Census Bureau is to join together in a partnership to promote the 
census. In just under 6 months, the Census Bureau will undertake the 
largest peacetime mobilization effort in this Nation's history, 
conducting the 2000 decennial census. This massive undertaking deserves 
our support at the local level.
  The key to ensuring a successful census that counts everyone in 
America is outreach and promotion in every neighborhood. Broad-based 
participation in the census must start from within our communities. The 
Census Bureau must make and use every effort possible to promote 
participation in the census.
  Just last week, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), the 
ranking member of the subcommittee, and I attended the kick-off 
ceremony for the 2000 Census advertising campaign. The gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Maloney) and I are hopeful that this first ever 
advertising campaign will help to reverse the trend of decreasing mail 
response rates.
  Another important tool to be used by the Census Bureau is the 
partnership program. Without strong and effective partnerships at the 
local level, we cannot have a successful census. The fanciest ad 
campaigns or sophisticated computer programs will all fail if people at 
the local level do not become involved in the census.
  The Census Bureau is in the process of forming these important 
partnerships with thousands of groups, organizations, and individuals 
from all sectors of the population, both large and small, ranging from 
Goodwill industries to local places of worship. It is very appropriate 
that Congress join with these groups across the Nation by partnering 
with the Census Bureau.
  These partnership programs are designed to utilize resources and 
knowledge of the local partners. And who knows better the local area 
and problems the Bureau may face than the Members of the House who work 
tirelessly for their 435 districts across the Nation?
  Moreover, the Members of this House who work tirelessly for their 
districts all have a vested interest in seeing that their communities 
get the most accurate count possible. We know what it will take to have 
a successful census in our districts. It just makes sense for Congress 
to promote the census.
  After all, the decennial census distributes billions of dollars in 
Federal funds. Data users from demographers to city planners, from 
businesses to universities, will use census data to determine their 
communities' needs.
  We, as representatives, owe it to our constituents to make sure that 
they receive the services they need. The best way to do this is through 
promoting participation in our districts. This is not a Republican 
issue or a Democratic issue. An accurate census is in everyone's best 
interest.
  More often than not, Mr. Speaker, when I have come to the floor, I 
have raised serious concerns about the upcoming census. The Census 
Bureau is going to spend near $4.5 billion in this fiscal year for the 
2000 Census. This effort will require very vigorous oversight by the 
Subcommittee on the Census. The subcommittee still has some concerns 
about the Bureau's plan and, of course, this issue of the use of 
estimation remains unresolved, ultimately to be decided by the courts.
  However, Mr. Speaker, there are Census Bureau programs that every 
Member of this body can feel comfortable embracing, and the 
Congressional Partnership is one of those programs. My staff and the 
staff of the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) have been working 
very hard to make this membership between the Bureau and the House of 
Representatives a success.
  Director Prewitt held briefings for Members and explained the 
partnership program and answered questions. I believe the Bureau has 
put together a

[[Page H11251]]

comprehensive set of activities that Members can easily take back to 
their district to increase public participation.
  House Concurrent Resolution 193 is a resolution that affirms a 
partnership between the Census Bureau and the House of Representatives. 
House Concurrent Resolution 193 recognizes the importance of achieving 
a successful census, encourages groups to continue to work towards a 
successful census, reaffirms our spirit of cooperation with the Census 
Bureau, and asserts a public partnership between Congress and the 
Bureau of the Census.

                              {time}  1415

  While we may have had our differences in the past, the gentlewoman 
from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and I have joined forces to introduce this 
legislation that merits broad based bipartisan support. The decennial 
census is a cornerstone of our democracy and it is vital that all 
Members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, publicly support 
activities to enhance public participation.
  I would like to thank the gentlewoman from New York and her staff for 
their hard work in support of this effort. I would also like to thank 
the cosponsors. I encourage everyone to vote for House Concurrent 
Resolution 193.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I likewise would like to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Miller) for working in such a bipartisan manner on this resolution. We 
have had our differences in the past over the best way to conduct the 
census, but I think we both agree that now is the time to put those 
differences behind us and to get about conducting the most accurate 
census we can, the massive operation of the 2000 census.
  On a personal note, I must say that regardless of our differences, it 
was never personal, you have always been a gentleman and I have enjoyed 
tremendously working with you.
  I am very happy to join the gentleman from Florida in sponsoring 
House Resolution 193, a resolution which reaffirms the spirit of 
cooperation between the Census Bureau and Congress and establishes a 
public partnership between us. This partnership is vital, because 
though the Bureau is doing an excellent job in preparing for the 2000 
census, it truly is a huge undertaking which deserves all the support 
we can give it. Just to give Members an idea of the scale of the 2000 
census, it will be the largest peacetime mobilization ever conducted by 
our country. It will count approximately 275 million people in 120 
million housing units across our Nation. In order to carry out this 
massive operation, the Census Bureau will have to process 1.5 million 
pieces of paper and it will have to do this in a very short time. To 
conduct the 2000 census, the Bureau will have to fill more than 860,000 
temporary positions. This is more people than are currently in the 
United States Army.
  In a very real sense, the 2000 census has already begun. The forms 
are being printed as we speak and transported around the Nation. The 
media time for the $160 million advertising campaign is being bought 
even as we are right here speaking. During the time when the public 
will be filling out their census forms and mailing them back, February 
through mid March, the buy on public television and on television in 
general will be the third largest in the Nation, preceded only by 
McDonald's and Burger King. It will be in 17 different languages in 
order to increase awareness and participation in the census 2000. The 
Bureau plans to open 520 local census offices. One hundred thirty of 
those are already open. The remaining 390 are leased and will be open 
on a flow basis through the beginning of next year.
  Every Member of Congress needs to do all they can to encourage this 
partnership with the 2000 census. I urge Members to appoint a census 
liaison person in their district offices to keep them up to date on 
local census events. Their offices will be getting a great number of 
calls and inquiries once the media begins to hit the public. I urge 
Members to use their newsletters to increase awareness of the census, 
to produce public service announcements for local cable and network 
television, to participate in the openings of the local census offices 
in their districts and participate in other local census events. These 
are just a few of many ideas on how to promote the census in your 
districts and to increase a more accurate count.
  One program that the Bureau has developed for the census, which is my 
personal favorite, is the Census in the Schools program. Recently, Rudy 
Crew, who is the Chancellor of the New York City school system, 
attended a Census in the Schools program with me in my district, and he 
pledged to make it a priority in every classroom throughout New York 
City. More than 50 percent of all those not counted in 1990 were young 
people, were children. The Census in the Schools project aims to help 
children learn what a census is and why it is important to them that 
their families and the community at large participate. The program also 
aims to increase participation in census 2000 by engaging not only the 
children but their parents so that they can fill out census forms. It 
will also help recruit teachers and parents to work as census takers.
  Mr. Speaker, State, local and tribal governments as well as 
businesses and nonprofit organizations have become partners with the 
Census Bureau in an effort to make the 2000 census the best that we 
have ever had. The constitutionally mandated census we take every 10 
years is one of the most important civic rituals our Nation has. It 
determines the distribution of political and economic power in our 
country for a decade. Over $189 billion per year in Federal funds, that 
is over $2 trillion over 10 years, will be distributed based on census 
distribution formulas that will build roads, assist day care centers, 
senior centers, public education, public transportation and many, many 
of the services that come into our districts and into our local 
communities. It is an important civic ceremony in which every resident 
should participate. I urge every Member to actively participate in 
making it a success.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan), a member of the subcommittee.
  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the 
chairman of the committee for yielding time.
  I just want to say it is a pleasure to serve on this committee with 
my fellow members, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Miller) and the others as well. We do disagree on methodology from 
time to time on this issue but clearly in this realm we do not 
disagree, we all stand united for passage of this resolution and here 
is why. We as Members of Congress are in a very unique position to 
promote the census. As the prior speakers had mentioned, the census is 
an extraordinarily important civic demonstration which has so much 
consequences in each of our districts, not just on whether or not we 
are accurately counted for or not but on Federal funding formulas, on 
redistribution of certain formulas that go back to our districts. We do 
not want to live with inaccurate data for 10 years. But we can make a 
difference in our districts. That is why I ask all of my colleagues to 
get involved in this.
  In my district, we have a key person in our district office working 
on a census plan. I am traveling the district with another Democratic 
Member of the Congress the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Barrett) later 
on this year to do a bipartisan promotion of the decennial census.
  Here are some of the examples that any Member of Congress can do to 
promote the census in their area:
  As mentioned before, we can use our congressional newsletters or 
websites to increase awareness of the upcoming census and what it means 
to our communities. We can conduct or participate in town hall meetings 
that emphasize participation in the census. We can support local 
Complete Count Communities and other community-based partnerships, 
something that I am very much involved in back home. We can produce and 
air public service announcements that can be used for local TV, radio 
and print media outlining uses of census data, confidentiality

[[Page H11252]]

guarantees and employment opportunities. We can conduct walking tours 
and census awareness day activities in hard-to-count communities. We 
can visit local census offices and training sites to show support for 
local workers and emphasize the importance of the work they will do for 
their communities. We can form alliances with local and tribal 
governments and businesses to promote the importance of the work they 
will do for their communities. Participate in Census in the Schools 
forums to encourage local educators and administrators to use the 
Census in the Schools materials and raise awareness in the schools. We 
can participate in the grand opening of local census offices. Encourage 
local businesses to promote the 2000 census and sponsor census 
activities.
  I know that is a mouthful, but it is very convenient, as the Census 
Bureau has given to each of our offices this handy little kit. It is 
called the Congressional Partnership Toolkit. This is available in 
every Member's office. I am sure my colleagues can get additional 
copies of this. It has very easy to use, digestible forms that we can 
use to put together plans in our own congressional districts to promote 
the census. The point is, we have a responsibility as Members of 
Congress to promote the census on behalf of our own constituents so 
that we are counted for fully in our congressional districts. There is 
a plan and there is a way to do this. It is a wonderful opportunity for 
those of us to get to know other people in our congressional districts, 
to get government officials working together, to get communities 
working together. This census is a wonderful civic demonstration.
  I encourage every Member of Congress, take a look at this 
Congressional Partnership Toolkit, made available for us from the 
Census Bureau, take a look at it, get your offices involved in it, work 
with other Members of Congress in your delegation across the aisle. 
This is something that we can work to improve so that everyone is 
counted for in the next census. It is a wonderful celebration of 
democracy that we have to take very seriously here. I encourage all of 
my colleagues to take this issue very, very seriously.
  I would like to thank the gentlewoman from New York and the gentleman 
from Florida for their leadership on this issue.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), the distinguished member of the 
Subcommittee on Census. For the past 2 years he has worked selflessly, 
consistently and with great dedication on any and every census issue. I 
thank the gentleman for his leadership. We all in this body on both 
sides appreciate all of his hard work.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this 
opportunity to first of all commend and congratulate the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Miller) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) 
for not only the legislative work that they have done in terms of 
trying to make sure that we have adequate resources for the census but 
also for the tremendous individual work that they have done to try and 
make sure that we have a fair, accurate and complete count of all the 
people in the United States of America. And so I commend and 
congratulate both of them.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Subcommittee on Census, I am pleased 
today to rise in support of this resolution urging a public and private 
partnership of the participation in the decennial census. As census day 
rapidly approaches, it is important for communities to work with the 
Census Bureau and urge people to participate.
  There are several things we can do across the country, no matter 
where we are, no matter where we live, no matter where we come from to 
urge participation in the 2000 census. Among these many things include 
forming a complete count committee, a cross-section of community 
representatives working to design and implement a localized census 2000 
outreach and promotion program. In the Seventh Congressional District 
of Illinois, I have formed such a committee. They are busy working to 
ensure full participation. I want to thank Reverend Johnny Miller and 
Reverend C.L. Sparks for taking the leadership in this effort. We have 
the Census in the Schools program under way. I want to thank 
Superintendent Paul Vallas and all of the schools not only in Chicago 
but throughout my district in the suburban communities of Oak Park, 
Maywood, Bellwood and Broadview as well.
  In addition, we can encourage local businesses, organizations, 
churches, sororities and fraternities to get involved by providing 
information through their businesses, calendars, newsletters and church 
bulletins. An accurate census could ensure fair representation in 
Federal, State and local governments. An accurate census could mean an 
extra senior citizen facility or a school.
  Thus, I urge communities to form a partnership with the Census Bureau 
and let us work together to ensure full participation in the 2000 
census. I am pleased to support this resolution. Again, I commend the 
gentleman from Florida and the gentlewoman from New York. I also want 
to commend the chairman of the Hispanic Caucus on the Census, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gonzalez), and the chairman of the Black 
Caucus Committee on Census for the outstanding work both of these 
caucuses have done and are doing throughout their communities in 
America to try and make sure that we get a fair, complete, honest 
count. Because if you are not counted, then you do not count.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder), another member of the 
subcommittee.
  (Mr. SOUDER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)

                              {time}  1430

  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, first I will join with those praising our 
chairman, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller), who stuck with this 
through good times and tough times, as well as the ranking Democrat on 
the committee, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), because it 
has really been a struggle at times, and then, as has been pointed out 
here, there are things we agree on.
  Whatever the court in the end rules on I believe is guessing, and I 
believe they will rule to uphold the Constitution, but every Member of 
this body, Republican or Democrat, has a stake in making sure that this 
count is as complete as possible within our districts, because if the 
court rules, as I think they will, that you cannot guess and you have 
to have a real count, everybody needs to make sure that their count is 
actual and does not miss the hard-to-reach population. If it is going 
to be estimated, the estimates will come off of a real count, because 
ultimately that is how estimating is done as well.
  So it is important that every Member get directly involved in every 
aspect of this. My office has, unfortunately, been involved on a couple 
of points early on that shows the difficulty of doing the census and 
why every Member should be paying attention.
  Fort Wayne, Indiana, has undergone an aggressive annexation program, 
unlike many other cities. The Census Department still does not have the 
right maps in the hands of our counters. In fact, their recent estimate 
of population, I forget the actual number, is around 30,000 off. Now, 
30,000 may not be a big number to Chicago or Los Angeles, but it is a 
huge number to Fort Wayne, Indiana; and it is inconceivable to me at 
this late date we are still having trouble with the maps. It has been 
important for our office to stay involved to back up our local census 
workers who are very concerned about the lack of accurate maps.
  I have also been involved, and we had a great visit with the regional 
administrators from Chicago who came into Fort Wayne and met with 
Reverend Humphries and our local citizen group, because we have another 
problem. Who is going to go door to door? Where are the workers going 
to come from? What type of people are they going to be?
  The two places they are doing the interviews are, in fact, suburban. 
The undercounted populations are generally minority, hard-to-reach 
populations, sometimes homeless, sometimes illegal immigrants who also 
get counted in the census and are important to each one of our 
districts.
  You need to have people in the community organizations who live in 
that community who can go and reach them and get them to cooperate with 
the

[[Page H11253]]

census, because in fact the mail-out will have a decent response, but, 
ultimately, particularly in the hard-to-count areas, the door-to-door 
response and the community organization response is critical. To do 
that, you need people from within that community.
  As a Member of Congress, you know, me going door to door in the urban 
center of Fort Wayne, I might have some success. But I will tell you 
what, there is going to be a lot more success if it is an African-
American locally based group or Hispanic group or whatever group is in 
a given area going door to door in these programs, and the Census 
Bureau needs to take that into account; and you need to help hold them 
accountable that they are working to where they can get, because 
sometimes it is hard to recruit and hard to make those people 
comfortable in coming to work for the Government. If you only do your 
interviews for employees out in the suburbs, that is who you are going 
to get.
  So hopefully as Members of Congress, not only do the schools and 
census show up at your local Census Bureau to try to support those 
workers there, to encourage them in what is a very difficult job, 
because many people in fact fear that this census is far more intrusive 
than it is. It takes 5 to 10 minutes, unless you have a long form, 
which is a whole different ball game and not what we are doing here. 
The short form is only 5 to 10 minutes, but it scares people off.
  Unless you get involved in supporting and encouraging these people, 
they are going to get demoralized. If they get sloppy, it is each 
Member of Congress and the people who live in their districts that 
lose, because our districts will be undercounted; and we have a stake 
not only for the representation, for the potential as it relates 
indirectly to grants and other prestige things regarding the size of 
your cities, but it also relates to the total accumulation in your 
State in how many Congressmen you have representing you.
  For example, there are a number of States right on the bubble that 
could lose a Congressman if they have an undercount. In other words, 
you could lose part of your right to vote in your State merely because 
you did not participate in the census and because your Member of 
Congress did not help with the count.
  We each have a deep stake in this, our communities have a stake in 
this, the churches do, the people in our districts do; and I encourage 
each Member to do what they can to get a fair, accurate, and complete 
count.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) for his 
comments. The gentleman rightly pointed out that participating in the 
census is merely 10 minutes at most every 10 years, so every resident 
in our country should, at the very least, give 10 minutes every 10 
years to be part of this important civic ceremony of the census 2000.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. 
Meek), the distinguished leader of the Census Task Force for the Black 
Caucus, who earlier this year hosted, along with the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Miller), a hearing in Florida on the census. The 
gentlewoman has been a consistent and strong voice of support for the 
Census Bureau and the census, and I thank the gentlewoman for her 
leadership.
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in very strong support of 
this resolution that has been brought to the floor by the gentlewoman 
from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Miller), with whom I have worked from the very beginning on the census. 
Each of them has worked assiduously throughout this time to be sure 
that we get to the place we are now. They are telling us now that they 
have worked very hard, that Congress has stepped forward, and now the 
ball is in our court, that is, each one of us as Members have our job 
to do.
  This resolution expresses the support of Congress for activities to 
increase public participation in our census. That is very important. 
All this I think is good and it is very fine, but both Members here who 
introduced this resolution have helped me all along in trying to get a 
bill passed here in the Congress, a real census bill in addition to the 
resolution which we are going to pass today. So this real census bill 
which they have tried to get passed and to get brought to the floor 
presents a very real and meaningful impact on lowering the undercount 
of all people, and that is the bill that was called H.R. 683, the 
Decennial Census Improvement Act.
  What it does, it says we have taken the message that these two strong 
people, the chairman and the ranking member, are bringing to us today 
in a resolution proposing that we hire welfare recipients and that we 
hire indigenous people who live in these neighborhoods so that they can 
help us come up with a good count. Passage of this bill will 
substantially increase the available core of community-based census 
enumerators. When members of the communities work as enumerators, we 
maximize the chance that everyone will be counted.
  Let us keep up the good work of this resolution, Mr. Chairman, and 
even go farther and try our very best to get H.R. 683 passed as well. I 
again want to thank the ranking member and the chairman.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gonzalez), the Chair of the Census Task Force 
in the Hispanic Caucus, a new Member, a freshman from the great State 
of Texas. Already the gentleman has brought new leadership and 
enthusiasm, a tremendous amount of dedication, and long hours really in 
reaching out to the Latino community, which is one of the largest 
undercounted communities in America.
  We know that 8.4 million people were missed and that 4.4 million were 
counted twice, and that a large number of those were children and 
minorities. On behalf of the subcommittee I want to thank the gentleman 
for all he has done. He has always been there, and he has brought great 
leadership to this issue.
  Mr. GONZALEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this 
resolution, and again I wish to follow everybody else and commend the 
chairman and the ranking member of the subcommittee on their fine work 
and the many hours they have placed into this particular project, which 
really is of great importance to every American and to everyone on both 
sides of the aisle.
  I think we can all agree, and the speakers before me have pointed 
out, we have reached a point where we know we need to agree on the task 
at hand, and that is education, awareness, and participation.
  What do I mean by that? We all know that this outreach campaign will 
underscore benefits of the census participation. We are going to 
explain to everyone that they have a vested interest in responding to 
this census. The outreach campaign is the largest ever aimed at 
increasing participation in the national census. It includes partners 
from nearly 30,000 community groups, civic organizations, labor unions, 
the Congress, Federal agencies and corporations, as well as elected 
officials at the State, local and tribal governmental levels.
  What does it mean to me personally? I do not want to occasion the 
same mistakes that we had back in 1990 that resulted in undercount in 
my State of Texas of 500,000 residents, 250,000 of which were Hispanic. 
I do not want that same mistake repeated. I do not want history to be 
repeated in my district, where we missed 39,000 residents, 16,000 of 
which were children, enough to fill 29 schools and to hire 1,000 
teachers.
  They did not exist for the purpose of the census, but we still had to 
teach them; we still had to house them; we still had to feed them. They 
participated in every program at the State, local and, of course, 
national level; but, for all intents and purposes, they did not exist, 
and we cannot afford for that to happen again.
  Every Member in this House knows their district better than anyone 
else, so it is a unique challenge. But it is also a unique opportunity 
to do our fair share, our responsibility, and make this the most 
accurate census in the history of our Nation.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we as representatives bring a unique ability to the 
census to

[[Page H11254]]

help make it the most accurate possible. There are 435 of us and each 
of us represents a little different area. Several that have spoken 
today each have their own individual problems.
  My district in Florida, Sarasota, and Bradenton, in Florida, have 
large numbers of retirees. A lot of them are just what we call ``snow 
birds'' that come down temporarily from northern States. They live in 
mobile home parks, they live in high-rise condos, and they create a 
problem of how do we count them.
  We have, because of agriculture, a certain number of immigrant 
migrant workers that are hard to count. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Gonzalez) is close to the Mexican border. He has a very difficult 
challenge to have people counted.
  The district of the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is 
actually, surprisingly, Manhattan, a very affluent area, but, again, a 
very difficult area to count. Because of the high-rise co-ops that are 
there, it makes it hard to get in to count people.
  But the fact is we all can contribute something. The district of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) has a lot of rural areas. There is 
a high mail response rate out of Wisconsin. However, because of the 
rural nature, it makes it difficult. We had a hearing out in Arizona 
where we were out on an Indian reservation, again, one of the most 
undercounted parts of our population, and very difficult to count these 
huge rural areas where it is hard to find people.
  But the thing is we know our areas. We have a vested interest, as the 
other speakers have said, to make sure we get the best count possible. 
The Census Bureau has come up through this notebook, as the gentleman 
from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan) pointed out, ideas of how we can help prepare 
our communities and provide that support. There is an action list, and 
it is on my Web site on my particular home page in the computer; and 
let me make a couple of comments of some of the items we can do to help 
contribute to a better count.
  First of all, we have a Complete Count Committee. Make sure they are 
organized in your communities. In Sarasota Thursday night last week 
they had a hearing where Chairman Shannon Staub of the County 
Commission and County Commissioner Ray Pilon with members of the Census 
Bureau were there discussing getting ready for the count for next March 
and April. Work with these groups.
  Encourage your local businesses and local governments to get 
involved. Do things like put something in the newsletters for their 
employees, or if they are sending out newsletters, to their customers. 
In my county, hopefully the utility people will put in their bills a 
statement to remind people in March to get involved in the census.
  There are a number of ways you can promote it. Put posters up in your 
places of work where customers will see it. Reach out to the groups 
that are hard to count. For example, I am going to try to reach out to 
the migrant community where we have a lot of migrant workers in our 
area, whether it is going out and walking through the neighborhoods and 
bringing attention, getting news coverage of it, making people aware of 
the census, but also making people aware of the confidentiality of the 
information.
  This is one of the greatest challenges we have, is to make people 
aware that it is a Federal crime to disclose information on the census. 
As a Member of Congress, we all get to have classified information 
available to us. But when we go to the Census Bureau, I have to go and 
raise my hand and sign a pledge, an oath, to not disclose that 
information. It is confidential for 72 years, and the Secret Service, 
the IRS, the INS, they do not have access to that information for 72 
years. So each office should get involved, because, I guarantee you, 
there is going to be a need for information on the census.

                              {time}  1445

  When this ad campaign cranks up soon, we are going to start getting 
calls: How do we get jobs? I do not like this question. I never got my 
form.
  The more Members know about it, the better off this office is going 
to be. Do things in the difficult-to-count areas. They are the ones we 
need to concentrate on and to make sure people are aware of it.
  In addition to being aware of it, we need to have action. That is the 
reason the Census Bureau uses a theme, ``It is your future. Don't leave 
it blank.'' You have to be aware of the Census, but you have to fill 
out the form. That is the reason you have to have the action to 
complete, and get the form completed and sent in.
  There are a lot of things we can do: writing op eds for the local 
newspaper, whether it is the column in the weekly paper or a special 
editorial the Members will put in. Do some public service announcements 
on the television or radio stations. They will be glad to run them, 
especially as it gets close to the April 1 deadline.
  We all agree we have to get the most accurate possible Census. We as 
Members of Congress have that special role where we can have the 
credibility and give some support to get that job done.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. I want to 
understore what the gentleman said about the Congressional Partnership 
Toolkit. Every single congressional office has a copy of this booklet 
that has all kinds of projects and ways that we can increase awareness 
and participation in our home districts.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from Tennessee (Mr. Ford), another member of our Subcommittee on Census 
who has joined us. We thank him for his leadership and hard work.
  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Miller) and the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney). I say to the 
gentleman from Florida, we have had our disagreements on the committee, 
but it is certainly great to see us come together on this day and 
support this resolution.
  Today many States and cities are holding elections around the Nation. 
We see people exercising their civic duty and responsibility. The 
Census, as we all know, represents another opportunity for Americans 
from everywhere in this great Nation to exercise another important 
civic duty.
  A few months back Dr. Prewitt, who deserves some praise and adulation 
as well, the head of the U.S. Census, was in my district, as I am sure 
he has been in many districts around the country. He talked about the 
Census from three aspects: the fact that it builds resources, 
representation and recognition.
  Resources have been touched on. Some $2 trillion over the next 10 
years will be allocated based on the formulas determined by the Census 
numbers; representation, because political power is divided among the 
congressional districts and within areas based on the Census numbers; 
and finally, recognition, because as we all know, our Nation is made up 
of a patchwork of people from different backgrounds, different 
religious, racial, and gender backgrounds.
  It is estimated in 1990, 8 million people were missed nationally, as 
the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) has touched upon. Some 
86,000 were in my State of Tennessee, and 18,000 are right near 
Memphis, the district which I represent.
  Of the folks missed, 10,000 of those were children in my district, 
enough to fill 17 schools and employ 350 additional teachers. In 
addition, Tennesseeans, particularly those in the Ninth District, lost 
out in our fair share of Head Start dollars, on school lunch and 
educational technology funds, and even businesspeople, researchers, and 
economists in our district, were deprived of accurate data as they 
attempted to create or to plan for technological advances to create new 
jobs and economic growth.
  In Memphis we have established a Complete Count Committee made up of 
community, business, and civic leaders, following the guide of the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller) and certainly our ranking member, 
the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) in trying to ensure that 
we have participation from all aspects of the community.
  One of the great challenges we will have in the coming weeks and 
months is for Members of Congress and those in the community to do all 
that we can to

[[Page H11255]]

raise awareness. I certainly am committed, Mr. Chairman, and the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), and I hope all our colleagues 
will do the same. We must work to ensure that every citizen 
participates in this very important civic exercise, not only to be 
counted but to be recognized, and to ensure that everyone on April 1, 
2000, is counted.
  I cannot say enough how much I appreciate the leadership of the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller), and certainly that of the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney). She has given me some ideas, 
and I am sure she has given my colleagues throughout this body ideas on 
how we might move forward and ensure all are counted on that very 
important day.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, one thing we all agree on is that we want to have the 
most accurate count responsible. This is a constitutional 
responsibility. Article 1 of our Constitution requires us to do this 
every 10 years.
  Since Thomas Jefferson did the first Census in 1790, we have had some 
problems with it. We recognize there is a problem of a differential 
undercount. That is wrong. We want the best count possible.
  One way that each of us, all 435 of us, can help make that possible 
is to participate in our local communities, which we know best how to 
help promote the Census, how to help get people to believe that the 
Census is confidential, and to complete those forms.
  Now is the time to prepare for the Census time next March. I 
encourage all Members to get involved, and I encourage my colleagues to 
support this legislation.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this important 
resolution.
  I would like to begin by recognizing the hard work of my colleagues, 
Chairman Dan Miller and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. They have worked 
tirelessly on this issue, and I applaud their efforts on this extremely 
important issue.
  H. Con. Res. 193 expresses the support of Congress for activities to 
increase public participation in the decennial census. As we all know, 
in order to achieve a successful decennial census, the joint efforts of 
Federal, State, and local government and other interested parties and 
grassroots organizations must come together as partners.
  The Bureau of the Census has implemented a partnership program 
through which a comprehensive outreach, education, and motivation 
campaign is being carried out to encourage all segments of the 
population to participate in the upcoming census. As I have said many 
times, Texas has a lot at stake in the current debate over the year 
2000 Census. The County of El Paso has a lot to lose if the 2000 Census 
is conducted the way the 1990 Census was conducted.
  In 1900, the census used a traditional head count and made about 26 
million mistakes. It missed over 8 million people completely, double-
counted over 4 million and put 13 million in the wrong places. And most 
of the undercount involved children, people of color and the urban and 
rural poor.
  The Census Bureau estimates that in Texas, the net undercount of 
residents in 1990 was over 486,000 individuals. The net undercount rate 
in Texas was .028, which represented the second most undercounted state 
in the nation. They were either out of town, tossed the form with the 
junk mail, did not trust the government, feared immigration or bill 
collection officials, lived in a neighborhood the census workers did 
not feel like checking.
  Whatever the reason, too many individuals were missed. Included in 
this are over 279,000 Caucasians, 83,300 blacks, 247,000 individuals of 
Hispanic origin, 8,500 Asian and Pacific Islanders and, over 1,875 
American Indians. In addition, over 228,300 children were missed in 
Texas. Over 25,000 individuals were missed in El Paso alone, enough to 
fill half of the Sun Bowl. We were the 17th most undercounted district 
in the nation.
  The failure of the 1990 Census to accurately count the population in 
El Paso County seriously shortchanged the Federal funding that cities 
within my district should have received during the past decade. In 
effect, cities like El Paso, Anthony and Socorro were required to 
utilize funds for schools, roads, health facilities, housing, and other 
important services for people that were not counted by the census.
  The number of children missed in the 16th Congressional district 
would fill 22 schools staffed by 770 teachers. According to the Council 
of Great City Schools, every child not counted by the census means that 
some $650 in federal resources is lost each year by the school that 
must educate that child. This equals over $8 million lost in my 
Congressional district alone!
  We are not alone. The 1990 Census did the same thing nationwide. Two 
million of those missed in 1990 were children under the age of 18--half 
the net undercount although they were only about a quarter of the U.S. 
population in 1990. The 1990 Census affected minorities the most: 4.4 
percent of blacks were missed, 5 percent of Hispanics, 12.2 percent of 
at least one tribe of Native Americans. This differential racial 
undercount must be addressed by the 2000 Census.
  This resolution is sending the right message at the right time--that 
public participation is necessary to ensure that everyone is counted, 
especially children, people of color and the urban and rural poor. 
Anything less is unacceptable.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, to cope with the year 2000 
census, the Census Bureau has implemented a partnership program through 
which a comprehensive outreach, education and motivation campaign is 
being carried out to encourage all segments of the population to 
participate in the upcoming count.
  This resolution expresses the support of Congress for activities to 
increase public participation in the decennial census; recognizes the 
importance of achieving a successful decennial census; encourages state 
and local governments, community leaders, and all other parties 
involved in this joint undertaking to continue to work to ensure a 
successful census; and reaffirms the spirit of cooperation that exists 
between Congress and the Census Bureau with respect to achieving a 
successful census.
  Hundreds of thousands of census takers and support personnel will be 
needed to account for the anticipated 118 million housing units and 275 
million people across the United States. But it isn't its size that 
makes Census 2000 important. It is all the things that we will learn 
about ourselves that will help America succeed in the next millennium. 
The census is as important to our nation as highways and telephone 
lines. Federal dollars supporting schools, employment services, housing 
assistance, highway construction, hospital services programs for the 
elderly and more are distributed based on census figures.
  How do we know who we are as a country? We only take one big portrait 
of this country--that is the decennial Census. And if you're not in it, 
you will be unrecognized. More than $200 billion in federal funds is 
distributed to the states based on census figures, as well as political 
apportionment in the House of Representatives.
  Census 2000 will help decision-makers understand which neighborhoods 
need schools and which ones need greater services for the elderly. But 
they won't be able to tell what your community needs if you and your 
neighbors don't fill out your census forms and mail them back.
  The message is a simple one, Mr. Speaker; ``This is your future. 
Don't leave it blank.'' I encourage my colleagues and all Americans to 
help the Census Bureau in making this snapshot of America's population 
clearer. If we are not counted, then we are invisible and our 
communities will lose its fair share of federal funding and political 
apportionment--we can all help our community and our nation by filling 
out the census questionnaire, returning it and being counted.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
193.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof), the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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