[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 30 (Thursday, March 16, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H1083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CENSUS BUREAU SHOULD CONSULT READER'S DIGEST

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, now, we have to love that government crowd 
down at the Census Bureau. I mean they are so typical government. We 
remember this crowd. They are the ones who did not want to bother 
counting the people just because that strange document called the 
Constitution requires a head-by-head count. What they wanted to do was 
sample.
  Now, they showed us their efficiency last week; go home and check 
your mail if you do not believe me. They sent out 120 million forms to 
the wrong address. Check it. Every address had an extracurricular ``1'' 
in it.
  Well, it still got through because the Post Office, being another 
governmental agency, knows how to think like a governmental agency so 
they figured out what the Census Bureau was really trying to do. But 
then they put all of the instructions on the back in every language 
under the sun. Well, not quite, but in 40 languages, they just 
overlooked English.
  No problem, I know a lot of people are against English first in 
America, and apparently the census is too. But in it they did not put 
instructions in English. They have an enclosed envelope. I do not know 
what to do with the envelope, so I looked for the toll free number. The 
toll free number is not on the form.
  So I just would ask the people at the Census Bureau, call the folks 
at Reader's Digest Sweepstakes. They will show you how to do a mailer, 
they will show you how to get responses and maybe we can get this thing 
done. But remember, they are the ones who are responsible for counting 
us. Does that not scare you?

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