[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 39 (Monday, April 3, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H1660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE CENSUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, tonight is a very important 
evening because the University of Florida Gators will become the 
national champions in basketball. It is very exciting for someone who 
graduated from the University of Florida many years ago to see an 
exciting young team of freshmen and sophomores that are going to be 
successful against the supposedly more experienced team from Michigan 
State. So it will be an exciting evening, and I am looking forward to 
it.
  But I am actually rising tonight, Madam Speaker, to speak about the 
census. We are in the middle of the Census 2000. Officially, this past 
Saturday, April 1, was Census Day, and that was the day we wanted to 
have everyone counted where they are. It is a chance to get a snapshot 
of America that is taken every 10 years going back to 1790, when Thomas 
Jefferson conducted the first one. This is a chance to not only count 
people, and that is the constitutional purpose, to count people where 
they are so we can do apportionment and redistricting in this country, 
but it is also important to get that snapshot because the Federal 
government has grown so large over the past decades that it is in need 
of information to help fund those programs.
  Today, over $180 billion a year of Federal dollars will flow out of 
Washington to States and local communities based on census information. 
In addition, we have the money that flows out of State capitals, 
whether it is in Tallahassee or wherever in the United States. The 
money will flow to the communities based on census data. So it is so 
critical to our own communities to get the most accurate count and not 
get undercounted, because the money will flow; and it is not right if a 
community gets underfunded.
  There is money for education, there is money for health care, there 
is money for highways. And if we have people there using those 
services, communities want to get their fair share of the money. So 
that is why this is so critical, so I encourage everybody to complete 
the forms if they have not. If a census worker comes knocking on the 
door over the next few months, please cooperate and get those forms 
completed.
  The projected goal is a 61 percent response rate in the mail. 
Hopefully, we will do better. I am confident that we will do better 
than 61 percent. Somewhere between 65, 66 percent, I think, would be a 
great accomplishment. I would be very pleased if we can get that high. 
Because the higher the percentage we get in response, the fewer people 
we have to send out knocking on doors to get that information. So if 
the forms do not get completed, what will happen is that community runs 
the risk of not getting an accurate count, and second of all, the 
Federal Government just has to spend money going out and knocking on 
the door to collect that information. And that is a waste of actual tax 
dollars.
  The Census Bureau this year has done a good job in a number of areas. 
Paid advertising. For the first time in history, they have used paid 
advertising. And the advertising does more than just make people aware 
of the census. It is designed to help motivate people to complete the 
census forms. It shows this is important. It shows classrooms being 
affected, or emergency, or fire protection that is needed, and that is 
all related to it.
  The outreach efforts have been very successful. Census in the 
Schools. I have been going into schools to promote the census, and I 
think that is very useful. A lot of Members have gone to public service 
announcements. I know many of my colleagues have developed them. I know 
I have in my area, and they have played often on the cable television. 
I know my ratings in Sarasota County is above the area in the State of 
Florida because of the response rate. So I am excited about the 
response rate so far, and we will know more by the end of this week.
  There has been a lot of controversy about this long form. And I know 
there is a lot of concern about privacy. We are always debating privacy 
concerning medical issues and for financial institutions, so the 
privacy issue will continue to be a problem faced by the Federal 
Government. But first of all, the questions, beyond the first core 
questions, which on the short form are the first six questions, are 
really needed for the constitutional purposes of redistricting and 
reapportionment. They really are important questions and they really 
will be kept confidential. There are very strict laws within the Census 
Bureau to not let any of that information out.
  Last week the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and myself 
were out actually helping with the homeless count the other night. 
Before we went out with census workers, we had them raise our right 
hands and take an oath that we would not disclose that information. As 
Members of Congress we get all these other clearances for confidential 
information, but not with the Census Bureau. But there are very strict 
laws that have been enforced and will be enforced for anyone in the 
Census Bureau that discloses any information. So I feel confident this 
information will be kept confidential.
  Now, I know this area of distrust. I know a lot of people do not 
trust this administration because of many things, but there are a lot 
of things contributing to it. My neighbor across the street was 
complaining because she had the long form, and my wife was helping her 
fill it out last week. One question she refused to fill out was her 
telephone number. Well, the State of Florida sold drivers licenses with 
photographs a couple of years ago, and so there is that suspicion that 
government will disclose that information. It will not happen here.
  This information is not shared with the IRS; it is not shared with 
the FBI, the Secret Service. They cannot get the information. INS, 
Immigration and Naturalization, cannot get the information. So it will 
be kept confidential. So I ask everyone to please complete their forms.

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