Congressional Record, Volume 146 Issue 44 (Monday, April 10, 2000)

[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 44 (Monday, April 10, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H1990-H2004]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page H1990]]
CENSUS DAY PLUS 10

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 1999, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, this is census day plus 10. My
message to the American people is, if they have not already filled out
their form, please do so now and mail it in. Be part of this great
civic ceremony.
As of today, over 61 percent of Americans have responded to the
census, with 39 percent to go. This is a critically important milestone
for the 2000 Census, and I am extremely encouraged by the American
people's effort and by the Census Bureau's transparent tabulation
efforts. Just months ago, the General Accounting Office warned that the
initial response rate for the 2000 Census might peak at 61 percent.
Well, with 8 days still to spare, the 2000 Census has reached this
point and forms continue to flow in daily.
I am extremely heartened by the response thus far, and tonight I say
to the remaining 39 percent, please complete your forms. Do it today.
Put it in the mail. As always, this is our main message. Fill out your
form today.
Unfortunately, we have reached 61 percent despite the amazing
comments of some of my Republican colleagues and even Members of the
Republican leadership. With 39 percent of the American people still not
heard from, we have Members of Congress who should all know better
telling the American people that the census is optional. We have
Members of Congress saying that they, and I quote, ``believe in
voluntarily cooperating,'' end quote, with the government; but beyond
that they will not follow the law. Since when did following the law in
this country become a voluntary, optional thing?

{time} 1930

Others have compared the long form to a college exam where some
questions can be skipped. Is it because some people do not know the
answers? I certainly hope not. Do they want participation, or do they
want to make participation optional?
Last week, Census Director Ken Prewitt testified that the initial
response rate for the long form has been almost 12 percent below the
response rate for the households receiving the short form. This is
almost double the differential from the 1990 census and could seriously
threaten the accuracy of the final count.
What is really disheartening is the fact that most of the questions
on the long form have been around for decades. They were part of the
Bush and Reagan census. Even more astonishing about this new-found
concern about the census is that, over 2 years ago, the content of the
long and short forms, while they were being finalized, absolutely every
Member of Congress received a detailed list of the questions to be
asked, including a description of the need for the asking of it, along
with the specific legal requirements supporting it.
Notification of Congress is required by title 13 for a very good
reason, to prevent the very situation we face today, a census effort at
risk because Members of Congress simply do not know or do not care
about the importance of the census data.
Members of Congress received this information with all of the
questions in 1997 and 1998. I know that all of the Members who are
complaining about the census got a copy. Did they not read their mail?
The time for input on the questions was then, not now when they will do
more harm than good.
Even last week, the Republican leadership convened a press conference
supposedly in support of the census. But they went on to urge Americans
to skip questions they were uncomfortable with. Maybe the Republican
leadership should be reminded that the questions asked by the census
represent a balance between the needs of our Nation's communities and
the need to keep the time and effort required to complete the form to a
minimum. Only information required by Congress to manage or evaluate
programs is collected by the census.
Federal and State funds for schools, employment services, housing
assistance, road construction, day care facilities, hospitals,
emergency services, programs for seniors, and much more are distributed
based on census figures.
Also, the Census Bureau uses data acquired from the long form to
establish the baseline for many of the economic reports they release
year-round, including data on the Consumer Price Index and
unemployment. Without accurate data, we would be forced to manage our
economic policies with even less information than we currently have
available.
We should remember that the Census Bureau has gone to great efforts
to make both the short and long forms as brief as possible. The 2000
Census short form contains eight questions, down from nine in 1990. The
2000 Census long form contains 53 questions, down from 57 in 1990, the
shortest long form in decades.
The only new question in the census, which was added with my support
as part of welfare reform, asked for information on grandparents as
care givers.
I am a bit confused, too, because the same people who today are
making such a fuss over the long form just 6 months ago tried to add a
question to the short form which everyone has to complete.
I have a series of editorials from around the country urging
Americans to stand up and be counted for their communities, for their
representation, for their distribution of Federal funds. I would like
to put in the Record an editorial from the Daily News from New York
City, the city that I am proud to represent. The editorial is as
follows:

Stand Up and Be Counted

That's the slogan of Census 2000, and nowhere is that cry
more urgent than in New York. Last time around--10 years
ago--New Yorkers sat down. There was an undercount. And the
state lost out on everything from political representation to
new schools. New York, particularly New York City, must not
let this happen again.
The filing deadline came and went April 1. But the ``Be
counted'' Web site doesn't shut down until tomorrow. So if
you haven't returned your census form, take a few minutes (or
a few seconds, if you have the eight-question short form) and
do so. Now.
And, please, try not to get your dander up about how nosy
some of the questions seem to be. Answers on how you get to
work and what time you leave each morning, for example, can
be used by local officials for highway and mass-transit
improvements. Nobody's tracking your movement. Other answers
will aid in planning for health, housing, education,
employment, police and so forth. As for those racial-
identification categories, just follow the Census Bureau's
advice: Put down whatever race or ethnicity you identify
with. It's simply a part of drawing an accurate population
profile in this multicultural nation.
So far, returns here are hovering about 55%--with some
areas (like central Brooklyn, with a dismal 37%) considerably
lower.
A study by Price Waterhouse Coopers after the 1990 census
determined that New York State was undercounted by 277,000
residents--245,000 of them in New York City. That cost the
city three Assembly seats, a state Senate seat and half a
congressional seat.
As Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Queens), the ranking member of
the House census subcommittee put it: ``It's your future,
don't leave it blank.''

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois
(Ms. Schakowsky), an outstanding leader and actually a new Member of
Congress, representing the City of Chicago. She has been very active on
the Subcommittee on Census and has worked very hard to bring up
participation.
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman
from New York for her tremendous leadership on assuring a complete
count of all Americans.
I wish I could be as optimistic. Unfortunately, in the city of
Chicago, we are 10th out of the 10 largest cities in the response to
the census so far. My hope is that all responsible elected leaders will
be encouraging people from our States, from our cities and communities
to fill out that census form.
I have heard a lot of political pandering, we all have in our days,
but rarely have I heard anything quite as irresponsible as the trashing
that is going on of the census long form. One would think that some of
those elected officials who are doing it, Members of this body on the
Republican side of the aisle who are doing that, one would think that
they had never seen that form before.
As the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) pointed out, every
single Member was able to scrutinize every single question. As a
consequence, we came up with a form, a long form that is, in fact,
shorter than

[[Page H1991]]

it was in 1990 and adds only one question. All of us are interested in
knowing how many grandparents now are taking care of children. We hear
that all the time from our constituents.
They had total control over what was going to be in there. There were
no complaints in 1990 from them.
How long does it take to get to work? People say, oh, why do you have
to know that? Well, why does one think that we want to know that, so
that we can understand where we need transportation dollars. Do we need
a new road? Do we need more transit to shorten that time? Do we need
more affordable housing so that people can live near the jobs?
Employment questions. What is this new economy about? Let us use the
census to understand that better. Is our prosperity really being
shared? Are there more people who are working for themselves, and are
they making a decent living when they are working at home?
In Illinois, in the Chicago area, in Cook County, we undercounted
enough children in 1990 to fill 78 schools. That is why we need an
accurate count, so that we can make sure that we get the educational
opportunities to our kids.
Now, one listens to John Stossel on 20/20 last Friday night, and one
would think that the census is simply a tool of big government, in
fact, he said a government that is selling dependency, that is his
word, that is what the census is about in his conspiratorial tone.
But who really is using this census data? I would posit that ABC, the
very station he was on, that 20/20 probably uses the census data to
figure out who the audience is, where to sell advertising. The private
sector surely as much as the public sector uses the census data to
figure out where investments should be made, where are we going to put
our money in communities, who is living out there.
This is not a conspiracy of government. This is a partnership with
the people of the United States so that we can distribute public
dollars and private dollars.
We need to be doing the census form for ourselves. This is not a
favor to anybody. This is going to bring results to every single
community. There is not a district in this country that will not be
better served if there is a complete count.
So for any politician to get up and pander and say, oh, you do not
have to fill this out, it is really intrusive, is counterproductive for
their own constituents. Leadership is about explaining to constituents
why this is important, why it is in their interest to fill it out. When
people complain, we encourage them to understand what the real meaning
of this complete count is.
I am so proud to join with the gentlewoman from New York in her work
and so many of us who are trying every single day to make sure that the
people in this country get what they deserve. Anyone who has ever said,
``I send my tax dollars to Washington, what do I get back, am I getting
my fair share?'', if they have not filled out the census form, then
that is not an appropriate question, because if they do not fill out
this form, then they will not be counted.
So I join my colleagues in urging all Americans to get this census
form in. They have got a few more days to do it. I encourage my
colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to inform their constituents about the
importance.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman
from California (Mrs. Napolitano), another leader for a complete count.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I certainly want to add to the comments
that my colleagues have made in just the last few minutes. But I, most
of all, want to thank everyone who has completed their census form so
far. Wherever you are, whether you are an American citizen, a recent
immigrant or whoever, you are making a difference for your community
and setting our Nation on the best path for the new century.
For those of you who have not yet filled out and returned your census
questionnaires, please, you have 10 days to finish. Do it today. Do it
now. Do it this very minute. It is not too late.
As of last night, over 60 percent of Americans have completed and
sent in their census form. This is very exciting news. But we must keep
working with the census, with our communities, with our neighborhoods
across the Nation to reach out to the remaining 40 percent of Americans
who have yet to return their census questionnaire.
As we have heard, 61 percent return has already been received. In my
district alone, 68 to 71 percent of the people in the 34th
Congressional District have completed and returned their census form.
The City of Norwalk completed 71 out of 78 percent targeted; Whittier,
70 out of 72; Montebello, 70 out of 73; Pico Rivera, 68 out of 77
percent; Santa Fe Springs, 71 out of 78 percent; Industry, 69 out of a
targeted 33 percent; and La Puente, the best in the area, 70 percent
out of a targeted 67. They have overpassed their target. This is better
than the anticipated rate out of California and nationwide.
However, there are a lot of people that still have to be counted. If
30 percent of our people go uncounted, that is 30 percent less money to
pay for schools. That is less money for repairing our roads, for
funding hospitals, for providing services to our senior citizens and
for our recreational programs for our youth.
Now, we all know that some people have had difficulties with our
census forms, especially the long form which asked 53 questions. Some
people find some of those questions intrusive and awkward. Personally,
I question the way in which the form asked about my race and my
ethnicity. But what I do not question is that it is vitally important
to my community of Norwalk and to my surrounding communities, that I be
a responsible citizen and complete and return my census form.
An important fact to remember, whether one is filling out the long
form or the short form is that one's responses are confidential. The
information one gives is not, I repeat, it is not sold to marketing
firms. It is not handed over to the IRS, nor to the INS, nor to the
FBI. In fact, it is against the law for the Census Bureau to give or
sell information to anyone. That is including this House. The law
works. In the last census of 1990, not one single case of information
leaking occurred.
The Census Bureau has gone to great effort within the mandates of
Congress to make the forms as brief as possible. The 2000 Census short
form contains eight questions, down from nine in 1990, and the long
form contains 53, down from 57 in 1990, the shortest form in history.
The Census Bureau uses long form data as a baseline. That means the
bottom line for every single economic indicator they publish. Without
this accurate baseline, we cannot produce any economic information
needed to run our Nation's economy effectively, to identify the areas
in need, and take on other indicators to be able to help our
communities.
We need a more accurate count of America's blacks, America's
Hispanics, America's Asians, and American Indians. Regardless of what
my colleagues on the other side, regardless of their arguments or what
they state, for us, it is not optional. For us, it is a necessity.
Republicans have done everything possible to harm Census 2000 effort.
We must not fall for their rhetoric. This latest effort to paint
questions which had been on the long form for over 50 years as
intrusive and unneeded is just another attempt to derail the accurate
count of census.
To the people in my district, to the people of the United States and
across this great land of ours, I ask that they please remember how
important it is to their community, to our community. So I plea again,
please complete and return your census form.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman
from Florida (Mrs. Meek), a great leader on a complete count. She even
hosted a public hearing in her district and has been a leader here on
the floor and in the committee work, and I welcome here tonight.

{time} 1945

Mrs. MEEK of Florida. I thank my dear colleague, the gentlewoman from
New York. The gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) hails from New
York, but her influence on the census has gone throughout this country,
and we thank her for that leadership.
Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to come back again tonight. If the
gentlewoman were to call us in tomorrow, if she were

[[Page H1992]]

to call us in every day this week, I would be here, because we do not
have enough voices speaking out for the census.
Regrettably, we have had some ill winds. They came in during the Ides
of March and they are still here, they are still talking. We are trying
our very best to say to the country that the census is a good thing. It
is in the Constitution. It is something that we should do. We keep
talking about we are a Nation of laws. Well, if that is the case, why
can we not stick to our laws? Let us not just use them when they are
customized to fit our political ideas, but to use them at all times.
It is extremely disappointing to see some of my good friends in the
Republican Party saying to all of our constituents that the census is
optional; that they do not have to fill out all the questions; that it
is not mandatory; that citizens do not have to do this. Well, it is. It
is important that all of our constituents fill out the census forms.
Now, it is not too late. We do not have the return I would like to
see in my district. We have, like, 53 percent. I would like to see 66,
76, 90 percent return. But we still have time. We are still going to
churches; we are going to wherever people congregate and saying to
them, fill out the forms. For those who have not filled theirs out yet,
please fill it out and return it. We are doing our very best to help.
I am just really astounded to see that our most noble elevated body,
the Senate, passed a Sense of the Senate Resolution essentially
reinforcing the idea that not completing your form is okay. This is
completely unacceptable. It is completely irresponsible. The Senate
should set a standard for the country instead of undermining an effort
which this Congress has seen fit to participate in.
Now, this thing about the questions, maybe we should not have to go
over that over and over again because the questions are there and they
are not that hard. They are only asking those kind of questions every
10 years. Americans are used to answering questions, particularly
questions that will lead to good representation in their community. It
is going to lead to a good school board member, it will lead to some
good elected representatives, it will lead to some good Congress
persons. Now, that is not a trivial thing.
But there are some radio announcers and disk jockeys and pundits in
this country who are making that just a trivial thing. It is not
trivial when it affects your elected representatives that will go into
a governing body and represent you. People keep saying, We don't have a
voice. You do have a voice. Be counted and you will have a voice,
because there will be enough of you to say, yes, we do deserve another
Congressperson in our area; yes, we do deserve another State
representative in our area; yes, we do deserve another school board
member.
So it is irresponsible and irrational, as far as I am concerned, to
tell people that it is optional; that they should not fill out all the
forms or they should not fill out any of the forms. The time has come
now. We have been talking about the census, and the gentlewoman from
New York has led this thing notably and with great merit throughout
this process. It is time now that our people step up to the plate.
They will not be able to talk, the pundits will not be able to talk
about government does not do what it is supposed to do. They are the
first to criticize government. They say government is not doing what it
should do. Government wants to do it. It is a good thing if people go
out and turn in their census form.
Now, I am a little embarrassed because the governor of my State has
come out saying, ``I take the same position as other Republicans do.''
Well, it is not a good idea, Mr. Governor, to say that you take that
same position and that it is optional. Florida now has 23
representatives in this Congress. If our people do not go out and be
counted, Mr. Governor, you may not have 23 Congresspersons another year
from now.
So we are saying to all the people, support the census. Fill out the
forms. It is not a cursory thing; it is not something that is fly by
night and you can just flippant say, oh, no, we are not going to do it.
It is important. Not only does the lifeblood of your community depend
on it, your roads, your transportation, and your representation.
And particularly poor people and underserved people. My voice goes
out to them every time I stand up. Turn the forms in. You will probably
benefit from it more than a lot of other people because you depend on
government for most of your basic services. Go to it; turn in those
forms. If you need help, call the Census Bureau. If you need help, call
your local Congressperson; wake them up. They are the ones depending on
this count as well as you are.
So I do hope that everyone within the sound of our voices tonight
will go out and be counted. The ball is in their court.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The gentlewoman will suspend.
The Members will be reminded that it is not in order to characterize
Senate action, nor is it in order during debate to specifically urge
the Senate to take certain action.
Members will be also reminded that they should make their comments to
the Chair and not to the listening or the viewing audience.
The gentlewoman may proceed.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, another of our colleagues, the
gentlewoman from the great State of Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), had a
conflict and could not stay with us. She was here, however, and I will
submit her statement later for the Record.
Another colleague from Texas, however, the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Stenholm), is here. This Member holds many leadership positions in this
body. He is the ranking member on the Committee on Agriculture and is
the policy chair of the Blue Dogs, in addition to being a leader in
this body on getting a complete and accurate count during the census.
Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York for
yielding to me to talk tonight about the general subject we have
already heard our colleagues from California and Florida speaking
about, and that is encouraging, Mr. Speaker, encouraging all Americans
to fill out the form and to send it in.
I guess one of my disappointments tonight is that we do not have the
time equally divided between Democrats and Republicans so that we might
all stand up tonight and encourage people to fill out the forms and to
send them in, instead of some divided voices that we have been hearing
from lately, Mr. Speaker. I think that is not in the best interest of
this House of Representatives. I hope that we, under the Speaker's
leadership, will find ways to encourage all Americans to return their
census forms.
As we have already heard, current figures indicate that 61 percent of
all citizens have returned their forms. This is good news. But that
means 39 percent have not. In Texas, unfortunately, we are running a
bit behind the national average. As of last night, 57 percent of Texans
have responded.
I want to single out a few counties in my district back home that are
not doing as well as California was doing a moment ago, but we are
exceeding the national averages: Hood County, Taylor County, Tom Green
County, and Young County. So to those people living in towns like
Granbury and Tolar, and Abilene and Merkel, and San Angelo and Graham
and Olney, I commend you and encourage you to continue to publicize and
to work to see that your neighbors in fact send their forms in.
It is all the more important for people in rural areas to respond to
the census. In 1990, the census missed approximately 1.2 percent of all
rural residents. We must have an accurate count for rural America also
in order that we might receive our fair share of representation and tax
dollars.
It is very disturbing to me when I look at my rural district and see
that when we get outside of the more populated counties that I
mentioned, that we are way behind in our response rate. This is
disturbing and something that I hope we will in fact be counting soon.
The editors of the San Angelo Standard Times wrote about the
importance of responding to the census in their March 15 editorial whey
they wrote:

Texas probably lost a congressional seat in 1990 because an
estimated 483,000 Texans either refused to be counted or were
missed by

[[Page H1993]]

census takers. The State also lost nearly $1 billion Federal
funding, which is the other primary purpose of the census
now, to determine how much money each State will receive for
roads, education, health care and other programs.

Mr. Speaker, I would provide the full text of the editorial for the
Record.
Now, I know there are some citizens that are concerned about the long
form. The data is extremely important to administering Federal
programs, everything from housing programs and community development
grants to highways, education and health care. The Census Bureau uses
long-form data as a baseline for every single economic indicator.
Without an accurate baseline, we cannot produce the economic
information to better serve our citizens.
The San Angelo Standard Times editors hit on this point as well when
they wrote:

It is helpful to have a detailed snapshot of the country
and the conditions its citizens are living in, because such
information can be useful to policymakers. While it may be
annoying, there is no real down side. All census information
is confidential and by law cannot be shared either with other
government agencies or private entities.

I think the important thing to point out to our constituents is the
extensive privacy constraints that we, the Congress, have imposed on
the census. Anyone who violates the law and discloses any individual
household data will be subject to 5 years in prison and $5,000 in
fines. The Census Bureau has a great track record of protecting this
data. In 1990, millions of questionnaires were processed without any
breach of trust.
So, in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I want to encourage all Americans,
and in particular my constituents in west Texas, who have not returned
their census forms to send them in today. It is not too late. You
deserve to be counted, and it is in your community's best interest and
it is in our Nation's best interest that we count every individual
citizen of America so that our representation in this body and in the
State legislatures around the country will be based on the most
accurate information.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back to the gentlewoman from New York and submit
herewith the text of the article I referred to above:

[From the San Angelo Standard Times, Mar. 15, 2000]

Take Time to Fill Out Census Questionnaire

Some West Texans already have received their 2000 census
forms, and the rest will be receiving them in the coming
days.
Those who are ambivalent about filling out the forms need
to remember a couple of things: There are many reasons to
participate and, aside from the time it takes, not a single
reason not to. And considering that the short form--which
will go to 80 percent of households--takes only about 10
minutes to complete, the time argument doesn't hold much
water for most people.
The census has occurred once each decade since the
country's beginning. Originally the purpose was to ensure
proper representation--that is, since congressional seats are
apportioned based on population, it was necessary to know how
many people lived in each state to determine how many
representatives it would send to the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Texas probably lost a congressional seat in 1990 because an
estimated 483,000 Texans either refused to be counted or were
missed by census-takers. The state also lost nearly $1
billion federal funding, which is the other primary purpose
of the census now--to determine how much money each state
will receive for roads, education, health care and other
programs.
Both arguments for participating matter in San Angelo and
Tom Green County as well. The local share of funding is lost
for each person who fails to respond to the census. And with
West Texas being tremendously outgrown by the rest of the
state, our clout in this part of the state is diminished with
each person that is missed.
For the first time, a local committee will undertake an
aggressive outreach effort to try to limit the number of
people who fall through the census cracks. Plans call for
having offices where people can go to get help in filling out
their census forms, and interpreters will be available for
those newer arrivals who need assistance.
It's unfortunate that the Census Bureau got off to a bad
start, putting an extra digit on addresses for letters that
went out recently informing people that their forms would be
arriving and erroneously sending out some information in
foreign languages
Still, that doesn't alter the importance of filling out and
returning the forms, which, when compiled, will tell much
about the nation at the turn of the century.
Some 15 million homes will receive the long form, which
does take longer to fill out (about 38 minutes, the U.S.
Census Bureau estimates) and does ask some questions that
will cause many to wonder why they are necessary.
The answer is that it is helpful to have a detailed
snapshot of the country and the conditions its citizens are
living in, because such information can be useful to policy-
makers. While it may be annoying, there is no real downside--
all census information is confidential and by law cannot be
shared either with other government agencies or private
entities.
Consider it a civic duty that pays dividends--and that only
has to be performed once every decade.

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his
statement, and I would now like to yield to the gentleman from Maryland
(Mr. Cummings). He represents the 7th Congressional District in
Maryland. The gentleman from Maryland chairs the Complete Count
Committee for Baltimore and has served on really the oversight
committee for the census, the Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight, and I thank him for his leadership on this issue.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for all
that she has done. Ever since the subcommittee was first formed, I
remember that she made it clear that she was going to do everything in
her power to make sure that we had a complete count, and she has
continued to do that. I really thank her not just on behalf of the
Congress of the United States of America but for all Americans for what
she has done. I really do appreciate it.
I also want to take a moment to recognize the gentlewoman from
Florida (Mrs. Meek), who just spoke. She has brought this matter to the
attention of the African American people over and over again. It has
been a major, major concern of the gentlewoman from Florida, and I want
to thank her.
This morning, Mr. Speaker, I visited Windsor Hills Elementary School,
and this is a school in my district which has a number of young people
who are in special education, beneficiaries of Title I funds.
I watched those little children as they put their hands up to their
hearts and said, ``I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States
of America and to the republic,'' and I watched them as they talked
about this one Nation under God. As I watched them, I thought about a
great writer who once said, ``Our children are the living messages we
send to a future we will never see,'' and I could not help but think
about the census, because the census affects them. It will affect them
for the next 10 years.
The fact is those first graders will, in the future, 10 years from
now, be 11th graders. The question is how will they have benefited from
our actions or fail to benefit from our inactions?

{time} 2000

Sadly, we have Members of Congress and prominent leaders of the
Republican party telling the American public that the census is
optional. I could not believe that.
On Friday, the Senate passed a sense of the Senate resolution
essentially reinforcing the idea that not completing one's form is
okay. It is not.
Further, Republican Presidential Nominee, Governor Bush has sided
with the Republican majority in Congress that has objected to the use
of modern scientific methods to provide accurate census data.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The gentleman must be reminded
not to characterize Senate actions.
The gentleman may proceed.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, as a candidate for the presidency, his
opposition to using modern scientific methods sends a strong message
that has outreached a minority community those traditionally
undercounted is not genuine.
It is unfortunate but not surprising that compassionate conservatism
does not include the community I represent. Currently, Baltimore City
has a dismal 48 percent response rate. The target was 68 percent.
Despite our best efforts, we cannot improve this rate nor ensure a
complete and accurate census when constituents are bombarded with
messages from elected officials that they do not have to fill out the
form.
I urge naysayers to stop spreading these negative messages and
encourage residents to fulfill their civic duty by completing and
returning their census

[[Page H1994]]

forms. A complete and accurate Census 2000 will ensure that education,
accessible health care, child care, access to jobs, and the protection
of civil rights are available for all.
Again, those first-graders sitting there and then standing and
pledging allegiance to the flag, where will they be in 10 years? What
will they have accomplished if we do not do what we are supposed to do
and fill out our forms? It is a simple act. And as I told some
constituents the other day, when they fail to fill out that form and
they have five people in their house, that means six people are not
counted.
And so, Mr. Speaker, again our citizens deserve no less. I want to
thank again the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) for yielding.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, our next speaker will be the
gentleman from the 42nd Congressional District of California (Mr. Baca)
the inland empire. But before he speaks, I would like to read a short
quote from an editorial published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on
April 2.

A handful of conservative lawmakers in Washington have come
up with a creative response. They're urging constituents to
simply ignore the questions they don't like. That's a cynical
and irresponsible approach from elected officials who should
know better. The census long form might be a nuisance, but
there is no question that it provides useful, sometimes
required, information for Federal agencies to allocate
taxpayer's money for private scholars to conduct research and
for the government to serve citizens more effectively.

Mr. Speaker, I do not think anybody could have said it any better.
Mr. Speaker, I include the following entire editorial for the Record:

[From the Star Tribune, Apr. 2, 2000]

Census Ruckus; Don't Boycott the Long Form

One in six American households has received the Census
Bureau's dreaded ``long form'' in recent weeks, and most are
reacting to its 52 detailed questions with an understandable
combination of patience, impatience and procrastination.
But a handful of conservative lawmakers in Washington have
come up with a more creative response. They're urging
constituents to simply ignore the questions they don't like.
That's a cynical and irresponsible approach from elected
officials who should know better. The census long form might
be a nuisance, but there is no question that it provides
useful--sometimes required--information for federal agencies
to allocate taxpayers' money, for private scholars to conduct
important research and for the government to serve citizens
more effectively.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has led the attack,
arguing that the census questionnaire is overlong and
intrusive. But the Census Bureau has added only one item
since 1990, and it provided all the questions for
congressional review two years ago, as required by law.
Rep. Tom Coburn, R-Okla, says the questions are too
personal. When pressed for an example last week, a Coburn
aide cited a question about bathing habits. But it turns out
that the question is actually about mental and physical
disability. As a series of examples, the question asks
whether the respondent has a disability severe enough to
interfere with schooling, holding a job or conducting normal
household activities such as eating and bathing.
Granted, that's personal. But it's also a perfectly good
example of the census' value. Washington hands out billions
of dollars every year to disabled Americans, and every year
skeptical lawmakers ask how many Americans are truly so
disabled that they need government assistance.
The same could be said for the billions of dollars that
Washington spends every year on highways, parks, mortgage
subsidies, tuition assistance and so forth. It would be
irresponsible for Congress to spend the money without good
data on the nation's housing stock, travel habits, recreation
needs and educational deficiencies. And that says nothing
about the small army of scholars who will dig into census
data in coming years to conduct important research on health
care, mobility, poverty, education and countless other
subjects.
Lott and Coburn say their constituents don't trust the
Census Bureau to keep their answers confidential. But
responsible leaders would not inflame groundless suspicions.
They would remind their constituents of the Census Bureau's
excellent 200-year records of vigorously protecting the
confidentiality of personal information.
What's most depressing about the Lott-Coburn critique is
that it's one more effort to depict the government as an
enemy of the people, not an extension of their will.
Americans who want their government to function more
effectively should support a thorough census. A sophisticated
society cannot function without good information about
itself. And for those busy souls who haven't labored through
the long form yet, we trust they'll approach the task more
responsibly than some of their leaders in Washington.

Last Friday, the Senate passed a misguided Sense of the Senate
resolution that will only encourage more Americans not to participate
in this critically important civic ceremony.
Ironically, many of the Senators raising questions also cosponsored
an amendment offered by Senator Helms which would have asked every
American what their marriage status was. Those Senators should realize
that they cannot have it both ways.
It is much too late to be raising these questions.
At this time, I would like to read a few quotes from an editorial
published in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on April 2nd.

A handful of conservative lawmakers in Washington have come
up with a creative response. They're urging constituents to
simply ignore the questions they don't like. that's a cynical
and irresponsible approach from elected officials who should
know better. The census long form might be a nuisance, but
there is no question that it provides useful--sometimes
required--information for Federal agencies to allocate
taxpayer's money, for private scholars to conduct research,
and for the government to serve citizens more effectively.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca).
Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the gentlewoman
from New York (Mrs. Maloney) for doing an outstanding job in getting
out the word to all American people of the responsibility that we have
in assuring that every American is counted. It has taken a lot of
effort and a lot of time on her part. I commend her for her part,
because she realizes the importance of what it means to our Nation to
have everyone counted. She is to be commended for her leadership, her
vision, and her foresight in assuring that every State receives its
fair share of dollars. And the only way that it is going to be done is
by doing an accurate count.
By doing an accurate count, I am really appalled at what is going on
and am outraged by what is going on or has been suggested by parties on
one particular side that has said that it is optional to count. It is
not optional. It is our responsibility, it is everybody's
responsibility, it is Americans' responsibility to make sure that we
all are counted. It is irresponsible and unpatriotic not to be counted.
Let me tell my colleagues I stand here as a veteran, a veteran who
has served our country, and many other veterans who have served us,
they believe they have fought to assure that we enjoy those freedoms
that we enjoy today because they were willing to put themselves and to
sacrifice, that we enjoy those freedoms today to make sure that
everyone is counted, that everyone enjoys the freedom that we have to
assure they participate in our American democracy.
They cannot participate in that American democracy if they do not
participate and they are not counted. I ask every individual to
participate. We now have had 61 percent of individuals that
participated at this point. That is not enough. We need 35 percent
additional of the total of Americans to participate in filling out
their forms. We need every individual to fill out their form.
We are in an information age. We need reliable information in order
to make good decisions for this Nation. Without good data, we cannot
administer the laws of this country fairly.
The Census Bureau has long forms on a baseline for every single
economic independent indicator to be published. Without an accurate
baseline, we cannot produce economic information needed to run this
Nation's economics effectively.
Not too long ago, I came here and was elected during a special
election. I voted for the budget at that time. It was the first budget
that I ever voted for. It was approximately a $790 trillion budget.
When I look at that budget, I am saying, how much of that money is
coming back to California? In California we have continued to do an
undercount.
In Fontana recently, we have had a lot of growth and development in
that area. We need to make sure that we do have an accurate count in
that immediate area. We are going to lose a lot of funding that goes
back, monies that need to go back for education, monies that need to go
back for parks and recreation, monies that need to go back for special
ed, monies that need

[[Page H1995]]

to go back for infrastructure and transportation, monies that need to
go back for health services, monies that need to go back for senior
citizens.
If we do not do an accurate count, we will not get the monies that we
deserve. It is our responsibility to make sure that we receive the
funding that is necessary for all of us. It cannot happen unless we
take our responsibility.
I urge all Americans to make sure they fulfill their obligation, they
take that responsibility. We are in a country where we have those
freedoms. Many other individuals do not have those freedoms. We have
the freedom to complete the form and look at every dollar that we
reserve.
If California wants to reserve its dollars to get back what it
deserves, we need to make sure that an accurate count is done. The only
way that California will get the additional dollars is that we make
sure we do that count.
We have 52 Members in the State of California. We need to continue to
make sure we ask for an accurate count. We need to make sure that
blacks, Hispanics, Asian-Americans, the American-Indian population, and
the total population is actually counted. We need all of them to
participate, to make sure they do fill out their forms, that they are
not frightened and sabotaged by anyone telling them not to complete the
form. I ask them to please complete the form. We urge them. It is
important for this Nation. It is important for our country.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I put a brief quote in from
the Atlanta Journal Constitution on April 3. It says, ``Participation
in the census may also be harmed by the political grandstanding it
continues to inspire.'' Presidential candidate George W. Bush has
criticized the long census sent to one in six American households as
some sort of government intrusion on privacy.
However, the Census Bureau takes very seriously its responsibility to
keep individual responses absolutely confidential. Leakers inside will
be sought out and prosecuted. And hackers on the outside have not been
able to get in. If they were caught, they would be prosecuted. In fact,
the Bureau is working with leading computer security experts to make
sure its data remains untapped.
Mr. Speaker, I include the entire article for the Record:

[From the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Apr. 3, 2000]

Constitution: Keep the Census From Becoming Political Fodder and
Participate

Roughly half of America's households did their civic duty
and answered the U.S. Census Bureau's Year 2000 postal survey
by its April 1 deadline. That level of participation is not
nearly good enough if America is to get the accurate picture
of itself essential to governing fairly and efficiently at
local, state and federal levels.
Fortunately, the bureau still has a ``final, final
deadline'' for mail and e-mail replies. It's April 11, the
day it will send out its enumerators to count Americans who
didn't respond. So if you have yet to fill out your census
form, please do so and mail it this week.
Participation in the census may also be harmed by the
political grandstanding it continues to inspire. Presidential
candidate George W. Bush and Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott (R-Miss.) have criticized the long census--sent to one
in six American households--as some sort of government
intrusion on privacy.
However, the Census Bureau takes very seriously its
responsibility to keep individual census responses
confidential. Leakers inside will be sought out and
prosecuted, as will hackers on the outside. In fact, the
bureau is working with leading computer-security experts to
make sure its data remain untapped.
Is this year's census survey exceptionally burdensome or
intrusive, as its critics suggest? No, the questions on the
long form are almost all similar to those asked in previous
censuses, including the 1990 census conducted when Bush's
father was president. And every question on this year's long
form was presented to members of Congress for their comments
two years ago. To find fault with those queries at this late
date is a cheap shot.
The information being gathered will be used to redraw
political districts, calculate how government benefits like
Medicare are to be shared equitably, and predict public needs
such as mass transit, roads, libraries, schools, fire and
police protection. Census figures from 1990 helped federal
emergency officials determine quickly where shelters were
most needed after Hurricane Andrew smashed south Florida in
1993.
The alternative, as urged by Bush, Lott & Co., would be to
operate government uninformed of its people's needs.

Mr. Speaker, the next speaker is the gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Millender-McDonald) a leader not only in the census but in the Women's
Caucus. She is the co-chair of the Women's Caucus.
Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank this
outstanding Member out of the State of New York (Mrs. Maloney) who not
only leads the census and has been absolutely strong in her
deliberations on this issue but is the chairwoman of the Woman's
Caucus. She, too, understands, Mr. Speaker, that of the 4 million
people who were undercounted, 50 percent of those were our children.
And so, this is why, Mr. Speaker, I am appalled a leading presumptive
presidential candidate, a man aspiring to lead this great Nation,
cannot figure out whether he will fill out his own confidential census
form. This is the same man who wants to take charge of the American
people and its government to make public policy based on population
figures that affect our daily lives in health, education,
transportation, appropriations, and other public responsibilities.
Carrying out his own education proposal unveiled last week would
depend upon, Mr. Speaker, accurate data that all of the census
produces. How does he plan to produce an accurate Consumer Price Index
without accurate long form data? Still, he has not committed enough to
government fairness to fill out one of these forms himself.
Now, I have worked with the Census Bureau now for about 2 years to
make sure that they count every hard-to-count group. I spearheaded a
special project to make sure Africans and Caribbean residents in the
Diaspora understood the importance of the census and trusted our laws
of confidentiality governing the process.
I also called on homeless shelters, battered women shelters,
colleges, universities, and families with children to make sure that we
count them, because they will have been historically undercounted
individuals.
Shame on any elected official who would undermine our Nation's effort
to gather vital information we need for appropriations and planning.
The census numbers are extremely important to Government leaders.
In 1990, the census undercounted 486,000 persons in the State of
Texas, causing that State to lose about $1 billion in Federal funding
for health care, housing, transportation, and other Federal programs.
Even California lost $2.3 billion, Mr. Speaker, and a congressional
seat.
Children, the target of this presidential candidate's education
reform package, are one of the most undercounted groups in America. How
many of them fell through the cracks in Texas this past decade because
of underfunded public services? It seems, out of self-interest, one
would want an accurate assessment of one's home State.
Remember, these same officials who do not want residents filling out
census forms oppose using modern scientific methods for a more accurate
census count.
Come now, they cannot have it both ways. If all public leaders, no
matter what party affiliation, would encourage every resident to fill
out and return their forms, we could get the results we need, Mr.
Speaker.
Maybe those now questioning the census have other motives for
spoiling an accurate census count. Maybe they do not want a true
accurate count. Frankly, this reminds me of the 1980s, when South
African apartheid government decided not to count the majority of
African people as South Africans. Did undercounting tens of thousands
of residents who were not acceptable but lived in Johannesberg make
them go away? Did it drive down actual unemployment figures and
increase the real infant mortality rate? Of course not. This
statistical chicanery only lets those in power fool themselves to the
realities they need to face.
The Census Bureau has done a great job and has gone to great lengths
to carry out the mandates of Congress to make sure the forms are as
brief as possible. In fact, the long form is shorter than the 1990 form
by four questions and it is the shortest form in history.
My friends, this is the information age. We need the data from these
forms to administer our public duty in this country fairly. Those
encouraging citizens to voluntarily suppress an accurate count are
doing it as a grave disservice to their State and to Americans across
this Nation.

[[Page H1996]]

As leaders, they should know the laws of confidentiality governing
the census in our great country. This is our process governed by our
laws that our courts have upheld. Reasonable and sensible officials
swear to uphold the law. And this law has never been violated. Let us
stop playing games, my friends, with America's future. Follow the
advice of sensible leaders in all political parties. Fill out that
census form, and encourage everyone who comes within their purview to
do the same.
I thank again the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) for her
leadership.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Davis), a member of the Census Subcommittee of the
Committee on Government Reform. He has been fighting for an accurate
census through two threatened government shutdowns and a flood relief
bill held hostage. He fought against the designation of the census as
an emergency.
The census has been around since the beginning of our Nation, and he
fought every day to get the funding for the census. He is continuing as
one of our outstanding leaders for a complete and accurate count. I
thank him for all of his hard work.

{time} 2015

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, as I have listened to the
discussion this evening, I have been thrilled and delighted. First of
all, I want to commend the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) for
her continuing outstanding leadership day after day, night after night.
The gentlewoman talks about leaving no stone unturned. She is talking
about taking a message to the American people. I really do not think, I
say to the gentlewoman, that anybody has ever put more into an issue,
into an idea, into a concept than what she has displayed during these
last 2 years of trying to make sure that there is an accurate count, an
honest count, and that everybody person in this country is, indeed,
counted.
Mr. Speaker, I thank her, along with all of those who have expressed
all of their appreciation. Listening to the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Millender-McDonald), I said to myself, if I was not going to fill
out the form, listening to the gentlewoman from California that would
have caused me to grab up a pencil, a pen, or whatever it was that I
could get my hands on, and run to that form and fill it out.
Unfortunately, there are many people in our country who do not
understand the importance. I represent a district that has over 165,000
people who live at or below the level of poverty. Obviously, many of
these individuals are at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale, many
of them, obviously, are not as well-educated as some other people.
Obviously, many of them do not understand. I want to thank all of the
people in my community, the churches who have been making the
announcements, who have been trying to convince people on a regular
basis, the volunteers who went out with me on Saturday.
We ran into people who just did not understand. I ran into one woman
who said to us, you know, I am saved and sanctified and filled with the
Holy Spirit, and I am not going to fill out these forms. I said to
myself, yes, you will be saved and sanctified and broke, filled with
the Holy Spirit and your children cannot get daycare. And the Holy
Spirit is going to help you do a lot of things, but the Holy Spirit is
not going to put a daycare center in your neighborhood so that your
grandchildren can go and get early childhood education.
Mr. Speaker, I ran into people who said to us that they did not get
the forms, and I looked in their hallways, and there were the forms on
the floor. I said, well, you did not get it, but it is here; you have
got to pick it up and fill it out and send in the information.
I ran into people who said that we filled it out on the first floor,
but the people on the second floor, I am not sure that they got one.
I make a plea to all Americans, notwithstanding anything that anybody
else might say, and, yes, I have some problems with those who would
encourage people not to fill the forms out, but the real responsibility
is on each and every one of us.
We have an old saying in my community that if you fool me once, shame
on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Notwithstanding what anybody might
say, whether they are elected, appointed, community activists who just
do not understand, anybody that is encouraging you or suggesting that
you should not fill out your form, then, they do not have your
interests at heart.
You have got to say the way that they say at the church that I
attend: it is not my mother, it is not my father, but it is me oh,
Lord. It is not the deacon. It is not the preacher, but it is me. It is
not the Democrats. It is not the Republicans. It is not the House. It
is not the Senate, it is my form, and if I do not fill out my form,
then it means that I do not count.
So I thank the gentlewoman from New York for her leadership, for all
that she has done. Please, Americans, please, residents of the 7th
Congressional District in the State of Illinois, please make absolutely
certain that you count by filling out the form, because if you do not,
then all of America loses.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Illinois. I think what he just said he said it beautifully. Added to
his words are Senator John McCain who recently exhibited the kind of
leadership all Members of Congress should emulate, when he urged all
Americans to fill out the entire census form.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I congratulate certain Members of the other
body who are urging everybody to fill out the form.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman will suspend. The
gentlewoman may not characterize legislative positions of Members of
the other body.

General Leave

Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and
extend their remarks on the subject of my special order today.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). Is there objection to the
request of the gentlewoman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the
House that many of the questions are essentially the same questions
approved by former President Ronald Reagan and President Bush, except
that they are less than the questions in 1990. I would ask some of my
more conservative Members to think about that before they criticize the
census.
In the information age, we need reliable information in order to make
good decisions for this Nation. Some Members of Congress must be stuck
in the 18th century. They do not seem to want to know how America is
doing. Without good data, you cannot administer the laws of this
country fairly. Their comments are rash and inappropriate.
The good news for the census is that the Census Bureau is following
the law. It will try to get the long form questions answered, because
the professionals at the bureau do what the law says, the law Congress
passes. They go out and try to get an accurate picture of this country
and report back to Congress. I guess we now know why the 2000 census
was designated an emergency in last year's budget. We just did not know
that some Members of Congress were the ones who would be creating the
emergency.
On average, the long form takes a little over half an hour to
complete. Only information needed to manage or evaluate government
programs is collected by the census. Just a half an hour every 10 years
for good data on your country, a photograph of where your country is
going. The short form just takes several minutes, just several minutes
to be a good citizen. $180 billion a year in Federal money depends on
census data. That is close to $2 trillion over the decade. Clearly that
is reason enough to fill out the long form which, by the way, goes to
only one in six American households.
As I said, Members should remember that they were informed of the
questions that would be in the census over 2 years ago. Every single
Member got a book that had every question, they had the reason for the
question, and they had the congressional law that required it. They had
an opportunity to criticize or complain then. But that

[[Page H1997]]

time has passed. Now is the time to urge everyone to participate in
this civic ceremony together as one Nation. It is your future. Do not
leave it blank. Please fill out the form.
Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record a series of editorials across
the country from Seattle to Washington, Sacramento, Palm Beach,
Minneapolis, Atlanta; David Broder in the Washington Post; Gail
Collins, New York Times; Los Angeles, USA Today, Atlanta Journal; along
with many, many other articles that have come out in support of being
good citizens and filling out the long form, being part of an accurate
census.

[From the Seattle Times Company, March 29, 2000]

Overly Overwrought About the 2000 Census

On any given day, citizens are bombarded with dozens of
legitimate, stress-producing worries. The U.S. Census Bureau,
even its much-maligned long-form questionnaire, ought not be
one of them.
Census questionnaires have been mailed to 120 million
American households. The seven-question short form was sent
to most households; a longer, more-detailed, 52-question form
was delivered to one in six households.
Then the yowling began--The Snoops! The invasion of
privacy!
The complaints are nine parts hype, one part hooey.
Two important developments have occurred since the last
census was taken in 1990. The long form got shorter by four
questions, and talk radio got louder.
In fairness to those with census jitters, more people
nowadays are concerned about personal privacy. Frequent calls
by solicitors and marketing companies wear down a person's
patience and goodwill.
Remember, though, the census is the head count prescribed
by the Constitution.
The people who make money by whipping up fear--and those
who buy into it--substitute paranoia for logic.
The loudest concerns focus on question 31 on the long form,
which asks people to report wages, salaries, commissions,
bonuses or tips from jobs. This is not a scary question. The
federal government, the Internal Revenue Service, already
knows the answer for individuals. The Census Bureau is
looking for data to report in the aggregate.
Before people allow themselves to be whipped into an
unnecessary froth, remember the manner in which the data is
reported. It is much like a series of USA Today headlines,
``We're older,'' ``We're more mobile, more diverse'' and so
on. The census doesn't announce that Joe Dokes at 123 Pine
Street does or says anything. Nor does the Census Bureau
share personal information with other agencies.
The questions provide a telling snapshot of America and
help determine how large pots of tax dollars are spent on
social programs, highways and mass transit, and how
congressional seats are distributed among the states. Smile.
A big family portrait is being painted with numbers. Nothing
scary about that.
____

[From the Tulsa World, March 30, 2000]

Coburn: Down for the Count

Rep. Tom Coburn is never going to come to his census. Count
on it.
But the Second District Republican congressman should admit
that the appropriate time to protest queries on the long form
of the Census 2000 questionnaire was more than two years ago
when the questions, all required by law (and who passes law?)
were circulated among members of Congress.
On Wednesday, Coburn essentially urged his Second District
constituents to violate federal law by refusing to complete
certain portions of their long-form questionnaires. One in
six homes receives the long form.
``The Census Bureau's desire for information is out of
control and a violation of privacy rights,'' Coburn said,
adding, however, that his constituents should answer the
``essential'' questions on the short form covering a person's
name, sex, age, relationship, Hispanic origin and race.
The long form asks 27 more questions about 34 subjects,
including marital status, income, mode of transportation to
work and work status for the past year.
Coburn said that if a census worker shows up to collect
omitted information, Oklahomans should ``politely refuse'' to
give it.
Coburn's position doesn't square with that of Gov. Frank
Keating and other leaders who have encouraged Oklahomans to
fill out the forms so that the state can receive the largest
share possible of the $2 trillion in federal funds that are
handed out on the basis of census figures. Some of the
questions in the long form help agencies calculate the
specific needs of a community.
``While I understand the reservations that some Oklahomans
may have with regard to some of the questions on the long-
form census questionnaire, I urge them to complete and
promptly return the entire form to the census bureau,''
Keating said.
Coburn took his position after receiving complaints that
long forms were invasive. He accused the census bureau of
being ``out of control'' and of violating Americans' privacy.
Even some other conservative members of the Oklahoma
congressional delegation, including Rep. Steve Largent and
U.S. Sens. Don Nickles and James Inhofe, do not appear to
embrace Coburn's position.
If the Census Bureau is asking too many nosy questions, the
time to protest is before the questions become law, not in
the middle of a census. We should be able to count on our
elected officials to know what's going on in time to do
something about it.

[From the Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA), March 30, 2000]

Head Count: You've Got Until Saturday to Tackle Those Census Questions

I am one of the army of people hired to help answer
questions about the 2000 census. Many people receiving the
long form understand the questions but are reluctant to
provide answers. They feel the government ``already knows too
much about my personal life and income. And why do they want
to know how many flush toilets I have or how much it costs to
heat my home?''
There are reasons for including these questions as an
adjunct to the main purpose of the census, which is to get a
head count of all people residing in the United States on
April 1, 2000. Let me try to allay some of the
misconceptions.
First, the data is absolutely confidential. Nobody, not the
President, the Supreme Court, the FBI, the INS or any local
police department, will ever have access to your individual
questionnaire. All census workers are sworn to maintain the
confidentiality of the data provided, under penalty of a
stiff fine and a prison term. This confidentiality has not
been breached since the census started in 1790.
Second, the answers that you provide are compiled into
statistics, which are then made available to the public and
all governmental agencies. These statistics are used to
determine how to distribute about $200 billion per year of
federal funds to schools, employment services, housing
assistance, highway construction, hospital services, child
and elderly programs.
When the data show, for instance, that the city of
Chesapeake has had phenomenal growth since the past census,
additional funding to Chesapeake will be forthcoming in many
of the above categories.
Why the questions about toilets and heating costs? The
statistical data on plumbing facilities is used by the U.S.
agriculture and housing departments to determine rural
development policy, grants for residential property
rehabilitation and identification of areas for housing
rehabilitation loans.
Knowledge derived from the census is essential also to the
drawing of samples for all kinds of surveys, for the
computation of birth and death rates and the making of
actuarial tables, and for the analysis of economic
development and business cycles. Above all, the census makes
possible the estimation of future trends and is therefore
part of all kinds of planning--national, state, local,
tribal, citizen groups, business and industry.
Please take the extra time to answer the seemingly
``personal'' questions on your census long form. The official
deadline is Saturday. After April 11, you may be visited by a
census enumerator if you failed to return your questionnaire.
Please don't shoot the messenger. We'll only be doing our job
because you didn't do yours.
Edward Samson,
Chesapeake.
____

[From the Washington Post, March 31, 2000]

Census Bashing

The Census always produces complaints that an intrusive
government is asking for more information then it has a right
to know. Usually the complaints are scattered and come the
fringe. But this year some radio show hosts have taken up the
issue, and now some national politicians who otherwise yield
to none in insisting on law and order are telling
constituents not to answer questions they feel invade their
privacy.
The Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, is one such. He
believes that people ought to provide ``the basic census
information'' but that if they ``feel their privacy is being
invaded by [some] questions, they can choose not to answer,''
his spokesman says. Likewise Sen. Chuck Hagel, whose ``advice
to everybody is just fill out what you need to fill out, and
[not] anything you don't feel comfortable with.'' Yesterday,
George W. Bush said that, if sent the so-called form, he
isn't sure he would fill it out, either.
And which are the questions that offend these statesmen?
One that has been mocked seeks to determine how many people
are disabled as defined by law, in part by asking whether any
have ``difficulty . . . dressing, bathing, or getting around
inside the home.'' When it mailed the proposed census
questions to members of Congress for comment two years ago--
and got almost no response--the bureau explained that this
one would be used in part to distribute housing funds for the
disabled, funds to the disabled elderly and funds to help
retrain disabled veterans. Are those sinister enterprisers? A
much-derided question about plumbing facilities is used in
part ``to locate areas in danger of ground water
contamination and waterborne diseases''; one about how people
get to work is used in transportation planning. All have been
asked for years.
Earlier this year, Mr. Lott's Senate complained 94 to 0
that a question about marital status had been removed from
the basic census form. That was said to be a sign of
disrespect for marriage. Come on. This is a critical period
for the census. All kinds of harm

[[Page H1998]]

will be done if the count is defective. A politician not
seeking to score cheap political points at public expense
might resist the temptation to demagogue and instead urge
citizens to turn in their forms. But in an election year such
as this, that's apparently too high a standard for some.

[From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 31, 2000]

Census Too Important to Ignore

It seems that lots of people are complaining about having
to answer what they claim are invastive questions on this
year's census form. Of course, some of these are people who
willingly give their credit card numbers to telemarketers
offering the latest in siding or to Internet sites that sell
really cool lava lamps.
There are also plenty of members of Congress who are now
all in a huff, saying they sympathize with citizens who are
threatening to refuse to fill out the forms. One wonders what
these guardians of the public good were doing when they
reviewed--and apparently approved of--the same census
questions they are now complaining about. And where they were
10 years ago, when the questions were virtually the same.
The fact is, it's important to fill out the census so the
government has an accurate count and so the average citizen
has adequate representation in Washington and receives his or
her fair share of federal funds.
Admittedly, some of the questions are goofy, and threats to
privacy should be of concern to everyone. But asking how many
toilets you have is hardly sinister. Besides, the government
already knows. Just ask your local assessor.
Government also already knows what race you are and whether
you are a veteran. It keeps records on those kinds of things,
just as businesses keep records of your commercial
transactions.
It's easy to rail against government, but the greatest
threat to privacy is not found in government census forms,
but in the vast databases being built by private companies
about their customers and potential customers.
Want something to worry about? Go to the Internet and
search for information about yourself. What some of you may
learn there is really scary.
And since the census gives the nation a profile of itself,
determines the number of representatives a state has in
Congress and decides where federal funds are distributed, the
information serves a larger public purpose than that gathered
by eBay or Amazon.com.
It is OK to be annoyed by the government for asking all
these fool questions. But it's important to fill out the form
and make sure the annoying information is at least accurate.
Besides, the Census Bureau is barred by law from sharing its
informaiton about individuals for three-quarters of a
century.
So the informaiton on your toilets will be safe for at
least that long.
____

[From the New York Times, April 1, 2000]

Civic Duty and the Census

Some Congressional Republicans are seriously undermining
the 2000 census by suggesting that the national head count,
which officially takes place today, is an invasion of
privacy. That bizarre complaint could discourage the public
from participating in a project that is crucial to the
functioning of state and federal government. The questions on
this year's census form--including questions on household
income, plumbing facilities and physical disabilities--have
been part of the census for decades. The only new question
asks for information on grandparents who are caregivers for
children. In fact, this year's long form is the shortest one
in 60 years. All answers on census forms are kept
confidential. Yet Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska has
suggested in recent days that people can simply ignore
questions on the long form--which goes to one out of six
American households--that they find intrusive. A spokesman
for Senator Trent Lott, the majority leader, has made
similarly inappropriate suggestions. Gov. George W. Bush of
Texas has said that people should fill out the forms, but
that if he received a long form, he was not sure he would
want to fill it out either. These comments are irresponsible.
Completing the census form fully and accurately is not
optional; it is a civic duty that is required by law. Senator
hagel now says that he does not want to encourage people to
break the law, but will introduce legislation to make most of
the questions on the long form voluntary.
The federal government has spent billions of dollars trying
to produce an accurate count as response rates have continued
to decline with each decennial count. Accuracy is critical
because the census is used to apportion seats in Congress,
draw legislative districts within the states and distribute
more than $185 billion in Federal funds. The government uses
information from the long form of the census to allocate
money to communities for housing, school aid, transportation,
services for the elderly and the disabled and scores of other
programs. The data are also necessary to calculate the
consumer price index and cost of living increases in
government benefits.
When individuals fail to give complete information about
their households, they risk shortchanging their communities
of government aid that they may be entitled to. That is why
many state and local government officials are working hard to
increase census response rates in their communities. The
mindless complaints of some politicians could well sabotage
those efforts.
____

[From the Sacramento Bee, April 1, 2000]

Trashing the Census: Irresponsible Bush Comments Could Sabotage Count

Just two days ago before Census Day, as U.S. Census Bureau
officials were urging Americans to cooperate in the crucial
once-in-a-decade national count, Texas Gov. George W. Bush
made their job harder. If he had the long census form, Bush
told a campaign crowd, he's not sure he'd want to fill it out
either. How harmful to this important civic exercise, how
irresponsible and unpatriotic.
Bush's remarks come on the heels of Senate Majority Leader
Trent Lott's advice to his fellow Americans not to answer any
questions on the census long form that they believe invade
their privacy. Taken together, those remarks by the leading
Republican in Congress and the likely Republican presidential
nominee can easily be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to
sabotage the 2000 census. They raise questions about the
integrity of the census that are unwarranted, unfair and
irresponsible.
Once in six households receives the census long form.
Beyond the basic eight questions about the number, age, and
gender and race or ethnicity of people living in the
household, the long form asks other questions designed to
measure the well-being of Americans, to help government
agencies to plan where to put schools or highways or health
funding. Included in the long forms are 53 questions such as.
How many bedrooms in the house? Has anyone been disabled by
health problems in the last six months? Is there a telephone?
What is the income of the household? Is there indoor
plumbing?
By law the responses are strictly confidential. The U.S.
Census cannot share individual household answers with the
IRS, FBI, INS or any other government agency or private
entity.
Moreover, every single question on the long and short forms
is there because of a specific statutory requirement. Most of
these questions have been on the form for decades. The only
new question added since 1990 was put there at the behest of
Republicans in Congress, including Lott. It asks grandparents
whether they are caregivers for their grandchildren. The
wording of each question was reviewed by Congress in 1997 and
1998. Lott, who now raises objections, pushed a resolution
urging the Census Bureau to return to the short form a
question about marital status that it had moved to the long
form.
The census is the law of the land, enacted by the first
Congress. When Bush says he wouldn't fill out the form, he's
saying he's prepared to break the law. When Lott advises
Americans not to answer questions they don't want to answer,
he's telling them to break the law. And although both Lott
and Bush limit their specific objections to the long form,
the impact will inevitably reverberate more widely--to those
who only receive the short form.
In Sacramento, census officials report that the response to
the census is already lagging. Only 39 percent of Sacramento
households have returned the form so far. Every man, woman or
child not counted costs $1,600 in lost federal funds. That's
money that would go to our schools and highways and mental
health and police protection.
Participating in the census is a civic duty, like voting,
serving on juries and defending the country. As duties go,
it's not burdensome, for most people, filling out the long
form is a once-in-a-lifetime chore. With their thoughtless
comments that feed mindless anti-government sentiment--do
they really think they can govern better by knowing less
about America?--Bush and Lott have done a disservice to the
census and the country.
____

[From the Palm Beach Post, April 1, 2000]

The Census Follies

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., should just be
quiet about the census. Greenacres has a complaint. Sen. Lott
doesn't.
The Census Bureau, once again, overlooked at least 1,500
apartments in Greenacres, which were fairly new when it
missed them 10 years ago. The city, apparently tucked out of
government's sight in west-central Palm Beach County, worked
with census officials to make sure everyone is counted. The
city has a gripe.
Senl Lott, and some others, now say the long census form,
which went to one household in six, is terribly intrusive.
Sen. Lott said recipients can list name and address but
``choose not to answer'' other questions. He didn't complain
in 1997, when he and all members of Congress received a copy
of this year's long form for gathering data that they had
ordered. And guess who cosponsored the law requiring a line
on the form for marital status?
But three years ago, Sen. Lott was in court with other
Republicans insisting on an ``actual enumeration,'' counting
individuals, and no use of sampling techniques. If people
take his advice now, the Census Bureau will have to get the
information Congress requires in the off-years, by sampling.
Maybe by then, it will be able to find Greenacres.

[[Page H1999]]

[From the Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Apr. 1, 2000]

Don't Leave Census Form Blank

After months of preparation, today marks Census Day, when
our national head count moves into higher gear.
Questionnaires have been mailed to every household. With
much riding on a full and accurate count, it's significant to
look at how we are responding.
As of March 29, 46 percent of households across the country
had already completed and returned their forms. Comparable
rates of response were 43 percent in Tennessee and 41 percent
in Georgia. Hamilton County, at 47 percent, leads the five
counties in our metropolitan area. Within the county, the
town of Signal Mountain shines with a 59 percent response
rate. In contrast, the city of Chattanooga lags with 44
percent answering.
These are only preliminary reports and will be updated
daily. The more meaningful measurements will come on April
27, when Census 2000 enumerators will initiate a series of
follow-up visits and calls to households that have failed to
complete their forms.
By that time, local Census officials expect to have over 60
percent of questionnaires returned. The higher the rate of
response, the sooner they can focus their efforts on counting
population groups and neighborhoods that are harder to reach.
There are plenty of excuses for not complying, but most of
them are not valid. Some people just hate paperwork. Yet the
short form that went to five out of six households takes only
10 minutes or less to complete.
Some fear creeping big-government intrusion. The longer
forms include some questions that may be helpful for
statistical purposes, but many citizens find them too nosy
about their personal lives and home conditions.
Some census questions do go too far, arousing opposition.
And some people will question the promised confidentiality of
their records. By law, no individual response (only
aggregated information) can be legally reported to any other
agency of government.
An official count has taken place every 10 years since
1790. The census is required by the Constitution solely for
the purpose of fairly dividing U.S. House of Representatives
seats among the states on a population basis, and dividing
among the states the votes in the Electoral College, which
actually elects our presidents following the popular vote.
But also of great importance is the fact that billions of
dollars of your tax money are distributed according to the
census count, with more money going where the count is
higher.
Amazingly, some heads of households will forget to include
the names and ages of their children. An estimated 7,000
people were missed in Hamilton County alone during the last
census. The children in those households, if counted, would
have demonstrated the need for our new schools and 139 new
teachers. Overcrowding of schools and classrooms seems a
heavy price to pay for parental omission.
With Census Day upon us, let's resolve to do our personal
part to get it right this time. Count us all in.
____

[From the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Apr. 2, 2000]

Census--Political Bashing Won't Help Achieve Full Count

Mississippi has the lowest response rate of any state so
far to this year's federal census: 38 percent as of late last
week--and 48 percent in DeSoto County--compared to a 50
percent national rate. (Memphis has nothing to brag about,
either, just 39 percent of Memphians have returned their
census forms.)
At the same time, Mississippi is threatened with the loss
of one of its five U.S. House seats in the population-based
reapportionment that will follow the 2000 Census. So you'd
think that officials throughout the state would be bending
over backward to urge residents to take part in the fullest
and most accurate count possible.
Why, then, did Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.)
propose that citizens refuse to answer any census questions
they find too ``invasive''? Although the senator insists he
supports maximum participation in the census, it's easy to
see how people who already are suspicious of the federal
government might interpret Lott's suggestion as an invitation
to blow of their civic--and legal--duty to take part in the
national headcount.
Census bashing has become something of a national sport in
recent days, as critics such as Lott allege that the
initiative too often amounts to an invasion of privacy. Texas
Gov.--and presumptive Republican presidential nominee--George
W. Bush said last week that if he had gotten the long (53
question) census form that one of every six households has
received, he wasn't sure he would fill it out.
These defenses of personal privacy ignore the fact that
members of Congress reviewed each of the questions that
appear on the long and short census forms two years ago.
Instead of striking ``intrusive'' questions then, senators
voted unanimously this year to protest the Census Bureau's
removal of a question about martial status.
So it ill behooves lawmakers such as Lott to complain now
about the questionnaire. Remember, too, that many lawmakers
have opposed the use of statistical sampling to correct the
census undercount of millions of Americans because they said
it would violate the ``integrity'' of the process they now
condemn.
It's understandable that some Americans might object to
revealing their income on the census questionnaire, although
individual census data must remain confidential as a matter
of law. It's timeconsuming to gather the information needed
to answer some of the long-form questions accurately, such as
annual utility and insurance costs.
But many of the questions routinely ridiculed by census
bashers--whether residents of a given household have indoor
plumbing, whether they have difficulty dressing or bathing,
how they commute to work--have been asked in previous
censuses without generating controversy. This year's long
form has six fewer questions than the 1990 version.
The questions will yield data that will help federal
official fairly distribute aid to help disabled Americans, to
fight water pollution and to improve local transportation
planning. Are these illegitimate activities?
Bush has proposed allowing parents to use federal Title I
money under some circumstances to send their children to
private or charter schools. That money is distributed
according to census data.
Many Mid-South residents insist they haven't returned their
census forms yet because they haven't gotten them. If that is
a systematic problem, then the Census Bureau must deal with
it, fast.
But that is different matter from encouraging citizens not
to cooperate fully with the national enumeration.
Census officials are making special efforts to get millions
of households to return their census forms this weekend. In
light of the complaints, Census Director Kenneth Prewitt said
he fears many Americans have decided ``this information is
not very important at all.''
Americans have learned to their chagrin that there isn't an
issue, even the constitutionally mandated census, that
politicians can't turn into a matter of partisan division,
especially in an election year.
But how will Sen. Lott respond if Mississippi, because of a
below-average census count this year, does wind up losing a
House seat?
And what is it's Republican seat?
____

[From the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Apr. 3, 2000]

Constitution: Keep the Census From Becoming Political Fodder and
Participate

Roughly half of America's households did their civic duty
and answered the U.S. Census Bureau's Year 2000 postal survey
by its April 1 deadline. That level of participation is not
nearly good enough if America is to get the accurate picture
of itself essential to governing fairly and efficiently at
local, state and federal levels.
Fortunately, the bureau still has a ``final, final
deadline'' for mail and e-mail replies. It's April 11, the
day it will send out its enumerators to count Americans who
didn't respond. So if you have yet to fill out your census
form, please do so and mail it this week.
Participation in the census may also be harmed by the
political grandstanding it continues to inspire. Presidential
candidate George W. Bush and Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott (R-Miss.) have criticized the long census--sent to one
in six American households--as some sort of government
intrusion on privacy.
However, the Census Bureau takes very seriously its
responsibility to keep individual census responses
confidential. Leakers inside will be sought out and
prosecuted, as will hackers on the outside. In fact, the
bureau is working with leading computer-security experts to
make sure its data remain untapped.
Is this year's census survey exceptionally burdensome or
intrusive, as its critics suggest? No, the questions on the
long form are almost all similar to those asked in previous
census, including the 1990 census conducted when Bush's
father was president. And every question on this year's long
form was presented to members of Congress for their comments
two years ago. To find fault with those queries at this late
date is a cheap shot.
The information being gathered will be used to redraw
political districts, calculate how government benefits like
Medicare are to be shared equitably, and predict public needs
such as mass transit, roads, libraries, schools, fire and
police protection. Census figures from 1990 helped federal
emergency officials determine quickly where shelters were
most needed after Hurricane Andrew smashed south Florida in
1993.
The alternative, as urged by Bush, Lott & Co., would be to
operate government uninformed of its people needs.
____

[From the Washington Post, Apr. 4, 2000]

Don't Toy With the Census

(By David S. Broder)

Something about the census makes Republicans crazy. For the
better part of two years, they battled the scientific
community and the Clinton administration to prevent the use
of statistical sampling techniques to correct for the
undercount of people--mainly low-income, minority, immigrant,
transient and homeless--that marred the 1990 census.
After reaching an impasse in Congress, the Republicans took
the issue to court and had to be satisfied with a Supreme
Court ruling that barred the use of sampling for
apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives but
approved it for everything else.
Then last week, just as the publicity effort to persuade
people to return their census

[[Page H2000]]

forms was reaching its peak, several prominent Republicans
said that Uncle Sam was getting too personal in some of the
census questions and suggested that it would be okay for
people to skip over those items they found offensive.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott told Mississippi
reporters that if he had received one of the long forms
(delivered to one of every six households) he might have
demurred at answering some of the questions. Texas Gov.
George W. Bush, the GOP's presidential choice, said he hadn't
opened his census form yet but wasn't sure if he would fill
out the whole thing.
Later, both men retreated part-way from their positions
(Bush after learning that he was in the short-form majority)
and said people should return the forms with as much
information as they could in good conscience provide. But
Rep. J. C. Watts of Oklahoma, chairman of the House
Republican Conference, blamed the bureaucracy for including
questions that ``have raised an unprecedented level of
concern,'' and other Republicans said they would introduce
legislation to make responding to the census voluntary,
rather than requiring it by law.
All of this is basically nonsense--the kind of politicians'
talk that gives hypocrisy a bad name even as it has serious
policy consequences. Every single question on the census 2000
form was vetted with Congress two years ago, and every one
has its origin and justification in a requirement included in
a law passed by Congress.
In my files on census topics, I have a March 1998 report
(that's two years ago, folks) titled ``Questions Planned for
Census 2000.'' That same report, I am informed, went to every
member of Congress. In the back of that report is a table
showing the first census in which each category of questions
was asked. One of the questions on census 2000 to which some
Republicans have objected asks for the family income. That
has been asked in every census since 1940.
Another, the subject of much ridicule, asks, ``Do you have
complete plumbing facilities in this house, apartment or
mobile home, that is, hot and cold piped water, a flush
toilet, and a bathtub or shower?'' That question, too, has
been on the long form since 1940.
The plumbing question is asked, along with other measures
of housing adequacy, as a way of targeting federal grants to
the communities where the need for decent housing is
greatest. Is there anyone who doubts that more help should go
to South Central Los Angeles than to Beverly Hills?
The income question is used for a much wider variety of
federal programs. In all, more than $185 billion of federal
grants to state and local governments is distributed on the
basis of census information. One of the major concerns about
the 1990 undercount--which later surveys suggested may have
missed 8 million people while double-counting 4 million
others--is that it deprived areas with large numbers of low-
income people of the assistance they deserved.
A study released last month by the U.S. Census Monitoring
Board and done by the accounting firm Price-waterhouseCoopers
estimated that in 169 metropolitan areas where the poorly
counted demographic groups are concentrated, the likely net
loss of federal assistance may well reach $11 billion in a
decade.
Some of the estimated losses are enormous. The Los Angeles-
Long Beach area, where hospitals, schools and other public
facilities are chronically facing financial crisis, could be
a $1.8 billion loser. Miami has a $300 million stake in an
accurate count; New Orleans, $97 million. And it is not just
the big cities. Flagstaff, Ariz., is at risk for $25
million--in effect, a 3.5 percent local tax or penalty for
the undercount.
There's not a bit of evidence to justify the expressed
concerns that the Census Bureau professionals will violate
the privacy of individual families' responses. There is all
too much proof that a flawed census hurts the most vulnerable
Americans.
It is time the politicians stop messing around with the
census.
____

[From the New York Times, Apr. 4, 2000]

Public Interests; Down for the Count

(By Gail Collins)

How many of you out there have strong reservations about
the United States Census? May I see a show of hands?
I thought so. Everybody's cool. Once again, the radio talk-
show circuit has plunged us into a violent debate about an
issue that stirs the passions of average Americans slightly
less than the cancellation of ``Beverly Hills 90210.''
You have no doubt received a census form, probably the
short one that takes just a few minutes to fill out. The long
form, which goes to about one-sixth of all American
households, contains 53 questions, including whether your
toilets flush and your relatives are all in their right
minds. The answers are going to remain confidential for the
next 72 years; at that point a Ph.D. candidate may grant you
immortality by writing a dissertation on your indoor
plumbing.
Census opponents appear to be mainly opponents of
government, period. (James Bovard, the author of ``Freedom in
Chains,'' called the census ``a scheme for generating grist
for the expansion of the welfare state.'') But they've
created some nervous roiling in Congress. Senator Chuck Hagel
of Nebraska is working on legislation to remove the $100
penalty for failure to answer the questions, even though the
fine hasn't been imposed in decades. He's being assisted by
Senator Charles Robb of Virginia, a Democrat up for re-
election who's determined to leave no group unpandered to.
The census is actually a noble public enterprise. It
represents the founding fathers' breakthrough concept that
people should have power not because of their property or
titles, but simply because they're there. If we cannot expect
election-fevered politicians to be reasonable about, say,
Elian Gonzalez, it does seem they could muster up the grit to
tell folks that they should regard filling out census forms
like voting, and pretend to appreciate the opportunity.
But George W. Bush regards the issue as too hot for
rationality. First he announced that ``all of us need to
encourage people to fill out the census,'' then instantly
added that he could understand why some ``don't want to give
all that information to the government. And if I had the long
form I'm not sure I'd want to, either.''
A spokesman for Mr. Bush said the governor had received the
short form, this year's equivalent of announcing you got a
high draft number. An aid to the Senate majority leader,
Trent Lott, said recently that Mr. Lott was telling people to
just skip over any question they felt was intrusive. Now, the
senator's constituents in Mississippi make out like bandits
when it comes to federal aid, receiving an average of about
$2,000 per person more than they pay in federal taxes. On
behalf of all the states that pay more than they get back,
let me say: Go to it, Mississippians. Skip the long forms,
and the short forms too. We'll give the money to some less
conflicted state, perhaps one that hasn't just received a
contract to build a monster aircraft carrier the Pentagon
doesn't even want . . .
. . . We interrupt this harangue to report that Mr. Lott's
office now says the senator wants everybody to fill out the
forms, and tells people to skip questions only if they
threaten to toss their forms into the river unless their
objections are met. When it comes to penalties for non-
compliance, his spokesman added, ``the senator is completely
agnostic.''
This possibly the first time in history that Mr. Lott's
name has been used in the same sentence with the word
``agnostic.''
For every politician who's trying to distance himself from
the census, there are four others desperately trying to get
their constituents to fill out the forms, and raise their
chances of getting more Federal aid. The governor of Georgia
has gone on television with an ad urging his state to
cooperate ``or our Georgia money will be educating New York
children for another 10 years.''
Now, I'm a little wounded by that. Certainly we New Yorkers
disagree with Georgians about some minor matters, such as the
relative charms of John Rocker. But our elected officials--
appalling as they may be--don't try to scare us into doing
what they want by threatening to give our tax dollars to kids
in Atlanta.
Go yell at the Mississippians for a while.
____

[From the San Francisco Examiner, Apr. 4, 2000]

What Really Counts; Pockets of Non-cooperation With the Taking of the
U.S. Census Demonstrate an Overreaction to Fears of Invasion of Privacy

In an age of prosperity and sophistication, it's odd but
understandable that people have doubts about so many things.
On subjects ranging from the sanctity of confidential
information to the good will of government institutions, we
have become a nation of skeptics.
We may live in the global village, but command central is
in some place far away, information is collected by unseen
hands and essential decisions about our lives are made
without consulting us.
These disconnects are reasons some people choose to rebel
against seemingly innocuous practices such as the taking of
the federal census every 10 years.
The U.S. Census carries out the useful objective of
counting the noses of the country's populace and collecting
information about their living conditions and habits. But
because individuals have no control over the information once
it leaves their hands, and because governments have not
always guarded privacy, a minor rebellion has erupted.
Five of every six households get the short census form,
which has only seven basic, unintrusive questions. It isn't
causing problems. Every sixth household gets the long form,
which has 53 questions--some of them more personal. It's the
bone of contention.
Some people are refusing to return census forms, even
though that is required by law. Some politicians haven't
helped matters. Republican presidential candidate George W.
Bush said he wasn't sure he would answer all the questions.
Good reasons exist to cooperate. A big enough boycott could
affect how federal money, programs and services are divvied
up. Census workers are redoubling their efforts to make sure
that everyone is counted--which wasn't the case in 1990--so
that every city and region gets its fair share of federal
help.
The Census is a statistical snapshot of the United States.
It tells a lot about who we are as a people and is a
manifestation of e pluribus unum (out of many, one), the
motto that appears on U.S. currency.
It's irresponsible for any politician, especially one who
aspires to be president, to suggest breaking the law by
refusing to fill

[[Page H2001]]

out census forms. And while skepticism toward government is
healthy, if citizens weigh all factors, they should be
inclined to cooperate with the census takers.
The cure for any potential breaches of confidentiality
isn't refusal to answer. It's strict enforcement of privacy
laws that prohibit the Census Bureau from sharing
confidential information with anyone else, including other
government agencies.
The time to demand changes in the census isn't in the midst
of one. It's in Congress, in the form of legislation that
updates questions, strengthens safeguards and perhaps
increases penalties for violating citizens' privacy.
Census officials need to do a better job of explaining the
agency's existing protections against leaks and other privacy
abuses. Why are Census officials so faceless? It's easier to
trust people you've met, or at least seen on television.
Skeptics are fond of asking to see the evidence. In the
case of the census, we all know there's a potential for
misuse. What true skeptics should be asking is, ``Just where
and when have any abuses occurred?''
Failing a convincing answer, the reasonable course for all
of us--skeptics or not--is to put away any residual fears and
allow ourselves to be counted. For the good of one and all.

[From the San Francisco Chronicle, Apr. 5, 2000]

Don't Shred the Census

ONE IN six American households are facing a question this
week: is it really necessary to fill out a lengthy census
form that borders on nosy and antiquated? The answer is a
resounding yes.
The head count is especially contentious this time around.
Along with the time required and the odd questions, there is
a political overlay. Republican leaders, including likely GOP
presidential nominee George W. Bush, suggest that folks toss
the form if they feel it is too intrusive. This suggestion is
irresponsible neglect of an important duty.
The census has made its share of mistakes. Some were mailed
incorrectly. Its laundry list of 53 questions takes more than
half an hour to fill out. For city and suburban residents,
who make up the overwhelming majority of Americans, there are
quaint questions about farm income and indoor plumbing. Why
should citizens be bothered with these far-fetched queries?
There are other arguments. High-tech boosters are upset
there are no questions about computer use, a topic that could
use some exploring. But census bureaucrats said they were
under pressure from single-issue groups ranging from pet
lovers to religious leaders for special questions. The census
ended up largely as a repeat of the last one, which will
limit its potential.
But for better or worse, the census remains an essential
task. It asks citizens to complete a picture of their
country, not give away personal secrets. Income, ancestry,
job history and even driving habits are useful ingredients in
depicting America, circa April 2000.
More specifically, the census plays a role in doling out
federal aid and congressional districts. It can be used by
schools, public health and transit agencies in planning.
Change can be measured.
This evolution of the country is exactly why San Francisco
officials, civil rights organizations and school boards are
pushing hard to get every household to fill out the
paperwork. Opponents are wrong to depict a basic government
service as an invasion of privacy.
____

[From the Los Angeles Times, Apr. 5, 2000]

It's the Law, Count on It

Senator Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and a few of
his congressional colleagues seem to have forgotten the oath
they swore to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the
United States. Responding to constituent complaints about
parts of the long-form census questionnaire, they have
suggested that questions that some might consider
objectionable can simply be ignored. That is plainly and
simply, advice to break the law, and considering the source
it's especially reprehensible.
About one household in six--approximately 20 million in
all--was mailed the long census form; all others got a mere
eight questions about the people in the household. The long
form aims to gather information that is essential for
directing certain federal outlays. In the current decade,
expenditures linked directly to census-provided information
could total close to $2 trillion.
So there are a purpose and a policy consideration behind
every census question, no matter how dubious its relevance
may seem. Questions that some find intrusive and none of the
government's business--about indoor plumbing or household
income, for example--contribute to a national economic and
demographic profile that is of great value to both government
and the private sector. This information helps determine
where roads and schools will be built, where Medicare and
Medicaid funds should be channeled, where shopping centers
are best located, where the needs of the disabled may be most
acute. The Census Bureau would have done well to emphasize
this point much earlier.
The census has steadily evolved beyond its limited 18th
century purpose of congressional reapportionment. Those in
Congress who now counsel leaving some census questions
unanswered suffer from a convenient memory lapse: Every one
of the questions, many of which are mandated by statute or
court rulings, was approved by Congress two years ago.
____

[From the USA Today, Apr. 6, 2000]

200 Years Plus: Census Nosiness Isn't New

More than 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson warned George
Washington that taking the first U.S. Census, done in 1790,
wouldn't be easy. A Census taker could wind up with a musket
in the face. And those were the days of a well-regulated
militia.
The Census today faces equal mistrust. This is due to the
public's innate aversion to government prying, amplified by
an unsubtle campaign to discredit the Census as too
intrusive. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has
told Americans they need not answer questions they find too
invasive. So has Republican presidential candidate George W.
Bush. Sen. Charles Hagel, R-Neb., wants to change the law to
make answering most questions voluntary.
Whether the campaign to malign the long form will affect
results won't be known for weeks. But Kenneth Prewitt,
director of the Census Bureau, testified in Congress on
Wednesday that the return rate is lagging well behind 1990
figures. The Census was aiming for a 61% return over all.
Below that, Congress will have to allocate extra money for
door-to-door head counting.
That's just one reason the anti-Census crowd is giving bad
advice.
Among the others: It's illegal not to answer all of the
questions. And self-defeating. Over 10 years, up to $2
trillion in spending will be directed by Census findings.
Lott's beloved Mississippi, with one of the lowest response
rates and highest illiteracy rates, could be shortchanged on
education dollars. It also could lose private-sector
investment that is guided in part by Census data.
Lastly, the Census isn't uncommonly intrusive. The sort
form is the shortest since 1820. The long form, received by 1
in 6 households, is the shortest ever. And some of the most
criticized questions--about employment, disability status,
etc.--have been asked since the 19th century. The question
about income, since 1940. Indeed, Americans give more
personal information, more publicly, when they buy a house,
pay their taxes or fill out a medical form.
Still, the Census raises predictable questions about
nosiness. The long form wants to know about your job and your
mortgage, subjects you might not comfortably share with your
brother, much less Big Brother.
Plainly, the government has done a poor job of preventive
promotion. Worries about privacy are historic, yet the long
form's cover letter barely addresses them.
Most people still answer the forms with speed and candor.
But expecting them every 10 years to remember why they are
providing personal information without immediate
gratification is asking for trouble.
The irony is that many critics today also helped defeat the
use of statical sampling to make the head count more
accurate.
Their understood motive was to prevent a reapportionment of
congressional districts to represent undercounted
populations, which tend to vote Democrat. Opponents demanded
an actual head count, which is less accurate. Now the motive
is simply to align Republican leaders with the public's
general distrust of federal data-gathering.
Finally, let's not forget that Congress had a chance to
review all of the questions two years ago. If they had
problems, that was the time to stand up and be counted.
Today's debate: Census forms, but politics, privacy concerns
needlessly stoke anger.
____

If You Want to Count, Be Counted

(By Lynn Sweet, Washington Bureau)

Chicagoans have made a lousy initial response to the 2000
census, and the entire state of Illinois is lagging as well.
This is a sort of collective passive-aggressive behavior for
which there is no excuse. And don't start saying that census
questions are intrusive.
The early trend shows that the mail-in responses from
suburban Cook County and the collar counties are running as
much as 20 points higher than the 40 percent from the city.
This will only ensure, if the pace keeps up, that the suburbs
will have more political muscle than they deserve in the
state redistricting that follows each census.
And if Illinoisans don't let themselves be counted, the
potential of losing a seat in the House of Representatives
because of reapportionment will easier become a reality. The
return of Federal funds to Illinois also is dictated largely
by census-driven formulas.
Filling out the census form is a ``marvelous opportunity''
for Americans ``to prove they can reverse the trend of civic
disengagement,'' said Census Bureau director Kenneth Prewitt,
A Downstate Alton native who is a former director of the
National Opinion Research Center at the University of
Chicago.
Across the nation, people are mailing in census forms--
short and long--in disappointing numbers, and Prewitt earlier
this week sounded an alarm because the nationwide response
rate was at 55 percent, below the 61 percent the bureau had
expected by now.
It's not too late to get a mail-in census form by calling
(800) 471-9424. And the numbers still can be vastly improved
as the census moves on to the next phase, where census
employees, called enumerators, start making house calls.

[[Page H2002]]

``Someone will be knocking on their door,'' said Prewitt,
though it will make the counting operation needlessly more
expensive. It costs about $3 to process a mail-in form
compared with $35 for a household visit.
The cheap-shot comments of some Republicans--including
Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the GOP presidential candidate,
and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.)--could,
knowingly or not, hijack the census.
On the average, about one in six households gets a long
census form that asks a total of 53 questions, compared with
seven on the short questionnaire.
Lott and Bush suggested that individuals don't answer any
census question they consider impertinent.
``If they are worried about the government intruding into
their personal lives, they ought to think about it,'' Bush
said. Lott was forced to backtrack after he realized that his
home state, Mississippi, is near the bottom when it comes to
mail-in response rates, 47 percent on Wednesday, compared
with 56 percent for Illinois and 58 percent for Indiana. Ohio
is the champ so far, with 62 percent.
Lott and the other complaining congressional Republicans--
no Democrats so far--are whiners and intellectual phonies.
They are objecting to questions that (1) were presented for
review to Congress in 1997 and 1998 and (2) were on census
forms that went out under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George
Bush.
The census has asked about plumbing facilities for decades.
There are bigger privacy issues looming right now, especially
with the Internet, than being asked about flush toilets in
your home.
And for those who don't like the questions about income and
mortgages and the like, well, the government already has a
lot of information from tax returns. The Census Bureau does
not swap data with other agencies. Tax cheaters or people who
keep things from spouses or partners may not like answering
the questions. But there is no right to absolute privacy in
the United States. If there were, height, weight and date of
birth would not be on a driver's license.
Cooperating with the census means getting more from the
government you already are paying for. It is selfish--and
self-defeating--not to be counted.
____

[From the Daily Bruin, Apr. 7, 2000]

Completing Census Form Has Far-Reaching Benefits

Though some people are skeptical of the United States
Census, completing these forms can lead to real benefits--
including better schools and libraries, quality health care
and up-to-date national demographic profiles.
Though the official due date passed nearly a week ago,
residents can still be counted. The Census Bureau reports
that only 55 percent of U.S. residents have returned their
forms so far.
The slow response is caused, in part, by the popular
sentiment that the census, especially the long version of the
form, invades individuals' privacy. While worries about
privacy are understandable, those who fear filling out the
census should remember a consequence of their inaction:
Neglecting to participate can lead to a significantly
inaccurate count.
The short form poses generic questions like name, age,
gender and race, while the longer form asks for more specific
social and economic characteristics, such as individuals'
occupations and housing types. Responses to these questions
help determine how critical resources are distributed and
which areas need those resources the most.
Specifically, demographic information is used to plan for
services like schools, hospitals and roads. It may alert the
government to focus its resources in areas reporting high
rates of unemployment, or pinpoint regions that require
better child care. State and federal governments also
allocate funding to individual counties, cities and
congressional districts for health care, schools and
libraries; all of this information is based on the census
results. The government's support is critical to the
maintenance of these institutions, and so the number of
people who report living in a given community is directly
related to how much financing will be allocated to that
particular community.
The number of inhabitants reported in each region also
determines congressional apportionment. District lines are
drawn with respect to census reports, and the number of
members in the House of Representatives accorded to each
state is also based on census information. If more
underrepresented citizens completed their census forms, they
might begin to claim deserved representation in Congress.
According to the Los Angeles Times, low responses to the
1990 Census deprived California of an estimated $2 billion
and four congressional seats over the last decade. Unless an
increasing percentage of forms are returned, this discrepancy
may only get worse.
Not only can the new census correct the omissions made by
the 1990 version, but the revised questions provide
previously unexplored, yet important, statistical data. The
2000 Census is unique because it allows individuals to claim
mixed ethnic and racial backgrounds. Compiling this
information will give the government a more accurate
perspective on racial dynamics in our society and can only
help in overcoming one of America's biggest social problems--
racial conflict.
Worries about the long form's intrusiveness, however, are
legitimate considering the detailed nature of some questions.
Still, the census count is a vital responsibility that helps
facilitate the functioning of a democratic government.
If you haven't completed the census, you can still do so.
Internet census forms are available until April 15. In
addition, census workers will be following up with non-
respondents by telephone. Go to www.2000.census.gov for more
information.
Take a few minutes to finish the questionnaire, obey the
law and practice some civic responsibility. Make sure your
voice is heard.
____

[From the Atlanta Journal, Apr. 8, 2000]

Conversation Starter: Don't Fall Prey to Paranoia About Questions

(By Harvey Lipman)

Fear is a natural human emotion. It keeps us safe in times
of danger. Fear based on facts is caution, but baseless fear
is just paranoia.
The fact is that the Census Bureau has never released any
of the individual information that it gathers, not to the
IRS, not to the FBI, not to the president, not to anybody.
Never. That is a fact. The information gathered once every 10
years is compiled and the summary information, and only the
summary information, is used to determine allocations
essential to all of us, things like representation in
Congress and federal funding of education.
The Census Bureau has proposed using statistical-sampling
techniques as an alternate, less burdensome way, to obtain
some of the data, but it has been rebuffed by Congress, the
Supreme Court and even The Atlanta Journal. Until such time
as these less invasive methods are permitted, there is simply
no other way to collect this necessary and constitutionally
required information.
We have very few obligations as citizens of this country.
If our participatory form of government is to work we must
honor those obligations. Answering the census is such an
obligation. As an American I am proud to do so, since I have
no evidence whatsoever to fear that my government will
divulge the personal information that I give them.
____

[From the Washington Post, Apr. 9, 2000]

Answer This Question: How Did the Census Become Our Whipping Boy?

(By William Casey)

Ten years ago this month, I was wearing a Boston Red Sox
batting helmet to work.
No, I wasn't playing in the shadow of Fenway Park's
hallowed Green Monster of a wall or tending a BoSox souvenir
concession. The helmet was just a tool I used during my
short-lived career as an enumerator for the 1990 Census. It
was my job to track down miscreants who--for one reason or
another--had not returned their census forms in a timely
fashion. The buildings I covered in downtown Minneapolis were
overflowing with young people, so setting myself up at a
table in the lobby--official headgear in place--seemed a good
way to pull in the curious and disarm the suspicious. As
residents trickled in from shift work or nights out, they
invariably wandered over to see what was up. With a little
pleasant persuasion, presto, the short form--even the long
form!--was complete.
It worked. Back then, anyway.
Today, given the grumbling in some quarters about the
intrusiveness of the 2000 Census, I might need more than a
batting helmet to do that job. We have such unhappy customers
as Mr. M. Smith, a gentleman from Virginia Beach who was so
annoyed by the long form that ``I threw mine in the trash
where it belongs'' and then made his civil disobedience
public in a letter to Norfolk's Virginian-Pilot. (Dear Mr.
Smith: Those questions have been standard on the census for
many decades.)
Then there is Mr. P. Graham of Saline, Mich., who wrote a
letter to the Detroit News accusing the Census Bureau of
promoting ``alienation'' from government and asserting that
most of the long form's 53 questions are ``none of its
business.'' (Dear Mr. Graham: Contrary to popular belief, the
Census Bureau is asking those specific questions at the
direction of Congress, which likes to use the census to
collect information it has decided it needs.)
Add the comments from such Republican heavyweights as
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, Texas Gov. George W. Bush
and Oklahoma Rep. Tom Coburn--all of whom have obligingly
bashed the census for allegedly invading the nation's
privacy--and you would think that the Census Bureau has
suddenly transformed itself from an agency that once just
counted noses into one that is just plain nosy.
This is--excuse my bluntness, please--a lot of nonsense.
It's not the Census Bureau or its forms that have changed.
It's us.
Or, more precisely, the fuss is one more dismaying result
of the pervasive presence of consumerism and marketing in our
lives. I find it puzzling, I admit, that people are bent out
of shape by a form sent to them once a decade when--on a
daily basis--they habitually reveal (willingly and
unwillingly) the most private of data to advertisers, health
insurers and Internet companies. Over the past 10 years, even
the simplest sales transaction has become an opportunity to
capture personal details that can be sold and resold (why do
you think the cashier wants to know your phone number?). It's
come to the point

[[Page H2003]]

where you can rarely sit down to dinner without receiving a
``courtesy call'' from someone who knows a lot more about you
than just your area code. Those of us concerned about
confidentiality might focus on the staggering amount of
personal information maintained by largely invisible
companies with names like Acxiom and Experian. Yet people
think that they still have their ``privacy'' and that the
government looms as the greatest threat to taking it away.
How did the census become the whipping boy, the embodiment
of Big Brother, a waste of time, a symbol of oppression? The
Census Bureau has an exemplary history of keeping the data it
collects confidential, but that fact does not seem to have
made a dent in the collective consciousness. It's easier to
blame the census than to confront the world we've created.
Besides functioning as a worker bee on that 1990 census, I
am a long-time user of census information. On both academic
and journalistic projects, I've come to appreciate (and
depend on) the richness and reliability of the material--
which just about anyone can acquire, understand and put to
work in a thousand ways. The notion of turning to particular
census-driven data sets a few years from now and discovering
that the 2000 information is unusable because of ``citizen
noncooperation'' is more than an annoyance. It makes my
blood run cold.
A good deal of the complaining is directed toward the long
form, a questionnaire sent to one of every six households in
the past month. It's about the same length as the 1990
version and shorter than some previous census. There are
changes--additions, deletions, rewordings--but it's basically
the same old thing.
Continuity is a strong factor when it comes to census
matters. It's not as if every 10 years, things start from
ground zero. Just the opposite. The national statistical
snapshots that census results help construct are most useful
when they build on what went before.
It's true that census questionnaires are longer and more
complex than they were in the first half of the 20th
century--but that's hardly surprising. Those were times
before the increased scope of governmental activity and
responsibility that we take for granted today: an era when
there was no Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security, no
program of federal assistance to housing, minimal federal
involvement with transportation spending and so forth.
There's a certain irony, however, in the fact that the
census hasn't changed much last time around. Census 2000
mechanics could have been vastly different--more efficient,
more accurate and much less expensive--but they're not.
Carefully field-tested efforts to streamline the counting
process via statistical sampling were opposed during the past
few years for political reasons. It's common knowledge--
although it's typically wrapped in layers of doublespeak--
that Republicans see undercounting in urban areas as equating
to a GOP advantage. (To be sure, if the sampling method
threatened Democratic voting bases, then sides would no doubt
be switched.) A count based on statistical sampling not only
would have been less expensive, it would have helped prevent
the higher levels of background noise we're experiencing at
the moment.
There have always been ample numbers of people who balk at
completing their questionnaires. In 1990, my fellow
enumerators and I had to deal with people who--like our
friends Mr. Smith and Mr. Graham above--were not inclined to
cooperate. Mostly they were reluctant; occasionally they were
almost hostile. But the majority of them completed their
forms when asked to do so directly. Sometimes a chance to
sound off about their objections was required. I was happy to
oblige. ``Whatever it takes'' was my motto--at least during
those six weeks.
This year's census has become a snapshot in a way that I
didn't expect: It reflects not just how we live, but how we
feel about ourselves and our society.
Take, for example, the subject of race. If, as a society,
we are stalemated on issues of race, then how can we expect a
census form to solve them, or even make them clearer? After
reading through the seemingly endless and convoluted choices
that the census short form offers (``If person 1 considers
his/her race to include two or more races . . .''), is it any
surprise that the precooked racial and ethnic categories seem
unsatisfactory? I've heard more than a few people say they
wrote in ``human''--which seems, in fact, like a very human
reaction to the country's current fascination and obsession
with race and ethnicity.
Because the census at its core serves a political purpose--
determining the number of representatives from each state--
the count has always had a political dimension. But I don't
recall the census forms being a hot item in the presidential
election years of 1960 and 1980. This year, it appears, any
issue properly framed and spun is fodder for ``principled''
stands by presidential candidates. One day is could be Al
Gore's sudden, self-serving switch on the Elian Gonzalez
case; the next, it could be George W. Bush, aiding and
abetting census resisters. ``I can understand,'' the GOP
nominee-to-be said, ``why people don't want to give over that
information to the government. If I had the long form, I'm
not so sure I would do it, either.''
Not to be outdone, Nebraska's rising star of a senator,
Republican Chuck Hagel, offered to introduce legislation that
would make question-answering optional. (Memo to the esteemed
Mr. Hagel: The Census 2000 questions were sent to Congress
for review in 1998. No squawk was raised then.) With this
kind of ``leadership'' out there--explicitly undermining a
program that requires individual citizens to pull together in
the interest of the larger whole--no wonder skepticism about
the process is rising.
After litigation over the Census Bureau's proposed use of
statistical sampling went to the Supreme Court--and sampling
was ruled out for apportionment purposes, although its use
for redistricting within states remains an open question--one
might have hoped that by the time April 1, 2000, rolled
around, we would have gotten our act together as a nation and
proceeded with the job. I cannot help but wonder if the
census is falling victim to our new millennium's variety of
cultural solipsism. Societal building blocks such as family,
neighborhood and community are subjected today to a wide
range of pressures--largely destructive. These institutions
were, to a substantial extent, the basis for successful past
censuses. But the principle of doing something for the common
good--for society's good--doesn't stand a chance if society's
leaders won't speak up for it.
On Thursday, I read that hopes are ``dimming for a timely
and accurate count'' in Census 2000. If response rates remain
underwhelming, that will necessitate time-consuming and
expensive enumerator work to track down, cajole, persuade and
gather information from those who have not yet submitted it.
Remember, ``whatever it takes.''
But later on, after things have settled down, perhaps a
lesson regarding the fragility of our social and political
fabric will have been learned. It's often said, but still
true: It's easier to tear things down than it is to build
them up.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about an
issue of great importance in the year 2000.
I wish to express thanks to all Americans who are participating in
the Census 2000. You are making an enormous difference to your
community and setting our nation on the best path for the new century.
As of last night, 60% of Americans have completed and sent in their
census forms. Nevertheless, we have much work to do, Mr. Speaker. We
need to reach to the 40% of Americans who have yet to complete their
census forms.
Regrettably in previous weeks, when everyone has been working to
improve the initial response rate, we had Members of Congress,
including prominent leaders of the Republican party, people who should
better, tell the American public that the census was optional.
Unfortunately, the reality remains that the Census Bureau has missed
millions of persons in conducting each decennial census, especially
minorities, the poor, children, newly arrived immigrants, and the
homeless. We cannot allow this to happen again.
For these reasons, of course, it should come as no surprise that I am
disappointed by recent comments by highly respected individuals that
advise Americans not to perform their civic duty. As reported in
numerous news stories, some lawmakers on the other side urged citizens
not to answer questions regarding the long form.
Yet over two years, every Member of Congress received a detailed list
of the questions to be asked on the long form, including a description
of the need for asking it and specific legal requirements supporting
it. The time for input on the question was then. The time to achieve an
accurate census count is now.
The low percentage of census forms being returned in certain cities
with high minority populations is alarming. We must do all we can to
change response rates. These remarks only discourage faster response
rates.
Even the Governor of the State of Texas has said he supports his
party's position against the use of modern statistical methods--methods
that would get a more accurate count of America's African Americans,
Hispanic, Asian American, and American Indian populations.
As a member of the Congressional Caucus Task Force on Census, I am
obliged to convey my concern that no one is left out of the Census
process. Unlike in the 1990 Census where so many minorities were
disproportionately missed or ``undercounted'' as we say, everyone must
be counted in the Census 2000.
Our goal for Census 2000 must be the most accurate census possible.
We all know that accurate census data has proven vital to people of
color, both economically and politically.
Texas lost almost $1 billion due to the 1990 undercount. Over 486,000
Texans were missed in the 1990 Census, which prevented Texas from
securing critically-needed federal funding for health care,
transportation, housing, and community development.
In the city of Houston, 67,000 people were undercounted in 1990.
A comprehensive analysis of federal funding was prepared by
PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The analysis was one at the request of the
Presidential members of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board. According to

[[Page H2004]]

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the population ``undercount'' similar to that
which occurred in the 1990 Census would cost 26 states a minimum of
$9.1 billion. States with the largest numerical undercounts would be
hit the hardest. California would lose more than $5 billion, Texas
nearly $2 billion, and Florida $5 million. I am particularly concerned
that 120,267 are estimated to be undercounted from Census 2000 in
Harris County, Texas.
Moreover, $185 billion in federal funds are allocated each year based
on each state's respective share of the population, as determined every
10 years by the Census. The PriceWaterhouseCoopers study examined the
15 programs analyzed by the General Accounting Office in its 1999
report on the funding impact of the 1990 census undercount.
The eight programs most affected by the census are Medicaid, Foster
Care, Rehabilitation Services Block Grants, Substance Abuse Prevention
and Treatment Block Grants Adoption Assistance, Child Care and
Development Block Grants, and Vocational Education Block Grants.
Our communities cannot afford to squander the opportunity to secure
desperately needed resources to make these programs available to
everyone. An accurate Census is the only way to assure that local
communities receive their `fair share' of federal spending; an
inaccurate count will shortchange the affected communities for an
entire decade.
Keeping response rates high must remain a primary purpose in
obtaining an accurate census. Recent news stories have only highlighted
this need. Texas has a 33 percent return, but the fourth largest city
in the nation only has 26 percent return. That is the city of Houston.
This is precisely what we must change. Only a high response rate to the
Census 2000 questionnaires will enable our community to secure
desperately needed funds.
And while some have recently raised concerns about the legality or
constitutionality of the long form, those only serve as a distraction.
In fact, the Census Bureau has not prosecuted anyone for not sending in
their Census form since the 1960s. They are interested in getting
complete and reliable data; they do not want to jeopardize the public
trust.
The long form is a sound investment--for a relatively small
additional cost, information of very high quality about a number of
subjects is collected for many geographic areas. The return on this
investment is concrete information that serves the basis for sound
public policy decisions and that supports the accurate allocation of
over billions of dollars.
Community leaders use the long form for planning a wide range of
activities, including neighborhood revitalization, economic development
and improved facilitates and services.
We need the long form to build highways, roads, bridges and tunnels
in areas that need them. And planners need information about where
people live and work and the times they leave for work.
Each long form question provides valuable, indeed essential,
information for important public policy and business decisions.
For example, data from the question on the number of telephones in
the home area is used to help plan local 911 emergency services. They
also are used to help implement the Older Americans Act to provide
emergency and health-care services to homebound seniors without phone
service.
Data from the question on how long it takes to commute to work is
used by federal, state, local and private transportation planners to
help design new roads, bus routes, and mass transit transportation and
to manage traffic congestion, as well as to distribute federal
transportation dollars.
Indeed, data from the question on the veteran's status are used to
plan the location of veteran's hospitals and to efficiently deliver
veterans health-care and nursing services.
Your answers to Census 2000 are absolutely critical to ensure that
every possible dollar is made available to the poor, the sick, and the
neglected in our communities.
The U.S. Census only comes around once every ten years, but its
information is used throughout the decade. Together, let's make sure
that everyone is heard.

____________________