[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 31 (Friday, March 9, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S2115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THE ADMINISTRATION'S REFUSAL TO ADJUST 2000 CENSUS DATA

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise today to express my disappointment 
over the decision announced this week by Commerce Secretary Donald 
Evans to release raw census data without adjustment for the undercount 
of an estimated three million Americans.
  By law, the Census Bureau is required to provide census figures to 
the States for the purpose of redistricting by April 1, 2001; a 
deadline that is nearly four weeks away. Only last week, I joined with 
47 of my Senate colleagues in a letter to Secretary Evans urging him to 
delay a decision to release the 2000 census figures until after the 
Commerce Department's self-imposed March 5, 2001, deadline to allow the 
appropriate Senate Committees an opportunity to hold hearings. My 
intent in signing the letter was not to delay the statutory deadline, 
but rather to request that there be Congressional input.
  I was interested that the President, in his first budget proposal, 
said, ``our Nation has a long and honorable commitment to assisting 
individuals, families, and communities who have not fully shared in 
America's prosperity.'' I believe this is true, which is why failing to 
count all Americans has serious consequences for State, local, and 
Federal Government.
  There are approximately 1,327 Federal domestic assistance programs 
that use population data in some way. The breadth of the programs 
affected that touch families and businesses throughout the nation 
clearly spells out the need to ensure that all Americans are counted. 
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. The use of raw census data, without adjustment 
for the differential undercount, will result in the unfair distribution 
of Federal funds.
  A March 1, 2001 memorandum to Secretary Evans from the acting 
director of the Census Bureau recommended using unadjusted census data 
for redistricting purposes. According to the memo, ``The primary reason 
for arriving at this conclusion is the apparent inconsistency in 
population growth over the decade as estimated by the Accuracy and 
Coverage Evaluation, ACE, and demographic analysis. These differences 
cannot be resolved in the time available for the Committee's work.'' In 
other words, the Executive Steering Committee for ACE Policy ran out of 
time and could not determine whether the uncorrected data is more 
accurate than corrected data.
  As a member of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, I provide 
legislative support and oversight over the decennial census and the 
Census Bureau. Moreover, as a Senator from Hawaii, I knew that the 
percentage of people undercounted in my state during the 1990 Census, 
1.9 percent, was higher than the national average. The largest 
component of my state's undercount by race was projected to be Asians 
and Pacific Islanders. I was so concerned that Hawaii would once again 
have a higher than average undercount that, last March, I held a forum 
in Hawaii on issues facing Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 
related to the 2000 Census. I urged Native Hawaiians and other Pacific 
Islanders to participate in the 2000 Census in order to ensure accurate 
data and statistics especially since this information directly impacts 
our lives for the next ten years.
  I call upon the Secretary to make available to the public the 
detailed information that the Census Bureau has compiled to date, 
including over-counts and undercounts. Again, I am disappointed with 
the Administration's decision in this matter.

                          ____________________