Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 27 (Tuesday, March 12, 2002)

[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 27 (Tuesday, March 12, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H813-H816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

CELEBRATING 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 339) expressing the sense of
the Congress regarding the Bureau of the Census on the 100th
anniversary of its establishment.
The Clerk read as follows:

H. Con. Res. 339

Whereas this Nation's Founding Fathers mandated that a
census be conducted once every 10 years, and the decennial
census remains the only constitutionally mandated data
collection activity today;
Whereas the Congress established a permanent ``Census
Office'' in the Department of the Interior on March 6, 1902,
and, in 1903, transferred that office to what was then the
newly established Department of Commerce and Labor (within
which, with more than 700 employees, it comprised the largest
of that department's new bureaus);
Whereas Federal, State, and local governments use data
collected by the Bureau of the Census in the distribution of
funds and in the formulation of public policy in such areas
as education, health and veterans' services, nutrition, crime
prevention, and economic development, among others;
Whereas the Bureau of the Census supplies statistical data
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic
Analysis, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, and other Government agencies charged with measuring
and reporting on the health of the Nation's economy;
Whereas the Bureau of the Census is the Nation's largest
data collection agency, collecting data used by other
Government agencies, tribal governments, institutions,
universities, and nonprofit organizations, and supplying
information on poverty, unemployment, crime, education,
marriage and family, and transportation;
Whereas, throughout its first 100 years, the Bureau of the
Census has earned a reputation for scrupulously safeguarding
the confidentiality of respondents' answers, a responsibility
vital to maintaining the public's trust;
Whereas the Bureau of the Census, with the cooperation of
other Government agencies, the Congress, State and local
governments, and community organizations, and with
significant technological innovation and public outreach, has
just conducted this Nation's 22d decennial census in a timely
and professional fashion, employing over 500,000 dedicated
Americans in the process; and
Whereas March 6, 2002, marks the 100th anniversary of the
establishment of the Bureau of the Census: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress hereby--
(1) recognizes the 100th anniversary of the establishment
of the Bureau of the Census; and
(2) acknowledges the achievements and contributions of the
Bureau of the Census, and of its current and former
employees, to the United States.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette).

General Leave

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
on H. Con. Res. 339.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Ohio?
There was no objection.
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the United States Census
Bureau. Last week the Census Bureau celebrated its centennial birthday,
100 years of invaluable service to America. Our Constitution requires
us to conduct our census, an actual enumeration, every 10 years.
I quote: ``The actual enumeration shall be made within 3 years after
the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within
every subsequent term of 10 years, in such a manner as they shall by
law direct.''
The conduct of the census for the apportionment of Congress is almost
as old as the birth of our Nation. In 1790, Thomas Jefferson, the
Secretary of State under George Washington, directed the efforts of the
U.S. marshals who would serve as enumerators until the 1880 census.
Mr. Speaker, the census was never easy to conduct. Suspicious
residents were not the only difficulty encountered by our Nation during
a census. Census forms from Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey and
Tennessee were destroyed by the British when they burned the Capitol
during the War of 1812.
Throughout our history, censuses have been used to mark significant
achievements and milestones in our Nation's history. The 1860 census
would show New York as surpassing the 1 million mark in that great
city's population. In 1864, General Sherman would use published
information on population and agriculture in his war-planning efforts.
President Lincoln remarked on the importance of the population
information saying: ``If we could first know where we are and wither we
are tending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it.'' And
one of my favorite Presidents, President Garfield, said: ``The census
is indispensable to modern statesmanship.''
Mr. Speaker, 1878 would mark the first publication of the Statistical
Abstract of the United States. Today, with more than 1,500 tables, the
Abstract is the Census Bureau's oldest and most popular reference
product. The 1890 census marked the first use of the punch card and
mechanical tabulating equipment. The 1890 census would also mark the
end of the frontier in the United States. Census analysts wrote: ``Up
to and including the 1880 census, the country had a frontier. At
present the unsettled area has been so broken into isolated bodies of
settlement that there can hardly be said to be a frontier line.''
Mr. Speaker, in 1902 a permanent census office was established in the
Department of the Interior and in 1903 the census office became the
Census Bureau in the new Department of Commerce and Labor. The 1910
census included for the first time a census of manufacturers. The 1910
census would also have President Taft issuing the first-ever census
proclamation.
In 1915, the U.S. population would reach 100 million and the Census
Bureau would conduct its first special enumeration for a local
government in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1942, the Census Bureau moved to its
current location in Suitland, Maryland, which is named after Colonel
Samuel Taylor Suit, a

[[Page H814]]

Maryland legislator, businessman and agriculturist who first owned the
land. Even the reason for the Census Bureau relocating to Suitland is
representative of the bureau's devotion to our Nation. During World War
II, one of the many new Federal agencies created to aid in the war
effort was the Office of Price Administration, or the OPA. Because of
its war-related mission, the OPA director believed his office needed to
be near the Capitol. As a cooperative and patriotic gesture, the Census
Bureau's director, J.C. Capt, volunteered to move the Census Bureau to
Suitland, Maryland, so that OPA could be closer to Congress during the
war.
Mr. Speaker, the Census Bureau does not simply conduct our decennial
census every 10 years. In fact, the Census Bureau conducts more than
350 surveys every year and issues more than 1,000 data reports. One of
the most important surveys is the economic census, which traces its
beginning back to 1810. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says of
the economic census: ``The economic census is indispensable to
understanding the American economy. It assures the accuracy of the
statistics we rely on for sound economic policy and for successful
business planning.''
The Census Bureau has a longstanding commitment of service to our
Nation. Representative of this commitment to excellence, one of the
Census Bureau's employees, through a labor of love, managed to capture
the history and spirit of our Nation's census history in a census
quilt. From a distance, this work of art appears to be just a quilt,
but it is not. It is the story of the U.S. Census Bureau and the role
that it has played ``from inkwell to Internet'' to chronicle our
Nation's past and illuminate the future.
At the center of the story is the Census Bureau seal surrounded by
100 compass points, one for each year of its existence as an
organization. At each major directional compass point is a 10-pointed
star, created from two five-pointed stars. These represent the
population censuses that the Census Bureau conducts every 10 years and
the economic censuses conducted every 5 years.
The story begins at the lower left corner and moves clockwise. The
years before 1902 are depicted by the constitutional mandate and the
original 13 colonies, and the Nation's expanding industry, trade and
transportation. The story continues with a snapshot of the rich history
of the 20th century as the country and cities grow, technology is
integrated into our work and society, and the diversity of our people
enriches our Nation.
Carol Pendleton Briggs, a Census Bureau employee for 12 years,
created this work of art to commemorate the centennial. She has created
a skillful and moving representation of the Census Bureau's place in
American history and its important work as an organization to chronicle
the past and illuminate the future. She deserves much praise for such a
wonderful work of art. The quilt is on display at the Census Bureau and
hopefully will be displayed here sometime soon.
Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 339 is an important recognition of the
vital contribution of the U.S. Census Bureau. I urge my colleagues to
support it.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I
rise to join my colleagues in honoring the U.S. Census Bureau.
Mr. Speaker, much has changed since 1902, and the Census Bureau has
been important in documenting and helping us to understand those
changes. Despite the importance of the census to Congress and the
country throughout the 19th century, it was not until the end of that
century that discussions began in earnest about creating a permanent
census office. Throughout the 19th century, Congress created a special
census office every 10 years to carry out the function of taking the
census. That office was disbanded after the census data were published,
only to rise again a few years later.
In February 1891, the Senate requested the Secretary of the Interior
to draft a bill creating a permanent census office which was introduced
in December 1891 and died in committee. Hearings were held in the House
of Representatives on the need for a permanent census office in 1892,
and legislation was again introduced in 1896. However, there was not
yet sufficient legislative support for a permanent census office, and
the 1900 census was conducted under temporary authority.
Among the issues debated by Congress were whether the office should
be independent or housed within a department, whether the employees
should be covered by civil service rules or be patronage positions as
in the past, and, of course, what the office would do in the years
between censuses.
During the conduct of the 1900 census, the census office sponsored
several studies to address pressing public policy issues in the hope
that these studies would illustrate what a permanent census office
could do. Among those contributing to this effort was W.E.B. DuBois.
Finally, in 1902, Congress passed a relatively simple bill that said,
quote: ``The census office temporarily established in the Department of
the Interior is hereby made permanent.''
Over the last 100 years, the census and the Census Bureau have never
been far from the center of controversy. It was the census of 1920
which informed us that the country was passing through a transition
from a rural agrarian society to an urban industrialized society.

{time} 1545

That same census documented the importance of immigration in the
growth of the Nation.
The 1930 census marked a change from a debate in Congress every 10
years about how seats would be apportioned to the States to a process
set in law. The 1930 census also saw Congress direct in the Census Act
that data be collected on unemployment over the objection of the Census
Bureau and the Census Advisory Committee from the American Economic
Association and the American Statistical Association.
The 1940 census began the measurement of census undercount when 13
percent more black men registered for the draft than the Census Bureau
thought existed. The measurement of the undercount and what to do about
it remains a controversy today.
So it goes down through history. From voting rights to revenue
sharing to equal representation for all, the Census Bureau has been at
the center of nearly every controversy. Why? Because without good
numbers, we do not know who we are or whether society has progressed or
regressed; and the Census Bureau has been the source for many of those
good numbers.
I do not pretend to know what the next century will hold for our
Nation or for the Census Bureau, but I can predict one thing: Whatever
happens, we will look to the Census Bureau for help in understanding
the past, present and future.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me
time.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to add my support for this resolution
recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Census Bureau.
The census data paint a picture of America, including information on
economic status based on age characteristics. It is because of the
census that we know how successful the Social Security program has been
in raising senior citizens out of poverty.
The census numbers show that in 1999, 9.7 percent of people age 65
and older lived in poverty, the lowest percentage ever. The census
numbers tell us that Social Security provides over half the total
income for the average elderly household. For one-third of women over
age 65, Social Security represents 90 percent of their total income.
Without this program, half of older women would be living in poverty.
The resolution states the Census Bureau gives us the data that is
essential ``in the distribution of funds and in the formulation of
public policy.'' The Census Bureau numbers will play a critical role in
the public policy debate on Social Security.
I believe that the census numbers will demonstrate the folly of
privatizing Social Security. According to the Census Bureau, the number
of persons 65 and older will grow from 35 million in 2001 to 82 million
in 2050. In 2050, the number of women over age 85, those most dependent
on Social Security, will be four times the number

[[Page H815]]

today. They are depending on us to continue the promise of Social
Security.
I believe the census data prove that we can make modest changes in
Social Security, like raising the earnings cap, and maintain the
guarantee. The census data on income, poverty and wealth show that
Social Security has been instrumental in improving the financial
security of seniors and families across this country. Privatization
will reverse that trend and threaten the financial security of many
retirees, particularly older women.
It is important to recognize the value of the Census Bureau today,
but it is even more important to debate and reject Social Security
privatization, to protect current and future beneficiaries. I urge the
Republican leadership to schedule that debate soon.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. George Miller).
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman
for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, I support the work of this Committee on the Census and
H. Con. Resolution 339, and I am happy to honor the Census Bureau for
its work.
The Census Bureau tells us not only how many people live in the
United States, but the condition of these individuals living in our
country. It also tells us about the unmet needs of the people, and as
we read the unmet needs of the people as outlined in the census, we are
struck by the fact that, week after week, the Republican leadership in
the House continues to spend an inordinate amount of time, valuable
time that belongs to the people of this country, to continue to pass
these kinds of symbolic resolutions, while ignoring the urgent needs
that deserve the debate and action of this House, the urgent needs as
outlined in the census.
It took the House Republican leadership 6 months after September 11
to finally address the economic plight of over 7 million unemployed
people, including the 1.5 million men and women who had exhausted their
unemployment benefits because of a recession that began months before
the terrorist attack.
A reading of the real-time census would have told the Republican
leadership that 80,000 people a week were losing their unemployment
benefits, losing any type of economic support, threatening the loss of
their homes, of their apartments, of their children's schooling, of
their health care, and yet nothing was done for 5 months.
Perhaps a reading of the census could have spurred us on to quicker
action on behalf of these Americans. Perhaps it would have spurred us
on to pass a bill to help those unemployed Americans, without holding
them hostage to hundreds of billions of dollars in tax benefits for the
wealthiest individuals and corporations in this country.
We still have not been allowed to consider extending unemployment
benefits to millions of hard-working Americans who pay for benefits,
but are denied them under current law; temporary workers, low-income
workers, part-time workers, contingent workers, who, if you read the
census, are more likely than not to be women, to be young people, to be
immigrants.
Why is there not a bill on this floor, instead of this resolution,
assuring unemployment protection to all Americans who work hard to
provide for the well-being of their families and for this country? A
census would show that in fact huge numbers of Americans are uncovered
by the unemployment insurance system in this country.
A reading of that census would also point out the fact that 40
million fellow Americans, nearly one in seven, live in fear of sickness
or injury in the family because they cannot afford basic health
insurance. They do not have access to it because they cannot afford it
or because it is denied to them.
The census would also tell us that over half of those individuals are
full-time year-round workers with families, and yet, as we see from the
census, they are denied health care; and if they are Hispanic families,
their chances of lacking health insurance are more than twice as high,
according to the census.
We have time to honor the census and the Census Bureau, and it is
properly so; but when we come here week after week after week after
week and we ignore the basic needs of the American people, the basic
needs of the American family, the basic needs of the American working
individual, it is time for us to get on with their business and not the
symbol, these symbolic resolutions.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, again, I join my colleagues in congratulating the Census
Bureau on its 100th anniversary, and I also want to thank Dr. Margo
Anderson, author of The American Census, from which some of my remarks
were drawn.
I would also like to congratulate William Barron, who is retiring,
the former Director of the Census Bureau, and congratulate him on
conducting the most accurate census in the history of our Nation, the
2000 census.
I want to also congratulate the chairman of our subcommittee, the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Dan Miller), for his leadership of that
subcommittee.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, the 2000 census has just recently concluded, a census
where a highly successful advertising campaign, coupled with a
partnership effort of more than 140,000 government and private
organizations at the State and local levels led to the most accurate
census in our Nation's history, as my good friend from Missouri just
indicated.
The employees at the Census Bureau are to be commended for a job well
done. Their tireless effort under difficult conditions will not soon be
forgotten, and the importance of the census and the Census Bureau as we
help celebrate through this meaningful resolution today their
achievements, I think, has been pretty well punctuated, as our friend,
the gentlewoman from Illinois, and the gentleman from California seem
to find many, many nexuses on many, many issues of concern to them that
directly bring us back to the census. So the Census Bureau should
indeed be pleased that they provided so much information and so much
fodder to so many to say so many things.
I want to thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) for his
support on this important resolution. I am proud to bring H. Con. Res.
339 before the House in honor of the dedicated and hard-working men and
women throughout the history of the Census Bureau and the historic
contribution made to our Nation.
Mr. REYES. I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 339, and to recognize
the Census Bureau's current and past dedicated employees.
Of the eleven major statistical agencies in the federal government,
the Census Bureau takes on the greatest task of all--the decennial
census that is required by our Constitution.
The decennial census is the largest single activity undertaken by a
statistical agency. The census if the managerial challenge that few
agencies, statistical or otherwise, could accomplish. In the year of
the census, the Census Bureau opens and closes over 500 offices, and
temporarily hires almost half a million employees. Then comes the
enormous task of tabulating hundreds of millions of pieces of
information within 1 year.
In addition to this massive undertaking, employees at the Census
Bureau work hard to collect and provide data from other agencies within
the federal government. They provide the information necessary to
govern our country and manage our economy. Businesses use federal data
to locate plants and retail outlets. Local governments use federal data
to comply with regulations and to plan for the future. Those who make
all this data available deserve to be recognized, and this resolution
does just that.
And as effective as the Census Bureau has been, as Chair of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I believe that there is still room for
improvement to accurately count the Latino community. Last year we
received the first results of Census 2000, which showed that the size
of the Hispanic population in the United States had reached a record
level of 35.3 million. Unfortunately, it has been estimated that the
undercount among Hispanics may have been as high as 1.2 million. When
your community is not accurately counted, we are precluded from
receiving out fair share of federal financial resources, which
exacerbates strains on local health, education and transportation
infrastructures.
In addition to the undercount, Census 2000 did not accurately record
subgroups within the Hispanic community. The number of Dominicans and
Colombians in New York, for

[[Page H816]]

example, was distorted because of the way the Census forms asked
respondents to specify their Hispanic origin. On the Census 2000 form,
while Hispanics who are not of Mexican, Puerto Rican or Cuban origin
were given the option of listing their origin as ``other'' and naming
the group, they were not provided with examples of what to list, as
they had been on the Census 1990 form. This seemingly minor change in
the form led many respondents to not fill in a country of origin at
all. As the next census is designed, I hope that this problem will not
occur again. Having accurate information about the diversity of the
Hispanic population will enable us to better target resources that are
culturally sensitive to these communities.
As the Census Bureau begin its next 100 years of service to the
United States, I hope that it will work seriously and earnestly to
address the undercount of minorities. I urge the Census Bureau to re-
examine its methods and procedures so that the accuracy of the
decennial count can be improved. It should be everyone's goal that the
Census reveal the entire picture of America.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con.
Res. 339, and to honor the Census Bureau and the thousand's of
dedicated employees.
The employees of our federal statistical system labor day in and out
to provide the information necessary to govern our country and manage
our economy. Businesses use federal data to locate plants and retail
outlets. Local governments used federal data to comply with regulations
and to plan for the future. Few people stop to wonder how all of those
numbers are out our finger tips at a moments notice.
There are eleven major statistical agencies in the federal
government: the Bureau of Labor Statistics; the Bureau of Economic
Statistics; the Bureau of Transportation Statistics; the U.S. Census
Bureau; the National Center for Education Statistics; the Statistics of
Income at the IRS; the Energy Information Agency; the Bureau of Justice
Statistics; the National Agricultural Statistical Service and the
Economic Research Service with the Department of Agriculture; and the
National Center for Health Statistics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
and the U.S. Census Bureau are the two largest agencies when you
exclude the decennial census.
The decennial census is the largest single activity undertaken by a
statistical agency. The census is a management challenge that few
agencies, statistical or otherwise, could accomplish. In the year of
the census, the Census Bureau opens and closes over 500 offices. The
agency goes from a staff of 7 to 10 thousand, to 500,000 and back again
in a period of about three months. That means 500,000 people must be
hired. Thousand more must be recruited and interviewed. In addition to
hiring and training staff, the census requires the management of
multiple contracts each of which is measured in the hundreds of
millions of dollars. Then, of course, the data must be tabulated and
prepared for the President--all within a year.
That would be a major accomplishment for any agency. However, that is
only one of many census performed by the Census Bureau. Furthermore,
censuses are not their only line of business. The Census Bureau
collects data for a number of other agencies within the federal
government.
To list all of the accomplishments of the employees at the Census
Bureau would take more time that both sides have today. Suffice it to
say, as a country we are fortunate to have a statistical agency staffed
with professionals who produce daily, the information necessary to
guide public policy. We salute those employees today as we celebrate
the 100th anniversary of the Census Bureau.
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res.
339.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was
agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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