[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 149 (Thursday, October 15, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10461-S10462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I stand to urge all of my colleagues, 
Democrats and Republicans, to support having a vote on Vitter amendment 
No. 2466 to the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill.
  Unfortunately, the majority leader and others have been working quite 
hard to block that vote. I believe this issue demands attention, 
demands focus, demands reasonable debate, and a vote.
  What is this issue? This is the revised version of my amendment to 
that appropriations bill:

       None of the funds provided in this Act or any other act for 
     any fiscal year may be used for collection of census data 
     that does not include a question regarding United States 
     Citizenship.

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
my amendment.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

(Purpose: To provide that none of the funds provided to the Census may 
be used for collection of census data that does not include a question 
             regarding status of United States Citizenship)

       On page 110, line 7, strike ``activities.'' and insert 
     ``activities: Provided further; That none of the funds 
     provided in this Act or any other act for any fiscal year may 
     be used for collection of census data that does not include a 
     question regarding United States Citizenship.''

  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, the point is very simple. A big decennial 
census is coming up next year. Under the current plans of the Census 
Bureau, we are going to count everybody in the country--and that is 
fine--but we are not going to distinguish, we are not going to know the 
difference between citizens and noncitizens. I think that is not fine, 
I think that is crazy, and I think it will lead to some dangerous 
results.
  First of all, the whole purpose of a census is to give us maximum 
information, maximum tools we can use in a whole host of policy debates 
and Federal programs. Certainly, it is useful to know both the overall 
number of persons in the country but also the subcategories of citizens 
and noncitizens. That is particularly relevant because the immigration 
debate is important, and we need to get our hands around that issue.
  Secondly, and even more important, it is important because I believe 
when we use the census for congressional redistricting for determining 
how many U.S. House seats each State gets, we should count citizens, 
but we should not count in that context noncitizens, including illegal 
aliens.
  I think it is crazy, nutty, and I think the average American 
certainly agrees that we would determine how many U.S. House Members 
every State gets to represent it in the Congress and count noncitizens, 
including illegal aliens. I do not think the Founding Fathers set up a 
democracy--in many ways one of the most important democratic 
institutions in history in the U.S. Congress--to represent noncitizens. 
Why are we not adding in the entire population of France or Belgium or 
Brazil? For obvious reasons, because this is a democracy to represent 
citizens of the United States.
  Of course, we can only avoid that in terms of congressional 
reapportionment if we know the subcategories of the count, citizens 
versus noncitizens. I urge all of my colleagues to support having a 
vote on this Vitter amendment to the Commerce-Justice-Science 
appropriations bill and then, of course, when we get to a vote--and we 
will--hopefully, on this bill but sometime in the near future--I assure 
you, we will--to support in a bipartisan way this amendment.
  Let me make two final points. First of all, I have made every 
reasonable attempt to get this vote. I had two other amendments on the 
list for votes on this bill that were important to me and I think are 
important substantively. I have told, through our representatives, the 
majority leader and his office that I will forgo votes on those two 
other amendments. We need a vote on this crucial amendment.
  Secondly, I remind particular Senators from eight States that their 
States will lose representation in the U.S. House if we count 
noncitizens versus if we were to do congressional reapportionment only 
counting citizens.
  I believe everybody should be focused on this issue. I believe 
everybody should support my commonsense position. But surely the 
Senators from

[[Page S10462]]

those eight States would want to vote for their States' self-interest. 
Those States are Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania, 
Mississippi, North Carolina, and, of course, my State of Louisiana.
  Again, I particularly appeal through the Chair to the Senators from 
those eight States--Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania, 
Mississippi, North Carolina, and Louisiana. Obviously, for the very 
interests of your State, please support getting a vote on the Vitter 
amendment. Please support the Vitter amendment. Your State's 
representation in the U.S. House hangs in the balance. Of course, that 
means please do not vote for cloture on the CJS bill until we can have 
such a vote.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

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