[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 9, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      INTRODUCTION OF THE DECEPTIVE CENSUS LOOK ALIKE MAILINGS ACT

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                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 9, 2010

  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, as the 2010 Census begins, there are an 
increasing number of reports from around the country about mailings 
with bold lettering saying ``Do Not Destroy,'' ``Official Document,'' 
and ``Census Document Registered To:'' on the exterior envelope without 
any return address, when in fact, the mailing is not associated with 
the U.S. Census Bureau or the decennial census at all.
  These mailings, many sent by political organizations, appear to be 
designed to resemble official census documents. I believe that no 
political organization, whether Republican or Democratic, should use 
the census for fundraising in this type of manner.
  The constitutionally mandated decennial census has begun. It is a 
massive operation that includes a multi-million dollar taxpayer-funded 
advertising campaign to urge Americans to respond to the census and 
return it by mail. Return by mail is the cheapest and most accurate way 
to be counted.
  My concern is that mailings that are designed to look like census 
documents and come in envelopes marked ``Census,'' without clearly 
defining the sender, will confuse people and might affect the response 
rate. We must do everything we can to ensure an accurate, cost-
effective census.
  That is why today I am introducing the Prevent Deceptive Census Look 
Alike Mailings Act. I am joined by original cosponsors Edolphus Towns, 
Chair, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Wm. Lacy Clay, 
Chair, Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National 
Archives. The legislation would (1) require any mailing with an 
envelope marked ``Census'' to clearly indicate the sender and would (2) 
trigger an existing requirement in federal law to include a disclaimer 
that the mailing is not from or affiliated with the federal government. 
If organizations do not comply, then the U.S. Postal Service will take 
the appropriate action to stop them.
  We must protect the integrity of census mailings, and the Prevent 
Deceptive Census Look Alike Mailings Act will be an important tool in 
achieving that goal.

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