[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 30 (Thursday, March 4, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1109-H1112]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CENSUS AND NATIVE AMERICAN 
                             PARTICIPATION

  Mr. BACA. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 1086) recognizing the importance and significance 
of the 2010 Census and encouraging each community within the Indian 
Country to name an elder to be the first member of that community to 
answer the 2010 Census.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1086

       Recognizing the importance and significance of the 2010 
     Census and encouraging each community within the Indian 
     Country to name an elder to be the first member of that 
     community to answer the 2010 Census.
       Whereas the decennial census is a responsibility of the 
     Federal Government, mandated by article I, section 2 of the 
     Constitution;
       Whereas, in the 2000 Census, 4.3 million people, or 1.5 
     percent of the total United States population, stated that 
     they were American Indian or Alaska Native;
       Whereas, in the 2000 Census, 2.4 million people, or 1 
     percent of the United States population, stated that they 
     were solely American Indian or Alaska Native;
       Whereas Native Americans are the descendants of the 
     aboriginal, indigenous, native people who were the original 
     inhabitants of and who governed the lands that now constitute 
     the United States;
       Whereas the 2010 Census data is strictly confidential and 
     Federal law prevents the information from being shared with 
     any entity;
       Whereas the 2010 Census is quick, safe, and easy to 
     complete;
       Whereas the census is a source of data on a number of 
     issues of national importance, such as school attendance, 
     educational attainment, and employment;
       Whereas areas are underserved by the Federal Government if 
     significant portions of the population, especially those in 
     low-income and minority neighborhoods, fail to participate in 
     the census;
       Whereas full participation in the census is necessary to 
     ensure an accurate depiction of the population of the United 
     States;
       Whereas, April 1, 2010, is the date for the 2010 Census;
       Whereas the San Manuel Band Serrano Mission Indians in 
     California propose to name an elder to be the first member of 
     that community to answer the 2010 Census;
       Whereas it is hoped that the naming of an elder to be the 
     first member of that community to answer the 2010 Census will 
     encourage other members of that community to answer the 2010 
     Census;
       Whereas it is hoped that each other community within the 
     Indian Country will name an elder to be the first member of 
     their community to answer the 2010 Census;
       Whereas elders are looked upon as the trusted ones in the 
     tribe who will have the most influence in carrying the 
     message of how important an accurate 2010 Census count is; 
     and
       Whereas elder participation in the 2010 Census count will 
     encourage others to participate in the 2010 Census: Now, 
     therefore, be it;
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes the importance and significance of the 2010 
     census and encourages full participation in this critical 
     process; and
       (2) encourages each community within the Indian Country to 
     name an elder to be the first member of that community to 
     answer the 2010 Census.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Baca) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BACA. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on this legislation and to insert extraneous materials thereon.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BACA. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Today I rise in strong support of House Resolution 1086, a resolution 
that recognizes the importance and significance of the 2010 census and 
encourages each community within Indian Country to name an elder to be 
the first member of that community to answer the 2010 census.
  I would like to thank the majority leader, Steny Hoyer; Chairman Ed 
Towns; and Ranking Member Darrell Issa for their support of this 
resolution that was introduced on February 22, 2010. I also want to 
recognize all committee staff and my personal staff for their hard work 
on this. I also would like to take the time to thank my colleagues in 
the House of Representatives for their bipartisan support, because it 
is a bipartisan bill that is good for all of us.
  This resolution serves to raise the awareness of the importance of 
the 2010 census count and urges Indian Country to name an elder to be 
the first person to complete the 2010 census from each tribe. That 
shows respect and dignity for that elder. An accurate census count is 
very important because the data gathered will determine the allocations 
and the distributions of millions of dollars to State, local, and 
tribal governments.
  Census data can help tribal leaders understand what their community 
needs are. Many tribal communities use census information to attract 
new businesses and plan for growth in the future. In fact, many tribes 
and tribal organizations use census data to plan

[[Page H1110]]

new facilities and programs for their communities and making their 
quality of life a lot better.
  The 2010 census will be used as a future basis for the 1,400 funding 
programs under the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance; 245 of these 
programs use census data for distribution of funds through grants, 
loans, direct payments, and government grant payments. An accurate 
count is essential to everyone, especially in Indian Country.
  In the year 2000 census, 4.3 million people, or 1.5 percent of the 
total United States population, stated that they were American Indians 
or Alaska Natives. Census data will help shape the future of our youth 
and sends a proud message to those individuals who can be identified.
  In 2007, the American Community Survey reported that 40 percent of 
American Indian and Alaska Native population was under the age of 25. 
And in these tough economic times, Indian Country needs an accurate 
census count more than ever. That is why I am proud to work with the 
tribe from my area in California, along with Congressman Jerry Lewis, 
that has the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, led by my good friend 
Chairman James Ramos.
  Next week, San Manuel Chairman Ramos will name Pauline Murrillo to be 
the first elder to complete the 2010 census form to be counted in their 
tribe. This is a short form with 10 questions. This is what it looks 
like. What San Manuel is doing is creative and innovative. Elders are 
looked upon as trusted leaders in most Native American communities. 
They are in the best position to help carry the message of the 
importance of an accurate 2010 census count. And also to bring pride 
and respect within each of the tribes.
  By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' answers with 
anyone, including tribal housing authorities, other Federal agencies, 
or law enforcement entities. However, there is still mistrust in the 
census in many tribes. The census needs our help, and this resolution 
drives home the message that we need to encourage tribal elders as 
partners in this challenge. With only 10 questions in the 2010 census 
questionnaire, it is one of the shortest questionnaires in history and 
it takes 10 minutes to complete for the average household.
  The majority of households will receive the form by mail starting on 
March 15. However, special procedures will be used on many Indian 
reservations and in Alaska Native villages where homes do not have 
city-style addresses with a number and street name. In these areas, 
members of the community working with the census will visit homes to 
help fill out the form and take an accurate count. Distrust in the 
census will hurt the count especially, so these special procedures are 
arranged for the very hard-to-count tribal areas. That is why the U.S. 
Census created a special tool kit to help deliver the message and 
complete an accurate count in Indian Country. With the help of tribal 
elders, the 2010 census can be a great success.
  I encourage all Members to go back to their districts and work with 
the tribes in their areas, as I have, to ensure an accurate count for 
every community. I urge my colleagues to support greater census 
awareness in Indian Country and vote in favor of H. Res. 1086.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, the Constitution of the United States mandates on the 
Federal Government the responsibility of holding a census every decade. 
It is an essential part of our constitutional obligation, and actually 
a building block for our representative form of government. It also has 
evolved into a process to be able to assess how Federal funds and 
programs should be distributed.
  The integrity of the census is so important that over the decades 
methods have been proposed how to improve and to secure the census 
numbers. Today we are actually talking about one aspect of the effort 
to improve the validity of these numbers and the integrity of the 
numbers, and that is to do an outreach to the communities of the Native 
Alaskans and American Indians. These are communities that tend to be 
more isolated than the general population and tend to be more 
suspicious of any government action, especially the Federal Government. 
And, frankly, the way the Federal Government has treated these two 
groups historically, I think we all say that a lot of the skepticism of 
the American Indian and Native Alaskans is well founded.
  But this program is well based in a proposal to use the traditional 
respect for elders, the high regard and status of elders in the 
American Indian and Alaskan Native community really as a building block 
to build the understanding that this process is not just important to 
the Federal Government, it is not just important to the general 
population, but it is essential to those individuals who reside on 
Indian reservations and in Alaska.
  This proposal is actually a great way to be able to bring this 
message that the census is for you, too, even if you are on a 
reservation. I think it is a very good way of doing it.
  I have to say there are many things that the Federal Government does 
where we mean well, but we don't take the time to understand the 
individuals that we are trying to serve. We don't take the time or make 
the effort to understand that the Federal Government too often asks for 
one size fits all as somehow the perfect answer. This program 
customizes an approach to reflect those traditional customs and the 
heritage of our Native American and Native Alaskan populations.
  I think that the integrity of the census is something that we don't 
talk enough about except when we have scandals and problems of groups 
and people being involved with it that basically are questionable at 
the time and pull a pale over the entire census process. This process 
is one I think where we will be able to look back and say there was a 
bipartisan effort not to try to manipulate the numbers or the process, 
but to allow the numbers to be true and well founded. I strongly 
support this concept.
  Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Georgia (Mr. Broun).
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank Mr. Bilbray for yielding.
  Madam Speaker, the census is one of the few, one of the very few 
truly constitutional functions that we are engaged in here in Congress. 
In fact, most of what Congress does today is unconstitutional according 
to the original intent. I am an original intent constitutionalist. I 
believe the Federal Government should only be doing 18 things that 
Article I, section 8 gives us the authority to do, but the census is 
certainly one of those. National defense, national security, taking 
care of our veterans and taking care of our folks in the armed services 
is, under the original intent of the Constitution, the major function 
of the Federal Government. And I am a very strong believer in that. I 
am a very strong believer in this government doing only those things 
that Article I, section 8 gives us the authority to do, and certainly 
taking the census is one of those.
  Today we will be taking up a rule in the next series of votes, from 
what I understand, which is going to be a rule on a jobs bill. Well, 
jobs and the census certainly have a great correlation because the 
Census Bureau will be looking at who is unemployed in this country. In 
fact, that is what they do. Part of their job in the Census Bureau is 
to try to find out all of the demographic information. A lot of the 
things that the Census Bureau does, questions that they ask are none of 
the Census Bureau's or the Federal Government's business, frankly, but 
certainly I encourage people to fill out the census for the information 
that is actually required under the Constitution, and no more.
  But, Madam Speaker, jobs are certainly important, and counting the 
jobless rate in this country is certainly an important function of 
knowing where we are. The States do this and the Federal Government 
takes all of that jobless information, and we are going to get a report 
just tomorrow about the new jobless rates.
  Madam Speaker, just last week I was in one of my counties in Georgia 
in the 10th Congressional District and was talking to the county 
commission chairman, and in that discussion he was telling me 1 year 
ago the jobless rate in his county was over 14 percent.

[[Page H1111]]

I think it was 14.7, if I remember correctly. He said now the jobless 
rate in their county is down to a little over 10 percent. I said, 
That's great.

                              {time}  1030

  Is this because of the stimulus bill that we passed? Is this because 
new jobs were created in your county? And he said, No, we've had no new 
jobs in our county, none, absolutely zero. The reason that the 
unemployment rate is down in our county is because people have just 
stopped looking for jobs. They're discouraged. They're greatly 
discouraged. I think this is true all over this country. I think the 
fall in our jobless rate that we've seen recently, down from above 10 
to just slightly below 10, is because people have gotten discouraged 
and they have just stopped looking.
  We just passed an extender of unemployment benefits by voice vote. 
I'm not really happy that we've passed it by voice vote, but we did 
just last week. And, Madam Speaker, we are going to be taking up this 
jobs bill that we haven't even seen the text of, we have not even seen 
the bill. It is going to be brought to the floor of this House just 
like the stimulus bill was, without even having the opportunity to read 
these plans.
  Madam Speaker, I believe that ``jobs'' by this new bill, from 
everything I can tell, should be an acronym. JOBS should be ``just one 
big slush fund,'' an acronym for ``just one big slush fund.''
  Madam Speaker, I introduced my own JOBS Act. My JOBS Act is an 
acronym for ``jump-start our business sector.'' That's what we need to 
be doing; we need to be jump-starting our business sector by getting 
the tax burden and the regulatory burden off small business. Madam 
Speaker, small business is the economic engine that pulls along the 
train of prosperity in America, the small business. We are killing 
small business through the regulatory burden and the tax burden.
  We're going to be taking up a health care bill very soon--we don't 
know when yet--ObamaCare. ObamaCare, Madam Speaker, is going to kill 
jobs in America. Let me say that again: ObamaCare is going to kill jobs 
in America. In fact, the bill that the House voted on, the President's 
own senior economic adviser said it will kill 5.5 million jobs, put 5.5 
million Americans out of work if the House bill is put into law. The 
Senate bill, I haven't seen the data on it, but I'm sure those data are 
just the same. I'm not sure if it's 5.5 million or 5 million, but the 
recent proposal by the Obama administration is going to kill jobs, and 
creating more and more government spending is just creating more 
government jobs.
  Madam Speaker, the American people need to decide, are we going to go 
down one route of socialism, total government control, total government 
takeover of everything in human endeavor, including health care, or are 
we going to go down the road of liberty and freedom? And I say liberty 
and freedom because I consider them to be a little different.
  Madam Speaker, let me define liberty for you. This is my definition. 
I don't think you will find it in the dictionary, but I think it's very 
appropriate. Liberty is freedom bridled by morality. Liberty is freedom 
bridled by morality. America needs to decide, are we going to be a free 
people or are we going to be controlled by the Federal Government? Are 
doctors and patients going to make their health care decisions, or will 
it be some government bureaucrat in Washington?
  Just yesterday, the President had a press conference where he said he 
wanted doctors and patients to make that decision, but his proposal 
will not do that. His proposal will make a government bureaucrat here 
in Washington, D.C. tell doctors and patients what kind of care they 
can get.
  Madam Speaker, I am a medical doctor; I'm a family practitioner. I 
have fought for my patients for years as part of my practice, being 
concerned about their economic well-being. That's what family doctors 
do. I try to find the best quality care at the lowest price for my 
patients. That is an integral part of family medicine. But what we are 
heading towards with this government takeover of health care is going 
to destroy family medicine and destroy that basic premise of what we do 
as family doctors.
  This jobs bill is going to be nothing more than one big slush fund. 
``Jobs'' by the new bills that we've seen, at least in the Senate 
bill--and I think we're going to have something that is very close to 
that once we see the legislative language--is not going to be anything 
but one big slush fund, this political payback, and it's going to 
create jobs in the Federal Government.
  Now, jobs have been created, certainly, by the failed stimulus 
package we passed a little over 1 year ago, but let's look back 1 year 
later at some of the spending low lights of that failed stimulus bill: 
$67,726 was used by a casino outside Green Bay, Wisconsin. They used a 
Federal grant to send their employees to learn how to handle 
confrontations with their customers. This is not constitutional. But 
once they went there, it was clear to the instructors of this seminar 
that the casino staff already knew how to handle confrontations with 
their customers.
  We've allocated, in Massachusetts, $4 million in Federal stimulus 
dollars to build a 2.66-mile bike trail that connected the Manhan Bike 
Trail to the North Hampton and Norwottuck Trails. This would give those 
folks riding down that bike trail greater access to Taco Bell. I'm sure 
Taco Bell is very appreciative of the taxpayers' largess.
  Millions of dollars were sent to Democratic operatives. Two firms run 
by Mark Penn, current Secretary of State Clinton's former Presidential 
campaign pollster, were awarded $5.9 million in taxpayer funds from the 
stimulus bills. I could go on and on and on.
  We built bike racks in Georgetown with stimulus dollars that were put 
in place in neighborhoods where the average house value here in 
Georgetown was over $1 million. I mean, come on. The American public 
needs to stand up and say ``no'' to this outrageous takeover of their 
liberty and their freedom.
  Madam Speaker, a CEO of a steel-making corporation recently said, 
Companies large and small are saying, I'm not going to do anything 
until these things, health care and climate legislation, go away or are 
resolved. That is what's happening, Madam Speaker, in this country. 
Small businesses, and large, are scared. The American public is 
frightened.
  When I did my very first town hall meeting last August in Evans, 
Georgia, talking about the Pelosi health care bill, I thanked the 
people for coming and expressing their concern about health care. When 
I did, after discussing the bill, I thanked the people for coming and 
showing their concern about health care. The second gentleman that got 
up in the question and answer period said, Dr. Broun, I would like to 
disagree with you about something. I said, Sure, what is it? And he 
said, I want to disagree with you because I'm not concerned about 
health care; I'm scared and I'm angry. And a scared and angry American 
public is a power to be reckoned with. He got a tremendous round of 
applause. I applauded him also. And he is exactly right.
  The American people need to stand up and say ``no'' to ObamaCare. 
Let's trash these bills that are on the floor for consideration now and 
let's start all over again and find something that makes sense. Let's 
have a jobs bill that makes sense and that really creates jobs.
  The Republicans are accused by Democratic colleagues and by the 
President of being a ``party of no.'' Well, we are the ``party of k-n-
o-w.'' We do know how to create a strong economy, and that's by getting 
the tax burden and regulatory burden off the small businesses in 
America and off the individuals, leaving dollars in their pockets so 
that they can expand their business and create more jobs and where 
consumers have more money so that they can expend it on goods and 
services here in America.

  We know how to solve the health care financing problem we have in 
America where health care and drugs are too expensive. We can lower the 
cost of health care, not raise it as the ObamaCare bills all do. We 
know how to create jobs. We know how to get this economy back on track. 
We know how to lower the cost of health care if our ideas are just 
heard. But the leadership here in this House, the leadership in the 
Senate and the administration

[[Page H1112]]

have turned a deaf ear towards commonsense, market-based solutions.
  And I ask, Madam Speaker, for the American people to stand up and say 
``no'' to socialism and say ``yes'' to freedom and liberty.
  I hope the American people will contact their Congressman and their 
Senators and say ``no'' to ObamaCare, ``no'' to this jobs bill, ``no'' 
to more socialism and more government control of their lives, and say 
``yes'' to freedom and liberty.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Madam Speaker, I would like to close by thanking my 
colleague from California. I want to thank him for a lot of reasons, 
but it was nice that you proposed a 2-page bill, not a 2,000-page bill. 
It was nice that you gave us over a week to be able to review it rather 
than a few hours. And it is darn nice to see that we can have a 
bipartisan effort and get something passed in this Congress that 
doesn't cost $1 trillion. So thank you very much for taking a 
leadership role on this thing. Maybe we can get the leadership on both 
sides to recognize that maybe this is the process we ought to follow 
more often.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BACA. First of all, I would like to thank the gentleman from San 
Diego (Mr. Bilbray) for his support of this. I know that he has always 
been supportive of Native Americans, not only now but in the past as 
well; so I appreciate that.
  I also appreciate the gentleman from Georgia and his comments. I 
think he was supporting this legislation somewhere along the line as he 
was talking about jobs.
  I also believe that it's important, and I know that President Obama 
has that as part of his top priority in creating jobs and dealing with 
the jobs in this country because he knows very well that the 
unemployment is now roughly around 10 percent, and he wants to make 
sure that he gets it up.
  We know that unemployment will affect the census. I share in that 
sense that the gentleman from Georgia was supporting it because it's 
very important that we do an accurate count and that we count everyone 
because that will determine the amount of jobs that we have and the 
kinds of jobs to be created in our areas.
  As I stated before, Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman 
Towns, Ranking Member Issa, and of course I want to thank again Mr. 
Bilbray for his hard work and support, as well as the staff and others 
who have worked on this bill.
  As we all know, an accurate count is vital to the importance of the 
American tribal communities and every other community. In my community, 
not too long ago we started a census count. We did it at Arrowhead 
Medical Center. We went there, and we began to try to tell the people 
in our communities the importance of having an accurate count, the 
importance of making sure that we count each and every one, and that 
everyone participates in it; and also clarifying the law, clarifying 
the law that the information will not be used against any individual, 
but every individual must be counted within our communities.
  What does it mean to our States, our counties, our cities? What does 
it mean to businesses in the area? It's important that we do an 
accurate count because that's the only way that we can determine how 
many dollars are going to come back into our communities. We won't know 
unless we do an accurate count.
  The State of California won't be able to determine their budget if 
they don't do an accurate count. Based on the amount of dollars in that 
immediate area, they can then determine how much money is going to be 
coming back to the State of California, or any other State. Or a county 
official in an area can determine, when they look at their budget and 
try to determine what goes on, they can only do it if they have an 
accurate count. And city officials within the area can only determine 
what needs to go on in terms of, all right, What is my budget going to 
look like? What kind of services do I need to provide at the local 
level? How does it impact transportation? How does it impact education? 
How does it impact public safety? How does it impact public health?
  And then local businesses in the area: we know that you need a strong 
marketing plan and you need to know where businesses want to relocate. 
It happens through the census.

                              {time}  1045

  So an accurate count is very important. If you're a businessperson 
and you want to start a business in the area, it's important that you 
have an accurate count because you know where you want to be located; 
you know the demographics of the area; you know the income of the area. 
If it's a doctor, then the doctor will know how many patients he is 
going to have and how much profit he is going to make. It's not about 
profit. It's about the service and quality of health care. I only made 
that statement, but it's important because we'll be able to determine 
that. So an accurate count in the area becomes very important. It also 
tells us how to market the area. How do we market the immediate area in 
terms of what goes on?
  In Indian Country, it becomes very important to a lot of us when we 
look at many of our tribes in our areas and at the undercount that has 
been there. Many of our tribes and others have not been able to 
determine the kind of services they need within the reservations. This 
will determine the transportation, the housing in the area, the health 
in the area, and the kind of educational facilities. Most of all, it 
will be respect to an elder because this is about identifying the 
elders within each of the tribes and allowing them to be counted. It's 
important that we count each and every one of the individuals and that 
we allow for the kind of respect that should be there, not only in this 
census but in others. If we look back at 1990 and 2000, we did an 
inaccurate count. There were many people who weren't counted.
  I believe the census is making every effort in trying to reach out to 
our communities by marketing, by hiring individuals, by working in the 
communities, and by identifying those individuals. That kind of 
partnership and collaboration becomes very important to all of us if we 
want to make sure that we do an accurate count.
  This bill is very important, not only to Native Americans now but in 
the future, when a child can then look up to future generations and 
say, It was my elder who was the first one to be counted, the true 
Americans in this country, and they should be the ones who should be 
counted first. This gives us an opportunity to approach them and to 
make sure that they are counted.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BACA. I yield.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I just wanted to answer your question.
  Yes, I absolutely support this. Counting the census is a 
constitutional duty. It's extremely important. Our Founding Fathers 
knew how important it was to know who people were, where they were, et 
cetera. So I do support the bill very strongly.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BACA. I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his support.
  Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Baca) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1086.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BACA. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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