[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 165 (Tuesday, December 14, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8311-H8318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CENSUS OVERSIGHT EFFICIENCY AND MANAGEMENT REFORM ACT OF 2010

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 3167) to amend title 13 of the United States Code to provide 
for a 5-year term of office for the Director of the Census and to 
provide for the authority and duties of the Director and Deputy 
Director of the Census, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 3167

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Census Oversight Efficiency 
     and Management Reform Act of 2010''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR 
                   OF THE CENSUS.

       (a) In General.--Section 21 of the title 13, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 21. Director of the Census; Deputy Director of the 
       Census; authority and duties

       ``(a) Definitions.--As used in this section--
       ``(1) `Director' means the Director of the Census;
       ``(2) `Deputy Director' means the Deputy Director of the 
     Census; and
       ``(3) `function' includes any duty, obligation, power, 
     authority, responsibility, right, privilege, activity, or 
     program.
       ``(b) Director of the Census.--
       ``(1) Appointment.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Bureau shall be headed by a Director 
     of the Census, appointed by the President, by and with the 
     advice and consent of the Senate.
       ``(B) Qualifications.--Such appointment shall be made from 
     individuals who have a demonstrated ability in managing large 
     organizations and experience in the collection, analysis, and 
     use of statistical data.
       ``(2) General authority and duties.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Director shall report directly to 
     the Secretary without being required to report through any 
     other official of the Department of Commerce.
       ``(B) Duties.--The Director shall perform such duties as 
     may be imposed upon the Director by law, regulation, or 
     orders of the Secretary.
       ``(C) Independence of director.--No officer or agency of 
     the United States shall have any authority to require the 
     Director to submit legislative recommendations, or testimony, 
     or comments for review prior to the submission of such 
     recommendations, testimony, or comments to Congress if such 
     recommendations, testimony, or comments to Congress include a 
     statement indicating that the views expressed therein are 
     those of the Bureau and do not necessarily represent the 
     views of the President.
       ``(3) Term of office.--
       ``(A) In general.--The term of office of the Director shall 
     be 5 years, and shall begin on January 1, 2012, and every 
     fifth year thereafter. An individual may not serve more than 
     2 full terms as Director.
       ``(B) Vacancies.--Any individual appointed to fill a 
     vacancy in such position, occurring before the expiration of 
     the term for which such individual's predecessor was 
     appointed, shall be appointed for the remainder of that term. 
     The Director may serve after the end of the Director's term 
     until reappointed or until a successor has been appointed, 
     but in no event longer than 1 year after the end of such 
     term.
       ``(C) Removal.--An individual serving as Director may be 
     removed from office by the President. The President shall 
     communicate in writing the reasons for any such removal to 
     both Houses of Congress not later than 60 days before the 
     removal.
       ``(4) Functions.--The Director shall be responsible for the 
     exercise of all powers and the discharge of all duties of the 
     Bureau, and shall have authority and control over all 
     personnel and activities thereof.
       ``(5) Organization.--The Director may establish, alter, 
     consolidate, or discontinue such organizational units or 
     components within the Bureau as the Director considers 
     necessary or appropriate, except that this paragraph shall 
     not apply with respect to any unit or component provided for 
     by law.
       ``(6) Advisory committees.--
       ``(A) Advisory committees generally.--
       ``(i) Authority to establish.--The Director may establish 
     such advisory committees as the Director considers 
     appropriate to provide advice with respect to any function of 
     the Director.
       ``(ii) Compensation and expenses.--Members of any advisory 
     committee established under clause (i) shall serve without 
     compensation, but shall be entitled to transportation 
     expenses and per diem in lieu of subsistence in accordance 
     with section 5703 of title 5.
       ``(B) Technology advisory committee.--
       ``(i) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of the enactment of the Census Oversight Efficiency and 
     Management Reform Act of 2010, the Director shall establish a 
     technology advisory committee under subparagraph (A).
       ``(ii) Membership.--Members of the technology advisory 
     committee shall be selected from the public, private, and 
     academic sectors from among those who have experience in 
     technologies and services relevant to the planning and 
     execution of the census.
       ``(iii) Duties.--The technology advisory committee shall 
     make recommendations to the Director and publish reports on 
     the use of commercially available technologies and services 
     to improve efficiencies and manage costs in the 
     implementation of the census and census-related activities, 
     including pilot projects.
       ``(7) Regulations.--The Director may, in consultation with 
     the Secretary, prescribe such rules and regulations as the 
     Director considers necessary or appropriate to carry out the 
     functions of the Director.
       ``(8) Delegations, etc.--The Director may assign duties, 
     and delegate, or authorize successive redelegations of, 
     authority to act and to render decisions, to such officers 
     and employees of the Bureau as the Director may find 
     necessary. Within the limitations of such assignments, 
     delegations, or redelegations, all official acts and 
     decisions of such officers and employees shall have the same 
     force and effect as though performed or rendered by the 
     Director. An assignment, delegation, or redelegation under 
     this paragraph may not take effect before the date on which 
     notice of such assignment, delegation, or redelegation (as 
     the case may be) is published in the Federal Register.
       ``(9) Other authorities.--
       ``(A) Personnel.--Subject to sections 23 and 24, but 
     notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Director, in 
     carrying out the functions of the Director or the Bureau, may 
     use the services of officers and other personnel in other 
     Federal agencies, including personnel of the Armed Forces, 
     with the consent of the head of the agency concerned.
       ``(B) Voluntary services.--Notwithstanding section 1342 of 
     title 31, or any other provision of law, the Director may 
     accept

[[Page H8312]]

     and use voluntary and uncompensated services.
       ``(c) Deputy Director.--
       ``(1) In general.--There shall be in the Bureau a Deputy 
     Director of the Census, who shall be appointed by and serve 
     at the pleasure of the Director. The position of Deputy 
     Director shall be a career reserved position within the 
     meaning of section 3132(a)(8) of title 5.
       ``(2) Functions.--The Deputy Director shall perform such 
     functions as the Director shall designate.
       ``(3) Temporary authority to perform functions of 
     director.--The provisions of sections 3345 through 3349d of 
     title 5 shall apply with respect to the office of Director. 
     The first assistant to the office of Director is the Deputy 
     Director for purposes of applying such provisions.''.
       (b) Transition Rules.--
       (1) Appointment of initial director.--The initial Director 
     of the Bureau of the Census shall be appointed in accordance 
     with the provisions of section 21(b) of title 13, United 
     States Code, as amended by subsection (a).
       (2) Interim role of current director of the census after 
     date of enactment.--If, as of January 1, 2012, the initial 
     Director of the Bureau of the Census has not taken office, 
     the officer serving on December 31, 2011, as Director of the 
     Census (or Acting Director of the Census, if applicable) in 
     the Department of Commerce--
       (A) shall serve as the Director of the Bureau of the 
     Census;
       (B) shall assume the powers and duties of such Director, 
     until the initial Director has taken office; and
       (C) shall report directly to the Secretary of Commerce.
       (c) Clerical Amendment.--The item relating to section 21 in 
     the table of sections for chapter 1 of title 13, United 
     States Code, is amended to read as follows:

``21. Director of the Census; Deputy Director of the Census; authority 
              and duties.''.
       (d) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--Not later than 
     January 1, 2011, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation 
     with the Director of the Census, shall submit to each House 
     of the Congress draft legislation containing any technical 
     and conforming amendments to title 13, United States Code, 
     and any other provisions which may be necessary to carry out 
     the purposes of this Act.

     SEC. 3. INTERNET RESPONSE OPTION.

       Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Director of the Census, shall provide a plan to 
     Congress on how the Bureau of the Census will test, develop, 
     and implement an Internet response option for the 2020 Census 
     and the American Community Survey. The plan shall include a 
     description of how and when feasibility will be tested, the 
     stakeholders to be consulted, when and what data will be 
     collected, and how data will be protected.

     SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORTS.

       (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 1 of title 13, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new section:

     ``Sec. 17. Annual reports

       ``(a) Not later than the date of the submission of the 
     President's budget request for a fiscal year under section 
     1105 of title 31, the Director of the Census shall submit to 
     the appropriate congressional committees a comprehensive 
     status report on the next decennial census, beginning with 
     the 2020 decennial census. Each report shall include the 
     following information:
       ``(1) A description of the Bureau's performance goals for 
     each significant decennial operation, including the 
     performance measures for each operation.
       ``(2) An assessment of the risks associated with each 
     significant decennial operation, including the 
     interrelationships between the operations and a description 
     of relevant mitigation plans.
       ``(3) Detailed milestone estimates for each significant 
     decennial operation, including estimated testing dates, and 
     justification for any changes to milestone estimates.
       ``(4) Updated cost estimates for the life cycle of the 
     decennial census, including sensitivity analysis and an 
     explanation of significant changes in the assumptions on 
     which such cost estimates are based.
       ``(5) A detailed description of all contracts over 
     $50,000,000 entered into for each significant decennial 
     operation, including--
       ``(A) any changes made to the contracts from the previous 
     fiscal year;
       ``(B) justification for the changes; and
       ``(C) actions planned or taken to control growth in such 
     contract costs.
       ``(b) For purposes of this section, the term `significant 
     decennial operation' includes any program or information 
     technology related to--
       ``(1) the development of an accurate address list;
       ``(2) data collection, processing, and dissemination;
       ``(3) recruiting and hiring of temporary employees;
       ``(4) marketing, communications, and partnerships; and
       ``(5) coverage measurement.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
     1 of title 13, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
     after the item relating to section 16 the following new item:

``17. Annual reports.''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to budget requests for fiscal years beginning 
     after September 30, 2010.

                              {time}  1530

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Maloney) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
McHenry) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Census Oversight 
Efficiency and Management Reform Act, important bipartisan legislation 
that I introduced with my colleague, Congressman Charles Dent. Senators 
Carper and Coburn in a bipartisan way introduced the companion bill in 
the Senate that recently passed the Senate unanimously, 100 votes in 
favor, and is now before us today.
  This is a strong bill with no cost to American taxpayers, and it will 
help ensure a better census for 2020 and beyond. It is bipartisan, it 
is good government, it is scientific independence, and it is good 
management. This important reform ensures consistent, professional 
management of this major scientific agency and minimizes political 
interference of its vital constitutional mission.
  I am grateful to Senators Carper and Coburn for their bipartisan 
leadership on this issue in the Senate. Now we in the House must commit 
to forward thinking to avoid problems in the run-up to the 2020 census.
  Our country owes a great deal to James Madison and Thomas Jefferson 
for handing down the innovation of a census whose goal is to ensure 
fair political representation. If we want to attract future census 
leaders in their mold, we must give the Census Bureau the professional 
independence called for in this bill.
  This bill is a way of saying to the American public that we honor the 
intent of the Framers and we acknowledge the incredible participation 
of the public earlier this year to make the 2010 census a success.
  Madam Speaker, all seven former living census directors, who served 
Republican and Democratic Presidents, support this bill: Vincent P. 
Barabba, who worked for Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter; John G. 
Keane who worked for President Reagan; Barbara Everitt Bryant who 
worked for the first President Bush; and Martha Farnsworth Riche and 
Kenneth Prewitt who worked for President Clinton; and Charles Louis 
Kincannon and Steven H. Murdock who worked for George W. Bush, the 
former directors support an advocacy on behalf of this bill; and they 
testified at congressional hearings, met with congressional leaders on 
this bill, and their participation underscores the importance of the 
reforms needed to ensure that the Census Bureau is able to best perform 
its constitutional mandate of providing a fair and accurate census 
count.
  I worked with Senators Carper and Coburn and my colleague, 
Congressman Dent, to develop this bill based on the experiences of the 
seven former bipartisan census directors and what they thought we need 
to overcome the challenges which plagued each of the last four censuses 
in 1980, 1990, 2000, and in the planning for the 2010 census. This bill 
enjoys bipartisan support across scientific, social, and political 
groups. They support it in a bipartisan way, from the leadership 
conference on civil rights representing over 200 civil rights 
organizations to NATEO, the National Association of Latino Elected 
Officials, to a host of scientific organizations, including the 
American Statistical Association. With Senator Carper and Senator 
Coburn's leadership in the Senate, it passed unanimously.
  What this bill would do is give the director the independence to 
report directly to the Secretary of Commerce. It would make the 
director of the Census Bureau a Presidential term appointment of 5 
years with the 10-year census cycle split into two 5-year phases, 
planning and implementation.

[[Page H8313]]

  Further, it strengthens overall transparency and oversight of census 
management which is a very good thing. This legislation would allow the 
Census director to report to Congress and the Commerce Secretary 
directly on the needs at Census to help prevent challenges such as the 
failure to develop handheld computer technology for the 2010 census, 
and to have the power to say to Congress when he or she disagrees with 
an administration position on the census.
  After nearly 2 years of consideration and debate on the ideas in this 
bill in both the House and the Senate, and now at the 11th hour and 
59th minute, after the Senate approves it unanimously, the Commerce 
Department last night sent over their concerns. The Secretary supports 
the 5-year term for the Census director, but seeks some changes to the 
bill's requirements that the Census director be required to respond 
completely to Congress in testimony and to the requirement that the 
highest levels of management at Commerce take responsibility for 
oversight of Census management.
  Of course, this is precisely what we in Congress seek to change. 
These two provisions are about accountability and transparency. We in 
Congress are insisting that we finally end the musical chairs of Census 
management we witnessed over the past several decades and that when we 
ask questions, we actually get the answers. We must allow the career 
professionals at the Census to be able to tell us what is on their 
mind.
  This bill will remove barriers that prevented Congress from knowing 
the full story and planning for 2010, which put the census at risk 
before Congress acted to fully fund a new design. I am confident this 
bill will ensure Congress will get the information we deserve, to get 
us a fairly and fully funded census no matter who occupies the White 
House in 2020.
  There are some who may not like this bill or have additional ideas 
for reform, but I deeply believe we can build on this legislation and 
continue to work together in a bipartisan way to ensure a fair and 
accurate full census count. There is no reason we cannot move forward 
on this issue today and enact these commonsense reforms now.
  The next census will occur during a Presidential election, which runs 
the risk of disrupting the operation. We must act now to ensure we can 
get a professional manager like Dr. Groves at Census long before 2020. 
We need to bring focus, transparency, and accountability to the process 
of planning and implementing the census. There is too much at stake for 
our constitutional government, for the fair description of over $400 
billion in Federal funds, and for the basic trust in our statistical 
system to do anything less than enact this bill. With the Senate 
action, now is the time to get this bill to the President. We can show 
the American public Congress can work together in a bipartisan fashion 
to reform government and get results.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1540

  Mr. McHENRY. Madam Speaker, today I rise in strong opposition to S. 
3167. In the last 2 years, I have served as the ranking member of the 
Census Subcommittee here in the House. We have had no legislative 
hearing, no markup, no substantive discussions about the content of 
this legislation. And here we are at the last hour of a lame duck 
Congress and they are trying to pass a piece of legislation that hasn't 
had an honest-to-goodness legislative hearing or a markup.
  Well, I guess that is what we have seen over the last 24 months out 
of this Congress, a disregard for the legislative process. I don't 
think it is responsible for us to pass a major piece of legislation 
like this, and it does have a major impact. I certainly appreciate my 
colleague submitting ideas such as this to improve the census, but I 
don't think this is the right approach.
  To that end, I would like to submit for the Record a letter from the 
Department of Commerce signed by Secretary Gary Locke dated December 13 
stating his opposition to components of this legislation.
  I think it is important that we should not reward the Census Bureau 
for a repeated history of cost overruns and mishaps. These suggest that 
the Bureau needs more, not less, oversight.
  S. 3167 would grant greater autonomy to the Census Director. The bill 
would have the director bypass the Commerce Under Secretary for 
Economics and Statistics Administration, ESA, in favor of a direct 
report to the Commerce Secretary. Each Commerce Secretary has opposed 
this proposal. In fact, the current Commerce Secretary has 16 direct 
reports, so this further puts in place a process that I don't think is 
sustainable for this Commerce Secretary or future Commerce Secretaries.
  Yesterday, the current Commerce Secretary, Gary Locke, wrote a letter 
to the Congress stating, The department strongly opposes the provisions 
of this bill enabling the Census Bureau Director to submit legislative 
recommendations or testimony to Congress without supervisory review.
  This letter also expresses concern about the provisions of the bill 
that would require the Director of the Census Bureau to report directly 
to the Secretary of Commerce.
  With regard to these views, it is worth pointing out that it is the 
Commerce Secretary himself who is granted the statutory authority to 
carry out the decennial census. The Census Bureau will have less 
oversight if it reports directly to the Secretary, as I stated before, 
because the Secretary has 16 direct reports.
  The Census Director currently reports to the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, who heads ESA. It is the role of ESA to coordinate 
economic data, some of which is provided to the Census Bureau's 
Economic Directorate. Granting the Census Bureau autonomy from ESA will 
hinder the coordination of economic data, and certainly we are a world 
leader in terms of our regard for economic data.
  The Census Bureau wants to operate as independently as possible. That 
certainly is understandable. But it is also important to recognize a 
history of cost overruns the Bureau has had under Democrat and 
Republican administrations, and the GAO has put the 2010 census on its 
high risk list due to concerns of mismanagement within the Census 
Bureau. Again, that was a bipartisan problem. Congress should not 
reward fiscal irresponsibility by granting additional autonomy.
  Madam Speaker, this bill does not establish accountability. It does 
not require the Census Bureau to have an inspector general, which I 
think would be proper. It does not establish fiscal constraints. It 
does not even provide guidelines on the questions and surveys that it 
can ask the American people. And it doesn't require the Bureau to 
produce alternative methods of procuring statistical data, such as 
partnerships with universities and the private sector, which I think is 
necessary and proper in this time that we are in.
  Madam Speaker, consideration of this bill is premature. The 2010 
census results will be released one week from today. The Bureau just 
announced that yesterday. But crucial information concerning the 
statistical confidence level of the data will not be released until 
early next year.
  Again, this bill is premature. I certainly appreciate my colleague's 
interest in this, but I think it is better handled in the next 
Congress, where we can actually have an honest-to-goodness, I don't 
know, legislative hearing perhaps, maybe even a markup of a bill, and 
actually get some input from both sides. Just because the Senate passed 
it doesn't mean the House should rubberstamp it, by any means. But I do 
think we should have serious consideration of this bill and do it under 
the light of day, not at the 11th hour of a dying Congress.
  So, that is my view, and I think that is the view of many colleagues 
on my side of the aisle as well.

                                      U.S. Department of Commerce,


                                    The Secretary of Commerce,

                                Washington, DC, December 13, 2010.
     Hon. Edolphus Towns,
     Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. 
         House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter provides the views of the 
     Department of Commerce on the Senate-passed version of S. 
     3167, the ``Census Oversight Efficiency and Management Reform 
     Act of 2010.'' Your continued work on behalf of the Census 
     Bureau is appreciated, and we look forward to working with 
     you to make it an even better agency.
       The Department of Commerce's goal is to ensure that the 
     Census Bureau functions as a transparent, cost-effective, and 
     competent

[[Page H8314]]

     organization that is successful in planning and implementing 
     its programs, while maintaining its statistical integrity and 
     freedom from political interference. Therefore, we consider 
     it crucial that we convey the following assessment of several 
     provisions of the legislation as passed by the Senate.
       The Department supports the provision of the bill that 
     would create a five-year fixed term for the Census Bureau 
     Director beginning on January 1, 2012. A five-year term 
     (limiting an individual to two full terms) for the Census 
     Bureau Director helps avoid political interference by giving 
     the Director more stability across election cycles. This 
     stability conforms to well-accepted principles and practices 
     of independence for federal statistical agencies and is the 
     current status of the appointment of the Commissioner of the 
     Bureau of Labor Statistics and of the National Center for 
     Education Studies. It may mitigate the risk of having long 
     periods after elections where there is no Senate-confirmed 
     Director, particularly in those years leading up to a 
     decennial census. At the close of the 2010 Census, five of 
     the last seven decennial censuses will have been led by a 
     Director appointed in the year ending in 9 or 0, leading to 
     management uncertainty at critical times during the decennial 
     census cycle.
       However, the Department strongly opposes the provision of 
     the bill that could be construed to enable the Census Bureau 
     Director to submit legislative recommendations or testimony 
     or comments to Congress without supervisory review, and has 
     concerns about the provision of the bill that would require 
     the Director of the Census Bureau to report directly to the 
     Secretary of Commerce.
       With respect to the proposal concerning the submission of 
     the Census Bureau Director's views directly to Congress where 
     the views include a statement indicating that they do not 
     represent the views of the President, the Department of 
     Justice advises us that in order to avoid infringing on the 
     powers reserved to the President under the Recommendations 
     Clause of the Constitution, the Executive Branch would 
     construe the word ``officer,'' in that provision, not to 
     include the President, thereby allowing him to direct the 
     review of the Director's legislative recommendations, 
     testimony and comments prior to their submission to Congress. 
     Even as so construed, however, the proposal would overreach 
     into Executive Branch prerogatives by bypassing normal 
     communication and decision-making channels within the 
     Executive Branch, and therefore we oppose it. There are 
     always a variety of data policy issues under discussion that 
     are often the subject of testimony or that emerge as 
     legislative recommendations out of a broader Executive Branch 
     decision-making process. It is a prerogative of the Executive 
     Branch to speak with one voice on such issues. The ability to 
     speak with one voice on policy matters does not interfere 
     with statistical agencies' ability to provide unfiltered 
     statistical data. A key principle of government statistical 
     agencies worldwide is that the credibility of the information 
     they provide depends on the public perceiving these data as 
     independent of political intervention.
       In addition to this provision, we have concerns about the 
     provision in the bill that would require the Director of the 
     Census Bureau to report directly to the Secretary of 
     Commerce. This provision unnecessarily limits the Secretary's 
     discretion to establish an organizational structure that best 
     suits the needs of the Department.
       The Director of the Census Bureau has full access and 
     accountability to the Secretary of Commerce. However, there 
     are sound reasons for maintaining the current reporting 
     relationship of the Census Bureau to the Economics and 
     Statistics Administration (ESA). The Under Secretary for 
     Economic Affairs, who heads ESA, serves as the principal 
     adviser to the Secretary on economic issues and also oversees 
     the activities of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The 
     Under Secretary is responsible for the analysis and 
     development of policies on economic and statistical issues. 
     One of ESA's primary roles is to interpret the mission of 
     statistical agencies to senior officials within the 
     Department, ensuring that the Office of Management and Budget 
     directives of independence and freedom from political 
     influences are maintained.
       Like you, I believe that independence from partisan 
     political interference and effective management oversight and 
     accountability of the Census Bureau is a top priority. I 
     encourage you to take into consideration our concerns and 
     accept our recommendations on this important issue. We are 
     always looking for ways to improve the Census Bureau and look 
     forward to continuing to work with you on this and other 
     important matters.
       The Department appreciates the opportunity to present these 
     views on the Senate-passed version of S. 3167. The Office of 
     Management and Budget has advised that there is no objection 
     to the transmittal of these views from the standpoint of the 
     Administration's program.
       If you have any questions, please contact me or April Boyd, 
     Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental 
     Affairs, at (202) 482-3663.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Gary Locke.

  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's statement. 
As he knows, this is an issue that many of us in a bipartisan way have 
worked on for many years.
  As you know, my original bill did create an independent Office of the 
Census, which by definition would have had an IG. But at the protest of 
some of my colleagues and some in the Commerce Department, we kept it 
in the Commerce Department, but with independence, so that the Census 
Director could speak honesty and truth. I don't think any of us want to 
keep someone from testifying in an honest and truthful way and having 
their words possibly changed by someone else.
  I would like to place in the Record a series of editorials in support 
of this bill, from USA Today and many others. There have been hearings 
on it, including one in the Joint Economic Committee, where seven 
former Census Directors in a bipartisan way testified in support of 
this bill.
  I would also like to place in the Record the testimony of Dr. Bryant, 
a Republican Census Director, and other Republican Census Directors, 
along with Dr. Pruitt and others, their testimony on how we can get a 
more reliable, transparent, usable census for accuracy for the American 
people.
  I would now like to yield such time as she may consume to a very 
outstanding member of the committee, the gentlewoman from the District 
of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from New 
York (Mrs. Maloney) for her initiative in seeing a problem and seeing 
to it that we deal with this problem while we have got a hand on it.
  Actually, her bill is very timely. The census is about to come out 
for the past 10 years, on December 30, and I can tell you, Madam 
Speaker, as a member of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the 
census that the census has been controversial throughout my service in 
the Congress. Time and again we have seen these controversies before 
this committee. But the census should never be controversial. Neither 
should a bill that fixes much of what is wrong with the census in a 
systemic way, and handily passed the other body, which doesn't pass 
much these days.
  When it comes to the constitutionally required census, there really 
is only one way to act, and that is preventatively. I just want to say 
to the House that the handwriting is on the proverbial congressional 
wall. We were shocked that only a couple of years ago there was a 
serious and very expensive design change in the upcoming census so 
close to when the new census was coming into operation.
  Now, somebody should have seen this coming, certainly before our 
committee found it out and was left with no choice. Remember, this is 
the constitutionally required census. Thus, there was no choice but to 
accept the added cost. If my friends on the other side are interested 
in reducing costs, the way to begin is with this bill, which, it seems 
to me, ought to be a consensus bill right now.
  Crisis has been a part of every census in modern times, yet most of 
what Congress does, if you think about it, is not required; our 
appropriations bills, the defense bills, but the census is 
constitutionally required. It should not be buried. The census and 
those who are responsible for the census should not be buried in an 
agency bureaucracy. Direct reporting to the Secretary, not taking the 
Census Bureau from the jurisdiction of the Secretary, but direct 
reporting to the Secretary of Commerce and complete independence with a 
5-year term, is what this bill is after.

                              {time}  1550

  The bill also contains urgently needed management reforms. It should 
be a top priority of this Congress, as it faces a new census, to go 
home and be able to tell people, We have acted this time ahead of the 
next census to make that census less controversial than censuses since 
the past decennial census has been in the lifetime of all of us. The 
care that has gone into this bill before our subcommittee and committee 
should be enough to say to the Congress this afternoon, The time has 
come to fix the decennial census once and for all.
  Mr. McHENRY. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, again, I rise in opposition to this legislation. I 
certainly appreciate the sponsor's thoughtfulness in creating it, but I 
think there

[[Page H8315]]

are a number of provisions that do cause problems. And I agree with the 
Democrat Secretary of Commerce, the current Secretary of Commerce, with 
his opposition to large provisions within it.
  In order to thoughtfully legislate on the decennial census, I think 
we need to have a hearing and I think we need to have a markup, and I 
think we can hash this out. And I am willing to work with my colleague 
from New York to make that happen in the next Congress, because I do 
think she comes from a sincere place with this legislation. 
Unfortunately, it is a piece of flawed legislation. I'll give you one 
example.
  The Census Director will report directly to the Secretary of 
Commerce. Again, that Census Director will be one of 17 individuals 
with a direct report to the Secretary of Commerce. However, the 
Secretary of Commerce is not able to fire the Census Director. So, if 
he or she is a direct report to the Commerce Secretary, shouldn't the 
Commerce Secretary have the ability to fire that person if they're 
incompetent or inept rather than just letting them serve a 5-year term? 
That's one provision within the legislation that I think is 
troublesome.
  Additionally, as the sponsor mentioned, there is no inspector 
general. And, with a multibillion-dollar census, I think it is 
important that we have IGs that actually have the power to oversee a 
program, and a program that's so large and so expensive.
  This census has a $3 billion cost overrun over its life cycle. Now, 
the individuals responsible for that weren't held accountable. But that 
$3 billion, rather than rewarding the Bureau for having a cost overrun 
of that size by giving them independence and autonomy right now, I 
think we need to have some thoughtful consideration of how to ensure 
that we don't have future cost overruns like that.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I thank the gentleman for his concern and his thoughtful statements. 
If the gentleman is so determined for a markup, there's one bill that 
the Republican leadership has told us they must have, and that's the 
tax bill. Yet there's been no markup on that tax bill or a hearing on 
that tax bill. And there have been hearings and discussions on this. I 
have testimony from numerous Republican Census Directors supporting it.
  Now, as the gentleman knows--and we changed the bill in response to 
the gentleman's concerns and others. We did have it as an independent 
agency with an independent IG. We folded it back into Commerce, at your 
suggestion and others. And, as you know, the Commerce Department has an 
IG. They have their own IG. And if the gentleman in the next Congress 
would like to sponsor an amendment to add another IG at Commerce that 
looks totally at the Census Bureau, then I would certainly support the 
gentleman.
  Now, the gentleman has written an op-ed which I found very 
interesting, and I appreciate your op-ed that appeared in Politico. You 
called for many things in this bill: transparency, independent voice, 
accountability. I repeat, because I know cost is an important factor 
now, this will cost no additional money to the taxpayer, not one 
additional cent. And I would like to join my good friend and colleague 
in the spirit of bipartisanship and the dedication of getting an 
accurate census for the American people that we pass this bill, and 
what the gentleman would like to add to it in the next Congress--and 
the gentleman's party is in charge and you will have the votes to add 
whatever you would like next year. And I certainly would like to work 
with you in a bipartisan way to add the gentleman's concerns, but 
there's absolutely no reason not to act on this when seven former 
Census Directors have come out strongly for it, including every 
Republican Census Director under former President Nixon, under former 
President Ford, under former President Reagan, and George Bush 41 and 
43, G.W. and his father. So all of their Census Directors have come out 
in support of it.
  I would also like to place into the Record the National Leadership 
Conference on Civil Rights, and they represent 200 different civil 
rights organizations, all in support of this bill; the National 
Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, their letter in 
support of the bill; the Population Association of America and the 
Association of Population Centers, their letter of support for the 
bill; the American Association for Public Opinion Research, their 
statement in support of the bill; the American Planning Association, 
their statement in support of the bill; the American Statistical 
Association, who are dedicated to accurate numbers, their strong, 
strong support of accuracy in this bill; the Consortium of Social 
Science Associations, their support; the Latino Census Network, their 
strong support; the Mid-Region Council of Governments, their strong 
letter of support; and the National Institute for Latino Policy, their 
letter of support; the Southeast Michigan Census Council, their support 
of the bill; and the Southern Demographic Association, their support of 
the bill.

  So, as my good friend and colleague knows, there is strong support 
for this bill. Many allege that the Commerce opposition is just a turf 
battle. Well, the census is too important for a turf battle. I would 
support the gentleman's amendment to have an independent extra IG. If 
he wants two IGs on the Bureau, I would support it, or three or four or 
five. I would support the gentleman's extra oversight of what the 
Census Bureau is doing. But, mainly, we want them to be given the tools 
to get the job done. That is what this bill does.

                                    The Leadership Conference,

                                                December 13, 2010.
     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     Speaker, House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
     Hon. John Boehner,
     Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader Boehner: On behalf of The 
     Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition 
     charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national 
     organizations to promote and protect the rights of all 
     persons in the United States, we are writing to express our 
     strong support for the Census Oversight Efficiency and 
     Management Reform Act (S. 3167/H.R. 4945). The bill includes 
     needed reforms that will improve the operations of the 
     decennial Census and other Census activities, and ensure a 
     count that does not disproportionally miss any segment of the 
     population. With Senate passage of the bill by unanimous 
     consent on December 8, we urge the House to swiftly pass the 
     Senate-approved bill so that it can reach the President's 
     desk by the end of the year.
       The Census occurs on a constitutionally mandated ten-year 
     cycle, but Presidential administrations run in four-year 
     cycles that do not fit well with the complex planning and 
     preparation timetable for the decennial count. This causes 
     inevitable development and implementation difficulties due to 
     a lack of consistency and, often, leadership vacuums. The 
     bill's proposal to create a five-year term appointment for 
     the Census Bureau Director is an important change that will 
     allow the Census Bureau to avoid disruptions caused by 
     changes in administrations, especially around the period of 
     the decennial census.
       As organizations that work to ensure that hard-to-count 
     communities are fully included in the Census, we welcome the 
     greater stability for the leadership of the Census Bureau 
     that this legislation seeks to provide, which will in turn 
     minimize disruptions in the Census and allow the Census 
     Bureau to benefit from improved continuity in its overall 
     operations. We also believe that the new line of authority 
     from the Census Director to the Secretary of Commerce will 
     help allow the Census Bureau to more nimbly address problems 
     and issues that inevitably arise during the decennial census 
     and other surveys.
       It is critical that the bill be enacted promptly, since 
     planning for the 2020 decennial census is already underway. 
     We urge swift passage of the bill.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Wade Henderson,
                                                  President & CEO.
                                                     Nancy Zirkin,
     Executive Vice President.
                                  ____



                                  Partnership Council Members,

                                                December 13, 2010.
     Hon. William Lacy Clay,
     Chairman, Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and 
         National Archives, House of Representatives, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Chairman Clay: On behalf of the National Association 
     of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational 
     Fund, I am writing to express our support for the Census 
     Oversight Efficiency and Management Reform Act (H.R. 4945). 
     The NALEO Educational Fund is one of the nation's leading 
     organizations in the area of Census policy development and 
     public education, and we are deeply committed to ensuring 
     that the Census Bureau provides our nation with the most 
     accurate count possible of its population.

[[Page H8316]]

       We believe that H.R. 4945 would provide greater stability 
     for the leadership of the Census Bureau and its operations by 
     enhancing the continuity of the Bureau's overall operations. 
     For example, the bill would establish a fixed five-year term 
     of office for the Director of the Census Bureau, instead of 
     the current practice, where the Director is generally 
     appointed at the beginning of new Presidential 
     Administrations.
       The fixed five-year term established in H.R. 4945 is more 
     consistent with the constitutionally mandated ten-year cycle 
     of the Census enumeration, and would enable the Director to 
     manage operations in a manner that would minimize the 
     disruptions caused by leadership changes. From our 
     experiences working with the Census Bureau on its efforts to 
     reach and enumerate Latinos and other ``hard to count'' 
     communities, we have learned that minor changes in the 
     operations of the decennial Census can significantly impair 
     the ability of the Bureau to effectively carry out its 
     enumeration tasks. Seven former Census Directors, appointed 
     by Presidents from both political parties, support H.R. 4945 
     because they believe it would enhance the ability of the 
     agency to focus on its mission to conduct the Census in a 
     timely and accurate manner.
       We believe that H.R. 4945 takes positive steps toward 
     providing greater stability for the decennial census and 
     diminishing operational problems for Census 2020 and the 
     decennial enumerations that will follow. We look forward to 
     working on implementation of the legislation so that we 
     achieve a solution that enables the Census Bureau to perform 
     its essential function more effectively.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Arturo Vargas,
     Executive Director.
                                  ____

                                                December 13, 2010.
     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Edolphus Towns,
     Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House 
         of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Lacy Clay,
     Chairman, Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and 
         National Archives, Committee on Oversight and Government 
         Reform, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. John Boehner,
     Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Darrell Issa,
     Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
         House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Patrick McHenry,
     Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census 
         and National Archives, Committee on Oversight and 
         Government Reform, House of Representatives, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader Boehner, Chairman Towns, 
     Ranking Member Issa, Chairman Clay, and Ranking Member 
     McHenry: With Senate passage of the ``Census Oversight 
     Efficiency and Management Reform Act of 2010'' (S. 3167/H.R. 
     4945) by unanimous consent on December 8, we write to urge 
     swift bipartisan passage of the Senate-approved bill in order 
     for it to reach the President's desk by year's end. The bill 
     represents an unprecedented opportunity to enact reasonable 
     administrative reforms and grant the Census Bureau Director 
     new authorities to run the agency more efficiently, openly, 
     and authoritatively, all at no additional cost to the 
     taxpayer.
       In particular, we support the bill's proposal to create a 
     five-year Presidential appointment for the Census Director. 
     This important change would allow the Census Bureau to avoid 
     disruptions caused by changes in administration, especially 
     around the period of the decennial census. Enactment of the 
     legislation in 2012 would mean that, under normal 
     circumstances, a change in Directors would occur on a 
     predictable schedule in years two and seven of each decade. 
     We anticipate that the fixed term will translate to a higher 
     level of continuity and professional independence in the 
     Bureau's operations. For example, a fixed term would help 
     avoid the circumstances in both 1999 and 2009, when the 
     Census Bureau operated without a Senate-confirmed leader 
     during final preparations for the decennial census.
       We also support the bill's components to strengthen the 
     director's position by establishing a direct line of 
     reporting to the Secretary of Commerce, more latitude in 
     communication with Congress, and generally more authority 
     over the Census Bureau, including its personnel and 
     operations. We believe these components will improve the 
     Census Bureau's ability to respond to requests from Congress 
     and the wide range of important data users in the public, 
     private, and nonprofit sectors.
       Finally, let us emphasize the importance of enacting this 
     bill promptly, since planning for the 2020 decennial census 
     is already underway.
       We thank you for your leadership on issues important to 
     preserving and enhancing the mission of the U.S. Census 
     Bureau.

       American Association for Public Opinion Research; American 
     Planning Association; American Sociological Association; 
     American Statistical Association; Arab American Institute 
     Foundation; Asian American Justice Center; Association of 
     Academic Survey Research Organizations; Association of 
     Population Centers; Consortium of Social Science 
     Associations; Council of Professional Associations on Federal 
     Statistics; Demos; Japanese American Citizens League; Latino 
     Census Network; Marketing Research Association; Mid-Region 
     Council of Governments; Moving Forward Gulf Coast, Inc.; 
     National Association of Home Builders; National Association 
     of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational 
     Fund; National Education Association; National Institute for 
     Latino Policy; Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network; OCA; 
     Population Association of America (PAA); Population Reference 
     Bureau; Population Resource Center; Prison Policy Initiative; 
     Project Vote; South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT); 
     Southeast Michigan Census Council; Southern Demographic 
     Association; and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human 
     Rights.

  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McHENRY. I again yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, just to address my colleague's comments about the 
opinion she imputed to me about this legislation and the way she 
changed the legislation to more meet with my opinion, those, Madam 
Speaker, were not my opinions. We have actually not had discussions 
about this legislation, my colleague and I from New York have not. So, 
just to be very clear, those opinions were someone else's; not mine.
  Additionally, it is kind of interesting to throw in the tax debate 
regarding a piece of legislation about the census. I'm not going to 
take the bait. It's fine. We'll have a vote on that or we won't have a 
vote on that this Congress, depending on what the Speaker thinks. I 
certainly understand the concern about not having hearings and not 
having markups.
  But I would say to my colleague from New York that it is her party 
that is in both the House and Senate and had every opportunity to 
schedule a hearing on this piece of legislation. They had every 
opportunity to schedule a markup on this piece of legislation, and they 
didn't. So, clearly, it is a problem not with my party, but it is a 
problem with my colleague from New York's party about getting that 
scheduled.

                              {time}  1600

  Madam Speaker, I do have serious concerns and, I think, legitimate 
concerns. I also understand how many folks operate in Congress: we take 
a pledge that we will fix it later, and that ``later'' never happens.
  So what I would say to my colleague from New York is that, in the 
next Congress, I will be very happy to work with her to pass a 
reasonable piece of legislation which, I think, structurally will look 
different than this but which will take on some of the concerns that 
she has about the Census Bureau.
  I am truly concerned about making sure that our statistical agencies 
are independent, independent from political influence like this 
President tried to have at the beginning of his term in office by 
having the Census Director report directly to then-Chief of Staff Rahm 
Emanuel. We came out opposed to that. It was my colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle who wanted that. We came out opposed to the 
statistical manipulation of the outcome of the census, which some in 
the other party were very much in favor of. It is true that there are 
political disagreements between Republicans and Democrats, but I think 
we all want to have a fair and accurate census.
  I also want to have a census that is cheaper in the future than it 
has been in the past. We have had a cost overrun of $3 billion. As I 
would mention to my colleague from New York, the entire budget of the 
Department of Commerce is just shy of $9 billion annually. They had a 
$3 billion cost overrun within just the Census. That is an enormous 
sum, and I think it is worthy of having an Inspector General to make 
sure that this doesn't happen again. So that is my concern.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MALONEY. I appreciate the gentleman's concerns. We should pass 
this bill. Then, in the new Congress, you can add your amendments or 
your ideas to the underlying bill. This is a strong bill with no cost 
to the American taxpayers, no increased cost; and it will help ensure a 
better census for 2010.
  As I said, it has very strong bipartisan support, particularly from 
the seven living former Census Directors, who served Republican and 
Democratic Presidents. They support this bill. They testified before 
Congress that

[[Page H8317]]

this bill would make a stronger, more accountable, transparent census. 
The former Directors' support and advocacy on behalf of this bill, I 
believe, underscores the importance of the reforms needed to ensure 
that the Census Bureau is able to best perform its constitutional 
mandate of providing a fair and accurate census count.
  Again, I want to underscore: How many times have we seen a bill come 
over with 100 Senators who are in support of it--totally unanimous? 
totally bipartisan?
  I am confident that this bill will ensure that Congress will get the 
information we need and deserve in order to get us a fair and fully 
funded Census which is independent and will respond, no matter who 
occupies the White House. In other words, this is a very important 
bill, so I urge a strong bipartisan vote in support of it.

       S. 3167 Endorsed by seven former Census Directors: Vincent 
     P. Barabba (1973-1976; 1979-1981), John G. Keane (1984-1989), 
     Barbara Everitt Bryant (1989-1993), Martha Farnsworth Riche 
     (1994-1998), Kenneth Prewitt (1998-2001), Charles Louis 
     Kincannon (2002-2008), and Steven H. Murdock (2008-2009).
       S. 3167 Endorsed by: National Leadership Conference on 
     Civil Rights (LCCR); National Association of Latino Elected 
     and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund; Population 
     Association of America (PAA) and the Association of 
     Population Centers (APC); American Association for Public 
     Opinion Research (AAPOR); American Planning Association; 
     American Statistical Association (ASA); Arab American 
     Institute Foundation; Consortium of Social Science 
     Associations (COSSA); Latino Census Network; Mid-Region 
     Council of Governments; National Institute for Latino Policy 
     (NILP); Population Resource Center; Prison Policy Initiative; 
     Southeast Michigan Census Council (SEMCC) and Southern 
     Demographic Association (SDA).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Chu). The time of the gentlewoman has 
expired.
  Mr. McHENRY. Madam Speaker, I am sorry my colleague used up her time.
  I am going to close by saying that anyone who wants an accountable 
Census Bureau will oppose this bill. Instead of saying we want an 
independent bureau that is not accountable, I think we are saying we 
want an independent bureau that is accountable. That is why I am going 
to oppose this bill.
  I ask my colleagues--those who want fiscal sanity, those who want 
proper oversight of the Census, those who want reasonable legislating, 
which actually means we would have a hearing and a markup--to vote 
``no'' on this bill.
  I would also mention to my colleague from New York that her 
legislation we are discussing here today got just about as many votes 
as that tax deal that she opposes. So you can take this for all you 
want as to what the Senate does, but the census affects every Member of 
the House, all of our constituents, our statistical reporting agencies, 
and our economic bureaus as well. We want to make sure we get this 
legislation right, but it is highly flawed as it is currently 
constructed; and it would mean further cost overruns going forward.
  With that, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this legislation.
  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 3167, the 
Census Oversight Efficiency and Management Reform Act.
  S. 3167 will provide needed independence and autonomy to the U.S. 
Census Bureau.
  This bill will ensure a census count that is fair, accurate, and free 
from political bias.
  I am proud to have consponsored the House version of this bill, H.R. 
4945 with Carolyn Maloney of New York.
  This bipartisan, good government reform measure passed the Senate by 
unanimous consent last week.
  Senator Coburn was the lead Senate Republican cosponsor and supported 
passage of the bill.
  S. 3167 is endorsed by seven former census directors, appointed by 
and who served in Republican and Democrat administrations.
  S. 3167 will allow the Director of the Census Bureau to give candid 
opinions and testimony to Congress and the Commerce Secretary on the 
needs of the Bureau.
  The Census is a scientific agency, similar to the National Science 
Foundation or NASA. Its statistical mission should be unencumbered by 
increased political bias and bureaucracy.
  These reforms will ensure that Congress receives the most accurate 
information on issues facing the census directly from the Bureau and 
without interference from political appointees.
  S. 3167 is supported by the American Statistical Association, the 
American Planning Association, the Council of Professional Associations 
on Federal Statistics, the Association of Academic Survey Research 
Organizations, and other members of the scientific community.

  Accurate census data is needed to properly account for congressional 
apportionment and a wide range of government services, including: 
Medicare, Social Security, veterans' health services, assistance to 
farmers, TANF, community development grants, federal housing 
assistance, and road and highway construction.
  Making the Census Director a 5-year Presidential term appointment 
will prevent Presidential politics from interfering in selection.
  The American people expect Congress to improve the efficiency and 
accountability of government through common sense bipartisan reforms. 
We can do this today through this bill with no cost to the taxpayers.
  The Senate passed this legislation unanimously, and I hope the House 
will send this bill to the President for signature into law.
  Mr. BACA. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 3167, the 
Census Oversight Efficiency and Management Reform Act.
  The 2010 Census is complete and results will be made public soon. 
However, we must think ahead now for the 2020 Census.
  The bill's proposal to create a five-year term appointment for the 
Census Bureau Director is an important change that will allow the 
Census Bureau to avoid disruptions caused by changes in 
administrations, especially around the period of the decennial census.
  The accuracy of the Census is tied to advance planning and careful 
design, and must be ensured to the best extent possible.
  An accurate count means that proportionate amounts of federal dollars 
go back home to our Districts, to our schools, to our courthouses. We 
must remember that the Census count is not just a number; it affects 
the livelihood of all our communities.
  Gaps in management and leadership hurt all of us, not just those at 
the Census Bureau.
  This bill will provide greater stability for the leadership of the 
Census Bureau and its operations by enhancing the continuity of the 
Bureau's overall operations.
  In fact, seven former Census Directors, appointed by Presidents from 
both political parties, support this bill because they believe it would 
enhance the ability of the agency to focus on its mission to conduct 
the Census in a timely and accurate manner.
  I urge my colleagues to support S. 3167, because it takes positive 
steps toward providing greater stability for the decennial census and 
diminishing operational problems.
  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, S. 3167 is an important, bipartisan measure 
that will help ensure stable, effective management at the Census Bureau 
for years to come. With preparations for the 2020 Census already 
underway, this body has the opportunity to make sure it is the most 
accurate and complete census in history.
  The measure would protect the independence of the Census Bureau from 
political interference by giving its Director the independence to 
report directly to the Secretary of Commerce. The Department of 
Commerce oversees many agencies, and so giving the Census Bureau 
greater independence from Commerce will help keep it a priority 
throughout the 10-year cycle of the census. It will also help keep 
Congress informed on the status of the census throughout the decade, 
helping us to foresee and prevent problems.
  The bill will also extend the term of the director of the Bureau to 
five years, with a limit of two terms. This will align the term of the 
Director more closely with the decennial census's planning and 
implementation phases. In addition, it will help free the director from 
the whims of presidential politics, keeping a new president from 
changing directors in the middle of a census. I think this is so 
important, especially since the 2020 Census will occur during a 
presidential election year. A fixed term sends a message that we 
consider the Census Bureau to be an agency with a scientific mission, 
like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Center for 
Education Statistics. We must make sure that the professionals at these 
agencies, including the Census Bureau, are given the ability to do what 
they do best, insulated from politics.
  We know the significance of the decennial census: an undertaking so 
important that the founding fathers enshrined it in the Constitution. 
However, GAO has deemed the last three decennial censuses ``at risk,'' 
which is something we in Congress cannot accept. S. 3167 will implement 
some of GAO's recommendations on the Census, and also has the support 
of leading statistical organizations and the seven living former 
directors of the Bureau, directors who served under Democratic and 
Republican presidents alike. The bill comes at no cost to taxpayers, 
and is the result of careful, bipartisan negotiations. I'd like to 
thank the gentlewoman from New York, Representative Maloney, as well as 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Representative

[[Page H8318]]

Dent, for their leadership on the bill, the gentleman from Missouri, 
Representative Clay, for his leadership on the Census with the 
Information Policy Subcommittee, and I'd also like to thank Senators 
Carper and Coburn for the hard work they put into passing the 
legislation unanimously in the Senate.
  I encourage all my colleagues on both sides to join me in voting in 
favor of S. 3167.
  Mr. McHENRY. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, S. 3167.
  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. McHENRY. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  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.

                          ____________________