[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 7, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H1545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S PEEPING TOMCRATS

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, the census counts the population 
every 10 years, but the Census Bureau also sends out a mandatory, 
intrusive personal and more time-consuming, 28-page document called the 
American Community Survey.
  The survey asks intrusive questions like how many toilets does a 
person have in their house; what time does a person leave and come home 
from work; does any person in the house have poor eyesight, difficulty 
dressing, or mental issues.
  If this Orwellian survey is ignored, the government may come after 
the citizen. First, the telephone calls start: weekly, then daily. Then 
Uncle Sam sends his peeping tomcrats to lurk around homes, forcing 
citizens to comply. If a person still refuses to hand over private 
information to the intrusive eyes of the government, the government may 
assess fines up to $5,000.
  My bill, H.R. 1305, makes the American Community Survey voluntary and 
also removes the associated criminal penalties. The ACS is a violation 
of privacy and a costly abuse of government power.
  And that is just the way it is.

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