[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 13, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E298-E299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE ENSURING FULL PARTICIPATION IN THE CENSUS ACT OF 
                                  2019

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 13, 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Ensuring Full 
Participation in the Census Act of 2019, which would prohibit the U.S. 
Census Bureau from including questions on the decennial census about 
citizenship, nationality or immigration status.
  This bill is essential because the Department of Justice has written 
to the Bureau that it ``reinstate on the 2020 Census questionnaire a 
question regarding citizenship.'' From 1970 to 2000, this question was 
sent to only approximately 16 percent of the population during any 
decennial census through the so-called ``long-form.'' However, the 
long-form system was dropped from the census and replaced with the 
current American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is sent to 
approximately 3 million people annually on a rotational basis, instead 
of just with the decennial census, and allows the Bureau to get the 
necessary information on citizenship, without asking every respondent 
during the decennial census. Asking questions about citizenship status 
to every American through the decennial census has not been done in 
almost 70 years because it would discourage people, largely in minority 
communities, which are already undercounted in the census, from 
participating in the census. The ACS was created to make the decennial 
census simpler for American citizens to complete, thus encouraging a 
higher and more accurate participant rate, and to preserve privacy. 
Adding a question back into the decennial census about citizenship 
would defeat this purpose of the ACS. The representative sampling 
provided by the

[[Page E299]]

ACS is more than sufficient to determine citizenship statistics within 
the U.S. We must ensure that all individuals are counted in the 
decennial census, thereby providing accurate allocation of federal 
funds and representation in Congress, not reduce participation by 
already undercounted minorities because they fear answering questions 
that are already addressed elsewhere.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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