[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 26 (Monday, June 29, 1998)]
[Pages 1196-1197]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Nomination of Kenneth Prewitt To Be Director of the 
Bureau of the Census

June 23, 1998

    A fair and accurate census is a fundamental part of representative 
democracy and good government. To ensure that we conduct a sound and 
successful census in the Year 2000, I am pleased to nominate Dr. Kenneth 
Prewitt to be the next Director of the United States Census Bureau.
    The decennial census is the foundation for our most important public 
values. It is the means by which everyone in this country is counted. It 
is the basis for providing equality under the law. And it is the single 
most important source of information about the American people.
    By using the census, the Federal Government is able to designate 
funding for and evaluate programs across the Federal Government, in 
every State and every locality. It is the instrument that Congress and 
the executive branch use to properly allocate the more than 180 billion 
dollars in Federal funds every year for many programs like Head Start, 
programs for older Americans, the disabled, and for transportation. 
Conducting an accurate census truly affects every person in this 
country, and quality of Census 2000 will have ramifications for decades 
to come.
    To ensure fair and accurate data, we support the plan developed by 
the experts at the Census Bureau which was based upon recommendations by 
the National Academy of Sciences. This plan developed at the explicit 
direction of Congress and endorsed by virtually all of the experts will 
enable the Census Bureau to conduct the most accurate and cost-effective 
census in our history. It is a plan that will correct the inaccuracies 
in the former census which systematically undercounted children, 
minorities, and rural Americans. This collaboration between Government 
and the Nation's scientific community will enable Census 2000 to carry 
out its proud mission of protecting equality before the law, one person-
one vote, and sound government.
    Dr. Prewitt, one of the Nation's most distinguished social 
scientists and experienced executives, is the ideal person to lead the 
Census Bureau in this effort. He currently serves as the president of 
the Social Science Research Council. In the past, he has been senior 
vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation, the director of the 
University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Corporation, chairman 
of the Political Science Department at the University of Chicago, and 
vice president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has also 
served on the boards of trustees of Washington University, Southern 
Methodist University, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral 
Sciences, NORC, and the German American Academic Council.
    Dr. Prewitt is a person of impeccable credentials and proven 
scientific integrity. I urge

[[Page 1197]]

the Senate to act promptly on his nomination.