Since 1790, Americans have answered the call of our Constitution for the people of our nation to be counted in the Decennial Census. The Census Bureau collects vital economic and demographic data that our country, its leaders, our government, and our businesses rely upon every day to tell us how we are doing -- and every ten years to tell us who we are. It is truly a scientific agency responsible for a complex task often called “our largest peace time mobilization.”
The time to start worrying about the 2020 Census is now. Currently, the 2010 Census seems to be on a path to success, but if we are going to stop the repeated operational crises that have plagued each of the last four censuses, we need to change how we administer the census. We must ensure that the Census Bureau has the independence and transparency it needs to carry out its essential, constitutionally-mandated function, and ensure the Bureau is focused on the ten-year process of preparing for the Census despite the four-year cycles of Presidential administrations.
In March 2010, I introduced along with Reps. Charles Dent (R-PA), Ed Towns (D-NY), and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), H.R. 4945, the Census Oversight, Efficiency and Management Reform Act. All living, former Census Directors have endorsed the legislation. Senators Tom Carper and Tom Coburn of the committee of jurisdiction, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, have introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
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