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The Long History of Republican Attacks on a Fair and Accurate Census
1940 Racial differential discovered as part of the Census when 13% more African American
males show up for the draft than the 1940 Census reported existed. Census bureau begins
forty years of research, experimentation and design work to develop methods and systems
to correct the racial differential in the Census, the undercount of Americas' Black,
Hispanics, Asians and American Indians.
1980 Census Bureau under a delegation of decision making authority by the Carter
administration, exercises that authority and decides not use modern statistical methods in
1980 Census to correct the undercount and adjust the results of the Census.
1987 President Reagan's Department of Commerce cancels the Census Bureaus planned post-census survey designed to use modern statistical methods to measure and correct for the
undercount, over the strong opposition of professionals at the Census Bureau. New York
City sues.
Under Secretary of Commerce Ortner rescinds the delegation of authority to the Director
of the Census Bureau over the decision as to whether or not to adjust the 1990 Census.
1989 The Department of Commerce and the City of New York sign an agreement to allow the
"Post-Enumeration Survey" to go forward, although at half the size originally planned.
1991 A committee of experts at the Census Bureau vote 7 to 2 in favor of correcting the census
counts. The Republican Director of the Census Bureau, appointed by President Bush, Dr.
Barbara Bryant recommends to the Secretary of Commerce that the census counts be
corrected using modern statistical methods.
The Secretary decides not to correct the 1990 Census counts overruling his Census
director and the professionals at the bureau. New York City again sues.
(In 1996, the Supreme Court rules that the Secretary was within his authority to reject the
recommendation to correct the 1990 Census.)
1991 Legislation is passed and signed by President Bush directing the National Academy of
Science and the Census Bureau to design a 2000 Census that is more accurate and cost
effective.
Planning begins on the 2000 Census including the use of modern statistical methods in its
design to correct the racial differential.
1995 Republican take control of Congress.
1996 The Government Reform and Oversight Committee releases a report recommending that
the Census Bureau should not use modern statistical methods to correct the 2000 Census.
(Sampling and Statistical Adjustment in the Decennial Census: Fundamental Flaws)
1997 Jim Nicholson, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, sends a memo to all
State Republican Party Chairman calling the 2000 Census "an issue of unusual importance
to the Republican Party... At stake is our GOP majority in the House of Representatives,
as well as partisan control of state legislatures nationwide."
(Available at http://www.house.gov/maloney/issues/census/rncmemo.html)
This memo begins the Republicans party's public attempts to manipulate the Census by
stopping a fair and accurate Census. Speaker Gingrich is quoted as saying that modern
statistical methods are "a dagger aimed at the heart of the Republican majority."
While Americans were literally inundated in the 1997 Midwest floods, Republicans attach
a ban on statistical methods to an Emergency Supplemental Appropriation bill giving relief
to flood victims, expecting the President to be forced to sign. He promptly vetoes the bill,
and the Republicans cave, removing the language from the bill.
Republicans pass an Appropriations bill in the House which prohibits statistical methods in
the Census, threatening to shut down the government over the issue. After negotiation
with the Administration, the ban is withdrawn in the conference report. But Republicans
insist on using taxpayer money to fund a lawsuit in challenging the use of statistical
methods in the Census. The bill also creates the Census Monitoring Board with an
authorization for $4 million per year. It consists of four members appointed by the
President, and four appointed by the Republican leadership of Congress.
1998 Republican create Census subcommittee with a budget larger than the House ethics
committee to attack the Census.
Republicans again threaten to shut down the government over the Census. The House
passes an appropriations bill that would shut down the Commerce, Justice and State
Departments as well as the Census on March 31, 1999. The final conference report blocks
funding for the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State after June 15, 1999.
An attorney representing Speaker Gingrich in his lawsuit against the Census Bureau,
essentially admitted -- contrary to the public statements of many Republicans -- that the
use of modern statistical methods would lead to a more accurate count. She states that
'the census doesn't have to be done in the most accurate way possible.'"
In his book Lessons Learned the Hard Way, Speaker Gingrich reveals his true partisan
motives when he refers to the census as "an issue of great importance to our party."
Gingrich goes on the bemoan his own lack of foresight on the issue and his inability to
predict the public outcry that resulted when the Republicans attempted to deny flood relief
to thousands of Americans in an effort to force the Census Bureau to abandon its plan to
conduct an accurate census.
1999 The Supreme Court rules that under the current law (not the Constitution) corrected
census numbers may not be used to apportion seats among the states for the House of
Representatives, but must be used for all other purposes. Writing for the majority, Justice
O'Connor stated that the 1976 amendments to Title 13 U.S. C. (The Census Act) changed
the provision in law from one that "permitted the use of sampling for purposes other than
apportionment into one that required that sampling be used for such purposes if
'feasible.'"
The Republican controlled Congress refuses to change the law and the Census must draw
up new plans to use only old methods for apportionment and using modern statistical
methods for all other purposes.
Census bureau responds to court decision, drawing up revised plan for the 2000 Census
that uses old methods for apportioning the seats of the House of Representatives and
using modern statistical methods for redistricting and for distribution of federal funds. This
drives up the cost of 2000 Census by 1.7 billion dollars.
Republican dominated legislatures across the country begin passing statutes prohibiting
the use of corrected numbers for redistricting purposes.
The provision of law which threatened to shut down the government and halt funding for
the 2000 Census on June 15, 1999 is repealed.
After defeating amendments to strip $1.7 billion from the funding for the Census, the
House bill provides full funding at $4.5 billion, and designates the entire amount as
"emergency" spending. This position is adopted in the final bill and signed by the
President.
2000 Census begins and to date is an operational success meeting all major operational
objectives, hiring over a half a million enumerators and reversing the national mail
response rate.
Gov. George Bush after months of dodging finally answers what his position is sampling:
Reporter: " One of the issues in the minority community in California is regarding the
census and an undercount that they experienced 10 years ago and can expect to experience
again. What's your position on the idea of using a sampling method which would count
minority communities more fully? Your party is against it."
Bush: "Yeah, so am I."
Secretary of Commerce proposes rule that would delegate the decision making authority
back to the Census. Gov. Bush refuses to answer what he would do if elected president -
would he release the most accurate numbers available or would he overrule the
professionals at the Census and repeal the new Commerce Dept. rule?
The Republican Chairman of the Census Subcommittee alleges that "There are [Census
Bureau employees], some in very influential positions, who have their own agenda. These
people have no respect for Congress....These people and this attitude are dangerous." The
allegation comes after one email message from a mid-level Census manager in Los
Angeles instructs LCO managers not to share a certain report with GAO, a report they
had access to through other channels.
In July, the majority issued a staff report which seriously misrepresented conditions in 15
local census offices. Allegations about a "rushed census" due to "early surges" or "late
peaks" are made with incomplete or faulty data and publically distributed prior to
providing the report to the Census Bureau. Investigations by the Inspector General later
clear all but one of these offices of any irregularities.
In August, the majority accused the Census Bureau of engaging in partisan political
activities because the staffed a both at a symposium close to the Democratic National
Convention. The GAO later cleared the Bureau of any impropriety.
Over the course of the year, the Census Subcommittee's majority has sent nearly 165
requests for information to the Census Bureau, one every 2 ½ days.
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