Date: July 15, 1998
From: Joy Garner <jgarner(a)ccmc.org>
House Appropriators Stick with Six-Month Funding For Census,
Reject Amendment to Keep Funds Flowing Past March
Bill Also Aims to Boost Census Employment Opportunities
Among Recipients of Federal Benefits
In a 22 - 31 party-line vote, the House Appropriations
Committee today rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Alan
Mollohan (D-WV) that would provide uninterrupted funding for
2000 census activities in fiscal year 1999 (FY99). The
committee approved the FY99 Commerce, Justice, State and The
Judiciary spending bill with language adopted by the
subcommittee on June 24 that only funds 2000 census work
through March 31, 1999.
Subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) said the
six-month funding provisions represented a deal reached last
fall between the White House and congressional Republican
leaders. The Administration disputes that characterization
of the unwritten agreement, saying that the parties had
agreed to fund the entire Commerce, Justice, State and The
Judiciary bill only for the first half of FY99, in order to
put pressure on both sides to resolve the sampling dispute
early next year.
The committee-approved bill allocates $952 million for 2000
census activities, about $104 million more than the
President had requested. The extra funds must be used to
continue preparing for a census that doesn't use sampling
methods to count the population. However, only one-half of
the funds would be made available initially, to pay for
census preparations through March 31, 1999. The Commerce
Department said that $476 million would fund 2000 census
work only through mid-January.
The second half of the allocation would not be made
available until the President requests release of the funds
and Congress enacts a new bill authorizing the Bureau to
spend the remaining $476 million. The language directs
Congress to act by March 31 but does not spell out any
consequences if Congress and the Administration fail to
reach an agreement on releasing the rest of the money. The
bill also provides $4 million for the Census Monitoring
Board.
Rep. Mollohan offered an amendment to remove the
restrictions on the full $952 million allocation. The
amendment would have allowed the Bureau to continue planning
for a census that includes sampling unless the Supreme Court
rules that the methods are unconstitutional or unlawful. It
also would have required continued planning for a census
without statistical methods until the Supreme Court disposed
of the two pending legal challenges to the use of sampling
in the census. The Mollohan amendment directed the National
Academy of Sciences to determine whether the Bureau's 2000
census plan was the most feasible way to produce an accurate
count of the population. Critical work to finish compiling
the address list (called the Master Address File) starts
this summer and continues through 1999. The Bureau also
plans to award a contract for questionnaire printing by the
end of this year; the contractor must begin work in April to
ensure that census forms are ready to be mailed by mid-March
of 2000. The full House is tentatively scheduled to take up
the Commerce spending bill next week. Rep. Mollohan, the
senior Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee that
funds the Census Bureau, noted that the President has
indicated he will veto the funding bill if the final version
still contains the six-month restriction.
Recruitment and hiring also addressed by appropriators: The
committee adopted a provision sponsored by Rep. Carrie Meek
(D-FL) that would allow the recipients of Federal benefits
to work as temporary census employees without counting that
income in determining their eligibility for those programs.
The Meek language was included in a larger amendment offered
by Rep. Rogers and accepted by voice vote without
discussion. Rep. Meek also criticized the advertising
campaign being developed by the New York-based firm of Young
& Rubicam, saying it was not effective in reaching minority
communities. The report that accompanies the appropriations
bill may incorporate Rep. Meek's concerns.
Controversy over deleting "real people" from the census
continues: Rep. Dan Miller (R-FL), chairman of the House
census subcommittee and a member of the appropriations
panel, did not, as some observers expected, offer an
amendment in today's committee mark-up to prohibit the
Census Bureau from subtracting "real people" from the
census. Rep. Miller said last week that he plans to
introduce such a bill, which his oversight panel could
consider without scheduling a hearing to review the issue.
The chairman said he does not want the Bureau to throw out
forms with data collected from "real people" as part of the
plan to eliminate overcounts in the census through the
750,000 household quality-check survey. The Bureau has said
that it does not discount any questionnaires collected from
actual people except to eliminate duplicates or clearly
fraudulent forms.
Questions about the information contained in this News Alert
may be directed to TerriAnn Lowenthal at (202) 484-2270 or,
by e-mail at <terriann2k(a)aol.com>. Please direct all
requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in
address/phone/fax/e-mail, to Keri Monihan at
<kmonihan(a)ccmc.org> or 202/326-8728. Please feel free to
circulate this information to colleagues and other
interested individuals.
Date: July 9, 1998
From: Keri Monihan <kmonihan(a)ccmc.org>
Census Monitoring Board Reviews 2000 Plan
Dress Rehearsal On Track, Commerce Department Says
The Census Monitoring Board yesterday heard a detailed
presentation from Acting Director James Holmes about how and
why the Bureau developed its 2000 census plan. Mr. Holmes
also discussed the progress of the Dress Rehearsal, which he
called a "smashing success" so far from an operational
standpoint. The Dress Rehearsal also was the subject of a
press conference earlier in the day by Commerce Secretary
William Daley and Mr. Holmes.
In opening remarks by the Board co-chairs, Tony Coelho said
that the panel should ensure that safeguards are in place to
prevent political manipulation of the census. He also said
that the Board should leave constitutional questions about
sampling methods to the courts and any concerns about
redistricting to the state legislatures, which are charged
with drawing congressional districts. Kenneth Blackwell
said he wanted to ensure an adequate flow of information
from the Bureau to the Board and suggested that the panel
should have "unimpeded access" to every part of the Bureau.
Mr. Coelho observed that there should be a distinction
between the level of access granted to panel members and to
staff. He noted that the authorizing law granted broad
access to Census Bureau information "subject to such
regulations as the Board may prescribe in consultation with
the Secretary of Commerce."
The Board, created as part of this year's funding bill for
the Census Bureau, listened to Mr. Holmes describe how
concerns about the accuracy and cost the 1990 count led
Congress and outside experts, as well as the Bureau, to
search for ways to improve the process. The director called
the Dress Rehearsal, still going on in three sites, a
"classroom" where th e Bureau could identify remaining
problems with its plan and make improvements. He reviewed
key operational indicators available so far, including
mail-back rates, recruitment and hiring efforts, telephone
assistance, and the door-to-door visits (called "nonresponse
follow-up). Mr. Holmes reported the following successes in
Dress Rehearsal activities:
* The Bureau met or slightly exceeded its target rates
for mail response in all three sites. About 23,000 people
had called the telephone questionnaire assistance (TQA)
lines (through June 30). 96 percent of those calls sought
help in English, while almost four percent requested
Spanish-language assistance and less than one percent were
for other languages. Less than five percent of the callers
wanted to provide their responses by telephone, however.
* Far more people who were offered census jobs
accepted positions than the Bureau had estimated.
* Turnover among temporary census enumerators was far
lower than the Bureau had expected based on past experience.
* The Bureau completed the door-to-door visits within
the six-week period allotted in Sacramento and the Menominee
Indian Reservation, and slightly faster than the allotted
eight weeks in South Carolina, where the Bureau is testing a
census without sampling methods.
Mr. Holmes discussed problems identified in the Dress
Rehearsal, including an incomplete address list, difficulty
tracking all pages of the long form, and inaccurate maps.
He also warned against complacency in recruiting efforts for
2000 and said it was too early to assess the quality of the
data collected in the dry run. The post-census quality
check survey, which will correct undercounts and overcounts
in the initial tally (called "Integrated Coverage
Measurement"), is continuing in Sacramento and Menominee.
In South Carolina the Bureau is conducting a post-census
survey that will measure accuracy but will not be used to
adjust the final numbers.
Board members asked a wide range of questions following the
director's presentation. Mr. Blackwell expressed concern
that the type of badges issued to Board members and staff
did not allow them the fullest access to the Bureau. Mr.
Holmes assured Board members that they would have full
access to information but said there needed to be an orderly
process to ensure efficiency in meeting requests. In
response to another question from Mr. Blackwell, the
director said the Bureau would be ready to take a census
without sampling if Congress or the courts banned the use of
those methods. Mr. Blackwell also asked for assurances that
the Bureau would not remove people who had sent in their
census forms from the count as part of the sampling
process. In a June 26 guest editorial in The Wall Street
Journal, Mr. Blackwell said it was "unconscionable" for the
Bureau to subtract "real people" from the census in order to
correct for duplicate counting. Mr. Holmes said that the
planned statistical methods do not remove anyone who
answered the census. Rep. Dan Miller (R-FL), chair of the
House census oversight panel, has said he plans to introduce
legislation to prevent the Bureau from subtracting "real
people" from the count.
Lorraine Green, a former deputy director of the federal
Office of Personnel Management, expressed an interest in
helping the Bureau meet its recruitment and hiring goals.
David Murray said he was concerned about errors in the
sampling process used to measure accuracy in 1990, citing
testimony before the House census subcommittee on May 5 that
statistical adjustments could make the census less
accurate. Mr. Holmes said that interpretation was "one
person's opinion" and noted that most other experts endorsed
the Bureau's 2000 census plan. Mr. Coelho pointed out that
Americans should be concerned about the accuracy of the
count in their neighborhoods because if some people don't
respond the entire community will receive less in terms of
resources.
Everitt Ehrlich, former Under Secretary of Commerce,
expressed frustration with charges that the use of sampling
was a "ruse" to achieve political benefit. He noted that
the Bureau had only four political appointees in a workforce
of 10,000, that research on the use of sampling in 2000 had
started during the Bush Administration, and that former
Secretary of Commerce Robert Mosbacher, a Bush appointee,
had overruled experts at the Bureau who had recommended an
adjustment of the 1990 census.
Commerce Secretary Applauds Dress Rehearsal: At a National
Press Club appearance on July 8, Commerce Secretary Daley
warned Congress against delaying full funding for the Census
Bureau next year. Referring to recent action in the House
appropriations subcommittee that controls his Department's
budget (see our June 26 News Alert), Mr. Daley said that
Congress should separate funding from the dispute over
sampling methods. Any interruption in funding, the Secretary
said, could force the Bureau to lay off temporary workers
developing the final address lists, delay contracts for data
processing technology, and "put the entire census at risk."
Rep. Miller issued a written statement in response to the
Secretary's remarks, said "Sec. Daley's cheerleading is a
little premature. The jury is still out on the 1998 dress
rehearsals." In a separate statement, Rep. Carolyn Maloney
(D-NY), co-chair of the Census Caucus, renewed her call for
a Census Subcommittee hearing on the dress rehearsals so
that the public will not be "misled by inaccurate accounts
of what is happening ... "
Mr. Daley said the success of the Dress Rehearsal so far
demonstrates "the superior management and operational
expertise of the Census Bureau." The dry run "gives us
tremendous confidence [that] our plan is solid, it is
strong, and the people are there to implement it," he said.
Questions about the information contained in this News Alert
may be directed to TerriAnn Lowenthal at (202) 484-2270 or,
by e-mail at <terriann2k(a)aol.com>. Please direct all
requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in
address/phone/fax/e-mail, to Keri Monihan at
<kmonihan(a)ccmc.org> or 202/326-8728. Please feel free to
circulate this information to colleagues and other
interested individuals.
Dear Urban Mobility Professional,
I hope you have received my former e-mails regarding our FREE electronic
magazine. At this moment we have completed the first two issues (topics: Y2K
and EURO http://wwww.mobility-net.com/ump). The next issue will discuss
Traffic Management and I again welcome any experts, articles to publish in
the magazine.
In this e-mail I would like to tell you more about Urban Mobility Network
and the possibility for YOU to include yourself in our Expert directory:
Urban Mobility Network (UMN) is the central information and communication
network for the Urban Mobility Professional on Internet and officially
supported by the EPA, IRF, EAPA etc. Urban Mobility Network includes on
this moment five active platforms (Parking, Intelligent Transport Systems,
Road Construction, Public Transport and Traffic).
The UMN Expert-directory is a growing list of Urban Mobility professionals
allowing you to identify and establish contacts with colleagues around the
world. Sofar experience has shown that contacts can be qualified as
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the expert's field of expertise. Thus giving all parties involved the
opportunity to learn from each others experience.
Being a member (free of charge) of this list creates the possibility to
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To subscribe yourself to this expertdirectory please go to
http://www.its-network.com/experts and click on ADD.
Looking forward to your reaction.
Thank you and best regards,
Cindy Kerckhoffs
Editor / Information Manager
Urban Mobility Network
P.O. Box 917
6200 AX Maastricht
Tel. ++31 43 3213022
Fax. ++31 43 3211062
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Subscribe yourself to our FREE electronic magazine:
http://www.mobility-net.com/ump
Visit our Mobility Forum. Current topics : Y2K and EURO :
http://www.mobility-net.com/forum
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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*** NEW SITE: Public Transport :
http://www.publictransport.com/ ***
Dear Urban Mobility experts,
We have completed the second issue of the Urban Mobility Professional
Magazine, discussing the EURO. You can take a look at the magazine by going
to http://www.mobility-net.com/ump/issue2. I welcome any reactions,
suggestions and would like to ask you to participate in our EURO forum
discussion on "http://www.mobility-net.com/forum" (more information can be
found in the magazine).
If you would like to contribute a feature article or have any ideas
concerning topics for future UMP's please send it by to
C.Kerckhoffs(a)mobility-net.com.
Thank you and best regards,
P.s. More information concerning the EURO can be found in our Urban Mobility
platforms (experts, headlines, and articles ).
Cindy Kerckhoffs
Editor / Information Manager
Urban Mobility Network
P.O. Box 917
6200 AX Maastricht
Tel. ++31 43 3213022
Fax. ++31 43 3211062
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe yourself to our FREE electronic magazine:
http://www.mobility-net.com/ump
Visit our Mobility Forum. Current topics : Y2K and EURO :
http://www.mobility-net.com/forum
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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*** NEW SITE: Public Transport :
http://www.publictransport.com/ ***
I had some time today to do some surfing and I snagged this
along the way. Has anyone got a chance to look at any of the
Portland ACS data that is out?
-----------------------------
[Federal Register: May 15, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 94)]
[Notices]
[Page 27053]
[DOCID:fr15my98-63]
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of the Census
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
DOC has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction
Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).
Agency: Bureau of the Census.
Title: 1999 American Community Survey.
Form Number(s): ACS-1, -1(GQ), -3(GQ), -10, -12(L),
-13(L),-14(L), -16(L), -20, -30.
Agency Approval Number: 0607-0810.
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved
collection.
Burden: 227,500 hours.
Number of Respondents: 425,000.
Avg Hours Per Response: 32 minutes.
Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau is developing a
methodology to produce ``long-form'' data on a continual
basis that we traditionally have collected once a decade as
part of the decennial census. This methodology is called
continuous measurement (CM). Since the Census Bureau
collects the long-form data only once every ten years, the
data become out of date over the course of the decade. Also,
there is an increasing need for data describing lower
geographic detail. CM will provide current data throughout
the decade for small areas and small subpopulations.
The American Community Survey (ACS) is the data collection
vehicle for CM. The Census Bureau began a test and
demonstration of the capabilities of the survey collection
and processing system in 1995. Four sites around the country
were originally selected. This number has increased slightly
through 1998 (presently nine sites). The 1999 ACS will be
conducted in 45 sites, including the current nine sites.
Over the next three years (1999--2001), we will be greatly
expanding the number of sites covered and comparing ACS
results to those of the long form which will be administered
in the Census 2000. This 3-year period will help us to
understand the differences between the ACS and the Census
2000 long form. Current plans are to put the ACS fully in
place in 2003.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Frequency: One-time.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Title 13 USC, Section 182.
OMB Desk Officer: Nancy Kirkendall, (202) 395-7313.
Copies of the above information collection proposal can be
obtained by calling or writing Linda Engelmeier, DOC Forms
Clearance Officer, (202) 482-3272, Department of Commerce,
room 5327, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
20230.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of
publication of this notice to Nancy Kirkendall, OMB Desk
Officer, room 10201, New Executive Office Building,
Washington, DC 20503.
Dated: May 12, 1998.
Linda Engelmeier, Departmental Forms Clearance Officer,
Office of Management and Organization.
[FR Doc. 98-12955 Filed 5-14-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
On Tuesday, July 14 the TRB Subcommittee on Census Data for
Transportation Planning will be meeting in Seattle. Here is
the agenda for those who are attending who want a sneak
preview or for those who can not attend who want to follow
our activities.
http://www.mcs.com/~berwyned/census/notes/mtg0798.html
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 11:29:51 -0400
From: Keri Monihan <kmonihan(a)ccmc.org>
Controversy Over Census Methods Continues As Appropriators
Consider FY99 Funding
House Census Chairman Questions Qualifications Of Census
Bureau Director Nominee
The House and Senate appropriations panels took their first
steps this week toward crafting bills to fund the Census
Bureau in the fiscal year starting on October 1, 1998. The
Fiscal Year 1999 Commerce, Justice, State, and The Judiciary
Appropriations bill was approved by the Senate's
subcommittee and full appropriations panel while only the
counterpart House subcommittee completed its work before
legislators headed home for the July 4th break.
The Senate committee allocated $848 million for 2000 census
preparations, the amount requested by the President.
Subcommittee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) indicated at the
June 23 subcommittee 'mark-up' that the final debate over
the use of sampling methods would be put off until next
year. He also criticized the Census Bureau's report to
Congress earlier this year, which spelled out the Bureau's
plan for taking a census without sampling.
The House subcommittee that funds the Census Bureau, chaired
by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY), allocated $956 million for the
2000 census, which includes $4 million for the Census
Monitoring Board. However, only half of that amount would
be available for the Census Bureau to spend through March
31, 1999. The remaining $476 million cannot be spent until
the President, by March 15, formally requests the funds and
gives a cost estimate for completion of the census.
Congress then has until March 31 to pass legislation
allowing the Bureau to spend the remaining funds. The bill
does not specify what will happen if Congress and the
President fail to agree on releasing the funds by that date.
The subcommittee's senior Democrat, Rep. Alan Mollohan
(D-WV), expressed "dismay" at the bill's provisions. He
argued that it violated last year's agreement between
congressional Republican leaders and the White House to put
pressure on both sides to resolve the sampling issue by
subjecting the entire appropriations bill to another funding
vote in March, 1999. Rep. Mollohan said that the President
would insist on upholding the agreed-upon procedure or push
for a resolution of the sampling controversy this Fall.
-------------
Census Bureau Director update: As expected, on June 23, the
President nominated Dr. Kenneth Prewitt, president of the
Social Science Research Council, to be the next head of the
Census Bureau. The nomination will go before the Senate
Committee on Governmental Affairs, chaired by Senator Fred
Thompson (R-TN). Commerce Secretary William Daley called
Dr. Prewitt "one of this nation's most distinguished social
scientists and experienced executives and he called upon the
Senate to consider the nomination quickly. Dr. Prewitt,
speaking at a press conference announcing his selection,
said it is "unfortunate that Census 2000 has become prey to
partisan disagreements." He pledged to work closely with
Congress to "establish in principle and in fact that the
Census Bureau is a nonpartisan agency obligated by law and
guided by professional traditions to present the most
accurate statistics technically possible, at a reasonable
cost." He did not indicate in his prepared remarks whether
he supported the use of sampling in the census.
In a statement on the House floor that evening, census
oversight Chairman Dan Miller (R-FL) questioned Dr.
Prewitt's qualifications for the position. He said that Dr.
Prewitt received the nomination only because he met the
President's "litmus test" of support for sampling, and
suggested that the nominee did not have the management
experience to "lead a huge organization at a time of crisis.
...[h]e ran a think tank, and that is it." Rep. Miller went
on to say: "The Census Bureau needs a General Schwarzkopf,
not a Professor Sherman Klunk, to save the census." In a
separate written statement, the chairman said he hoped that
if Dr. Prewitt is confirmed, he will "demonstrate some
independence from the political handlers in the Clinton
Administration."
Rep. Miller also defended his subcommittee staff director,
Thomas Hofeller, from charges made by some Members of
Congress that Mr. Hofeller had injected racial politics into
the debate over sampling. Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), a member
of the census subcommittee, called a quote by Mr. Hofeller
in a recent column by David Broder (see June 22 News Alert)
"reprehensible" and "race-laden" and he called upon Chairman
Miller to repudiate the statement. Rep. Miller responded
that Mr. Hofeller's quote was taken out of context and that
his staff director had assisted minorities in gaining
political representation through the redistricting process.
-----------------
Census Monitoring Board update: The Census Monitoring Board
will hold its second meeting on July 8. The location and
time for the meeting have not been announced. The Board's
co-chairs have appointed their respective top staffers.
Fred Asbell, executive director for Republican co-chair
Kenneth Blackwell, most recently has worked in the
international telecommunications arena. He served in senior
staff positions at the Department of Labor during the Reagan
Administration and in Congress, and also has held several
senior positions at the Republican National Committee and
the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. Mark
Johnson, appointed by Democratic co-chair Tony Coelho, just
completed a stint as U.S. Deputy Commissioner General at
World Expo '98 in Lisbon, Portugal, where he also directed
the American Pavilion under Commissioner General Coelho. He
has worked in journalism and in Congress, and directed
communications at the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee in the mid-1980s.
--------------------
Legal update: A federal court in Virginia is set to hear
oral arguments in a second case challenging the
constitutionality of sampling in the census. A three-judge
U.S. District Court panel will take up Glavin v. Clinton on
August 7, at 10 a.m., at the federal courthouse in Roanoke,
Virginia (Poff Federal Building, 210 Franklin Rd., S.W.).
The lawsuit was filed in February by Matthew Glavin,
president of the Atlanta-based Southeastern Legal
Foundation, Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), and other individual
plaintiffs. Several counties have moved to join the
sampling opponents in the case, while other cities, states,
counties and Members of Congress have asked to intervene on
the government's side.
-----------------
Executive Branch activities: William G. Barron, Jr., deputy
commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), has
been named Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic
Affairs, the number-two position in the Department's
Economic and Statistics Administration which oversees the
Census Bureau. Mr. Barron, who spent 30 years as a career
civil servant at BLS, will focus on budget and management
issues affecting the 2000 census.
------------------
The Press Beat: The Detroit Free Press (6/15/98), Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette (6/14/98), and The Buffalo News (6/15/98) have
published editorials in support of the Census Bureau's plan
for the 2000 census. We encourage stakeholders to speak with
journalists in their communities about the importance of an
accurate and cost-effective census.
Questions about the information contained in this News Alert
may be directed to TerriAnn Lowenthal at (202) 484-2270 or,
by e-mail at <terriann2k(a)aol.com>. Please direct all
requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in
address/phone/fax/e-mail, to Keri Monihan at
<kmonihan(a)ccmc.org> or 202/326-8728. Please feel free to
circulate this information to colleagues and other
interested individuals.
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 17:11:04 -0400
From: Keri Monihan <kmonihan(a)ccmc.org>
Following is the text from the most recent Census 2000 News
Alert, if you have any questions, please feel free to call
me at 202/326-8728.
President Set To Nominate Prewitt as Census Bureau Director
Move Comes as Appropriators Begin Consideration Of Census
Bureau Funding for FY '99
President Clinton is reportedly set to formally nominate Dr.
Kenneth Prewitt, president of the New York-based Social
Science Research Council, as head of the Census Bureau.
Prewitt is a highly-regarded social scientist who formerly
headed the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago and
was instrumental in founding the Consortium of Social
Science Associations (COSSA). It does not appear that he
has spoken publicly on any issues surrounding the 2000
census.
The director's position has been vacant since Dr. Martha F.
Riche resigned in late January. Atlanta Regional Director
James Holmes has been serving as Acting Director of the
agency. In an article today in the Capitol Hill newspaper
Roll Call, Rep. Dan Miller, chairman of the House census
oversight panel, is quoted as saying that he feared Dr.
Prewitt "is simply being used by the Clinton White House as
yet another statistical shill for their beleaguered
statistical estimation scheme that has brought the 2000
Census to the brink of disaster." The announcement of Dr.
Prewitt's nomination is likely this week.
Budget Hearings. The House and Senate funding panels are
preparing to take initial action on the Census Bureau's
budget bills before Congress heads home for its July 4th
break at week's end. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
on Commerce, Justice and State, The Judiciary and Related
Agencies will "mark-up" the Fiscal Year 1999 (FY99) funding
measure for programs under its jurisdiction on Tuesday, June
23, at 10 a.m. in room S-146, The Capitol. The House's
counterpart subcommittee has set a tentative mark-up for
June 24 (time and location to be announced). Appropriations
panels rarely release details of their budget numbers before
they meet.
Census commentary: Two nationally syndicated columnists
have weighed in on the controversy over the use of sampling
in the census in recent weeks. George Will's column
appeared in numerous newspapers, including The Washington
Post on June 14 under the headline "Would You Buy A Used
Census From This Prez?" In it, Mr. Will accused President
Clinton of disregarding the Constitution's requirement of
"actually locating actual people" and said that "[t]he
central problem is the political temptations in sampling."
He quotes David Murray, head of research for the Statistical
Assessment Service and a member of the new Census Monitoring
Board, as saying: "The ability to 'create' or 'eliminate'
millions of strategically placed citizens with the stroke of
a pen introduces a potent and disturbing new political
weapon." Dr. Murray is a former anthropology professor.
David Broder's column, entitled "Playing Hardball On The
Census," ran in The Washington Post on June 21. Mr. Broder
suggested that sampling opponents may have an easier time
prohibiting the Bureau from using statistical methods
because of provisions in this year's funding bill that the
President accepted. Mr. Broder called the hearing on the
lawsuit filed by Speaker Newt Gingrich "a near disaster" for
the Administration, noting that the two Republican-appointed
judges on the three-judge district court panel "riddled the
Justice Department attorney with skeptical questions." He
also quoted Thomas Hofeller, staff director of the House
census subcommittee, as saying: "Someone should remind Bill
Daley [the secretary of commerce and overseer of the Census
Bureau] that if he counts people the way he wants to, his
brother [Chicago Mayor Richard Daley] could find himself
trying to run a majority-minority city." Mr. Broder
predicted that the Administration might have to appeal an
adverse decision in the lower court on the constitutional
issue to the Supreme Court.
Stakeholder activities: The 2000 Census Advisory Committee
to the Secretary of Commerce held its quarterly meeting at
the Census Bureau's Suitland, MD, headquarters on June 11
and 12. The committee is drafting a final report to the
Secretary that will be delivered before the panel sunsets at
the end of the year. The Secretary has the authority to
reconstitute the panel and appoint new members.
Census Bureau staff discussed plans to distribute data from
the 2000 census through its new Data Access and
Dissemination System (DADS). The Bureau hopes to rely more
heavily on electronic distribution of information, thereby
reducing the amount of paper products available. However
several Advisory Committee members expressed concern that
the new system would limit access for many data users who
cannot afford to use the Internet on a regular basis.
Congressional staff representing Republican and Democratic
members of the House census oversight subcommittee also
spoke to the committee. Tom Hofeller, the panel's staff
director, disagreed with concerns expressed by some
committee members and outside observers that subcommittee
Chairman Dan Miller (R-FL) and his staff were engaging in
"[Census] Bureau bashing," saying that while they clearly
had a "policy disagreement," he had the "highest respect"
for the Bureau's employees. The American Legion's
representative on the panel said that any suggestions that
census numbers could be manipulated for political purposes
implied that Bureau staff would be involved or at least
condone such an action, a conclusion he believed was wrong
and unfair. The American Legion has not taken a position on
the use of sampling methods but is working with the Bureau
to help promote census participation.
Mr. Hofeller and his staff colleagues have visited both the
Sacramento, CA, and Columbia, SC, census dress rehearsal
sites. Mr. Hofeller described the visits as "very
illuminating" and noted several operational concerns
including a "cookie cutter approach" to paid advertising and
outreach, some failures to recruit enumerators indigenous to
each neighborhood (particularly when language barriers
exist), and the pace and accuracy of address list
development efforts. He also suggested that the Census
Bureau is not as eager to plan for a "non-sampling census,"
although Congress directed preparations for two kinds of
censuses in this year's funding bill.
Important housekeeping notes: Census 2000 Initiative
project consultant TerriAnn Lowenthal will have new
telephone and fax numbers, effective June 25. Please make a
note of the following numbers: (tel) 202/484-2270; (fax)
202/554-9851.
Also, please direct all requests to receive our News Alerts,
as well as any change of address, phone or fax, or e-mail
address, to Keri Monihan at the Communications Consortium
Media Center, at <kmonihan(a)ccmc.org>, or 202/326-8728.
Questions about the information contained in this News Alert
may be directed to TerriAnn Lowenthal at (202) 434-8756 or,
by e-mail at <terriann2k(a)aol.com>. Please direct all
requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in
address/phone/fax/e-mail, to Keri Monihan at
<kmonihan(a)ccmc.org> or 202/326-8728. Please feel free to
circulate this information to colleagues and other
interested individuals.
Call for Papers
Personal Travel: The Long and Short of It
June 28-July 1, 1999
Watergate Hotel
Washington, DC
TRB - National Data Task Force
Alan Pisarski, Chair
Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) and the American Travel
Survey (ATS), both conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation,
together provide a complete description of personal travel by residents of the
United States.
A conference is now scheduled for June of 1999. This is the first time the
results of both surveys will be presented together in a joint conference. At
this conference, both federally commissioned papers and papers accepted from
this Call will be presented. Papers will be reviewed by a conference steering
committee, chaired by Alan Pisarski.
We are looking for papers using one or both of the personal travel surveys
for:
* economic impacts of transportation, linking the NPTS and the ATS to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the HUD American
Housing Survey, or other national data
* understanding the link between land use and transportation, such as the
effect of household density and/or the mix of land-use types, on the amount
and type of travel (including non-motorized)
* understanding the interplay of social and demographic characteristics and
travel behavior, including life cycle and household composition, and travel by
special segments of the population such as elderly and low-income.
* issues important to federal policy in transportation, energy, and the
environment, state-wide and metropolitan transportation planning, such as
factors effecting the amount of time spent in travel, mode choice, and trip
length characteristics
* methodological issues in personal travel surveys emphasizing the comparison
and use of data from different surveys
A one-page abstract of the paper topic is due Sept. 8, 1998. Authors will be
notified within 30 days of receipt of the abstracts whether the paper will be
accepted. Papers are due February 15, 1999. To submit abstracts or for
further information, contact:
Nancy McGuckin
Federal Highway Administration
HPM-40
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-0160 phone
(202) 366-7742 fax
Nancy.McGuckin(a)fhwa.dot.gov
OR
Lee Giesbrecht
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
K-20
400 7th St SW
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-0649 phone
202-366-3640 FAX
Lee.Giesbrecht(a)bts.gov
