[CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF

CONCERNS ABOUT GREGG ON CENSUS PROMPT WHITE HOUSE TO ASSERT AUTHORITY; REPUBLICANS CHARGE POLITICIZATION OF CENSUS COUNT Plus: Senate continues stimulus spending debate; 111th Congress continues to organize. Responding to concerns from key census stakeholders about the President’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, Obama Administration officials said the Census Director would report directly to the White House, according to an article by Jonathan Allen in today’s Congressional Quarterly. A posting by Philip Rucker on The Washington Post Blog subsequently quoted a White House statement as saying: “From the first days of the transition the Census has been a priority for the president, and a process he wanted to reevaluate. There is historic precedent for the director of the Census, who works for the commerce secretary and the president, to work closely with White House senior management, given the number of decisions that will have to be put before the president. We plan to return to that model in this administration." It was not clear from the Administration’s statement whether the Census Director would bypass the Commerce Secretary only on matters related to the 2010 census or on all Census Bureau activities. Republican leaders on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has jurisdiction over the census, called the Administration’s plan a “power grab to politicize [the] census.” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the committee’s senior Republican member, and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the new ranking minority member on the committee’s census oversight panel, said in a statement: “President Obama’s calls for bipartisanship are severely damaged when reports indicate they’re maneuvering to stab Republicans in the back through a national gerrymander orchestrated directly by the White House.” In a letter to the President, the lawmakers said they were “shocked and dismayed” by the White House’s statement on the census. “Requiring the Census Director to report directly to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is a shamefully transparent attempt by your Administration to politicize the Census Bureau and manipulate the 2010 Census.” Rahm Emanuel is a former Democratic member of Congress and former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Reps. Issa and McHenry also suggested that having the Census Director report directly to the White House might violate the Census Act (Title 13, United States Code), which places the Census Bureau under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce. President Obama nominated Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) to head the Commerce Department, which houses the U.S. Census Bureau, earlier this week. As reported in the February 3, 2009 Census News Brief, Sen. Gregg chaired the Appropriations subcommittee that funded the Census Bureau during the 2000 census and objected to an “emergency” appropriation of $1.7 billion that the Clinton Administration requested after a 1999 Supreme Court ruling forced a redesign of the census. The nomination prompted some census stakeholders to express concern about the Senator’s commitment to ensuring an accurate 2010 census. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, issued a statement saying, in part, “[S]en. Gregg’s record of previously voting to abolish the Commerce Department and his attempts to block President Bill Clinton’s efforts to secure adequate funding for the 2000 census raise troubling concerns regarding his commitment to the department’s core missions.” The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), a member of the Census Bureau’s 2010 Census Advisory Committee, said in a statement that Sen. Gregg’s “record raises serious questions about his willingness to ensure that the 2010 Census produces the most accurate possible count of the nation’s population. … NALEO will be closely monitoring the confirmation process to learn more about Secretary-Designate Gregg’s view of the Department’s responsibility to conduct an accurate census.” Amendments target extra funds for census in stimulus bill: The U.S. Senate continued consideration of the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” today, after defeating at least one amendment that would have stripped funds for the 2010 census from the measure. Yesterday, by a vote of 32 – 65, senators rejected an amendment offered by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to “eliminate unnecessary spending” in the stimulus bill, including $1 billion for 250,000 additional census takers, more partnership specialists, and increased outreach and promotion. In a statement explaining his amendment, Sen. Vitter called the 2010 census a “bottomless pit,” noting that Congress allocated additional funds for the census last year after the Census Bureau dropped plans to use handheld computers for door-to-door visits to unresponsive households. The proposed funding, the senator said, “is not job creation … it is not economic stimulus. … [It] is run-of-the-mill, Washington-big-Government spending,” suggesting that Congress should debate the need for more money at another time. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) decided not to offer an amendment to eliminate the census funds from the stimulus bill. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), ranking Republican on the Census Bureau’s oversight subcommittee, reportedly was still considering such an amendment. 111th Congress continues to organize: Congressional committees continue to organize for the 111th Congress. Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have made subcommittee assignments for the 111th Congress. The Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives is responsible for oversight of the Census Bureau and authorization of Census Bureau activities. Republicans are expected to announce their subcommittee assignments by next week; Rep. Patrick McHenry will be the new ranking Republican member on the census oversight panel. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives (Democratic Members) Chair: William Lacy Clay, Missouri Paul Kanjorski, Pennsylvania Carolyn Maloney, New York Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia Danny Davis, Illinois Steve Driehaus, Ohio Diane Watson, California Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Please direct questions about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to other interested individuals and organizations. Previous Census News Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461