Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 From: Census2000 <Census2000(a)ccmc.org> House Leaders Consider Shifting Census Oversight to Internal Watchdog Committee Monitoring Board, House Panel Continue Hearings House Republican leaders are considering a proposal to transfer jurisdiction over the census to the House Oversight Committee, which is responsible for congressional office budgets, campaign finance reform and contested elections, and operations of the House generally. The pending change was reported last week by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call and confirmed by lawmakers and staff aides who work on census issues. Under the proposal, the Subcommittee on the Census of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, created a year ago, would be eliminated. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the senior Democrat on the census subcommittee, strongly criticized the proposed shift. "The Leadership felt their control on this issue slipping away. People are becoming more aware of their ploy to be sure America's minorities remain anonymous," Rep. Maloney said in a written statement. She accused Republican leaders of "burying the Census issue in a paper pushing committee." Census Subcommittee Chairman Dan Miller (R-FL) has not yet issued a statement. He and Rep. Maloney were presiding over a hearing in Miami, FL, last Thursday to examine local efforts in support of the census. The House Oversight Committee has six Republican and three Democratic members; the Government Reform panel's current party ratio is 24 to 19, plus one Independent. Chaired by Rep. William M. Thomas (R-CA), the Oversight panel has no subcommittees. The committee's senior Democrat in the 105th Congress, Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-CT), is leaving the panel. Roll Call also reports that Republican leaders might change the panel's name back to the Committee on House Administration, the title used when Democrats were in the majority. Responsibility for overseeing Census Bureau activities in the House of Representatives has shifted several times in recent years. Prior to 1995, the Subcommittee on Census and Population (later called the Subcommittee on Census, Statistics, and Postal Personnel) of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service had jurisdiction over the Census Bureau and broader issues related to the Federal statistical system. The entire committee was eliminated when Republicans assumed the majority in 1995, and jurisdiction over the census was handed to the Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice of a revamped Government Reform panel. The national security subcommittee was chaired by former-Rep. William Zeliff (R-NH) in the 104th Congress, and then by Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) for the first year of the 105th Congress. Republican leaders created the new census subcommittee at the start of 1998 and named Rep. Miller as chairman. It is unclear whether the House Oversight Committee would monitor all Census Bureau activities and other data issues or just the 2000 census. Another subcommittee under the Government Reform panel has been examining changes to the Federal rules governing the collection of racial and ethnic data. Monitoring Board continues hearings: The Census Monitoring Board will hold a hearing in Sacramento, CA, on December 16, to discuss the nearly-completed census dress rehearsal. Sacramento was one of three sites where the Census Bureau conducted a dry-run of census operations this year. Under a congressional directive to prepare for two census designs, the Bureau carried out its original plan in Sacramento, which included sampling to complete follow-up visits to unresponsive households and a post-census quality check survey to measure and correct under-and overcounts. The Board's hearing will take place from 8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., in the City of Sacramento Council Chambers, 915 "I" Street. The meeting is open to the public. Congressional hearings continue: The House Subcommittee on the Census held a hearing in Miami, FL, last Thursday to discuss ideas from local officials and community organizations on how to ensure an accurate census. According to a December 11 article in The Miami Herald, witnesses from community-based organizations and Rep. Carrie Meek (D-FL) told the lawmakers that statistical methods must be used in addition to the traditional mail and door-to-door counting. Rep. Maloney praised a letter in support of the Census Bureau's 2000 plan signed by nearly two-dozen local groups including the Urban League, the Alliance for Aging, the Haitian American Foundation, and the Miami-Dade County Hispanic Advisory Board. Chairman Miller said that more aggressive promotion could improve the accuracy of the census and noted that two Federal district courts concluded this summer that sampling was unlawful. At a press conference earlier in the week, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas announced the formation of a Complete Count Committee to oversee and coordinate local activities in support of the 2000 census. Mayor Penelas said the area's net undercount of 70,000 in 1990 "shortchanged" the community. "For a successful Census that includes everyone, we need to use statistical techniques such as sampling," he noted. The Mayor was joined by representatives of community organizations including the NAACP, American Association of University Women, Organization of Chinese Americans, and Cuban American National Council, Inc. All of the groups stressed the importance of census participation in their communities and voiced support for the use of sampling to supplement the direct counting effort. The subcommittee plans additional field hearings to discuss ideas from local officials and community-based organizations on improving the census process. At the December 3 - 4 meeting of the 2000 Census Advisory Committee, Chairman Miller's staff announced sessions in Phoenix, AZ, on January 28, and Los Angeles, CA, several days later. The hearings were disclosed before word of the subcommittee's possible elimination became public. Congressional committee assignments: Republican and Democratic lawmakers continued to make committee assignments in anticipation of the start of the 106th Congress on January 6. Three new Senators will join the Committee on Governmental Affairs, which oversees the census: Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), who also chairs the appropriations subcommittee responsible for the Census Bureau's budget, and freshmen Senators George Voinovich (R-OH) and John Edwards (D-NC). The new committee members will replace Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Don Nickles (R-OK) and retiring Sen. John Glenn (D-OH), the panel's senior Democrat. The Census 2000 Initiative will publish a roster of all congressional committees with responsibility for census funding and oversight after the 106th Congress convenes and panel assignments are complete. 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>om>. Please direct all requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in address/phone/fax/e-mail, to Census 2000 at <Census2000(a)ccmc.org> or 202/326-8700. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals.