September 3, 1998 Justice Department Will Appeal Census Ruling To Supreme Court Congress Presses Administration for "Nonsampling" Census Plan On August 25, the Justice Department notified a federal court that it would appeal the court's order barring the Census Bureau from using sampling or statistical methods to produce the population counts used for congressional apportionment to the U.S. Supreme Court. This year's Commerce funding bill (Public Law 105-119) set up a direct appeal to the high court in lawsuits challenging the constitutionality and legality of sampling and called for an expedited review by the court. A special three-judge panel of the District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on August 24 that the Census Act (title 13, United States Code) prohibits the use of sampling to count the population for purposes of apportionment. Other federal courts, in cases dating back to the 1980 and 1990 censuses, reached the opposite conclusion. During the 1990 census, the Justice Department concluded that the Census Act and the Constitution permitted the use of sampling methods to improve a good-faith direct counting effort, although it noted the difficulty in interpreting seemingly conflicting provisions of the law. Then-Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher decided against a statistical correction of the undercount on other grounds. The court in the current case did not address the constitutional question (and therefore did not find that the Constitution requires a physical headcount of the population, as the plaintiffs argued). The district court opinion in the case of U.S. House of Representatives v. U.S. Department of Commerce, et al. is available on the internet at www.dcd.uscourts.gov/ <http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/>. Congressional hearing: The House Subcommittee on the Census will hold a hearing on Wednesday, September 9, to review the status of census preparations. Secretary of Commerce William Daley and Acting Census Bureau Director James Holmes have been invited to testify. The discussion is likely to focus on plans for conducting a census without sampling and statistical methods in light of the district court ruling. The hearing will begin at 1:00 p.m. in room 2203 Rayburn House Office Building. Appropriations update: Before leaving town for its August break, the Senate appointed members who will serve on a conference committee that must iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the Commerce funding bill for fiscal year 1999. The conferees, all members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, are: Republicans: Judd Gregg (NH), Ted Stevens (AK), Pete V. Domenici (NM), Mitch McConnell (KY), Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (CO), Thad Cochran (MS). Democrats: Ernest Hollings (SC), Daniel Inouye (HI), Dale Bumpers (AR), Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Barbara Mikulski (MD), Robert Byrd (WV). The House will appoint its conferees when it reconvenes after Labor Day. Census Monitoring Board activities: The Board has scheduled a meeting for September 18 in Washington, DC (Exact location and time to be announced). The Board has moved into its new offices at Census Bureau headquarters in Suitland, MD. The presidentially-appointed Board members (led by co-chair Tony Coelho) and their staff can be reached at 301/457-9900. The members appointed by the congressional Republican leadership (led by co-chair Kenneth Blackwell) and their staff can be reached at 301/457-5080. Media Watch: Increasingly, press accounts of the controversy over census methods have described the population subgroups most likely to be missed as people "who tend to vote Democratic." Editorials both supporting and opposing the use of scientific methods in the 2000 census, as well as many news articles, have relied on this description to explain why the disagreement has been largely along partisan lines. It's important to remember that the census doesn't count voters, and people who are counted in the census don't necessarily vote. About half of those not counted in 1990 were children and immigrants who can't vote. Others who the census is likely to miss are alienated from or mistrustful of government, and are therefore less likely to vote, as well. So the next time you read in your local paper about the census counting voters, consider dashing off a letter to the editor to set the record straight! Stakeholder activities: The 2000 Census Advisory Committee will hold its quarterly meeting on September 24 and 25 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Washington, D.C. The meeting is open to the public. Census Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's): From time to time the Census 2000 Initiative will address frequently asked questions about census policy issues and operations. Question: Under its 2000 census plan, what will the Census Bureau do if more than 90 percent of households in a given census tract mail back their census forms? Answer: Every census form that is returned by mail will be counted, even if the mail-back rate exceeds 90 percent in a census tract. Here's how it will work: All (100%) known households will get a census form in the mail. A certain percentage will mail back the form. Next, census takers will visit enough of the unresponsive households to ensure direct contact (mail, telephone, and personal visits) with at least 90 percent in every tract. For example, if the mail-back rate in tract "A" is 60 percent, census takers will visit three of every four unresponsive households. Finally, the Bureau will estimate characteristics for the remaining 10 percent based on the characteristics of the other unresponsive homes in tract "A" (60% + 30% + 10% = 100%). For all census tracts with mail-back rates of 85 percent or above, census takers will visit one of every three unresponsive households. In 1990, there were no census tracts with mail-back rates over 90 percent. Nevertheless, in 2000, no census forms will be discarded, no matter how high the mail-back rate in a census tract. Consider a hypothetical census tract where 94 percent of the households send back their forms. All of those questionnaires will be counted. Then census takers will visit one in three of the remaining six percent (or two percent of the total number of households in the tract). The final four percent will be estimated based on information gathered from the nonresponsive households that were visited in person (94% mail response + 2% visited + 4% estimated = 100%). Questions about the information contained in this News Alert may be directed to TerriAnn Lowenthal at (202) 484-2270 or, by e-mail at &lt;terriann2k(a)aol.com&gt;om>. Please direct all requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in address/phone/fax/e-mail, to Keri Monihan at &lt;kmonihan(a)ccmc.org&gt; or 202/326-8728. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals.