CENSUS NOMINEE CLEARS FIRST SENATE HURDLE Plus: Legislation promotes more data on Caribbean ethnicities; House Republicans target Sampling in the census; and more. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a confirmation hearing on May 15 to review the nomination of Dr. Robert Groves to be director of the U.S. Census Bureau. The committee will vote on the nomination on May 20 (9:30 a.m., 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building). Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) must decide whether to schedule a Senate vote before the Memorial Day congressional recess starts at week’s end. Senator Carl Levin (D) of Michigan, where Dr. Groves currently heads the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, and is a sociology professor, introduced the nominee, noting that seven former Census directors, who served in both Democratic and Republican Administrations, strongly endorsed President Obama’s choice to head the agency. Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE), who chaired the hearing as head of the census oversight subcommittee, called the decennial census a “daunting task” that required the Census Bureau, after a decade of preparation, to conduct the enumeration with “lightening execution in real time without any flaws.” For 2010, the chairman said, population growth and increased diversity continue to challenge the Census Bureau, while costs continue to escalate. Pointing to an estimated cost per housing unit of $100 for the 2010 census, compared to about $56 in 2000, the senator said additional spending “must improve the quality of the data.” He also cited “under-funding” during the previous Administration for outreach to minorities and a “colossal failure” of the IT contract for GPS-equipped handheld computers for field data collection, as additional challenges. Sen. Carper described Dr. Groves as “up to the challenge” and “well prepared” to be Census director. In opening remarks, Dr. Groves called his nomination a “singular honor.” He highlighted the importance of a “professional, objective, non-partisan Census Bureau,” saying that the “credibility and accuracy” of federal statistics is paramount and that he would be “transparent to the many stakeholders of the census.” Dr. Groves also addressed up front the concerns of House Republicans that he would advocate for a statistical adjustment of the 2010 census. He agreed with Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, the nominee said, that adjustment has been “eliminated as an option for reapportionment and will not be used for redistricting,” referring to a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a provision of the Census Act (Title 13, U.S.C. §195) prohibits the use of “sampling” to compile the state population figures used for congressional apportionment. Dr. Groves went on to suggest that Congress has “demanded innovation” in census-taking and that the Census Bureau should “constantly search for ways to improve the way we collect data” and discuss those ideas with Congress. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the committee’s ranking member, was the only Republican to attend the hearing. She asked the nominee to discuss how he would “ensure that the 2010 decennial census is free from political influence from either side of the aisle.” Dr. Groves said that “transparency” and “doing one’s work in an open environment,” as well as continued dialogue with stakeholders, were the best ways to counter the possibility of inappropriate political interference in Census Bureau activities. He also suggested that the Census director must speak out against improper partisan influence and said, in response to a question from Sen. Collins, that he would resign if he were unable to prevent such influence and would then work actively from outside the government to stop political abuses in the statistical system. Sen. Collins asked Dr. Groves if he would advocate for a statistical adjustment of the 2010 census; the nominee said he would not. After noting that it is “impractical” to consider an adjustment for the 2010 census, because the Census Bureau has not prepared for it, the senator asked about the possibility of using the methodology in 2020. “I have no plans to do that for 2020,” Dr. Groves answered. Sen. Collins final question concerned the management of information technology contracts at the Census Bureau. Dr. Groves described the challenge as both a “research and development” and “management” function, requiring detailed user involvement in development of IT systems from beginning to end, as well as constant, close oversight of large contracts by top agency officials, who he said must understand the details as well as the “big picture.” Sen. Collins told Dr. Groves that she was “satisfied” with his answers on all three issues she had raised. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), the only other senator to attend the hearing, said he was “very impressed” with the nominee, who he called “well qualified to provide leadership” at the Census Bureau. The long-time member of the Senate’s census oversight subcommittee emphasized the importance of staffing issues, saying the Census Bureau must make it a priority to “invest in its workforce in order to meet its mission.” Sen. Akaka noted that 25 percent of career Census Bureau employees are eligible to retire next year and also expressed concern about a lack of diversity in the Census Bureau workforce. Dr. Groves said he was “terribly worried” about this “large problem,” which he said could not be “solved with the current pipeline of students [with American citizenship]” studying quantitative sciences in college. He suggested that the federal government must review legal status requirements for some scientific-agency positions and advocated “partnerships” between federal statistical agencies and universities, to help steer more students into career paths that would help the government meet its recruitment needs. Dr. Groves assured Sen. Akaka that “the will is here” to increase diversity in hiring at the Census Bureau. Other topics covered at the confirmation hearing included reasons for the census undercount and overcount, and ways the Census Bureau can motivate historically hard-to-count population groups to participate in the count. Dr. Groves cited long-standing factors associated with a greater likelihood of being missed in the census, such as tenuous or ambiguous ties to a single household among some young men, isolation from the larger society, mobility (of children) due to divorce, limited English proficiency, and more recently, economic distress that has led families to double-up in one housing unit. He said personal visits to households that do not mail back a census form, as well as “tailored methods [of communication]” to build confidence among diverse population groups, were key to reducing the undercount. “The solutions are not simple,” Dr. Groves acknowledged. Dr. Groves discussed the role of research at the Census Bureau, noting that current methods for measuring business activities and population characteristics would not continue to work successfully into the future. “Innovation is needed” and “can pay for itself” through efficiencies in data collection, the nominee told lawmakers. The private sector may spearhead some future innovations, Dr. Groves said, pointing to a “vibrant research and development environment” outside of the Census Bureau. Sen. Carper also asked about the importance and quality of the planned accuracy-check survey – called the Census Coverage Measurement, or CCM, survey – now that a statistical adjustment of the 2010 census was “off the table.” Dr. Groves said that federal statistical agencies have an obligation to produce the best data possible and then to “tell the public how bad those are and how good those [estimates] are.” He advocated funding the CCM program at a level that allows the Census Bureau to produce reliable estimates of census coverage. As the hearing concluded, Chairman Carper asked the nominee what Congress should be doing as the 2010 census approached. Describing the 2010 census plan as “fixed,” Dr. Groves said that any major changes now to the design were risky. The nominee said he plans to quickly establish a “risk assessment study” that would call on expertise from both within and outside the Census Bureau, and that the Census director must make “calm, fast, and flexible decisions” when problems arise during the actual count. House Republicans react to Groves’ testimony: House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued a statement on Friday, saying that while he appreciated Dr. Groves’ assurances that the Census Bureau would not statistically adjust the 2010 census to correct undercounts and overcounts, “our concerns about the Census potentially being tainted by political influence remain.” Rep. Boehner also objected to the “partnership” agreement between the Census Bureau and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a non-profit grassroots organization that advocates for low- and moderate-income people. (See March 22 Census News Brief for more information on Republican concerns about ACORN.) ACORN is one of thousands of state and local organizations that have signed up to be 2010 census “partners,” which help recruit census workers and provide space for testing and training temporary employees, distribute census materials, and sponsor community events to promote the census. 140,000 organizations participated in the Census 2000 partnership program. The Minority Leader called on Dr. Groves to “sever all ties” with ACORN, which he described as “an organization rife with internal corruption and that was responsible for multiple instances of vote fraud in the 2008 presidential election.” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), senior Republican on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, praised Dr. Groves after the confirmation hearing. “I share Mr. Groves’ commitment to a nonpartisan Census Bureau and commend him for acknowledging that the Census is a constitutional responsibility and function of the Congress,” Rep. Issa said in a written statement. In his opening remarks at the hearing, Dr. Groves noted the role of all three branches of government in the census. Article I, section 2 of the Constitution requires a census every ten years “in such Manner as they [Congress] shall by Law direct,” Dr. Groves said, and Congress has delegated the authority for taking the census to the Executive Branch (Title 13, U.S.C.). The Judicial Branch has weighed in, he said, by ruling that the Census Act prohibits the use of sampling methods for congressional apportionment. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), ranking member on the House census oversight subcommittee, also issued a press statement “commend[ing] Dr. Groves for his well-articulated understanding of the consequences of partisan meddling in the census,” referring to Dr. Groves’ statements that the Census Bureau would not statistically adjust the 2010 census. Rep. McHenry also warned the Census Bureau not to hire census takers from “the ranks of ACORN, an organization skilled at committing fraud with government forms.” Republican staff of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a report prior to the confirmation hearing, entitled, “Census History: Counting Every Person Once, Only Once, and in the Right Place.” The report (available at http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/media/pdfs/20090511Censusreport.pdf) “details the results of a historical analysis of attempted political manipulation of the Census spanning a timeline from before the U.S. Constitution was ratified to the present.” Referring to “the latest attempt by the White House to politicize the Census,” the staff concluded that, “political manipulation of the Census or within the Census Bureau has been consistently rejected throughout the course of American history.” They also noted that the Constitution “delegates the Executive Branch and President no role in conducting the Census except for how Congress, ‘shall by Law direct’.” Article 1, section 6, of the Constitution provides that a bill may not become law unless signed by the President or unless approved over the President’s objection by two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and Senate, unless the President does not take any action within ten days of receiving the bill and Congress is still in session. Lawmakers propose more detailed data on Caribbean Americans: Two bills pending in the House of Representatives would require the Census Bureau to collect data on Caribbean ethnicities in the decennial census. In March, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) introduced H.R. 1504, to require the Census Bureau to collect data on Dominican Americans in the decennial census using a check box or similar response option. The 2010 census questionnaire will offer respondents of Hispanic origin the opportunity to check boxes indicating Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin” descent. Respondents checking the latter box may write-in their ethnicity. The race question includes check boxes for “White,” “Black, African American, or Negro,” nine Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups (as well as write-in boxes for “other” Asian or Pacific Islander subgroups), “American Indian or Alaska Native” (with a write-in box for enrolled or principal tribe), and “Some other race” (with a write-in box). Rep. Yvette Clark (D-NY), herself a Caribbean American, introduced similar legislation (H.R. 2071) in April that would require a check box on the census form for respondents of “Caribbean extraction or descent.” Both bills are pending before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has not yet scheduled hearings on the measures. Latino leaders continue to urge census participation: One of the nation’s leading Spanish-language newspapers, La Opinion, urged a coalition of Latino evangelical clergy to end their proposed boycott of the 2010 census, calling the strategy “a dangerous mistake” and “verg[ing] on political suicide” in a May 12th editorial. The newspaper said the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders’ (CONLAMIC) suggestion that undocumented immigrants not participate in the census until Congress and the Administration adopt comprehensive immigration reform was a “grave mistake.” “It is ironic that at the same time CONLAMIC is promoting non-participation in the census, there are conservative groups that want to exclude the undocumented from the count. The two groups’ intentions are diametrically opposed, but the result of creating a ghost population is the same,” the editors wrote. The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which according to its web site serves “the 16 million Hispanic born-again Christians in the United States and Puerto Rico … on issues that pertain to the family, immigration, economic mobility, education, political empowerment, social justice, and societal transformation,” also urged all Latinos living in the United States to be counted in 2010. Conference president Rev. Samuel Rodriguez told the Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA; May 9, 2009) that CONLAMIC’s boycott effort would “cause more trepidation in a community that was already naturally hesitant to participate in the census.” Meanwhile, CONLAMIC reported that the board of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey voted to support the Coalition’s appeal to undocumented immigrants to avoid the census. LLANJ was formed in 1999 to “guide our Latino communities to develop statewide initiatives for the benefit of all,” according to its web site. Information about its position on a census boycott was not available on the LLANJ web site. Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent legislative and policy consultant working with a wide range of census stakeholders to promote an accurate 2010 census. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the author. 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. Ms. Lowenthal is a consultant to the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Previous Census News Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org. -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA Resource Center 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461