Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. CROW. Mr. Chair, I rise today to offer an amendment that would defend the integrity of the U.S. Census.

The U.S. Census is crucial to every community, and it is our duty as Members of Congress to ensure that every person is counted. Not only does the Census send a message that every person should be counted, but it determines how and where Federal dollars are spent.

Simply put, it is crucial for our local cities and counties.

The Census count helps us understand how to best provide healthcare, education, housing, and numerous other public services.

As the chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation and Workforce Development, I have seen how the Census determines how we spend Federal dollars for programs like the Small Business Development Center Program and Community Development Block Grants.

It is clear that the purpose of the citizenship question, which we have already debated and will continue to debate, is not to ensure that resources go to the communities that need it most but rather to stoke fear and suppress the Census count.

In communities like mine, this would have a huge impact. It would undermine our ability to gather an accurate count. That doesn't just hurt people in our community. It strains public resources and poses risks to our community's public health and safety.

I am here to lift up the voices in my community and assure them that Congress will not replace good governance with fear.

While the administration announced that it would continue the data- sharing agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to provide quality statistics, my amendment reasserts that existing law prohibits the Census Bureau from sharing individualized Census data across agencies. Congress must stand firm in assuring the public that no disaggregated data may leave the Census.

Furthermore, this amendment raises awareness of the law that penalizes any disclosure of information by Census employees who share personally identifiable information with agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Escobar).

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Mr. CROW. Mr. Chair, just to be clear, we vehemently oppose the citizenship question because as the evidence has made it abundantly clear, the purpose of that question is to suppress the count and to stoke fears within our communities, which will have a huge detrimental impact to our ability to gain an accurate count and provide resources in an effective way and to govern throughout the country.

I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano).

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Mr. CROW. Mr. Chair, in closing, I just want to reiterate the need that we send a very strong message as Members of Congress that we have to enforce existing law.

We have to provide the confidence to people throughout the country that the Census will not be used to undermine the integrity of the process, that the citizenship question's purpose is to stoke fears and to suppress the count, and that we will not allow those fears to overcome the need for good governance to gain an accurate count and make sure that the government is working effectively and we are providing resources to people throughout our communities.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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