A Fair and Accurate Census Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Today, Americans continue to face several crises created by the Biden administration: Sky-high inflation, painfully high gas prices, and supply chain shortages.
President Biden's border crisis is allowing waves of illegal immigrants and fentanyl shipments to flood across our southern border.
Our children are suffering from historic learning losses and a mental health crisis because this administration allowed radical teachers unions to keep schools closed.
Yet what are Democrats prioritizing today instead of these crises impacting Americans' everyday lives? The Democrats' Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census Act.
This bill has nothing to do with the American people's priorities. In fact, it will do nothing to make the Census more fair and accurate. Instead, it places a great deal of power in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and hamstrings future Presidents.
During the prior Census, the President sought to include in the Census a question simply asking respondents whether they were American citizens. The Supreme Court found this was constitutional but that the Census Bureau had gone about it improperly.
This bill would prevent the inclusion of such a question in the future, a question key to upholding the principle of one citizen, one vote.
Now, under the Biden administration, there are questions about whether the Department of Commerce delivered accurate apportionment results derived from the Census. Those results were critical because they determined the apportionment of this body's 435 congressional districts among the several States. We still don't know for sure whether the apportionment results were fair and accurate.
But this bill does nothing to fix that problem or any of the other real problems associated with the 2020 Census. Indeed, it will make it easier for future Census results to drive the apportionment of congressional districts unfairly to favor blue, Democrat-leaning States over red, Republican-leaning States.
Why is that?
Because the bill weakens the accountability of the Census Bureau to the President and the Secretary of Commerce, committing by statute all operational, statistical, and technical decisions about the Census to the Census Bureau's Director.
The bill makes it harder to overrule the Director even when the President, the Secretary, or Congress are concerned, the Director's decisions will yield an unfair or inaccurate Census.
Making matters worse, the bill allows only an unaccountable career employee to serve as acting director when no Senate-confirmed director is in place.
Finally, the bill severely constrains the ability of future Censuses to include important new questions, such as the citizenship question, which a majority of Americans want asked on the Census.
But it is precisely the counting of actual citizens that ensures Census results will produce congressional districts fairly, representing all citizens in Congress.
During the Oversight and Reform Committee's consideration of this bill, Republicans offered amendments that would have cured these problems. These amendments would have made sure Census Bureau officials remained accountable to the voters through the President. They would have made sure a question on citizenship would have been included in future Censuses, guaranteeing a fair basis for the apportionment of congressional districts.
But were Democrats concerned then about ensuring a fair and accurate Census by supporting these amendments? No. Democrats voted them down on a party-line vote.
Mr. Chairman, the American people deserve better from this legislative body.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations for the Oversight Committee.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs).
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chairman,
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I have no more speakers on the underlying bill, and
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, the U.S. House of Representatives should focus on helping the American people survive economic turmoil and defending our borders and national security.
I urge House Democrats to get back to what the American people elected us to do: Conduct oversight over the Federal Government and the Biden administration, which is on a path to destroy America.
We need to hold hearings, conduct oversight, and pass legislation addressing the crises affecting America today. That is our constitutional responsibility. But instead, we are spending valuable resources and time on divisive political messaging bills.
I am just amazed that the Democrats advocate for legislation on the House floor pertaining to the Census, which would ask a question about your sexual preference, but they want to pass legislation to oppose asking the question whether you are a legal citizen or not. That is just another example of tone-deaf leadership. That is not what the American people want.
Mr. Chairman, I oppose H.R. 8326, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I stress the urgency and importance of this legislation. The United States Census Bureau is a foundational institution and one that we must take all necessary steps to protect.
The Census is for all people and should count every person. Efforts to politicize the Bureau have real consequences that can reduce response rates and thereby lessen the representation and resources available to communities.
I thank my colleagues for speaking in support of this bill, the former directors and advocates that have lent their support, and I encourage us all to vote in favor of ensuring a fair and accurate Census count.
No matter the party affiliation, every one of us has an interest in providing our best services to our constituents.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 8326 and the underlying amendments, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8326, the Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census Act, and thank you for bringing this vital legislation to the floor today.
I applaud the Committee on Oversight and Reform for this necessary and thoughtful bill. By establishing structural and functional standards, H.R. 8326 would insulate the Census Bureau from the type of tactics and abuse it encountered in the few years preceding the 2020 decennial census count.
Among its key provisions are the statutory codification of the Director's and Deputy Director's roles. Doing so would improve the Census Bureau's operational effectiveness, accountability, and transparency.
Specifying their duties also provides the opportunity to establish responsibilities that will enhance the work product of the Census by improving the fair and accurate counting of all Americans.
In that context, I offered an amendment to H.R. 8326, and I would like to thank the Rules Committee for making my amendment in order, and the Committee on Oversight and Reform for including it in the En Bloc amendment.
By reforming the operations of the Census Bureau, this bill enables us to ensure that racial and ethnic equity in the decennial count will be a priority in future decennial counts.
My amendment would enhance the bill's operational impact.
It would specify that the deputy director appoint an official with responsibility to optimize racial and ethnic equity in the Census count. To ensure that equity be a priority, this official would report directly to the director and deputy director.
My amendment directs the equity official to engage and collaborate with organizations that have influence with racial and ethnic groups, develop strategies and tactics to maximize participation of these populations, and rectify the undercount that has been typical of recent Census counts, especially among immigrants and homeless people.
The status of the efforts to optimize racial and ethnic equity will also be included in the Census Bureau's biannual reports to Congress, to ensure accountability and bolster the likelihood of progress.
Optimization of racial and ethnic equity in the Census count requires designation of a high-ranking official with direct responsibility for achieving this goal and reports directly to the Census leadership.
My amendment establishes that function, makes racial and ethnic equity in the decennial count a priority, specifies key strategies that must be undertaken, and ensures that Congress receives regular reports about the progress toward the goal.
H.R. 8326 is an excellent bill with vital reforms that are aptly augmented by my amendment's use of this opportunity to, at the same time, advance equity in the Census count.
In light of the decennial count's extremely consequential impact in terms of funding allocation formulas, political district apportionment, and other uses, it is imperative that the Census Bureau elevate racial and ethnic equity to a top priority in its counting strategies and procedures.
My amendment would create a framework for achieving this objective.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chair, I rise to oppose the amendments en bloc.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the en bloc package of amendments offered by Chairwoman Maloney.
Specifically, I am opposed to the amendments offered by Representative Jackson Lee and Representative Case and will address them each.
First, Ms. Jackson Lee's amendment requires the Deputy Director of the Census to appoint a new employee within the Census Bureau whose sole responsibility is to, ``optimize racial and ethnic equity in the decennial Census population.''
The core mission of the Census Bureau, as it already stands, is to conduct an accurate count of all people residing in the United States on Census day when the decennial Census is being conducted.
This is the mission for every employee who works on the Census. This new position is completely unnecessary and redundant of the Census Bureau's preexisting mission to count everyone in the United States regardless of their race or ethnicity.
Because this amendment appears to be an attempt to inject identity politics into the Census Bureau's work, and because it would duplicate efforts already underway at the Census Bureau, I must oppose.
I turn to Representative Case's amendment, which requires the Census Bureau to create and submit yet another report to Congress, but it fails to require the Census Bureau to actually do anything substantive to improve.
The Census Bureau already conducts extensive engagement campaigns with local jurisdictions to ensure an accurate count of all people during the decennial Census. This report would require the Census Bureau to outline additional processes for engaging with local jurisdictions.
The amendment would also require that the Census Bureau report to Congress on progress in implementing open GAO recommendations, but it does not outline any deadlines for implementing those open recommendations.
Finally, the amendment contains an open-ended invitation for the Census Bureau to ask for ``additional resources.'' This is Washington speak to throw even more taxpayer money at the Census Bureau in the near future.
I fear this amendment will merely waste precious Census Bureau time and resources with an additional report with the sole purpose of justifying future taxpayer expenditures.
Therefore, I must oppose both of these amendments.
Mr. Chair,
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment offered by the Government Operations Subcommittee ranking member, my colleague, Jody Hice.
I support this sensible amendment, which will preserve vital accountability mechanisms for the Director of the Census Bureau. The bill attempts to insulate the Census Bureau Director and empower an unaccountable career Deputy Director. We should not be tying the hands of a future President to properly exercise executive oversight over the management of the Census Bureau.
Mr. Chairman, I encourage my colleagues to support the commonsense Hice amendment.
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