William L. Clay: “I stand in support of the Maloney-Rangel amendment to improve the count of Hispanics in the 2000 census. This issue is a…”

“I stand in support of the Maloney-Rangel amendment to improve the count of Hispanics in the 2000 census. This issue is a very simple one: the Census Bureau changed the question on Hispanic origin from the 1990 questionnaire to a different format on the 2000 questionnaire. As a result, it is difficult to compare the count from some of the subgroups of Hispanics. The Census Bureau can go a long way towards fixing this problem using data from the long form. This amendment makes sure the money to fix this problem is in the right place. I am a bit puzzled by those who oppose this amendment. I am, frankly, a bit puzzled about why the Census Bureau has not come up with a plan to fix this problem. Do these people not care about an accurate count on Hispanic groups? Mr. Chairman, the Census Bureau director, Ken Pruitt, went around the country talking to the American people about how the census was an American celebration. He called it a celebration of our country and our democracy. The census, he told us, is what makes our democracy uniquely American. The American people listened to the director and responded in an unprecedented fashion. I do not know of a single person in this House or professional census taker or statistician who predicted that the 2000 census would have the kind of response we witnessed. Now it is the Government's turn to respond to the people.”