Pete Stark: “I rise today to call for the use of modern statistical methods in order to assure an accurate census in the year 2000.…”

“I rise today to call for the use of modern statistical methods in order to assure an accurate census in the year 2000. Without this, the undercount of the urban and rural poor and minorities will persist. H.R. 472, the Local Census Quality Check Act, would prevent the use of statistical methods by requiring the use of a postcensus local review as part of each decennial census. Representative Dan Miller's bill would require the Census Bureau to review the count of local addresses a second time--nine weeks after the census field work is done. This new requirement will consume so much time that the Census Bureau will be unable to carry out its plans to use modern statistical methods. The 2000 census will suffer from the same flaws as the 1990 census--millions of people missed and millions of others counted twice. Mr. Speaker, an accurate count is essential to California. The population in the 13th district of California was undercounted by 11,857 for the years 1991-1999. This translated into nearly $32 million in lost federal funds. In addition to formula funds, hospitals and community clinics which provide vital services in our communities use census data to determine where to build and whom to serve. Without an accurate count, our citizens will again be denied essential services.”