Jeff Miller: “In less than 12 months we will be conducting the 2000 decennial census. We all share a common goal, everybody in this…”

“In less than 12 months we will be conducting the 2000 decennial census. We all share a common goal, everybody in this room and everybody in America should, that we want the most accurate census possible. It has to be a legal census and it should not be a political census. The census is so fundamental to our Democratic system I call it the DNA of our democracy, because most elected officials in America are dependent upon the census. It affects the number of congressional seats each State receives. It affects the size and shape of our districts. It affects State representatives and State senators, their districts. It affects school boards, county commissions, city council members. Essentially, most elected officials are going to be impacted by this because this is how we make sure there is equal and fair distribution of the political process in this country. Unfortunately, the political process has been brought to bear on this census and that is too bad that the President has chosen to introduce politics into the census because we do not need a political census.”