Jeff Miller: “tonight I want to introduce myself to the American people and to all the stakeholders in the 2000 decennial census. My…”

“tonight I want to introduce myself to the American people and to all the stakeholders in the 2000 decennial census. My name is Dan Miller and I represent the 13th Congressional District in Florida. I am the new chairman of the Subcommittee on the Census. The task of our subcommittee is to work with and to oversee the Census Bureau to ensure that we have a successful 2000 census. For many Americans listening tonight, the 2000 census may not seem like the most interesting subject. I know it is tough to get excited about how to count people. We do, after all, count sheep in our head to try to fall asleep. But the census is important, and it has real impact on us and our government. Why do we take a census every 10 years? For two reasons. Let me repeat that, for two reasons. First, we take the census to apportion the Representatives, and the House Representatives among the 50 States. As the population grows and shifts between States, the numbers of Members each State elects to represent it in this House may increase or decrease. The second reason is to redraw the district boundaries of congressional and legislative districts to equalize those districts' populations. That is done so each Member represents the same number of people. This must be done for congressional, State legislative, county and even city council districts. This is necessary to preserve the historic gains of our civil rights laws and guarantee one person, one vote.”