Jeff Miller: “I urge my colleagues, especially those on my side of the aisle, to oppose this amendment. As I said earlier, this is an…”

“I urge my colleagues, especially those on my side of the aisle, to oppose this amendment. As I said earlier, this is an irresponsible amendment because it takes $2.8 billion out of the census and does not replace it. We have to pay for the census. We do not have a choice. It is a constitutional requirement, and we have said all along we were going to do the best census possible and address the problems that have existed in the past censuses. I served on the Committee on the Budget back in 1997, and that is where the problem started, with the budget agreement, which I supported. Reflecting back on it, we never provided any money as part of that. We forgot. We did not intentionally exclude the census funding. But that is $4.5 billion. And in this year's budget it was not included. Now, I will admit my mistake. There were mistakes made in putting that budget together, but we have to provide it. That is the reason it is going to become an emergency. I wish it was not an emergency. Ideally it would not be. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment.”