James Comer: “Today, I introduce the Citizens Count Census Act of 2019, a bill that would require a citizenship question on the United…”

“Today, I introduce the Citizens Count Census Act of 2019, a bill that would require a citizenship question on the United States Census. If we defeat the previous question, as the gentleman from Georgia said, then we will be able to consider my bill. It has always been common sense to include a citizenship question on our Nation's Census. The purpose of the Census Bureau and all Census surveys is to include data used for apportionment and to better inform the public about the population, business, and economics of the United States of America. The collection of citizenship information during a population census is a common practice among countries. This is not new, and it should not be controversial. A citizenship question is asked on the census in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, to name a few. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the United Nations recommends that countries gather citizenship information about their populations. Knowing how many legal and nonlegal individuals are within our borders is a perfectly appropriate question to ask on our Census, and I hope we can pass this measure to see that happen. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge all of my congressional colleagues to vote for this commonsense legislation to ensure we know exactly how many citizens reside in this country.”