Bob Menendez: “Mr. Speaker, in our last census the GAO estimates that 26 million Americans were counted twice, counted in the wrong…”

“Mr. Speaker, in our last census the GAO estimates that 26 million Americans were counted twice, counted in the wrong district or not counted at all. Now some in Congress say that kind of census result is acceptable, but I strongly disagree. When we are talking about a constitutional guarantee, we cannot settle for 80 or 90 percent correct. Our standard has to be full and fair participation for all. The good part is, we know how to get that 100 percent accuracy through modern, scientifically proven statistical methods. Let me just say as the former mayor of the most densely populated city in America I can say that by using the limited time and resources we have to needlessly repeat a local review process, H.R. 472 actually prevents us from getting an accurate count. Why would the Republicans not want an accurate count? Maybe it is because African Americans are seven times more likely to be missed than whites or that the difference in the undercount between whites and blacks in the last census was the highest ever. Or maybe it is because 1.5 million Hispanic Americans were not counted at all. Maybe it is because people of color are denied equal representation at every level of government because of an inaccurate count.”