Carolyn Maloney: “I appreciate the gentleman's statement. As he knows, this is an issue that many of us in a bipartisan way have worked on…”

“I appreciate the gentleman's statement. As he knows, this is an issue that many of us in a bipartisan way have worked on for many years. As you know, my original bill did create an independent Office of the Census, which by definition would have had an IG. But at the protest of some of my colleagues and some in the Commerce Department, we kept it in the Commerce Department, but with independence, so that the Census Director could speak honesty and truth. I don't think any of us want to keep someone from testifying in an honest and truthful way and having their words possibly changed by someone else. I would like to place in the Record a series of editorials in support of this bill, from USA Today and many others. There have been hearings on it, including one in the Joint Economic Committee, where seven former Census Directors in a bipartisan way testified in support of this bill. I would also like to place in the Record the testimony of Dr. Bryant, a Republican Census Director, and other Republican Census Directors, along with Dr. Pruitt and others, their testimony on how we can get a more reliable, transparent, usable census for accuracy for the American people.”