Sean Patrick Maloney: “Mr. Speaker I rise today to discuss the 2000 census and in particular the two lawsuits that have been generated because…”

“Mr. Speaker I rise today to discuss the 2000 census and in particular the two lawsuits that have been generated because of the 2000 census. As many of my colleagues know, Speaker Gingrich and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Barr) each have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the use of statistical methods when conducting a census. What my colleagues may not know is that 25 other Members of Congress who support the use of statistical methods when conducting a census have joined those two lawsuits to make sure that our position is represented in the court system. As a Member of that group of 25, I want to give the Members of this House a status report on the two lawsuits. On Monday, April 6, 1998, the administration moved to dismiss both lawsuits on the constitutional grounds that the plaintiffs, Gingrich and Barr, lack standing to sue the Census Bureau because they will not be harmed by the proposed plan and that the cases are not yet ripe for adjudication because the census is 2 years away. The rhetoric from Members opposed to an accurate census suggests that the administration is hiding behind the procedural issues of standing and ripeness. This is simply not the case. As everyone knows, each case brought before a court must be reviewed procedurally before it can be reviewed on its merits. A case cannot go forward if it is not procedurally sound.”