Sean Patrick Maloney: “I rise to discuss the census lawsuits that will be argued before the Supreme Court on November 30 of 1998. Mr. Speaker…”

“I rise to discuss the census lawsuits that will be argued before the Supreme Court on November 30 of 1998. Mr. Speaker, you sued the Department of Commerce to prevent it from carrying out its plans to use statistical methods in the 2000 Census. A similar case was filed by private citizens, including the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Barr). Members must understand the importance of these cases, as my comments will demonstrate. I am confident that the Supreme Court will rule that the statutes and the Constitution permit the use of statistical methods. We must have the most accurate census possible and the use of statistical methods is the only way to ensure accuracy. Mr. Speaker, I ran across a very good example of why statistical methods are the only real solution to an accurate census. It appeared this morning in the New York Times, and it talked about the Welcome Wagon. It stated that the Welcome Wagon, this is a program that used to welcome new residents to their neighborhoods and also do a little marketing for local merchants. The article says that the Welcome Wagon is closing its doors. Why? Because people are not home.”