Tom Coburn: “What this amendment does is very straightforward. It eliminates that portion of the census which is not truly an…”

“What this amendment does is very straightforward. It eliminates that portion of the census which is not truly an emergency from this bill. Our Founding Fathers wrote in that we would have a numerical count of the population of this country every 10 years. We have, in fact, known that we were going to be required to have a census count in the year 2000 in 1990. We knew it in 1980. We have known it since the country was founded. The application of an emergency designation for something that is well-known to need to occur is inappropriate in this case. Because I could not strike it purely as an emergency, my only option was to strike the amount. I want to give my colleagues the criteria for funding something as an emergency, and this is under the rules of the House. It is necessary, essential or vital. Well, it meets that. It is sudden, quickly coming into being and not building up over time. It definitely does not meet that. It is an urgent, pressing and compelling need requiring emergency action. It does not meet that. We have known that. It is unforeseen, unpredictable, and unanticipated. It does not meet that because we have known about this for a considerable amount of time. It is not permanent. Well, it meets that. This is a 1-year expenditure. But it does not qualify under these guidelines. Describing the census as unforeseen, unpredictable and unanticipated is difficult given the fact we have a 10-year census every 10 years.”