On the recordApril 14, 1999
What we are trying to do is assure a fair count for groups that have traditionally been undercounted. That is why this legislation moves from six languages that are included in the Census surveys to 33 languages, including braille, so that we can get at these hard-to-count populations that have traditionally been undercounted. If they can read the forms, if they can read them in their own language, they are much more likely to answer them. Although it is only 1.3 percent of the population that are included in these additional languages, these are groups who have been traditionally undercounted that we are trying to get at. The 33 languages come from the Census department's own advisory committee, in terms of what these languages are. That is why we are increasing the advertising.
Source
govinfo.gov
