Jay Rockefeller: “today I want to introduce legislation to direct the Census Bureau to develop a test census of Americans living abroad in…”

“today I want to introduce legislation to direct the Census Bureau to develop a test census of Americans living abroad in 2004. The long-term goal is to develop methods to include Americans living overseas in our next decennial census in 2010. There are approximately 3 million to 6 million private American citizens living and working overseas, and many of them continue to vote and pay taxes in the United States. These citizens help increase exports of American goods, because they traditionally buy American, sell American, and create business opportunities for American companies and workers. Their role in strengthening the U.S. economy, creating jobs in the United States, and extending U.S. influence around the globe is vital to the well-being of our Nation. I believe that Americans abroad deserve to be counted, and to achieve this goal we must begin with a test census next year. For many years, I have been proud to work on policies to ensure that Americans living abroad are treated fairly.”