APPENDIX I. RESPONSES TO CHAIRMAN WILSON'S LETTER OF JULY 1971 SOLICITING VIEWS ON A MIDDECADE CENSUS DEAR A. Communications from Members of Congress U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CENSUS AND STATISTICS, : As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Census and Statistics, I felt that I should notify you of the recent developments on the establishment of a mid-decade census series. In our hearings held on May 18 and June 2, 1971, we were privileged to receive excellent testimony from statistical officials representing top level expertise in census administration and from various specialists expressing the ever-increasing needs and current uses made of census data. We were impressed with the substantive views of the various professional associations and particularly the current informational needs expressed by representatives of State, county, and municipal governments. Without exception, all of the witnesses supported fully the establishment of a mid-decade census series to be undertaken in 1975 and every ten years thereafter. Generally they favored a complete enumeration, with the majority indicating that the content of the questionnaire be somewhat less than designed for the 1970 Census of Population and Housing and that small area data be provided in the tabulation program. The quality of this testimony was of the same high level presented in all the hearings on this subject dating back to 1961. At the hearings held on June 10, Dr. George H. Brown, Director of the Bureau of the Census, stated, "At this time the Administration does not recommend a mid-decade census." Obviously, this position presents a hurdle which strikes us as being out of phase with all the testimonies, statements, and other information submitted to us through the years. Assuming that you still have positive views on the need for a mid-decade census, I would appreciate your making such views known in straight forward terms to the President of the United States as soon as possible. According to Dr. Brown, the Bureau of the Census needs 30 months in order to prepare for a complete enumeration census. If we can develop widespread support immediately for such a program, we may still have time to enact legislation authorizing a mid-decade census to be taken in 1975 and every ten years thereafter. For your information and reference, there is enclosed a reprint of my Extension of Remarks introduced in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD of June 14, 1971. These remarks incorporating the New York Times news article will serve to give you further details on the June 10 hearing. Please let me hear from you by sending me a copy of your letter to the President on the subject of a mid-decade census. Very truly yours, Enclosure. CHARLES H. WILSON, Chairman. [From the Congressional Record of June 14, 1971] ADMINISTRATION WITHDRAWS ITS SUPPORT FOR A MID-DECADE CENSUS (Remarks of Hon. Charles H. Wilson) Mr. CHARLES H. WILSON. Mr. Speaker, on June 10 of this year the Subcommittee on Census and Statistics of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee. which I have the honor to chair, held what we had hoped to be the last in a series of hearings on the establishment of a mid-decade census. The members of our subcommittee were led to believe that the administration understood the importance of and the need for a mid-decade census. We were, therefore, shocked when Dr. George H. Brown, Director of the Bureau of the Census, representing the administration, testified that the administration "does not recommend a mid-decade census.' The members of the subcommittee were deeply disappointed and very perplexed by the administration's refusal to endorse the mid-decade census. Quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, I cannot understand how the administration can oppose the mid-decade census when all levels of the Federal Government, along with State and local governments and including recognized national organizations representing statistical users of all types, have told us of their unqualified support for a mid-decade census. Our census subcommittee has heard from hundreds of witnesses over a period of 2 and a half years without hearing one single witness oppose the mid-decade census. Recognizing that a mid-decade census could cost around $140 million, it must be emphasized that our Nation distributes over $10 billion in Federal funds using census data as a guide. There is no doubt in my mind that relying on old data from the decennial census later in the decade costs our Government considerably more than $140 million. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I plan to contact every witness who has appeared before us-Governors, mayors, county supervisors, representatives of census user organizations, and members of the business community-asking them to contact the President advising him of their desperate need for a mid-decade census. Let me make it perfectly clear that if our Nation goes without a mid-decade census, it is the fault of the administration-not Congress. The President will have to accept the responsibility of robbing our Nation, especially our minority citizens and our other citizens in our newly developed suburban areas, of a tool which would develop data of great need while saving our citizens millions in tax dollars. Hopefully, Mr. Speaker, our subcommittee can be instrumental in making the need for a mid-decade census known to the President. I refuse to believe that this administration with its plans to aid our cities would kill the only chance we have to develop the desperately needed data that a mid-decade census would provide. In conclusion, I include in the RECORD an excellent article written by Jack Rosenthal of the New York Times clearly outlining the administration's change of position on the establishment of a mid-decade census: ADMINISTRATION, IN SURPRISE, WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR ANY KIND OF SPECIAL CENSUS IN 1975 (By Jack Rosenthal) WASHINGTON, June 10.-In a reversal of policy that astonished members of a House committee, the Nixon Administration withdrew its support today for any kind of special census in 1975. The move was immediately characterized as incomprehensible by Representative Charles H. Wilson, California Democrat, chairman of the House Census subcommittee. "It means the President is denying growing suburbs as well as central cities the needed information for planning and for Federal funds." Mr. Wilson said. The Administration previously had endorsed a mid-decade census, as did an array of governors, mayors, scholars and commercial users of census data. Their major reason is that about $10-billion a year in Federal funds is allocated according to the most recent population figures. But these figures, now developed for the Census Bureau every 10 years, are increasingly obsolete, particularly for rapidly growing areas. Speaking at the White House last Nov. 30 after a meeting with the President, Secretary of Commerce Maurice H. Stans said, "This Administration has already given its endorsement to a five-year census." But today, the Census Bureau director, George H. Brown, told Representative Wilson's committee that “at this time the Administration does not recommend a mid-decade census." The committee, which in two years of hearings has heard him and hundreds of other witnesses support the idea, was caught by surprise. Mr. Wilson said he would launch a broad campaign to appeal to the President for reversal. The explanation for the abrupt turn around, it appeared was financial. In an interview, Mr. Brown said that the change reflected a desire to explore the possibility of using school enrollment, Medicare, and other administrative statistics as an alternative to mid-decade census. Speaking privately, however, an official of the White Huose Office of Management and Budget said that "budgetary reasons were the principal factor" in the policy change. It was decided, he said, not in the Census Bureau but "at a very high level." In his testimony today, Mr. Brown said a 1975 census would cost from $150million to $250-million, depending on the extent of coverage. Representative Wilson, in an interview later, discounted the potential economy. "There is no doubt in my mind that relying on old data from the 1970 census later in the decade will cost our Government considerably more." Further, he said, the cost would likely be spaced out over five years. "A saving of $25 or $30-million a year?" he asked with irony, referring to the $10-billion a year that is allocated according to population. Mr. Brown, a sandy-haired man with a calm, professional manner, was described by spectators as visibly nervous when he testified today. He read only that half of his prepared text that described alternate types of special census and stating the new Administration position. The rest of the text, submitted for the record, contained a series of strong arguments for gathering the kinds of information that would result from a middecade census. "The use of data based on benchmarks which are 6 to 10 years old creates the possibility of serious inequities," the statement said. Equitable distribution of Federal funds "requires current information on the population of small areas." This need, the statement continued, will become even greater because the President's proposed special revenue-sharing programs would allocate billions of dollars in part on the basis of population. Surveys can produce national and broad regional data, the statement said, but they cannot now give detailed information on minority groups or on smaller cities and towns. Similarly, the statement continued, there are great difficulties in making good estimates for such places. "Here the margins of possible error are so great that neither the Census Bureau, nor any other organization, has been able to make estimates with the accuracy that is needed to permit their use for administrative purposes." Later in answer to questions, Mr. Brown said that there was no inconsistency between this position and the Administration's latest stand. SEPTEMBER 13, 1971. Hon. MAURICE H. STANS, Secretary, Department of Commerce, DEAR MR. SECRETARY: I am pleased to report that we have received some excellent responses to my letter of July 16 to representative persons and organizations giving them a brief report on the hearings on mid-decade census legislation held earlier this year. In view of this support and pending approval of the Subcommittee on Census and Statistics, I am seriously considering the submission of a bill authorizing a mid-decade census of population to be undertaken in 1975 and every ten years thereafter, plus amending various sections of Title 13. United States Code. However, before I advance such a proposal to the Subcommittee, I would appreciate a detailed report on the program currently underway on the use of administrative records. As you know, Dr. George H. Brown, Director of the Bureau of the Census, in his presentation at our hearings on June 10, 1971, stated as follows: Administration position.-"At this time the Administration does not recommend a mid-decade census. However, recognizing the widespread use of small area data for a number of purposes, we are undertaking intensive work on the applicability of administrative records. We will ask for a budget supplement of $500,000 for a study to be conducted during the next 12 months. |