[CTPP] Census News Brief

[Ed Christopher]

BREAKING NEWS: SENATE CONFIRMS ROBERT GROVES
AS CENSUS BUREAU DIRECTOR

The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm Dr. Robert Groves as Director of 
the Census Bureau, overcoming objections of several Republicans more 
than three months after President Obama nominated the renowned survey 
methodologist and former Census Associate Director to head the nation's 
largest statistical agency.  Senators voted 76 - 15 to end debate on the 
nomination and then proceeded to give final approval to the nominee by 
voice vote.

Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE), chairman of the census oversight 
subcommittee, told his colleagues that the census was one of the few 
specific obligations of the federal government mentioned in the 
Constitution and that the decennial census requires thousands of people 
and years of preparation.  "We can't turn a light switch on next April 
and take a census," the chairman said.  Sen. Carper called Dr. Groves 
"an inspired choice" and said the nominee was "ideally suited to this 
position" because of his credentials in survey methodology and his prior 
experience as a senior Census Bureau official.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the senior Republican on the Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over 
the Census Bureau, said that her committee had "scrutinized this nominee 
thoroughly" and had unanimously approved his nomination on May 20.  The 
Census Director "will need to quickly take action to ensure an accurate, 
actual enumeration," Sen. Collins stated, adding that the outcome must 
be "accurate, objective, and free from even the appearance of political 
interference."

Sen. Collins described Dr. Groves as "superbly well-qualified" to head 
the agency.  Addressing colleagues who were concerned that the Obama 
Administration will politicize the census for partisan purposes, the 
senator recounted Dr. Groves' pledges under oath at his confirmation 
hearing "to resign and actively work to stop any action to improperly 
influence the census for political gain."  Dr. Groves also testified at 
the May 15 hearing that he had no intention of using statistical 
sampling methods to adjust the 2010 census, the senator said, and that 
he was "committed to a transparent census process."  "I don't know what 
more you could ask" of a nominee, Sen. Collins concluded, adding that 
Dr. Groves is "not a political person; he is a scientist, a researcher, 
a statistician."

Sen. Collins also criticized the Census Bureau for failed procurements 
that she said "have not been a pretty picture" and have resulted in a 
"dramatic increase in [the] cost of the 2010 census."  The senator said 
that the large investment in new technology for 2010 had "gone to waste" 
because of "gross mismanagement," referring to a significant reduction 
in the Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) contract for GPS-equipped 
handheld computers to gather information from households during field 
operations.
HSGAC Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) called Dr. Groves "a brilliant 
social scientist" who is "well-positioned to see [the decennial census] 
through to a successful conclusion." "The Administration would have had 
a hard time appointing a better-qualified candidate to lead the Census 
Bureau," the chairman said in a statement applauding the final vote.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), who introduced the nominee at his confirmation 
hearing, said Dr. Groves "may be the best candidate ever nominated for 
this position."  Dr. Groves holds Master of Arts degrees in statistics 
and sociology and a doctorate in sociology from the University of 
Michigan and most recently served as Director of the University's Survey 
Research Center, Institute for Social Research.  Sen. Levin noted that 
six former Census Directors, appointed by both Republican and Democratic 
presidents, had written a letter in support of Dr. Groves' nomination.

The President named Dr. Groves to head the Census Bureau on April 2, but 
the nomination stalled after Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Sen. David 
Vitter (R-LA) objected to a confirmation vote until they received 
assurances from the Administration that there would not be a statistical 
adjustment of the 2010 census and that the Association of Community 
Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) would not play a role in the 
decennial count.  During today's debate on a motion to "invoke cloture," 
or end debate, on the nomination, Sen. Vitter said he had written to the 
Administration in June, asking for assurances that ACORN -- one of 
thousands of official 2010 Census partners that have agreed to promote 
participation in the census -- "will have nothing to do with the 
census."  Sen. Shelby said that he had sought similar assurances from 
the Administration in March.  Both senators said they had not received 
responses to their letters.

The two senators discussed charges brought against several workers ACORN 
recruited to help with voter registration during the 2008 election 
cycle.  Sen. Vitter suggested that, as a decennial census partner, ACORN 
would perform "exactly the sort of activity of signing people up" as it 
did in recruiting workers who produced "fraudulent voter registrations." 
  As a non-governmental organization, ACORN enlisted workers to help 
people complete voter registration applications, but was not in a 
position to register voters, which generally is the responsibility of 
local registrars who review applications before adding people to the 
voting rolls.  Sen. Carper pointed out that the role of partner 
organizations is to encourage people to respond to the census and that 
partners receive no money or grants from the Census Bureau.  "This is 
not about ACORN," the chairman said, saying the group's employees would 
not "go door to door."

The Census Bureau will begin recruiting more than three million 
applicants this Fall, to fill about 1.2 million temporary census 
positions over the next year.  Partner organizations communicate the 
availability of census jobs to their constituencies but play no direct 
role in considering and hiring census workers or in collecting 
information from unresponsive households.  All temporary census 
employees must pass a test and will undergo FBI background and 
fingerprint checks before they are approved for work.

Sen. Shelby said he could not support Dr. Groves if the nominee did not 
"denounce" ACORN's role as a 2010 census partner organization.  He 
expressed concern that the political party "controlling the census" 
could affect the distribution of political power in the redistricting 
process and "skew" the allocation of federal funds to communities their 
members represent.  Census data are used to apportion seats in the U.S. 
House of Representatives, to draw federal, state, and local district 
lines, and to allocate more than $400 billion annually under federal 
formula grant programs.

The fifteen Republican senators voting against the motion to end debate 
on the nomination were Sens. John Barrasso (WY), Sam Brownback (KS), Jim 
Bunning (KY), Saxby Chambliss GA), John Cornyn (TX), Mike Crapo (ID), 
John Ensign (NV), Michael Enzi (WY), Johnny Isakson (GA), Jim Risch 
(ID), Pat Roberts (KS), Jeff Sessions (AL), Richard Shelby (AL), David 
Vitter (LA), and Roger Wicker (MS).

The National Association for Latino Elected and Appointed Officials 
(NALEO) Educational Fund, a member of the 2010 Census Advisory 
Committee, issued a statement shortly after the final vote, calling Dr. 
Groves "the right person to lead the Bureau at this critical time of 
planning for next year's enumeration" and saying that the confirmation 
"fills an important leadership void at the Census Bureau."  The 
nonprofit organization urged the Census Bureau to ensure that the 2010 
census communications and outreach program "takes into account the 
current economic and social realities" caused by natural disasters and 
the economic crisis.  NALEO also "strongly condemn[ed] the efforts of a 
small group of organizations with extremist views, and even a member of 
Congress, calling for a boycott" of the census.  The National Coalition 
of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders has urged undocumented residents 
not to participate in the census until the Administration and Congress 
adopt comprehensive immigration reform.  Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) 
has said publicly that her family will refuse to answer any census 
questions other than the number of people living in their household, 
even though census response is required by law.  "A boycott would only 
exacerbate the undercount, which would hurt neighborhoods and 
communities," NALEO said.  "Encouraging anyone not to participate in the 
census is simply wrong."

Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent 
legislative and policy consultant specializing in the census and federal 
statistics. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of 
the author. Please direct questions about the information in this News 
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at TerriAnn2K at aol.com. Please feel free to 
circulate this document to other interested individuals and 
organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is a consultant to the nonpartisan Census 
Project, organized by the Communications Consortium Media Center in 
Washington, DC. Previous Census News Briefs are posted at 
www.thecensusproject.org

-- 
Ed Christopher
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708-574-8131 (cell)

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