Census 2000: Sampling as an Appropriations Issue In the 105th Congress Page: 1 of 6
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98-321 GOV
Updated September 1, 1998Census 2000: Sampling as an Appropriations
Issue In the 105th CongressJennifer D. Williams
Analyst in American National Government
Government DivisionSummary
The 105th Congress has debated the decennial census sampling issue mainly in the
appropriations process, beginning with FY1997 supplemental appropriations legislation
for disaster relief. In FY1998 appropriations for Commerce, Justice, and State, the
Judiciary, and Related Agencies (CJS), the Senate (S. 1022) instructed the Bureau of the
Census not to make "irreversible" Census 2000 sampling plans, while the House (H.R.
2267) sought a moratorium on these plans, pending expedited judicial review of their
constitutionality and legality. As enacted (P.L. 105-119; 111 Stat. 2440), H.R. 2267 still
provided for expedited judicial review, but allowed a limited test of sampling in the
1998 dress rehearsal for the census; the law also established a Census Monitoring Board.
Sampling remains an issue in FY1999 CJS appropriations. The Senate passed S. 2260,
approving the Clinton Administration's $848.5 million request for Census 2000 while
expressing "grave concerns" about census plans. The House, approving H.R. 4276,
recommended $952 million but would withhold $476 million of the total until Congress
(by March 31, 1999, after a formal request by the President) passed legislation releasing
the $476 million. This report will be updated to reflect further developments. For
related products, see CRS Report 97-137 GOV, Census 2000: The Sampling Debate;
and CRS Report 94-89 GOV, Decennial Census Coverage: The Adjustment Issue.
Background
On February 28, 1996, the Bureau of the Census, in the Department of Commerce,
announced its plans to conduct two new sample surveys connected with the 2000
decennial census. The final census results would incorporate data from these surveys into
the initial headcount. The first survey, for "nonresponse followup," would collect data
from a sample of housing units whose occupants had not mailed back their census
questionnaires to the bureau. In past censuses, the bureau has tried to contact persons in
all these housing units. This process, never completely satisfactory, was especially
difficult and expensive in 1990. The second survey, for "integrated coverage
measurement," would attempt to correct miscounts (undercounts and overcounts) in theCongressional Research Service + The Library of Congress
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Williams, Jennifer D. Census 2000: Sampling as an Appropriations Issue In the 105th Congress, report, September 1, 1998; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc806051/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.