Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1997

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Decennial Census Improvement Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Constitution requires that the number of persons in 
        the Nation be enumerated every 10 years in order to permit the 
        apportionment of Representatives among the several States;
            (2) information collected through a decennial census is 
        also used to determine--
                    (A) the boundaries of congressional districts 
                within States;
                    (B) the boundaries of the districts for the 
                legislature of each State and the boundaries of other 
                political subdivisions within the States; and
                    (C) the allocation of billions of dollars of 
                Federal and State funds;
            (3) the Constitution requires that those enumerations be 
        made in such manner as the Congress ``shall by law direct'';
            (4) in the 1990 decennial census, the Bureau of the Census 
        used a combination of mail questionnaires and personal 
        interviews, involving more than 350,000 enumerators, to collect 
        the census data;
            (5) in August 1992, the Bureau concluded that the 1990 
        decennial census had failed to count four million persons or 
        1.6 percent of the population;
            (6) the extent of the undercount varies by group and by the 
        part of the country involved; for example, the undercount in 
        the 1990 decennial census was--
                    (A) 4.4 percent for African Americans, 4.5 percent 
                for American Indians, 2.3 percent for Asians or Pacific 
                Islanders, and 5 percent for Hispanic Americans; and
                    (B) 3.1 percent for New Mexico, 2.8 percent for 
                Texas, 2.7 percent for California, and 2 percent for 
                Florida;
            (7) in 1993, the Bureau concluded that legislation 
        providing that pay for temporary census enumerators in the 2000 
        decennial census not be used to reduce benefits under Federal 
        assistance programs would make it easier for the Bureau to hire 
        neighborhood people as temporary census enumerators in low-
        income neighborhoods;
            (8) a number of lawsuits were filed challenging the 
        accuracy of the 1990 decennial census, and in March 1996 the 
        Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Secretary of Commerce's 
        decision in July 1991 not to adjust the initial enumeration in 
        the 1990 decennial census by using a postenumeration 
        statistical survey;
            (9) on February 28, 1996, the Bureau announced that, for 
        the 2000 decennial census, it plans to use a combination of 
mail questionnaires and personal interviews in each county until it has 
collected data from 90 percent of the households in the county, 
whereupon it would conduct interviews with respect to one-tenth of the 
remaining households in the county and use the information obtained 
from those interviews to make estimates with respect to the remaining 
nonresponding households;
            (10) certain witnesses testified, at a hearing held by the 
        Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of 
        Representatives on February 29, 1996, that the Bureau's 
        proposed sampling technique may increase the disparity in the 
        undercount among either geographic areas (such as between rural 
        and urban areas) or racial or ethnic groups (such as with 
        respect to African Americans and Hispanic Americans, as 
        compared to other groups);
            (11) the planning, conduct, and analysis of a decennial 
        census often requires close to a period of 10 years;
            (12) the Bureau estimates that the proposed sampling 
        technique will cost about $500 million less, over that period 
        of time, than the $4.4 billion that it estimates would be spent 
        over that same period if the method used in the 1990 decennial 
        census were to be used (instead of such sampling technique) in 
        the 2000 decennial census; and
            (13) the Chairman of the Panel on Census Requirements in 
        the Year 2000 and Beyond of the National Academy of Sciences 
        testified at the February 29th hearing that there is a trade-
        off between cost savings associated with using a sampling 
        technique on the one hand, and adverse effects with respect to 
        sampling variability, public perception, and political 
        consequences, on the other.
    (b) Purposes.--It is the purpose of this Act to promote the 
accuracy of the 2000 decennial census, and public confidence with 
respect to the data obtained therefrom.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS.

    The 2000 decennial census shall be conducted in accordance with the 
following:
            (1) Direct contact must be attempted.--The Bureau shall 
        attempt to contact every household directly (whether by mail or 
        in person), and may use sampling as a substitute for direct 
        contact in a particular census tract only after direct contact 
        has been made with at least 90 percent of the households in 
        such tract.
            (2) Greater use of non-federal resources.--The Bureau--
                    (A) shall seek to make more effective use of State 
                and local government offices, as well as appropriate 
                local groups, in order to reduce the undercount; and
                    (B) shall include, as part of its report under 
                section 141(f) of title 13, United States Code, next 
                due after the date of the enactment of this Act, a 
                description of the measures it intends to pursue to 
                carry out subparagraph (A).

SEC. 4. MEASURES TO FACILITATE THE RECRUITMENT OF TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES.

    (a) Purposes for Which Compensation Shall Not Be Taken Into 
Account.--Section 23 of title 13, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Compensation for services performed by an individual 
appointed by the Secretary to a temporary position for purposes 
relating to the 2000 decennial census (if the position is so designated 
by the Secretary, in writing, at the time of such individual's 
appointment) shall not be taken into account for purposes of 
determining either the eligibility of any individual for or the amount 
of benefits payable to an individual under any Federal, State, or local 
program financed in whole or in part with Federal funds.''.
    (b) Exemption From Provisions Relating to Reemployed Annuitants and 
Former Members of the Uniformed Services.--Public Law 101-86 (13 U.S.C. 
23 note) is amended--
            (1) in section 1(b) and the long title by striking ``the 
        1990 decennial census'' and inserting ``the 2000 decennial 
        census''; and
            (2) in section 4 by striking ``December 31, 1990.'' and 
        inserting ``December 31, 2000.''.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``census'' means a census of population within 
        the meaning of section 141(g) of title 13, United States Code;
            (2) the term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of the Census; and
            (3) the term ``census tract'' means a statistical 
        subdivision as defined by the Bureau for purposes of the 1990 
        decennial census.

Summary: Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1997 - Requires the Bureau of the Census, in conducting the 2000 decennial census, to: (1) attempt to contact every household directly, whether by mail or in person. And (2) seek to make more effective use of State and local government offices and appropriate local groups to reduce the undercount and include in a specified report a description of the measures it intends to pursue to carry out such requirement. Prohibits taking into account compensation for services performed by an individual appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to a temporary position for purposes relating to the 2000 decennial census for purposes of determining either the individual's eligibility for benefits, or the amount of benefits payable to an individual, under any Federal, State, or local program financed with Federal funds. Modifies Federal law regarding exemptions for reemployed annuitants and former uniformed service members to make such law: (1) applicable to service in any temporary position within the Bureau established for purposes relating to the 2000 decennial census. And (2) inapplicable to any service performed after December 31, 2000.