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# History

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### Legislation

### Also in this Section:

                          - Legislation 1989 - Present
                          - Legislation 1974 - 1983
                          - Legislation 1942 - 1954
                          - Legislation 1902 - 1941
                          - Legislation 1830 - 1899
                          - Legislation 1789 - 1820
                          - House Committee on the Census (1901-1946)
                          - Senate Committees on the Census (1878-1921)

## Legislation 1989 - Present

                        - An Act of August 16, 1989 (P.L. 101-86)  Download PDF   [138KB PDF]                           - Cancels penalties on federal or military pension recipients for persons hired as temporary enumerators for the 1990 decennial census for six months or less of employment.
                        - Dire Emergency Supplemental Appropriation Act of 1990  Download PDF   [80KB PDF]                           - Provides an additional $110,000,000 dollars as a contingency reserve to pay for a larger-than-expected non response follow up operation during the 1990 enumeration.
                        - An Act to Amend Public Law 101-86 (May 17, 1990) (P.L. 101-293)  Download PDF   [75KB PDF]                           - Removes the six-month limit on the cancellation of penalties for federal or military pension recipients employed as temporary workers for the 1990 decennial census.
                        - Deceptive Mailings Prevention Act of 1990 (November 6, 1990) (P.L. 101-524)  Download PDF   [316KB PDF]                           - Makes it illegal for a non-government direct mailing to imitate a government document (such as a census form).
                        - Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1991 (October 24, 1991) (P.L. 102-135)  Download PDF   [275KB PDF]                           - Authorizes the secretary of commerce to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to study ways to achieve the most accurate population count possible and collect other demographic and housing data.
                        - Census Address List Improvement Act (October 31, 1994) (P.L. 103-430)  Download PDF   [20KB PDF]                           - Authorizes the Census Bureau to share its address files with state and local governments to develop complete and accurate address lists to be used in carrying out censuses and surveys.  Bans participating local governments from using information provided by the Census Bureau for any other activities and subjects locally appointed census liaisons to the confidentiality requirements and wrongful disclosure penalties of Title 13.   The law also requires the U.S. Postal Service to provide any address-related information to the Census Bureau that is appropriate for use in any census or survey conducted by the agency.
                        - Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (November 26, 1997) (P.L. 105-119)  Download PDF   [334KB PDF]                           - Title 2 of the law includes the appropriation for the Department of Commerce for fiscal year 1998.  Section 209 of title 2 contains the language reflecting the compromise reached between the Clinton administration and the congressional leadership in the debate over the use of statistical sampling in the 2000 census.  The legislation, among other things, permitted the Census Bureau to continue to plan for sampling, while directing the agency to plan for a census without statistical sampling, as well.  This was later referred to as "dual track" planning.     The legislation, in section 210 of title 2, also sets up an eight-member "Census Monitoring Board" to observe and monitor all aspects of the planning and implementation of the 2000 census.
                        - Signing Statement by President Clinton for P.L. 105-119  Download PDF   [21KB PDF]                           - President Clinton's statement regarding legislation that provided more than $31 billion in discretionary budget authority for vital law enforcement,   international affairs, economic development, and environmental  programs.  The statement also addresses funding the decennial census in 2000 and use of statistical sampling.
                        - Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (December 17, 2002) (P.L. 107-347)  Download PDF   [309B PDF]                           - Enhances the management and promotion of electronic government services and processes by establishing a federal Chief Information Officer within the Office of Management and Budget, and by establishing a broad framework of measures that require using Internet-based information technology to enhance citizen access to government information and services, and for other purposes.
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                          Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Census History Staff |  Last Revised: December 14, 2023