I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5292 

To establish a task force to review new decennial census questions and 

their impact on response rates for minorities, the accuracy of the census, 

redistricting, costs and funding distribution, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 15, 2018 

Mr. SOTO (for himself, Mr. VELA, Mrs. TORRES, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. 

SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. CORREA, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. COSTA, Ms. 

NORTON, and Ms. CLARKE of New York) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To establish a task force to review new decennial census 

questions and their impact on response rates for minorities, the accuracy of the census, redistricting, costs and 

funding distribution, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘2020 Census Account5 ability Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Since the adoption of the 14th Amendment, 

4 the Constitution has mandated that all persons—re5 gardless of race, citizenship, or legal status—be in6 cluded in a count of the United States that is con7 ducted every 10 years. 

8 (2) The addition of questions to the 2020 de9 cennial census questionnaire, less than three months 

10 before the Bureau of the Census must submit final 

11 questionnaire wording to Congress, is ill-timed and 

12 divides resources without fair consideration. 

13 (3) Lack of sufficient funding and resources for 

14 the 2020 decennial census further hinders the high15 tech enumeration strategy preparations. 

16 (4) Untested questions, whether related to citi17 zenship or any other topics, would result in millions 

18 of wasted taxpayer funds and depressed response 

19 rates thereby discrediting the accuracy of the decen20 nial census. 

21 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

22 The purpose of this Act is to create a task force of 

23 census experts to— 

24 (1) ensure that questions added to the 2020 de25 cennial census do not negatively impact the accuracy 

26 or integrity of the decennial census; and 


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1 (2) to assess how changes to questions on the 

2 decennial census proposed by Federal operations, 

3 programs, policies, and initiatives affect participa4 tion in and the integrity of the decennial census be5 fore submitting such changes to Congress on March 

6 31, 2018. 

7 SEC. 4. TASK FORCE ON THE 2020 DECENNIAL CENSUS. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bu10 reau of the Census shall establish the ‘‘Task Force on the 

11 2020 Census’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Task 

12 Force’’). 

13 (b) DUTIES.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

14 of establishment of the Task Force, the Task Force shall 

15 report to Congress on— 

16 (1) existing and potential policies and measures 

17 that promote full participation in the decennial cen18 sus by all residents of the United States; 

19 (2) potential negative impacts on minority pop20 ulations resulting from the addition of a citizenship 

21 question to the decennial census, including potential 

22 impacts on— 

23 (A) congressional reapportionment; 

24 (B) legislative redistricting; and 

25 (C) distribution of Federal funds; 


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1 (3) civil rights issues that could be affected 

2 with the addition of a citizenship question to the 

3 2020 decennial census; and 

4 (4) a potential decrease in participation related 

5 to the addition of citizenship questions. 

6 (c) MEMBERS.—The Task Force established under 

7 subsection (a) shall include representatives of— 

8 (1) State, local, and tribal governments or asso9 ciations; 

10 (2) academic and nongovernmental organiza11 tions with expertise in the decennial census; and 

12 (3) relevant organizations, including nonprofit 

13 organizations, representing effective data and re14 search related to the decennial census, minority pop15 ulations, and civil or human rights advocacy. 

16 SEC. 5. SUNSET PROVISION. 

17 The Task Force shall terminate following the decen18 nial census. 

19 SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 

20 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the sev21 eral States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

22 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 

23 American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

24 Mariana Islands. 

Æ 


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