IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 521 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the 

importance of having a census that is complete and accurate. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 9, 2009 

Mr. DENT (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Ms. 

NORTON, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. CAO, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mrs. MALONEY, 

Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. 

SKELTON, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. 

EHLERS, Mr. PETRI, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. HONDA, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. KANJORSKI) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with 

respect to the importance of having a census that is 

complete and accurate. 

Whereas the decennial census is a responsibility of the Federal Government, mandated by article I, section 2 of the 

Constitution; 

Whereas the enumeration of the population of the United 

States, as determined by the decennial census, is used to 

calculate the representation of each State in the House 

of Representatives; 


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•HRES 521 IH 

Whereas a State’s total representation in Congress, which is 

equal to its number of Senators plus the number of seats 

apportioned to it in the House of Representatives, determines the number of electoral votes afforded to that 

State in Presidential elections; 

Whereas the census has been taken every 10 years since 

1790, when it was first taken under President George 

Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson 

and was carried out by the marshals of the United States 

judicial districts; 

Whereas the Census Act of 1840 first established a central, 

national Census Office during years of enumeration and 

specified that inquiries be made to include ‘‘the pursuits, 

industry, education, and resources of the country’’; 

Whereas the census subsequently became a source of data on 

a number of issues of national importance, such as school 

attendance, educational attainment, and employment; 

Whereas in 1902, the formerly temporary Census Office was 

reorganized into a permanent Bureau of the Census and 

has since evolved into the Nation’s central organ for generating, compiling, and making available statistical demographic information; 

Whereas data generated by the Bureau of the Census are 

used by agencies of the Federal Government to allocate 

funding and to forecast need for a wide range of programs, including Medicare, Social Security, assistance to 

farmers, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, road 

and highway construction, community development 

grants, Federal housing assistance, veterans’ health services, and others; 


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•HRES 521 IH 

Whereas these data are also used by private businesses to 

make sensible decisions concerning where and how to expand their activities; 

Whereas areas are ultimately underserved by the Federal 

Government when significant portions of the population, 

especially those in low-income and minority neighborhoods, fail to participate in the census; 

Whereas full participation in the census is necessary to ensure an accurate depiction of our Nation’s population; 

and 

Whereas April 1, 2010, is the date for the 2010 decennial 

census of population: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the importance and significance 

3 of the census, and encourages full participation in 

4 this critical process; and 

5 (2) urges State, local, county, and tribal gov6 ernmental entities to promote awareness of the cen7 sus and to actively encourage their constituents to 

8 make every effort to be counted. 

Æ 


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