II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3167 

To amend title 13 of the United States Code to provide for a 5-year term 

of office for the Director of the Census and to provide for the authority 

and duties of the Director and Deputy Director of the Census, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2010 

Mr. CARPER (for himself and Mr. COBURN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 13 of the United States Code to provide 

for a 5-year term of office for the Director of the Census 

and to provide for the authority and duties of the Director and Deputy Director of the Census, 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 ‘‘Census Oversight Effi5 ciency and Management Reform Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF DIRECTOR AND DEP2 UTY DIRECTOR OF THE CENSUS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21 of the title 13, United 

4 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘§ 21. Director of the Census; Deputy Director of the 

6 Census; authority and duties 

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

8 ‘‘(1) ‘Director’ means the Director of the Cen9 sus; 

10 ‘‘(2) ‘Deputy Director’ means the Deputy Di11 rector of the Census; and 

12 ‘‘(3) ‘function’ includes any duty, obligation, 

13 power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, ac14 tivity, or program. 

15 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR OF THE CENSUS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall be 

18 headed by a Director of the Census, appointed 

19 by the President, by and with the advice and 

20 consent of the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS.—Such appoint22 ment shall be made from individuals who have 

23 a demonstrated ability in management and ex24 perience in the collection, analysis, and use of 

25 statistical data. 

26 ‘‘(2) GENERAL AUTHORITY AND DUTIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall re2 port directly to the Secretary without being re3 quired to report through any other official of 

4 the Department of Commerce. 

5 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The Director shall perform 

6 such duties as may be imposed upon the Direc7 tor by law, regulations, or orders of the Sec8 retary. 

9 ‘‘(C) INDEPENDENCE OF DIRECTOR.—No 

10 officer or agency of the United States shall 

11 have any authority to require the Director to 

12 submit legislative recommendations, or testi13 mony, or comments for review prior to the sub14 mission of such recommendations, testimony, or 

15 comments to Congress if such recommenda16 tions, testimony, or comments to Congress in17 clude a statement indicating that the views ex18 pressed therein are those of the Bureau and do 

19 not necessarily represent the views of the Presi20 dent. 

21 ‘‘(3) TERM OF OFFICE.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term of office of 

23 the Director shall be 5 years, and shall begin on 

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1 after. An individual may not serve more than 2 

2 full terms as Director. 

3 ‘‘(B) VACANCIES.—Any individual ap4 pointed to fill a vacancy in such position, occur5 ring before the expiration of the term for which 

6 such individual’s predecessor was appointed, 

7 shall be appointed for the remainder of that 

8 term. The Director may serve after the end of 

9 the Director’s term until reappointed or until a 

10 successor has been appointed, but in no event 

11 longer than 1 year after the end of such term. 

12 ‘‘(C) REMOVAL.—An individual serving as 

13 Director may be removed from office by the 

14 President. The President shall communicate in 

15 writing the reasons for any such removal to 

16 both Houses of Congress not later than 30 days 

17 before the removal. 

18 ‘‘(4) FUNCTIONS.—The Director shall be re19 sponsible for the exercise of all powers and the dis20 charge of all duties of the Bureau, and shall have 

21 authority and control over all personnel and activi22 ties thereof. 

23 ‘‘(5) ORGANIZATION.—The Director may estab24 lish, alter, consolidate, or discontinue such organiza25 tional units or components within the Bureau as the 


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1 Director considers necessary or appropriate, except 

2 that this paragraph shall not apply with respect to 

3 any unit or component provided for by law. 

4 ‘‘(6) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—The Director 

5 may establish advisory committees to provide advice 

6 with respect to any function of the Director. Mem7 bers of any such committee shall serve without com8 pensation, but shall be entitled to transportation ex9 penses and per diem in lieu of subsistence in accord10 ance with section 5703 of title 5. 

11 ‘‘(7) REGULATIONS.—The Director may, in 

12 consultation with the Secretary, prescribe such rules 

13 and regulations as the Director considers necessary 

14 or appropriate to carry out the functions of the Di15 rector. 

16 ‘‘(8) DELEGATIONS, ETC.—The Director may 

17 assign duties, and delegate, or authorize successive 

18 redelegations of, authority to act and to render deci19 sions, to such officers and employees of the Bureau 

20 as the Director may find necessary. Within the limi21 tations of such assignments, delegations, or redele22 gations, all official acts and decisions of such officers 

23 and employees shall have the same force and effect 

24 as though performed or rendered by the Director. 

25 An assignment, delegation, or redelegation under 


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1 this paragraph may not take effect before the date 

2 on which notice of such assignment, delegation, or 

3 redelegation (as the case may be) is published in the 

4 Federal Register. 

5 ‘‘(9) BUDGET REQUESTS.—At the time the Di6 rector submits a budget request to the Secretary for 

7 inclusion in the President’s budget request for a fis8 cal year submitted under section 1105 of title 31, 

9 and prior to the submission of the Department of 

10 Commerce budget to the Office of Management and 

11 Budget, the Director shall provide that budget infor12 mation to the Committee on Oversight and Govern13 ment Reform of the House of Representatives and 

14 the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Sen15 ate, as well as the Committees on Appropriations of 

16 the House of Representatives and the Senate. All 

17 other budget requests from the Bureau to the Sec18 retary shall be made available to the Committees on 

19 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and 

20 the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(10) OTHER AUTHORITIES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) PERSONNEL.—Subject to sections 23 

23 and 24, but notwithstanding any other provi24 sion of law, the Director, in carrying out the 

25 functions of the Director or the Bureau, may 


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1 use the services of officers and other personnel 

2 in other Federal agencies, including personnel 

3 of the Armed Forces, with the consent of the 

4 head of the agency concerned. 

5 ‘‘(B) VOLUNTARY SERVICES.—Notwith6 standing section 1342 of title 31, or any other 

7 provision of law, the Director may accept and 

8 use voluntary and uncompensated services. 

9 ‘‘(c) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Bu11 reau a Deputy Director of the Census, who shall be 

12 appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Direc13 tor. The position of Deputy Director shall be a ca14 reer reserved position within the meaning of section 

15 3132(a)(8) of title 5. 

16 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The Deputy Director shall 

17 perform such functions as the Director shall des18 ignate. 

19 ‘‘(3) TEMPORARY AUTHORITY TO PERFORM

20 FUNCTIONS OF DIRECTOR.—The provisions of sec21 tions 3345 through 3349d of title 5 shall apply with 

22 respect to the office of Director. The first assistant 

23 to the office of Director is the Deputy Director for 

24 purposes of applying such provisions.’’. 

25 (b) TRANSITION RULES.— 


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1 (1) APPOINTMENT OF INITIAL DIRECTOR.—The 

2 initial Director of the Bureau of the Census shall be 

3 appointed in accordance with the provisions of sec4 tion 21(b) of title 13, United States Code, as 

5 amended by subsection (a). 

6 (2) INTERIM ROLE OF CURRENT DIRECTOR OF

7 THE CENSUS AFTER DATE OF ENACTMENT.—If, as 

8 of January 1, 2012, the initial Director of the Bu9 reau of the Census has not taken office, the officer 

10 serving on December 31, 2011, as Director of the 

11 Census (or Acting Director of the Census, if applica12 ble) in the Department of Commerce— 

13 (A) shall serve as the Director of the Bu14 reau of the Census; 

15 (B) shall assume the powers and duties of 

16 such Director, until the initial Director has 

17 taken office; and 

18 (C) shall report directly to the Secretary of 

19 Commerce. 

20 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 

21 section 21 in the table of sections for chapter 1 of title 

22 13, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘21. Director of the Census; Deputy Director of the Census; authority and duties.’’. 

23 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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1 merce, in consultation with the Director of the Census, 

2 shall submit to each House of the Congress draft legisla3 tion containing any technical and conforming amendments 

4 to title 13, United States Code, and any other provisions 

5 which may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this 

6 Act. 

7 SEC. 3. INTERNET RESPONSE OPTION. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, the Director of the Census, shall provide 

10 a plan to Congress on how the Bureau of the Census will 

11 test, develop, and implement an Internet response option 

12 for the 2020 Census and the American Community Sur13 vey. The plan shall include a description of how and when 

14 feasibility will be tested, the stakeholders to be consulted, 

15 when and what data will be collected, and how data will 

16 be protected. 

17 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 1 of title 

19 13, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 17. Annual reports 

22 ‘‘(a) Not later than the date of the submission of the 

23 President’s budget request for a fiscal year under section 

24 1105 of title 31, the Director of the Census shall submit 

25 to the appropriate congressional committees a comprehenVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:14 Mar 26, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3167.IS S3167

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1 sive status report on the next decennial census, beginning 

2 with the 2020 decennial census. Each report shall include 

3 the following information: 

4 ‘‘(1) A description of the Bureau’s performance 

5 goals for each significant decennial operation, in6 cluding the performance measures for each oper7 ation. 

8 ‘‘(2) An assessment of the risks associated with 

9 each significant decennial operation, including the 

10 interrelationships between the operations and a de11 scription of relevant mitigation plans. 

12 ‘‘(3) Detailed milestone estimates for each sig13 nificant decennial operation, including estimated 

14 testing dates, and justification for any changes to 

15 milestone estimates. 

16 ‘‘(4) Updated cost estimates for the life cycle of 

17 the decennial census, including sensitivity analysis 

18 and an explanation of significant changes in the as19 sumptions on which such cost estimates are based. 

20 ‘‘(5) A detailed description of all contracts over 

21 $50,000,000 entered into for each significant decen22 nial operation, including— 

23 ‘‘(A) any changes made to the contracts 

24 from the previous fiscal year; 

25 ‘‘(B) justification for the changes; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) actions planned or taken to control 

2 growth in such contract costs. 

3 ‘‘(b) For purposes of this section, the term ‘signifi4 cant decennial operation’ includes any program or infor5 mation technology related to— 

6 ‘‘(1) the development of an accurate address 

7 list; 

8 ‘‘(2) data collection, processing, and dissemina9 tion; 

10 ‘‘(3) recruiting and hiring of temporary employ11 ees; 

12 ‘‘(4) marketing, communications, and partner13 ships; and 

14 ‘‘(5) coverage measurement.’’. 

15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

16 for chapter 1 of title 13, United States Code, is amended 

17 by inserting after the item relating to section 16 the fol18 lowing new item: 

‘‘17. Annual reports.’’. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall apply to budget requests for fiscal years 

21 beginning after September 30, 2010. 

Æ 


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