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. KAN-
JORSKI) 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 Fed-
eral 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, deter-
mines 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 gen-
erating, compiling, and making available statistical demo-
graphic 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 pro-
grams, including Medicare, Social Security, assistance to 
farmers, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, road 
and 
highway 
construction, 
community 
development 
grants, Federal housing assistance, veterans’ health serv-
ices, 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 ex-
pand their activities; 
Whereas areas are ultimately underserved by the Federal 
Government when significant portions of the population, 
especially those in low-income and minority neighbor-
hoods, fail to participate in the census; 
Whereas full participation in the census is necessary to en-
sure 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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the importance and significance 
of the census, and encourages full participation in 
this critical process; and 
(2) urges State, local, county, and tribal gov-
ernmental entities to promote awareness of the cen-
sus and to actively encourage their constituents to 
make every effort to be counted. 
Æ 
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