I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7974 
To modify the deadline for completing the 2020 decennial census of population 
and related tabulations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 7, 2020 
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. 
DEAN, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HIGGINS of New 
York, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. CICILLINE, 
Ms. ESHOO, and Mr. CONNOLLY) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to 
the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To modify the deadline for completing the 2020 decennial 
census of population and related tabulations, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair and Accurate 
Census Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CENSUS DEADLINE MODIFICATION. 
Notwithstanding the timetables provided in sub-
sections (b) and (c) of section 141 of title 13, United 
States Code, and section 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An 
Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial 
censuses and to provide for apportionment of Representa-
tives in Congress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 
2a(a)), for the 2020 decennial census of population— 
(1) the tabulation of total population by States 
required by subsection (a) of such section 141 for 
the apportionment of Representatives in Congress 
among the several States shall be— 
(A) completed and reported by the Sec-
retary of Commerce (referred to in this section 
as the ‘‘Secretary’’) to the President no earlier 
than one year after the decennial census date of 
April 1, 2020, and not later than April 30, 
2021; and 
(B) made public by the Secretary not later 
than the date on which the tabulation is re-
ported to the President under subparagraph 
(A); 
(2) the President shall transmit to Congress a 
statement showing the whole number of persons in 
each State, and the number of Representatives to 
which each State would be entitled under an appor-
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tionment of the then existing number of Representa-
tives, as required by such section 22(a), and deter-
mined solely as described therein, immediately upon 
receipt of the tabulation reported by the Secretary; 
and 
(3) the tabulations of populations required by 
subsection (c) of such section 141 shall be completed 
by the Secretary as expeditiously as possible after 
the census date of April 1, 2020, taking into account 
the deadlines of each State for legislative apportion-
ment or districting, and reported to the Governor of 
the State involved and to the officers or public bod-
ies having responsibility for legislative apportion-
ment or districting of that State, except that the 
tabulations of population of each State requesting a 
tabulation plan, and basic tabulations of population 
of each other State, shall be completed, reported, 
and transmitted to each respective State not later 
than July 30, 2021. 
SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR 2020 CENSUS. 
On the first day of each month during the period be-
tween the date of enactment of this Act and July 1, 2021, 
the Director of the Bureau of the Census shall submit, 
to the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security 
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and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Commit-
tees on Appropriations of the House and the Senate, a 
report regarding the 2020 decennial census of population 
containing the following information: 
(1) The total number of field staff, sorted by 
category, hired by the Bureau compared to the num-
ber of field staff the Bureau estimated was nec-
essary to carry out such census. 
(2) Retention rates of such hired field staff. 
(3) Average wait time for call center calls and 
average wait time for each language provided. 
(4) Anticipated schedule of such census oper-
ations. 
(5) Total appropriations available for obligation 
for such census and a categorized list of total dis-
bursements. 
(6) Nonresponse Followup completion rates by 
geographic location. 
(7) Update/Enumerate and Update/Leave com-
pletion rates by geographic location. 
(8) Total spending to date on media, advertise-
ments, and partnership specialists, including a geo-
graphic breakdown of such spending. 
(9) Post-enumeration schedule and subsequent 
data aggregation and delivery progress. 
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SEC. 4. PROVIDING BUREAU OF THE CENSUS ACCESS TO 
INFORMATION FROM INSTITUTIONS OF HIGH-
ER EDUCATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, including section 444 of the General Edu-
cation Provisions Act (commonly known as the ‘‘Family 
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974’’), an institu-
tion of higher education may, in furtherance of a full and 
accurate decennial census of population count, provide to 
the Bureau of the Census information requested by the 
Bureau for purposes of enumeration for the 2020 decen-
nial census of population. 
(b) APPLICATION.— 
(1) INFORMATION.—Only information requested 
on the official 2020 decennial census of population 
form may be provided to the Bureau of the Census 
pursuant to this section. No institution of higher 
education may provide any information to the Bu-
reau on the immigration or citizenship status of any 
individual. 
(2) NOTICE
REQUIRED.—Before information 
can be provided to the Bureau, the institution of 
higher education shall give public notice of the cat-
egories of information which it plans to provide and 
shall allow 10 days after such notice has been given 
for a student to inform the institution that any or 
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all of the information designated should not be re-
leased without the student’s prior consent. No insti-
tution of higher education shall provide the Bureau 
with the information of any individual who has ob-
jected to the provision of such information. 
(3) USE OF INFORMATION.—Information pro-
vided to the Bureau pursuant to this section may 
only be used for the purposes of enumeration for the 
2020 decennial census of population. 
(c) DEFINITION OF INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU-
CATION.—In this section, the term ‘‘institution of higher 
education’’ has the meaning given that term in section 102 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 
(d) SUNSET.—The authority provided in this section 
shall expire at the conclusion of 2020 census operations. 
SEC. 5. LIMITATION. 
The Bureau of the Census may not compile, produce, 
or publish any data product or tabulation as part of, in 
combination with, or in connection with, the 2020 decen-
nial census of population or any such census data pro-
duced pursuant to section 141(c) of title 13, United States 
Code, that includes topics specific to the 2020 Census that 
were not part of the report submitted pursuant to section 
141(f)(1) of title 13, United States Code, on March 28, 
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2017, and the 2018 End-to-End Census Test conducted 
in Providence County, Rhode Island. 
SEC. 6. NRFU OPERATION. 
For the 2020 decennial census of population, the Bu-
reau of the Census shall conclude the Nonresponse Fol-
lowup operation and the self-response operation no earlier 
than October 31, 2020. 
Æ 
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