Hon. THADDEUS J. DULSKI, EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D.C., October 17, 1967. Chairman, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your request for the views of the Bureau of the Budget on H.R. 10952, a bill, "To amend Title 13, United States Code, to limit the categories of questions required to be answered under penalty of law in the decennial censuses of population, unemployment, and housing, and for other purposes." The Department of Commerce in a report to your Committee on this bill recommended against enactment of H.R. 10952. We have asked other agencies that make extensive use of census data for their views on this bill and the Commerce report thereon. Without exception, these agencies agree with the Commerce position, and some of them cite additional reasons for their opposition to the proposed legislation. We are attaching copies of their replies to us, since they may be of interest to your Committee. In view of the foregoing, the Bureau of the Budget recommends against enactment of H.R. 10952. Sincerely yours, WILFRED H. ROMMEL, Assistant Director for Legislative Reference. THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS, Mr. WILFRED H. ROMMEL, Washington, D.C., September 1, 1967. Assistant Director for Legislative Reference, DEAR MR. ROMMEL: This is in response to your request for our views on H.R. 10952, a bill "To amend title 13, United States Code, to limit the categories of questions required to be answered under penalty of law in the decennial censuses of population, unemployment, and housing, and for other purposes" and on the Commerce Department report on H.R. 10952. The Council of Economic Advisers is in complete agreement with the Commerce report and would strongly oppose H.R. 10952. The data provided by the decennial censuses are of crucial importance to our continuing efforts to understand the structure of the economy and to pinpoint the areas and extent of necessary social and economic progress. Data provided on a voluntary basis would obviously be more expensive, less complete, and far less reliable. Progress toward economic and social goals would be severely frustrated under the provisions of H.R. 10952. Sincerely, GARDNER ACKLEY. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION, Hon. CHARLES L. SCHULTZE, DEAR MR. SCHULTZE: This is in response to your request for our views on H.R. 10952, a bill "To amend Title 13, United States Code, to limit the categories of questions required to be answered under penalty of law in the decennial censuses of population, unemployment, and housing, and for other purposes." There are numerious categories of information collected in the census-taking process which are essential in the transportation planning carried on by both government and industry. We agree with the Commerce report that restricting mandatory response to the seven categories named in the bill would affect the reliability of data gathered outside those categories and thus adversely affect the planning process. At the same time, we do not consider the kind of information elicited to be of such a personal nature that it would be unreasonable to require that it be given. In fact, the information is gathered to provide a basis for programs which are designed for the ultimate benefit of the very persons asked to provide the information. Since H.R. 10952 would create a detriment to transportation planning without providing an overriding benefit to anyone, we believe it should be opposed. Sincerely yours, JOHN L. SWEENEY. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE, Hon. CHARLES L. SCHULTZE, DEAR MR. SCHULTZE: This letter is in response to Mr. Rommel's request of August 21, 1967, for a report on H.R. 10952, a bill "To amend Title 13, United States Code, to limit the categories of questions required to be answered under penalty of law in the decennial census of population, unemployment, and housing." The bill specifies a few categories of questions which would have to be answered under penalty of law, and allows other information to be solicited only on a voluntary basis. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare recommends against this legislation for two basic reasons: 1. We are convinced that separation of the census questions into those which must be answered and those which need only be answered on a voluntary basis would have deleterious effects on the quality of all of the information received. We are convinced that not only would the non-response rate for voluntary questions be high, thereby making data tabulated from those questions unreliable and suspect, but also that the incidence of non-response and inaccurate response on mandatory questions would be increased. 2. Many of the programs of this Department are contingent on accurate and precise data based on questions which would be voluntary should the bill be enacted. No information on income, sources of income, employment, and education would be mandatory. It would thus be difficult to properly administer programs which are contingent upon accurate information with respect to these facts (as, for example, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 under which funds are distributed on the basis of data on number of children in families with incomes below specified limits). In addition, it would be difficult for this Department to carry out its responsibilities with respect to monitoring progress in American society and proposing action based on such studies. For example, it would be difficult to monitor progress being made by members of minority groups in improving their status by moving into different kinds of jobs, and changing employment patterns. Sincerely, WILBUR J. COHEN, Under Secretary. SEPTEMBER 5, 1967. Hon. CHARLES L. SCHULTZE, (Attention of Mr. James M. Frey.) DEAR MR. SCHULTZE: This is in reply to your request of August 21 for our views on H.R. 10952, a bill "To amend Title 13, United States Code, to limit the categories of questions required to be answered under penalty of law in the decennial censuses of population, unemployment, and housing", and the report of the Department of Commerce on the bill. The bill would provide that only certain questions (relating to the population) asked by the census takers would be required to be answered subject to the existing criminal penalty for failure to answer. Other questions, such as those designed to obtain information on the housing inventory and the residents of housing, could be asked but the replies could be on a voluntary basis rather than being required. This Department objects to the enactment of the bill and it concurs in the report of the Department of Commerce opposing its provisions. The conduct of a census partly on a mandatory and partly on a voluntary basis would be extremely difficult if not administratively impossible. Furthermore, the quality of the information collected would be of much less value. Removal of the mandatory response requirements would make it impossible, for example, for Census to vouch for the accuracy or completeness of data if respondents could determine whether or not, and how they would answer specific questions. To exempt housing questions from the mandatory response requirement would ignore completely the dependence of the Congress, the Administration, state and local governments, and the building industry upon the availability of reliable facts on housing and its occupants. Quantification of the Nation's housing needs and planning effective programs for the meeting of these needs depend heavily upon reliable data on the size, condition, and extent of utilization of the existing housing stock. It requires information on the characteristics of the Nation's households such as their income, family size, and place of work. The inability of Census to collect the necessary information in an orderly and systematic fashion would eventually lead to a proliferation of special surveys by a wide variety of current users of Census data. Rather than reducing the burden upon the public, the end result could be an increased burden. Sincerely yours, ROBERT C. WEAVER. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Hon. CHARLES L. SCHULTZE, Director, Bureau of the Budget DEAR MR. SCHULTZE: This is in response to your request for my views on H.R. 10952 and the report thereon of the Department of Commerce. The bill would "amend title 13, United States Code, to limit the categories of the questions required to be answered under penalty of law in the decennial census of population, unemployment, and housing, and for other purposes." Although I am sympathetic with the objective of preserving a citizen's privacy, I oppose limiting the census questions which are to be answered on a mandatory basis. The public interest to be sacrificed is substantial, whereas we are aware of no evidence supporting a countervailing need for the additional protections afforded by the bill in view of the anonymity preserved through the use of census data. I fully concur in the views of the Department of Commerce in its report on H.R. 10952 dated August 1, 1967, to the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. I would reinforce the conclusions of the Commerce Department concerning the undesirable effects which the enactment of H.R. 10952 would have on the conduct of the census, as well as on the reliability and usefulness of its content, by pointing out that the Department of Labor also would be particularly affected by the bill's provisions. The decennial census is the basic source of detailed information for the monthly survey on employment and unemployment which the Bureau of the Census conducts for this Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. This information in turn provides monthly economic indicators, such as the unemployment rate, which are so important to the overall economic policy of the Federal Government. We might add that State and local governments also require certain data from the decennial census for the effective formulation of their economic policies; and for them the decennial census is the only source of much of the employment and economic data they need. More concretely, the Department of Labor needs complete and unbiased labor force data, for example, for more effectively planning and administering the various programs aimed at locating and alleviating pockets of underemployment and employment, especially among younger persons. We need to know more about the economic situation of persons who have migrated in recent years from the rural areas to the city in order to improve assistance for these people in their efforts to respond to the challenges this transition presents for them. To jeopardize the gathering of necessary census data and to depreciate the validity of its collected data by removing the mandatory basis necessary for the effective conduct of the decennial census would, in my opinion, create a serious imbalance contrary to the public interest. Sincerely, W. WILLARD WIRTZ, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Hon. THADDEUS J. DULSKI, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice concerning H.R. 10952, a bill "To amend title 13. United States Code, to limit the categories of questions required to be answered under penalty of law in the decennial censuses of population, unemployment, and housing, and for other purposes." The bill would amend title 13, United States Code, by inserting immediately after section 141 a new section (141A) limiting the categories of information required under penalty of law in certain censuses. Refusal or neglect to furnish information not within the categories listed in this section would not be an offense under section 221 of title 13, U.S.C. In addition, the Secretary of Commerce may request additional information in connection with the census of a voluntary basis. Section 141 of title 13, United States Code, now provides that the Secretary of Commerce shall in the year 1960 and every ten years thereafter, take a census of population, unemployment, and housing (including utilities and equipment) as of the first day of April, which shall be known as the census date. This measure would operate in an area for which the Department of Justice does not have primary responsibility. Accordingly, whether this legislation should be enacted involves policy considerations as to which the Department of Justice makes no recommendation. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely, WARREN CHRISTOPHER, (The following are the statements and letters submitted for the record by Congressman Betts, all of which are excerpts from the Congressional Record.) [From the Congressional Record, Sept. 28, 1967] THE CENSUS: COMPULSORY VERSUS VOLUNTARY APPROACHES Mr. BETTS. Mr. Speaker, the 1970 decennial census of population and housing is now in its planning stages. The chairman of the Subcommittee on Census and Statistics of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, Congressman Green of Pennsylvania, has indicated this subcommittee will meet later this year to examine the proposed questions to be asked the American people on that census. In anticipation of this review of the census questionnaires, justification for including many subjects and the mandatory nature of this inquiry, I have investigated many facets of data gathering operations of the Bureau of the Census. As I see it, there are four principal areas of concern which confront the Congress as the 1970 census approaches. First is the concept and use of mandatory features of this census; second deals with nonessential questions included in recent censuses and proposed for continued use; third relates to the rights of privacy infringed upon by this extensive public interrogation by the census; and fourth is the matter of competition with private market research firms or nonprofit institutions in the conduct of many census projects. For the purposes of this discussion, let me initially consider the matter of compulsion which is sometimes said to be the vital and prime source of providing complete and accurate decennial census statistics. The latter three areas of concern which I mentioned will be presented in succeeding reports. Section 221, title 13, United States Code, provides penalties-$100 fine and up to 60 days in jail-for noncompliance with various censuses-including the decennial Census of Population and Housing-conducted by the Bureau of the Census. An examination of the theory behind this mandatory provision, the number of violators prosecuted in recent years, and the deterrent affect it is contended to have on compliance, would be useful at this point. Statements and correspondence I have received from Dr. A. Ross Eckler, Director of the Bureau of the Census indicate that in his opinion the penalty provision and official nature of the census forms lend significantly to maximum compliance by the general public. The mandatory provision prompts greater cooperation with enumerators and would similarly result in better response when the mail-out/mail-back method of conducting future censuses is employed, Dr. Eckler contends. The mandatory rule also is said to discourage organized local opposition to the census. In order to receive an over all view of this provision, I asked the Attorney General and Director of the Census their policy toward enforcement of this penalty section: "What has been the policy or attitude of the Department of Justice (Bureau of the Census) toward the enforcibility of this statute and what steps have been taken to provide procedures for the Bureau of the Census and its enumerators to apprehend violators? How many incidents or cases of violations of Section 221 were reported to the Department of Justice in conjunction with the 1960 census and how many individuals were actually prosecuted under this provision?" Fred M. Vinson, Jr., Assistant Attorney General advised me on September 8, 1967, that: "Whenever the Department of Commerce feels that the facts surrounding a refusal to furnish desired census information justify prosecution, the file in each case will be forwarded by the department to the appropriate United States Attorney. In all instances of refusal to answer Census questionnaires affecting companies, businesses and other organizations, the United States Attorney should make certain that efforts have been made to persuade the delinquent to comply with the Census Bureau's report. Prosecution should be instituted under 13 U.S.C. 224 if the delinquent persists in refusal to supply the required census data." The Justice Department has no record of how many prosecutions were requested in conjunction with the 1960 census, but at least two convictions were reported, Mr. Vinson indicated. It appears from the response I received from Acting Director, Bureau of the Census, Robert F. Drury, that no figures are available on the number of persons refusing to give information to an enumerator, or the number of cases involved in informal counseling with local U.S. attorneys. I can only conclude that the need to pursue the enforcement provision is minimal, reflecting well on the attitude of the American public on filling out census questionnaires. This is not to say the American people like these requests but nevertheless they patriotically have complied with them. The Bureau of the Census has focused its fears frequently on the "vulnerability of the decennial census to organize local groups" who would thwart its completeness and/or accuracy. Dr. Eckler on August 2 wrote me : "A major concern with your proposal (H.R. 10952) for eliminating the mandatory reporting requirement for certain of the questions asked in the decennial census lies in possibility that organized local or national campaigns urging citizens not to answer particular census questions, which certainly are in prospect if the law is so changed, undoubtedly would make part of the census results unusable." Shortly thereafter, I asked Dr. Eckler to document the basis upon which he made that assertion: "You referred to the vulnerability of the decennial census to local efforts to discourage public cooperation and that the penalty provision for compliance was vital to maintain a high level of participation. Would you give me whatever experience you have had with efforts to thwart full participation with the Bureau in decennial censuses? How extensive have these revolts been and what effect have they had on a local or regional collection of statistics?" (Emphasis added.) Dr. Eckler's reply of August 9 gave not one instance where any groups of citizens had organized on a local or national level or been in collusion to sabotage a decennial census or a portion thereof. In his letter Dr. Eckler referred to scattered resistance by businesses to form requirements and one instance of city government officials opposing a certain questionnaire, but completely failed to show that his charge of organized local efforts working against a census has any validity. Mr. Speaker, I believe this contention, that people will not cooperate if a portion of the decennial census is voluntary is a smokescreen for complete unwill |