WASHINGTON - House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) opened today’s hearing on “Providing the Census Bureau with the Time to Produce a Complete and Accurate Census" by emphasizing that career officials have stated that the 2020 Census can be completed on time and accurately under current deadlines.
Ranking Member Comer pointed out that the facts contradict the Democrats’ narrative about the 2020 Census. As of this week, nearly 90% of all households have been counted in the 2020 Census and 66% of the non-response follow-up caseload has been completed. He urged the Democrats to cease their politicization of the 2020 census and focus on the task at hand: the timely and accurate completion of the 2020 Census count by Sept. 30, 2020.
Below are his prepared remarks.
Chairwoman Maloney, I appreciate you calling this hearing today on the 2020 Census.
Let me begin saying, unequivocally, the 2020 Census is counting every resident in the United States regardless of citizenship status.
Any assertions to the contrary are scare tactics which have the consequence of reducing participation in the Census.
The Census is underway now. I want to encourage all people to complete their census form.
Census enumerators are knocking on doors around the country to count non-responding households.
I encourage everyone to engage with the enumerator if they come to your door.
If you are concerned about an enumerator coming to your door, you can complete your 2020 Census online now at my2020census.gov.
Unfortunately, the Democrats are not interested in bipartisanship on the 2020 Census. Instead Democrats have, once again, launched a partisan investigation into the 2020 Census.
Today’s hearing is supposedly about the accuracy of the 2020 Census - however, no witnesses from the Census Bureau have been invited to discuss current operations.
Why aren’t we hearing directly from the Census Bureau about the census?
Well, it’s because the Democrats don’t like what career Census Bureau officials have to say.
In transcribed briefings before the Committee, three career Census Bureau officials stated that, as of now, the 2020 Census can be accurately, and fully completed by Sept. 30, 2020.
These facts contradict the Democrat’s narrative about the 2020 Census so they’re just going to ignore them.
The truth is that technological improvements have made it possible to gather information more efficiently than ever before.
Here are the facts about the 2020 Census according to career Census Bureau officials. As of September 8, 2020:
* Nationwide, 88.8 percent of all households have been counted in the 2020 Census.
* Nationwide, 66 percent of the non-response follow-up caseload has been completed.
* Twenty-five states have counted 90 percent or more of all households.
* All states have counted more than 75 percent of all households.
* Enumerators in the field are working at a more productive pace than expected.
* 232,000 enumerators are working across the country with another 69,000 enumerators in training to begin work.
These are the real facts about the census that all Americans should know.
The Democrats know these facts but are choosing to ignore them.
In July, President Trump took a very important step to ensure the sanctity of our nation’s elections and equal representation under our Constitution.
The President directed the Secretary of Commerce to report an apportionment count for the House of Representatives which excludes non-legal residents in the United States, including illegal immigrants.
All Americans should care about who is being included in the apportionment count.
Including illegal immigrants in the count for representation in Congress only dilutes the representation of all Americans who vote in elections and makes a mockery of our basic principle of “one person, one vote."
The President’s action restores the concept of representational government envisioned by the Constitution.
In a country so closely divided as the United States, illegal immigrants and non-citizens have a material effect on representation.
Representation should matter to everyone, it’s a simple question of fairness.
Predictably, the Democrat’s left-wing allies have already filed lawsuits against the President.
I have no doubt that the information gathered in the Democrat’s partisan investigation will be leaked to their left-wing friends suing the Administration.
Forget the fact that testimony provided to the Committee totally refutes the Democrat’s narrative.
Like the sound and fury surrounding the citizenship question, the legal questions about the President’s actions are likely to wind up at the Supreme Court.
This hearing today is a continuation of the coordinated pressure campaign against Chief Justice Roberts and the other Supreme Court justices.
The Democrat majority, their left-wing allies and activist judges are all working together to undermine the 2020 Census count.
I urge us all to focus on the task at hand. The timely and accurate completion of the 2020 Census count by Sept. 30, 2020.
I yield back.
