Newsroom /

Press Releases

Press Releases

October 7, 2009

Bennett Pushes for Citizenship Questions in 2010 Census

WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) introduced an amendment today that would only allow continued funding of the 2010 census if the census includes a question of citizenship status on all future decennial censuses.

"The system is broken and areas of the country with high illegal populations should not be rewarded with greater representation in Congress" said Bennett, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee. "The decennial census is an overwhelming and extremely expensive undertaking and it must be done right."

The amendment is based on the Fairness in Representation Act, introduced by Bennett last month. The bill would require the Census Bureau to include a question on its decennial census asking whether the individual is a citizen or lawful resident of the United States. It would further direct the Census Bureau, that for the purposes of apportionment of congressional seats, the population should be based on the number of legal residents of the United States.

Neither Bennett's bill nor the amendment introduced today would affect federal funding to states. It is also important to note that by law, information collected by the Census Bureau is completely confidential, and therefore Senator Bennett joins the bureau in urging all respondents to return their census form and feel confident answering honestly.

Click here to view Senator Bennett talking about this issue on the Senate floor.

 

# # #

http://bennett.senate.gov