PRINTER'S NO. 2505
No. 291 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY SCHRODER, FARGO, ARGALL, ARMSTRONG, BATTISTO,
DEMPSEY, EGOLF, FICHTER, GEIST, GIGLIOTTI, GRUCELA,
HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, HORSEY, HUTCHINSON, KIRKLAND, LAUGHLIN,
LEH, McILHINNEY, MELIO, METCALFE, S. MILLER, MUNDY, PESCI,
PETRONE, PLATTS, READSHAW, ROBERTS, RUBLEY, SAYLOR, SHANER,
STERN, E. Z. TAYLOR, J. TAYLOR, TRELLO, WILT AND YOUNGBLOOD,
OCTOBER 25, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
OCTOBER 25, 1999
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1 Calling on the United States Bureau of the Census to refrain
2 from using statistical sampling in the decennial census.
3 WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States requires an
4 actual enumeration of the population every ten years and
5 entrusts Congress with overseeing all aspects of each decennial
6 enumeration; and
7 WHEREAS, The sole constitutional purpose of the decennial
8 census is to apportion the seats in Congress among the several
9 states; and
10 WHEREAS, An accurate and legal decennial census is necessary
11 to properly apportion United States House of Representatives
12 seats among the 50 states and to create legislative districts
13 within the states; and
14 WHEREAS, An accurate and legal decennial census is necessary
15 to enable states to comply with the constitutional mandate of
1 drawing state legislative districts within the states; and
2 WHEREAS, Section 2 of Article I of the Constitution of the
3 United States, in order to ensure an accurate count and to
4 minimize the potential for political manipulation, mandates an
5 "actual enumeration" of the population, which requires a
6 physical head count of the population and prohibits statistical
7 guessing or estimates of the population; and
8 WHEREAS, The provisions of 13 United States Code § 195
9 (relating to use of sampling), consistent with this
10 constitutional mandate, expressly prohibit the use of
11 statistical sampling to enumerate the population of the United
12 States for the purpose of reapportioning the United States House
13 of Representatives; and
14 WHEREAS, Legislative redistricting conducted by the states is
15 a critical subfunction of the constitutional requirement to
16 apportion representatives among the states; and
17 WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court, in case No. 98-404,
18 Department of Commerce, et al. v. United States House of
19 Representatives, et al., together with case No. 98-564, Clinton,
20 President of the United States, et al. v. Glavin, et al., 525
21 U.S. _____ (1999), ruled on January 25, 1999, that 13 United
22 States Code (relating to census) prohibits the Bureau of the
23 Census' proposed uses of statistical sampling in calculating the
24 population for purposes of apportionment; and
25 WHEREAS, In reaching its findings, the United States Supreme
26 Court found that the use of statistical procedures to adjust
27 census numbers would create a dilution of voting rights for
28 citizens in legislative redistricting, thus violating legal
29 guarantees of "one-person, one-vote"; and
30 WHEREAS, Consistent with this ruling and the constitutional
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1 and legal relationship of legislative redistricting by the
2 states to the apportionment of the United States House of
3 Representatives, the use of adjusted census data would raise
4 serious questions of vote dilution and violate "one-person, one-
5 vote" legal protections, thus exposing the Commonwealth of
6 Pennsylvania to protracted litigation over legislative
7 redistricting plans at great cost to the taxpayers of this
8 Commonwealth, and would likely result in a court ruling
9 invalidating any legislative redistricting plan using census
10 numbers that have been determined in whole or in part by the use
11 of random sampling techniques or other statistical methodologies
12 that add or subtract persons to the census counts based solely
13 on statistical inference; and
14 WHEREAS, Consistent with this ruling, no person enumerated in
15 the census should ever be deleted from the census enumeration;
16 and
17 WHEREAS, Consistent with this ruling, every reasonable and
18 practical effort should be made to obtain the fullest and most
19 accurate count of the population as possible, including
20 appropriate funding for state and local census outreach and
21 education programs, as well as a provision for post-census local
22 review; and
23 WHEREAS, Federal funding formulas based upon census data
24 determine the state-by-state distribution of nearly $200 billion
25 in Federal funds each year; therefore be it
26 RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
27 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania call on the Bureau of the
28 Census to conduct the 2000 decennial census consistently with
29 the aforementioned United States Supreme Court ruling and
30 constitutional mandate, which require a physical head count of
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1 the population and which bar the use of statistical sampling to
2 create, or in any way adjust, the count; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That the General Assembly urge the Bureau of the
4 Census to permit a postcensus local review process to ensure an
5 actual enumeration; and be it further
6 RESOLVED, That the General Assembly oppose the use of the
7 2000 decennial census Public Law 94-171 data file for state
8 legislative redistricting based on census numbers that have been
9 determined in whole or in part by the use of statistical
10 inferences derived by means of random sampling techniques or
11 other statistical methodologies that add or subtract persons to
12 the census counts; and be it further
13 RESOLVED, That the General Assembly demand that it receive
14 the 2000 decennial census Public Law 94-171 data file for
15 legislative redistricting identical to the census tabulation
16 data used to apportion seats in the United States House of
17 Representatives consistent with the aforementioned United States
18 Supreme Court ruling and constitutional mandate, which require a
19 physical head count of the population and which bar the use of
20 statistical sampling to create, or in any way adjust, the count;
21 and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That the General Assembly urge the Congress, as the
23 branch of government assigned the responsibility of overseeing
24 the decennial enumeration, to take whatever steps are necessary
25 to ensure that the 2000 decennial census is conducted fairly and
26 legally; and be it further
27 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
28 the President of the United States, the Vice President of the
29 United States, the presiding officers of each house of Congress
30 and to each member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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