Census experts held a telephone briefing to discuss with House Oversight and Reform Committee members the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the 2020 Census and the White House’s call for Congress to delay key aspects of the count.
John Thompson, former director of the Census Bureau, said the bureau must be transparent to Congress “on how they spend their money, on how their recruiting is going, and if they need any change in regulation,” according to the House panel’s news release published Wednesday.
Arturo Vargas, CEO of NALEO Educational Fund; John Yang, president and executive director of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice; and Terri Ann Lowenthal, a leading Census consultant; joined Thompson during the briefing. Lowenthal discussed the delay in the census and its impact on data accuracy, while Yang and Vargas recommended ways to advance self-response options.
“The Committee will carefully examine the Administration’s request for Congress to pass a law delaying Census deadlines, but as these experts all agreed, the Census Bureau must work with Congress to provide a clear and robust plan to ensure that every person in America will be counted, including those in hard-to-reach communities,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).
