Introduction

In less than 5 years, on April 1, 1990, our Nation’s twenty-first decennial census will be conducted by the Bureau of the Census. This midpoint in the lo-year term between censuses is a convenient juncture from which to look backward at the completed 1980 census and forward to what we can expect from the 1990 census.

Planning for the 1990 census is now well underway at the Census Bureau. I had the honor to serve as Chairman of the congressional committee with oversight responsibility for the census in 1980, the House Subcommittee on Census and Population, and am pleased to once again chair this important subcommittee, which has legislative and oversight responsibility for the 1990 decennial census. As committee chairman, I have come to understand the vital importance of the decennial census as well as the issues associated with this major Federal government effort. Because of the complexity of taking a census in a nation as large and diverse as ours, it is beneficial for planning to start early, and I should point out that planning for the 1990 census has started earlier in this cycle than ever before.

It may surprise some readers that there is a permanent decennial census planning staff at the Census Bureau. A not uncommon assumption is that the census is a project of relatively short duration carried out once every 10 years by a large but temporary staff. While the actual data collection at enumeration time is largely achieved by temporary personnel, a permanent staff processes, prepares, and distributes census-related products, evaluates and analyzes collection methods, and plans for the next census. This has been true since 1902. As a rough estimate, the winding down process after a decennial census consumes about 3 years, whereas planning for the next now requires 7 to 8 years.

Our population census dates from the birth of our Nation, having been authorized by Article 1, Section 2, of the United States Constitution. This is the legal basis of our decennial census. Although the original motive for the decennial enumeration was the unitary aim of congressional apportionment between the states, the primary rationale now probably is best described as statistical, that is, to meet the myriad data needs of our nation.

It is not enough to only cite law or statistical need as the rationale for a government program such as the census; ideally the law represents the will of the people. How Census Bureau planners gain a sense of the content of public opinion about census issues and thereby develop a concept of what the census should be is the theme of these articles. This is a process that probably has not been documented in as unified a manner as done in this series.

Government Information Quarterly, Volume 2, Number 4, pages 337-339. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISSN: 0740624X.

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In the first article in this symposium issue, the increasing reliance the nation places on census data is graphically described within the framework of five major uses by the Census Bureau’s current Director, Dr. John G. Keane. That the importance of census data to Capitol Hill is ever-growing is a proposition I can firmly endorse.

The birth of the census and its development into the democratized national event that we witness every 10 years is recounted in the historical perspective prepared by Theodore Clemence, Special Assistant to the Director of the Census Bureau. Although census questions and procedures have changed many times, the basic framework of the population census remains because of its utility as a tool for apportioning political strength and as a profile of ourselves.

An inside look at census planning is provided by the person in charge of the 1990 census, Peter A. Bounpane. As the article describes and unravels such nuts and bolts issues as census automation, data collection, content, personnel management, outreach and publicity, coverage improvement, and planning process, the complexity of the decennial undertaking becomes apparent. How can it all be planned in only 7 years?

An important part of 1990 decennial census planning involves preparations for the provision of redistricting data needed by the states. In fact, apportionment and districting are the primary purposes for which census data are used. Census Bureau planning activities for the redistricting data program and the role of census data in the apportionment and districting processes are thoroughly described here by three individuals with first-hand experience in these applications, Penelope Harvison, Senior Advisor for Demographic Censuses; Marshall Turner, of the Census Bureau’s Data User Services Division; and Robert Speaker, of the Census Bureau’s Population Division. This information, I can assure you, is of paramount interest to all my colleagues here in Congress.

Of concern to everyone who gives personal information to the Federal government is the safeguarding of that data. The decennial census is our largest data collection effort, and continued confidentiality of that information is necessary for the continuing trust of Americans. Sherry Courtland, director of the Census Bureau’s Office of Program and Policy Development, provides a unique look at how the concept of confidentiality has developed since the first census and what it means today. This topic is of immediate concern because of the fast-growing access to personal microcomputer equipment.

The payoff from the census is of course the bountiful data made available. Census data dissemination is the subject of an article by Paul Zeisset, of the Census Bureau’s Data User Services Division. This article provides needed clarification about the differing media used to release census data as well as how the decisions to use these media were formed.

Whereas the United States did not conduct the first modem national population count, we are recognized today as the leader in the international community in census taking. Perhaps even less known to the general public is the extensive assistance the United States offers other countries in developing and utilizing the tools and methods required to take an accurate population count. The international diversity of census taking and the role our country plays in the international round of censuses is described by two experts from the Census Bureau’s international programs staff, who for many years have offered statistical assistance to less-developed countries. The opportunities presented by recent

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microcomputer innovations for new efficiencies in census taking in less-developed countries are of particular interest.

As the plans for the 1990 census evolve, Census Bureau managers will be discussing them with the House Subcommittee on Census and Population as well as with legislative leaders in the Senate. Already public hearings on 1990 plans, test censuses, and other related concerns, such as automated geographic systems, have been held in various cities, and additional hearings will be scheduled as the planning process continues. These hearings are an important part of the approval procedure for 1990 census plans, and I look forward to continuing my participation in these exciting developments.

Honorable Robert Garcia U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515