WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released the following statement after the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Administration’s justification for including a citizenship question on the 2020 Census questionnaire:
“The census plays a vital role in our democracy by making important determinations for Congressional representation and federal funding. Today’s decision is a step in the right direction to help keep the 2020 Census on track and ensure that every Michigander gets counted. As Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I will keep pushing the Commerce Department and the U.S. Census Bureau to move forward with conducting an accurate and cost-effective count in 2020.”
Senator Peters has supported robust oversight and adequate funding of the 2020 Decennial Census to prepare for an accurate count. Earlier this year, Peters requested increased funding for the U.S. Census Bureau in 2020 and supported the inclusion of an additional $3.8 billion for census operations in the 2019 government funding bill that passed in February. The bipartisan legislation included an additional $1 billion more than last year’s funding to ensure greater accuracy of census data for communities in Michigan and across the country as the U.S. Census Bureau prepares to conduct the 2020 Census.
Peters is committed to ensuring a thorough, efficient and accurate census count. Peters is a cosponsor of the Census IDEA Act, legislation that would protect the integrity of the 2020 Census by requiring proposed changes to the count be properly studied, researched and tested by the U.S. Census Bureau before being added to the questionnaire.
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