Comer: Democrats’ Bill Weakens Accountability at the Census Bureau

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) today delivered remarks on the House floor in opposition to the Democrats’ so-called Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census Act (H.R. 8326). He emphasized how the bill does not make the Census more fair and accurate but instead weakens accountability at the Census Bureau by placing massive power in the hands of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats. Ranking Member called on Congress to instead prioritize the mounting crises created by the Biden Administration that are harming the American people, including skyrocketing inflation, high gas prices, supply chain shortages, the border crisis, and students’ learning losses resulting from school closures.

Below are Ranking Member Comer’s remarks as prepared for delivery.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today, Americans continue to face several crises created by the Biden Administration. Sky-high inflation, painfully high gas prices, and supply chain shortages.

President Biden’s border crisis is allowing waves of illegal immigrants and fentanyl shipments to flood across our southern border.

Our children are suffering from historic learning losses and a mental health crisis because this Administration allowed radical teachers unions to keep schools closed.

Yet what are Democrats prioritizing today instead of these crises impacting Americans’ everyday lives?

The Democrats’ “Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census Act.” 

This bill has nothing to do with the American people’s priorities.

In fact, it will do nothing to make the Census more fair and more accurate.

Instead, it places a great deal of power in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and hamstrings future presidents.

During the prior Census, the president sought to include in the Census a question simply asking respondents whether they were American citizens.

The Supreme Court found this was constitutional but that the Census Bureau had gone about it improperly.

This bill would prevent the inclusion of such a question in the future—a question key to upholding the principle of one citizen, one vote.

Now, under the Biden Administration there are questions about whether the Department of Commerce delivered accurate apportionment results derived from the Census.

Those results were critical, because they determined the apportionment of this body’s 435 congressional districts among the several states.

We still don’t know for sure whether the apportionment results were fair and accurate.

But this bill does nothing to fix that problem or any of the other real problems associated with the 2020 Census.

Indeed, it will make it easier for future Census results to drive the apportionment of congressional districts unfairly to favor Blue, Democrat-leaning states over Red, Republican-leaning states.

Why is that?

Because the bill weakens the accountability of the Census Bureau to the President and the Secretary of Commerce, committing by statute all operational, statistical, and technical decisions about the Census to the Bureau’s Director.

The bill makes it harder to overrule the Director even when the President, the Secretary, or Congress are concerned the Director’s decisions will yield an unfair or inaccurate Census.

Making matters worse, the bill allows only an unaccountable career employee to serve as acting director when no Senate-confirmed Director is in place.

Finally, the bill severely constrains the ability of future censuses to include important new questions, such as a citizenship question.

But it is precisely the counting of actual citizens that ensures Census results will produce congressional districts fairly representing all citizens in Congress.

During the Oversight and Reform Committee’s consideration of this bill, Republicans offered amendments that would have cured these problems.

These amendments would have made sure Census Bureau officials remained accountable to the voters, through the President.

They would have made sure a question on citizenship would have been included in future censuses, guaranteeing a fair basis for the apportionment of congressional districts.

But were Democrats concerned then about ensuring a fair and accurate census by supporting these amendments?

No—Democrats voted them down on a party-line vote.

Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve better from this legislative body.I reserve the balance of my time.