[9:45 pm; 12/14 update: I'm sorry to report the Census Bureau Autonomy bill failed to reach the 2/3 necessary for passage (under suspension of the rules). The vote occurred around 6:30 pm and the tally was 201 Yea – 167 Nay. The final roll call vote is available at the
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll629.xml. Thanks to all of you who called your U.S. Representative. ASA will continue to monitor this issue in the new Congress.
12/29 update: See 12/26 NYT Editorial: "
Defeat for Census Reform;" 12/10 NYT Editorial: "
Census Showdown;" 5/31 NYT Editorial: "
Reform for the Next Census."]
ASA President Sally Morton (2009) is emailing ASA members today asking that they call their U.S. Representative today urging that the support S. 3167, a bill to increase the autonomy of the U.S. Census Bureau. Sally’s message, below, explains the situation but let me add to the details.
Let me first echo Sally’s plea for you to call your Congressman’s or Congresswoman’s office today. (Go to
http://www.house.gov/zip/ZIP2Rep.html to find the phone number.) With a simple message of “Please support S. 3167”, this should only take a few minutes of your time, and could help improve the autonomy of this important science agency—and largest statistical agency. (I also ask that you urge your colleagues to take a few minutes to call the U.S. Representative's office and telling them how quick it was. This will help increase our response rate.)
ASA issued a
press release urging swift House passage of the Census Autonomy bill over the weekend. Here are quotes from Sally Morton and former president Vincent Barabba (Census director under Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter):
- Sally Morton (2009): “The American Statistical Association is a
strong supporter of the U.S. Census Bureau, the largest federal
statistical agency. Passage of this bill will help the Census Bureau do
its job more efficiently. We thank the U.S. Senate for its unanimous,
bipartisan support, and we hope the U.S. House of Representatives acts
quickly to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity to create a
higher level of continuity and professional independence in the
Bureau’s operations.”
- Vincent P. Barabba (1990): “As the Nation’s largest general purpose statistical agency, the Census Bureau has other major statistical responsibilities in the years between Decennial Censuses. The priorities that are required to meet this broad responsibility sometimes are hampered by the current reporting structure within the Department of Commerce. This bill strikes a balance by keeping the Bureau within the Commerce Department while allowing it to more effectively and efficiently meet its broader requirements as the Fact Finder for the Nation.”
The bill can be viewed at ‘
‘Census Oversight Efficiency and Management Reform Act of 2010’’.
Note that components of this bill are recommended in the National Academies' "
Principles and Practices of a Federal Statistical Agency: 4th Edition (2009)", which the ASA Board endorsed in April, 2009:
- "An agency head’s independence can be strengthened by being appointed for a fixed term by the President, with approval by the Senate, ... For a fixed term, it is desirable that it not coincide with the presidential term so that professional considerations are more likely to be paramount in the appointment process." p. 22
- "It is also desirable that a statistical agency head have direct access to the secretary of the department or the head of the independent agency in which the statistical agency is located. Such access allows the head to inform new secretaries about the appropriate role of a statistical agency and present the case for new statistical initiatives to the secretary directly." p. 23
- "Authority for selection and promotion of professional, technical, and operational staff." p. 23
- See the related discussion on pp.22-26.
In a GAO report issued today, "
2010 Census: Data Collection Operations Were Generally Completed as Planned, but Long-standing Challenges Suggest Need for Fundamental Reforms," S. 3167 is mentioned and parts discussed (p. 32):
"On December 8, 2010, the Senate approved a bill, the Census Oversight Efficiency and Management Reform Act of 2010.22 If enacted, this bill, among its other provisions, would require the Director of the Census to submit an annual comprehensive status report on the next decennial census, beginning with the 2020 decennial census, to the appropriate congressional committees. The specific requirements in the bill for the annual plan include most of the elements discussed above.
"Given the magnitude of the planning and transformation efforts facing the Bureau, another reexamination question is that of long-term stewardship governing the endeavor. Specifically, as the research, development, and testing efforts for 2020 will play out over the decade-long census life cycle, what is the optimal way to ensure continuity and accountability for an enterprise that takes years to complete and extends beyond the tenure of many elected political leaders?
"Although the Director of the Census Bureau can, in concept, provide a measure of continuity, of the 11 census directors that have served since July 1969 (not including the current director), the average tenure was around 3 years, and only one director has served more than 5 years. Moreover, in the decade leading up to the 2010 Census, the Bureau was led by four different directors and several acting directors. The turnover in the Bureau’s chief executive officer position makes it difficult to develop and sustain efforts that foster change, produce results, mitigate risks, and control costs over the long term.
"Currently, census directors are nominated by the President with Senate confirmation. At the same time, the heads of a number of executive agencies serve fixed appointments, including the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (4 years), the Commissioner of Labor Statistics (4 years), and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (5 years).
"The census bill, recently passed by the Senate and discussed above, includes a provision for a 5-year tenure for the Census Director. We believe that the continuity resulting from a fixed-term appointment could provide the following benefits to the Bureau:
- Strategic vision. The Director needs to build a long-term vision for the Bureau that extends beyond the current decennial census. Strategic planning, human-capital succession planning, and life-cycle cost estimates for the Bureau all span the decade.
- Sustaining stakeholder relationships. The Director needs to continually expand and develop working relationships and partnerships with governmental, political, and other professional officials in both the public and private sectors to obtain their input, support, and participation in the Bureau’s activities.
- Accountability. The life-cycle cost for a decennial census spans a decade, and decisions made early in the decade about the next decennial census guide the research, investments, and tests carried out throughout the entire 10-year period. Institutionalizing accountability over an extended period may help long-term decennial initiatives provide meaningful and sustainable results."
Please contact me with any questions or comments: pierson@amstat.org.
===Sally's 12/14/10 email message to ASA members====
Subject: URGENT, ASA Alert: please contact your U.S. Representative today urging more Census Bureau autonomy
Dear ASA Members,
I write to request your help to increase the autonomy of the U.S. Census Bureau – the largest federal statistical agency – by calling your Congressman/Congresswoman today and urging that he/she support S. 3167. (See below.) Please call as soon as possible as the House will be considering the bill today.
In order to find the phone number of your U.S. House Representative’s Washington office, enter your zipcode at
http://www.house.gov/zip/ZIP2Rep.html. Your message to the staff answering the phone can be as simple as:
“Please support S. 3167.”
For additional talking points and background, read on. (Do not use government resources to make this call.)
S. 3167/H.R. 4945, the “Census Oversight Efficiency and Management Reform Act of 2010,” was introduced in March in both the House and Senate with the bipartisan cosponsorship of Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE), Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Congressman Charles Dent (R-PA). (The House version is H.R. 4945.) The bill helps to insulate the U.S. Census Bureau from outside influence by increasing its autonomy in the following ways:
- Setting a five-year term for the director of the Census Bureau;
- Allowing the director to report directly to the Secretary of Commerce;
- Allowing the director to submit his or her own opinion in testimony to Congress even if it differs from the administration; and
- Giving the director authority over all personnel and activities in the exercise of all powers and duties of the bureau, and the ability to establish advisory committees to provide advice with respect to any function of the director.
ASA leadership believes these provisions will help ensure professional management of this major scientific agency.
Last week, the Senate passed the bill (S. 3167) unanimously. If the House passes the Senate-version before this Congress adjourns in the days ahead, it can go to the President for his consideration. Failure to act or passing a different version would mean starting over with the bill in the new Congress. (If the House passed a different version, there wouldn’t be time to reconcile the two versions before this Congress recesses.)
After the ASA Board of Directors endorsed the pre-cursor bill to H.R. 4945 (which would have removed the Census Bureau from the Commerce Department entirely), the ASA has supported this bill by signing letters of support and a press release:
The previous directors of the Census Bureau have endorsed the measure (
http://thecensusproject.org/letters/cp-fmrdirs-bill-25march2010.pdf). The letters above also demonstrate broad support of this bill.
Thank you for your consideration. We in the ASA leadership believe this is a unique and important opportunity for the largest federal statistical agency.
Contact ASA Director of Science Policy with any questions: pierson@amstat.org; 703.302.1841. The Senate passed bill is viewable at
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111s3167es/pdf/BILLS-111s3167es.pdf.
Sincerely,
Sally C. Morton
2009 ASA President
P.S. Please note that the ASA Board of Directors approved call-to-action emails on a very limited basis during its August 2009 meeting. If you would prefer not to receive such emails in the future, please email Steve Pierson at pierson@amstat.org.
P.P.S. For those of you wondering why the current ASA president did not send this letter, Sastry Pantula is now director of the NSF Division of Mathematical Sciences and is not allowed to send such letters in his new capacity.