By McClendon H.R. No. 922 76R15802 SMC-F R E S O L U T I O N 1-1 WHEREAS, This resolution expresses the will of the House of 1-2 Representatives of the 76th Texas Legislature and the people of the 1-3 State of Texas concerning the conduct of the next census and 1-4 requests that the federal government deliver to the states the most 1-5 accurate population figures that can be made available for use in 1-6 performing intrastate redistricting; and 1-7 WHEREAS, A complete and accurate count of all persons in the 1-8 United States of America is vital to the interests of the people of 1-9 the State of Texas; and 1-10 WHEREAS, Past censuses have been significantly inaccurate 1-11 despite the good faith efforts of the United States Census Bureau 1-12 and its personnel; and 1-13 WHEREAS, The United States government asked the National 1-14 Academy of Sciences to devise a method for conducting the 2000 1-15 census that would be more accurate, and the national academy has 1-16 done so; and 1-17 WHEREAS, The last federal decennial census conducted in 1990 1-18 was the first census that was less accurate than its predecessor; 1-19 and 1-20 WHEREAS, Recent federal decennial censuses, including the 1-21 1990 census, significantly undercounted millions of Americans and 1-22 overcounted millions of others; and 1-23 WHEREAS, The United States Census Bureau has reported that 1-24 the 1990 census undercounted 8.4 million persons and overcounted 2-1 4.4 million others; and 2-2 WHEREAS, Out of the net four million undercount in the 1990 2-3 census, more than half were children; and 2-4 WHEREAS, The undercount has had a disproportionate impact on 2-5 the African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and Native American 2-6 populations; and 2-7 WHEREAS, The 1990 census was recognized as not living up to 2-8 American goals of fairness and equality due to the racial 2-9 differential; and 2-10 WHEREAS, The United States Census Bureau has initiated plans 2-11 to conduct the 2000 federal decennial census using methods that 2-12 will produce a more accurate count of the nation's population; and 2-13 WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has rendered a 2-14 decision that the Census Act enacted by the congress prohibits the 2-15 use of sampling procedures to adjust the census for the purpose of 2-16 allocating congressional representatives among the states, but the 2-17 court's decision recognized that the Census Act requires sampling 2-18 procedures for other non-reapportionment purposes; and 2-19 WHEREAS, Intrastate redistricting and the allocation of 2-20 federal funds are two such non-reapportionment purposes; and 2-21 WHEREAS, The use of traditional methods in conducting the 2-22 census affected state finances because many federal grant programs 2-23 use census data to calculate allocations of funds to the states; 2-24 and 2-25 WHEREAS, An undercount in the 2000 census similar in 2-26 proportion to the undercount in the 1990 census would miss 563,332 2-27 Texans and cost the state $2.18 billion in federal funds; and 3-1 WHEREAS, The use of modern scientific procedures will result 3-2 in a more accurate count of the population and thus a greater 3-3 allotment of federal grant funds distributed to the State of Texas 3-4 than if traditional, inaccurate procedures are used to conduct the 3-5 2000 census; and 3-6 WHEREAS, The traditional methods of conducting the census not 3-7 only will be less accurate than the scientific modern methods 3-8 developed by the National Academy of Sciences, but also will be 3-9 less accurate than the scientific modern method regardless of the 3-10 amount of funds congress allocates to conduct the 2000 census using 3-11 such traditional methods; now, therefore, be it 3-12 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 76th Texas 3-13 Legislature hereby respectfully request the federal government to 3-14 take immediate and appropriate steps to ensure that modern 3-15 scientific procedures be employed in conducting the 2000 census so 3-16 that the most accurate population figures will be provided to the 3-17 states as the official federal decennial census; and, be it further 3-18 RESOLVED, That the house of representatives respectfully 3-19 request the federal government to use modern scientific techniques 3-20 to determine the official decennial United States census population 3-21 and report those census population figures to the states in such 3-22 manner and in such form that the population data can be used by the 3-23 states for performing intrastate redistricting; and, be it further 3-24 RESOLVED, That the house of representatives respectfully 3-25 request the federal government to use the modern scientific 3-26 techniques to determine the official decennial United States census 3-27 population so that the states and other local jurisdictions will 4-1 receive the appropriate and accurate amount of federal dollars to 4-2 which they are entitled; and, be it further 4-3 RESOLVED, That the chief clerk of the Texas House of 4-4 Representatives forward official copies of this resolution to the 4-5 director of the Bureau of the Census, to the president of the 4-6 United States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and 4-7 the president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to 4-8 all the members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the 4-9 request that this resolution be officially entered in the 4-10 Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United 4-11 States of America.