For Immediate Release: July 22, 1999

Census Bureau to Implement Monitoring Board Recommendation To Hire Qualified Non-citizens for Census 2000

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Census Monitoring Board today hailed a Department of Commerce decision to grant a waiver allowing the Census Bureau to hire qualified non-citizens for the 2000 decennial census. This was a key recommendation made by the bipartisan Board in a joint report to Congress in April that focused on critical operational issues the Bureau faces as it prepares for the census next year.

"Allowing the Bureau to hire non-citizens who are legally residing in the United States gives the agency an important tool to find and count those people living in hard-to-enumerate areas", said the seven members of the bipartisan Census Monitoring Board.

Given the strength of our national economy and the low unemployment rate, the Board noted that the Bureau could have a difficult time finding enough census workers who are citizens. Hiring qualified non-citizens allows the Bureau to meet its personnel needs for the census, as well as improve the count of immigrant communities, the Board added.

"Our nation is home to people representing many cultures and languages. In many instances, these new residents speak little or no English or bring with them a distrust of government in any form due to having lived under repressive regimes in their former homelands," said the Board. "But they are part of the American family and every effort should be expended to find and count them in Census 2000."

The Presidential Members of the Board are Co-Chair Gilbert F. Casellas, Everett M. Ehrlich, and Lorraine Green. The Congressional Members of the Board are Co-Chair J. Kenneth Blackwell, Dr. David W. Murray, A. Mark Neuman, and Joe D. Whitley. To learn more about Census 2000 and the U.S. Census Monitoring Board please see our websites: www.cmbp.gov and www.cmbc.gov.

The Census Monitoring Board is a bipartisan panel created by Congress to monitor the preparations for and implementation of Census 2000.

Contact: Estela B. Mendoza, 301-457-9903 or Clark Reid 301-457-5088