December 28, 2000

For Immediate Release
Contact: Robert Cunningham, Presidential Members
301-713-9151

MONITORING BOARD APPLAUDS BUREAU'S EFFORTS AND AWAITS CORRECTION RESULTS

The release of today's population numbers by the U.S. Census Bureau is the culmination of long-term planning by the professionals at the Bureau and almost one million dedicated temporary employees who carried out the census locally.

While early indicators show the Census Bureau did an admirable job of counting the nation, historical trends also show that some communities are counted better than others. Since 1940, even as the accuracy of the decennial Census has increased, so has the so-called 'differential undercount,' meaning the proportion of minorities, poor people and children missed by the census.

According to Co-Chairman Gilbert F. Casellas, "The Census Monitoring Board has kept a close watch and reported on the development and implementation of Census 2000. With the release of state population figures today, the Census Bureau has met another benchmark deadline. The stage is now set for the Bureau to complete its Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation, designed to help produce a corrected count."

Lt. Governor Cruz M. Bustamante noted, "California contributed significant resources at the State and local level to get as many people counted in the census as possible and the State gains representation from our efforts. However, in my role as a Member of the Census Monitoring Board, I remain concerned that populations that most need an accurate count - Latinos, African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and children are under served by old census methods."

"Today's census numbers govern the allocation of congressional seats for every state but that is not to say the census is over. The corrected data now being compiled by the Census Bureau will serve as an important insurance policy for those who were unable to participate in this great national undertaking. The initial enumeration combined with the follow-up survey will allow us to account for those we failed to count," said Everett M. Ehrlich.

Lorraine A. Green stated, "The census will help guide national policy decisions for the next decade. Therefore, the pursuit of accurate numbers derived from modern statistical methods must continue. As a Board Member, I have been very interested in the census process, especially because the District of Columbia had the highest undercount rate in the 1990 Census."

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The U.S. Census Monitoring Board, established by Congress in 1997, is a bipartisan board that monitors the Census Bureau's preparations for the 2000 Census. Its findings are reported periodically to Congress.