article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1997''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that-- (1) the Constitution requires that the number of persons in the Nation be enumerated every 10 years in order to permit the apportionment of Representatives among the several States; (2) information collected through a decennial census is also used to determine-- (A) the boundaries of congressional districts within States; (B) the boundaries of the districts for the legislature of each State and the boundaries of other political subdivisions within the States; and (C) the allocation of billions of dollars of Federal and State funds; (3) the Constitution requires that those enumerations be made in such manner as the Congress ``shall by law direct''; (4) in the 1990 decennial census, the Bureau of the Census used a combination of mail questionnaires and personal interviews, involving more than 350,000 enumerators, to collect the census data; (5) in August 1992, the Bureau concluded that the 1990 decennial census had failed to count four million persons or 1.6 percent of the population; (6) the extent of the undercount varies by group and by the part of the country involved; for example, the undercount in the 1990 decennial census was-- (A) 4.4 percent for African Americans, 4.5 percent for American Indians, 2.3 percent for Asians or Pacific Islanders, and 5 percent for Hispanic Americans; and (B) 3.1 percent for New Mexico, 2.8 percent for Texas, 2.7 percent for California, and 2 percent for Florida; (7) in 1993, the Bureau concluded that legislation providing that pay for temporary census enumerators in the 2000 decennial census not be used to reduce benefits under Federal assistance programs would make it easier for the Bureau to hire neighborhood people as temporary census enumerators in low- income neighborhoods; (8) a number of lawsuits were filed challenging the accuracy of the 1990 decennial census, and in March 1996 the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Secretary of Commerce's decision in July 1991 not to adjust the initial enumeration in the 1990 decennial census by using a postenumeration statistical survey; (9) on February 28, 1996, the Bureau announced that, for the 2000 decennial census, it plans to use a combination of mail questionnaires and personal interviews in each county until it has collected data from 90 percent of the households in the county, whereupon it would conduct interviews with respect to one-tenth of the remaining households in the county and use the information obtained from those interviews to make estimates with respect to the remaining nonresponding households; (10) certain witnesses testified, at a hearing held by the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives on February 29, 1996, that the Bureau's proposed sampling technique may increase the disparity in the undercount among either geographic areas (such as between rural and urban areas) or racial or ethnic groups (such as with respect to African Americans and Hispanic Americans, as compared to other groups); (11) the planning, conduct, and analysis of a decennial census often requires close to a period of 10 years; (12) the Bureau estimates that the proposed sampling technique will cost about $500 million less, over that period of time, than the $4.4 billion that it estimates would be spent over that same period if the method used in the 1990 decennial census were to be used (instead of such sampling technique) in the 2000 decennial census; and (13) the Chairman of the Panel on Census Requirements in the Year 2000 and Beyond of the National Academy of Sciences testified at the February 29th hearing that there is a trade- off between cost savings associated with using a sampling technique on the one hand, and adverse effects with respect to sampling variability, public perception, and political consequences, on the other. (b) Purposes.--It is the purpose of this Act to promote the accuracy of the 2000 decennial census, and public confidence with respect to the data obtained therefrom. SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS. The 2000 decennial census shall be conducted in accordance with the following: (1) Direct contact must be attempted.--The Bureau shall attempt to contact every household directly (whether by mail or in person), and may use sampling as a substitute for direct contact in a particular census tract only after direct contact has been made with at least 90 percent of the households in such tract. (2) Greater use of non-federal resources.--The Bureau-- (A) shall seek to make more effective use of State and local government offices, as well as appropriate local groups, in order to reduce the undercount; and (B) shall include, as part of its report under section 141(f) of title 13, United States Code, next due after the date of the enactment of this Act, a description of the measures it intends to pursue to carry out subparagraph (A). SEC. 4. MEASURES TO FACILITATE THE RECRUITMENT OF TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES. (a) Purposes for Which Compensation Shall Not Be Taken Into Account.--Section 23 of title 13, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(d) Compensation for services performed by an individual appointed by the Secretary to a temporary position for purposes relating to the 2000 decennial census (if the position is so designated by the Secretary, in writing, at the time of such individual's appointment) shall not be taken into account for purposes of determining either the eligibility of any individual for or the amount of benefits payable to an individual under any Federal, State, or local program financed in whole or in part with Federal funds.''. (b) Exemption From Provisions Relating to Reemployed Annuitants and Former Members of the Uniformed Services.--Public Law 101-86 (13 U.S.C. 23 note) is amended-- (1) in section 1(b) and the long title by striking ``the 1990 decennial census'' and inserting ``the 2000 decennial census''; and (2) in section 4 by striking ``December 31, 1990.'' and inserting ``December 31, 2000.''. SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this Act-- (1) the term ``census'' means a census of population within the meaning of section 141(g) of title 13, United States Code; (2) the term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of the Census; and (3) the term ``census tract'' means a statistical subdivision as defined by the Bureau for purposes of the 1990 decennial census.
summary: Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1997 - Requires the Bureau of the Census, in conducting the 2000 decennial census, to: (1) attempt to contact every household directly, whether by mail or in person (and allows the use of sampling as a substitute for direct contact in a particular census tract only after direct contact has been made with at least 90 percent of the households in such tract); and (2) seek to make more effective use of State and local government offices and appropriate local groups to reduce the undercount and include in a specified report a description of the measures it intends to pursue to carry out such requirement. Prohibits taking into account compensation for services performed by an individual appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to a temporary position for purposes relating to the 2000 decennial census (if the position is so designated by the Secretary at the time of such individual's appointment) for purposes of determining either the individual's eligibility for benefits, or the amount of benefits payable to an individual, under any Federal, State, or local program financed with Federal funds. Modifies Federal law regarding exemptions for reemployed annuitants and former uniformed service members to make such law: (1) applicable to service in any temporary position within the Bureau established for purposes relating to the 2000 decennial census; and (2) inapplicable to any service performed after December 31, 2000.