Senate Urged to Confirm Census Bureau Director

An industry group including The Insights Association, AAPOR, the American Statistical Association and Nielsen - is urging the Senate to confirm Dr Steven Dillingham's appointment as Director of the US Census Bureau.

Former Census Bureau Director John Thompson, who was appointed by President Obama in 2013, resigned in May last year, after his fixed five-year term came to an end. The 2010 US Census was the most expensive in history at about $12.3 bn, and prior to his departure Thompson forecast an increase to around $12.5 bn for 2020, partly as a result of modernization of the counting process.

The group, comprising 29 organizations, has written to US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Charles Schumer to urge that Dillingham - nominated in July - be confirmed in post as soon as possible, stating that time is running out on preparations for the 2020 Census. Dillingham most recently served as Director of the Office of Strategic Information, Research and Planning for the US Peace Corps, before which he led the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

In the letter, the group said: 'As soon as he is confirmed, Dr Dillingham will have to quickly learn from the results of the 2018 End-to-End Readiness Test (which, thanks to funding shortfalls over multiple years, was reduced to a small test in Providence, RI this spring) and oversee final design decisions and preparations for the 2020 Census. He also must strengthen and streamline the American Community Survey (ACS), formerly known as the 'Long Form', which updates census data throughout the decade. We urge the Senate to confirm him as soon as possible'.

In June, The Insights Association urged the Trump administration and Congress to delay plans to consolidate three federal statistical agencies until after the 2020 Census, stating that any reorganization could disrupt ongoing statistical programs and the impact on the 2020 Census would be the most severe. Then two months later, the Insights Association added its voice to concerns that the introduction of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, without appropriate testing, will deter responses from immigrants, both legal and illegal. When recently asked if he supports including the citizenship question on the census, Dillingham replied: 'I have no plans to voice an opinion on that question'.

Web site: www.census.gov .