Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding today’s vote to confirm Robert Santos as Director of the Census Bureau. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Today the Senate is going to confirm Mr. Robert Santos to serve as the Director of the Census Bureau.
A native of San Antonio who grew up in a Mexican-American family, Mr. Santos, in his 40-year career, has become one of the top statisticians in the country. If confirmed Mr. Santos would be the first Hispanic—and in fact the first person of color—to become a permanent director the Census Bureau.
He is exactly the kind of person our country needs overseeing our Census: impartial, highly experienced, and someone from outside politics.
We need to protect our Census from the pressures of partisan politics and Mr. Santos is a perfect fit. President Trump, true to form, spent years trying to politicize and weaponized our country’s Census—going as far as maliciously trying to include citizenship questions and have counts of undocumented immigrants.
Mr. Santos will restore trust and integrity to one of the most important agencies in government.
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