Schumer And Senate Democrats Call For Americans To Speak Out About Any Misconduct In the 2020 Census

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI), and Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) today released the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s political decision to reverse course and end counting for the 2020 Census:   

“After initially announcing an extension of Census operations due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration’s political decision to reverse course and end counting now is simply shameful.  The Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding this policy is equally outrageous.  This politicization of the census should compel Congress to act to preserve the extended timeline for the 2020 Census. It is not too late to allow adequate time to complete an accurate census count.

“For any person who may have additional knowledge of wrongdoing or misconduct, now is the time to blow the whistle and expose this Administration’s mismanagement of the Census. Federal law protects their rights to make protected disclosures to Congress anonymously and free from retaliation. To the patriots who continue to work tirelessly to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the Census: come forward, speak the truth, and Congress will fight for you.

“According to its own experts, the Census Bureau knew rushing the count during this pandemic could severely degrade the accuracy and completeness of the 2020 Census. Yet despite these warnings, it appears the White House intervened to ensure President Trump would control the apportionment process rather than ensuring an accurate count for the American people as required by the Constitution.

“With a rush to now process Census data under a drastically reduced timeline, experts at the Bureau previously warned they could be forced to curtail or entirely remove key steps developed over the past decade to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the count. Communities across the country now may be denied billions of dollars in federal funding because this Administration’s politically-motivated choice.

“We need brave Americans to stand up and speak out.”

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