House Government Reform Census Subcommittee Chairman Dan Miller, R-Fla., said Wednesday that, despite the progress reported by the Census Bureau in three dress rehearsals, the test runs do not yet make the case for the controversial sampling technique President Clinton is pushing to use in the 2000 census.
"While the bureau says they completed the non-response follow-up phase on schedule and within cost estimations, the quality of the data they collected remains unknown," Miller said in a statement.
Commerce Secretary William Daley announced Wednesday that a first count in three trial sites had been taken with few problems. Census takers will now follow up with a second count in certain areas to review the accuracy of the first and test the sampling concept.
In the next several weeks, Miller plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit the deletion of "real people" in census sampling unless they are double counted. Acting Census Bureau Director James Holmes said this will not happen.
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