Census director says 2000 process can't be altered

Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt has told Congress that he remains firm in his opposition to three GOP proposals that would affect how the 2000 decennial census is conducted.

Earlier this year, the bureau issued an operational plan and updated summary that Prewitt said cannot be altered. "This plan must be protected in its entirety. Because the operational plan is so complex and integrated, we cannot accept any modifications or substitute procedures," Prewitt said in a statement late last week.

House Government Reform Census Subcommittee Chairman Dan Miller, R-Fla., has proposed 10 initiatives. House Democrats may be willing to accept seven of these, which the bureau has said are complementary or would not interfere with its census plan. The bureau and House Democrats remain opposed to the other three: post-census local review, plans for a second census mailing and the addition of more languages to census forms.