1999
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-012
BY SENATORS Owen, Anderson, Arnold, Blickensderfer, Chlouber, Congrove, Epps, Evans, Hillman, Lacy, Lamborn, Musgrave, Powers, Tebedo, Teck, Wattenberg, Andrews, and Dennis;
also REPRESENTATIVES McElhany, Alexander, Allen,
Berry, Clapp, Dean, Decker, Fairbank, George, Hefley, Hoppe, Johnson,
Kaufman, Kester, King, Larson, Lawrence, Lee, May, McKay, McPherson,
Mitchell, Morrison, Nunez, Paschall, Pfiffner, Sinclair, Smith,
Spence, Spradley, Stengel, Sullivant, Swenson, Taylor, Tool, Webster,
T. Williams, Witwer, Young, Lee, May, Paschall, and Stengel.
CONCERNING THE CENSUS BUREAU'S USE OF STATISTICAL
SAMPLING FOR THE DECENNIAL CENSUS IN THE YEAR 2000.
WHEREAS, Article I, section 2, clause 3 of the United
States Constitution requires an "actual enumeration"
of the population every ten years, and Congress oversees all aspects
of each decennial enumeration; and
WHEREAS, The purpose of the decennial census, as
set forth in the U.S. Constitution, is to apportion the seats
in the U.S. House of Representatives among the several states;
and
WHEREAS, An accurate and legal decennial census is
necessary to perform that function properly; and
WHEREAS, An accurate and legal decennial census is
necessary to enable states to comply with federal constitutional
mandates governing congressional districts and with federal and
state constitutional mandates governing state legislative districts;
and
WHEREAS, In order to ensure an accurate count and
to minimize the potential for political manipulation, the actual
enumeration mandated by the U.S. Constitution requires a traditional
headcount and prohibits statistical estimates of the population;
and
WHEREAS, Title 13, United States Code, section 195
expressly prohibits the use of statistical sampling to enumerate
the population for the purpose of reapportioning the U.S. House
of Representatives; and
WHEREAS, After the constitutional requirement to
apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the
states has been satisfied, the states must perform the critical
task of redrawing the boundary lines for congressional and state
legislative districts, which also requires the use of census data;
and
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court, in Department
of Commerce et al. v. United States House of Representatives et
al., together with Clinton, President of the United States,
et al. v. Glavin et al., ruled on January 25, 1999, that the
federal Census Act prohibits the Census Bureau's proposed uses
of statistical sampling in calculating population for purposes
of apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives; and
WHEREAS, In reaching its findings, the U.S. Supreme
Court found that the use of statistical sampling to adjust census
numbers would result in voters suffering vote dilution in state
and local elections, thus violating the constitutional guarantee
of "one person, one vote"; and
WHEREAS, The use of statistically adjusted census
data would expose the State of Colorado to protracted litigation
over congressional and state legislative redistricting plans at
great cost to the taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, Every reasonable and practical effort should
be made to obtain the fullest and most accurate population count
possible, including appropriate funding for state and local census
outreach and education programs, as well as postcensus local
review; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixtysecond
General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives
concurring herein:
(1) That the Colorado General Assembly
calls on the United States Bureau of the Census to conduct the
2000 decennial census consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling
in the Department of Commerce and Glavin cases,
which requires a traditional headcount of the population and bars
the use of statistical sampling to create or adjust the count.
(2) That the Colorado General Assembly
opposes the use of P.L. 94171 data for congressional and
state legislative redistricting that have been determined in any
way through statistical inferences made using random sampling
techniques or other statistical methodologies to add or subtract
persons from the census counts.
(3) That the Colorado General Assembly
demands that it receive P.L. 94171 data for congressional
and state legislative redistricting identical to the census tabulation
data used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives
consistent with the Department of Commerce and Glavin
cases, which require a traditional headcount of the population
and bar the use of statistical sampling to create or adjust the
count.
(4) That the Colorado General Assembly
urges Congress, as the branch of the federal government assigned
the responsibility for overseeing the decennial enumeration, to
take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the 2000 decennial
census is conducted fairly and legally.
Be It Further Resolved,
That a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Speaker of
the U.S. House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the
U.S. Senate, the President and VicePresident of the United
States, and the Director of the Bureau of the Census in the U.S.
Department of Commerce.
_________________________ _________________________
Ray Powers Russell George
PRESIDENT OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES
_________________________ _________________________
Patricia K. Dicks Judith M. Rodrigue
SECRETARY OF CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES