Editor’s note: Meeta Anand, senior director of the census and data equity program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, joined by Leadership Conference Census Task Force Co-Chairs Terry Ao Minnis of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC and Arturo Vargas of NALEO Educational Fund, released the following statement in response to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s oversight hearing of the U.S. Census Bureau. The statement is crossposted with permission from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

“As the nation’s foremost and largest federal statistical agency, the U.S. Census Bureau collects and publishes data through the decennial census and other surveys that inform public, private, and nonprofit sector evidence-based decisions. The Census Bureau’s core work is required by the U.S. Constitution; its data ensure fair representation and guide the apportionment of congressional seats and the prudent, fair allocation of $2.8 trillion a year in federal assistance. That is why the agency’s activities must be apolitical, free from interference, and conducted in accordance with the highest scientific principles.

“Today, we heard the director of the Census Bureau, who is serving a five-year term in accordance with the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011, highlight the critical importance of an apolitical Census Bureau guided by scientific and statistical principles. In carrying out its work, the Census Bureau draws on national and international expertise, conducts extensive quality reviews, receives robust independent monitoring, and continuously engages with the public and with stakeholders to make its data more relevant.

“In response to questioning about the execution and accuracy of the 2020 Census, Director Santos stated, ‘The Census Bureau applies the best science, the best methods, the best technology available to advance our mission. Our work remains, and must always be nonpartisan. In fact we take great pride in being a nonpartisan statistical agency. Our core values are scientific integrity, objectivity, transparency, and independence.’

“The collection of objective, high-quality statistics is critical to maintaining public confidence in the data that underlie our democracy, the fair distribution of resources to all communities, and our understanding of who we are as a society. Without that confidence, the foundation of our representative system of governance could crumble. We call on Congress to protect the Census Bureau’s ability to fulfill its constitutionally mandated duties free from inappropriate political interference and to provide the annual funding needed, including $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2025 as articulated in the president’s budget request.” 

Read The Leadership Conference letter in support of Robert Santos’s nomination for director of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Read The Leadership Conference letter on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) funding for fiscal year 2025.