Speech #990116592

As a result of the census report. high growth areas gain additional congressional seats. and slow growth areas lose seats. This seems sensible and fair. Most Americans agree that the right policy for democracies to follow in elections is "one citizen. one vote." But the Midwest could lose seats in Congress during the 1990s because the Census Bureau counts illegal aliens when determining how many representatives each State should have. By counting illegal aliens as if they were citizens. the Census Bureau is threatening to move congressional seats from the Midwest to the South and Southwest. The essential injustice of this situation should be obvious. Accordingly. today I am introducing legislation directing the Census Bureau to separate American citizens from illegal aliens for the purpose of congressional reapportionment. It is a fundamental principle that each American citizen should have an equal voice in our Government. Lets make our law consistent with that principle.