Speech #1000148998

Mr. President. today I rise to introduce legislation that prevents the use of census figures which include illegal aliens for apportionment of the House of Representatives. This legislation will direct the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that illegal aliens shall not be counted for apportionment purposes. Does it make sense that illegal aliens who are here without the consent of the governed be given representation in Congress? In 1980. the Census Bureau counted 2 million illegal aliens and included them in the numbers used to apportion the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. According to a Congressional Research Service study. including illegal aliens in the 1980 census awarded an extra seat in Congress to California and New York at the expense of Indiana and Georgia. In 1990. Pennsylvania. Connecticut. Michigan. North Carolina. and Alabama could lose congressional seats if the Census Bureau continues to include illegal aliens. This problem is relatively new. since prior to the 1970 census the number of illegal aliens in the United States was fairly negligible. To the extent illegal aliens were enumerated at all. their incidental inclusion in the census count was not an issue. But today the situation has changed and the inclusion of illegal aliens is affecting congressional district reapportionment. The decision to include persons unlawfully present is not the product of years of agency practice. but rather is simply the failure to respond to a recent massive escalation in illegal migration. The Census Bureau estimates that the permanent stock of illegal aliens coming to the United States rises by 200.000 to 300.000 each year. and brings the total illegal alien population in the United States to as many as 12 million. 12 million people translates into roughly 6 seats in the House of Representatives. The method currently used by the Census Bureau will cause some unknown number of foreign visitors. temporary workers. and foreign students to be included as well. To avoid this problem in the future. the Census Bureau should add questions to its long and short forms which will idintify illegal aliens. This inclusion of illegal aliens in the apportionment base dilutes the representation of several States and violates the equal representation principle. Mr. President.