morning, chairman gowdy and ranking members of the committee, i appreciate the opportunity to testify about the bureau's 2020 census life cycle cost estimate. we all support the bureau's ultimate goal to produce a high-quality census while minimizing costs. but over the last several years we produced a number of report that is have found weaknesses in how the bureau allocates costs, collects cost data and estimates commodities for the 2020 census. my testimony today provides additional details about limitations. first, we found that the bureau's 2020 census life cycle cost estimate cannot be validated. second, much of our work throughout the decade reveals cost over-runs, unaccounted for costs and decreased cost avoidance. to the first point, the bureau's estimate is auditable. it takes into account more than 100 inputs but when we try to verify accuracy during 2014 census test there was no supporting documentation. additionally we have evaluated the review portion of the in-office operation and found that the estimate was derived from undocumented verbal conversations. the lack of documentation prevented us from a

the u.s. census bureau ahead of the 2020 census. secretary ross outlined information technology investments at his agency and answered questions on reaching out to traditionally underrepresented communities while controlling costs. this house oversight and government reform committee is 2 two hours and 50 minutes. >>> the committee will come to order. without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. secretary ross is with us. he'll be joining us momentarily. i recognize myself for an opening statement, and then my friend from maryland. the census is constitutionally required. it is what ensures that every vote should be counted, every person should be counted. this is a condition precedent for accurate redistricting and accurate reapportionment. the census is not only important for purposes of constituting our government, it's also important for apportioning the resources and service of our government. so the census is vitally important for a number of reasons. it is also imminently predictable. there are

the u.s. census bureau ahead of the next census in 2020. secretary ross spoke about attempts to streamline data collection and to reach communities that were traditionally underrepresented. this hearing from the house oversight committee is just under three hours. >> the committee will come to order. without objection, chair's authorized to declare a recess at any time. secretary ross is with us. he'll be joining us momentarily. i'll recognize myself for an opening statement and then my friend from maryland. the census is constitutionally required. it is what ensures that just as every vote should be counted, every person should be counted. this is a condition precedent for accurate redistricting and accurate reapportionment. the census is not only important for purposes of constituting our government, it's also important for apportioning the resources and services of our government. so, the census is vitally important for a number of reasons. it is also eminently predictable. there are a few things that can be foreseen, quite like the dice

the census in year 10. the first chart shows funding for the last four decades in inflation-adjusted dollars. for the 1990 census, the bureau increased from $596 million to $3 billion over the last four years. for the 2000 census, it increased from $535 million to $6.9 billion over this period. for the 2010 census, it increased from $1.1 billion to $8.4 billion over this period. but what are we doing now? we are basically flatlining. the trump administration did not request a significant increase for 2018. you can see the same trends when you look at the budget from a percentage basis which is what this next chart shows. the 1990s census had a massive increase in the last four years of the cycle. as did the 2000 census. and the 2010 census, but here is where we are now. the administration is not on track to match past increases for 020. 2020 . if we use these historical trends to project forward, total seven cuts bureau funding -- census bureau funding would be increasing over the next several years. but that is not what is happening. as this last chart shows, there's a shortfall of about $760 million when you compare what

another risk factor is the quality of the bureau's estimate of the cost of the 2020 census which does not conform to best practices. cost estimates can help an agency manage complex assignments and make funding decisions and provide oversight. however, the bureau's 2015 cost estimate only partially met the characteristics of two best programs and minimally met the other two. additionally the bureau has not yet publicly released an update to its 2015 cost estimate. yet several events since then eindicate that the life cycle cost will be substantially higher than the original estimate of $12.5 billion. the bureau's preparations for 2020 have been further complicated by ongoing vacancies in the positions of census director and deputy director. although acting leadership has since been named, turnover in the top ranks makes it difficult to ensure accountability and continuity as well as to mitigate risks and control costs over the long-term. this concludes my prepared remarks. i will now turn it over to my colleague. >>> thank you for inviting us to testify on the bureau's plans to delive

make major decisions based on what the census says, like where to build grocery stores or new housing developments. but like any other government agency, the census bureau needs funding to do its job. and it's not cheap. the last census, in 2010, cost taxpayers $13 billion, with more than 500 field offices and 635,000 staffers nationwide.

the census in 2020. bad news, it's not funded and we don't have a director in the census bureau so we're not ready in thatse. another issue, we're trying new technologies the first time ever in a census and you should test them. there's no money to test them. it's like you had a fighter plane that puts a new technology in it that's never been before, rolls off the assembly line, and they say, oh, go directly into action. >> sreenivasan: there was a draft that was leaked that said u.s. questionnaire includes sentship and immigration status. what kind of effect does that have? >> it would scare a lot of people that you actually need to count. the census is supposed to count everyone in the country once and only once and in the right place. that's a big job. >> sreenivasan: considering we're in a climate where institution wes once used to trust are regularly questioned whether fake news or fake census, what's the consequence of something like this not being trusted? >> huge, quite honestly. if we really have a bad census, one of the things that could happen is the administration could say let's not use it, l

>>reporter: the census has presented a broadening picture of the nation. with just 30 months to go before the census bureaututionally mandated count of every soul in erk in, wilbur ross told lawmakers they need 16 bill to get it done, three billl ross cited declining rates and the integration of new it infrastructure. the cracks in which ross learned about soon after he assumed office. normally two months into my tenure the census bureau sudden there i announced a 40 percent cost over run in one component. namely the data collection and processing ment house freedom colleges and universities cause chair mark meadows questioned why the appropriators should, when the agency has not he re moved its troubled relation ship with contractors and subcontractors. there's some 43it systems that need to be implemented and yet today only four have actually been fully implemented. ross claimed the census bureau cyber security is the most robust it's ever been. but when jody heist of georgia asked how ross can be certain of that, the secretary cited conversations with his team. so it's all based on conversation, not on

cracks in which ross learned about soon after he assumed office. >> two months into my tenure, the census bureausuddenly announced a 40% cost overrun in one component. namely a defenses enterprise data collection and processing. >> house freedom caucus chair mark s. meadows question why appropriators should increase the census bureau budget when the agency is not reformed its troubled relationship with contractors and subcontractors. >> there's some 43 i.t. systems that need to be implemented. and yet today, only four has been fully implemented. >> cross-claim dissent is cybersecurity is the most robust it's ever been. when jody hice of georgia, another craig freedom caucus member, so it solved based on conversations, it is impossible to test something that doesn't yet exist. democrats were equally displeased when the proposal but for the opposite reason. >> it's a good start, but i don't think it's good enough. >> i'm not used to be granted more money than i have for. that's a totally new experience for me. >> federal figures show the cost per household of connectedness and is more than doubled

normally two months into my tenure the census bureau suddenly announced a 40 percent cost over run innsus enterprise data collection and processing. house freedom caucus chair questioned why appropriators shou bureau budget when the agency has not reformed the troubled relationship with contractors and subcontractors. there's some 43it systems that need to be implemented and yet today only four have actually been fully implemented. ross claimed the census bureau sigh besh security is the most robust it's ever been but when republican jody heist asked how ross can be certain of that the secretary cited conversations with his team. so it's all based on conversation, not on tests much it's impossible to test something that doesn't yet exist . my point precisely. democrats were equally dis pleased with ross' proposal, but for the opposite reasonment i think it's a good start, but i don't think it's good enough. i'm not used being granted more money than i asked for. so that's a totally new experience for me. federal figures show the cost per household of conducting doubled from 1990 to 20

infrastructure. >> normally two months into my 10-year, the census bureau suddy announced 20% cost overrun in one component. namely of this census enterprise data collection and processing. >> house freedom caucus chair mark matos questioned why appropriators should increase the census bureau's budget when the agency is not reformed its troubled relationship with contractors and subcontractors. >> there are some 43 i.t. systems that need to be implemented and yet today only four have been fully implemented. >> ross claimed the cybersecurity is the most robust it's ever been. a republican from georgia asked how ross can be certain, the secretary cited conversations with his team. >> so it's all based on conversation? not on tests. >> it's impossible to test something that doesn't yet exis exist. >> my point precisely. sticker democrats were equally displeased but for the opposite reasons. >> i think it's a good start but i don't think it's good enough. >> i'm not used to be being granted more money than i asked for, that's a totally new experience for me. >> federal figures show the cost pe

job in the census bureau in this new nation of 12 million people. bucha says there was rampant corruption in the fledgling government. >> to be honest, over 20% to 30% of the money went, where, we don't know. we knew there was money in there, but we don't know what the money was used for. >> reporter: disillusioned, abucha left and went back to phoenix. in 2013, just two years after the country won its independence, the civil war began as a power struggle over the country's top post between president salva kiir and former vice president riek machar, who mobilized their rival tribes, the dinka and the nuer. the war has since spread through the country's southern equatoria region, drawing in other ethnic groups, including abucha's, called the madi. abucha, who underwent compulsory military training as a young man in sudan, went back in 2014. he initially joined the rebels as a member of machar's negotiating team. in 2015, the u.s. brokered a peace deal, but it fell apart last year. now, with peace talks on hold, he's living the life of a soldier. much

work at the census bureau, the social security administration, the department of interior. we need people there. after you've worked there and going to go work in the private sector, that company, you know, like northrop are going to loan you back into the federal government for the proverbial one weekend a month, two weeks a year. i think the loan back will probably be something like ten days a quarter or ten days every other quarter. so it doesn't disrupt business processes in the company but it's enough time where you can sink your teeth into something. so that's the process. now, some of the challenges. the 15,000 holes in i.t. jobs in the federal government, we don't have common job descriptions for that. so if we have someone coming out of school, we have to make sure that they have the credentials in order to come into one of these jobs. so the first step is we've got to make sure that there are common job descriptions across the i.t. -- across i.t. positions in the entire federal government. i thinks this is something that can be solved in 60 and 90 days. let's go a

listen to this, in 2016, just 24% of 25 to 34-year-olds had experienced all four of what the census bureau away from parents, having been married. lived with a child and been in the labor force, that compares to the same age group in 1975 when 45% had achieved all of those milestones, that's probably an explanation for what we're discussing, right? >> exactly. there are some fundamental differences between young adults today and what they were a generation, two generations ago. of course that's a result of living through the recession. that's a result of being saddled with huge student loans. but also, it's just a realization that they had fundamentally in some ways, different childhoods than previous generations. this is that group of kids who had very scheduled childhoods, doing lots of activities, play dates and really busy parents. many times both parents were working, there wasn't necessarily that opportunity to go back in the garden and get your hands dirty. planting tomatoes. >> i'm so glad you said that. in defense of millennials because i've got four of them, you know, they're bus

that shouldn't be a surprise according to the census bureau. 5% -- 45%, ophthalmic apollo, california households speak a language other than english at home. director of research for the center of immigration studies, he joins us now. i have a couple questions, stephen. first, i thought in order to become a citizen you had to have some mastery of english. >> basically the way it works is if you've been here for 20 years and you are over 50 they can give you a waiver. in addition, the actual english language question is only like one sentence -- -- >> tucker: the intent of the law, when lawmakers tested, they wanted people speaking english. correct? >> that was the idea, but it's not really enforced. there's two there's tremendous discretion discretion on the part of the examiner. basically it looks like maybe a third, a quarter of all people who have naturalized citizens are functionally illiterate in english. that's partly because of this waiver system, but partly because even if you pass the test it doesn't mean very much. it's basically one o

the u.s. census bureau, the social security administration, the department of interior, because we need people there, and then after you've worked there and you work in the private sector, that company, you know, like northrop, are going to loan you back into the federal government for the proverbial one week in a month, two weeks a year. the loan back will probably be something like ten days a quarter or ten days every other quart sore doesn't disrupt business processes in the company but enough time where you can sink your teeth into something, and so that's the process. now, some of the challenges. the 15,000 holes in i.t. jobs in the federal government we don't have common job descriptions for that. so if we have something coming out of school we have to make sure that they have the credentials in order to come into one of these jobs, so the first step is we got to make sure that there's common job descriptions across the i.t., across i.t. positions in the entire federal government. i think this is something that can be solved in 60, 90 days, let's just go ahead and take somebody who alrea

according to the census bureau, 95.5% of children had health insurance in 2016. chip is also a popular program, as repeated studies have demonstrated. parents think chip is a valuable program, and they are satisfied with the coverage and with the care their children receive. but unless the senate acts and acts very soon, we will have betrayed all of those children and all of those families. there's no reason for chip to have expired and no reason why we shouldn't pass a bill right now, if not in the next couple of days, certainly in the next two or three weeks. to ensure that not one single child loses his or her health insurance. we've taken important steps to extend the program. the finance committee marked up the bipartisan, quote, keep kids insurance dependable and secure act of 2017, known by the acronym kids, or kids. the kids act came out of the finance committee which reauthorizes chip for five years and that happened some three weeks ago, and i'm proud to be a cosponsor of that bill. so it is time toage of we have a -- so it is time to act. we have a comm

the u.s. census bureau ahead of the 2020 census. secretary ross outlined information technology investments at his agency and answered questions on reaching out to traditionally underrepresented communities while controlling costs. this house oversight and government reform committee is 2 two hours and 50 minutes.

just some examples of the way we engage the census bureau on a monthly basis, we meet with the acting director. >> this hearing on the 2020 census is available on c-span.org. leaving the last few minutes for a conference on countering violent extremism in qatar, iran, and the muslim brotherhood, featuring lawmakers and former intelligence officials. house homeland security committee chair mike mccaul, david petraeus, and former white house strategist steve bannon. coming up shortly, former defense secretary leon panetta. >> from the beginning, it has been devoted to the freedom, security, and prosperity of the united states and the health of its institutions. its work is especially focused on strategies for the long term, strategies that thus deal with our most abiding challenges. in its research, it draws upon a wide variety of perspectives and opinions, and it will do so today. and it covers a wide variety of policy areas. domestic, foreign, and national security. let me first of all in addition thank you all for being here and participating in this conference. i said before that th

in the census bureau, everything is classified according to the main activity of what is done. it so you go to a factory, and i'll take 3m as an example, simply because i happen to know it. 3m, mississip 3m, the whole thing was counted at manufacturing, what happened over time was that various things were subcontracted. subcontracted for example for the janitorial services, subcontracted for the electronic maintenance of the various components of the building and so on and so forth, fire and security alarms and more recently it and so on. part of cafeteria was part of it until they subcontracted it where it became a service. same people doing the same thing as done before. but the manufacturing done directly by 3m as it's counted went down. so we lost jobs in manufacturing. in fact some of them went directly into the services. in fact i have a son-in-law, and that's why i know it so well. he was at 3m in their electronics unit. maybe 40 or 50 employees. and he was called into the front office, said we're going to spin you off, we'll help with your tools and we'll help with the

the u.s. census bureau, america, by 2032, the working class will be majority, minority. and by 2040, america will be majority people of color. so what are you all doing to lead the resistance to folks that don't speak english? st. sen. mcguire: thank you for all of your work. it is good to see you. so california has just invested $75 million in legal protection and naturalization services and in college scholarships for our 200,000 dreamers. that is number number two, we one. just passed the toughest law in the land to be able to protect those who are part of our immigrant community. those who are undocumented. sb-54. where it no longer allows for cooperation of local law enforcement with i.c.e. and it has been controversial, but what i will tell you -- we to 12 millionn undocumented residents who call this country home, right now. the vast majority are paying their taxes and abiding by the law. when you narrow it down, you have about 300,000 to 400,000 who have some type of criminal charge. 200,000 have a felony. those who have a felony probably should not be in this co

the u.s. census bureau, germans are the largest single ethnic group in the united states. the caucus works to emphasize the friendship and alliance between the united states and germany. do so through an ocker toer -- oktoberfest networking event and through an internship exchange program. we also discuss timely topics such as trade, security and foreign affairs and how they relate to our german coun parts. in pennsylvania we have a proud german heritage. frederick mulenberg, a german immigrant, was the first speaker of the house following the signing of the new constitution. the caw does has more than 100 members. i urge all those interested in joining to do so today during german american heritage month. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? weather, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. yesterday i was joined by many of our colleagues to echo the pleas of over 100 women who came dressed as brides here to d.c. to put a face

his methodology, it also, interestingly enough, is corroborated by some of the other research that's been done using census bureau. specifically a report by the migration policy institution where they also found that they thought about one in five of the daca eligible population were adults who had not finished high school, and some of the other aspects -- again, the -- the income levels and access to public assistance findings have been corroborated with these other census-based research. but i mean, the big problem is we don't know much -- people speculate and come up with proxies and try to use census bureau and take surveys and so on, but u.s. cis has some information that would be interesting and i think helpful to congress moving forward to find out about actual recipients of daca. and i think that they should be asked to disclose some of that information to help you decide, you know, what the impacts are going to be and how to move forward and should be encouraged to do that. they know where people live, they know their educational status, they know their english attainment. criminal histories. all of thes

the u.s. census bureau or bureau of economic analysis, government agencies nobody pay attention they produce coolthat shows changing america, hows pulling apart between urban america and rural america, a rising millennial generation the world one way and an aging baby-boomer generation the world another way and how that impacts their votes and the outcomes of elections. this wasn't just 2016, these trends have been happening for years in some cases and they're going to impact the of 20, 30, 40 years politics. host: let our viewers know, if seriest to check out the available at hill.com, you started the series focus og county, minnesota, why? guest: swift county is one of forget how many counties, couple hundred countys that voted for president obama twice voted democratic for 40 or 50 years and then switched to in for president trump 2016. how is it that a trump voter had the past?obama in how is it a obama fan switches president trump? counties like swift county made this election.in minnesota is the state that voted democratic for the longest state in the u.s. and yet in 2016, hillary clinton w

. >> commerce secretary wilbur ross testifies now about efforts to modernize census bureau operations ahead of theo traditionally underrepresented communities and containing costs.

his methodology, it also interestingly enough is corroborated by some of the other research that has been done using census bureau data, specifically a report by the migration policy institute where they also found that they thought about one in five of the daca eligible population were adult who's had not finished high school and some of the uh -- again, the income levels and access to public assistance findings have been corroborated with these other census-based research, but, i mean, the big problem is we don't know much -- you know, people speculate and come up with proxies and try to use census bureau and take surveys and so on, but uscis has some information that would be interesting and i think helpful to congress moving forward to find out about actual recipients of daca, and i think that they should be asked to disclose some of that information to help you decide, you know, what the impacts are going to be and how to move forward. and should be encouraged to do that. they know where people live. they know their educational status. they know their english attainment. criminal histories. all of these ques

and he acknowledges there are problems with the method interestingly enough it is collaborated by their other research that has been done using census bureau data specifically the migration policy institute and found 1 5 of the daca eligibility were adults who had not finished high school. the income levels and access to public assistance findings have been collaborated with the census based research. people speculate and come up with proxies and try to use census burrows and take surveys. but we have information that would be interesting and i think helpful to congress moving forward to find out about actual recipients of daca. it should be encouraged to do that. they know where people live. they know their educational status and english attainment and criminal history. all these questions we have, you know, there are answers there within our own government that would be helpful. they could do a survey too that would be more robust with the randomly selected group of respondents. >> senator feinstein? >> let me ask, ms. von, where do you find denise undeserving? where do you find to blame her? i am not saying you blame her but in terms of