Urging Congress to require any questionnaire used in the decennial census to include a checkbox or other similar option for respondents to indicate whether each member of their household is a U.S. citizen.

The text as introduced · 400 words

90R6441 BPG-D

By: Isaac
H.C.R. No. 6

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The United States Constitution requires that an

"actual Enumeration" of the population be conducted every 10 years,

and it vests in Congress the authority to conduct that census "in

such Manner as they shall by Law direct"; and

WHEREAS, Decennial data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau

determines the apportionment of state representatives in Congress;

in addition, this data provides a basis for the allocation of funds

and services provided by the federal government; households that

receive the census questionnaire are required by law to answer all

of the questions fully and truthfully; and

WHEREAS, To fulfill its purpose, the decennial census

includes many demographic questions about such matters as gender,

race, origin, and relationship status; over the course of its long

history, the census has included a wide variety of questions about

such matters as education, occupation, housing, military service,

native language, radio ownership, and age at first marriage;

between 1820 and 2000, on all but one decennial census, at least a

sample of the population was asked about citizenship or country of

birth, or both; since 2005, such questions have been asked on the

American Community Survey form that the Census Bureau sends to

roughly 1 in 40 households each year; many other democratic

countries inquire about citizenship in their censuses, among them

Australia, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, Reinstating the citizenship question on the

decennial census would provide the federal government with

information that is critical to decision-making, and in a more

granular form than in the less widely distributed American

Community Survey; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the 90th Legislature of the State of Texas

hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to require any

questionnaire used in the decennial census to include a checkbox or

other similar option for respondents to indicate whether each

member of their household is a U.S. citizen; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official

copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to

the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of

Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the

members of the Texas delegation to the Congress with the request

that this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a

memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.