With 2010 population count a month away, Obama urges US residents in new video to participate

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Obama urges US to fill out census forms

WASHINGTON — The 2010 population count is just a month away, and President Barack Obama is asking U.S. residents to fill out their census forms.

In a 30-second video released Thursday, Obama says the government needs people to participate in the census so officials can determine important matters that are based on population numbers. That includes how to allocate seats in the House by state and how to spend billions in federal money on schools and roads. Also, business use the information to help figure out where to put new stores and factories.

“Take about 10 minutes to answer 10 questions, remembering to include everyone in your household, because we can’t move forward until you mail it back,” Obama says.

The Census Bureau said the public-service announcement is part of a long tradition in which U.S. presidents promote participation in the count, which is held every 10 years. Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush made similar appeals during the 2000 and 1990 head counts, respectively, with ads stressing it was a person’s civic duty to participate.

The agency’s director, Robert Groves, has said he hopes to limit expenses in the $15 billion census by motivating more people residents to mail in their form, which avoids costly follow-up visits by census workers. The bureau has said that for every percentage point increase in the mail response rate, the government saves an additional $85 million to find and count those people.

Most of the nation will receive census forms the week of March 15, and the Census Bureau is asking residents to return them by April. For those who fail to respond, the government will dispatch some 700,000 temporary workers to visit homes in May.

The video and a 20-second version are available on YouTube and the Census Bureau’s web site and will be distributed Friday to television and radio stations.

It comes amid some Republican complaints that the Census Bureau’s $133 million advertising campaign, including $2.5 million for Super Bowl spots, may be wasteful, given the government’s rising debt. A Commerce Department inspector general’s report, however, said the advertising was consistent with government goals of boosting participation in the count.

On the Net:

Video of Obama’s announcement: 2010.census.gov/2010census