Congress passes tighter restrictions on use of census name after misleading GOP mailings

Congress banning misleading census mailings

WASHINGTON — Misleading mailings that appear to be from the Census Bureau, such as fundraising letters recently sent by Republican groups, will be more tightly restricted under legislation passed by Congress on Friday.

The Senate approved by unanimous consent a bill that requires mailings marked “census” to state the name and address of the sender and to contain an unambiguous disclaimer that the survey is not affiliated with the federal government. Earlier this month, the House passed the same bill 416-0.

The legislation now goes to President Barack Obama to become law with his signature. Republican lawmakers supported the restrictions even though they were the intended beneficiaries of much of the fundraising.

“It is critical that people have confidence and trust in the census process and these mailings confuse people and jeopardize our efforts to have a full and accurate count,” said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chairman of the Senate panel that oversees the census. “Banning these despicable practices is an important part of that process.”

Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign arm, mailed letters labeled “census document.” The mailings pleaded for money and asked recipients to identify their political leanings and top issues.

The national committee appeal came in the name of GOP Chairman Michael Steele while the congressional committee letter was from House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio.

Those mailings drew criticism from Democrats, public opinion researchers and a former Republican-appointed census director. But the Postal Service ruled the mailings were legal because they did not use the words “United States Census” or “Census Bureau” and made clear they were paid for by the Republicans.

Both Republican groups say they will comply with the law as they had in the past.

The Census Bureau has said it was concerned that misleading mailings would undermine response rates for the official census forms. Lower mail response rates increase government costs because the Census Bureau must send census-takers to every home that does not respond.

U.S. census forms were mailed to more than 120 million households earlier this month as part of the once-a-decade government count, which is used to distribute House seats and more than $400 billion in federal aid. Additional U.S. census mailings are planned in the weeks ahead for many households that do not immediately respond.

On the Net:

Census Bureau: www.census.gov