Right to the Ranking Member to the witness testimony. Thank you mr. Chairman. The 2,020t 2,020th and this wile as a roadmap for the next decade determining how billions of dollars of federal resources and congressional representation will be divided among the states and the results of this we all undoubtedly impact every community in america and every person must be counted. The account isnt just about understanding how many people live in our country, this is about ensuring that the Community Across america has access to the resources that they need to grow and succeed. These resources to combating the Opioid Crisis and other health emergencies. First responders and Disaster Relief agencies where they direct Emergency Response efforts. Local businesses also use the data to help decide where to invest in factories and stores and in my home state of michigan, 29 billion in annual federal name is on the line. For every person not counted, michigan stands to los lose as h as 1,800, funds that could be invested in Healthcare Infrastructure or public education. Thats why its important we get the mosthatwe get the most thord accurate count possible. Its taken the bureau ten years of careful planning and preparation to make the census successful, but there is still much more work to be done. The census begins in january of 2020 in remote alaska and then in march everywhere else. Between now and then, the bureau has to finalize its Communications Campaign and conduct Robust Community outreach and perform final testing for dozens of critical it systems. As outlined in the constitution, the purpose of the census is to count every person in the country, but given the chaos and confusion the administration has generated as a result of the effort to include in an tested the citizenship question, the bureau has significant work to do to restore public trust in the census and to ensure that the Response Rates do not decline as a result. We make sure everyone is able to respond to the census, though the new online forum in whatever way they get including people without internet access, people in minority communities and rural areas and those who live on reservations. From the fair representation to the effective use of taxpayer dollars they have a personal stake in the results of the 2020 census villacorta working with you to see that the count is accurate and costeffective and is scheduled. Thank you mr. Chairman and handed to eacandto each of the. If you could all stand to raise your right hand. Do you swear the testimony you will give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . The first witnesses the honorable steve billingha stevem formerly of the statistics and bureau transportation statistics. We are more ready than ever to conduct a complete and accurate account. We think the presiden thank thee attorney general and commerce secretary for developing the path forward to protecting the confidentiality. We also think the partners in every stage numbering in the thousands and send hundreds of thousands. I will highlight the road ahead and increased readiness. The census first count will begin in less than six months in the remote areas of alaska. Its one shared by the experienced professionals at the Census Bureau that we have in place a plan to conduct the census it is the alevel highperformance phase. Regarding the executive order, they are definitely reviewing it. First step means implementation and we develop upon the issuance such as planning the interagency working group. The message of the 2020 census is clear it is easy and important. Its easy to cause an improvement to the technology. People may complete the census anytime and anywhere. We have internet, phone and paper response options. The language can reach 99. 6 of the population. We will have th the enumeratorso follow up with those that are late in responding. This will be the first census ever where we expect most to submit their data electronically and efficiently. The census data remains secure, confidentiality protected. Stringent laws and penalties of imprisonment and supply. And please take a lifetime vote to protect confidentiality and the Census Bureau sets the highest standards and maintains a culture and practice of protecting the confidential data. It will not be shared with any agency or anyone. Its more important than ever as the Ranking Member just described the census data is needed for the redistricting is used for federal, state and local government for the policies and allocations for billions of dollars for programs and services reaching millions including the 29 million that you mentioned, Ranking Member. Its used daily by people making decisions that affect business, communities and quality of life. Some recent innovations include new technologies for enhancing, new options to reach the populations. More phone centers to provide a system, doubling up to work with the communities and new technology support. These and other innovations and time sensitive operations have increased our confidence that we will deliver a complete and accurate account on time and on budget. Its to reach across the community. I continued to visit across the country. They are in all states and ive seen the partners reaching people in the communities and better ways. We are making improvements by working with others ranging from pediatricians to the Public Schools and dedicated efforts including but not of a nation which is west virginia. We have plans to reach the homeless and others. Everyone, partner specialists from the community and we get integrated researchbased with messaging that resonates with the first committee. Cybersecurity is paramount. We have a well designed and tested Cyber Security program. Data is encrypted at every stage and we work closely with the department of Homeland Security, the Intelligence Committee and Industry Experts to identify and respond to threats. We manage risks, assist with oversight and test for security, functionality and scalability. External oversight and accountability and support our valued. First the bureau is committed to assisting the kennedy and others in addressing matters of interest is concerned that are deeply appreciated. Second, we appreciate the work of the Accountability Office and the department of the Inspector General i discussed the 2020 census being on the highrisk list. We are committed to the program. Third, we appreciate the Financial Support we received on the bipartisan space from congress. Certainty is needed throughout the 2020 census. We appreciate the support and all forms. Recently they spread interest in working with us to promote safety. Commerce components expressed the desire to help as well as with other federal agencies including the department of health and human services. We thank the members of congress and others are assisting with the recruitment. It is easy, safe and important as we enter the highintensity press the goals are a we are on budget, systems are safe and secure. We are following the business practicebusinesspractices and te and in the right position doing the right thing. I am confident we are more ready than ever. The fines time is now, the dutys ours and work remains to be done but we remain on track. Thank you for your support, and i look forward to your questions. The next witnesses over from the u. S. Government Accountability Office and they will be sharing testimony, so we have mr. Robert director of Strategic Issues for the u. S. Government Accountability Office in his role he receives a portfolio of work aimed at improving the federal statistical system. The second witness is mr. Nicholas who serves as the director odirector of informatin technology and cybersecurity with gao. He manages audit teams that provide privacy and Data Protection reviews across all the major federal agencies. Chairman johnson, gao is pleased to be here today to discuss the Census Bureaus readiness for the 2020 headcount. As you know in recent years, weve identified a number of operational cybersecurity and other challenges that raised serious concerns about the bureaus ability to conduct a costeffective integration. In february, 2017, we added the 2020 census to the gao list of favorite Government Programs and it remains in the highrisk list today. My remarks this afternoon will focus on the two such challenges of implementing Design Innovations aimed at controlling costs and developing reliable cost estimates but better account for the risks and inform the budget estimates. My colleague will then discuss the challenges the bureau bases in implementing anbasisin implee critical it systems. The bottom line is as they grow short, the bureau has made important progress towards mitigating some of the risks facing the census and we are encouraged by the Commerce Department and the Census Bureau leadership commitment to carrying out a costeffective enumeration. Still, the bureau estimates the census may cost as much as 15. 6 billion, 3 billiondollar increase over the bureaus original estimate, and significant uncertainties lie ahead. For example, with respect to Design Innovations to help control costs while maintaining accuracy, the bureau will use new procedures and technologies for 2020 including use of automated Data Collection methods and administrative records and the place of Data Collected by the enumerators, verify and most addresses using aerial imagery and other in Office Procedures rather than by going door to door so that its done in the past enumerations. Anenumeration. And allowing households the options of responding the census of the internet. They also introduce new risks in part because they have not been used extensively if at all in the prior enumerations they function as planned however citing the budgetary uncertainties, the bureau scaleback operational tests in 2017 and 2018. Without significant testing across the range of geographic location, housing types, living arrangements and the demographic groups come operational problems can go undiscovered and the opportunity to refine procedures and systems could be lost. Another risk factor is that liability of the lifecycle cost estimate in august of 2018, we found although the bureau had taken steps to improve its cost estimation process compared to prior versions, it still needed to limit the system to track and report variances between actual and estimated cost of elements. The bureau released an updated version of the estimate last night and we plan to review it for any changes as well as the extent to which the bureau implemented the open recommendation. In short, while the bureau intod the department of commerce have taken important steps to keep preparations for ontrack, additional steps are needed. For example, as of june, 2019, we have made 160 recommendations with relation to the census. Commerce generally agreed with his recommendations and generally has taken actions to address many of them. The bureau has implemented 74 of the recommendations and 31 remain open. Going forward to help ensure the costeffective headcount in the months ahead, continued leadership attention and strong congressional oversight will be needed to help ensure the bureau continues to implement the recommendations and the key components of the systems work as required and that the operations stay on schedule and management functions follow leading the practices. This concludes my prepared remarks and i will now turn it over to my colleague who will discuss the risks facing the bureaus cyber efforts. Thank you for inviting us to discuss the efforts to prepare for the 2020 census. As robert mentioned the most recent report highlighted a number of it related challenges facing the bureau and these include the systems readiness and cybersecurity. The bottom line is that the challenges still remain today and we believe its important for the bureau to overcome them prior to the census. Starting with systems readiness, the bureau plans to rely heavily for the 2020 census including as it plans to produce over the course of the operations over the course of the operational deliveries the bureau has delivered the first group of systems to support early hiring and training and in the next few months we will see key testing and production deadlines for many additional systems. However, our ongoing work is determined at the bureau is at risk of not meeting the key milestones for the five upcoming operational deliveries. These include deliveries in support of internets response and innovation the bureau intends to rely on the nine systems have to have their Security Systems reassessed with the Development Work prior to the 2020 census and five systems are still awaiting that initial authorization. Id like to note that we have been encouraged to bureau is coordinating closely with the department of Homeland Security on cyber issues. Dhs has provided the assistance through the Cyber Threat Intelligence and information sharing and through conducting management and vulnerability assessments among other activities. All of these internal and external assessment efforts including recent evaluations performed by the Commerce Department office of the Inspector General are vital especially since the majority of the bureau systems that will support 2020 operations contain personally identifiable information. The end of the day however they will only be as valuable as the correct actions the bureau takes in response to them. We recently made two recommendations to the bureau calling for the management retention in this area. The first golfer t call for theo address the security to do list in a timely manner and second calls for the bureau to establish a more formal process for tracking and completing actions in response to the dhs assessments. If fully implemented the bureau will be better positioned to ensure that assessments will result in high priority improvements to the cybersecurity poster. In summary we are running short on time for the census operations begin. Moving forward will be critical for the bureau to devote enough attention and effort to completing the it System Development activities and implementing cybersecurity improvement in a timely and prioritized way. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I want to thank all the witnesses. Just real quickly, you sounded confident, which i like to hear, there are still issues and concerns. Would you like to start off by addressing some of the issues raised in the testimony . I think we do agree with the recommendations that they say we are making progress and at the same time, one of the things we are doing at the Census Bureau, your concern generally, representative, potential risk and we are engaged in the Risk Management in all sorts of ways with our it systems and cybersecurity and operations as well. So in general, what i would like to say is we are managing the risk. There are many parts to this operation and we have a great team in place implementing and managing the risk. There will be risks throughout the Census Bureau and there were also be risks in the Census Bureau continually. They are helpful because it reinforces the need for the Risk Management so in general, let me say that we agree that there are risks and we are managing those risks and making progress and we will continue to make progress. I would like to get a response out of the gao. In laying out these issues, you will never mitigate all the risks. You cant eliminate all of them or manage all of them. Are you fairly confident since the bureau is managing the risks we will be able to move forward and have an accurate census . What is your level of confidence . I think it is encouraging that the bureau has agreed with the recommendations that we have made and they have been focused on the process improvements. So, that is to say that we have acknowledged in the prior reports the establishment of a Risk Management framework of the bureau, some particularly with cybersecurity. We have seen the bureau takes any actions to assess highest risk areas and take action for them. The process improvements are aimed at recognizing the fact that there is limited time until census day, limited resources, so the importance of ensuring that the priority is placed on the highest most critical for the abilities and improvements that are needed. What concerned should the committee has about the success of the census in 2020 . Should we have a high level of confidence . Not saying that its going to be perfect, but are we facing any kind of disaster that you are concerned about . The testing into th and the s that they are taking to correct from the cybersecurity issues continue to monitor the census preparations and how the census is going live and look to see if it stays on schedule. All of these operations need to take place when they are supposed to. Because of the statutory deadlines there is no opportunity for the reset, due over. I think that if the Census Bureau gives the Response Rate