To the subcommittee as well as the oversight committee. We are delighted to have you. Lets see. Without objection i want to wave onto the subcommittee, stephen horseford from nevada who wanted to ask questions. By unanimous consent we grant that privilege. I want to thank witnesses for their ongoing cooperation, you and your staff have been truly excellent partners in this oversight process. Thank you for your work, i learned from my district staff, you toward Silver Spring in montgomery county, maryland, these are diverse high density areas with high concentration of immigrants where a variety of languages are spoken and i appreciate your coming out to take out our community, my district director kevin connor met with your staff and was encouraged by the bureaus preparation so i thank you and your staff for your hard work. We have a lot to accomplish before 2020. We were embroiled in a battle over the Citizenship Question. Now that the administration is forced to stand down, the effort getting us back on track and conducting a completed document account in 2020. The move to impose the business question has been rejected by the courts arbitrary position, there may still be endangering an accurate count in 2020. Im eager to hear about aggressive steps the bureau can take to repair the damage caused by this all considered campaign. Every 10 years the bureau struggles to count everybody in america according to constitutional directives. Some communities including communities of immigrants and people of color are chronically undercounted and they do not receive their fair share of Government Resources in everything from federal and state legislative representation to medicaid and head start. So theres a lot of fear in our communities that we have to strive to overcome. The Citizenship Question the president s executive order and his immigration policies and the threatened raids all strike fear in the hearts of many of the communities that are already mistrustful of government. Even though the question will not be on the 2020 census there is a test in the field where 240,000 families are being asked the Citizenship Question, why is that . This decision to post this Citizenship Question to hundreds of thousands of people after the Supreme Court rejected it seems hard to reconcile with the reality of the Supreme Court decision and the unbroken defeat of the question in the lower district court. So now we face the threat of prolonged confusion and i do hope we can talk about that. The bureau must out by specific steps its taking to increase outreach to the committees whose participation has been true, must reassure every of the confidentiality of the Data Collected and reaffirm its commitment the census data will not be used for Law Enforcement purposes. It must clarify the impact of the president s executive order on the confidentiality in use of census data that it must identify specific actions it will take to differentiate itself from Law Enforcement in the field. In light of the damage done i think the bureau should increase outreach to hard to count communities instead of sitting on 1 billion in appropriate funds. This should the bureau told congress it tends to carry over a billion dollars to fy 20, instead of spinning this year. Why is that . I fail to see compelling reason for the delay. The bureau relax a little Partnership Specialist great relationships in hard to count communities but it is too much band and filling 1500 1500 metaphysicians reportedly due to a backlog in background checks but we cant afford this delay. Census staff is also begin knocking on doors. Shouldnt that be will be using leftover funds with the existing funds to clear the backlog Court Earlier this year the House Appropriations report ordered the group to improve its communication strategy and to open Questionnaire Assistance Centers to reach communities missed in the bureaus counts. Qac is will provide reliable locations and how did hard to tempt me to what people can seek assistance from staff. Qac is on the costa bureau 27 million in 2010. Why is that youre using the carryover funds to open uacs as directed by congress but the bureau has been underfunded for many years now that its been granted until the budget it using to spend it. Outreach should be fully funded now. Finally the bureau should improve its processes for tracking security recommendations to safeguard data and avoid missing key deadlines. Im a larger the commerce Inspector General recently found the bureaus i. T. Systems contained fundamental security deficiencies that it violated federal standards indicating the bureau is been scheduled though it systems for 2020. This is a common thing. Channel has noted the bureau is on schedule resolving 100 for high risk or very high Risk Security full abilities and there is no schedule process for implementing security recommendations that were rendered by the department of Homeland Security. That is not acceptable. The bureau is home to one of the largest databases of identify personal information on American People. The security of this date is panama that onto a wellrun census but to the publics confidence. I trust the gaos recommendations for the bureau to get back on track and i look for to hearing its plans for that today. Now i happily will yield to the Ranking Member of the committee, my friend mr. Mattis. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for calling the string. Obviously this is not the first hearing we had on the census, decennial census is something that we that under this administration and under the Previous Administration will be that timelines that we been working on since dr. Dillingham can we look for to hearing from you in terms of how were making progress. I do want to offer, this is mr. Goldenkoff at least ninth hearing i think is a look at this particular issue because i know when i i was chairman of e Government Operations subcommittee, this is critical importance that we get it done right, its a whether its this administration or the prior administration, my fear had been and continues to be, are we going to do those cybersecurity issues and into in testing to make sure we can count on that on the privacy that the chairman talked about but the integrity of the system . I will also offer a little bit of a counter narrative. We have spent way too much time on the Citizenship Question. Its time to get serious about implementing this and candidly, any direction that we continue to maintain as a relates to the Citizenship Question is problematic in terms of delivering and actually counting those individuals. I also know theres a strong outreach. Dr. Dillingham, i want to thank you for the strong outreach to those what i would say more rural and underserved communities that the chairman was talking about. The funds that are allocated, i happen to agree that we need to roll those into next year because i dont know that any of you but if theres the thing that most americans are thinking about today, if theres a top 20 list, since this doesnt make the top 20 20 list. Im just telling you. It will make it starting in march and april of next year. We will start to see that and then outreach needs to be dedicated but we need to have a system in place now. What i would say is identifying the systems, making sure they are there, making sure the way we collect the data, i know this is going to be a groundbreaking way that we use the internet like weve never used it before, but we tried that in 2010 and it didnt work. And so the last thing i think this chairman wants or that i want is to have egg on our face when it comes to actually counting every individual. Regardless of where you stand on whether the Citizenship Question should be asked or not, it is imperative that we count everybody and it is imperative that we do that in a way that we can allocate not only the resources, the 650 billion or so that flows to each one of our district but we do it in a fair and accurate way. I look for to hearing from you on that. Ive got a longer written statement that i i would ask unanimous consent be added to the record. Without objection. I think the children, and i apologize in advance. I actually have a meeting at the other end of pennsylvania avenue that i had to get you and so we cut of the people coming in but weve got staff thats paying attention. And so with that a young expert we we appreciate your very thoughtful remarks and we will release you to the uncertain fortunes of the article ii branch and well stick right it with article one branch. But thank you for coming. I now have the pleasure of welcoming our witnesses. First is the honorable stephen telling him, phd, director of your Census BureauRobert Goldenkoff who is the director of Strategic Issues of u. S. Government Accountability Office, gao. And nichlas marinos, director of Information Technology cybersecurity at the gl. At the u. S. Government Accountability Office. I will begin by swearing all of you in so please rise if you would and raise your right hand. [witnesses were sworn in] let the record reflect the witnesses all answered in the affirmative. Thank you. You may be seated. The microphones a sensitive so please directly into them. Without objection your written statements will be made part of the permanent record. That director dillingham, you are now recognized to give an oral presentation of your testimony for five minutes. Chairman raskin and committee members, thank you for inviting me. This is an important for the Census Bureau and the 2020 census. The census clock is ticking. Were increasingly ready and we thank you for your support. Regarding the president s executive order we are reviewing it. Steps have begun to form an interagency working group. Preparations for the census continue unabated and execution is new. The census will begin in remote alaska in less than six months. The nationwide count commences in nine months. It is my opinion one shared by the Census Bureau professionals that we have an outstanding plan built upon best practices with cost savings and important innovations. We have teams in place and hirings are underway. Our teams entering a highperformance phase. Hiring is proceeding, training is continued. Safety and accountability progressing to currently we are on board tens of thousands of address listed. We appreciate congressional help in recruiting the. With Hurricane Season here we must be prepared for disasters and unforeseen event when a disaster strikes we can and will at that. Information system readiness and cybersecurity are paramount. I will design i. T. Systems and integrated operations are working. We tested functionality, scalability and, of course, cybersecurity. Data is encrypted at every stage. Were working closely with government and industry experts. Oversight accountability and support are valued. First, we are committed to assisting congress and this subcommittee pick second, we appreciate the work of the Government Accountability office and office of Inspector General. We agree the 2020 census is high risk, given its scope, complexity and boards. Third, we appreciate bipartisan support including continued funding. Appropriators requested a plan for additional funds. We developed an option to increase Committee Partnership assistant and hard to count outreach. Our highest priority as mentioned by the chairman is to reach hard to count groups. We continue to identify and visit such communities found in all states and the urban suburban and rural expert during my travels i see partners reaching people a new and better ways. Counting children has been a perennial challenge when working closely with pediatricians and schools. We have plans to reach the homeless. A Partnership Specialist from local communities at different backgrounds and hence these efforts. We have an integrated researchbased Outreach Campaign that messages for diverse communities. I often repeat the message the 2020 census is easy, safe and important. A member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus recently suggested i reversed that order. The census is important. Its important increases daily. Data is used for apportionment and redistricting and by governments at all levels in developing policies and administering programs for billions of dollars reaching millions of people. Funds support education, transportation, health and human services, 50, jobs more. It is you by government, businesses and families. The census is safe. Since this day remain secure with confidentiality protected. Congress passed stringent laws with severe criminal penalties of imprisonment and fines for violations. Since his employees take a lifetime oath to protect our data. The Census Bureau sets the High Standard and maintains a culture and practice of protecting data. It is not shared with anyone or any agency. Finally, the census is easy. This is due to improvements in technology. People may complete the census anytime anywhere. Our language assistance will reach more than 99. 6 of the population. This will be the first census everywhere people may choose to enter electronically. If people prefer people, why should it will arrive automatically in the mail. I described our technologies and tools in context of a familiar story. Late at night a person sees his friends under straight leg looking for a. The friend joins the searches but is having no luck. He asks his friend are you sure you lost it or . The friend request no, i dropped it down the block in the dark but im lucky here because light is better. We come to longer rely on collecting data in the usual ways and places. With internet and phone options we have tools to go into the less visible hard to get areas and collect the data. In the boroughs of newark city mobile devices can count in the street markets or among the students at queens college. In detroit we can use Civic Centers and houses of worship. In South Carolina and georgia the technology can count persons displaced from closed mill villages or roll from spirit and Silver Spring, maryland, you can do for the tools and Community Centers and commercial establishment like korean corridor in baltimore, maryland, libraries and Recreation Centers alone provide 80 locations with interconnectivity that cant and will be used. Partnership specialist will work with Community Groups using computers and laptops and phones to count others wherever they may be, including homeless beneath the freeway. Options are reaching hard to count persons are limited only by imagination and initiative. In baltimore on it partners with great ideas and initiative. On the light side i made an offer to the mayor to repeat and will not act of the previous may. When the opening of the cities according was delayed, that may have publicly fulfilled his bet on the opening day by jumping with cameras rolling into the aquarium sealed pool. I made that pledge last week. The cities Response Rate matches are state average, i would love to jump into the sealed pool to celebrate the cities success. I expect to lose that that. The Baltimore City plan i have with me was released on friday. It is complete with extensive partnerships and a host of exciting innovations. I am optimistic about what im seeing across the nation. Preparations are underway. Partnerships are increasing, interest and enthusiasm are growing. Working together arm in arm hand in hand and with new technologies expanded outreach and Community Partnerships we can conduct the best census ever, one that is complete and accurate. I look for to answering your questions. Thank you very much. Mr. Goldenkoff. Chairman raskin and members of the subcommittee, gao is pleased to be here today to discuss the Census Bureaus readiness for the 2020 get. As you know in recent years we have identified a number of operational, i. T. , cybersecurity and other challenges that raised serious concerns about the bureaus of delete to conduct a Cost Effective enumeration. In february 2017 we added the 2020 census to gaos list of high risk Government Programs and remains on our high risk list today. I remarks this afternoon will focus on two two such challeng, and limiting Design Innovations and the controlling costs and hiring temporary staff. My colleague nick marinos will then discuss the challenges that your faces and delimiting securing critical i. T. Systems. The bottom line is that as the countdown crozier, the census has mitigate some of the recession the census census ane encouraged by the Commerce Department and Census Bureau