Another but just aimed at sewing divisiveness on some really charged topics. Watch the communicators tonight at 8 00 eastern on cspan2. Next, commerce secretary wilbur ross testifies on modernization efforts at the u. S. Census bureau ahead of the next census in 2020. Secretary ross spoke about attempts to streamline Data Collection and to reach communities that were traditionally underrepresented. This hearing from the House Oversight committee is just under three hours. The committee will come to order. Without objection, chairs authorized to declare a recess at any time. Secretary ross is with us. Hell be joining us momentarily. Ill recognize myself for an Opening Statement and then my friend from maryland. The census is constitutionally required. It is what ensures that just as every vote should be counted, every person should be counted. This is a Condition Precedent for accurate redistricting and accurate reapportionment. The census is not only important for purposes of constituting our government, its also important for apportioning the resources and services of our government. So, the census is vitally important for a number of reasons. It is also eminently predictable. There are a few things that can be foreseen, quite like the dicennial census. It happens every ten years, whether youre ready or not. So, its incredibly important, beginning with the fundamental truth of counting every one of our fellow citizens, and we know well in advance when its coming. So, we cant complain that we were caught off guard, and we cant complain that we didnt see it. So, we have a couple more years before we actually count everyone, but now is the time to make sure that we are trod count everyone with accuracy, security and professionalism. Were all concerned with costs. Our fellow citizens are hearing about cuts in areas and there is concern about the deficit and debt. So cost is important, but its also important that we get this done right, accurately, professionally, with security and in a fashion worthy of the worlds great democracy. What would be even worse than unexpectedly high costs is unexpectedly high costs coupled with less than full success. So, we want to make sure the census is a success. We dont appropriate money on this committee, but we do help make sure the right questions are asked in a timely fashion. So, for secretary ross, i appreciate his time and i appreciate the time, frankly, that hes given our committee before today as well as his appearance today. We live in a country that is increasingly skeptical of whether or not we can get things done right, in a timely fashion and in an incredibly responsible way. I think our country as a whole, irrespective of the region in which you may live, or your political ideation, would appreciate a good news story, a story of how a Government Entity was prepared, efficient, and exceeded their expectations. So, 2020 may seem like a long ways off, but its coming, and when it comes, were going to have to have counted 300 millionplus people accurately, so i think time is of the essence even today. So, with that, i would welcome all of our witnesses, especially secretary ross, and i would yield the remainder of my time to the chairman of the subcommittee, mr. Meadows. Thank you, chairman. Thank you for your leadership on this particular issue. And as we go into this hearing today, i think its critically important that we all realize that while 2020 is a good ways off, we have already missed critical dates, critical testing, and critical implementation that should have already been done according to our own schedule that we have had in previous hearings. Of the i. T. Systems that are out there, there are some 43 i. T. Systems that need to be implemented. And yet, today, only four have actually been fully implemented. Another 31 are only partially done, and 18 have not been delivered in any form or fashion. And yet, we continue to have hearings over and over and over again about the critical nature of making sure that we not only get these systems implemented, but tested, and that we do endtoend testing on a basis to make sure that cybersecurity, other fumbles do not happen. And yet, here we are today on another hearing, and i am concerned that the focus will be on the 3 billion in terms of a budget shortfall and not on the other Critical Mission steps that have to be addressed. And so, lets today focus not on the 3 billion, but on the Management Issues that must be done. And in doing so, were talking a whole lot about Disaster Relief in every other area. Today is a day that we need to Start Talking about Disaster Relief for what will be a disaster if we dont get on this today. And so, mr. Secretary, thank you for coming. For our second panel of witnesses, thank you for coming. Ive been informed by some of your staff, mr. Secretary, that you are on this and that you plan to make sure that this is not just a budgetary component, that it is a component that actually looks at the management, procurement, and otherwise. And i was pleasantly assured of that, but we look forward to hearing more from you. I thank you, mr. Chairman, for your leadership. And as we get this right, i look forward for this to be a good story in the months and years to come. I yield back. The gentleman from North Carolina yields back. The gentleman from marylands recognized. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. If theres one key point we can get across to those watching todays hearing, i believe it is simply this. The Census Bureau is dangerously underfunded and has been for years. And unless we do something about it right now, not yesterday, not today, but right this moment, this massive deficiency could imperil the fairness and accuracy of the census itself. Americans expect us to be able to do things right, and i think the chairman would agree with me. I think he just said it, we want to be effective and efficient in whatever we do. Mr. Meadows is right. Its not just a thing of money, its a thing of operation and making sure that things are done properly. So this is not a partisan observation. Both progressives and conservatives agree that current budget projections are way, way, way, way too low. Eli elyria, the president of the r street institute, wrote an op ed just this Tuesday Morning that the census is understaffed and underfunded, and that america is in serious danger of the census going wrong. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to allow that to happen. This is the United States of america, the exceptional nation. If we cannot count the 300plus Million People who are in our country, i dont know how exceptional we will be determined to be. Last month, the conservative American Enterprise institute joined with the center on budget and policy priorities in Warning Congress that current level of flat or nearflat funding is unprecedented and would significantly undercut efforts to conduct an accurate survey. They warned that shortchanging the census is penny wise and pound foolish, that it jeopardizes the bureaus ability to implement costeffective, new technologies, and it could backfire, costing taxpayers more in the long run. I say that we are better than that. Id like to show a few charts that illustrate this urgent problem. It wont show up on the screen, but members, it will show up on your screens at your desk. First, as we all know, funding for the Census Bureau certainly increases dramatically in years eight through ten of each decade to accommodate the rampup in activities for the census in year ten. The first chart shows funding for the last four decades in inflationadjusted dollars. For the 1990 census, the bureau increased from 596 million to 3 billion over the last four years. For the 2000 census, it increased from 535 million to 6. 9 billion over this period. For the 2010 census, it increased from 1. 1 billion to 8. 4 billion over this period. But what are we doing now . We are basically flatlining. The Trump Administration did not request a significant increase for 2018. You can see the same trends when you look at the budget from a percentage basis, which is what this next chart shows. The 1990 census had a massive increase in the last four years of the cycle, as did the 2000 census and the 2010 census. But here is where we are now. The administration is not on track to match past increases for 2020. If we use these historical trends to project forward, total Census Bureau funding would be increasing over the next several years, but that is not what is happening. As this last chart shows, there is a shortfall of about 760 million when you compare what the administration is requesting to past trends. I say that we are better than that. Now, Congress Shares part of the blame, no doubt about it. In 2012, congress insisted that the Census Bureau spend less on the 2020 census than it spent on the 2010 census. Congress refused to acknowledge or budget for two of the most significant and predictable drivers of Cost Increases that occurred between each dicennial census, inflation and population growth. Aggravating this problem even more, congress appropriated even less than the Census Bureau requested in every single year since 2012. Now, some people will argue that the Census Bureau was supposed to save billions of dollars this time around by using new i. T. Innovations to reduce the number of workers it needs to hire and increase the number of people who submit their forms online. The problem is that when you starve the Census Bureau year after year after year, it cannot make the investments needed to implement these innovations, and this is exactly what happened. And im sure director ross, secretary ross will talk about that. As a former director of the Census Bureau, john thompson, who left his position this summer, explained to the Washington Post just this week, and i quote, had we been funded to do everything we asked for then, wed be much farther ahead. He continued, at this point, theyre going to have to go back and do some of it your way, with paper and pencil. With paper and pencil. This is the exceptional nation, the one that has done the census over and over and over and over again. Secretary ross, i want to thank you for being here today and for Briefing Members of the Committee Last week. I understand you have limitat n limitations on your time, but mr. Secretary, we beg you to we have members, and im sure the chairman will emphasize this we have members that are very interested in this subject, and i hope that, i dont know what youre unless youre meeting with the president , i hope that you can spare us a few extra moments because we do want to get to have members ask. And as i close, and i know you will get into this during your testimony, but i appreciate that as a result of your own teams review, youve also recommended that the administration increase its request for 2018 by 187 million. And thank you for doing that, because so often we have secretaries come in, and they dont say exactly what they need because they dont want to get people upset. But this is just too important. I commend you for taking this step, and i know you understand the importance of this issue as a former enumerator yourself. However, i believe that even this request is far too low. Too low. Did you hear me, mr. Secretary . Too low. Especially given the number of tests that have been canceled and extremely low number of hires at the moment. And so, i know you are constrained in your current position. I was amazed to hear that the office of management and budget rejected your request for an additional 50 million for contingencies that are virtually certain to occur. Nevertheless, we have a responsibility under the constitution of the United States to ensure that the census is funded adequately and that the Census Bureau has the resources it needs to conduct a fair and accurate census. This should matter to each and every one of us, because while we historically discuss minority and immigrant operations being undercounted, low income and Rural Communities are also at risk of being missed, particularly in a digital census. For this reason, yesterday i joined my colleague, representative carolyn maloney, who also chairs a congressional census caucus, in introducing legislation to fund the bureau at 1. 935 billion this year, an amount that reflects budget projections from the bureaus fiscal year 2017 budget and an extra 135 million for increases in the necessary funds for the ccaf program. As i close, we must recognize the gravity of the situation we are facing. And mr. Chairman, i thank you while you have taken on this matter very, very seriously. Are facing. And mr. Chairman, i think. You have taken on this matter very, very seriously. As you said earlier, we had very informative meeting with the secretary. I think that helped to lay a foundation for this meeting. And i look forward to the testimony. And thank you very much for your indulgence. The gentleman from maryland yields back, we want to welcome you, mr. Secretary. Pursuant to committee rules, im going ask you to please stand and well administer the oath. If you raise your right hand, you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony youre to be give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so, help you god . Let the record reflect that the witness answered in the affirmative. You may take your seat, mr. Secretary. Your entire Opening Statement will be made part of the record. Youll have five minutes to summarize that. I want to say as mr. Cummings did, we appreciate the fact that there are other demands on your time, and we want to be good stewards on your time. The census is one of the unusual entities that is squarely within the jurisdiction of this committee. And there are lots of members that have questions. So what im going to ask of my colleagues on both sides is to exercise the selfrestraint of getting your questions done within five minutes. Im notoriously slow on the gavel because its hard to unlock the mysteries of the world in five minutes. But im going to ask my colleagues to selfdiscipline to get it done within five minutes so everyone can have a chance to interact with you, and we can also be a good stewart of your time. With that, i would invite you to turn on the microphone and you are recognized for your Opening Statement. Thank you very much. Chairman gowdy, Ranking Member cummings, and members of the committee, thank you for your continuing support and your discerning oversight. Thank you also for allowing the Opening Statements to be read while i was reviewing some of the newly developed materials so i could comment on it myself. An efficient 2020 census that provides a full, fair and accurate count has been one of my highest priorities since being confirmed in february. I myself was an enumerator as i work midway through business school. And so i have a strong appreciation for the responsibilities and the unique challenges of counting everyone in the United States once every ten years. Any operation that must hire and manage half a million temporary employees with complex and new technological systems and with rigid completion dates is bound to be a difficult undertaking for even the most experienced managers. And its been clear to me from the beginning of my tenure that census would be one of the most challenging aspects of the entire commerce portfolio. I agree with the members of this committee. The census is the bedrock upon which we construct our system of democratic representation. It provides for apportionment, redistricting, and the distribution of hundreds of billions of dollars of federal funding. Accordingly, some of my first meetings as the newly confirmed secretary of commerce were with the commerce staff. In those meetings i sought to identify and then address the key issues faced by the decennial census. My early concerns were heightened when only two months into my tenure, the Census Bureau suddenly announced a 40 cost overrun in one component, namely, the census enterprise Data Collection and processing cedcap program. A critical part of the infrastructure for the 2020 census. In terms of the broader decennial census, the Prior Administrations last life cycle cost estimate in the october 2015 was 12. 5 billion. When testifying before congress in june, i did not accept that figure. Instead, i vowed to return to congress after a thorough review with a vetted 2020 census life cycle cost that i could support. The product of that review is what brings me here today. As promised, we assembled a team of experts to conduct an independent review of the estimate. And they have come back with numbers i now stand behind as we continue our preparation for 2020. The team is comprised of Financial Management experts from the department of commerce, from the office of management and budget, former census employees, two former Technology Executives with the experience in rolling out complex systems, as well as other experts with extensive private sector experience. In conducting our review, we looked at the many concerns raised by the gao and members of congress, including those on this committee about the Census Bureaus cost estimates. Im aware of the funding statistics presented by Ranking Member cummings and can assure you that the 760 billion budget shortfall and its impact is