SR-90, As Adopted by Senate, October 27, 2009

 

 

            Senators Brown, Pappageorge, Patterson, Sanborn and Van Woerkom offered the following resolution:

            Senate Resolution No. 90.

            A resolution to memorialize Congress to require that the forms for the 2010 census include a statement of citizenship.

            Whereas, The decennial federal census has an enormous and long-lived impact on our country and the individual states and municipalities. As the basis for the apportionment of congressional and legislative districts, the distribution of billions of dollars each year, and the composition of the Electoral College that selects the President, the census has a profound influence on the nation; and

            Whereas, This year's census questionnaire is slated to be a short form document that does not include a direct question or statement regarding citizenship. There is a strong feeling among many observers that omitting this information will skew the results and, ultimately, penalize the states with the lowest number of noncitizens. Because of the increasing number of illegal immigrants and the concentration of them in certain areas of the country, states like Michigan suffer significantly, not only economically, but politically as well; and

            Whereas, There is legislation pending in Congress to address the need to determine the citizenship status of all those living in the United States as a key part of the information gathered. This includes not only those visitors and residents who are here legally, but also those who are not. Without this information, the census would be neither complete nor accurate; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate, That we memorialize Congress to require that the forms for the 2010 census include a statement of citizenship; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.