Letter To Harry Reid, Majority Leader, And Senator Landrieu

Congressman John Fleming joined Senator David Vitter and Congressmen Rodney Alexander, Charles Boustany, Bill Cassidy, Charlie Melancon and Steve Scalise in sending a letter to Senators Mary Landrieu and Harry Reid asking them to allow the Vitter-Bennett Amendment to be voted on. The amendment, number 2644, is to the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill and would require next year's census to ask a single question on U.S. citizenship.

"It is imperative that we have correct population data, especially since this is the tool that is used to determine accurate congressional representation in Congress," said Fleming. "We must do everything possible to ensure the census provides the proper information regarding United States citizens, not illegals. The founding fathers of this country never intended for those who are not yet fully naturalized to be represented in Washington. The Vitter-Bennett Amendment is a crucial step towards eliminating census fraud and providing this country with an accurate count of who its citizens are."

The complete text of the letter can be found below.

Congressman John Fleming represents the 4th District of Louisiana and is a member of the House Armed Services and Natural Resources Committees.

Dear Majority Leader Reid and Senator Landrieu:

We write to urge you to support the Vitter-Bennett amendment number 2644 to the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill, and to not invoke cloture on the bill until a vote on that amendment is assured. This amendment would simply require next year's census to ask a single question on U.S. citizenship (not legal status). This question is included in the census long form and has been included in eleven prior U.S. Censuses.

This is both a crucial national issue and one that very directly impacts Louisiana. As it is planned now, next year's census will not ask respondents if they are U.S. Citizens. Therefore, the resulting congressional reapportionment will have to be based on the overall count of persons, including non-citizens (both legal and illegal). This will result in Louisiana losing one congressional seat compared to if reapportionment were based on citizens only. So the impact on Louisiana could not be more direct or clear.

This analysis is based on the census bureau's own data and estimates as well as the careful work of many experts, including Louisiana demographer Elliott Stonecipher, and LSU law professor John Baker.

Again, we urge you not to invoke cloture on the CJS appropriations bill until a vote on the Vitter-Bennett amendment is assured, and further ask that you support this important amendment.

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