White House Shuts Down GOP Push On Census AmendmentObama Administration Dodges Political Problem As Census Amendment Moved To Back Burner Commerce Sec. Gary Locke made a tough case to senators asking they oppose the amendment, reminding them such a change would cost "hundreds of millions of dollars," and long delays since the 300 million census forms would need to be reprinted and reshipped.
"It is too late to shift gears at this point in the process," Locke wrote in a memo obtained by TPMDC.
Locke added the "exact wording of every question" already was given to Congress in 2008.
"A change will require using untested content in the actual census, which may affect both response rates and data quality and cannot be implemented in time to deliver apportionment counts by the statutory deadline of December 31, 2010," Locke wrote.
Census Director Robert Groves has testified on the Hill that it's a discussion worth having but not now.
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