Civil Rights Community Lauds House for Holding Ross, Barr in Contempt

Census and Data Equity News 07.17,19

The American people deserve to know more about efforts to rig 2020 Census

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: LaGloria Wheatfall, [email protected], 202.548.7160

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the House vote to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt. House members held this critical vote following Barr and Ross’s refusal to comply with the Committee on Oversight and Reform’s investigation into the Trump administration’s pretext for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census:

“The House of Representatives rightly held Barr and Ross in criminal contempt for their unprecedented obstruction. The committee’s subpoenas must be enforced. The American people deserve to know more about the administration’s failed plan to rig the census and hurt communities of color in an effort to consolidate a white Republican electorate. Our coalition will continue to do all we can through the Census Counts campaign to ensure that all communities are counted in 2020.”

On April 2, 2019, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform issued bipartisan subpoenas to the Departments of Justice and Commerce. Since then, the agencies have “refused to produce any of the key unredacted documents identified by the committee, made no commitments to produce those key documents, and made no counter-offers relating to those key documents.” On June 12, 2019, the committee voted on a bipartisan basis to hold the heads of these agencies, Attorney General Barr and Commerce Secretary Ross, in contempt of Congress for refusing to produce these documents.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

More information about The Education Fund’s Census Counts campaign is available at censuscounts.org.