H.R. 10054 – Mid-Decade Census of Island Territories

H.R. 10054 – Mid-Decade Census of Island Territories

Del. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-Northern Mariana Islands) introduced H.R. 10054, legislation that would require the Census Bureau to conduct a special census of U.S. “insular areas” every five years.

The proposed survey would be of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. According to Sablan, H.R. 10054 is needed because the American Community Survey (ACS) does not collect data from these insular areas of the U.S. Instead, the insular areas get a census long form during the decennial headcount. While Rep. Sablan does not propose to extend the ACS to the insular areas, his bill would instead run another census in the middle of the decade there.

The bill is cosponsored by Delegate Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa), and has been referred to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.