H.R. 8326 · 117th Congress

Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census Act

Introduced on Jul 11, 2022 by Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY-12). One cosponsor. Latest action (Sep 19, 2022): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Jul 11, 2022
Cosponsors
1
0 from the other party
Policy area
Government Operations and Politics
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend title 13, United States Code, to improve the operations of the Bureau of the Census, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Advisory bodies
  • Budget process
  • Census and government statistics
  • Congressional oversight
  • Department of Commerce
  • Executive agency funding and structure
  • Federal officials
  • Government information and archives
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Racial and ethnic relations

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Passed House, Sep 15, 2022). Public domain.

Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census Act

This bill addresses the operations of the Bureau of the Census.

Specifically, the bill (1) requires the Deputy Director of the bureau to appoint an employee responsible for optimizing racial and ethnic equity in the decennial census of population; and (2) provides statutory authority for specified advisory committees.

The bureau may not include in the census any subject, type of information, or question that was not submitted to Congress.

The bureau must submit to Congress a report biannually that (1) describes each component of the operational plan for the subsequent decennial census of population; and (2) includes a detailed statement on the status of all research, testing, and operations that are part of the bureau's comprehensive plan for the decennial census.

The bureau must submit to Congress a certification stating that any question that has not appeared on the previous two decennial censuses has been researched, studied, and tested according to established statistical policies and procedures.

The Government Accountability Office must review such certification and report to Congress on whether the questions to be included have been researched, studied, and tested according to such policies and procedures.

The bureau, by January 1, 2026, and every 10 years thereafter, must transmit to Congress a lifecycle cost estimate for the decennial census of population first occurring after the date of transmittal.

The bureau must submit to Congress a report on local-level data and local field operations.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Carolyn B. MaloneyD-NY-12Sponsor

Democrats · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

  1. On Agreeing to the Amendment
    Sep 15, 2022· House· Amendments· Agreed to 223–211
  2. On Agreeing to the Amendment
    Sep 15, 2022· House· Amendments· Failed 210–222
  3. On Passage
    Sep 15, 2022· House· Passage· Passed 220–208

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jul 11, 2022Introduced in House
  2. Jul 11, 2022Introduced in House
  3. Jul 11, 2022 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
  4. Jul 14, 2022 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  5. Jul 20, 2022 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  6. Jul 20, 2022 · HouseOrdered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 17.
  7. Sep 9, 2022Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Oversight and Reform. H. Rept. 117-456.
  8. Sep 9, 2022 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Oversight and Reform. H. Rept. 117-456.
  9. Sep 9, 2022 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 353.
  10. Sep 13, 2022 · HouseRules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1339 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 302, H.R. 2988 and H.R. 8326. Rule provides for one hour of general debate each for H.R. 302, H.R. 2988, and H.R. 8326. Rule also provides for one motion to recommit on each bill.
  11. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseRule H. Res. 1339 passed House.
  12. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseConsidered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 1339. (consideration: CR H7833-7840; text: CR H7837-7838)
  13. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseRule provides for consideration of H.R. 302, H.R. 2988 and H.R. 8326. Rule provides for one hour of general debate each for H.R. 302, H.R. 2988, and H.R. 8326. Rule also provides for one motion to recommit on each bill.
  14. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseHouse resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union pursuant to H. Res. 1339 and Rule XVIII.
  15. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseThe Speaker designated the Honorable Earl Blumenauer to act as Chairman of the Committee.
  16. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseGENERAL DEBATE - The Committee of the Whole proceeded with one hour of general debate on H.R. 8326.
  17. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 1339, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 20 minutes of debate on the Danny K. Davis en bloc amendment.
  18. Sep 14, 2022 · HousePOSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Danny K. Davis en bloc amendment, the Chair put the question on the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Comer demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  19. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 1339, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Hice (GA) amendment No. 2.
  20. Sep 14, 2022 · HousePOSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Hice (GA) amendment, the Chair put the question on the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the noes had prevailed. Mr. Hice (GA) demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  21. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseMr. Davis, Danny K. moved that the committee rise.
  22. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseOn motion that the committee rise Agreed to by voice vote.
  23. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseCommittee of the Whole House on the state of the Union rises leaving H.R. 8326 as unfinished business.
  24. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseConsidered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H7858-7860)
  25. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseThe House resolved into Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for further consideration.
  26. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseUNFINISHED BUSINESS - The Chair announced that the unfinished business was on agreeing to amendments, which had been debated earlier and on which further proceedings had been postponed.
  27. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseThe House rose from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union to report H.R. 8326.
  28. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseThe previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
  29. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseThe House adopted the amendments en gross as agreed to by the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.
  30. Sep 15, 2022Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 220 - 208 (Roll no. 435).House · Roll call 435
  31. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseOn passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 220 - 208 (Roll no. 435).House · Roll call 435
  32. Sep 15, 2022 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  33. Sep 19, 2022 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 8, 2026 · loaded Oct 8, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.