Decennial Census: Focused Action Needed Soon to Achieve Fundamental Breakthroughs: T-Ggd-93-32

GAO discussed the Census Bureau's progress in planning the 2000 decennial census. GAO noted that the: (1) Census Bureau has altered its decisionmaking approach and taken steps to refocus its research and development efforts for the 2000 census; (2) Bureau, the Department of Commerce, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) need to clarify the necessity and purpose of fundamental changes, establish the proper sense of urgency, develop plans for census implementation, and devote appropriate resources to its accomplishment; (3) Bureau's set of decisionmaking criteria is too long and not sufficiently focused on improving coverage accuracy, containing costs, and meeting federal data needs; and (4) Bureau and OMB need to scrutinize data requested by federal agencies to determine what the Bureau must do to meet their needs.