Proclamation 4701

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Our Constitution requires that there be a census of the people in the United States once every ten years. The Twentieth Decennial Census will be taken beginning April 1, 1980.

It is vitally important to everyone that this census be a complete and accurate report of the Nation's population and resources. Its results determine the representation of the States in the House of Representatives, the redrawing of congressional boundaries, and State and local redistricting. They also provide the basis for distributing large amounts of funds under various Federal programs among the States and communities.

The census is also important for a broader purpose. Americans are a free and mobile people. Significant and rapid changes take place in our country. To better understand ourselves and make intelligent decisions for the future, we depend greatly on our census.

Now, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and make known that under the law it is the duty of every person to participate in the census by answering all questions in the census schedule applying to him or her and the family to which he or she belongs, and to the home being occupied.

Every person in the United States can be sure that there will be no improper use of the information given in the census. Answers cannot be released in any way which will harm the individual. By law individual information collected will not be used for purposes of taxation, investigation, or regulation, or in connection with military or jury service, the compulsion of school attendance, the regulation of immigration, or with the enforcement of any national, State, or local law or ordinance.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourth.

JIMMY CARTER

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 3: 14. p.m., November 6, 1979]