WASHINGTON— Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Vice Chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, issued the following statement after the Justice Department confirmed the government would print the 2020 census forms without a citizenship question.

“Moving forward on the 2020 census without the citizenship question is a major win for democracy. It brings us closer to getting a full and accurate count of the population.”

“It's also good news for U.S. businesses that rely on information provided by the decennial census to plan investments, determine where to locate or expand operations and where to open new stores and distribution centers. Businesses depend on reliable, accurate federal data.”

“Census data are an essential building block or benchmark for most nationally representative surveys—public and private, helping us to understand the economy, our workforce and opportunities for growth. Today we all should feel more confident about the data we can expect to get from the 2020 census.”

Congresswoman Maloney is co-chair of the House Census Caucus and introduced the Census IDEA Act in this Congress, which mandates at least a three-year review process for each question proposed to the decennial census. Earlier on July 2, the Congresswoman sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross urging him to print the census forms without the citizenship question.