The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability chair has scheduled a hearing as part of its investigation into the U.S. Census Bureau.
Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., on Wednesday announced that the panel will hold a Dec. 5 hearing to examine the Census Bureau's activities, including significant miscounts in the 2020 census in 14 states.
"The Census Bureau's review of the 2020 census revealed substantial miscounts and discrepancies tending to benefit Democrat-run states," Comer said in a statement. "Congress has a responsibility to conduct oversight of these massive errors to ensure they are not repeated in the 2030 census."
Comer added that "current integrity issues with the census" also "must be addressed."
"The Biden-Harris Administration facilitated the worst border crisis in American history, allowing millions of illegal aliens to enter and reside in our country unlawfully. To ensure only U.S. citizens are counted for the apportionment of congressional seats and electoral college votes, Congress must pass the Equal Representation Act to add a straightforward citizenship question to the Census," Comer said.
"We look forward to hearing Director [Robert] Santos' testimony and ensuring the Census Bureau takes the necessary steps to deliver a fair and accurate 2030 census."
In September, Comer sent a letter to Santos and requested documents and communications concerning the 2020 census.
The chair said "the Census Bureau's 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) — designed to 'measure the accuracy of' the decennial census — identified significant errors in the counts of numerous states."
"Significantly, these errors likely led to an erroneous apportionment of representatives among the states," Comer wrote.
"Even relatively small differences in population count can affect congressional representation, as a single congressional seat cannot be divided among multiple states," Comer wrote to Santos. "Undercounts or overcounts can be the deciding factor between a state gaining or losing an additional representative in its delegation."
Comer said the 2020 PES identified statistically significant overcounts in Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Utah. Undercounts were found in states such as Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.
"Because of the 2020 Census' failure to accurately count, Colorado gained a seat it did not deserve, Rhode Island and Minnesota kept seats they should have lost, and Texas and Florida were not awarded seats they should have gained," Comer wrote.
The Constitution requires that a census be taken every 10 years to determine how U.S. House seats are apportioned.