Regarding the Tuesday letter about the census, “Why not use tax returns for info?”:

Congress and the Supreme Court have ruled that the census cannot be conducted by administrative records or by statistical sampling. An actual enumeration must be made.

Everyone does not fill out a tax return. The Census Bureau is the only government agency that counts everyone and collects information on every household. Congress has instructed the Census Bureau to count everyone residing in the United States. And that means everyone — citizen and non-citizen alike. It includes the homeless, the Amish, undocumented workers, etc.

The 2010 census form is simple. Fill it out, mail it in.

At some point in the coming years, you may receive the American Community Survey. Congress has tasked the Census Bureau to collect information about the American people. This has a lot of personal questions and is a pain to answer. But it too is important and by law must be filled out. Numerous public policies and actions are tied to the results.

But for now, let’s all promptly fill out and mail in that 2010 census form. Then you won’t have to worry about phone calls and census taker visits. At least for a while.

Joseph Copsey

Snohomish