Congressman Blasts Commerce Secretary For Deceit In Census Scheme

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP

In a powerful moment, Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO) slammed Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for “misleading Congress” and trying to steal political power from nonwhite Americans, and called on Ross to resign.

Ross testified Thursday before the House Oversight Committee about his role in adding a question about citizenship to the upcoming 2020 Census — a racist ploy by Republicans that would intimidate many undocumented immigrants out of participating in the survey. This would lead areas with larger minority populations to be undercounted in the census, which would deny those communities equal representation in Congress and equal access to federal funding.

Clay asked Ross if he would “take responsibility today for misleading Congress” when he testified under oath that the citizenship question was added “solely” based on a request from the Department of Justice in December 2017. But new documents and memos have surfaced showing that Ross was part of an administration discussion on the new question in April 2017.

View the complete March 14 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.