WASHINGTON (CNN) - A trio of Republican congressmen are calling on a GOP colleague to completely fill out her 2010 Census form, following her vow to provide only basic information about her family.
In a statement released Wednesday, Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, and John Mica of Florida said that "boycotting the constitutionally-mandated census is illogical, illegal and not in the best interest of our country."
Bachmann expressed concerns last week about the level of detail demanded in the census form and questioned the federal government's ability to protect her family's personal data.
"What guarantees do the American people have that hackers won't get into the system?" Bachmann asked in an interview with FOX News Channel.
Bachmann also claimed in the interview that ACORN, a group that has been criticized by the GOP for its voter registration practices, would be employed by the government to collect census data.
"I don't have a lot of confidence in ACORN going door to door asking personal information, handing it over to the federal government - and will the American people be safe and secure in their information?" she added.
Bachmann did emphasize that she was not advocating a widespread boycott, but rather telling people how she personally planned to address the census.
Still, the congressmen - who all serve on the Information Policy, Census, and National Archives subcommittee - urged her to fill out all of her census form.
"We share Ms. Bachmann's concerns about ACORN's involvement in the 2010 Census and will continue pressuring the Bureau to follow their own guidelines for partnering organizations and dump ACORN," the congressmen wrote. "However, we can not emphasize enough how important it is for every individual to fill out their census forms.
"Every elected representative in this country should feel a responsibility to encourage full participation in the census. To do otherwise is to advocate for a smaller share of federal funding for our constituents. Boycotting the constitutionally-mandated census is illogical, illegal and not in the best interest of our country.
"The unfortunate irony is that Ms. Bachmann's boycott only increases the likelihood that ACORN-recruited census takers will be dispatched to her constituents' homes. Anyone who completes and returns their census form will remove any need for a census taker to visit their residence."
David Dziok, a Bachmann spokesman, sidestepped the call for the congresswoman to fill out her census form, and said she looked forward to working with her fellow Republicans to prevent ACORN from working for the census.
"We appreciate their views and hope to be able to work with them to keep ACORN - which has earned public mistrust through its repeated voter registration fraud - out of the census," he said.
Shelly Lowe, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Census Bureau, said that ACORN is "not conducting the census" and gave assurances that all census workers will go through a background check.
From CNN Politics
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Per usual Ms. Bachmann manages to bring the crazy AND the stupid. Her constituents must be so proud.
Bachmann has said so many crazy things (literally) I am at a complete loss as to how she got elected to government. Someone who says things like "Carbon Dioxide is harmless" when in fact, hypercapnia can kill people, is a dangerous person. Encouraging citizens to break the law is illegal. She has been so factually wrong so many times in recent history, it sends chills down my spine knowing that this person has authority in our government. The fact that she is a Representative gives her off the wall rants legitimacy to those that are uninformed. Very scary.
Michelle, you do not have to listen to them, you go ahead and call that boycott if you want to. You go girl!!!
(Is she really a congresswoman? Really?)
this is what you want to avoid: you might get what you wish and this idiot will have her district eliminated. Good for you Tabloid Congresswoman!!
How do these crazy people get elected to these important offices? Too bad this woman can't hook up with Stanford so they can run off to Argentina together. Maybe they can take Palin, Rush, Newt, and O'Rielly, too. Oh, yeah, don't forget to take Ann with you!
She is an embarrassment to the state of Minnesota and it is hard to believe that she can even tie her own shoes or feed herself.
I rarely see such concern on the part of Republicans as these three who are counseling Bachman...Oh wait, if she and her followers all boycott the census, that returns a lot less Republicans on the census count, and a lot fewer citizens in general–and hence less state and federal funding– for her (R) tending district. Brilliant move Bachman!
Republicans continue to be overly juvenile when it comes to matters such as these. Just fill the darn Census form out , what's the problem. Republicans are always making something out of nothing until the tables are TURNED and then they cry bloody murder and play the "victim".
Just fill out the form and move on. Stop with all the theatrics.
Why does the Census Bureau need to know anything other than who lives in the house, relationship, citizenship, and their age. All the other information should not affect how much money your neighbor hood gets or how many representatives the state gets. Personal income, race, house size and content (number of bathrooms) are not related to the purpose of the census. It is funny that the democrats want to use estimation to determine numbers not what the law says and verify actual numbers like the law says.
household #'s.........end of discussion.
I will not tell any of the acorn criminals what time I leave my house for work so they can come back to rob me while I'm gone.
The Republicans just can't get it right. Fresh on the heels of hypocritical marital affairs, they now have to deal with the fruitcake factor in the party.
Michele is one Crazy Lady!!!
It doesn't matter what you put on your census report. Emnual has already estimated the correct, I mean, "progressive" numbers.
ACRON.., no.
Same progressive leaders under a different name...., yes.
Let her boycott the census and I hope she gets her constituents to boycott as well. If they don't want to be counted then they can't whine and scream if they lose a seat in Congress. If they lose the seat, hopefully it will be hers. This woman is a detriment to our country and my goodness is she stupid.
Give us a break, she is republican and anything she can do against anything this administration has put forth she and most all GOP's will follow and this is more harmful for the country.......but OH thats right republicans don't care about this country all the care about is their Party which is a sinking ship anyway.......
I think that a basic count of the people would be fine. My race, religion, ethnicity, salary, wealth, political decisions etc are no ones business. The government needs to respect our privacy and stop asking inappropriate questions on the Census.
Bachmann represents the lunatic fringe very, very well.
Stand strong Michele. The census is a marxist tool to harrass peolpe who dissent against big, socialist one world order madness
No, Michele go ahead a boycott the census. The people of your district will be in a better situation if they are represented by someone else. Sit this one out, really.
What about the rest of us? There is too much of our information floating around also, and we don't like it either. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Please. This woman is a loon and sees conspiracies in every corner and every shadow. My only hope is that she will continue to vomit this nonsense every day and in greater quantities – she is one of the Democrat's greatest gifts. Go Bachmann!!!!
As far as I recall the only items that are required by law to be provided for the census are how many people live at a given address. Everything else is fluff and we shouldn't waste money collecting that data anyway. So perhaps the gang of 3 should back off and mind their own business.
Oh please let the boycott wishes of this stupid evil witch come true! I hope the Minnesota GOP ditto heads follow the boycott request of this infamous "wicked witch of the north".
Bachmann is too stupid to understand how her very words could come back to bite her.
Exactly how did this person get elected?