Washington, DC - Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and the National Archives said today that he was pleased with the progress of the critical Address Canvassing phase of Census 2010 preparations.

“I was pleased to be briefed by the Census Bureau that they are actually ahead of the July 17th deadline for completing Address Canvassing,” said Chairman Clay. “This essential step towards achieving a complete count could not be accomplished without the hard work and talent of thousands of highly qualified applicants who are now working long hours to complete this task. While I’m very pleased that Address Canvassing has gone well for the most part, it’s too early to declare the operation a complete success because there are still some unanswered questions. The Commerce Department Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office have both expressed concern about some listers not following procedures for Address Canvassing and some shortcomings in quality control measures. We can’t unequivocally say that the process has been a success until we know that the Bureau caught any missed addresses and the Master Address File is complete. However, so far so good, and I am pleased with the results.”

The Government Accountability Office will brief subcommittee staff in the near future. Chairman Clay plans to convene a hearing on Address Canvassing later in the summer.