Concern raised over Census bid to ease security checks on temp workers

A Commerce Department request to loosen standards for background checks on hundreds of thousands of temporary workers who will conduct the 2010 Census is drawing concern from House members and companies seeking federal contracts to help screen workers. According to people familiar with the issue, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has asked the Office of Personnel Management for a waiver allowing the Census Bureau to opt out of a requirement that it fingerprint temporary workers -- expected to number more than 500,000 -- many of whom will go door-to-door to collect data.

The bureau received a similar waiver in 2000, but lawmakers are pressing the agency not to skip the requirement again. House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Tom Davis, R-Va., "is very concerned the Census Bureau feels they cannot handle this basic piece of due diligence to check the bona fides of the people hired to visit every American home," an aide said. Davis said in a statement: "The bureau couldn't do it a decade ago. They've had 10 years to figure out how to get it done but now seem to be claiming they don't have the time or money." Davis Wednesday sent a letter to Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., asking that the panel step up its oversight of the Census Bureau and expressing "profound concerns over the committee's inaction with regard to" the 2010 Census.

Questions about the request create a headache for the bureau, which already faces congressional fire over problems with handheld computers for collecting census data. Many senators have raised concerns that the bureau will have to revert to paper questionnaires. A contract for the development of the computers is over budget and GAO last week expressed concern over the 2010 Census, partly because of problems with the devices. Because of such concerns, Gutierrez has become involved in the issue and recently formed a task force to weigh contingency plans to avoid problems with the census and has briefed key lawmakers, said Davis' letter.

An official familiar with the Census waiver request said it has been pending for at least a week. If granted, the waiver would give the Census Bureau the option of skipping fingerprinting as part of broader background checks on some or all of its workers. A spokesman declined to comment in detail on the Census Bureau's plans but said: "Census is looking into a variety of options regarding applicant screening and remains committed to achieving a complete, accurate and effective census in 2010." Criticism of the bureau's plan also comes from representatives of companies that provide electronic fingerprinting technology and stand to gain government contracts if the bureau uses it. Representatives of L-1 Identity Solutions have raised concerns about the public safety implications of the bureau relying on ink and paper based finger-printing or skipping the requirement all together.

In a Dec. 14 letter to Gutierrez, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., in whose district L-1 has its headquarters, raised concerns about the bureau not using electronic scanners, which Shays called less costly and less labor intensive.

Since "these workers will be gathering information at many residents' homes, it is absolutely crucial we have vetted them to the best of our ability," he wrote.