119-hr5156

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5156 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5156

 To direct the Department of Commerce and Federal agencies to collect 
information on citizenship status of individuals residing in the United 
 States, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 4, 2025

Mr. Pfluger (for himself, Mr. Edwards, Mrs. Luna, Mr. Collins, Ms. Van 
 Duyne, and Mr. Dunn of Florida) introduced the following bill; which 
 was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and 
 in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, 
Foreign Affairs, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce, for a period 
 to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
 committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To direct the Department of Commerce and Federal agencies to collect 
information on citizenship status of individuals residing in the United 
 States, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Citizen Only Updated National Tally 
Act'' or the ``COUNT Act''.

SEC. 2. POLICY.

 It is the policy of the United States to develop complete and 
accurate data on the number of citizens, noncitizens, and illegal 
aliens in the country. Such data is necessary to understand the effects 
of immigration on the country, and to inform policymakers in setting 
and evaluating immigration policies and laws, including evaluating 
proposals to address the current crisis in illegal immigration.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL AGENCY ASSISTANCE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND 
 MAXIMIZING CITIZENSHIP DATA.

    (a) In General.--Each Federal agency shall promptly provide the 
Department of Commerce the maximum assistance permissible in 
determining the number of citizens, noncitizens, and illegal aliens in 
the United States, including by providing any access that the 
Department may request to administrative records that may be useful in 
accomplishing such objective.

    (b) Specific Records.--In addition to the requirements of 
subsection

    (a) , the following Federal agencies shall examine relevant 
legal authorities and, to the maximum extent consistent with law, 
provide access to the Department of Commerce to the following records:

    (1) Department of Homeland Security, United States 
 Citizenship and Immigration Services; National-level file of 
 Lawful Permanent Residents, Naturalizations.

    (2) Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and 
 Customs Enforcement; F1 and M1 Nonimmigrant Visas.

    (3) Department of Homeland Security; National-level file of 
 Customs and Border Arrival/Departure transaction data.

    (4) Department of Homeland Security and Department of 
 State, Worldwide Refugee and Asylum Processing System; Refugee 
 and Asylum visas.

    (5) Department of State; National-level passport 
 application data.

    (6) Social Security Administration; Master Beneficiary 
 Records.

    (7) Department of Health and Human Services; CMS Medicaid 
 and CHIP Information System.
            (c) Interagency Working Group.--The Director of the Bureau of the 
Census shall establish an interagency working group to coordinate 
efforts, consistent with law, to maximize the availability of 
administrative records in connection with the census, with the goal of 
obtaining administrative records that can help establish citizenship 
status for 100 percent of the population. The Director shall chair the 
working group, and the head of each agency shall designate a 
representative to the working group upon request from the working group 
chair.
            (d) Citizenship Question.--To ensure that the Federal Government 
continues to collect the most accurate information available concerning 
citizenship going forward, the Secretary of Commerce shall initiate any 
administrative process necessary to include a citizenship question on 
the 2030 decennial census and to consider any regulatory changes 
necessary to ensure that citizenship data is collected in any other 
surveys and data-gathering efforts conducted by the Bureau of the 
Census, including the American Community Survey. The Secretary of 
Commerce shall expand the distribution of the American Community Survey 
to secure better citizenship data.

    (e) State Records.--The Department of Commerce shall strengthen its 
efforts, consistent with law, to gain access to relevant State 
administrative records. The Secretary shall report annually to Congress 
on the status of these efforts, including a list of States that refuse 
to comply with any efforts initiated by the Secretary to ascertain 
relevant administrative records.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF DIFFERENTIAL PRIVACY ACCESS.

 Beginning on and after the date that is 6 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of the Census may not use the 
differential privacy process, and the Director of the Bureau shall 
issue public guidance on how the privacy of individual responses will 
be guaranteed in the absence of such process.
 <all>