FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                    FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2000

Decennial Media Relations                                       CB00-CN.59
301-457-3691/301-457-3620 (fax)
301-457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail: 2000usa@census.gov

   Commerce Department Inspector General Completes Review of
 Hialeah Census 2000 Operations; Says No Further Action Needed
                                
  The Commerce Department Inspector General, Johnnie E. Frazier, has
issued a report summarizing the results of his investigation of Census
2000 operations in South Florida and concluding that the Census Bureau's
steps to correct problems there were sufficient to ensure a complete and
accurate count. The Census Bureau re-enumerated 63,000 housing units in
the Hialeah, Fla. area, including the city of Hialeah, to ensure an
accurate count after the bureau found substantial procedural errors on the
part of local census staff.

  Frazier states in the report, "We reviewed the special re-enumeration
procedures and visited each of the three offices conducting the
re-enumeration. We believe that these special procedures, along with the
oversight provided by headquarters, should have been adequate to ensure
that the data collected was complete and accurate."

  "We are gratified that the Inspector General's office has supported our
actions," said Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt. "We are confident
we have a quality census in South Florida, thanks in great measure to the
extremely high levels of public cooperation."

  "Our highest priority throughout Census 2000 has been in achieving a
quality count," Prewitt said. "We kept our promise to exhaust every
procedure designed to produce a better census and to stay in the field
until we were confident we had completed the job."

  The Census Bureau has been cooperating with the Inspector General's
office of the U.S. Department of Commerce since early June in its
assessment of enumeration activities in Hialeah.

  Copies of the Inspector General's report may be obtained by contacting 
the Public Information Office on 301-457-3691.