Following the 1990 Decennial Census, the U.S. Bureau of the Census faced considerable challenges in preparation and development of the 2000 census. Whereas the costs of the 1990 census had increased dramatically, the accuracy of that census as well as the perception of it by key stakeholders and the public had declined. Faced with the challenge to design a more accurate, less costly census that a diverse public could understand and support, the Census Bureau embarked on an extensive planning, research, testing and program development process for Census 2000. Key to that process was an examination and challenge of the fundamental processes required to conduct a population census. From that examination and subsequent testing program emerged some new and innovative approaches to census taking. This paper describes the United States Census 2000 planning, development and testing process along with the public and legal policy debate that arose and continues to shape it.