Census Address List Improvement Act of 1994
Public Law 103-430 · H.R. 5084 · 103rd Congress · began in the House
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Oct 31, 1994 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Thomas Sawyer (D-OH-14)
Cosponsors (3): Rep. Tom Petri, Rep. Barbara-Rose Collins,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Census Address List Improvement Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) publish standards defining the content and structure of address information which States and local governments may submit to the Secretary to be used in developing a national address list; (2) develop and publish a timetable for the Bureau of the Census to receive, review, and respond to the submitted information before the decennial census date; (3) provide for a response by the Bureau that specifies its determinations regarding such information and the reasons for such determinations; and (4) be subject to the review process developed under this Act relating to such responses.
Directs the Secretary to provide officials who are designated as census liaisons by local governments with access to census address information for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of the Bureau's address information for census and survey purposes and together with such access, provide an explanation of duties and obligations under this Act.
Limits such access to the addresses within the local government represented by the census liaison or an adjacent local government.
Requires the Bureau to respond to each recommendation made by a census liaison concerning the accuracy of address information, including the determination (and reasons therefor) of the Bureau regarding each such recommendation.
Prohibits a census liaison from using information made available under this Act for purposes other than the purposes specified in this Act.
Makes provisions that require, with exceptions, that such information be treated as confidential applicable to local government census liaisons. Imposes a fine and up to five years' imprisonment on whoever being or having been a census liaison wrongfully discloses such information.
Requires: (1) the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, acting through the Chief Statistician, to develop an appeals process for those States and local governments which desire to appeal determinations of the Bureau; and (2) the Postal Service to provide to the Secretary for use by the Bureau such address, address- related, and point of postal delivery information, including postal delivery codes, determined by the Secretary to be appropriate for any census or survey being conducted by the Bureau.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Post Office and Civil Service Committee · House · referred toSubcommittee: Census, Statistics and Postal Personnel Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 12 actions.
- Oct 31, 1994Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 103-430.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 21, 1994PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 6, 1994FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Oct 3, 1994FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Sawyer moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Sep 28, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Census, Statistics and Postal Personnel Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Census, Statistics and Postal Personnel Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- Sep 27, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Census, Statistics and Postal Personnel Subcommittee of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- Sep 23, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Post Office and Civil Service Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.