Robert Santos Confirmation

On July 14, COPAFS, along with 29 other national organizations endorsed the swift confirmation of Rob Santos as Census Director. As a long-time user of Census data and respected member of the Census stakeholder community, Santos is an outstanding nominee for director. He brings the expertise, stakeholder support, and leadership skills needed to lead the largest federal statistical agency. His expertise—which includes quantitative and qualitative research design, sampling, survey operations, and statistical analysis—matches well with the work of the census, especially in the bureau’s work to reach hard-to-count populations such as communities of color.


The Honorable Gary Peters
Chair, Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
 
The Honorable Robert Portman
Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
 

Dear Chair Peters and Ranking Member Portman,

We, the undersigned organizations, write in strong support of the nomination of Robert Santos as director of the US Census Bureau and urge his prompt confirmation. As a long-time user of Census data and respected member of the Census stakeholder community, Santos is an outstanding nominee for director. He brings the expertise, stakeholder support, and leadership skills needed to lead the largest federal statistical agency. His expertise—which includes quantitative and qualitative research design, sampling, survey operations, and statistical analysis—matches well with the work of the census, especially in the bureau’s work to reach hard-to-count populations such as communities of color.

As an active member of the statistical and survey community for more than 40 years, Santos is well known, highly regarded, and deeply respected by the Census stakeholder community. He has held many leadership positions, including president of the ASA, the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), and the Washington Statistical Society. He has also served on numerous National Academies panels and the National Center for Health Statistics Board of Scientific Counselors

Santos’s leadership experience and skills will also benefit the bureau immediately upon his swearing-in if confirmed. He is currently vice president and chief methodologist at the Urban Institute and has also
held executive-level positions at the University of Michigan Survey Research Center and the nonpartisan and objective research organization NORC at the University of Chicago.

We recommend the US Senate confirm Santos promptly so the bureau can benefit from his leadership as it concludes the 2020 Census, prepares for the 2030 Census, and performs its myriad other activities.

Thank you for your consideration.

National Organizations:

American Anthropological Association

American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR)

American Educational Research Association

American Mathematical Society

American Sociological Association Association

American Statistical Association

Arab American Institute (AAI) Association

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC

Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations (AASRO

Association of Population Centers

Association of Public Data Users (APDU

City University of New York (CUNY) Institute for Demographic Research

Community Change

Consortium of Social Science Associations <

Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics

Decision Demographics, LLC

Fair Immigration Reform Movement

Insights Association

Justice Research and Statistics Association <

National Association for Business Economics

National Association of Home Builders

National Association of REALTORS®

National League of Cities

National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund

National Urban League

Nielsen

Population Association of America

Research Support Services Inc.

State/regional/local/city organizations:

MACS – Minnesotans for the American Community Survey

Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research

Public Justice Center

RLS Demographics, Inc

The University of Chicago Survey Lab

Twin Cities Research Group