Letters

FORM D-55 (L1)

(Contact Letter)

(Draft 06-06-08)

October 20, 2009

(Department Position)

(Department Name)

(Mailing Address)

(City) (State) (Zip)

Dear (Name of Department Head):

During the 2010 Census, as in the 1990 and 2000 censuses, the U.S. Census Bureau will include U.S. military and Federal civilian employees temporarily living overseas and their dependents living with them. These persons stationed overseas will be included in the state totals used to determine allocation of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. To accomplish this, the Census Bureau will request in February 2010 that your department provide a count of its overseas employees and their associated dependents by home state. You may use personnel and administrative records to compile these counts. Be assured that any information we receive is subject to the strict confidentiality provisions of Title 13, United States Code.

The Census Bureau is asking all Federal departments with personnel stationed overseas to provide the name, address, and phone number of a contact person within the department to work with Census Bureau staff in reporting the counts of overseas personnel. Please furnish the name of the contact person for your department by November 9, 2009, by e-mail to [email protected]. The Census Bureau will send the request for the counts and census materials in February 2010 to the contact person for your department with a courtesy copy to you.

We estimate that it will take the appointed contacts between 40 and 320 hours to prepare the counts of federally affiliated personnel living overseas. This includes the time needed to read the count letter and the instructions on how to complete the count form, complete the form with counts of federally affiliated personnel living overseas by state using your administrative records, and send the completed form back to the U.S. Census Bureau. Please send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to: Paperwork Project 0607-0919-C, U.S. Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Room 3K138, Washington, DC 20233, or you may e-mail comments to [email protected]; use

"Paperwork Project 0607-0919-C" as the subject. Please include a copy of your message addressed to: [email protected]. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, we cannot ask you to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OMB number is found in the upper right corner of the count form.

We appreciate your assistance. Your department's participation in this program will help to ensure that our U.S. military and Federal civilian employees stationed overseas are represented in Congress and that the Congressional apportionment for the country is as complete and accurate as possible. If you have any questions, please have a member of your staff contact the Assistant Division Chief for Content and Outreach of the Census Bureau's Decennial Management Division, at (301) 763-3460 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Carlos M. Gutierrez

Secretary of Commerce