Gerald R. Ford

“ The Census has nothing to do with taxation or the enforcement of any National, State, or local law or ordinance. The Census Act expressly provides that there will be no public or private disclosure regarding any person or his affairs. To assure the due protection of the rights and interests of the persons furnishing information, every employee of the Census Bureau is prohibited, under heavy penalty, from disclosing any information that may thus come to his knowledge. ”

“ A periodic census of all the American people is required by the Constitution as the basis for apportioning representation in Congress. In addition, Congress has since 1840 provided for a special census of agriculture to periodically meet the Nation's requirements for reliable and timely statistics on this indispensable segment of our economy. ”

“ The 1974 Census of Agriculture has just begun. Statistics for more than 2.5 million farms will be collected to provide measures of the farm industry and agricultural economy for the Nation, each State, and every county. These data will be aggregated for use by virtually every segment of American society-farmers and their representative groups, the Congress, Federal agencies, State and local governments, educational institutions, private businesses, and consumer organizations. ”