§3575 — Title 44 Public Printing and Documents | U.S. Code

Summary

Lets the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics share business data for statistical purposes while keeping the data confidential. Congress says federal statistics matter to many people, so the agencies should work to be more efficient. Laws that block data sharing make them less efficient. Sharing and fewer reporting demands make businesses more likely to answer surveys, which makes the numbers more accurate. Sharing helps the agencies classify businesses correctly, fix strange data, keep samples up to date as firms start and stop, and correct errors faster. Congress already passed the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (Public Law 94–472), which let the agencies share data on foreign-owned firms and expanded industry detail from 135 to over 800 industries without asking respondents for more information.

Title 44, §3575

Public Printing and Documents — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Congress finds the following:

(1)Federal statistics are an important source of information for public and private decision-makers such as policymakers, consumers, businesses, investors, and workers.

(2)Federal statistical agencies should continuously seek to improve their efficiency. Statutory constraints limit the ability of these agencies to share data and thus to achieve higher efficiency for Federal statistical programs.

(3)The quality of Federal statistics depends on the willingness of businesses to respond to statistical surveys. Reducing reporting burdens will increase response rates, and therefore lead to more accurate characterizations of the economy.

(4)Enhanced sharing of business data among the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics for exclusively statistical purposes will improve their ability to track more accurately the large and rapidly changing nature of United States business. In particular, the statistical agencies will be able to better ensure that businesses are consistently classified in appropriate industries, resolve data anomalies, produce statistical samples that are consistently adjusted for the entry and exit of new businesses in a timely manner, and correct faulty reporting errors quickly and efficiently.

(5)Congress enacted the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (Public Law 94–472), which allowed the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to share data on foreign-owned companies. The Act not only expanded detailed industry coverage from 135 industries to over 800 industries with no increase in the data collected from respondents but also demonstrated how data sharing can result in the creation of valuable data products.

(6)With part B of this subchapter, the sharing of business data among the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics continues to ensure the highest level of confidentiality for respondents to statistical surveys.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act, referred to in par. (5), is Pub. L. 94–472, Oct. 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 2059, which is classified generally to chapter 46 (§ 3101 et seq.) of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 3101 of Title 22 and Tables.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective 180 days after Jan. 14, 2019, see section 403 of Pub. L. 115–435, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2019 Amendment note under section 306 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

§3575 Findings

Summary

Title 44, §3575

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Short Title

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata