Dr. Bernie Miller, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship Church, was unanimously nominated to his third term as chairman of the Census Bureau’s African American REAC (Race, and Ethnic, Advisory Committee). The action was taken at the Census Bureau’s fall meeting in Washington, D.C.
In addition, his fellow REAC chairs unanimously selected him to be their representative on the influential Census’ 2010 Decennial Advisory Committee. Dr. Miller replaced Asian chair, Dr. K.V. Rao, who had held the position for the last six years.
Dr. Miller said, “To have the confidence of the Asian, Indian, Hispanic and Alaskan Native chairs is quite an honor. We all work very well together solving issues that relate to reaching the hardest to count. I’m always looking for common ground that will unite us as one voice, because a unified collective voice gets things done quickly.”
Three weeks ago, Dr. Miller wrote a letter on behalf of the five REAC chairs to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), chairwoman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee responsible for the Commerce Department, opposing the now-defeated Vitter-Bennett Senate amendment that sought to add a question to the census form asking respondents to report if they are citizens and legal residents.
He said, “Changing the content of the questionnaire at this late date would have likely delayed implementation and completion of the 2010 census.”
We Li, co-chair of the Asian advisory committee, said, “Bernie’s statements were well articulated. I thank him for his superb leadership. It was his taking the high road at one of our meetings that set the tone for a win-win situation. He has demonstrated great proven leadership and I am truly grateful for it and looking forward to working with him more.”