Thanks to your support, on Thursday the Senate voted NO on the Vitter-Bennett amendment by voting for for cloture in a 60 - 39 vote on the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill. For now, this puts to rest the divisive Vitter-Bennett amendment.

Thanks to SEIU's Don't Wreck the Census campaign--our micro site and Tweet your Senator tool--we generated over 750 letters and 1,700 phone calls to members of the Senate, urging them to vote NO on the Vitter-Bennett amendment.

In a statement, SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina said:

"Today U.S. Senators put working families ahead of the politics of division and hatred. Joining a chorus of former U.S. Census Directors and advocacy leaders, the Senate voted down Senators Vitter and Bennett's misguided attempt to undercut 2010 enumeration efforts and mar this critical process with hateful, anti-immigrant politics."

Read full statement by Medina here.

Again--thank you for making calls, writing letters, blogging, and Tweeting your Senators to vote no on the Vitter-Bennett amendment. In addition to SEIU, the Don't Wreck the Census campaign was composed of the of the following organizations: AAJC, CAP, Demos, HNBA, LCCR, LDF, LULAC, MALDEF, NALEO, NDN, PFAW, SEIU.

Read coverage of the victory in NOLA.com, the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal.

We just learned that the Senate is scheduled to vote on the Vitter-Bennett amendment today at noon.

It's time to make our voices heard on Capitol Hill.  Can you join us in calling your senators right now?

Don't let them inject their anti-immigrant agenda into every conceivable realm of public life.

Click here to call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on the Vitter-Bennett amendment: http://call.seiu.org/9/NOammendment2644

In our continued efforts to stop an amendment introduced by Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and Bob Bennett (UT-R) that would stop the 2010 Census dead in its tracks, last week SEIU launched a new Twitter tool broadening our online capacity to reach our elected officials. Try it yourself--go to www.DontWreckTheCensus.org and tweet your Senator to vote NO on Vitter-Bennett amendment #2644!

Since SEIU joined civil rights groups and a unified group of former U.S. Census Directors to fight the Vitter-Bennett amendment, the opposition to the misguided proposal continues to grow. This week, Sen. Mary Landrieu wrote a biting letter to her colleague Sen. Vitter warning him that she would not support the amendment.

"Your amendment, as currently drafted, would only do harm to our country by delaying the Census at a cost of $1 billion to our already beleaguered taxpayers and to our state."

In the letter, Landrieu goes on to write to Vitter, "If you are ever interested in setting aside political gamesmanship and working together with me on a serious initiative to reform the laws that govern illegal immigration and Congressional apportionment, I would welcome your support." Read coverage of Landrieu's stand against the Sen. Vitter.

The vote on the Vitter-Bennett amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill has been delayed multiple times-which gives us more time to make our voices heard. Don't let hate rule--go to Don't Wreck the Census.org to learn more and take action.

Check out our latest effort in the Don't Wreck the Census Campaign:

"Some politicians come up with dumb ideas. Some come up with impractical ideas that would cost taxpayers millions of dollars. And then there are those lawmakers with crazy proposals that would violate the United States Constitution.¹"

Republican Senators Vitter and Bennett hit the trifecta by trying to wreck the US Census.

They've filed an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill that would strip funds from the Census Bureau -- if they do not include a question regarding status of United States citizenship to the US Census.

If passed, the Vitter-Bennett amendment would throw a monkey wrench into the U.S. Census by requiring over 120 million questionnaires to be reprinted, wasting over $7 billion in research, planning, and preparation that has occurred for Census 2010.

Don't let them inject their anti-immigrant agenda into every conceivable realm of public life.

Click here to write your Senator and tell them to vote NO on the Vitter-Bennett amendment:

http://action.seiu.org/noonvitterbennett

As we get closer to the vote on the amendment this week -- it's even more important that your Senators know where you stand on a full and accurate count of the US Census.

It is in people's best interest to be counted because the US Census is how our country makes decisions about allocation of resources and local representation, regardless of race or immigration status.

A failed 2010 U.S. Census count has massive implications that could be devastating to communities for the next decade--and supporting an amendment that takes away the ability of the Census to paint an accurate portrait of America is crazy.

Click here to write your Senator: http://action.seiu.org/noonvitterbennett

Thanks for all you do,

Joaquin Guerra
SEIU.org

^{1"Impractical and Unconstitutional."Center for American Progress}

Last week, Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and Bob Bennett (R-UT) introduced an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 (HR 2847) which would require that the 2010 Census include a question about immigration or citizenship status.

If passed, Vitter's amendment would throw a monkey wrench into the U.S. Census, by stopping the 2010 Census dead in its tracks--preventing the questionnaire forms from being mailed next spring and wasting over $7 billion in research, planning, and preparation that has occurred for Census 2010. Lastly, it would completely render useless the one document that is supposed to paint an accurate picture of who we are as a nation.

And that's why SEIU has joined with 11 other partners to launch Don't Wreck the Census.

Go check it out and while you're there, call your Senator and tell them to vote No on the Vitter amendment. When you're done, write your Senator using our handy tool.

Yesterday, in yet another attempt to marginalize U.S. immigrants and inject hate into politics, Senator David Vitter (LA-R) introduced an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill that would require questions in the 2010 census on immigration status. If passed, Vitter's amendment would throw a monkey wrench into the U.S. Census, making it completely unreliable as the one document that is supposed to paint an accurate picture of who we are as a nation.

The real truth behind Vitter's amendment?

Anti-immigrant legislators like Vitter are willing to compromise the accuracy of the census in their obsessive efforts to inject an anti-immigrant agenda into every conceivable realm of public life. But the real policy ramifications are endless. If passed, this amendment would stop the 2010 Census dead in its tracks--preventing the questionnaire forms from being mailed next spring and wasting over $7 billion in research, planning, and preparation that has occurred for Census 2010. And of course, it would discourage millions of immigrants from participating in the 2010 Census--potentially costing hundreds of billions in lost funding to local communities and diminishing the political power of states like Texas, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Florida and Nevada with large immigrant populations.

But the real damage of the Vitter amendment goes beyond its immediate cost to taxpayers and its impact on U.S. immigrant communities. If passed, it would completely undermine a hallowed institution that has been in our constitution from the very beginning. Held every 10 years, the U.S. Census determines Congressional reapportionment and political representation in State Legislatures and hundreds of legislative bodies at the local level. It also decides the allocation of more than $400 billion in Federal funds to communities annually--including funds for Medicaid, voter protection, SCHIP, childcare, early child education, school lunch, and other vital services. Critical to businesses, governments and the independent sector, the Census serves as the fundamental source of information on our nation's demographic makeup--guiding private and public research projects that influence a broad range of social/policy decisions.

A failed 2010 U.S. Census count has massive implications that could be devastating to communities for the next decade--and supporting an amendment that takes away the ability of the Census to paint an accurate portrait of America is not smart.

Let's be frank. Every ten years we see the same mass politicization of the Census; and the same lies and innuendo from those who worry that the new story we tell about America will strip away their power. This is part of what we are seeing right now with Senator Vitter. And it's what we're seeing with the incessant rants and false allegations among right-wing pundits. There is no place for such fanatical hate speech anywhere in America today--especially not in the halls of Congress. America doesn't need zealots; we need smart, pragmatic reformers who bring communities together to solve our nation's most critical challenges.

In order to get an accurate count and uphold the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Census count should be isolated from petty, divisive politics. To that, SEIU urges Senators to vote against Senator Vitter's efforts to poison the 2010 U.S. Census and turn our nation on a backwards course. An accurate 2010 Census count is simply too critical to recognizing our nation's true diversity and building a better future for all of us. Tell your Senator to vote NO on Senate Amendment 2644 now.

Helene O'Brien, President of SEIU Local 21LA issued the following statement in response to Senator Vitter's most recent fundraising email:

In a recent fundraising email, Senator Vitter attacked the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for exposing his votes against working families. But it's nothing compared to the hardships he's caused to middle and low-income Louisianans with his votes as the Junior Senator of Louisiana.

SEIU believes Louisianans deserve to know how Senator Vitter lets down working families in our state:

• Our Senator voted NO to providing health care for four million children when he voted against SCHIP legislation.
• He voted NO to creating and keeping jobs in Louisiana when he voted against the economic recovery package.
• And as if that's not enough, he voted AGAINST long-term economic recovery for all Americans when he opposed a budget that would get our economy back on track.

Senator Vitter consistently votes against the interests of working families in our state--while supporting CEOs and corporate banks who line his campaign chest.

And for him to shamelessly cover up the votes he's cast by soliciting donations for his 2010 campaign, working families in Louisiana have only one thing to say:

Senator Vitter: You can run for re-election, but you can't hide from your voting record.

Senator Vitter was right about one thing though--the election is more than 500 days away. That's why working families throughout Louisiana are uniting now to hold politicians accountable. We need to make sure in November 2010, we elect leaders who will stand up for hardworking Louisianans.