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Opinion of Breyer, J.
efficiently covered on a sample rather than a complete enumeration basis . . . ." Ibid. The House Report spoke in the same terms: "The purpose of section 195 in authorizing the use of sampling procedures is to permit the utilization of something less than a complete enumeration, as implied by the word 'census,' when efficient and accurate coverage may be effected through a sample survey." H. R. Rep. No. 1043, 85th Cong., 1st Sess., 10 (1957) (emphasis added); accord, S. Rep. No. 94-1256, p. 1 (1976) (1976 amendments added new language "to direct the Secretary . . . to use sampling and special surveys in lieu of total enumeration in the collection of statistical data whenever feasible" (emphasis added)). The discussion thus linked the authorization—and hence the exception—to sampling as a substitute for a headcount.
Census Bureau practice also helps to support this limited interpretation of the section's scope. Both before and after § 195 was enacted in 1957, the census has used sampling techniques in one capacity or another in connection with its determination of population, most often as a quality check on the headcount itself. See, e. g., Declaration of Margo J. Anderson ¶12, App. in No. 98-404, p. 348 (first postenumeration survey was performed following the 1950 census to check for inaccuracies).
The Census Bureau has also used a form of statistical estimation to adjust or correct its actual headcount. Since at least 1940, the Census Bureau has used an estimation process called "imputation" to fill in gaps in its headcount. U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Report to Congress: The Plan for Census 2000, p. 23 (Aug. 1997) (herein-after Census 2000 Report). When an enumerator believes a residence is occupied but is unable to obtain any information about how many people live there, the Census Bureau "imputes" that information based upon the demographics of nearby households. Imputation was responsible, for example, for adding 761,000 people to the Nation's total population in 1980 and 53,590 people in 1990. Ibid. In 1970, when the
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