Cite as: 525 U. S. 316 (1999)
Stevens, J., dissenting
sus as a whole." Reply Brief for Appellants in No. 98-564, p. 4; see also Census 2000 Report 27; id., at 7 (quoting the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Requirements as concluding that "[i]t is fruitless to continue trying to count every last person with traditional Census methods of physical enumeration").
In answering the question whether this use of sampling remains a "supplement" because of its limited impact on the total headcount, I would give considerable weight to the views of the Secretary, to whom the Act entrusts broad discretionary authority. See 13 U. S. C. § 141(a). The Secretary's decision to draw the line at the last 10%, rather than at the last 5% or 1%, of each census tract's population may well approach the limit of his discretionary authority. But I cannot say that it exceeds that limit. Consequently, I would not set aside the Census Bureau's Nonresponse Followup proposal on this basis.
For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.
Justice Stevens, with whom Justice Souter and Justice Ginsburg join as to Parts I and II, and with whom Justice Breyer joins as to Parts II and III, dissenting.
The Census Act, 13 U. S. C. § 1 et seq., unambiguously authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to use sampling procedures when taking the decennial census. That this authorization is constitutional is equally clear. Moreover, because I am satisfied that at least one of the plaintiffs in each of these cases has standing, I would reverse both District Court judgments.
I
The Census Act, as amended in 1976, contains two provisions that relate to sampling. The first is an unlimited authorization; the second is a limited mandate.
The unlimited authorization is contained in § 141(a). As its text plainly states, that section gives the Secretary of Commerce unqualified authority to use sampling procedures
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