May 6, 1969

Congressman Pete McCloskey
C0ng~e88 of the United States
Housed Reprasentatives,
Waehington, D.C.

Dear Nr. ~cClo8key:

1 was very interested in your recently dishibuted report of leg-
islation which you have sponsor&-during thio seeeion. I wmld in
particular like to offer you my heartfelt support in your efforts
to end the war in Viet Nun and to further the conservation of Pur
natural resource8 and in particular prevent the filling of the San
2baCiSCO hy.  I would also like to add my support for your opposition
for the proposed ABM progrsm which seems to me to be a completely
unneceesary boletering of the United State'8 already strong defensive
poeition at the 88me time @ eerioualy distorting the governments      f
relative outlay in defense program8 as oppossed to eocially relevant
program8 within the United Statee. At the came time I would like to   (3"
urge you to oppose the program to develop the SST,  I cannot under-      P
stand the rationale behind putting 80 much money into a program de-       (3
eigned to help 80 few people (including incidentally myself) to fly       m
across the states every now and then,  Again also at the risk of
terrible inconvenience to those people wh6onaboatnnsherigh to lie In     'tt
the flight path of the proposed plane.

When recenlvly you came to Ladera to talk with thoee of ue living in
the area, you mentioned that you liked from time to time to receive
information from those people who had special knowledge in certain
areas.  I would like to respond to your sUggestiOnsWith reference
to legislation you mentioned aimed at limiting the categories of
ceneue questions punishable by fine for refusal to answer.  I have

been concerned for come time that the increasingly frequent attaclcm            !

on the cen8us bureau mainly in relation to the impending 1970 di-
cennial censue.  I am, of course, keenly aware of the problems of

malnt&ging strict confidentiality with such types of data and the
fear that large scale data of this eort could readily be abused if
it got into improper hands.  On the other hand, I am equally and in
fact much more greatly concerned with problem8 that would arise if
we did not have access to the sort of data which the census is able
to collect.  This data, as I am cure you are aware, provides the


Congressman Pete ?lcCloakey
May 6, 1969
Page 2

easenttil foundations for many predictions in relation to social and
educational programs.  I believe that any attempt to limit the com-
pulsory categories of questions asked by the census would seriously
diminish the value and accuracy of census data and so at the same
time might seriously impair planning for future social legislation.
I 3ave, together with Joshua Ledcrberg been Involved in collaborative
atudiea of census data with the eenaue Bureau.  In these contacts I
have always been impressed with the great integrity of the t?enaus
Bureau personnel and with their extreme sensitivity to the question
ofofhe confidentiality of the c&sua data.  In fact, very elaborate
precautions were taken with respect to our having access to certain
types of data in order, preciccly, to protect this confidentiality.
It is my belief that the measures taken by the Bureau are more than
adequate at the present time to prevent any abuse of the information
which they collect.  The main emphasis of the studies which I have been
involved in has been to see what information of a genetic nature could
be provided by cenaua data.  I enclose for your possible interest, some
reprints describing this aud related work which I have done in the
general area which is sometimes called "Genetic Demography". As you
will see, accurate demographic data can be used to predict even in
the genetic area for example with respect to possible trends in the
frequency of schizophrenics or of individuals affected by DowMa
Syndrome (mongolism).  It is my conviction, in fact, that a great
deal more emphasis should be placed on the collection of data with
the family as a unit, not so much with respect to its genetic utility
as with respect to the increased opportunity that this would provide
in making accurate projections, for example in the educational area
and future need8 for medical planning.  A great deal of time, effort
and money is apparently spent by the Defense Department in constructing
models that help planning expenditure in defense programs.  I wish that
an equal effort could go toward planning in the area of social relevant
legislation.

I would indeed be glad to discuss any of these points #$thher with you
if you so wish.

Yours sincerely,

Walter F. Bodmer
Professor