× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Chris Jones, in his letter to the editor printed Aug. 16. says "The number of representatives in the Congress should be based on the number of citizens in a district, not the number of residents."

Unfortunately for Jones, the Founding Fathers didn't consult with him when they drafted the Constitution. From Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution: "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers."

There is nary a word about citizens or who Jones or, for that matter, Sen. Fred Thomas thinks should be counted. The Constitution says count the number of people.

A citizenship question has not been on a census survey sent to 100% of households since 1950. What you and Senator Thomas would like hasn't been done for 70 years. The experts at the Census Bureau determined that such a question would reduce response rate, so they got rid of it. Barack Obama had nothing to do with it.

Next time you try to put together a letter to the editor remember this: Facts are your friend.