On April 1, 2010 (February 17 of the lunar calendar), the United States began conducting the 2010 census. On April 1, 2010, the U.S. Constitution mandated a census of the U.S. population every 10 years. The purpose is to determine the number of members of the U.S. Congress and to allocate federal funding appropriately according to the needs of local communities. This month, a questionnaire from the U.S. Census Bureau will be sent to thousands of households. The questionnaire asks 10 questions to understand the population status of each household. As with previous censuses, the questions asked in the 2010 U.S. Census questionnaire have also caused debate among the American public. Muslim and Arab Americans share the same concerns about the census as other Americans. How will the information they provide be used? Who can use their data? To make their concerns known and to answer questions in open discussions, Muslim-American and Arab-American organizations worked with U.S. Census Bureau staff across the country to encourage community participation in the census. Such discussions are held across the United States, where representatives of the Census Bureau meet with people from different communities and answer their questions. At the March 8 seminar in Washington, D.C., Muslim-American asked Census Bureau officials and community leaders questions and comments about the 2010 Census. A panel discussion and question-and-answer session on "U.S. Census 2010: Valuing Muslim Voices" was co-sponsored by the AmericanMuslimInteractiveNetwork and the U.S. Census Bureau. The panel discussion, held at the Rafik B. Hariri building at Georgetown University (GeorgetownUniversity), included Philip Lutz, the assistant director of the U.S. Census Center, Abdul Malik, the director of community outreach at the Al-Haji Islamic Center (DarAl-HijrahIslamicCenter), and Maurice Henderson, the director of statistics for the District of Columbia in the mayor's office in Washington. Mr. Lutz addressed a common concern among Americans of all backgrounds: the secrecy of the census. "There are concerns that filling out the census questionnaire will lead to adverse consequences," Mr. Lutz told the audience, stressing that this could not happen. "The census is only for statistical purposes and cannot be used by other federal agencies." "It is our solemn oath to keep your questionnaire confidential," read the leaflet the Census Bureau handed out to the attendees. Mr. Lutz said personal data collected by the Census Bureau could not be shared with government entities. Even federal law enforcement agencies are barred from accessing personal data. During the question-and-answer session, the audience asked about the secrecy of the census. Will the new law mandate the provision of personal data to the federal government? Alejandro Beutel, a government liaison at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said the legislative process in the United States is shaped by citizens' interactions with elected officials. If people disagree with legislation, whether enacted or under consideration, they have the power to change it. Another concern for Americans is how to define their race on census questionnaires. One of the questions asked about a family member's ethnicity, but "Arab" is not currently an option. Many Arab Americans feel that their ethnicity should be an option on the census questionnaire. As a result, many Arab Americans are mobilizing their communities to check the "other ethnicity" column of the census questionnaire and write "Arab." Citing the American Samoan community as an example, Boutel said that Samoans, who only have about 60,000 people in the country, have worked very hard to get themselves fully represented on the census questionnaire. "Contact your local government representatives and lobby to get your ethnicity included in the census questionnaire," Boutel said. Abdul Malik's remarks at the meeting further emphasized community engagement. Citing examples from the Quran in support of the census and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, he said American Muslims need to get involved. "We ask as few questions as possible, hoping to get the fullest information, with the goal of helping the country," Abdul Malik said. He stressed that proper use of census data can help strengthen the United States. "Maslaha, in Arabic, as a common interest, should encourage Muslims to participate in the census," he said. Lutz said the response from the American Muslim community to the 2010 U.S. census was positive. Partnerships are taking shape across the country between the Census Bureau and Muslim-American organizations to ensure everyone is counted. Hazami Barmada, founder of the American Muslim Interactive Network, said her involvement in the census drive was motivated by what she found to be a lack of socioeconomic and ethnic diversity in other census-related activities. When Ms. Barmada contacted the Census Bureau to plan the "Value Muslim Voices" campaign, Census Bureau officials met with her the next day. Just over a week later, the Georgetown conference took place. "I know you've done some work with mosques," Ms. Barmada recalled telling the Census Bureau, explaining that her organization was not a religious organization, but rather a platform for discussion, to deepen interfaith understanding. "But I think it's also very important to work with community organizations that are not inherently religious." Ms. Balmada said they were planning a YouTube video to promote the message of the symposium. She also hopes that her organization will work with the Census Bureau to make materials from that evening's event available to more communities. "If possible, through further conversations with them, I want to see how we can help distribute these materials to other community groups beyond mosques and community centers," Ms. Balmada said.