In July, the U.S. House and Senate both passed proposed fiscal 2007 budgets that reduced the White House's funding request for the Census Bureau. But none of the reductions have taken effect because Congress later approved a continuing resolution that keeps the federal budget at the same levels it was at during fiscal 2006 through Feb. 15.

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has questioned the need for the handheld program and criticized the Census Bureau for not putting census surveys online. "It's ludicrous not to move the census online," said John Hart, a spokesman for Coburn. "Millions of people already file their taxes online."

But Murray said many Americans still have no access to the Internet and likely wouldn't find their way to a library to file an online census report, making personal visits by census takers -- and the handheld project -- important.