WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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FIRST STATE OF THE UNION

Profile America — Saturday, January 4th. Early this month in 1790, President George Washington addressed a joint session of Congress to deliver the first State of the Union report, as called for the in the still young Constitution. The requirement didn't demand a speech, and after delivering just one, President Thomas Jefferson began reporting in writing, feeling a speech was too magisterial. The spoken presentation was revived over a century later by Woodrow Wilson. Washington's address has echoes to this day, as he stated "the terms on which foreigners may be admitted to the rights of citizens should be speedily ascertained by a uniform rule of naturalization." The first U.S. census, taken just months later, counted a population of just over 3.9 million residents. Today's foreign-born population in the U.S. is over 10 times that number. Profile America is in its17th year as a Public Service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/january.htm http://www.ahp.gatech.edu/first_state_union_1790.html http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/jefferson.htm   www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/fast_facts/1790_fast_facts.html http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

RELATED LINKShttp://www.census.gov