Mark Twain on Copyright, § 3.52 in Testifying Before Congress, Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens...

TestifyingBeforeCongress

A Practical Guide to Preparing and DeliveringTestimony Before Congress and CongressionalHearings for Agencies, Associations, Corporations,Military, NGOs, and State and Local Officials

By William N. LaForge

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§3.51 Dissecting Written Witness Testimonyor Statements in a Nutshell—The Essential Methods for Buildingthe Case and Developing the Argument

(For more complete information, see § 3.40, Building the Case and Developing the

Argument.)

In a nutshell, the essential components of building the case and developing the ar-

guments for congressional testimony or statements include:

1) Committee Advocacy: Education, Persuasion, and

Argumentation (§ 3.41);

2) Explanation of Issues, Facts, and Remedies Sought (§ 3.42);

3) Witness Standing and Credibility (§ 3.43);

4) Importance of Succinct Position Outline (§ 3.44);

5) Public Policy Rationale, Support, and Reasoning (§ 3.45);

6) Framing the Issue (§ 3.46);

7) Distinguishing from Opposition Position: Comparing,

Contrasting, and Categorizing (§ 3.47); and

8) “Playing” to the Committee Audience and Connecting

to Members’ Interests (§ 3.48).

§3.52 HITS: Humor in Testimony—Mark Twain

There are moments in the history of congressional committee hearings in which some-

one larger than life has had the opportunity to testify and, moreover, to deliver a mes-

sage to a committee that is both serious and humorous at once.

One such occasion involved Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark

Twain and widely considered to be the greatest humorist of 19th-century American lit-

erature, who contributed a major piece of humor in the context of his testimony before

a congressional hearing in 1906.

Assuming his public persona by notably wearing a white suit that became his sig-

nature uniform, the 71-year-old author appeared before the Congressional Joint Com-

mittee on Patents to share his thoughts on a pending copyright bill.

Twain was the main and final witness of the hearing, which was held in the Con-

gressional Reading Room of the Library of Congress. Before an unusually large crowd

for a congressional hearing, Twain expressed his strong support for copyright protec-

tion for authors, artists, and musicians. His testimony, part-serious, part-humorous,

was considered to be very influential in the eventual development of copyright law.

Preparation of Written Testimony §3.52

TestifyingBeforeCongress.com 191

§3.52 Testifying Before Congress

192 TestifyingBeforeCongress.com

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before theCongressional Joint Committee on Patents,

December, 1906

(Continued on page 193)

Source: Arguments before the Committees on Patents of the Senate and House of Representatives, Conjointly, on theBills S. 6330 and H.R. 19853 To Amend and Consolidate the Acts Respecting Copyright, 59th Cong. 116-121 (1906)(statement of Samuel L. Clemens). Statement accessible online at: <www.TCNTwain.com>.



Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before theCongressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906

(continued)





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