A Practical Guide to Preparing and Delivering

Testimony Before Congress and Congressional

Hearings for Agencies, Associations, Corporations,
Military, NGOs, and State and Local Officials

By William N. LaForge

Testifying
Before
Congress
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Testifying Before Congress

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 Preparation of Written Testimony §3.52

§ 3.51 Dissecting Written Witness Testimony

or Statements in a Nutshell—
The Essential Methods for Building
the 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.

TestifyingBeforeCongress.com 191
§3.52 Testifying Before Congress

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional 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 the
Bills 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>.

192 TestifyingBeforeCongress.com
 Preparation of Written Testimony §3.52

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906
(continued)

(Continued on page 194)

TestifyingBeforeCongress.com 193
§3.52 Testifying Before Congress

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906
(continued)

(Continued on page 195)

194 TestifyingBeforeCongress.com
 Preparation of Written Testimony §3.52

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906
(continued)

(Continued on page 196)

TestifyingBeforeCongress.com 195
§3.52 Testifying Before Congress

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906
(continued)

(Continued on page 197)

196 TestifyingBeforeCongress.com
 Preparation of Written Testimony §3.52

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906
(continued)

(Continued on page 198)

TestifyingBeforeCongress.com 197
§3.52 Testifying Before Congress

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906
(continued)

(Continued on page 199)

198 TestifyingBeforeCongress.com
 Preparation of Written Testimony §3.52

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906
(continued)

(Continued on page 200)

TestifyingBeforeCongress.com 199
§3.52 Testifying Before Congress

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906
(continued)

(Continued on page 201)

200 TestifyingBeforeCongress.com
 Preparation of Written Testimony §3.52

Remarks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens before the

Congressional Joint Committee on Patents, December, 1906
(continued)

TestifyingBeforeCongress.com 201
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