House Legislative Branch Appropriations Open Hearing, May 3, 2017

To its great credit, the House’s legislative branch appropriations subcommittee held an open hearing where anyone with an interest in legislative branch spending could have their say. This is the first time this has occurred since 2011, and hopefully Chairman Kevin Yoder, R-Ca, and Ranking Member Tim Ryan, D-Oh, will continue the practice.

And get this—the live streamed it and the video of the hearing was immediately posted on YouTube.

Topics discussed included funding for the House’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, upgrading the House of Representatives’ data platform, more equitable public access to Congressional Research Service reports, and possible reforms to the Copyright Office.

The witnesses and their written statements are below, and Kevin Kosar’s oral testimony is here.

The Honorable Randy Hultgren (not present to testify)
Member of Congress, Washington D.C.
Testimony

The Honorable James P. McGovern
Member of Congress, Washington D.C.
Testimony

Kevin Kosar
Vice President of Policy, R Street Institute
Testimony, Biography and Witness Disclosure

Keith Kupferschmid
Chief Executive Officer, Copywright Alliance
Testimony, Biography and Witness Disclosure

Daniel Schuman
Policy Director, Demand Progress
Testimony, Biography and Witness Disclosure

Dr. Joshua Tauberer
President, Civic Impulse, LLC
Testimony, Biography and Witness Disclosure