Zoe Lofgren: “Despite all the rhetoric, this bill does really just one thing: it takes the appointment of the Register away from Dr.…”

“Despite all the rhetoric, this bill does really just one thing: it takes the appointment of the Register away from Dr. Carla Hayden, the most qualified Librarian we have ever had at the Library of Congress, and gives it to President Trump. Now, the policy excuses for this are simply unpersuasive. Proponents say that this would give greater transparency to the Congress and the operation of the Copyright Office. I think this is a ridiculous statement. Once a Presidential appointment is confirmed, there is no greater attention to the desires of Congress or transparency than for any other non-Presidential appointment. The conflicts that the Republican Congress had with President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency and IRS appointees are testimony to that truth. There are vague claims of elevating the Register and modernizing the Office, but, in fact, the Library is finally making progress on modernizing the Office. This bill would actually disrupt that progress. When you talk about conflicts, the Library doesn't have a conflict with this, but who does have a conflict is President Trump. He holds 30 copyrights. So I don't think the idea of President Trump being a superior selector of the Register because of his elevation or his expertise as a writer really holds any weight. I would like to mention the amendment that our colleague Sheila Jackson Lee had offered.…”