Despite all the efforts to stir up a hornet's nest by the lobbyist fellows, the Docket Notice of Meeting of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee about the Egypt MOU still has only 29 public comments. The latest ones are true to the earlier form, half of them are from dealers:
Randall Hixenbaugh (of Hixenbaugh Ancient Art "Upper East Side of Manhattan"): "The MOU proposing to enact emergency import restrictions on all objects of Egyptian origin into the US is extremely ill advised". With his dealer's blinkers on, he does not seem to understand what the CCPIA is about.
Luciano deMarsillac (Director of Safani Gallery Inc., East 75th Street, New York: his business partner Alan Safari has already posted a comment): "I'd like to say that banning Egyptian imports to the United States is a very dangerous and pointless strategy to halt destruction in Egypt" but then he exhibits a total unawareness of what the US CCPIA and its MOUs do. In any case nobody is "banning" anything.
Doug Hill (ACCG member): "I must support the small dealers and collectors who have for hundreds of years bought and sold antiques and coins on the legal market" (there is, Mr Hill, no obligation).
Frank Boehmer: " I question whether the ban of Egyptian antiquities into the USA is the solution".
Te fact that the majority of collectors are keeping away from parotting the lobbyists' and dealers' arguments marks a pretty unprecedented lack of interest from collectors in telling the CPAC "what's what". Hooray for reason.
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