[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 34 (Thursday, February 20, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1125-S1126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         TRIBUTE TO JOEL FLATOW

   Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, earlier this month, Joel Flatow 
celebrated his 30th anniversary working with the Recording Industry 
Association of America, RIAA. I rise today to recognize his three 
decades of dedication to the music industry, fighting to protect the 
rights of musicians across the country.
  The son of naturally gifted singers Meyer and Elinor Flatow, Joel was 
raised to love music. Growing up on Long Island alongside his brother 
Edward and sister Paula, he was immersed in the world of music from an 
early age. In school, he mastered everything from the piano to the 
French horn to childhood operas, even training at the Juilliard and 
Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Divisions from ages 6 to 18.
  When he left New York to attend Yale University, he found a community 
of artists just like him and began to perform as a soloist with the 
Yale Bach Society and Yale Glee Club. His senior year, he even earned a 
spot with the famed a capella group the Yale Whiffenpoofs that took him 
around the world.
  After graduation, Joel found himself in Washington, DC, advocating 
for more Federal funding for the arts with the Congressional Arts 
Caucus and later working for New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. 
Even through busy days and nights on the Hill, his love for performing 
never stopped. Soon after arriving, Joel had auditioned and earned a 
full year contract as a tenor for the Washington Opera at the Kennedy 
Center, the first of what would become 10 seasons with the company.
  In 1995, he was hired by RIAA and was quickly making waves mobilizing 
support for the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act, 
which was signed into law in 1995. By 2000, Joel headed west for Los 
Angeles, tasked with setting up RIAA's West Coast office.
  As senior vice president of artist and industry relations and chief 
of West

[[Page S1126]]

Coast operations, Joel has spent decades promoting the music industry, 
protecting artists' work, and helping musicians shape the policy and 
politics that impact their careers.
  From preparing Johnny Cash to testify before Congress, to booking 
performances for Republican and Democratic National Conventions, even 
reuniting Fleetwood Mac to perform at President Bill Clinton's 1993 
inauguration--there is a reason why the Los Angeles Times has dubbed 
him the ``musical diplomat.'' Joel Flatow embodies the best not only of 
Los Angeles, not only of the diverse music industry, but of all that 
music and the arts can do for our country.
  On behalf of the State of California, I want to thank Joel for his 
commitment to strengthening an industry at the heart and soul of our 
State and for representing the voices of musicians across the country 
in the halls of power.

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