AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, AFM President Tom Lee, and AFTRA President Roberta Reardon were joined on Tuesday by a longtime ally of the labor movement, recording artist Peter Yarrow to voice support together for performance rights.

Welcoming the distinguished guests were congressional champions of performance rights including Reps. George Miller, John Conyers, and Bob Brady, who serve as chairmen (respectively) of the House Committees on Education and Labor, Judiciary, and House Administration. Also in attendance were Reps. Jerry Nadler, Jan Schakowsky, Lynn Woolsey and John Garamendi.

Mr. Trumka, who along with Mr. Lee and Ms. Reardon represents over 11.5 million members of America's union movement, voiced his support of the Performance Rights Act:

"The labor movement was founded on the principle that a hard day's work deserves a fair day's pay. That's the principle at stake in the fight for the Performance Rights Act.
"If you care about music, if you care about the right of Americans to get paid for their work, if you care about doing what is right, be a part of the good fight for our performing brothers and sisters."

Mr. Yarrow, of the iconic folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, articulated his reasons for supporting PRA:

"The concentration of ownership, with a monopolistic control over radio and performing spaces, makes it so the business is designed to reach the broadest possible audience. What has happened is it has wrecked the music world.
"It doesn't make any sense to say that when a song is played on the radio, there will be remuneration for the songwriter and not for the performer who performs."

Mr. Yarrow closed the press conference by treating attendees to solo performances of "If I had a Hammer", "Puff the Magic Dragon", and "This Land is Your Land."