After brief introductions from each DGA member in attendance, Senator Feingold made remarks giving support to the issues of interest to DGA members such as media consolidation, copyright protection, orphan works and net neutrality. The Senator also discussed the “kaleidoscope of issues” that will face the new Senate and the new Administration in January, including some marquee issues like the war in Iraq that will need immediate attention.

The Senator expressed his strong opposition to media consolidation and pointed out that he was one of the few members to vote against the Telecommunications Act of 1996 because of his concerns about the long-term impact of the law on further consolidation of media outlets. He then went on to discuss the merits of the 25% independent producer set-aside advocated by DGA, which would require that the four networks derive 25% of their prime-time schedule’s programming from large and small independent producers, and expressed potential support for the proposal.

Senator Feingold expressed solidarity with film industry concerns about copyright protection. He said he supported net neutrality legislation but agreed with the DGA that any such legislation must build in protections against piracy. The Senator said, “There has to be a system where the risk and effort [of your work] is protected.”

Senator Feingold was first elected to the Senate in 1992. He serves as a member of the Senate Budget Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee. This was Senator Feingold’s second meeting with the DGA PAC Leadership Council. The Leadership Council has held more than 60 meetings with state and federal elected officials over the past six years.