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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 638 Introduced in House (IH)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 638

Congratulating Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Bono for being named time 
                  Magazine's 2005 Person of the Year.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 18, 2005

 Ms. Waters submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Congratulating Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Bono for being named time 
                  Magazine's 2005 Person of the Year.

Whereas Bill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington;
Whereas, in 1977, he co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen;
Whereas, by the late 1990s, Bill Gates had become one of the world's most 
        successful computer engineers and entrepreneurs while in the process 
        becoming one of the wealthiest men in the world;
Whereas Melinda French was born and raised in Dallas, Texas;
Whereas Melinda French earned Bachelor Degrees in Computer Science and Economics 
        from Duke University in 1986 and an MBA from Duke in 1987;
Whereas, on January 1, 1994, Bill Gates and Melinda French were married;
Whereas, in 2000, Bill and Melinda Gates founded the Bill and Melinda Gates 
        Foundation to improve global health and education;
Whereas Bono was born Paul Hewson on May 10, 1960, in Dublin, Ireland;
Whereas Larry Mullen Jr., Dave Evans, Adam Clayton, and Bono formed the band U2 
        in October 1976;
Whereas U2 has won 17 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall 
        of Fame in 2005;
Whereas Bono has been a social activist throughout his career and has performed 
        numerous times (ro raise money for various causes), including Band Aid, 
        Live Aid in 1985, Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope in 1986, Net 
        Aid in 1999, and Live 8 concerts in 2005 to raise awareness of poverty 
        and HIV/AIDS crisis in poor countries;
Whereas Bono was an active supporter of the Jubilee 2000 effort to cancel third 
        world debts;
Whereas Time Magazine has been naming a ``Person of the Year'' since 1927 to 
        honor ``the leaders, the adventurers, and the statesmen whose presence 
        reached far beyond any single year, and whose impact we still feel 
        today'';
Whereas Time Magazine has named Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono its 2005 
        ``Persons of the Year'', for their activism and charitable work to 
        reduce global poverty and improve world health;
Whereas Time Magazine honored Bill and Melinda Gates for building the world's 
        largest charity, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has an 
        endowment of nearly $29 billion and for ``giving more money away faster 
        than anyone ever has'' in 2005;
Whereas the foundation has saved at least 700,000 lives in poor countries by 
        investing in vaccination programs and HIV/Aids and Malaria research. The 
        foundation has donated computers and Internet access to 11,000 libraries 
        and has sponsored the biggest scholarship fund in history;
Whereas Time Magazine honored Bono for his effort to make rich countries address 
        the debt of poorer countries through concerts, speeches, advocacy, 
        activism, and countless meetings with the heads of the G-8, including 
        the President of the United States;
Whereas the activism and advocacy of Bono has served as a catalyst in the 
        cancellation of $40 billion dollars in debt thereby permitting poor 
        countries to invest in healthcare, education, and other social services, 
        that will help break the cycle of poverty that plagues the heavily 
        indebted countries;
Whereas Bono is the co-founder of the DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) 
        organization which fights poverty and HIV in the developing world and 
        the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History;
Whereas the ONE campaign is an effort by the global citizens--ONE by ONE--to 
        fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty;
Whereas DATA was started with a grant from the Gates Foundation; and
Whereas Bono and Bill and Melinda Gates have formed a partnership to eradicate 
        poverty, improve healthcare, and raise the standard of living for the 
        global community: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) Thanks Bono, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates for their 
        charitable efforts; and
            (2) Congratulates each of them on their selection as Time 
        Magazine's Persons of the Year.
                                 <all>
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