IV 

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; 
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•HRES 638 IH 

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 
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•HRES 638 IH 

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 
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raise the standard of living for the global community: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) Thanks Bono, Bill Gates, and Melinda 

3 Gates for their charitable efforts; and 

4 (2) Congratulates each of them on their selec5 tion as Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year. 

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