IV 

★

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 600 

Honoring an American legend and musical icon. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2009 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas (for herself and Ms. WATSON) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring an American legend and musical icon. 

Whereas Michael Jackson was not only an accomplished recording and performing artist, he was a noted humanitarian; 

Whereas Michael Jackson began his stellar recording career 

as the featured member of ‘‘The Jackson 5’’, which was 

the first act in recorded history to have their first four 

major label singles ‘‘I Want You Back’’,‘‘ABC’’,‘‘The 

Love You Save’’, and ‘‘I’ll Be There’’, reached the top of 

the American charts; 

Whereas the internationally recognized ‘‘Thriller’’ released in 

1982, which became a smash hit yielded seven top-10 singles. The album sold 21 million copies in the United 

States and at least 27 million worldwide. It was a monumental moment in music history; 


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Whereas Michael Jackson was labeled ‘‘The King of Pop’’, 

Jackson’s music is internationally recognized and critically acclaimed; 

Whereas Michael Jackson was one of the few artists to have 

been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; 

Whereas in the early 1980s, Michael Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on 

MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, 

such as ‘‘Beat It’’, ‘‘Billie Jean’’ and ‘‘Thriller’’—widely 

credited with transforming the music video from a promotional tool into an art form—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame; 

Whereas, on January 10, 1984, Michael Jackson visited the 

unit for burn victims at Brotman-Memorial Hospital in 

Los Angeles, and demonstrated his concern with people 

suffering from grievous injuries; 

Whereas, on April 9, 1984, David Smithee, a 14-year-old boy 

suffering from cystic fibroses was invited to Michael’s 

home, in response to a dying request to meet Michael. 

David passed away 7 weeks later; 

Whereas, on April 14, 1984, Michael Jackson was single 

handedly responsible for equipping a 19-bed-unit at 

Mount Sinai New York Medical Center. This center is 

now a critical part of the T.J. Martell Foundation for 

leukemia and cancer research; 

Whereas, on July 5, 1984, during the Jackson’s press conference at Tavern On The Green, Michael announced 

that his portion of the earnings from the Victory Tour 

would be donated to three charitable organizations: The 


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United Negro College Fund, Camp Good Times, and the 

T.J. Martell Foundation; 

Whereas, on July 14, 1984, after the first concert of the Victory Tour, Michael met 8 terminally ill children backstage; 

Whereas, on December 13, 1984, Michael visited the 

Brotman Memorial Hospital, where he had been treated 

when he was burned during the producing of a Pepsi 

commercial. He subsequently donated all the money he 

received from Pepsi, $1.5 million, to the Michael Jackson 

Burn Center for Children; 

Whereas, on January 28, 1985 Michael and 44 other artists 

met to record ‘‘We Are The World’’, written by Michael 

and Lionel Ritchie, a project devoted to fighting global 

hunger. The proceeds of this record were donated to the 

starving people in Africa; 

Whereas in 1986, Michael set up the ‘‘Michael Jackson 

UNCF Endowed Scholarship Fund’’. This $1.5 million 

fund is aimed toward assisting students majoring in performance art and communications, with money given 

each year to students attending a UNCF member college 

or university; 

Whereas, on February 28, 1986, after having had a hearttransplant, 14-year-old Donna Ashlock from California 

received a call from Michael Jackson. He had heard that 

she was a fan. Michael invited Donna to his home following her recovery; 

Whereas, on September 13, 1987, Michael supported a campaign against racism. He made every effort to publicly 

support NAACP, in the fight against discrimination of 

African-American artists; 


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Whereas in October 1987, at the end of his ‘‘Bad Tour’’, Michael donated personal items to UNESCO for a charitable auction. The proceeds of his donation were allocated 

for the education of children in developing countries; 

Whereas, on February 1, 1988 The Song ‘‘Man In the Mirror’’ entered the charts. The proceeds from the sales of 

this record went directly and exclusively to Camp Ronald 

McDonald for Good Times, a camp for children who suffer from Cancer; 

Whereas, on March 1, 1988, at a press conference held by 

his sponsor Pepsi, Michael presented a $600,000 check to 

the United Negro College Fund; 

Whereas on April 1988, Michael Jackson ensured that free 

tickets to three concerts in Atlanta, Georgia, were specifically set aside for the Make a Wish Foundation; 

Whereas, on May 22, 1988, Michael visited cancer-stricken 

children in the Bambini-Gesu Children’s Hospital in 

Rome. He signed autographs and gave away sweets and 

records to the young patients. He also announced his 

monetary donation of 100,000 pounds to the hospital; 

Whereas, on July 16, 1988, Michael met the Prince of Wales 

and his wife Diana, where he donated 150,000 pounds 

for the Prince’s Trust, and a check of 100,000 pounds 

for the children’s hospital at Great Ormond Street; 

Whereas, on July 20, 1988, Michael visited terminally ill children at Great Ormond Street Hospital. At a unit for less 

critical patients he stayed longer and to engage in story 

telling time with the children; 

Whereas, on August 29, 1988, at his 30th birthday Michael 

performed a concert in Leeds, England, for the English 

charity organization ‘‘Give For Life’’, an organization deVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:59 Jun 30, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR600.IH HR600

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signed as an immunization charity for children. Michael 

presented a check for 65,000 pounds; 

Whereas on January 1989, the proceeds of one of Michael’s 

shows in Los Angeles were donated to Childhelp USA, 

the biggest charity organization against child abuse. In 

appreciation of the contributions of Michael, Childhelp of 

Southern California founded the ‘‘Michael Jackson International Institute for Research On Child Abuse’’; 

Whereas, on January 10, 1989, upon the winding down of his 

‘‘Bad Tour’’, Michael Jackson donated tickets for each 

concert to underprivileged children, and made contributions to hospitals, orphanages and charity organizations 

throughout each stop on his tour; 

Whereas, on February 7, 1989, Michael visited the Cleveland 

Elementary School in Stockton, California, a site of playground violence where 5 children had been tragically 

killed and 39 had been wounded; 

Whereas, on March 5, 1989, Michael invited 200 underprivileged children of the St. Vincent Institute for Handicapped Children and of the organization Big Brothers 

and Big Sisters to the Circus Vargas in Santa Barbara. 

Following the event, the children were invited to his 

ranch to visit his private Zoo at Neverland Ranch; 

Whereas in December 1991, Michael’s office MJJ Productions donated more than 200 turkey dinners to needy 

families in Los Angeles; 

Whereas in February 1992, within 11 days Michael covered 

30,000 miles in Africa, to visit hospitals, orphanages, 

schools, churches, and institutions for mentally handicapped children; 


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Whereas, on February 3, 1992, at a press conference at the 

New York Radio City Music Hall, Michael announced 

that he is planning a new world tour, to raise funds for 

his new ‘‘Heal The World’’ Foundation. This Foundation 

was designed to support the fight against AIDS, Juvenile 

Diabetes, the Ronald McDonald Camp, and the Make A 

Wish Foundation; 

Whereas, on May 6, 1992, Michael defrayed the funeral expenses for Ramon Sanchez, who was killed during the 

Los Angeles riots; 

Whereas, on June 26, 1992, Michael presented the Mayor of 

Munich, Mr. Kronawitter, with a 40,000 DM check for 

the needy people of the city; 

Whereas on July 1992, Michael donated 821,477,296 Lire to 

La Partita del Cuore (The Heart Match) in Rome and 

donated 120,000 DM to children’s charities in Estonia 

and Latvia; 

Whereas, on July 25, 1992, at his concert in Dublin, Ireland, 

Michael announced that he will give 400,000 pounds of 

the tour earnings to various charities; 

Whereas in June 1993, Michael announced a donation of 

$1.25 million for children suffering as a result of the 

riots in Los Angeles; 

Whereas on October 1993, Michael Jackson donated 

$100,000 to the Children’s Defense Fund, the Children’s 

Diabetes Foundation, the Atlanta Project, and the Boys 

and Girl Clubs of Newark, New Jersey; 

Whereas on December 1993, in conjunction with the Gorbachev Foundation, Michael Jackson airlifted 60,000 doses 

of children’s vaccines to Tblisi, Georgia; 


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Whereas in 1994, Michael donated $500,000 to Elizabeth 

Taylor’s AIDS Foundation; 

Whereas, on October 1, 1996, Michael donated the proceeds 

of his Tunisia concert to ‘‘The National Solidarity 

Fund’’, a charity dedicated to fighting poverty; 

Whereas, on December 9, 1996, during the ‘‘History Tour’’ 

visit in Manila, Michael visited a Children’s Hospital, 

where he announced that a portion of his concert earnings will be donated to the renovation of the Hospital; 

Whereas the Millennium Issue of the ‘‘Guinness Book Of 

Records’’ named Michael as ‘‘the Pop Star who supports 

the most charity organizations’’; 

Whereas in 2004, The African Ambassadors’ Spouses Association, honored Michael Jackson for his worldwide humanitarian efforts, due to his fiscal contribution of more 

than $50 million to various charities, including many organizations that feed the hungry in Africa; and 

Whereas we today mourn with and send our condolences to 

the children that Michael Jackson left behind: Prince Michael, Paris Michael, and Prince Michael II and his 

mother, father, brothers, and sisters: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes Michael Jackson as a global hu3 manitarian and a noted leader in the fight against 

4 worldwide hunger and medical crises; and 

5 (2) celebrates Michael Jackson as an accom6 plished contributor to the worlds of arts and enterVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:59 Jun 30, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR600.IH HR600

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1 tainment, scientific advances in the treatment of 

2 HIV/AIDS, and global food security. 

Æ 


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