IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 540 

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 16, 2019 

Mrs. LOWEY (for herself and Mr. COLE) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street. 

Whereas Sesame Street will celebrate its 50th year of continuous broadcast on stations of the Public Broadcasting 

Service (PBS) in the United States on November 10, 

2019; 

Whereas, as the longest running program on PBS, Sesame 

Street has continued to bring critical early learning to 

generations through the beloved and iconic Muppets of 

Sesame Street, including Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert 

and Ernie, and Elmo; 

Whereas Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization that set a new standard with Sesame Street, has 

created an entire genre of educational media to help children around the world grow smarter, stronger, and 

kinder; 


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•HRES 540 IH 

Whereas Sesame Street remains the ‘‘longest street in the 

world’’, reaching more than 160 million children in more 

than 150 countries; 

Whereas international programming includes local adaptations of Sesame Street customized to the unique needs 

and challenges of children in different languages and cultures in such countries as South Africa, Afghanistan, 

Mexico, and Bangladesh, among others; 

Whereas Sesame Street remains the most researched children’s educational television program in history, with 

more than 1,000 independent studies documenting its efficacy; 

Whereas longitudinal studies have shown that preschoolers 

who frequently watched Sesame Street scored higher on 

school readiness tests than less-frequent or nonviewers; 

Whereas frequent preschool viewing of Sesame Street is associated with higher high school grade point averages; 

Whereas Sesame Workshop deploys bold educational programs that open doors to opportunity for vulnerable children and their communities through its social impact 

work; 

Whereas Sesame Street characters and content have been 

used to help children of military families cope with the 

challenges of deployment, relocation, injury, and grief; 

Whereas Sesame Street’s autism initiative promotes acceptance and understanding and helps children and families 

face everyday challenges, while fighting the stigma often 

associated with autism; 

Whereas Sesame Workshop’s groundbreaking new program, 

Sesame Street in Communities, is helping children in 

communities across the United States who are experiVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:53 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR540.IH HR540

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encing trauma such as family homelessness, parental substance abuse and addiction, or food insecurity; 

Whereas Sesame Workshop has, through ‘‘Muppet Diplomacy’’, brought international attention to advance the 

importance of girls’ education and gender equity in Afghanistan, India, and countries in the Gulf Region, mutual respect and inclusivity in Northern Ireland and between the Israelis and Palestinians, and destigmatization 

of HIV/AIDS in South Africa; 

Whereas Sesame Workshop is working to help transform the 

lives of millions of the world’s most vulnerable children 

who have been displaced by the enduring, tragic conflict 

in Syria and providing for the educational needs of refugee populations in Bangladesh and throughout the Middle East; 

Whereas Sesame Workshop has trained hundreds of media 

professionals to create educational and entertaining puppet-based media for children, fostering new talent in the 

areas of production, puppeteering, and writing, among 

others; 

Whereas, for more than 5 decades, Sesame Workshop has 

partnered with foundations, corporations, and communities of all sizes to extend the reach of its programs and 

to support meaningful social impact work; 

Whereas Sesame Workshop has received a record-setting 192 

Emmy awards to date and numerous other accolades, notably as the most impactful program in the history of television for its innovative work in using the power of 

media to help children learn and grow, preparing them 

for success in school and life; and 


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Whereas Sesame Workshop has been a unique, trusted, and 

educational force for children for 50 years and deserves 

recognition for this historic milestone and the support of 

the House of Representatives: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the tele3 vision program Sesame Street; 

4 (2) recognizes the enduring contributions of 

5 Sesame Workshop to the national goal of preparing 

6 every child to be ready for school; 

7 (3) congratulates Sesame Workshop for its ex8 emplary track record in producing award-winning 

9 programming that has transformed the lives of mil10 lions of children and families in the United States 

11 and globally; and 

12 (4) expresses its admiration and support for 

13 Sesame Workshop as it continues its path-breaking 

14 work with educational media and social impact con15 tent to help every child across the globe grow up 

16 smarter, stronger, and kinder. 

Æ 


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