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 contin-
uous 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 organi-
zation that set a new standard with Sesame Street, has 
created an entire genre of educational media to help chil-
dren around the world grow smarter, stronger, and 
kinder; 
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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 adapta-
tions of Sesame Street customized to the unique needs 
and challenges of children in different languages and cul-
tures in such countries as South Africa, Afghanistan, 
Mexico, and Bangladesh, among others; 
Whereas Sesame Street remains the most researched chil-
dren’s educational television program in history, with 
more than 1,000 independent studies documenting its ef-
ficacy; 
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 asso-
ciated with higher high school grade point averages; 
Whereas Sesame Workshop deploys bold educational pro-
grams that open doors to opportunity for vulnerable chil-
dren 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 accept-
ance 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 experi-
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encing trauma such as family homelessness, parental sub-
stance abuse and addiction, or food insecurity; 
Whereas Sesame Workshop has, through ‘‘Muppet Diplo-
macy’’, brought international attention to advance the 
importance of girls’ education and gender equity in Af-
ghanistan, India, and countries in the Gulf Region, mu-
tual respect and inclusivity in Northern Ireland and be-
tween 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 ref-
ugee populations in Bangladesh and throughout the Mid-
dle East; 
Whereas Sesame Workshop has trained hundreds of media 
professionals to create educational and entertaining pup-
pet-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 commu-
nities 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, no-
tably as the most impactful program in the history of tel-
evision 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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the tele-
vision program Sesame Street; 
(2) recognizes the enduring contributions of 
Sesame Workshop to the national goal of preparing 
every child to be ready for school; 
(3) congratulates Sesame Workshop for its ex-
emplary track record in producing award-winning 
programming that has transformed the lives of mil-
lions of children and families in the United States 
and globally; and 
(4) expresses its admiration and support for 
Sesame Workshop as it continues its path-breaking 
work with educational media and social impact con-
tent to help every child across the globe grow up 
smarter, stronger, and kinder. 
Æ 
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