IV 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 599 
Recognizing the immense capacity of the popular arts to bring people together, 
inspire creativity and imagination, promote critical thinking, and instill 
the universal values of truth, justice, and equality. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 21, 2025 
Mr. GARCIA of California submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the immense capacity of the popular arts to 
bring people together, inspire creativity and imagination, 
promote critical thinking, and instill the universal values 
of truth, justice, and equality. 
Whereas nearly 5,000,000 Americans work in the arts and 
cultural production industry; 
Whereas the arts and cultural economy represents approxi-
mately 4.4 percent of the gross domestic product of the 
United States, contributing over $1,000,000,000,000 an-
nually; 
Whereas the creation and production of new content across 
all sectors of the popular arts would not be possible with-
out union labor, and every artist, creator, and worker in 
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the popular arts deserves fair wages, representation, and 
dignity in their work; 
Whereas, since the debut of television, the global audience for 
television and home video has grown to billions of viewers 
annually, generating over $90,000,000,000 in global rev-
enue; 
Whereas the global comic book industry today is valued at 
more than $9,200,000,000 annually; 
Whereas the gaming industry exceeds $300,000,000,000 in 
value, with approximately 3,000,000,000 people world-
wide playing video games, and the global Esports audi-
ence projected to surpass 640,000,000 by 2025; 
Whereas fantasy and science fiction books generate nearly 
$600,000,000 in annual sales in the United States, and 
fantasy audiobooks remain the largest category among 
audiobook genres; 
Whereas hundreds of annual Comic-Con conventions across 
the United States attract up to 250,000 attendees at the 
largest events and contribute over $100,000,000 to local 
economies; 
Whereas the lineage of comics and other visual popular arts 
can be traced to ancient and historic word-image texts, 
including cave paintings, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Mayan 
carvings, illuminated manuscripts, the Bayeux Tapestry, 
early woodcut printing, the serial illustrations of William 
Hogarth and Rodolphe To¨pffer, and the engravings of 
William Blake; 
Whereas superheroes entered the comic book medium in 1938 
with the release of Action Comics No. 1 and the debut 
of Superman; 
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Whereas notable works such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus 
(1980–1986), which won the Pulitzer Prize, and civil 
rights hero the late Congressman John Lewis’ National 
Book Award-winning March trilogy, itself inspired by the 
1958 comic Martin Luther King and the Montgomery 
Story, exemplify the power of the medium; 
Whereas the most valuable comic book to date remains the 
first edition of Action Comics No. 1, considered the first 
modern comic book, which sold for $3,200,000 in 2022, 
having originally cost 10 cents in 1938; 
Whereas, in 2020, graphic novels comprised 67 percent of the 
children’s book market in the United States; 
Whereas comic books and the popular arts are a valuable lit-
erary tool, helping educate millions of children by fos-
tering literacy and language acquisition; 
Whereas the Library of Congress holds over 140,000 issues 
from about 13,000 comic book titles, maintaining the 
largest comic book collection in the world; and 
Whereas streaming platforms, social media, and digital dis-
tribution have dramatically expanded access to the pop-
ular arts and created new opportunities for creators and 
audiences alike: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the immense capacity of the pop-
ular arts to bring people together, inspire creativity 
and imagination, promote critical thinking, and in-
still the universal values of truth, justice, and equal-
ity; 
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(2) honors the unique impact of the popular 
arts on generations of Americans and the global 
community; and 
(3) affirms the importance of promoting the 
popular arts to broader audiences and advancing in-
creased representation within all forms of the pop-
ular arts. 
Æ 
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