IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 555 
To commemorate the life and accomplishments of Whitney Elizabeth Houston 
over the past 48 years; and expressing the condolences of the House 
of Representatives to her family upon her death. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2012 
Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Ms. 
RICHARDSON, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. DAVIS 
of Illinois, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. 
RANGEL, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 
RUSH, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. WILSON of 
Florida, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CLEAVER, and Ms. 
WATERS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
RESOLUTION 
To commemorate the life and accomplishments of Whitney 
Elizabeth Houston over the past 48 years; and express-
ing the condolences of the House of Representatives to 
her family upon her death. 
Whereas Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 
1963, in Newark, New Jersey; 
Whereas Whitney Houston was the youngest daughter of 
famed singer Cissy Houston and John Russell Houston 
Jr., cousin of Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick, and god- 
daughter of Aretha Franklin; 
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Whereas Whitney Houston began following in her mother’s 
footsteps at the age of 11 by performing at her church, 
New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, and 
a short time later began performing in shows alongside 
her mother in New York City in the 1970s and early 
1980s; 
Whereas, as a teenager, Ms. Houston earned album credits 
for vocals with the Michael Zager Band, Chaka Khan, 
Lou Rawls, Herbie Mann, the Neville Brothers, Bill 
Lawswell’s Material, Jermaine Jackson, and various 
other artists; 
Whereas Ms. Houston began modeling in the 1980s and be-
came the first woman of color to grace the cover of Sev-
enteen Magazine; 
Whereas, as an accomplished model, Ms. Houston’s striking 
good looks and girl-next-door charm lead her to be a 
sought after model and featured in multiple layouts, in-
cluding Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and Young Miss; 
Whereas upon seeing Ms. Houston perform in 1983, Arista 
Records founder and president, Clive Davis immediately 
signed her and, within a year after being signed, Ms. 
Houston had her first top-5 R&B hit with Teddy 
Pendergrass, titled ‘‘Hold Me’’; 
Whereas Ms. Houston’s debut album, ‘‘Whitney Houston’’, 
was released in 1985, was certified 13-times platinum 
(diamond) in the United States, and sold 25,000,000 
copies worldwide; 
Whereas Ms. Houston’s debut album earned her many dis-
tinctions, including biggest selling debut album by a solo 
artist, first female artist to debut an album with three 
Number One hits, first female Artist to be ‘‘Artist of the 
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Year’’ and ‘‘Album of the Year’’ on Billboard charts, and 
first African-American female artist to have consistent 
and heavy rotation on MTV; 
Whereas this early success and acceptance opened many 
doors for other African-American women vocal artists; 
Whereas Ms. Houston’s second album, ‘‘Whitney’’, was re-
leased in 1987 and debuted at Number One on the Bill-
board album chart, marked the first time in music his-
tory that a female artist debuted at Number One in both 
the United States and the United Kingdom, gave her 
seven consecutive Number One hits, which broke the 
record held by the Beatles and The Bee Gees, made her 
the first female artist to generate four Number One hits 
from one album, was certified nine-times platinum, and 
sold 20,000,000 copies worldwide; 
Whereas Ms. Houston’s third album, ‘‘I’m Your Baby To-
night,’’ was release in 1990, earned Ms. Houston back- 
to-back Number One hits, peaked at number three on the 
Billboard album charts, and was certified four-times plat-
inum and sold 8,000,000 copies worldwide; 
Whereas Ms. Houston delivered the most stunning perform-
ance of the National Anthem before the 1991 Super 
Bowl, and more than 20 years later, her performance is 
not only one of the most spectacular moments in Amer-
ican sports history, but is also the gold standard for all 
Super Bowl performances; 
Whereas, in 1992, Ms. Houston made her movie debut in 
‘‘The Bodyguard’’ with Oscar-winning actor and director 
Kevin Costner and not only did the film break box office 
records worldwide, but the soundtrack album, which fea-
tured six Whitney Houston songs, was the biggest selling 
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motion picture soundtrack of all time and voted Grammy- 
winning ‘‘Album of the Year’’; the soundtrack was cer-
tified 17-times platinum and sold more than 42,000,000 
copies worldwide; 
Whereas Ms. Houston continued to be a successful actress 
with roles in ‘‘Waiting to Exhale’’, ‘‘The Preacher’s 
Wife’’, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘‘Cinderella’’ and Ms. 
Houston’s success as a songstress continued with vocals 
on each soundtrack leading them to similar sales accom-
plishments as her solo albums; 
Whereas, upon the release of ‘‘The Preacher’s Wife’’ sound-
track, Ms. Houston accomplished a lifelong dream with 
the gospel-filled soundtrack, on which Ms. Houston sang 
lead vocals on 14 of the 15 songs and which became the 
biggest selling gospel album in Billboard chart history 
and was certified three-times platinum; 
Whereas, after an eight-year absence, Ms. Houston released 
her fourth studio album, ‘‘My Love Is Your Love’’, in 
1998 and the album had a string of gold and platinum 
chart hit singles worldwide and featured vocals from her 
daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown; 
Whereas, as Ms. Houston celebrated her 15th anniversary as 
an Arista recording artist, she released ‘‘Whitney: the 
Greatest Hits’’ in 2000 and the album was certified 
three-times platinum and had worldwide sales of 
10,000,000; 
Whereas Ms. Houston released her last studio album, ‘‘I 
Look to You’’, in 2009, and the album entered the Bill-
board album chart at Number One, Ms. Houston’s best 
opening week sales, and has been certified platinum; 
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Whereas Ms. Houston had sales of more than 170,000,000 
combined album, singles, and videos worldwide during 
her career with Arista Records; 
Whereas Ms. Houston has established the benchmark for 
stardom and has been named music’s most awarded fe-
male artist of all time, with an amazing tally of 411 
awards (as of 2006) a tally that is certainly topped by 
her two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 16 Bill-
board Music Awards, and 23 American Music Awards, as 
well as MTV Video Music Awards in the United States 
and Europe, NAACP Image Awards, BET Awards, Soul 
Train Music Awards, Soul Train’s prestigious Quincy 
Jones Career Achievement Award in 1998, and her in-
duction into the Black Entertainment Television Walk Of 
Fame in 1996; 
Whereas Ms. Houston has won a worldwide following by 
reachng deep within her soul and finding common 
threads with her millions of fans; 
Whereas Ms. Houston not only had the voice of an angel but 
a heart of gold, Ms. Houston’s humanitarian efforts are 
as impressive as her accolades; 
Whereas Ms. Houston raised funds for numerous causes, in-
cluding children around the world, from South Africa to 
Newark, generating more than $300,000 for the Chil-
dren’s Defense Fund as a result of a 1997 HBO concert; 
Whereas Ms. Houston supported Nelson Mandela and the 
antiapartheid movement, and while a model refused to 
work with any agencies that did business with the then- 
apartheid South Africa; 
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Whereas Ms. Houston participated in a benefit concert that 
raised over $1,000,000 for charities while bringing 
awareness to apartheid; 
Whereas Ms. Houston worked tirelessly for St. Jude Chil-
dren’s Hospital, the United Negro College Fund, and the 
Children’s Diabetes Foundation; 
Whereas Ms. Houston founded the Whitney Houston Foun-
dation for the Children, which cares for such problems as 
homelessness, children with cancer and AIDS, and issues 
of self-empowerment; 
Whereas Ms. Houston’s foundation was awarded a VH1 
honor for its charitable work; 
Whereas Ms. Houston founded the Whitney E. Houston 
Academy of Creative and Performing Arts to provide ex-
panded arts-focused educational opportunities for its stu-
dent body and the surrounding community; 
Whereas Ms. Houston served as a spokesperson for a youth 
leadership conference; 
Whereas, out of the generosity of her heart, Ms. Houston do-
nated her portion of the proceeds from the release of the 
National Anthem as a single to the American Red Cross 
Gulf Crisis Fund and therefore was named to the Amer-
ican Red Cross Board of Governors; 
Whereas Ms. Houston supported, performed, and visited 
many of our service men and women fighting in the Per-
sian Gulf War; 
Whereas The Whitney Houston Foundation For Children, 
Inc. agreed to donate royalties and net proceeds from all 
single sales of ‘‘The Star Spangled Banner’’ together 
with ‘‘America the Beautiful’’ to the New York Fire-
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fighters 9–11 Disaster Relief Fund and the New York 
Fraternal Order of Police; and 
Whereas Ms. Houston was a world-class entertainer and hu-
manitarian: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes Ms. Whitney Houston as a world 
icon and a once-in-a-lifetime talent; 
(2) honors Ms. Whitney Houston for her chari-
table efforts; and 
(3) extends the deepest condolences of the 
House of Representatives to the family of Ms. Whit-
ney Houston. 
Æ 
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