Blog - The Michael Jackson Resolution 
The Michael Jackson Resolution
July 6, 2009 - by Donny Shaw
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee [D, TX-18] has proposed a resolution in Congress in honor of the life and work of Michael Jackson. It’s extremely long; about three or four times the length of a “typical” resolution, and focuses heavily on his role as a humanitarian.
You can read the full resolution at this link, or below. The resolution was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs the same day it was introduced. No word yet on when, or if, this resolution will be voted on by the House.
H. Res. 600 – A tribute to 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;
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 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 heart-transplant, 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;
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 designed 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;
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;
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
Resolved, That the House of Representatives-
(1) recognizes Michael Jackson as a global humanitarian and a noted leader in the fight against worldwide hunger and medical crises;
(2) celebrates Michael Jackson as an accomplished contributor to the worlds of arts and entertainment, scientific advances in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, and global food security.
Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay up to date on this resolution and see the roll call data as soon as it’s available.
Subscribe to Blog Updates
Want to get each blog update sent to you by email?
Send Us a Tip
-
Proposed Bill HR-2674 Prote...
Submitted by Mary on Jun 16
-
Amendment No. 601 to the Om...
Submitted by Winifred on Mar 3
-
I noticed the Rep. John Con...
Submitted by Pamela Kemp on Jan 14
You can submit a tip anonymously, or attributed to your own name and e-mail, whichever you prefer. Read more about submitting a tip.
Recent Posts
- Senate Bill Requires Members of Congress to Buy Insurance Through the Exchange, November 19, 2009
- Read the Senate Health Care Bill , November 19, 2009
- Senate Health Care Bill Released!, November 18, 2009
- Nelson Seems Willing to Let a Health Care Debate Happen, November 18, 2009
- Omnibus Budget Bill Looking More Likely, November 18, 2009
Archives
See All ArchivesBlogroll
- The Baseline Scenario
- Capital Eye
- Capitol Briefing
- The Caucus
- CBO Director's Blog
- Congress Matters
- The Corner
- Crooks and Liars
- FiveThirtyEight
- Glenn Greenwald
- Hot Air
- Huffington Post
- Instapundit
- Ezra Klein
- Little Sis
- Megan McArdle
- The Moderate Voice
- My DD
- The Next Right
- OMB Watch
- Open House Project
- Open Left
- The Page
- Party Time
- Plum Line
- Political Animal
- Political Wire
- ProPublica
- Real Clear Politics
- Real Time Investigations
- RedState
- Senatus
- Andrew Sullivan
- Sunlight Foundation Blog
- Talking Points Memo
- Glenn Thrush
- The Treatment
- The Washington Independent
- The Weekly Standard
- Wonk Room
- Matthew Yglesias
Sort By
Comments ?
What's this?
OpenCongress comment boards are an open forum for discussion. Let's build public knowledge about Congress together, so please keep the discussion civil -- no harsh language, subject to our community Comment Policy. Do not post any information here (for example, your name or email) that you do not wish to be public.
Filter Comments to a Rating of at least
What's this?
The Ratings Filter allows you to determine how many user comments to view on pages here on OpenCongress. Setting the filter higher (towards 10) allows you to see only the comments rated "most helpful" by users, while setting the filter lower (towards 0) allows you to see more comments on a page.
Displaying 1-30 of 60 total comments.
Let's call it a wash and not pass a resolution honoring Michael "Pedophile" Jackson. Jackson's contribution to the world of pop music may cloud the minds of many, but not mine; his misdeeds are heinous enough to warrant no special attention from the people or the government.
Additionally, media coverage has been incessant concerning Jackson's untimely death; however, nary a peep over Cap & Trade, etcetera. We need to bust up the media monopolies just as much as we need more transparency in Washington.
As Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said, people are innocent until proven otherwise; that's what the Constitution stands for.
Enough said.
It is people like you with narrow minds, with these opinions...obviously you are a right winged conservative. Please wake up!!! That's why the conservatives are out of power and will be lost in the dark forever! Michael Jackson is an artist, an icon and a blessing to the world from God. People like him only come once in a lifetime and congress should honor him for his contributions to the world. I am greatful that we had someone like Michael Jackson, he is a great part of my life as well as my children's and we will never forget him. Rest in Peace Michael...
Frank from Arizona
Narrow minds? Hmm...we will never know the truth about Michael Jackson but God does know. He may have gotten fame and fortune and used that to donate to many great causes but I feel that he also used that fame and fortune to take advantage of innocent children all under this great guise of being such a humanitarian. That in my opinion makes him a disgrace. (FYI, he paid off accusers in 2 cases! That smells like guilt to me.) But that is nice if you would like your children to idolize a man such as him. I prefer to have my children love the Lord. Will Michael rest in peace? He seemed like a poor, tormented soul and all the money and fame he had couldn't give him peace.
Don't forget drug addict in your description. Should we also honor "Jim the homeless guy" who stands on the side of the offramp? Just because he was successful at his profession, that in no way makes him an American icon who should be honored by our government. Don't they have more important things to concern themselves with? Answer: Yes!
OMG He did not pay off two accusers... He settled in the 1st one, and let me ask you something if your child was assaulted would you settle for money or want to see that person rot behind bars??!! Them accepting the money sounds fishy to me. As for the second one you need to look up because it was thrown out after it was shown that mother of the child had a HUGE history of trying to sue ppl over that very thing. When it was brought to her attention- the case was closed, end of story. As for you coming to this site reading all of this and still the only thing you comment on is his PERSONAL life... I'm pretty sure theres not one mention of his PERSONAL life in this... so why don't you just stick to commenting on the article itself and keep your PERSONAL comments to yourself! MJ was a great man and the world will forever mourn his loss.
you should be ashamed of yourself
How dare you judge Michael Jackson.
look it isn't necessary for you to express and share your views just because of what you think of him. as much as you subject him to persecution, the truth will always elude us. he was NEVER proven guilty you prat so whatever the truth is, i'm definitely sure a prat like you will never know it. so keep your views to yourself. MJ for all his eccentricities was an icon of pop music and an active humanitarian. what exactly have you done to better him except to open your filthy mouth and spill your tosh. unfortunately for you, ur major achievement so far is being a major F*UCKTARD!
Let's call it a wash and not pass a resolution honoring Michael "Pedophile" Jackson. Jackson's contribution to the world of pop music may cloud the minds of many, but not mine; his misdeeds are heinous enough to warrant no special attention from the people or the government.
Additionally, media coverage has been incessant concerning Jackson's untimely death; however, nary a peep over Cap & Trade, etcetera. We need to bust up the media monopolies just as much as we need more transparency in Washington.
Moderated Comment
Moderated Comment
lol, I just found some guy on eBay selling soil from the spot where Michael died...this is too good!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290328418308
Haha you have to see it. It contains MJ's ghost!
Moderated Comment
This is an embarrassment. The government has much better things to be working on than pop culture. Sheila Jackson should have her head examined for wasting the taxpayers money on trivial garbage. This is the reason why our economy is in the state it is now - politicians that are playing around instead of earning their ridiculous salaries working. o_O
Whereas a public official is wasting taxpayer money.
Now to put on some Michael Jackson and sob softly to myself.
hahahhahaha i love it. Michael Jackson was a HUGE star and American Icon. No matter what he did or didnt do in his personal life (and we will probably never know for sure), he was not convicted. I , myself, do not consider Michael Jackson a role model or an ideal human being. I think the stardom he had greatly scarred him as a child. While it can not be contested that he sang beautifully and had a very successful career, I don't consider him a hero in any other realm of life. I think he had a tortured soul and can only hope he is at peace. WITH THAT SAID, I think it is utterly ridiculous the focus that public officials are giving him in the midst of such economic crisis and in the midst of such GLOBAL crisis!! Iran, North Korea!!? Dont we recognize that while it is a sad thing that Michael died that it does not impact our lives NEAR as much as these things do? He should be honored as an American pop icon, but move on and stop wasting taxpayer money on it!!
He was a humanitarian,more than we can say for you.
I am apalled that our politicians feel it is acceptable to sit around and discuss honoring a deceased celebrity of questionable repute while our economy suffers and international tensions rise! This is not what we pay them to do!! Please be active and email both your own representatives and senators as well as Rep. Jackson-Lee to let them know how you feel about this!
Wow, I totally agree with you. I did like Michael's music very much, but to put him this high on a pedestal I am not so sure. His personal life was very questionable and to honor another celebrity that has died due to a drug overdose, and one that possibly commited hainous crimes against children is horrific.
I'm happy to read that someone else is able to separate the art from the person. I will never know whether or not he did in fact commit those crimes; and the fact that he wasn't convicted doesn't mean it didn't happen--sexual crimes have a disturbingly low conviction rate. Regardless of that, he was an icon who revolutionized music and helped form the music video culture. I didn't realize he had contributed so much monitarily over the years towards world hunger and AIDS awareness, and while those are certainly great things for him to have done, I don't believe Congress should be spending time on such things at this time!
They're not honoring him for his personal life.. this has nothing to do with his personal life. They are honoring him for all of the humanitarian work he has done. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records for most charities supported by a pop star. He was also a notable philanthropist, donating millions of dollars to the 39 charities he supported, and raising more through his own Heal the World Foundation. Now ask yourself this... how many and how much have you to donated to?
Apparently its okay for Congress to honor all the other hundreds of people that they have honored... But now all of a sudden "its not acceptable"... You are dumb too!
It will be interesting to see which cape Rep. Jackson-Lee decides to don when she introduces this legislation to the floor
Its sad that the Black community has so little pride in itself that it feels the need to stand for a man who worked so hard to change his features to not be black. This is a waste of taxpayer dollars and an affront to the government that is supposed to represent us.
Are you sh*tting me??? Don't you people (Congress) have anything more important to do with your time and our money?
No kidding!!!!
Am for the EU, I do not understand you US people: You were given the greatest entertainer ever. He has given more to the people then this resolution cost... What is your problem?
Honor MJ as we honor our Diana! Will MJ's soul continue to support the weak and needed!
THANK YOU E.U.!!! At least someone recognizes the global impact MJ has had on the world. BTW Diana and MJ were great friends before her death.
Rather than honr MJ who has a questionable past and IMHO, no amount of humanitarian work makes up for the possibility that he might have done what was accused, why don't we honor Farrah Fawcett? She did many good works, she brought DV to the forefront with her performance in Burning Bed and she cared.
Yet the media and others are drooling over MJ? I havce stopped reading the papers and watching tv news because I can't stand to see his face anymore. At least one good thing came out of MJ's death. Nancy Grace"less" is not so intensely focusing on Casey Anthony. I was about sick of hearing about her too.