1Paying tribute to the late singer-songwriter Pete Seeger on May 
23, 2014, the 95th anniversary of his birth, and recognizing 
3his unrelenting search for social and environmental justice 
4and his enduring impact on folk music.

5WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger, who died on January 27, 2014, was born
6into a musical family, his father Charles Seeger being a
7musicologist and his mother Constance Seeger being a concert
8violinist; and

9WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger's talent and love for music grew with
10him, matched only by his love for our country and the potential
11he envisioned in it; and

12WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger embarked on his musical career in the
13late 1930s; and

14WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger later founded the Almanac Singers, an
15influential folk music group which became the Weavers; and

16WHEREAS, Never one to bend his morals, Mr. Seeger left the
17Weavers when the other members of the band agreed to record a
18cigarette commercial; and

1WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger was blacklisted in the 1950s, though
2having ended his status as an American Communist in 1949; and

3WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger championed civil and labor rights into
4the early 1960s while still blacklisted from performing; and

5WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger is credited in part with the folk music
6revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s; and

7WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger wrote the famous folk songs "Where Have
8All the Flowers Gone," "We Shall Overcome" and "Turn, Turn,
9Turn"; and

10WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger's song "We Shall Overcome" became the
11anthem of the civil rights movement; and

12WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger organized the annual music festival the
13Great Hudson River Revival; and

14WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger avidly pursued social and environmental
15justice; and

16WHEREAS, To raise awareness of pollution in the Hudson River
17and conduct antipollution work, Mr. Seeger cofounded the Hudson
18River Sloop Clearwater; and

19WHEREAS, At 91 years of age, Mr. Seeger wrote the song "God's
20Counting on Me, God's Counting on You" about the Deepwater
21Horizon oil spill; and

22WHEREAS, Until his death, Mr. Seeger took elementary school
23groups on boat trips to demonstrate the impact of pollution; and

24WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger's activism included performing at benefit
25concerts honoring victims of social and environmental
26injustices; and

27WHEREAS, Along with Toshi Seeger, his wife and driving force
28for seven decades, Mr. Seeger participated in Iraq war protests;
29and

30WHEREAS, Self-educated in American folklore, Mr. Seeger

1influenced countless artists and students as a chronicler of our
2traditions, hardships and freedoms won; and

3WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger's son Peter Ota Seeger predeceased him;
4and

5WHEREAS, Mr. Seeger's children Daniel, Mika and Tinya and
6grandchildren Tao, Cassie, Kitama and Moraya survive him;
7therefore be it

8RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives pay tribute to
9the late singer-songwriter Pete Seeger on May 3, 2014, the 95th
10anniversary of his birth, and recognize his unrelenting search
11for social and environmental justice and his enduring impact on
12folk music.