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Issued
September 17, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextSUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
SENATE RESOLUTION 862—HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF DOLLY PARTON, A
PHILANTHROPY, LITERACY, EDUCATION, HEALTH, CONSERVATION, AND CULTURE
ENRICHED THE LIVES OF COUNTLESS AMERICANS
Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. Hagerty, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Smith, Ms. Collins, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Justice, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Schiff, and Mr. Ricketts) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
S. Res. 862
Whereas Dolly Rebecca Parton was born the fourth of 12
children on January 19, 1946, to Robert Lee Parton and Avie
Lee Parton in
Locust Ridge, Sevier County, Tennessee, where faith, family,
music, and the traditions of Appalachia inspired her lifelong
calling to serve others with humility and grace;
Whereas, in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains,
Dolly Parton developed an enduring love of music and a
profound faith in her childhood, singing in her grandfather's
church, writing songs, and, at the age of 10, regularly
performing on the Cas Walker Show in Knoxville, Tennessee;
Whereas, in 1959, Dolly Parton made her first appearance at
the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was
introduced by Johnny Cash and received 3 encores;
Whereas, after graduating from Sevier County High School,
Dolly Parton moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music
and became one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters in
American history;
Whereas Dolly Parton wrote and recorded songs that became
timeless classics of the American songbook, including
“Jolene”, “Coat of Many Colors”, “I Will Always Love
You”, and “9 to 5”, while consistently drawing inspiration
from her childhood, family, faith, and her East Tennessee
mountain heritage;
Whereas Dolly Parton earned her first number-1 single on
the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with “Joshua” in 1970
and went on to receive numerous accolades throughout her
career, including Country Music Association Awards for Female
Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year and a Grammy
Award for “Here You Come Again”;
Whereas Dolly Parton used the success she achieved
throughout her career to give back to the communities and
people who shaped her life, establishing a legacy of
philanthropy rooted in her home State of Tennessee;
Whereas, in 1986, Dolly Parton opened Dollywood in the
Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, establishing a
world-class theme park that has become a premier tourist
destination, creating jobs and drawing millions of visitors
to the region each year;
Whereas Dolly Parton established The Dollywood Foundation
in 1988 in Sevier County, Tennessee, as a nonprofit
organization initially dedicated to improving educational
achievement and reducing high school dropout rates among
children in her home community;
Whereas, through The Dollywood Foundation, Dolly Parton
established the Buddy Program in Sevier County to encourage
students to remain in school including by awarding financial
incentives to participating students who successfully
graduated, demonstrating her early commitment to creating
educational opportunities for young Tennesseans;
Whereas, in 1995, Dolly Parton established Dolly Parton's
Imagination Library through The Dollywood Foundation,
inspired by her father, Robert Lee Parton, who could not read
or write;
Whereas the Imagination Library began by providing books to
children in Dolly Parton's home county and grew into an
international book-gifting program providing free, age-
appropriate books to children from birth to age 5 regardless
of family income;
Whereas the Imagination Library expanded from the mountains
of East Tennessee to communities throughout the United States
and around the world, demonstrating how an act of service
beginning in a rural Tennessee community can improve the
lives of millions of children and families;
Whereas, in 2014, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library was
recognized through the Library of Congress Literacy Awards
for its work promoting literacy, and, in 2018, Dolly Parton
donated the 100,000,000th book distributed through the
program to the Library of Congress;
Whereas Dolly Parton extended her commitment to the people
of East Tennessee to health care, helping raise $1,000,000 in
2007 for the birthing unit at LeConte Medical Center in
Sevier County, an effort that contributed to the
establishment of the Dolly Parton Center for Women's Services
and expanded health care resources for women and families in
the region;
Whereas Dolly Parton also supported the Pediatric Cancer
Program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at
Vanderbilt, further demonstrating her longstanding commitment
to improving the health and well-being of children;
Whereas Dolly Parton later continued her support for
medical research in Tennessee by donating an additional
$1,000,000 to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2022 to
support pediatric infectious disease research;
Whereas Dolly Parton's philanthropy extended to the
protection of wildlife and the natural heritage of Tennessee,
and, beginning in 1991, Dollywood partnered with the American
Eagle Foundation to advance the conservation, care, and
public understanding of bald eagles and other birds of prey;
Whereas Eagle Mountain Sanctuary at Dollywood became home
to non-releasable bald eagles and provided millions of
visitors with opportunities to learn about the conservation
of the national bird and other wildlife;
Whereas the partnership between Dollywood and the American
Eagle Foundation contributed to decades of conservation and
education efforts, during which the American Eagle Foundation
successfully released more than 400 bald eagles into the
wild;
Whereas, following the wildfires that devastated Sevier
County and the Great Smoky Mountains region in November 2016,
destroying homes and displacing families in the community
where she was raised, Dolly Parton directed The Dollywood
Foundation to establish the My People Fund;
Whereas The Dollywood Foundation created the My People Fund
within weeks of the fires to provide direct financial
assistance to families who had lost their primary residences;
Whereas the My People Fund ultimately distributed more than
$12,000,000 to families affected by the Sevier County
wildfires and provided additional assistance, including
scholarships for graduating seniors whose homes had been
destroyed;
Whereas Dolly Parton continued to respond to the needs of
her fellow Tennesseans and neighboring communities throughout
her life, including following Hurricane Helene in 2024, when
Dolly Parton and her associated businesses and organizations
committed more than $2,000,000 to support relief and recovery
efforts in Tennessee and North Carolina;
Whereas Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026, at the age of
80, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy of music,
philanthropy, service, generosity, and love for her fellow
Tennesseans and Americans;
Whereas, despite achieving international fame, Dolly Parton
remained deeply connected to Sevier County and the State of
Tennessee and repeatedly directed her resources, influence,
and time toward improving the lives of the people of her home
State;
Whereas Dolly Parton's philanthropic service reflected a
consistent commitment to children, education, health,
families facing hardship, disaster recovery, wildlife
conservation, and the communities of East Tennessee;
Whereas Dolly Parton's life demonstrated that success is
measured not only by personal achievement, but by the
opportunities created for others and by a willingness to
serve neighbors in times of need;
Whereas Dolly Parton embodied the values of faith, hard
work, perseverance, generosity, kindness, creativity, and
service to others that are deeply rooted in the history and
character of Tennessee, the Volunteer State; and
Whereas the life of Dolly Parton represents both an
extraordinary American story and a uniquely Tennessee story,
demonstrating how faith, talent, determination, generosity,
and an enduring love of home can change lives throughout the
world: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) mourns the passing of Dolly Parton and extends its
deepest condolences to her family, friends, loved ones, and
the people of Tennessee;
(2) honors the extraordinary life and legacy of Dolly
Parton and her contributions to the State of Tennessee and
the United States;
(3) recognizes Dolly Parton's lasting contributions to
American music, songwriting, entertainment, education,
childhood literacy, health care, medical research, disaster
relief, conservation, and philanthropy;
(4) recognizes The Dollywood Foundation and Dolly Parton's
Imagination Library as enduring expressions of Dolly Parton's
commitment to providing children and families with
opportunities to learn, thrive, and build better lives;
(5) recognizes Dolly Parton's extraordinary devotion to
Tennessee, the Volunteer State, and her decades of service to
the communities that shaped her life;
(6) recognizes Dolly Parton's extraordinary and enduring
contributions to American culture and philanthropy, including
her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999,
receipt of the Library of Congress Living Legend Medal in
2004, and receipt of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in
2022, honoring her remarkable legacy of artistic achievement,
generosity, and service to others;
(7) recognizes that Dolly Parton used her success and
national platform not merely for personal achievement, but to
serve others, including children learning to read, families
rebuilding after natural disasters, patients benefitting from
medical research, and communities preserving America's
natural heritage;
(8) encourages the people of the United States to honor
Dolly Parton's memory by carrying forward her example of
charity, kindness, service, perseverance, and love of
community; and
(9) honors Dolly Parton's lifelong commitment to her dream
to, in her words, “make as many people happy as I could in
this life,” and recognizes that her extraordinary life and
legacy fulfilled that dream for generations of Americans.