January 9, 2025
Mr. Warnock (for himself, Mr. Ossoff, Mr. Thune, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Alsobrooks, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Banks, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Booker, Mr. Boozman, Mrs. Britt, Mr. Budd, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cassidy, Ms. Collins, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Daines, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Fetterman, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Gallego, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Hagerty, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Hoeven, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kim, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Lee, Mr. Luján, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Markey, Mr. Marshall, Mr. McConnell, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Moran, Mr. Moreno, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Paul, Mr. Peters, Mr. Reed, Mr. Ricketts, Mr. Risch, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Schmitt, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Sheehy, Ms. Slotkin, Ms. Smith, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Vance, Mr. Warner, Ms. Warren, Mr. Welch, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Young) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to
Honoring the life and legacy of President Jimmy Carter and commending President Jimmy Carter for his life-long career of public service, humanitarian leadership, diplomacy, and courageous advocacy.
Whereas President Jimmy Carter was born James Earl Carter, Jr. on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia;
Whereas President Carter excelled in his academic studies, graduating from Plains High School in 1941, studying at Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and graduating with distinction in the top 10 percent of his class at the United States Naval Academy in 1946;
Whereas President Carter married Rosalynn Carter on July 7, 1946, and they later had 4 children, 12 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren;
Whereas President Carter served the United States as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy submarine service, where he was assigned to the Navy's elite nuclear submarine program, and, after his father's passing in 1953, he resigned from his naval duties to return to Plains to run his family’s peanut farm and warehouse;
Whereas President Carter began his career of public service in leadership positions in Sumter County, Georgia, before being elected to serve 2 terms as a Georgia State Senator from 1963 to 1967;
Whereas President Carter, while serving as the 76th Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975, challenged racial discrimination and wasteful government practices and reorganized and streamlined State government;
Whereas the people of the United States elected Jimmy Carter to serve as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981;
Whereas, in September 1978, President Carter brokered the Camp David Accords between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, beginning an era of lasting peace between the 2 nations;
Whereas, in October 1978, President Carter signed the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (Public Law 95–454; 92 Stat. 1111), which established the Office of Personnel Management in the Executive Branch, created the Senior Executive Service, and codified Federal labor relations for non-postal Federal employees;
Whereas, during President Carter’s administration, the United States and the People’s Republic of China established official diplomatic relations for the first time;
Whereas President Carter worked with Congress to create the Department of Education and the Department of Energy to oversee comprehensive education and energy policy for the United States;
Whereas, in 1979, President Carter successfully negotiated the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (SALT) II with Soviet Union General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev to restrict the nuclear forces of both nations;
Whereas President Carter, after leaving the White House, remained devoted to public service, serving as a professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and co-founding with his wife, Rosalynn, The Carter Center to alleviate human suffering and advance human rights by strengthening democracy, resolving conflicts, fighting neglected tropical diseases, and improving access to mental health care worldwide;
Whereas The Carter Center has engaged in conflict mediation in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and Asia, spearheaded efforts that have nearly eradicated the Guinea worm disease and eliminated several other tropical diseases in regions of Africa and the Americas, improved mental health care, faithfully observed more than 100 elections in 40 countries to strengthen global democracies, and promoted international human rights;
Whereas President Carter was a dedicated volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and co-led the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project for over 30 years, working on approximately 4,400 homes in 14 countries to build affordable housing;
Whereas President Carter received the United Nations Human Rights Prize in 1998;
Whereas President Carter and Rosalynn Carter jointly received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999 for their exemplary contributions towards globally advancing peace, human rights, and health;
Whereas President Carter was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of work in international conflict resolution, human rights, and economic and social development, making him 1 of 4 United States Presidents to receive the prize;
Whereas President Carter lived to be 100 years old, longer than any other President; and
Whereas President Carter leaves behind an honorable legacy of humanitarian work and a shining example of a lifetime of service: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)
mourns the passing of former President Jimmy Carter, the longest living President in the history of the United States, and extends its sympathies to his family; and
(2)
honors the life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter and his contributions to the United States of America.