PRINTER'S NO. 386
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.39
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY FREEMAN, WEBSTER, HILL-EVANS, VENKAT, ISAACSON,
BRENNAN, GIRAL, PROBST, SANCHEZ, KENYATTA, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ,
VITALI, MERSKI, PIELLI, OTTEN, McNEILL, SAPPEY, SCHLOSSBERG,
CARROLL, KHAN, HOWARD, REICHARD, MAYES, HANBIDGE, STEELE,
GUENST, HOHENSTEIN, NEILSON, DONAHUE, WARREN, RIVERA AND
D. WILLIAMS, JANUARY 29, 2025
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JANUARY 29, 2025
A RESOLUTION
Commemorating the life and contributions of James Earl "Jimmy"
Carter, Jr., and extending condolences on his passing.
WHEREAS, James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr., the 39th President
of the United States, died on December 29, 2024, at the age of
100; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Carter was born October 1, 1924, in Plains,
Georgia, the son of James Earl Carter, Sr., and Lillian Gordon
Carter; and
WHEREAS, In 1941, Mr. Carter graduated from Plains High
School at the age of 16, making him the first in his family to
graduate from high school; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Carter graduated from the United States Naval
Academy in 1946 and is the only president to do so; and
WHEREAS, On July 7, 1946, Mr. Carter married Rosalynn Smith;
and
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15 WHEREAS, Mr. Carter achieved the rank of lieutenant in the
United States Navy and served in the Navy's nuclear submarine
program; and
WHEREAS, Following the death of his father in 1953, Mr.
Carter returned to Plains, Georgia, to take over the Carter
farms and other family enterprises; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Carter started his political career in local
politics, serving on the Sumter County School Board and Planning
Commission; and
WHEREAS, As a community leader, Mr. Carter helped spearhead
Plains' first community pool and other community improvements to
the rural town; and
WHEREAS, In 1962, Mr. Carter was elected to the Georgia
Senate; and
WHEREAS, After losing the gubernatorial election in 1966, Mr.
Carter was elected Governor of Georgia in 1970; and
WHEREAS, In his 1971 inaugural address, Mr. Carter marked a
new generation of Southern governors when he proclaimed the era
of racial discriminations to be over; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Carter's achievements as governor include
further desegregating the state government workforce, improving
Georgia's public schools and overhauling its judicial and prison
system; and
WHEREAS, When he launched his campaign for President of the
United States, Mr. Carter was a little known, longshot
candidate; and
WHEREAS, On July 15, 1976, Mr. Carter was nominated by the
Democratic Party as the Democratic Party's candidate for
President of the United States with Walter Mondale nominated as
the candidate for Vice President of the United States; and
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30 WHEREAS, On November 2, 1976, Mr. Carter was elected
President of the United States; and
WHEREAS, On January 20, 1977, Mr. Carter was inaugurated as
the 39th President of the United States; and
WHEREAS, Notable domestic achievements of the Carter
Presidency include civil service reform, deregulating the
airline industry, reducing American dependency on foreign oil,
establishing the Superfund Program to provide for environmental
remediation, the largest conservation action in American history
through the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and
creating the Department of Education, Department of Energy and
the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and
WHEREAS, President Carter dedicated his foreign policy to the
promotion of peace and human rights, and most notably he hosted
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President
Anwar el-Sadat at Camp David to end a decade-long conflict
between the two nations; and
WHEREAS, After 13 days of painstaking negotiations, President
Carter's persistence helped bring an agreement for a framework
for peace between the two nations; and
WHEREAS, When the framework for peace was seemingly in
jeopardy, President Carter intervened again and personally flew
to Egypt and Israel to save the agreement; and
WHEREAS, President Carter's perseverance on this issue earned
him his most important foreign policy achievement in what became
known as the Camp David Accords, which fostered long-term peace
between Egypt and Israel that continues to this day; and
WHEREAS, After his unsuccessful bid for reelection in 1980,
Mr. Carter left the presidency on January 20, 1981, and
dedicated the rest of his life to promoting peace, democracy,
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30 human rights and other humanitarian causes; and
WHEREAS, In 1982, Mr. Carter founded The Carter Center where
he focused on promoting democracy, human rights and the
eradication of disease; and
WHEREAS, The Carter Center took a leading role in a decades-
long effort to eradicate the Guinea worm disease which has led
to the number of cases falling from an estimated 3.5 million in
1986 to 14 in 2023; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Carter started the Carter Work Project in 1984
with Habitat for Humanity, and, in the following decades, the
Carter Work Project has included more than 100,000 volunteers to
help build, repair and renovate more than 4,400 homes across the
United States and 14 countries; and
WHEREAS, The Carter Center monitored numerous elections in
various countries; and
WHEREAS, Following its defeat in a free and fair election in
Nicaragua, Mr. Carter convinced the Sandinista Government to
peacefully step down and transfer power to the rightful winner
of the election; and
WHEREAS, In 1994, alongside General Colin L. Powell and
Senator Sam Nunn, Mr. Carter persuaded the military junta in
Haiti to restore Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first
democratically elected president, to power; and
WHEREAS, In 2010, Mr. Carter traveled to North Korea and
secured the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, an American who had
been sentenced to eight years of hard labor in the country; and
WHEREAS, In 1999, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton, the highest
civilian award in the United States, for their joint
humanitarian work which has lifted the dignity of people
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30 everywhere; and
WHEREAS, In 2002, Mr. Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in recognition of "his decades of untiring effort to find
peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance
democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social
development"; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Carter had the longest and one of the most
productive post-presidencies of any former President; and
WHEREAS, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter had four children, John
"Jack" Carter, James Earl "Chip" Carter III, Donnel Carter and
Amy Carter; and
WHEREAS, In addition to his four children, Mr. Carter is
survived by 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Carter's life and legacy is a model of
perseverance, integrity in the face of adversity and service to
one's country and fellow man; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania commemorate the life and
contributions of James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr., and extends
condolences on his passing; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
the family of James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr., in care of the
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, 441 John Lewis
Freedom Parkway, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30307-1498.
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