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Op-eds/Speeches Archive: 2006 - 2009

Dec. 19, 2009
Gaza Must Be Rebuilt Now
This op-ed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was published Dec. 19, 2009, by The Guardian.
It is generally recognised that the Middle East peace process is in the doldrums, almost moribund. Israeli settlement expansion within Palestine continues, and PLO leaders refuse to join in renewed peace talks without a settlement freeze, knowing that no Arab or Islamic nation will accept any comprehensive agreement while Israel retains control of East Jerusalem.

Dec. 3, 2009
Speech by Jimmy Carter to the Parliament of the World's Religions
Delivered via remote video from Atlanta, Ga., as part of The Elders project.
First, I want to thank Executive Director Dirk Ficca for making it possible for me to join you, even though remotely. I occupy a privileged position these days, best explained by a cartoon in New Yorker magazine.

Nov. 5, 2009
Goldstone and Gaza
This op-ed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was published Nov. 5, 2009, by the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times.
Judge Richard Goldstone and the United Nations fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict have issued a report about Gaza that is strongly critical of both Israel and Hamas for their violations of human rights.

Oct. 9, 2009
Opinion: Talk to Hamas Now or Fight New Radicals Indefinitely
This op-ed by Nathan Stock, assistant director of the Conflict Resolution Program, was published in the Oct. 9, 2009 edition of The Christian Science Monitor.
History is repeating itself in the Palestinian territories. Washington refuses to engage a right-wing Palestinian group – and so spawns organizations that are even more extreme.

Sept. 21, 2009
Address by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: Mahatma Gandhi Global Nonviolence Award
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter were named recipients of the 2009 Mahatma Gandhi Global Nonviolence Award in recognition of the couple's humanitarian efforts worldwide. The full transcript of President Carter's speech during the presentation ceremony at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va., follows.

Sept. 19, 2009
Transcript of Former President Jimmy Carter's Remarks on Racism at an Emory University Townhall Meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009
Question and answer from President Carter's townhall meeting Sept. 16, 2009 at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.

Sept. 6, 2009
Concern in the Holy Land
Washington Post op-ed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
During the past 16 months I have visited the Middle East four times and met with leaders in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza.

July 12, 2009
The Words of God Do Not Justify Cruelty to Women
Discrimination and abuse wrongly backed by doctrine are damaging society, argues the former U.S. president.
Editorial by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, published in the July 12, 2009, edition of The Observer.

June 16, 2009
Speech by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to the United Nations Relief Works Agency's Human Rights Graduation in Gaza
Full text of speech delivered in Gaza during President Carter's tour of the Middle East following the June 7 Lebanon parliamentary elections.

June 15, 2009
Transcript of President Jimmy Carter's Meeting with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Israeli Knesset
Good morning. Mr. President, I would like to welcome you and thank you for accepting our invitation to appear before the Knesset committee on Foreign Relations and Defense.

May 12, 2009
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Addresses Energy Security Before U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing
Full text of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's testimony on the impact of energy issues on national security before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing May 12, 2009.

April 29, 2009
Remarks by Former U.S. President Carter at FLACSO University in Ecuador
It is a privilege for me at this moment in our history to be here in Ecuador. Thirty years ago this nation began a new wave of democracy in the region while I was President of the United States, and my wife Rosalynn attended the inauguration of your new president. Now, Ecuador is beginning a new cycle with a new constitution, and my own president has proposed a new era in relations between the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean.

April 27, 2009
What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons?
This op-ed was published in the April 27, 2009 issue of the New York Times.The evolution in public policy concerning the manufacture, sale and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons like AK-47s, AR-15s and Uzis has been very disturbing.

Jan. 14, 2009
Remarks by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the Li Xiannian Library in Hong'an, China
President Carter traveled to China in January 2009 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of normalizing diplomatic relations with Deng Xiaoping and to expand the Carter Center's working relations with government ministries.

Jan. 12, 2009
Commentary: A Victory for Democracy in Africa
This op-ed by John Stremlau was published on CNN.com on Jan. 12, 2009.Supporters of democracy around the world can celebrate the January 7 inauguration of Ghana's new president, professor John Evans Atta Mills, who defeated the leader of the incumbent party in a December 28 runoff election by a mere 41,566 votes out of 9,001,478.

Jan. 8, 2009
An Unnecessary War - Washington Post Op-ed by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter
This op-ed was published in the Jan. 8, 2009 edition of The Washington Post. I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.

Dec. 19, 2008
Privatizing Mental Health Hospitals: Don't Rush to Hand Off Care of Patients in Need
This op-ed by Thomas Bornemann was published in the Dec. 19, 2008 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
 Georgia continues to experience the effects of a mental health system that is tragically broken. Georgia Department of Human Resources' (DHR) has responded with some new proposals, one of which is privatizing and downsizing state mental hospitals.

Dec. 10, 2008
Obama's Human Rights Opportunity
This op-ed by Jimmy Carter was published in the Dec. 10, 2008 edition of the Washington Post. The advancement of human rights around the world was a cornerstone of foreign policy and U.S. leadership for decades, until the attacks on our country on Sept. 11, 2001.

Dec. 2, 2008
Respond to Zimbabwe Crisis
This op-ed was published in the Dec. 2, 2008 edition of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
As president, I worked actively with African leaders and the British to change the apartheid regime of Rhodesia into a democratic Zimbabwe in 1980. Eight years later, The Carter Center established one of our first agriculture projects in Zimbabwe, at that time known as a breadbasket for the region and setting an example in economic stability, education and health care.

Dec. 2, 2008
Commentary: U.S. Must Lead World on Human Rights
This op-ed by Jimmy Carter was published on CNN.com on Dec. 2, 2008.
It has been heartening to witness the outpouring of worldwide enthusiasm over the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States, a transformational moment for our country.

Sept. 19, 2008
Mental Health Legislation We Need
This letter was originally published in the Washington Post.
The Sept. 8 news story "Kennedy Plans a January Return," regarding Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), mentioned an effort to pass legislation granting parity in insurance coverage for those suffering from mental illnesses.

Sept. 11, 2008
Op-ed by Jimmy Carter: India Nuclear Deal Puts World at Risk
This op-ed was published in the Sept. 11, 2008 edition of the International Herald Tribune.
Knowing since 1974 of India's nuclear ambitions, other American presidents and I have maintained a consistent global policy: no sales of nuclear technology or uncontrolled fuel to any country that refuses to sign the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT. To imbed this concept as official national policy, I worked closely with bipartisan leaders in the U.S. Congress to pass the Non-Proliferation Act of 1978.

July 10, 2008
A Leap in Mental Care for Children
This op-ed by Rosalynn Carter was published in the July 10, 2008 edition of the Boston Globe. In the 31 years since I chaired the first presidential commission on mental health, medical science has made significant strides in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental illnesses. Living in recovery from a mental illness is now not only possible, but expected. Even children and adolescents diagnosed with mental disorders go on to lead healthy, productive lives.

May 8, 2008
A Human Rights Crime in Gaza
This column by Jimmy Carter was distributed for publication by Project Syndicate.
The world is witnessing a terrible human rights crime in Gaza, where a million and a half human beings are being imprisoned with almost no access to the outside world by sea, air or land. An entire population is being brutally punished.

April 28, 2008
Pariah Diplomacy
Column by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, published in the April 28, 2008, edition of The New York Times.
A counterproductive Washington policy in recent years has been to boycott and punish political factions or governments that refuse to accept United States mandates. This policy makes difficult the possibility that such leaders might moderate their policies.

March 31, 2008
A Village Woman's Legacy (PDF)
This article was published in the Mar. 31, 2008 edition of TIME magazine.
An encounter with the victim of an old scourge gave a former President a new worldview—and a mission.

March 27, 2008
Remarks by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: 2008 Skoll World Forum
Videotaped remarks delivered by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during the Skoll Awards Ceremony, held during the 2008 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School .

Feb. 3, 2008
A Clearer Picture on Voter ID
This Jimmy Carter and James Baker III op-ed was published in the Feb. 3, 2008, edition of The New York Times.
This is a major election year. Unfortunately, our two major political parties — Democratic and Republican — continue to disagree on some of the rules that apply to the administration of our elections.

Jan. 30, 2008
"Unity, After 160 Years" -- Address by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to the New Baptist Covenant Meeting, Atlanta, Ga.
Good evening; I come representing Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, and speak to you tonight as a Sunday School teacher, a deacon - and it seems my preeminent credential is the husband of the world's most famous deacon.

Jan. 7, 2008
Addressing the Caregiving Crisis
This Rosalynn Carter op-ed was published in the January 2008 issue of Preventing Chronic Disease.
This issue of Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) focuses on a set of concerns that is likely to challenge the public's creative spirit and resourcefulness for the next 30 years. Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health. What we are beginning to see is that success in any one of these areas raises new challenges and presents new problems for us to solve in the other areas.

Dec. 10, 2007
Subsidies' Harvest Of Misery: Jimmy Carter Washington Post Op-Ed
Congress can still act decisively this year to right a wrong that is hurting both small American farmers and the poorest people on the planet. A long-overdue debate is taking place on reform of the 1933 farm bill, passed during the Great Depression to alleviate the suffering of America's family farmers.

Dec. 10, 2007
Venezuela Reins in, Doesn't Reject, Hugo Chávez
This Jennifer McCoy op-ed was published in the Dec. 10, 2007, edition of Newsday.
Voters in Venezuela have sent a clear message to their president: Slow down.

Dec. 7, 2007
Jimmy Carter: Rule of Law and Social Harmony in China
Speech by Jimmy Carter to the China University of Political Science and Law.
Thank you for your introduction, Professor Zhu Yong. It is a great pleasure to be speaking at the largest law school in the world. When President Xu Xianming visited me in April this year, he told me there were 17,000 law students at your university, and I understand that since its founding in 1952, it has graduated over 100,000 students.

Dec. 2, 2007
Creative Thinking Could Resolve ANC's Dilemma
This John Stremlau op-ed was published in the Dec. 2, 2007, edition of The Times (South Africa)
John Stremlau says Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma should consider putting the party - and the nation - ahead of their personal ambition.

Nov. 23, 2007
Address by Former U.S. President and Carter Center Co-Founder Jimmy Carter to Nepal's Parliament
Remarks by Jimmy Carter to Nepal's Parliament to encourage the peace process and progress toward holding constituent assembly elections.

Oct. 26, 2007
A Green Revolution for Africa
This Norman E. Borlaug op-ed was published in the October 26, 2007, edition of The Wall Street Journal.
The so-called Green Revolution of Asia, which began in the 1960s and continued through the 1980s, spurred the greatest expansion of food production in world history. Global wheat and rice production doubled, and continued to grow.

Sept. 26, 2007
Jimmy Carter Receives First Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award
This lecture was delivered by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during the awards ceremony at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. Sept. 26, 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of Albert Schweitzer's call for an end to nuclear weapons.

Sept. 12, 2007
Jimmy Carter Op-ed: Nuclear Steps Undermine Peace
By abandoning many of the nuclear arms agreements negotiated in the last 50 years, the United States has been sending mixed signals to North Korea, Iran, and other states with the technical knowledge to create nuclear weapons.

Aug. 3, 2007
Jimmy Carter: America Is Robbing Developing Nations Of Health Workers
The July 31 USA Today Forum article "U.S. savior: Foreign doctors" is very interesting but presents only one side of a tragic and selfish trend: the active recruitment of extremely scarce health workers from the poorer countries of the world. This is a crisis that The Carter Center faces every day in fighting malaria, lymphatic filariasis, Guinea worm, trachoma, river blindness, and schistosomiasis.

July 18, 2007
Rosalynn Carter and Betty Ford Op-ed: Pass the Wellstone Act; Mental-health Parity Needed
This op-ed was published in the July 18, 2007, edition of The Washington Times.
If you were diagnosed with a brain tumor, would you seek treatment or would you ignore it and hope it goes away? Would your answer differ according to whether your health insurance covered treatment? A diagnosis such as a brain tumor, or Parkinson's disease, is a serious matter. Just as serious are the diagnoses of mental illnesses and addictions. But depending on the location of the illness in your body, the decision to seek treatment may be harder to make.

July 18, 2007
Continuing the Green Revolution: Wall Street Journal Op-Ed
Early crossbreeding experiments to select desirable characteristics took years to reach the desired developmental state of a plant or animal. Today, with the tools of biotechnology, such as molecular and marker-assisted selection, the ends are reached in a more organized and accelerated way. The result has been the advent of a "Gene" Revolution that stands to equal, if not exceed, the Green Revolution of the 20th century.

July 10, 2007
Rosalynn Carter's Testimony: Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Education Equity Act, House Education and Labor Committee, Subcommittee on Health
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you regarding legislation that will profoundly impact the lives of so many Americans.

June 21, 2007
Peace with Justice in the Middle East
Remarks by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Center at the Mansfield College, Oxford, "Hands Lecture" on June 21, 2007.

June 19, 2007
Human Rights Speech
Remarks by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, delivered June 19, 2007, in Dublin, Ireland.

April 12, 2007
Mental Health System Needs Legislature's Boost
A Hidden Shame, the continuing series in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is chronicling inhumane neglect, abuse and death in Georgia's state mental hospitals. Unfortunately, these very real problems in the state hospital system are just the tip of the iceberg.

April 06, 2007
A Viable Mideast Peace Plan
This letter, written by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, was published in the April 6, 2007, issue of the International Herald-Tribune.

Jan. 23, 2007
Remarks by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at Brandeis University
This is a transcript of remarks delivered by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., on Jan. 23, 2007.

Jan. 18, 2007
A New Chance for Peace?
Washington Post op-ed.
I am concerned that public discussion of my book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid" has been diverted from the book's basic proposals: that peace talks be resumed after six years of delay and that the tragic persecution of Palestinians be ended.

Jan. 10, 2007
Jimmy Carter: Let's Bridge the Rich-Poor Gap
From MSNBC. Essay originally published in "Grand Challenges for Engineering," section, National Academy of Engineering Web site.

Jan. 3,2007
Remarks of Former President Jimmy Carter During Funeral Service for Gerald R. Ford
Transcript of President Carter's remarks, delivered at Grace Episcopal Church, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Dec. 8, 2006
How I See Palestine
This op-ed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was published in the Dec. 8, 2006, issue of the Los Angeles Times.
I signed a contract with Simon & Schuster two years ago to write a book about the Middle East, based on my personal observations as the Carter Center monitored three elections in Palestine and on my consultations with Israeli political leaders and peace activists.

Oct. 11, 2006
Solving the Korean Stalemate, One Step at a Time: New York Times Op-Ed
In 1994 the North Koreans expelled inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency and were threatening to process spent nuclear fuel into plutonium, giving them the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

Sept. 7, 2006
Keep Close Tabs on Congo; U.N. Force Can Advance Cause of Democracy (PDF)
This John Stremlau op-ed was published in the Sept. 7, 2006, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Satisfaction among Carter Center staff and other observers of the Democratic Republic of Congo's surprisingly successful July 30 elections soured when results were released and rival armies loyal to the two leading presidential candidates clashed, killing 23. Such lawlessness risks derailing the most challenging, comprehensive, complex and costly United Nations intervention ever attempted to support a democratic transition.

Aug. 1, 2006
Washington Post Op-ed on Middle East by Jimmy Carter
The Middle East is a tinderbox, with some key players on all sides waiting for every opportunity to destroy their enemies with bullets, bombs and missiles. One of the special vulnerabilities of Israel, and a repetitive cause of violence, is the holding of prisoners. Militant Palestinians and Lebanese know that a captured Israeli soldier or civilian is either a cause of conflict or a valuable bargaining chip for prisoner exchange. This assumption is based on a number of such trades, including 1,150 Arabs, mostly Palestinians, for three Israeli soldiers in 1985; 123 Lebanese for the remains of two Israeli soldiers in 1996; and 433 Palestinians and others for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three soldiers in 2004.

July 3, 2006
We Need Fewer Secrets: Jimmy Carter Washington Post Op-ed
The U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) turns 40 tomorrow, the day we celebrate our independence. But this anniversary will not be a day of celebration for the right to information in our country. Our government leaders have become increasingly obsessed with secrecy. Obstructionist policies and deficient practices have ensured that many important public documents and official actions remain hidden from our view. En español: En la democracia no se puede gobernar en secreto

May 25, 2006
Rosalynn Carter Op-ed: Erasing Stigma Key to Mental Treatment
This op-ed was published in the May 26, 2006, edition of the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News.

May 23, 2006
Opening Remarks by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to the 2006 Human Rights Defenders Policy Forum
President Carter's opening address to the human rights policy forum.

May 22, 2006
Equal Time: Health Bill Plays Russian Roulette, Thom Bornemann Op-ed
Forty million Americans do not have health coverage. Some analysts are quick to suggest that "basic health coverage" is the answer. That prescription, however, risks spreading a "virus" that now infects most commercial health coverage in this country and lurks in the fine print of most employer-provided health plans: singling out mental health care for rigid coverage limits.

May 21, 2006
Jimmy Carter Op-ed: Employers in Quandary over Immigration Bill
This op-ed was published in the May 21, 2006, edition of The Miami Herald. It was also published in The San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

May 16, 2006
Jimmy Carter Writes on Middle East for USA Today
This op-ed was published in the May 16, 2006, issue of USA Today.

May 7, 2006
Jimmy Carter: Punishing Innocent Palestinians is a Crime
This article was published in the May 7, 2006, issue of the International Herald Tribune. Innocent Palestinian people are being treated like animals, with the presumption that they are guilty of some crime. Because they voted for candidates who are members of Hamas, the United States government has become the driving force behind an apparently effective scheme of depriving the general public of income, access to the outside world and the necessities of life.

March 29, 2006
Washington Post Op-ed by Jimmy Carter: A Dangerous Deal with India
During the past five years the United States has abandoned many of the nuclear arms control agreements negotiated since the administration of Dwight Eisenhower. This change in policies has sent uncertain signals to other countries, including North Korea and Iran, and may encourage technologically capable nations to choose the nuclear option. The proposed nuclear deal with India is just one more step in opening a Pandora's box of nuclear proliferation.

March 13, 2006
Jimmy Carter Op-ed: Colonization of Palestine Precludes Peace
For more than a quarter century, Israeli policy has been in conflict with that of the United States and the international community. Israel's occupation of Palestine has obstructed a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land, regardless of whether Palestinians had no formalised government, one headed by Yasser Arafat or Mahmoud Abbas, or with Abbas as president and Hamas controlling the parliament and cabinet.

March 5, 2006
New York Times Op-ed: Principles Defeat Politics at the U.N.
In the global struggle for the advancement of human rights, the United Nations has reached a defining moment. The president of the General Assembly, Jan Eliasson of Sweden, has led five months of negotiations to develop a proposal to reform the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

March 2, 2006
Jimmy Carter on Middle East Peace: Council on Foreign Relations Speech Calls for Renewed Commitment to Justice for Palestinians, Israelis
This speech was delivered by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on March 2, 2006, to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Feb. 20, 2006
Jimmy Carter Washington Post Op-ed: Don't Punish the Palestinians
As the results of the recent Palestinian elections are implemented, it's important to understand how the transition process works and also how important to it are actions by Israel and the United States.

Feb. 10, 2006
Remarks by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the Coretta Scott King Funeral
These remarks were made by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during the funeral service for Coretta Scott King, held Feb. 7, 2006, at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.

Jan. 23, 2006
Remarks on Middle East Peace By Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter
Delivered on Jan. 23, 2006, at the Herzliya Conference, Israel

Jan. 16, 2006
San Francisco Chronicle Op-ed: Human Rights Commission Must Change
Negotiations are now under way to reform the United Nations' principal human-rights body. The Commission on Human Rights was established 60 years ago next month as the United Nations' main vehicle for exposing human-rights problems throughout the world. The commission has accomplished a great deal by setting standards for measuring human-rights practices of governments, but the body lately has become a target of ridicule, some of it justified.

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