[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 66 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5349]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER ON THE NAMING OF THE U.S.S. JIMMY 
                            CARTER SUBMARINE

 Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate 
former President Jimmy Carter on the naming of the Navy's third and 
final Seawolf-class submarine, the U.S.S. Jimmy Carter.
  After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946, President 
Carter fulfilled a dream from his childhood in southwest Georgia by 
serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. As a submariner, he 
was selected by the late Adm. Hyman Rickover to help in the development 
of the fledgling U.S. nuclear submarine program, a program which has 
realized its full potential in the Seawolf-class attack submarines.
  I had the privilege of attending the naming ceremony at the Pentagon 
on April 27 with President and Mrs. Rosalynn Carter. Navy Secretary 
John H. Dalton praised the U.S.S. Jimmy Carter as a bridge to the next 
generation of attack submarines. The newest Seawolf vessel, named after 
the only President to serve on a submarine, is currently being built 
and is due to join the U.S. fleet in December 2001.
  I ask my colleagues in the Senate today to join me in saluting and 
congratulating President Carter on his years of service in this 
Nation's Navy, and later as Governor of my home State of Georgia and 
President of the United States. President Carter is respected by all 
Americans for his efforts on behalf of our country both during and 
after he held office. The naming of the U.S.S. Jimmy Carter is a 
wonderful tribute to honor a great American in a manner befitting his 
outstanding service to this nation.

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