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WASHINGTON — Today, Speaker Johnson joined the Carter Family, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and millions of Americans across the country in honoring the life and legacy of America’s 39^th President, Jimmy Carter. President Carter is only the 35^th American leader to lie in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and the 13^thPresident to do so.

Eulogizing President Carter at his state funeral today, Speaker Johnson said, “President Carter’s life, his selfless service, his fight against cancer, and his lasting contributions to his fellow man are all truly remarkable.” 

Watch Speaker Johnson’s remarks here

Below is Speaker Johnson’s eulogy as delivered:

To the family, to Jack and Chip and Jeff and Amy, the entire Carter family, Vice President Harris, members of the Cabinet, Leader Thune, my colleagues in Congress and my fellow citizens. We meet in this sacred hall of self-government to honor an extraordinary man, a man who modeled the virtues of service and citizenship as well as any other American.

Surrounding us are the statues of those who gave their time, their energy, and their lives for the good of America. Before us, lays a man who now joins their midst, as a patriot, a veteran, a humanitarian, and the 39th president of the United States. 

When Jimmy Carter walked out on the east front of the Capitol and took his oath of office, I was just four years old. He's the first president that I remember. Looking back, it's obvious now to me as an adult why he captured everyone's attention.

Jimmy Carter was a member of the greatest generation. He lived through the Great Depression and he did that on a farm in rural Georgia. He knew the value of a dollar and he modeled thrift his entire life. As long as he was in office, he hated government waste. 

His father, an army veteran of the World War I era, taught patriotism to his children and eventually his son, this young man from Plains followed his father's example of self-sacrifice and he joined the Naval Academy in the middle of World War II. 

In the Navy, Lieutenant Carter learned from the legendary Admiral Rickover to always do his best as he served on the first fleet of nuclear submarines. It's telling that today the USS Jimmy Carter, a top-secret attack submarine, now roams the oceans bearing the name of the only President who served in such close quarters.

President Carter's life, his selfless service, his fight against cancer, and his lasting contributions to his fellow man are all truly remarkable. Whether he was in the White House or in his post presidential years as was discussed, President Carter was willing to roll up his own sleeves to serve and get the job done. 

We all know about his work with Habitat for Humanity, and the origin story goes that it was 1984 when he first became aware of the work, he was in New York for a friend's anniversary. Millard Fuller, the founder of the fledgling charity at the time, called President Carter and asked if he wanted to visit a site in Brooklyn during his trip.

President Carter agreed, and he found his way down to the Lower East Side. Standing on the roof of a dilapidated building, he looked out on the wealth of Wall Street to the south and to the power of Midtown Manhattan to the north. 

And then he looked down and he saw an image he'd never forget, an elderly woman cooking breakfast over an open fire in the rubble of the building there in the heart of the richest city in the world.  

The Habitat for Humanity worker that was there with him turned to President Carter and said, if there's anything that you can do, we would take it. He said, if there's anything I can do, let me know. The worker said, well, maybe you can send some volunteer carpenters from your church. 

It was the very next day that President Carter called Habitat for Humanity and told them he was going to send some carpenters all right, and that he himself would be one of them. And thus began his famous tradition of donating one week every year to build and restore homes for his fellow Americans.

It's remarkable to think that one of the 45 men who has served as President and one of the only 13 who held the role in nuclear age, would humble himself to such service. We all know that his care for humanity didn't stop at building homes. 

In the face of illness, President Jimmy Carter brought lifesaving medicine. In the face of conflict, he brokered peace. In the face of discrimination, he reminded us that we are all made in the image of God. And if you were to ask him why he did it all, he would likely point to his faith.

I'm reminded of his admonition to live our lives as though Christ were coming this afternoon, and of his amazing personal reflection: “If I have one life and one chance, to make it count for something,” We all agree that he certainly did. 

So today in these hallowed halls of our republic, we honor President Carter, his family, and his enduring legacy that he leaves. Not only upon this nation, but upon the world.

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