Later, when Bob Hope came to visit us, he made a wisecrack about being a Republican and I announced that he would be moving from the Lincoln Bedroom … - Jimmy Carter

The unchanging principles of life predate modern times. I worship Jesus Christ, whom we Christians consider to be the Prince of Peace. As a Jew, he taught us to cross religious boundaries, in service and in love. He repeatedly reached out and embraced Roman conquerors, other Gentiles, and even the more despised Samaritans. Despite theological differences, all great religions share common commitments that define our ideal secular relationships. I am convinced that Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, and others can embrace each other in a common effort to alleviate human suffering and to espouse peace. But the present era is a challenging and disturbing time for those whose lives are shaped by religious faith based on kindness toward each other. We have been reminded that cruel and inhuman acts can be derived from distorted theological beliefs, as suicide bombers take the lives of innocent human beings, draped falsely in the cloak of God's will. With horrible brutality, neighbors have massacred neighbors in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In order for us human beings to commit ourselves personally to the inhumanity of war, we find it necessary first to dehumanize our opponents, which is in itself a violation of the beliefs of all religions. Once we characterize our adversaries as beyond the scope of God's mercy and grace, their lives lose all value. We deny personal responsibility when we plant landmines and, days or years later, a stranger to us — often a child – is crippled or killed. From a great distance, we launch bombs or missiles with almost total impunity, and never want to know the number or identity of the victims.

I'd like to say just a couple of other things, though, that relate, some directly, to you and to women who look to you for leadership which are kind of tied in with the other responsibilities that I have as President. I spent this afternoon receiving reports from Secretary of State Cy Vance on his discussions with the Soviet leaders concerning the control, the strict limitation, and the drastic reduction in nuclear weapons. This is a subject that hasn't been raised in a forceful way before. Previously, we have talked and the Soviets have talked about ultimate limits well above where we presently have stood. Now we are talking about an end to the development, the design, the deployment of new weapons systems; a drastic reduction in intercontinental ballistics missiles we have now; a comprehensive test ban, both military weapon testing and peaceful nuclear device testing; a demilitarization of the Indian Ocean; a strict limitation on the proliferation of nuclear weapon capability to other countries; a strict limitation and reduction in conventional weapon capability; a mutual effort on the part of us, the Soviet Union, France, Germany on sales of conventional weapons to other nations. We're trying to do all these things. We need your help. And they are crucial to every person and, particularly, to a group as well organized and as forceful as you are. We're also hopeful that in the future we can have success in our effort to identify abuses and to correct the abuses and to set a new standard in the preservation of human rights throughout the world. I don't intend to yield on this position, because I think it represents what our Nation is and what the world ought to be. Your forceful voices in constantly espousing the cause of human rights would help me a great deal and help the Members of Congress and help other leaders of our Nation to establish a corps of moral commitment that can restore the legitimate pride in our country, to the extent that is has been diminished, and reestablish the United States of America as the rallying point for human rights around the world. We've not enjoyed that position in recent years. But I'm determined that once again, we'll be a beacon light for those who believe in human rights all over the globe. And you can help me with it if you will.

In the meantime, a very important and necessary step has been taken and that is in the administration's proposed reform for the Food Stamp Program to limit the level of assistance based on income and to cash out the Food Stamp Program, or rather to eliminate the mandatory payment for food stamps. We hope the Congress will go ahead with this without delay. Some of the problems that have been apparent for many years are described on these charts on my left. The widely varying Federal contributions to welfare recipients around the Nation are illustrated very vividly here. There's a factor of 500 percent or more between the lowest payments in some of the States colored in green compared to the highest payments in the yellow colored States with dots on them. I don't know if you can read it from there, but the States with the yellow and black dots 'have an average Federal contribution of $1,125 to $1,688. The orange colored States have an average Federal contribution of $860 to $1,125. The blue cross-hatched States, $575 to $860; and the green States from $283 to $575.