Numbers & Notables
Since January 2006

Dear Friends:

Critical to U.S. economic and national security is taking significant steps to decrease our dependence on foreign oil. My work continues to focus on what steps we might take to accelerate the development of new, homegrown sources of energy and become more efficient consumers of energy.

I recently visited the White House with a bipartisan group of Senators to discuss energy issues with President Bush. As the president expressed in his State of the Union speech, we must continue to expand our research and development efforts into vehicle and fuel technologies that will be available in the near term. By doing this we will help safeguard our national security, improve American competitiveness and protect our environment.

This Spring issue of the Lugar letter highlights my recent call for Indiana to be at the forefront of addressing energy independence. The U.S. auto industry must transform itself, and Indiana can and should play role in the re-invention of the American-made car. Hoosiers have always been great builders and practical innovators and together with cutting edge research at Indiana universities, I believe Indiana has the critical mass of large and small companies, innovative entrepreneurs and automotive venture capital to lead a new auto tech boom.

As always, I appreciate you following my activities, and I look forward to staying closely in touch.

Sincerely,

Richard G. Lugar United States Senator

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pursuant to Senate policy, newsletters, petitions, opinion polls and issue alerts and other electronic communications cannot be initiated by this office for the 60 day period immediately before the date of a primary or general election. The next newsletter you will receive will be the Summer edition planned for June 1.

Lugar Calls for Hoosier Leadership in Addressing Energy Crisis

Throughout 2006, Senator Lugar will continue to focus on what steps we might take to accelerate the development of new, homegrown sources of energy and become more efficient consumers of energy.

In a recent op-ed published in The Indianapolis Star, Lugar called for Hoosier leadership in energy innovation and for Indiana to become the “Silicon Valley” for the automobile of the future.

“Clearly, we need breakthrough ideas to bring about truly dramatic increases in fuel economy and to end our over-reliance on foreign fuel. Where will these ideas come from? Why not Indiana as the great car and advanced car component innovator? I propose Indiana as the “Silicon Valley” for the automobile of the future,” wrote Lugar.

“Silicon Valley” in California had a critical mass of companies, spin-offs and venture capitalists to become the heart of the computer boom. I believe Indiana has the critical mass of large and small companies, innovative entrepreneurs, and automotive venture capital to lead a new auto tech boom. Indiana’s high-tech jobs of the future may be designing and building the world’s most efficient automobiles.”

“I believe that Indiana, the Crossroads of America, has the potential to break away and lead the pack,” Lugar concluded.

Lugar has continued to address Indiana’s role in energy independence when visiting with Hoosiers. He recently spoke to students, faculty and other guests at Marian College about what President Bush in his State of the Union address called America's addiction to oil and how fixing the situation starts in Indiana.

"When the President took this up in the State of the Union, many people were surprised when he talked about addiction to foreign oil and energy independence. But I've met with him and he's very serious, and so am I," Lugar said in his speech.

Lugar and Congressman Pete Visclosky (D-1st CD) also have endorsed Indiana House Bill 1379 to facilitate the use of more renewable energy resources to generate electricity in Indiana. House Bill 1379 was introduced by Rep. Don Lehe (R-Brookston).

In the U.S. Senate, Lugar introduced a bill that would require all U.S. marketed vehicles to be manufactured as Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) within ten years. FFVs can use both regular gasoline and E-85 renewable fuel (motor fuel with 85 percent ethanol content). Lugar is also an original cosponsor the Vehicle and Fuel Choice for American Security Act.

The renewable fuels section of the energy bill that passed the Congress in July 2005 was based largely on the Fuels Security Act that Lugar introduced. This provision will double production and use of domestic renewable fuels including ethanol, biodiesel and fuels produced from cellulosic biomass. The energy bill also included key portions of the National Security and Bioenergy Investment Act of 2005, which will rapidly expand research into biomass energy and biobased products and establish the production of the first one billion gallons of transportation fuel produced from cellulosic sources such as corn stover, switchgrass and wheat straw.

As former chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Lugar initiated a biofuels research program to help decrease U.S. dependency on foreign oil. In a time of relatively low fuel prices, he co-authored “The New Petroleum” in Foreign Affairs with former CIA Director James Woolsey extolling the need to accelerate the use of ethanol, especially that derived from cellulose. He authored and passed the Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000, which remains the nation’s premier legislation guiding renewable fuels research.

Lugar-Obama: New Initiatives in Cooperation Threat Reduction

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Dick Lugar chaired a hearing on “New Initiatives in Cooperative Threat Reduction” on Thursday, February 9, 2006. The Honorable Robert Joseph, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, testified at the hearing that discussed the Lugar-Obama bill.

Introduced on November 1, 2005, by Sens. Lugar and Barack Obama (D-IL), Lugar-Obama is comprehensive legislation that would expand the cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons. It is patterned after the Nunn-Lugar program that focuses on weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union and would expand the detection and interdiction of weapons and materials of mass destruction.

Below are excepts from Lugar’s opening statement at the Feb. 9th hearing:

“Senator Obama and I observed first hand U.S. efforts in both of these areas during visits to Ukraine and Azerbaijan last August. These visits and our subsequent joint research convinced us that the United States can and should do more in both of these areas. On November 1, 2005, we introduced S. 1949, the “Cooperative Proliferation Detection and Interdiction Assistance and Conventional Threat Reduction Act.” Modeled after the Nunn-Lugar program, our new legislation seeks to build cooperative relationships with willing countries to secure vulnerable stockpiles of conventional weapons and to strengthen the ability of other nations to detect and interdict illicit shipments of weapons or materials of mass destruction.

“The Nunn-Lugar program must, and will, remain our flagship nonproliferation program. The elimination of threats at their source is the most effective means of preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. But the United States has the ability to perform multiple missions in response to proliferation threats. Focusing more attention on the threats posed by conventional weapons and improving the capabilities of other nations to interdict weapons of mass destruction can be achieved without negative consequences for the Nunn-Lugar program. The lessons learned from the Nunn-Lugar experience should be applied to other fronts in the fight against terrorism and weapons proliferation. To do less would be irresponsible and would forfeit critical national security opportunities.

“The first part of our legislation would energize the U.S. program against unsecured lightweight anti-aircraft missiles and other conventional weapons. There may be as many as 750,000 man-portable air defense systems in arsenals worldwide. The State Department estimates that more than 40 civilian aircraft have been hit by such weapons since the 1970s. In addition, loose stocks of small arms and other weapons help fuel civil wars in Africa and elsewhere and provide the means for attacks on peacekeepers and aid workers seeking to stabilize war-torn societies. In Iraq, we have seen how unsecured stockpiles of artillery shells and ammunition have been reconfigured into improvised explosive devices that have become the insurgents’ most effective weapon. Senator Obama and I are attempting to ensure that everything possible is being done to secure such stockpiles worldwide.

“American efforts to safeguard conventional stockpiles are under-funded, fragmented, and in need of high-level support. The U.S. government’s current response is spread between several programs at the Department of State. The planning, coordination, and implementation of this function should be consolidated into one office at the State Department with a budget that is commensurate with the threat posed by these weapons.

“The second part of the Lugar-Obama legislation would strengthen the ability of America’s friends and allies to detect and intercept illegal shipments of weapons and materials of mass destruction. American forces cannot be everywhere at once. Our security depends not just on the willingness of other nations to help; it depends on whether they have the capabilities to be effective. The State Department engages in several related anti-terrorism and export control assistance programs. But these programs are focused on other stages of the threat, not on detection and interdiction. Thus, we believe there is a gap in our defenses that needs to be filled.

“The legislation would create a new office at the State Department to support and coordinate U.S. assistance in this area. Existing foreign assistance law contains discretionary authority for the Secretary of State to establish a list of countries that should be given priority in U.S. counter-proliferation funding. It is our view that these efforts have been insufficient. As a result, we believe that such a program should be mandatory.

“The Lugar-Obama bill sets aside $110 million to start up the program and proposes an innovative use of current foreign military financing assistance. Under the bill, the President would ensure that countries receiving foreign military financing would use 25 percent of these funds on WMD interdiction and detection capabilities, unless he determines that U.S. national security interests are not served by doing so. This offers a potent but flexible tool to build a robust international network to stop proliferation.

“Historically, however, new threat reduction techniques and proposals have not always been warmly received by the executive branch. I remember well the initial executive branch reaction to the introduction of the Nunn-Lugar Program in 1991. Senator Sam Nunn and I were told by the Administration that the United States was already doing everything necessary to address the problems posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the collapse of the Soviet Union. We were astounded by this response, because other sources, including Russian military leaders themselves, were describing rampant difficulties with the security around weapons of mass destruction. They voiced their fears of an emerging black-market in WMD fueled by economic desperation and collapsing governmental authority. Only months later, after Defense Department officials were on the ground in Russia witnessing the problem, did the Administration begin to recognize the urgency of the situation.

On January, 26, 2006, Senator Lugar attending the opening of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) at Ft. Belvoir. DTRA is the main channel through which the Nunn-Lugar program is implemented, reducing the proliferation threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in the former Soviet Union and beyond.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Lugar Cosponsors Bill to Spur America’s Competitiveness in Science and Technology

Senator Lugar is an original cosponsor of the Protecting America’s Competitive Edge (PACE) Act, which was introduced January 26 in the Senate by Sens. Pete Dominici (R-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). The PACE Act is a package of three bills in response to a October 2005 report issued by the National Academies of Science and Engineering and the Institute of Medicine entitled “Rising Above the Gathering Storm.”

"China and India alone graduate 6.4 million from college each year and over 950,000 engineers. The United States turns out 1.3 million college graduates and 70,000 engineers. We live in a global society, and by encouraging math and science education and research opportunities, we are also insuring U.S. innovation and international competitiveness,” said Lugar.

"This legislation is very important to the future of our country. It is critical in framing the issue, whether for business leaders, students, parents, or teachers, that we are engaged in a competition for our prosperity, our jobs, and our future.

"One of the questions we must ask is how do you offer incentives so that young Americans choose to study math and the sciences? Likewise, who will teach these fields? These are individual choices of careers, but they are decisions essential to the basic issue of America's competitiveness in the world," added Lugar.

The PACE Act seeks to increase U.S. competitiveness through (1) investing in energy research and in educating future American scientists, (2) investing in current and future math and science teachers and K-12 students, attracting bright international students, and investing in non-energy related basic research, and (3) doubling the research and development tax credit and allowing a credit for employee education.

Iran Resolution Approved by Senate

On January 27, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution condemning the government of Iran for violating its international nuclear nonproliferation obligations and expressing support for efforts to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 78 was drafted by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Dick Lugar, introduced by Sen. Bill Frist and cosponsored by more than 20 senators.

The resolution states that Congress:

• condemns the many failures of the Government of Iran to comply faithfully with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, including its obligations under the Safeguards Agreement (as reported by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Administration to the IAEA Board of Governors since 2003), its suspension commitments under the Paris Agreement, and prior commitments to the EU-3 to suspend all enrichment- and reprocessing-related activities;
• commends the efforts of the Governments of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to seek a meaningful and credible suspension of Iran’s enrichment- and reprocessing-related activities and to find a diplomatic means to address the non-compliance of the Government of Iran with its obligations, requirements, and commitments related to nuclear non-proliferation;
• strongly urges the IAEA Board of Governors, at its special meeting on February 2, 2006, to order that Iran’s noncompliance with its safeguards obligations be reported to the United Nations Security Council; and
• calls on all members of the United Nations Security Council, in particular the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, to act expeditiously to consider any report of Iran’s noncompliance in fulfillment of the mandate of the Security Council to respond to and deal with situations bearing on the maintenance of international peace and security.