Dear Friends: I appreciate you taking time to read about my ongoing work in the United States Senate. The featured article in this month’s Lugar Letter highlights legislation I recently introduced to address hunger in the U.S. The Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Extension Act and the Lugar Pilots expansion bill would encourage donations to food banks and provide nutritious meals for children. I enjoyed opportunities in the past weeks to discuss both bills with Jane Avery, Executive Director of the Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, Inc., Nick Dalton, the Executive Director of Indiana’s state food bank association, FIsH (Feeding Indiana’s Hungry), and representatives of the Indiana Nutrition Association. These meetings and an Agriculture committee hearing to discuss federal child nutrition programs have underscored the importance of our legislative efforts as well as the critical leadership that these Hoosiers provide to address hunger in Indiana. Opportunities also continue to present themselves to address our nation’s dependence on oil. Our efforts to promote alternative fuels and reduce dependence on oil at home will have maximum benefit through vigorous partnership abroad. I am especially excited by the President Bush’s meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the unprecedented chance to join in a strategic hemispheric partnership that would at once tackle two of the hemisphere's biggest challenges: energy insecurity and poverty. On a related front, I recently introduced a bill with Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden which seeks a flexible approach to the overdue need to reform fuel economy standards. Thank you, as always, for your interest in my work. Sincerely,
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