Dear Friends:

As students return to school in September, Congress also returns to its duty from the August recess.  I am back in Washington after the adventure and excitement of travels to Indiana and Russia, many of which are highlighted in this edition of The Lugar Letter.

I shared wonderful visits in Muncie at Ball State University’s campus where gifted faculty and staff briefed us about the principles of architecture in “green buildings” and the energy savings and efficiencies which can be realized by individual home owners.   I had the opportunity to tour the tremendously exciting new Letterman Building which exemplifies standards for energy and water efficiency, sustainable materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovative design processes.

In addition, I visited with teachers and staff of Decatur Township schools who are making significant breakthroughs in education in Indiana.  Following the visit, I ate lunch with participants of the Summer Food Service Program, which provides meals to low-income children when school is not in session, at Stephen Decatur Elementary School. 

I also traveled to Russia with my friend, former Senator Sam Nunn, to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Nunn-Lugar program, which dismantles and secures the Soviet Union’s Cold War-era nuclear arsenal.  A special section of this Lugar Letter includes the trip report from our travels and highlights of the achievements of the Nunn-Lugar program since 1991.  As Senator Nunn and I wrote in an editorial published in The Wall Street Journal in August, “The former Soviet Union was the starting point for this program, but it must not be the endpoint. Terrorists seeking nuclear weapons or weapons material will not necessarily go to where there is the most material, but where the material is most vulnerable.  We must expand and extend the Nunn-Lugar concept to help secure and eliminate dangerous weapons and materials wherever they are in the world.”

Thank you, as always, for your support and your interest in my work.  I wish you and your family every continuing success. 

Sincerely,

Richard G. Lugar United States Senator

The Lugar Trip Report

In August 2007, Senator Lugar and former Senator Nunn traveled to Russia to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Nunn-Lugar program.

Read the Nunn-Lugar program 15th anniversary trip report