2,587 Hoosiers toured the U.S. Capitol Building with members of Senator Lugar’s staff from March through May.

Reached the milestone of casting his 11,000th roll call vote.

Attended the Hoosier Fund for Excellence banquet in Indianapolis and awarded two $20,000 and eight $4,000 scholarships to minority Hoosier students.

Gave the commencement address at St. Joseph’s College.

Met with the “Thump Squad,” a group of students from Glenwood Middle School and Culver Elementary School in Evansville, and watched their performance in front of the Capitol Building.

Announced that the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $21,095,080 in grants to six Indiana communities.

Received the Spirit of Enterprise award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for support of pro-business issues during the first session of the 109th Congress.

Visited with 12 Hoosier fire chiefs who participated in the 18th Annual National Fire & Emergency Services Seminar and Dinner.

Received the 2006 Distinguished Community Health Superhero award from the Indiana Primary Health Care Association.

Met with 28 Hoosier delegates to the 3rd Annual U.S. Senate African American Leadership Summit.

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Still #1 After 25 Years

U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar’s team finished first in the Senate division at the 25th Annual Capital Challenge 3-mile race to benefit Special Olympics. It was the 7th time Lugar’s team has won the Senate division.

Lugar is the only person to have run in all 25 races and was honored this year with the entry number 25. Race organizers presented him with a Wheaties Box picturing Lugar running the first race and running last year’s race. Lugar was captain and one of five runners on the team of senate staffers.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, Foreign Policy Magazine editor Moisés Naím and U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar participate in Curing the Oil Addiction:“Petropolitics” and the Threat to Global Security at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on May 15, 2006. Foreign Policy magazine sponsored the event. Read the transcript.

Energy Security Act

Introduced by Lugar in March, the Energy Security Act realigns our diplomatic priorities to meet energy security challenges. The bill calls upon the President to improve the focus and coordination of federal agency activities in international energy affairs. The bill also ensures that concern for energy security be integrated into the State Department’s core mission and activities, for which it creates a Coordinator for International Energy Affairs within the Office of the Secretary.

The Energy Security Act would stimulate regional partnerships in the Western Hemisphere from which most of our oil and virtually all of our gas imports come. The bill would create a Western Hemisphere Energy Forum modeled on the APEC energy-working group to provide a mechanism for hemispheric energy cooperation and consultation as well as promote private investment in the hemisphere.

American Fuels Act

Together with Senator Obama (D-IL), Lugar introduced the American Fuels Act, which takes a four-step approach to decreasing America’s dependence on foreign oil through the use of alternate fuel technologies. First, the legislation would spur investment in alternative fuels by increasing the production of ethanol. Second, it would help to increase consumer demand for alternative fuels by providing a short-term tax credit for E85 fuel and by providing automakers with a tax credit for every E85 Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) produced. Third, the bill requires the government to lead by example, allowing public access to alternative fueling stations located on federal government property and by requiring that only clean buses be eligible for federal cost sharing. Finally, the legislation would create a Director of Energy Security to oversee and keep America focused on its goal of energy independence.

Lugar said the bill “will help tilt our energy balance toward the alternative fuels, moving these fuels into additional markets and making them more widely available for consumers. We believe that U.S. national security will be served by a more robust coordination of all the elements that contribute to energy security. Consequently, the bill also would establish the post of Director of Energy Security, who would answer to the President. Our policies should be targeted to replace hydrocarbons with carbohydrates. Obviously this is not a short-term proposition, but we can off-set a significant portion of demand for oil by giving American consumers a real choice of automotive fuel. We must end oil’s near monopoly on the transportation sector, which accounts for 60 percent of American oil consumption.”

Additional Legislation

Lugar joined with Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Barack Obama (D-IL) in introducing the Fuel Security and Consumer Choice Act, S. 1994, that would require all U.S. marketed vehicles to be manufactured as FFVs within ten years. In addition, he is an original cosponsor of S. 2025, the Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security Act, introduced by Sen. Bayh. This bill would provide for changes in oil conservation, new measures to improve fuel economy, tax credits for hybrid cars and advanced fuels, encourage use of renewable fuels, and set new regulations for federal fleets.

Lugar also introduced a resolution that calls upon the United States to lead the discussion at NATO headquarters about the role the alliance could play in energy security. The resolution calls upon the President to submit to Congress a report that details "a strategy for NATO to develop secure, sustainable, and reliable sources of energy, including contingency plans if current energy resources are put at risk."

To further explore these issues, Lugar held two hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In his opening statement for the first hearing on the hidden cost of oil, Lugar stressed the importance of finding alternate sources of fuel, and said, “if we blithely ignore our dependence on foreign oil, we are inviting an economic and national security disaster.” He outlined major goals in the U.S. policy aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, including the need to mitigate the short-term costs of dependence on oil, while pursuing energy alternatives that would reduce the international leverage of pro-superpowers, improve environmental quality, cushion potential oil price shocks, stimulate new high-tech energy industries, and ground the American economy on energy sources.

At the second hearing in May, the Senator heard from witnesses on reducing oil dependency, concentrating on how the U.S. government can speed up the transition to alternative sustainable energy sources. Lugar emphasized the benefits of reducing oil use at home and increasing efficiency at the same time. He also stressed the need for bold international partnerships to blunt the ability of producer states to use energy as a weapon, to increase our own security of supply and to reduce the vulnerability of our economy to high oil prices.

Lugar-Obama Bill Heads to Senate Floor

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently passed out of committee S. 2566, the Lugar-Obama Act. Modeled after the Nunn-Lugar program that focuses on weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union, the bill was introduced by Lugar and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to expand the cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons and to expand the State Department’s ability to detect and interdict weapons and materials of mass destruction.

“We are convinced that the United States can and should do more to eliminate conventional weapons stockpiles and assist other nations in detecting and interdicting weapons of mass destruction. We believe that these functions are underfunded, fragmented and in need of high-level support,” said Lugar.

“The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is the number one national security threat that confronts the United States today. Under Senator Lugar’s leadership, the Nunn-Lugar program has safely disposed of literally thousands of weapons of mass destruction which, had they fallen into the wrong hands, could have been used against America with catastrophic results. The Lugar-Obama bill will build on this success by helping other nations find and eliminate conventional weapons that have been used against our own soldiers in Iraq and sought by terrorists all over the world,” said Obama.

“We are particularly concerned that our government has the capacity to deal quickly with vulnerable stockpiles of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, otherwise known as Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS). In recent years, concerns have grown that such weapons could be used by terrorists to attack commercial airliners, military installations, and government facilities here at home and abroad. Al Qaeda reportedly has attempted to acquire MANPADS on a number of occasions,” said Lugar.

The first part of the Lugar-Obama 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 (MANPADS) in arsenals worldwide, and 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, unsecured stockpiles of artillery shells and ammunition have been reconfigured into improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that have become the insurgents’ most effective weapon.

The second part of Lugar-Obama would strengthen the ability of America’s allies to detect and interdict illegal shipments of weapons and materials of mass destruction. U.S. 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, and create a gap in our defenses that needs to be filled.

The Lugar-Obama bill would increase by $25 million funding available for the elimination of conventional weapons and MANPADS and by $50 million funding to assist countries in improving their ability to detect and interdict materials and weapons of mass destruction. This offers a potent but flexible tool to build a robust international network to stop proliferation.

Lugar and Obama traveled together to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan in August to oversee a number of Nunn-Lugar projects. In Ukraine they saw a conventional weapons facility that is typical of the focus of the new legislation.

In 1991, Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) authored the Nunn-Lugar Act, which established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. This program has provided U.S. funding and expertise to help the former Soviet Union safeguard and dismantle its enormous stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, related materials, and delivery systems. In 1997, Lugar and Nunn were joined by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) in introducing the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act, which expanded Nunn-Lugar authorities in the former Soviet Union and provided WMD expertise to first responders in American cities. In 2003, Congress adopted the Nunn-Lugar Expansion Act, which authorized the Nunn-Lugar program to operate outside the former Soviet Union to address proliferation threats. In October 2004, Nunn-Lugar funds were used for the first time outside of the former Soviet Union to secure chemical weapons in Albania, under a Lugar-led expansion of the program.

The latest Nunn-Lugar Scorecard shows that the program has deactivated or destroyed: 6,828 nuclear warheads; 611 ICBMs; 485 ICBM silos; 55 ICBM mobile missile launchers; 152 bombers; 865 nuclear air-to-surface missiles; 436 submarine missile launchers; 563 submarine launched missiles; 29 nuclear submarines; and 194 nuclear test tunnels.

Beyond the scorecard’s nuclear elimination, the Nunn-Lugar program secures and destroys chemical weapons, and works to reemploy scientists and facilities related to biological weapons in peaceful research initiatives. The International Science and Technology Centers, of which the United States is the leading sponsor, have engaged 58,000 former weapons scientists in peaceful work. The International Proliferation Prevention Program has funded 750 projects involving 14,000 former weapons scientists and created some 580 new peaceful high-tech jobs. Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan are nuclear weapons free as a result of cooperative efforts under the Nunn-Lugar program. They otherwise would be the world’s the third, fourth and eighth largest nuclear weapons powers, respectively.

On the web:
Lugar-Obama: http://lugar.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=248096
Nunn-Lugar Program: http://lugar.senate.gov/nunnlugar/

Lugar encouraged by economic news

Senator Lugar said he was encouraged by economic news released at the beginning of May showing wages for workers grew by 3.8 percent over the last year, the biggest 12-month gain since before September 11, 2001. The average hourly wage in April was $16.61, up half-a-percent from March. This comes as 138,000 people were added to payrolls in the month, including the biggest increase in manufacturing in two years, a net increase of 19,000 employees.

Final Indiana specific job numbers for March also were released at the beginning of May. Indiana showed a dramatic drop in unemployment from February to March, falling from 5.5 percent to 4.9 percent. Indiana added 5,500 new jobs in March and a 20,000 net increase in payrolls over the last year. Reporting of state specific data trails the national numbers.

Indiana’s unemployment of 4.9 percent was the lowest in the industrial Midwest. Neighboring rates were: Kentucky, 6.0 percent; Illinois, 5.1 percent; Ohio, 5.0 percent; and Michigan, 6.8 percent.

“Employment statistic stories often just focus on the rate of unemployment. But the important news this month was increased wages,” Lugar said. “Strong economic and wage growth is vital to families and the opportunities for Indiana. For example, the state has reported that the strengthened economic picture increased Indiana tax revenue by $200 million in the month of April.”

Lugar has been advocating that Indiana must move aggressively in developing jobs for a future based in biofuels and clean coal.

Lugar Calls Attention to New Indiana Law to Reduce High School Dropouts

Senator Lugar recently praised legislation to reduce the number of high school dropouts in Indiana. House Bill 1347 was signed into Indiana law on Friday, March 24.

“Hoosier students and the whole Indiana economy will benefit from a more educated workforce that will result from this act,” Lugar said.

“While early learning and success in the elementary school grades have long been linked to the completion of high school, recent studies indicate that a student’s performance in his or her freshman year in high school also greatly impacts chances of graduation. Getting students off to a good start in the 9th grade yields significant results.

“I was pleased to see that [Indiana House bill 1347] addresses this head on by focusing on early warning signs. The legislation will require high schools annually to report numbers in a variety of key categories related to the dropout rate, including the number of freshman not earning enough credits to become sophomores, and the total number of suspensions. Reporting this data alone will not fix the problem, but it will serve to raise awareness among educators, administrators, parents, and students themselves that early intervention is key to correcting course and achieving a diploma.

“We have a long way to go in Indiana to see that all of our students have high expectations of where a solid education can take them and have the tools to realize their own goals. I am heartened and encouraged by the efforts at the state and local level to work on this problem until the educational attainment of young Hoosiers fully meets the demands of the global economy in which we live,” Lugar said.

Read the entire letter