Numbers & Notables

Dear Friends:

Thank you for taking a personal interest in my work and reading The Lugar Letter. On November 7, I was reelected to the United States Senate for six more years. Each day poses remarkable challenges and introduction to new people with whom I can work to attempt to affect constructive change, and I am grateful for the continued opportunity to serve the people of Indiana and our country.

I will continue to stress a number of nonproliferation and energy independence efforts in addition to day-to-day personal diplomacy.

To celebrate the ways that Indiana is helping our nation become energy independent, I embarked on an energy tour from October 23-28 throughout the state. While driving a 2007 Chevrolet Impala E-85 Flex Fuel vehicle, I demonstrated the availability of E-85 fuel stations throughout Indiana. During our six days of travel, we drove 1,133 miles and stopped nine times for E-85 fuel.

In December, I also welcomed the opportunity to lead the 30th Annual Symposium for Tomorrow's Leaders and hosted a food drive challenge for Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana.

I wish you a wonderful holiday season, and I thank you for your continuing interest in my public service. Please keep closely in touch.

Sincerely,

Richard G. Lugar United States Senator

In October, Senator Lugar covered more than 1,000 miles on Hoosier roads to highlight the importance of energy security. For more information about the trip, read the article and view the photos below.

More than 400 high school juniors and 97 accompanying adults attended the 30th Annual Richard G. Lugar Symposium for Tomorrow's Leaders held December 9 on the campus of the University of Indianapolis. Two juniors from every high school in Indiana were nominated to attend.

“These students have been honored by their high schools and by their state as persons who are very special to the future of Indiana,” Senator Lugar said. “There have been about 15,000 Hoosier students who have joined us over the last three decades to think through the most significant issues facing our nation and our world. And the students who have come from this experience are now serving at all levels of our government because they had both the idealism and the follow-through to make a difference.”

Lugar opened the day-long program with an address to the students on national and world affairs. He discussed Iraq, energy prices and the need for developing more sustainable energy and detailed the current state of U.S. relations with the international community. Lugar also fielded a variety of questions from the student participants.

In smaller discussion groups led by state and national advocates, student exchanged ideas and debated opposing views on ten topics areas. Some of this year’s symposium topics included: U.S. leadership in the world, energy security, Iraq, homeland security, and media responsibility.

Since his first year in the Senate, Lugar has conducted a symposium for outstanding high school juniors from all over Indiana to discuss current events and issues.

Lugar Hosts Food Drive

From November 27 through December 7, a dozen Indianapolis businesses and organizations participated in the Senator Dick Lugar and Gleaners Food Bank food drive challenge for the Indianapolis area and collected food and donations equivalent to 60,973.48 pounds of food. Participants collected food and donations at their respective offices, while volunteers also collected donations on Monument Circle.

“We’re very, very proud of this effort and excited to celebrate with Gleaners that this food will be available to people for the holidays,” said Senator Lugar.

Barnes & Thornburg finished first in the food drive challenge, collecting food and money donations equivalent to nearly 18,000 pounds. Baker & Daniels and Market Tower placed second and third respectively.

A November 20 article in USA Today reported decreases in donations of surplus food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as private cash donations to food banks. At the same time, food banks are faced with increased demand as Americans have grappled with high fuel prices and rising energy costs throughout the year. In Central Indiana alone, more than 212,000 Hoosiers need food assistance on a weekly basis.

“By providing food to local charities that feed the hungry, Gleaners Food Bank makes a significant difference in the lives of so many people in Central Indiana. Yet Gleaners also depends on contributions from citizens to meet the needs of our community, and its resources are stretched as more Hoosiers rely on food banks to supplement their families’ nutritional needs,” said Lugar.

Lugar is an inaugural member of the Senate Hunger Caucus. The Senate Hunger Caucus provides a forum for Senators and staff to discuss and debate important hunger issues facing the United States and the rest of our world. Lugar joined the Hunger Caucus to further promote issues that he has long supported, such as incentives to promote charitable food donation, elimination of childhood hunger, foreign food aid, and health promotion.

One bill that Lugar first introduced in the 106th Congress became law earlier this year. The Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Act allows farmers and small business owners to receive a tax deduction for food products contributed to food banks, pantries and homeless shelters from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2007. Previously, this deduction was available only to large corporations, not small businesses.

Lugar Energy Tour Champions Hoosier Embrace of New Realism in Energy

On October 23, Senator Dick Lugar began a week-long tour in Indiana that included more than a dozen events to recognize Hoosiers’ embrace of the “new realism” in American energy security.

“The balance of realism has passed from those who argue on behalf of oil and a laissez faire energy policy that relies on market evolution, to those who recognize that in the absence of a major reorientation in the way we get our energy, life in America is going to be much more difficult in the coming decades,” Senator Lugar said in a speech to the Brookings Institution on March 13.

The tour applauded renewable energy efforts in Indiana.

“In just a few short months, Hoosier businesses and community leaders have embraced the new energy realism,” Senator Lugar said. “The rapid growth of businesses and interest in developing businesses related to energy has been impressive. Polls show that 90 percent of Hoosiers think that developing alternative energy sources is very important to our national security and they support initiatives to expand the pro-jobs and pro-economic growth alternative energy sectors in Indiana.”

The tour included stops at several E-85 (fuel that is 85% ethanol) pumps to refuel a Flex-Fuel car, including stations in Lebanon, Reynolds and Noblesville. Lugar noted on the tour that “Hoosier service stations selling E-85 have gone from one in 2005 to 43 today, with new stations being added all the time.”

During the week, Senator Lugar also toured the integrated farming and energy production facilities at Fair Oaks Dairy in Jasper County.

He visited innovators in electricity generation including: Orion, the developers of a wind farm in Benton County; I-Power of Anderson, producers of advanced portable generators; Wabash River Energy, a clean coal power generating facility in Terre Haute; and Midwest ISO, the Carmel based nerve-center of the electrical grid for 15 states.

Senator Lugar toured Altair Nanotechnologies, the Anderson company that is developing batteries for the next generation of hybrid cars, including plug-in technology.

In addition, he visited the Evergreen Renewables soy-diesel processing plant in Hammond and the construction site of a new ethanol plant in Marion.

“For a quarter of a century, Indiana has had only one ethanol plant. Now there are more than a dozen under construction and at least that many more in planning phases. Ethanol and biodiesel plants can be a major part of a rural economic revolution in Indiana that would create thousands of jobs and strong economic growth.

“Indiana companies, universities and research consortiums are developing new automobile technologies. Our power companies are lighting the way with new clean coal technology. The state’s first wind farm is being planned for Benton County. And Fair Oaks Dairy is an example of the integration of farming and energy production that is the way of future.

“I am impressed by the number of innovative ways Hoosiers are entering into these exciting energy opportunities,” said Senator Lugar.

Lugar Keynotes Conference in Riga

Senator Lugar, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, keynoted the German Marshall Fund's conference on Monday, November 27, 2006 in Riga, Latvia, in advance of the NATO Summit.

In his speech, he said, "the most likely source of armed conflict in the European theater and the surrounding regions will be energy scarcity and manipulation."

Alliance members should be able to depend on one another for aid when their energy sources are blocked through force, he said.

“Article Five of the NATO Charter identifies an attack on one member as an attack on all,” Senator Lugar said. “It was also designed to prevent coercion of a NATO member by a non-member state. We should recognize that there is little ultimate difference between a member being forced to submit to foreign coercion because of an energy cutoff and a member facing a military blockade or other military demonstration on its borders.”

Senator Lugar cited other ways that NATO could confront the anticipated energy problem. These included engaging energy-rich countries such as Russia and “developing new relationships and admitting members who will contribute to NATO’s efforts in this area.”

“The stakes are such that if we wait even a few years, we are likely to find that our alliance is in jeopardy. We will look back at this point in time and see it as a critical juncture that required bold vision and leadership.”

This year, Senator Lugar has also delivered speeches that stress the importance of energy security at the Brookings Institute and during a summit held at Purdue University.

• Additional energy related speeches by Senator Lugar
• Recent energy related press releases

Legislative Update

Lugar-Obama Passed by Congress

In the final hours of the legislative session, the U.S. Congress approved the Lugar-Obama non-proliferation and threat reduction initiative.

Senators Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL) authored S. 2566 and included provisions of the bill as part of H.R. 6060, which now goes to President Bush for signature into law.

The Lugar-Obama initiative expands U.S. cooperation to destroy conventional weapons. It also expands the State Department’s ability to detect and interdict weapons and materials of mass destruction.

“The United States 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 Senator Lugar.

The Lugar-Obama effort would energize the U.S. program against unsecured, lightweight anti-aircraft missiles and other conventional weapons. There may be as many as 750,000 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 an effective weapon for insurgents.

Congress Passes Measure to Prevent Medication Errors at Hospitals Bipartisan plan is based on legislation introduced by Indiana legislators

Senators Lugar and Evan Bayh (D-IN) announced that the Senate passed legislation that includes steps to prevent hospital medication errors similar to recommendations in a bill introduced by the Indiana Senators. Medication safety language was added to the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 after Senators Lugar and Bayh sent a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT) urging the Committee to take action to help prevent tragedies like the infant deaths that occurred at an Indianapolis hospital in September. Congressman Dan Burton and Congresswoman Julia Carson led an effort for similar legislation that the House passed. The bill will be sent to the President's desk to be signed into law.

"The Institute of Medicine has estimated that medication errors injure at least 1.5 million Americans annually and cost our health care system more than $3.5 billion per year. While addressing the problem of medication errors will require a multi-faceted approach, this is a vital first step," said Senator Lugar. "The adoption of this measure will encourage hospitals to develop safety measures designed to prevent medication errors, which in turn will save lives."

The bill passed by both the Senate and the House requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop quality standards, including medication safety measures, that the Secretary determines will improve hospital quality. Possible safety measures could include:

• Electronic prescribing to prevent errors because pharmacy staff cannot read handwriting or dosage information;
• Bar coding of individual dosages with scanners that can compare the patient record with the drug to be administered both at the time the order is filled in the pharmacy and at the patient’s bedside;
• Using smart IV infusion pumps that alert nurses if the dose exceeds hospital-established limits before infusion begins.

On average, a hospital patient is subject to at least one medication error each day, and many of these mistakes are preventable.

President Signs U.S.-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Act

President George W. Bush today signed the Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 into law.

“This agreement is the most important strategic diplomatic initiative undertaken by President Bush. By concluding this pact and the far-reaching set of cooperative agreements that accompany it, the President has embraced a long-term outlook that seeks to enhance the core strength of our foreign policy in a way that will give us new diplomatic options and improve global stability,” said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Dick Lugar, who attended the White House bill signing.

“This legislation will allow the United States to engage in peaceful nuclear cooperation while safeguarding U.S. national security and nonproliferation efforts, as well as Congressional prerogatives. It is an opportunity to build a vital strategic partnership with a nation that shares our democratic values and will exert increasing influence on the world stage,” Lugar continued.