Richard Lugar

Richard G. Lugar, U.S. Senator (R-Indiana), is "Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a well-known leader in national security issues. A proponent of free trade and economic growth, Senator Lugar was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and was elected to a fifth term in 2000 by a two-thirds majority.

"Senator Lugar has been instrumental in Senate ratification of treaties that reduce the world's use, production and stockpiling of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. In 1991, he forged a bipartisan partnership with then-Senate Armed Services Chairman Sam Nunn to destroy weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union. To date, the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program has deactivated more than 5,900 nuclear warheads that were once aimed at the United States.

"As Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Senator Lugar built bipartisan support for 1996 federal farm program reforms, ending 1930s era federal production controls. He initiated a biofuels research program to help decrease U.S. dependency on foreign oil, and led initiatives to streamline the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reform the food stamp program and preserve the federal school lunch program.

"Senator Lugar has received numerous awards including Guardian of Small Business, the Spirit of Enterprise, Watchdog of the Treasury, and 34 honorary doctorate degrees. He manages his family's 604-acre Marion County corn, soybean and tree farm. Before entering public life, he helped run the family's food machinery manufacturing business in Indianapolis."

Senator Lugar is member of the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).