Legislative Update

Lugar-Bayh Nuclear Safeguards Bill Introduced

Indiana Senators Lugar and Bayh introduced legislation to create “a new international non-proliferation standard that prevents countries from using the guise of nuclear energy to develop nuclear weapons.”

“Unless the international community, led by the United States, takes this important step, the coming surge in demand for nuclear power will lead more and more nations to seek their own enrichment facilities. We understand that making the case for this change will be difficult, but we believe it is necessary given the continued failures of the current approach,” the senators wrote last October in a Chicago Tribune op-ed.

The Lugar-Bayh Nuclear Safeguards and Supply Act, S. 1138, makes it the policy of the United States to discourage the development of enrichment and reprocessing capabilities in additional countries, to encourage the creation of bilateral and multilateral assurances of nuclear fuel supply, and ensure that all supply mechanisms operate in strict accordance with the IAEA safeguards system and do not result in any additional unmet verification burdens for the system.   

“The non-proliferation regime we’ve had in the nuclear age has been surpassed by the global availability of nuclear weapons technology, especially the technology and equipment for uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, which can produce fissile material for weapons,” Senator Lugar said. “Now the road to nuclear weapons can be traveled by determined countries with only a minimal industrial base.  While the number of recognized Nuclear Weapons States has not dramatically increased over the years, the dangers of proliferation have become all too apparent as demonstrated by the A.Q. Khan network, the Iranian, North Korean, and Libyan examples.”

Nunn-Lugar will need to address emerging challenges

On April 11, Senator Lugar testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Nunn-Lugar Program will need to address challenges from emerging threats around the world.
Read the full text of his testimony

Lugar Supports Energy Efficiency Bill

Senator Lugar is an original cosponsor of the Energy Efficiency Promotion Act of 2007.  The wide-ranging plan was introduced in April by Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and the committee’s top Republican, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM).

"At the heart of our national security is assuring our energy security.  This will require an all out effort to develop diversified homegrown sources of energy, improve technology and increase efficiency.  This bill is part of a comprehensive approach to improving our overall energy security,” Senator Lugar said.

In the area of building and electrical efficiencies, the bill:

• Creates new lighting efficiency standards.
• Creates a variety of new appliance efficiency standards.
• Provides the Department of Energy with increased authority to put into place additional energy efficiency standards.
• Creates a variety of new programs and standards to reduce federal government electricity consumption through “green” construction and employing energy-efficient technologies.
• Requires the federal government to increase its renewable electricity purchases to 10 percent by 2010 and 15 percent by 2015. 
• Reauthorizes the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program and State Energy Program.

The bill also includes many petroleum consumption efficiency measures based on provisions in the DRIVE Act, a bill Senator Lugar cosponsored with Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN). 

In a statement at a press conference with Senator Jeff Bingaman to announce the Energy Efficiency Promotion Act, Senator Lugar said: 

“Last year in a speech to the Brookings Institution, I described energy as the “albatross” of U.S. national security.  Most oil and natural gas in the world is controlled by governments, many of which are in tumultuous regions and in countries hostile to the United States.  Our energy consumption choices today make us vulnerable to political manipulation of energy supplies globally and to economic disruption.

“There is a no single solution to our energy security problem.  We have to promote new fuels from our domestic resources.  I continue to give particular emphasis to the importance of cellulosic ethanol for transportation.  And for electrical power, we also need to support wind, solar, and clean coal.

“Efficiency is another critical component.  Gains from energy efficiency are renewable resources as well, and can save consumers money even as they save energy. 

“Sections of this bill targeted to reduce gasoline consumption are particularly urgent.  Among the many provisions, the bill will promote battery technology and plug-in hybrid vehicles, it will help auto-manufacturers up-date their factories to produce hybrids and other advanced technology cars, and promote research in ultra-light materials that will allow for increased fuel economy.

“We can offset a significant portion of future demand for oil by giving American consumers a real choice when it comes to the cars they drive and the fuels that power them.”

More information on energy initiatives can be found at: http://lugar.senate.gov/energy/.

Update on Darfur

“The United States is continuing to lead an international effort to prevent further deadly conflict and provide humanitarian assistance to millions. This effort has drawn heavily upon the international humanitarian community to stem the massive mortality witnessed in late 2003 and 2004,” Senator Lugar said at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Sudan on April 11.

Lugar Introduces Children’s Express Lane to Health Coverage Bill

Senators Lugar and Bingaman recently introduced The Children’s Express Lane to Improve Health Coverage and Program Integrity Act of 2007 that would increase health coverage for uninsured, low-income children, simplify state administrative processes and reduce paperwork burdens for families and the government.

“Many children eligible for school lunches are also eligible to receive health care under the Children’s Health Insurance Program.  The difficulty comes when red tape and bureaucracy prevent the sharing of information between the two programs,” Senator Lugar said. “It is important that we give states greater flexibility in the ways they can enroll uninsured children by eliminating duplicative multi-agency efforts to collect and verify income and resource eligibility.”

Express Lane would give states the option of establishing that their Medicaid or State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) financial eligibility rules are satisfied when a family presents proof that their child is already enrolled in another public program with comparable income guidelines.  The bill does not affect other, non-income eligibility requirements and maintains existing quality control measures.

This bill could potentially reduce costs across a number of federal programs including: the National School Lunch Program, the Food Stamp Program, the Summer Feeding Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

Express Lane builds upon the Lugar-Carson Access to Children's Health Insurance Program Act, introduced by Senator Lugar and Rep. Julia Carson (D-IN) to allow for greater use of school lunch participation records to identify eligible children.  The bill encouraged greater cooperation among schools, childcare facilities and WIC clinics to enroll children eligible for Medicaid and S-CHIP.  This bipartisan bill was included in the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 passed by Congress on May 25, 2000, and signed into law by the President.