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News for Hoosiers... On Tuesday, December 18, Senator Lugar voted for the FY 2008 omnibus appropriations bill which passed the Senate by a vote of 76-17. The bill included federal funding for projects throughout Indiana which were included by the Senate and House Appropriations Committees at the request of Senator Lugar. Senator Lugar worked with members of the Indiana congressional delegation to maintain funding throughout the budget process. Some of the Indiana projects which received funding include: $700,000 for the relocation and renovation of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana. Due to structural instability, Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana was forced to relocate its regional operation from Anderson to Muncie. Second Harvest worked with the local municipality to prevent the condemnation of the building until the purchased structure can be renovated. “It means a lot to us here in East Central Indiana to have Senator Lugar’s support – I know we can count on him as we continue to work towards ending hunger in East Central Indiana and the entire state,” said Lois Rockhill, Executive Director of the Second Harvest Food Bank. Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana’s mission is to provide a coordinated approach to alleviating hunger in the region. Since 1985, the program has provided more than $57 million worth of food to low-income Hoosiers through pantries, meal programs and direct distribution. $2.8 million to fund the acquisition of electric hybrid buses throughout Indiana. The funding will provide communities with additional money to pay the cost differential of acquiring electric hybrid buses. An average bus costs $300,000 and transit operators would petition to receive additional funds to acquire electric hybrid buses, which cost approximately $500,000. The Indiana Transportation Association estimates that approximately 30 buses per year statewide will be replaced. The Indiana Transportation Association has created a partnership between Indiana’s manufacturing industry, agricultural industry and public transportation operators to promote an electric hybrid/soy biodiesel initiative. GM Allison Transmission, Cummins, Inc., Remy International, and other Indiana-based companies are cooperating to build the electric hybrid technology specifically for transit buses. Many transit operators are already using varying degrees of biodiesel blends in their bus fleets. The Indiana Transportation Association, a consortium of transit authorities in the State of Indiana, requested funding for this initiative. A non-federal match of 20 percent is required. Senator Lugar also secured funding for wastewater/ drinking water infrastructure improvement projects in Centerville, Charlestown, Evansville, Fort Wayne, and South Bend. $200,000 will be used in conjunction with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful for an urban tree planting initiative.
Senator Lugar Announces Academy Nominations Senator Lugar has nominated candidates for the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland; U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York; U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York. The nominees were selected by Senator Lugar’s Academy Merit Selection Committees, which he has used for the nominating process each year that he has been a senator. The nonpartisan boards meet each winter in Indianapolis to review applicants. Senator Lugar hosted the 6th Annual Dick Lugar Academy Day for high school students interested in learning more about military service this fall to encourage applicants. The nominees now await admission to their respective academies for the class of 2012 with entrance in July 2008. “It is exciting that these outstanding Hoosier students have chosen to serve in our Armed Forces and I am pleased to nominate them. Additionally, I thank the selection committees for their objective service,” said Senator Lugar, who volunteered for the Navy after completing his Rhodes scholarship studies at Oxford University in England. Lugar served from 1957-60 as an intelligence briefer for Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke. The nominees are listed by county, name, high school and academy/academies to which they have been nominated.
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