Lugar Pledges Consensus Despite Partisan Gridlock

By AJ Swartwood

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) said Wednesday that despite detrimental, bitter partisanship he still seeks a united front and bipartisan collaboration in the the committee. The Indiana Republican credited the impasse in the Senate concerning virtually all issues to the agenda President Obama pursued over the last two years.

“There has been [partisanship] throughout the last two years, largely because of agenda items selected by the President,” Lugar said, specifically pointing out the criticism the President was handed after announcing July 2011 as the day the country begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

Lugar pledged to maintain unanimity in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and praised past chairmen, including Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Vice President Joe Biden, for working across party lines when handling foreign policy issues.

“If you get a unanimous vote out of the Foreign Relations Committee, the face of America to the rest of the world looks united, as opposed to a 9-7, or 10-8, or whatever it may be,” said Lugar.

Lugar said that the upcoming midterm elections may have enormous ramifications and could greatly impact the course of America’s foreign policy in the future.