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Entries in Dick Lugar (11)

Wednesday
Nov302011

Pipeline Bill Would Force US Permit For Keystone XL Within 60 Days

Senate Republicans introduced legislation Wednesday that would expedite the issuance of a permit to TransCanada Corp. for its Keystone XL pipeline.

The 1,700 mile pipeline has been met with some opposition over its initial route through the Sandhills area of Nebraska which overlay water aquifers that provide about 1.5 million people with water. According to a statement released by the group of lawmakers, the route through Nebraska has been redrawn in cooperation with TransCanada.

The State Department, which has jurisdiction over the project because it would cross international borders, has delayed a decision on the project for nearly a year. Republican senators argued that the delay was not only costing the country tens of thousands of jobs, but it was a perfect example of how President Obama has dedicated himself to the 2012 campaign. 

“President Obama has the opportunity to help create 20,000 new jobs now,” Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.). “Incredibly, he’s delayed a decision until after the 2012 election apparently in fear of offending a part of his political base.”

The pipeline would extend from Alberta, Canada to the the Gulf Coast of Texas and would extract nearly 700,000 new barrels a day, a figure Republican senators argue would significantly decrease the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. 

“The Obama administration has failed to produce a persuasive domestic strategy to reduce foreign oil dependence, and now it is failing to grasp the potential of energy security within North America,” Lugar said. 

If passed, the bill would give the State Department 60 days to issue TransCanada a permit to begin work on the Keystone XL pipeline but would exclude work in Nebraska until the state’s environmental regulators and the EPA approve of the newly proposed route. 

Thursday
Jul142011

Lawmakers Hopeful For Future Of South Sudan

By Philip Bunnell

South Sudan officially gained independence on July 9, and despite its violent history and troubled future, lamakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee expressed hope for the world’s newest nation.

After 56 years of bloody civil war, the South Sudanese citizens overwhelmingly supported a referendum that opted for independence. Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), the top Republican on the committee, called South Sudan’s independence a “rare modern milestone.”

“The people of South Sudan have realized their dream of independence and deserve recognition for the sacrifice and commitment they have made to achieve this in the face of enormous odds.”

Despite the jubilance for South Sudan’s independence, there are obviously still grave concerns. US Special Envoy to Sudan Princeton Lyman warned the committee of “credible allegations of targeted and ethnic-based killings and gross human rights violations” that have taken place along the Sudan-South Sudan border. He also noted how “resupply routes for humanitarian agencies have been blocked.”

A litany of other problems linger, he added. For instance, some in the Sudanese government do not trust the United States and a serious lack of education and infrastructure will stunt development in the South.

Nonetheless, committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) remembered visiting South Sudan during the election where “millions of South Sudanese stood in line for hours to cast their votes for independence.”

“I remember coming out of one of the voting places and said ‘gosh, some of these people are going to walk away, the lines are so long and they can’t wait that long to vote,’” said Kerry.  Then, Kerry said, “two or three of these people… turned around to me and just said ‘Senator, we’ve been waiting for 56 years, we can wait a few more hours.’”

Wednesday
Oct272010

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.

Thursday
May202010

Albright Addresses The Future Of NATO

By Miles Wolf Tamboli-Talk Radio News Service

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday on the future of NATO and how the coalition could evolve to meet twenty-first century threats.

Albright, who chaired a panel to determine NATO's Strategic Concept, called for a "comprehensive approach" - an idea to create a civilian arm of NATO forces, in part as a response to the alliance's experience over the past decade in nation-building in Afghanistan. Albright also emphasized that the framers of the new Strategic Concept did not want Afghanistan to be, "the be-all and end-all of NATO." She stated that there must be lessons learned from the mission, but that NATO's strategic outlook, "has to go beyond just Afghanistan."

As the Senate continues to weigh the ratification of the START Treaty, an arms reduction agreement between Russia and the U.S., Albright proclaimed that as long as nuclear arms exist "in the system," NATO will continue relying on a nuclear component. The former Secretary of State also portrayed energy security as a primary NATO concern in the future.
Thursday
Oct012009

Afghanistan And Pakistan Stability Linked, Say Experts

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service

In a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday, expert witnesses agreed that the U.S. should neither abandon Afghanistan or substantially increase U.S. military forces in Afghanistan in regard to a stable Pakistan.

Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. said, “a precipitous withdrawal would repeat the strategic mistake of the 1990s when the U.S. abandoned Afghanistan to the chaos that nurtured al-Qaida. Nor should the West risk being trapped in a Vietnam style quagmire, a war without end and with no guarantee of success.”

Steve Coll, President of the New America Foundation proposed a strategy that falls between withdrawal and militarization.

“It would make clear that the Taliban will never be permitted to take power by force in Kabul or major cities. It would seek and enforce stability in Afghan population centers, emphasize politics over combat, urban stability over rural patrolling, Afghan solutions over Western ones and it would incorporate Pakistan more directly into creative and persistent diplomatic efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and the region”, said Coll.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Ranking Member Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act, which Congress passed earlier this year, that will triple non-military assistance to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year for the next five years.

Committee Chairman Kerry noted that “[U.S.] actions in Afghanistan will influence events in Pakistan and we must take that into account. But the ultimate choices about the country’s future will be made by the Pakistanis themselves.”