Sen. Richard Lugar to deliver Douglas Education Lecture Nov. 11 in Urbana

Senator Richard G. Lugar, R-Indiana, widely known as a senator who puts policy ahead of politics, will present the 2008 Paul H. Douglas Education Lecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Titled “Rejuvenating Bipartisanship in a Partisan Era,” Senator Lugar’s lecture will focus on the close relationship in public service between ethical behavior and a willingness to embrace bipartisanship. Lugar received the 2007 Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award from the university’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs, and the award program includes an educational lecture by the recipient in the following academic year.

The lecture will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 11 in Illini Room A at the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana. It is free and open to the public, and sign language interpretation will be provided.

In accepting the Douglas Ethics in Government Award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., last April, Senator Lugar said politics need not be filled with partisan acrimony if leaders choose a path of "independent self reflection and discipline of thought." But outside influences such as interest groups, news media and "specious analysis" make true bipartisanship difficult, he said.

His Urbana lecture is expected to describe a political process capable of educating voters, changing minds, and creating new bipartisan norms that can guide public discourse for a generation or more.

Lugar is the longest serving U.S. Senator in Indiana history. The Republican leader of the Foreign Relations Committee, he was first elected to in 1976 and was re-elected to a sixth term in 2006 with 87 percent of the vote, his fourth consecutive victory by a two-thirds majority.

Senator Lugar has been a leader in reducing the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. In 1991, he forged a bipartisan partnership with then-Senate Armed Services Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) to destroy these weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union. To date, the Nunn-Lugar program has deactivated more than 7,200 nuclear warheads that were once aimed at the United States.

The Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award was established by IGPA in 1992 to honor the memory of Senator Douglas, an Illinois Democrat who served from 1949-1967. The award is given annually to a public leader whose actions or writings have significantly contributed to the understanding and practice of ethical behavior in government.