JCRC Statement on the Passing of
Senator Lugar
Sunday, April 28, 2019
The Jewish Community Relations Council is saddened to learn of the passing of Senator Richard Lugar. Senator Lugar was a true public servant who devoted over sixty years of his life to the City of Indianapolis and the State of Indiana, always championing the least among us and working every day in a thoughtful, deliberate, bipartisan fashion to craft solutions to our most complex policy issues.
In the 1970s and 1980s Senator Lugar worked closely with the Jewish community to advocate on behalf of Soviet Jews. On each of his many trips to the Former Soviet Union, as he worked on the Nunn-Lugar Act to stem the tide of nuclear proliferation, Senator Lugar bravely carried the names of Soviet Jews and pressed Russian government officials on their whereabouts and well-being, advocating they should be free to emigrate. During his later years in office, Senator Lugar maintained close collaboration with the JCRC supporting a range of critical issues, from supportive services for older adults to childhood nutrition.
On behalf of the entire Indiana Jewish community, our thoughts and prayers are with Senator Lugar’s family and friends, as well as all Hoosiers who lost an amazing leader who positively impacted countless lives. May the memory of Richard Lugar be for a blessing.
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