Foreign policy leader Richard G. Lugar, who served 36 years as U.S. Senator for Indiana and two terms as mayor of Indianapolis, was memorialized Tuesday in a resolution in the U.S. Senate.
“The death of the Honorable Richard G. Lugar has deprived Indiana and the United States of one of the most outstanding Senators,” read the resolution introduced by U.S. Senators Todd Young and Mike Braun, both Indiana Republicans.
“Be it resolved, that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Richard G. Lugar,” the resolution concluded.
Young and Braun delivered tributes Monday morning on the Senate floor.
“I had the pleasure in the early 2000s to work on Sen. Lugar’s staff and I had a front row seat to history, watching a true statesman at work,” Young, former legislative assistant for Lugar, said. “I’m not sure we will ever see another Richard Lugar. I sure pray we do.”
Braun said, “The thing that he did as well as anyone, he was able to look across the aisle in times when we were less polarized. Now I think that trait now more than ever would be something we need to pay attention to.”
Lugar’s death Sunday was announced by The Lugar Center, established in 2013 by the senator to seek solutions for global issues.
The 87-year-old Indianapolis native died peacefully at 1:44 a.m. at the Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute in Virginia, according to the center’s news release. The cause of death was complications from chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), the center said.
Lugar’s wife, Char, his four sons Mark, Bob, Joh, and David and their families were with him during his short illness in the hospital.
Lugar served as mayor of Indianapolis from 1968 to 1975 and U.S. Senator from 1977 to 2013.
On Monday, dozens of civic and political leaders participated in an outdoor ceremony at the Richard G. Lugar Plaza south of the Indianapolis City-County Building. Placing a wreath on the plaza were Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.
“Dick Lugar’s bold plan to move Indianapolis forward was the big bang that spawned 50 years of ever-higher expectations of ourselves,” Holcomb said.
