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Senator Lugar: I reacted with joy,
as I'm certain any American would
in understanding the Medal of Freedom
and all of the background implications of that.
It was certainly a time in which I could reflect,
and my friends have,
on the work we did with young children,
as a school board member in Indianapolis,
then as Mayor trying to unite our city
with the city and the county,
all around it, at a difficult time that really led to growth.
Over the last 40 years, it's been exciting to witness.
Then 36 years of Senate service, which I had a great partnership
during much of it with Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia,
on the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act,
in which we managed to bring about with cooperation
of the former Soviet Union, and then the Russians,
the destruction of almost all of their weapons.
There are still about a thousand warheads to go,
some chemical weapons being destroyed as we speak.
But as Mayor of Indianapolis,
I had no idea that we were targeted.
That the whole city could have been wiped out.
When I got over to the former Soviet Union, at their request,
and found out really how we could work together
to take care of those problems,
it meant a great deal to me, to my city, to my country,
and we continue to work on those dilemmas.
I would say that the best advice that I've received
is to be honest.
Maintain your integrity.
Tell the truth.
That is difficult advice to follow,
under all circumstances.
But very good advice.
Learn how to speak, learn how to write,
have objectives from their scholarship,
and do that scholarship well, but do it --
hope to devote a portion of their lives to public service.
Obviously, it would be great to have a good marriage,
to raise children, and to have all the joys of family.
But then to extend that to other families,
to the community in which you live.
Or the state or the country, as the case may be.
That is like fate, to make your life much more satisfying.