• Born April 4, 1932.
• Married, Charlene; three children.
• U.S. Navy, 1957-1960.
• Rhodes scholar, Oxford University, 1956.
• Mayor of Indianapolis, 1967-1975.
• Elected to Senate in 1976.

Includes key votes and relevant special interest group ratings. Ratings indicate the percentage of votes in which the candidate voted for the position promoted by the group. For a description of these and several other interest groups that give ratings, check out Vote Smart's interest group ratings.

• Opposes abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is at risk; also supports a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion except in these cases.
  
• Opposes federal funding of abortions.

Legislative Record

• Voted against use of federal funds to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother (Hyde Amendment, 1993).
• Voted against clinic access bill, which prohibits blocking abortion clinics or physically interfering with persons entering or leaving clinics (1994).

Interest Group Ratings

• National Right to Life Committee -- 1993 rating: 100
• National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League -- 1994 rating: 33

• Opposes quotas and set-asides, but is not opposed to all Affirmative Action measures. Proposes comprehensive review of Affirmative Action policies to determine which programs are useful and fair and which should be eliminated.
• Has established private minority scholarship program for academically outstanding minority high school students in Indiana.

Interest Group Ratings

• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- 1994 rating: 40

Bosnia Intervention

• Supports participation of U.S. troops in peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.

• Supports eliminating the IRS and proposes replacing personal and corporate income taxes, the estate tax and the capital gains tax with a national sales tax of 17 percent on goods and services. Opposes flat tax as unfair to the middle class and the poor.
• Favors constitutional balanced budget amendment.
• Would balance the budget largely by cutting federal spending.
• Supports presidential line item veto.
• Opposes practice of unfunded mandates.

Legislative Record

• Voted for 1996 budget resolution, which balances the budget by 2002 (1995).
  
• Voted for balanced budget amendment (1994 and 1995).
• Voted to ban unfunded mandates (1995).
• Voted to require that new tax and spending items be listed as separate bills (1993 and 1995).

Interest Group Ratings

• Concord Coalition -- 1994 rating: 47
• National Taxpayers Union -- 1993 rating: 76

• Opposes term limits; believes they would deprive Congress of needed leadership and experience.
• Supports repeal of the Motor Voter Bill because it is an unfunded mandate with potential for voter fraud.
• Opposes public funding of congressional campaigns.

Legislative Record

• Voted for continuing the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, which allows citizens to donate to the fund via their income tax forms (1995).
• Voted against an amendment restricting the use of campaign funds for personal purposes (1995).
• Voted against an amendment prohibiting members of the Senate from accepting gifts from registered lobbyists (1995).
• Voted for an amendment prohibiting the acceptance of gifts, including campaign contributions, from political action committees (PACs) or lobbyists (1994).
• Voted against campaign finance reform bill, which included providing vouchers to candidates who accept voluntary campaign spending limits and banning PAC contributions (1993).

• Supports death penalty for violent criminal offenders.
• Supports expansion of prison space and more "common sense" in sentencing. Believes that crime is a character issue, rooted in failure to understand the difference between right and wrong and in lack of personal responsibility.

Legislative Record

• Voted against 1994 Omnibus Crime Control Act (Clinton crime bill), which proposed a range of anticrime measures, including federal grants to hire more police and to develop drug treatment programs.

• Supports eliminating the Department of Education.
• Supports voluntary silent prayer in school.
• Opposes extensive federal involvement in education except in programs such as the preschool program Head Start, vocational education and higher education scholarships.

Legislative Record

• Voted against national service program (1993).
  
• Voted against Goals 2000: Educate America Act, calling for national standards in a broad range of educational issues, including curricula (1993).
• Voted for funding six low-income school choice demonstration programs (1994).

Interest Group Ratings

• National Education Association -- 1993 rating: 26
• American Federation of Teachers -- 1993-94 rating: 9

• Supports use of "cost-benefit analysis" to determine economic impact of proposed environmental protection and cleanup rules.

Legislative Record

• Did not vote on elevating the Environmental Protection Agency to cabinet level (1993).

Interest Group Ratings

• League of Conservation Voters -- 1994 rating: 31
• League of Private Property Voters -- 1993-94 rating: 70

• Supports waiting period and background checks prior to gun purchases.
• Supports semiautomatic assault weapons ban.

Legislative Record

• Voted for Brady bill, which establishes waiting periods and background checks prior to gun purchases (1993).
• Voted for semiautomatic assault weapons ban (1993).
• Voted for mandatory sentences for crimes involving firearms (1994).

Interest Group Ratings

• Handgun Control Inc. -- 1993-94 rating: 100
• National Rifle Association -- 1993-94 rating: 50

• Supports strong international controls on nuclear weapons, particularly those in the former Soviet Union.
• Opposes further broad cuts in defense. Wants to place a "firewall" between defense and domestic spending to prevent shifting of funds between the two budgets.

Legislative Record

• Voted in favor of amendment to prohibit funding of U.S. military operations in which American troops are under international command.
• Voted against amendment to reduce funds for the Trident II missile program.

Interest Group Ratings

• American Security Council -- 1993-94 rating: 100
• Council for a Livable World -- 1994 rating: 17

• Opposed Clinton Health Care Plan.
• Supports health care reform that would include coverage of preexisting conditions, continued coverage in the event of job loss or move, medical savings accounts and malpractice reform.
• Opposes mandating employers to provide health insurance for their employees.

Interest Group Ratings

• American Public Health Association -- 1993 rating: 27

• Opposes welfare payments to illegal aliens.
• Supports education and health care for children of illegal aliens for humanitarian reasons.
• Supports increases in border control personnel and in efforts to find aliens living in the U.S. with expired visas or work permits.

• Supports free trade measures, such as NAFTA and GATT.

Legislative Record

• Voted against linking China's "most favored nation" trade status to its human rights performance (1992).
• Voted for NAFTA (1993) and GATT (1994).
• Voted for sanctions to open car parts markets in Japan (1995).

Interest Group Ratings

• Competitive Enterprise Institute -- 1994 trade rating: 100

• Supports state and local government authority to design and execute welfare policies. Wants to limit federal involvement in antipoverty programs.

Legislative Record

• Voted for Senate welfare reform bill (1995).

Interest Group Ratings

• Children's Defense Fund -- 1993 rating: 17

Issue information in this report was obtained from the Campaign Issues section of the official Richard Lugar for President home page; from Project Vote Smart, a nonprofit, nonpartisan political research organization that maintains an extensive database of issue-related information; and from Thomas, a legislative database maintained by the Library of Congress.