Senator Richard Lugar Discusses Energy, Security and Progress in Georgia
On August 22-24 U.S. Senator Richard Lugar led a U.S. Congressional Delegation to Georgia to conduct a series of high-level meetings with Georgian officials and review Georgian facilities related to energy, weapons security and public health. Senator Lugar’s stop in Georgia was part of a five country trip including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Albania. The trip’s goal was to review international energy issues and examine the route of Kazakh oil to the world market.
The Senator kicked off his visit with a meeting with Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli, before joining President Mikheil Saakashvili for a tour of new courthouse and police facilities in Mtskheta, and the opening ceremony at the Mountain Expeditionary Forces Training Center in Sachkhere. The Senator also visited a small arms and weapons decommissioning site in Dedopolis Tskaro and reviewed sections of the Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline via helicopter.
On his second day in Tbilisi, the Senator visited the National Center for Disease Control which was developed under the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. The Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, created by the Nunn-Lugar Act in1991, provides U.S. funding and expertise to help Georgia and other nations safeguard and dismantle hazardous weapons materials and delivery systems. The Government of Georgia has recently proposed greater cooperation in this sphere by developing a joint U.S. Georgian disease control facility. Lugar emphasized the importance of these facilities, saying “We saw the very room, the very instrument [at the NCDC] on which the Avian flu was detected. And that was tremendously important for the safety of citizens of Georgia, but likewise for citizens all over the world.” Georgia detected avian flu in its western province in the winter of 2006 and successfully controlled a potential outbreak.
During his stay in Tbilisi, Senator Lugar took advantage of several media events to congratulate the people of Georgia on their nation’s rapid improvement. Speaking to reporters at the National Center for Disease Control [NCDC], Lugar said, “The differences are dramatic; first of all in the wealth of the country, income of citizens, the new educational resources and health resources. And very clearly the fact that the buildings are even more beautiful: old ones have been painted, others are under construction. It’s a very, very exciting contrast from my first visit about ten years ago or even two years ago.” The Senator also emphasized the need to internationalize the peace keeping effort in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and continue work related to disease control and weapons security.
|
