U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar highlighted Newburgh and its sister city of Newburgh, England, in his keynote address at the 50th Anniversary Conference of Sister Cities International luncheon on Thursday, July 13, 2006. Indiana has more than twenty cities and towns with active sister city relationships.

In 2005, Newburgh, Indiana, presented a live performance by the Old Dam Community Band to their sister city of Newburgh, England, in honor of its 700th anniversary. And this month, Newburgh, Indiana will receive a delegation from England to inaugurate the opening of the new city offices.

“The future of every nation depends on developing close working relationships with people across the globe. This affects not just issues of war and peace. Our economic prosperity and environmental quality are deeply affected by the practices of nations far beyond our continent,” said Lugar in his address.

“In the United States, we have critiqued and even lamented some aspects of our public diplomacy since the end of the Cold War. But citizen diplomacy of the type practiced by Sister Cities International has been an unqualified public diplomacy success. Underlying citizen diplomacy is an admission that one nation does not have all the answers – that any single national understanding of the world is incomplete. It is an affirmation that we are all part of a much larger world that has intellectual, cultural, and moral wisdom that we need to learn and share.”

Lugar joined Hoosier delegates to the Sister Cities Conference for a photo and visit. Delegates shared the value they have found in joining with a sister city to exchange business opportunities, expertise, cultural knowledge, students, and many other benefits.

Sister Cities International is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between U.S. and international communities. The organization operates under the mission statement of promoting “peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation – one individual, one community at a time.”

An annual conference is held each summer as a means to educate sister city volunteers, elected officials, professionals and international colleagues and teach effective networking skills. The events include interactive workshops, speakers and international events.

This year marks the organization’s 50th Anniversary Conference in Washington D.C. from July 13-15. Senator Lugar co-chaired the conference, along with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington D.C.

As a mayor of Indianapolis, Lugar served a term as President of the National League of Cities and in 1971, hosted an International Conference on Cities in Indianapolis. This event brought together mayors and civic delegations from towns and cities in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Indianapolis established a sister city relationship with Porto Alegre, Brazil.

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