The Latest: Several US leaders travelling to Lugar funeral

INDIANAPOLIS — The Latest on the funeral for former Sen. Richard Lugar (all times local):

11:20 a.m.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are among the national leaders travelling to the funeral of longtime Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar.

Vice-President Mike Pence is expected to give one of the eulogies during Wednesday’s funeral. Pence’s office says Roberts, McConnell and several other senators are flying with the vice-president from Washington, D.C., to Indianapolis.

Lugar was a highly regarded Republican foreign policy expert who served in the Senate from 1977 until 2013. Hailed as a statesman and peacemaker, the senator died April 28 at age 87.

Two days of tributes began Tuesday with Lugar lying in repose in the Indiana Statehouse Rotunda. His funeral scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church on the north side of Indianapolis.

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12:05 a.m.

Hundreds of mourners are expected at the funeral for Richard Lugar, the longtime U.S. senator from Indiana known for leading efforts to help the former Soviet states dismantle thousands of nuclear weapons.

Vice-President Mike Pence says he’ll give a eulogy during Wednesday’s funeral for “an American statesman whose contributions to our nation are countless.”

Lugar was mayor of Indianapolis before beginning a 36-year Senate career with his first election victory in 1976. He left the Senate following a 2012 Republican primary loss and died April 28 at age 87.

Lugar was hailed as a peacemaker during a Tuesday ceremony in the Indiana Statehouse Rotunda, where he was to lie in repose for 24 hours before his funeral. President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.

The Associated Press