FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Friday, May 15, 2015
High-Ranking al Qaeda Terrorist Sentenced for Conspiring to Kill Americans and Other Terrorism Offenses
Khalid al Fawwaz, 52, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to life in prison for multiple terrorism offenses relating to his participation in al Qaeda’s conspiracy to kill Americans.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York made the announcement. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York imposed the sentence in a proceeding attended by victims of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Fawwaz’s sentencing follows a six-week jury trial in January and February of this year, at which Fawwaz was convicted of all four counts with which he was charged.
“Fawwaz is a terrorist who for years served Usama bin Laden and held many positions within al Qaeda,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “With this sentence, he is being held accountable for his role in al-Qaeda's conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals worldwide during the 1990s. This case is a testament to our commitment to bringing to justice those who threaten the United States and our interests around in the world, no matter how long it may take.”
“Khalid al Fawwaz, who played a critical role for al Qaeda in its murderous conspiracy against America, will now spend the rest of his life in a federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “As one of Osama bin Laden's original and most trusted lieutenants, Fawwaz led an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and a terrorist cell in Kenya before serving as bin Laden’s media adviser in London. Fawwaz was bin Laden's bridge to the West, facilitating interviews of bin Laden in Afghanistan by Western media and disseminating bin Laden's 1996 declaration of jihad against America and his 1998 fatwah directing followers to kill Americans anywhere in the world. To that end, on Aug. 7, 1998, al Qaeda operatives bombed our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, murdering 224 innocent people and wounding thousands more. Fawwaz conspired with a murderous regime, and the result was a horrific toll of terror and death. The price he will pay, appropriately severe as it is, cannot possibly compensate his victims and their families.”
According to the evidence presented at trial:
During the early 1990s, Fawwaz trained at al Qaeda’s Jawar military training camp in Afghanistan and then became the emir, or head, of al Qaeda’s al Siddiq military training camp in Afghanistan. In approximately 1993, Fawwaz moved to Nairobi, where he served as one of the leaders of the al Qaeda members there, during a time that al Qaeda was sending fighters through Nairobi to Somalia to fight, and to train Somalis to fight, U.S. and U.N. forces in Somalia. Fawwaz was also a leader of al Qaeda in Nairobi when al Qaeda began its preparations to attack the U.S. Embassy there.
The evidence further showed that, in 1994, Fawwaz began to act as Osama bin Laden’s media representative in London. Fawwaz served as bin Laden’s conduit to Western media, screening requests for interviews of bin Laden and facilitating travel to Afghanistan for journalists who were permitted interviews. Fawwaz also publicized bin Laden’s threats of violence against the United States. Among other things, Fawwaz delivered bin Laden’s August 1996 Declaration of Jihad against the United States to a journalist for publication and helped arrange for the publication of a February 1998 fatwa, signed by bin Laden and others, that claimed it was the individual duty of every Muslim to kill Americans, civilian and military, in any country where it was possible to do so. In addition, Fawwaz provided al Qaeda with advice about how best to disseminate its message of terror to the West, and helped obtain items that were difficult to obtain in Afghanistan, such as generators, vehicles and communications equipment, for al Qaeda. In addition, a list of al Qaeda members recovered in Kandahar, Afghanistan, by the U.S. military in late 2001 contained Fawwaz’s alias and had him numbered ninth on the list.
Following Fawwaz’s arrest in England in September 1998, Fawwaz challenged his extradition to the United States for more than a decade. He arrived in the Southern District of New York in October 2012.
* * *
Fawwaz’s sentencing follows convictions for conspiring to kill U.S. nationals, conspiring to murder officers and employees of the United States and conspiring to destroy buildings and property of the United States, each of which carried a maximum term of life in prison. Fawwaz was also convicted of conspiring to attack national defense utilities, which carried a maximum term of 10 years in prison.
Assistant Attorney General Carlin joined U.S. Attorney Bharara in praising the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force – which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the New York City Police Department. Carlin and Bharara also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for their efforts, as well as the New Scotland Yard for its cooperation in the investigation and prosecution.
The case is being prosecuted by the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean S. Buckley, Adam Fee, Nicholas J. Lewin and Stephen J. Ritchin of the Southern District of New York, with assistance from Trial Attorney Joseph N. Kaster of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Showing posts with label TANZANIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TANZANIA. Show all posts
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Sunday, November 16, 2014
CATHERINE NOVELLI'S REMARKS ON CONNECTIVITY AND POLICY
FROM: THE STATE DEPARTMENT
Policy Choices for a Connected World
Remarks
Catherine A. Novelli
Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment
University of Pretoria
Pretoria, South Africa
November 13, 2014
Good afternoon. I am delighted to be here to speak at this distinguished university and to visit your beautiful country. Thank you so much for inviting me. South Africa is the last stop on an Africa trip that included Tanzania and Kenya. Along the way, I’ve seen incredible energy and dynamism.
I’d like to speak today about a new economic reality and the policy choices we all face. These choices are in front of every government, business, university, and individual as they determine their economic future. The reality is, the world is more connected than ever before, with goods, services, information, people, and financial resources crossing borders at an unprecedented rate.
Before this speech and after it – perhaps during it – you will be looking at mobile devices, tapping into the internet, engaging in social media, and conducting business and commercial transactions on line. The object in your hand, perhaps a smart phone, is the result of a manufacturing process that started with innovation and design at various locations around the world, manufacturing at a host of other sites, and distribution and marketing from even different corners of the globe.
That’s the reality of today’s world, whether you are in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania – as I was in recent days – or Washington, DC, or London or Tokyo. Global supply chains have come to define the way we do business in today’s economy.
The Connected World
McKinsey Global Institute recently wrote that cross-border flows of goods and services totaled $26 trillion in 2012. This represents 36 percent of global gross domestic product, more than 50 percent larger than 20 years ago. About half of those flows are knowledge-intensive, compared to labor-intensive, and the proportion is growing. Intermediate goods – ones that are incorporated into a finished product—have become an ever-increasing proportion of trade. These goods in turn are fueling exports from the countries that have imported them. Over a quarter of the total value of global exports is made up of intermediate imports, and this share has nearly doubled since 1970. These statistics bring to light the changing nature of business. Older models of single-country, soup-to-nuts manufacturing arrangements are giving way to globally integrated supply chains. Innovation and design come from a worldwide network of research and development. Raw materials and components flow from site to site, supported by worldwide procurement systems, logistic hubs and warehousing. Marketing and financial services may be at other locales. Consumers are targeted for sales around the globe.
How Countries Can Take Advantage of Value Chains
So what are the implications for countries, companies and citizens of a world where global value chains are increasingly dominating trade? What policies should countries follow to benefit the most from value chains? I would suggest that countries need to focus on five policy areas as they enable their citizens to fully reap the benefits of today’s connected world.
First, open markets facilitated by fast customs procedures, international product standards and modern infrastructure is critical. Supply chain production is more complex than traditional export systems, with more import and export transactions for each unit of value added. This means that as goods and services move across multiple borders on their way to the final market, even small barriers can add up and affect the competitiveness of a product.
In the connected world, policies that may have offered protection to domestic firms in an earlier era, like import substitution, local content requirements, or data localization obligations, now make them less attractive as supply chain partners. An OECD study of local content requirements, found that local content requirements not only made countries less innovative, these requirements actually harmed the domestic market by raising prices for the public for products of lesser quality.
Because of just-in time production, concentrating on bread and butter trade facilitation issues like customs procedures, transportation and modern infrastructure is all the more important. Since products need to be sold in many markets, adhering to international standards is essential for their international viability.
Second, countries need to adopt legal and regulatory processes for doing business that are transparent, predictable, streamlined and include input from all stakeholders. The ability for investors to enforce contracts, and high standards for labor and environmental protections along with an intolerance for corruption are all key considerations for businesses in deciding where to locate or source.
I have heard some voices suggest that these “doing business” issues don’t matter, and that companies merely want to find the lowest labor costs. But in my experience, that’s not true. The ability to do business transparently matters a great deal to the bottom line. Morever, branded companies value their brand image, and don’t want to risk harming it due to scandals over labor or environmental conditions. Nor do they want to be in the position of being labor and environment regulators. Besides the moral issues surrounding poor labor and environmental enforcement, the need to constantly oversee these practices among suppliers when countries are not policing them themselves adds a great deal of cost.
Fostering Global Collaboration Through the Internet
Third, an open Internet, access to broadband, and free flows of data are essential to competitiveness. As I mentioned earlier, global supply chains are dynamic and highly collaborative, with teams of suppliers and purchasers from various stages of the value chain working together across borders to solve design, manufacturing, and marketing problems. This really is the essence of today’s connected world. This cannot occur without internet.
The best way to unleash the creativity and ingenuity of your people, your companies, and your universities is to let them connect with others to develop new ideas and start new businesses.
There is an inaccurate perception that the Internet mostly benefits industrialized countries. The truth is that the Internet’s economic benefits are increasingly shifting to the developing world. The Internet economy is growing at 15 to 25 percent per year in developing countries, double the rate in the developed world. In Turkey, for example, smaller businesses that use the web have experienced revenue growth 22 percent higher than those that do not. Here in South Africa, Ronnie Apteker founded the first Internet service provider and enabled countless new technology businesses. I am looking forward to meeting some of those new entrepreneurs tomorrow.
A recent report by the American think tank, the Brookings Institution, showed how the internet and cross-border data flows are providing opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises. The report notes that SMEs on eBay are almost as likely to export as large businesses and, in fact, over 80 percent of SMEs export to five or more countries.
Fourth, strong intellectual property protection allows countries to be part of a higher-value global supply chain. At a recent conference in Washington, General Electric noted that it maintains research and development centers in Shanghai, Bangalore, Munich, Rio de Janeiro and New York. Many other international firms have similar R&D footprints. This geographic diversity allows for an R&D operation that, given time zones, literally never stops. Companies look at many factors when considering where to locate their R&D centers, including the level of education, vocational training, and scientific collaboration. But the level of intellectual property protection is also critical.
Closely related to this is a fifth policy— an open market for services. We often think of trade as the physical movement of goods from place to place. But in today’s global economy, knowledge-intensive trade and investment, particularly in the services sector, plays an increasingly central role.
Economists from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have found that services now constitute 50% of the manufacturing process. Insurance, accounting and other financial services, and creative and design services, are all integral parts of supply chains. But in many countries, markets for these services are closed, or heavily regulated. If the goal is to maximize participation in global value chains, closed market policies like these no longer make sense.
Regional Trade Liberalization
The policies I have set forth are important, but not sufficient to be globally competitive. In addition to being islands of good practices, countries need to join together to create regions where those good practices are integrated.
Last August, I chaired a roundtable on global supply chains at the U.S-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington. We invited corporate representatives as well as trade, investment, and economic ministers from African countries.
One of the most interesting themes was the need to create regional markets in Africa. Companies were clear that the markets in many individual countries in Africa are too small to support operations just for that market. That does not mean that there are no opportunities for smaller countries to benefit from the global supply chain. In fact, recent research indicates that, on average, regional trade agreements increase member countries’ trade about 86 percent within 15 years.
The European Union is perhaps the largest, best known and most successful example or regional integration. There is also the North American Free Trade Agreement, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary. With Asia, we are now negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership, and with Europe we have launched talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
Arrangements such as these, which lower barriers to trade and investment, deliver a big boost to commerce in member countries. These arrangements also offer ready-made hubs for setting up a global supply chain. Countries who haven’t established some type of true regional integration will find it harder to compete for the investment that a global supply chain brings.
In Africa, regional organizations like the Economic Community of West African States, the East African Community, and the Southern African Customs Union are working to create regional integration and address barriers so that countries can achieve economies of scale and maximize their comparative advantages. Nelson Mandela recognized the importance of looking at regional integration when he conceived of Development Corridors along cross-border transportation routes.
Africa and Supply Chains
Here in South Africa, I had a wonderful illustration of the connected world yesterday at the Ford factory in Silverton. It is an American investment, creating jobs in South Africa. Inputs, like raw materials and components, arrive from various locations around the world. Local workers assemble those components and the factory exports to other African countries and to European markets.
The United States recognizes Africa as a dynamic continent where economies are growing and innovation is taking root. Many African countries are reaping the benefits of economic reforms, better governance and social investments. We would like to be a part of this positive change and contribute to Africa taking its place in the global supply chain, so that the people of Africa can reap the benefits of global growth.
The United States is supporting Africa’s growth through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Trade Africa Initiative, and similar efforts. The Millennium Challenge Corporation, for example, has issued grants of almost $10 billion to support projects in sectors like transportation, education, and property rights and land policy. Through President Obama’s Power Africa initiative, a number of U.S. agencies are making available $7 billion in financial assistance to double access to power in six sub-Saharan African countries.
Some continue to argue that African nations need “protectionism” to compete. I disagree. Africans are strong, resilient, and ingenious, and I have seen in my meetings with entrepreneurs, businesses, and students people who can go toe-to-toe with the most competitive companies in the world. We need to go forward together towards openness, high standards, and opportunity for all of our citizens.
Thank you very much.
Policy Choices for a Connected World
Remarks
Catherine A. Novelli
Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment
University of Pretoria
Pretoria, South Africa
November 13, 2014
Good afternoon. I am delighted to be here to speak at this distinguished university and to visit your beautiful country. Thank you so much for inviting me. South Africa is the last stop on an Africa trip that included Tanzania and Kenya. Along the way, I’ve seen incredible energy and dynamism.
I’d like to speak today about a new economic reality and the policy choices we all face. These choices are in front of every government, business, university, and individual as they determine their economic future. The reality is, the world is more connected than ever before, with goods, services, information, people, and financial resources crossing borders at an unprecedented rate.
Before this speech and after it – perhaps during it – you will be looking at mobile devices, tapping into the internet, engaging in social media, and conducting business and commercial transactions on line. The object in your hand, perhaps a smart phone, is the result of a manufacturing process that started with innovation and design at various locations around the world, manufacturing at a host of other sites, and distribution and marketing from even different corners of the globe.
That’s the reality of today’s world, whether you are in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania – as I was in recent days – or Washington, DC, or London or Tokyo. Global supply chains have come to define the way we do business in today’s economy.
The Connected World
McKinsey Global Institute recently wrote that cross-border flows of goods and services totaled $26 trillion in 2012. This represents 36 percent of global gross domestic product, more than 50 percent larger than 20 years ago. About half of those flows are knowledge-intensive, compared to labor-intensive, and the proportion is growing. Intermediate goods – ones that are incorporated into a finished product—have become an ever-increasing proportion of trade. These goods in turn are fueling exports from the countries that have imported them. Over a quarter of the total value of global exports is made up of intermediate imports, and this share has nearly doubled since 1970. These statistics bring to light the changing nature of business. Older models of single-country, soup-to-nuts manufacturing arrangements are giving way to globally integrated supply chains. Innovation and design come from a worldwide network of research and development. Raw materials and components flow from site to site, supported by worldwide procurement systems, logistic hubs and warehousing. Marketing and financial services may be at other locales. Consumers are targeted for sales around the globe.
How Countries Can Take Advantage of Value Chains
So what are the implications for countries, companies and citizens of a world where global value chains are increasingly dominating trade? What policies should countries follow to benefit the most from value chains? I would suggest that countries need to focus on five policy areas as they enable their citizens to fully reap the benefits of today’s connected world.
First, open markets facilitated by fast customs procedures, international product standards and modern infrastructure is critical. Supply chain production is more complex than traditional export systems, with more import and export transactions for each unit of value added. This means that as goods and services move across multiple borders on their way to the final market, even small barriers can add up and affect the competitiveness of a product.
In the connected world, policies that may have offered protection to domestic firms in an earlier era, like import substitution, local content requirements, or data localization obligations, now make them less attractive as supply chain partners. An OECD study of local content requirements, found that local content requirements not only made countries less innovative, these requirements actually harmed the domestic market by raising prices for the public for products of lesser quality.
Because of just-in time production, concentrating on bread and butter trade facilitation issues like customs procedures, transportation and modern infrastructure is all the more important. Since products need to be sold in many markets, adhering to international standards is essential for their international viability.
Second, countries need to adopt legal and regulatory processes for doing business that are transparent, predictable, streamlined and include input from all stakeholders. The ability for investors to enforce contracts, and high standards for labor and environmental protections along with an intolerance for corruption are all key considerations for businesses in deciding where to locate or source.
I have heard some voices suggest that these “doing business” issues don’t matter, and that companies merely want to find the lowest labor costs. But in my experience, that’s not true. The ability to do business transparently matters a great deal to the bottom line. Morever, branded companies value their brand image, and don’t want to risk harming it due to scandals over labor or environmental conditions. Nor do they want to be in the position of being labor and environment regulators. Besides the moral issues surrounding poor labor and environmental enforcement, the need to constantly oversee these practices among suppliers when countries are not policing them themselves adds a great deal of cost.
Fostering Global Collaboration Through the Internet
Third, an open Internet, access to broadband, and free flows of data are essential to competitiveness. As I mentioned earlier, global supply chains are dynamic and highly collaborative, with teams of suppliers and purchasers from various stages of the value chain working together across borders to solve design, manufacturing, and marketing problems. This really is the essence of today’s connected world. This cannot occur without internet.
The best way to unleash the creativity and ingenuity of your people, your companies, and your universities is to let them connect with others to develop new ideas and start new businesses.
There is an inaccurate perception that the Internet mostly benefits industrialized countries. The truth is that the Internet’s economic benefits are increasingly shifting to the developing world. The Internet economy is growing at 15 to 25 percent per year in developing countries, double the rate in the developed world. In Turkey, for example, smaller businesses that use the web have experienced revenue growth 22 percent higher than those that do not. Here in South Africa, Ronnie Apteker founded the first Internet service provider and enabled countless new technology businesses. I am looking forward to meeting some of those new entrepreneurs tomorrow.
A recent report by the American think tank, the Brookings Institution, showed how the internet and cross-border data flows are providing opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises. The report notes that SMEs on eBay are almost as likely to export as large businesses and, in fact, over 80 percent of SMEs export to five or more countries.
Fourth, strong intellectual property protection allows countries to be part of a higher-value global supply chain. At a recent conference in Washington, General Electric noted that it maintains research and development centers in Shanghai, Bangalore, Munich, Rio de Janeiro and New York. Many other international firms have similar R&D footprints. This geographic diversity allows for an R&D operation that, given time zones, literally never stops. Companies look at many factors when considering where to locate their R&D centers, including the level of education, vocational training, and scientific collaboration. But the level of intellectual property protection is also critical.
Closely related to this is a fifth policy— an open market for services. We often think of trade as the physical movement of goods from place to place. But in today’s global economy, knowledge-intensive trade and investment, particularly in the services sector, plays an increasingly central role.
Economists from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have found that services now constitute 50% of the manufacturing process. Insurance, accounting and other financial services, and creative and design services, are all integral parts of supply chains. But in many countries, markets for these services are closed, or heavily regulated. If the goal is to maximize participation in global value chains, closed market policies like these no longer make sense.
Regional Trade Liberalization
The policies I have set forth are important, but not sufficient to be globally competitive. In addition to being islands of good practices, countries need to join together to create regions where those good practices are integrated.
Last August, I chaired a roundtable on global supply chains at the U.S-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington. We invited corporate representatives as well as trade, investment, and economic ministers from African countries.
One of the most interesting themes was the need to create regional markets in Africa. Companies were clear that the markets in many individual countries in Africa are too small to support operations just for that market. That does not mean that there are no opportunities for smaller countries to benefit from the global supply chain. In fact, recent research indicates that, on average, regional trade agreements increase member countries’ trade about 86 percent within 15 years.
The European Union is perhaps the largest, best known and most successful example or regional integration. There is also the North American Free Trade Agreement, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary. With Asia, we are now negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership, and with Europe we have launched talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
Arrangements such as these, which lower barriers to trade and investment, deliver a big boost to commerce in member countries. These arrangements also offer ready-made hubs for setting up a global supply chain. Countries who haven’t established some type of true regional integration will find it harder to compete for the investment that a global supply chain brings.
In Africa, regional organizations like the Economic Community of West African States, the East African Community, and the Southern African Customs Union are working to create regional integration and address barriers so that countries can achieve economies of scale and maximize their comparative advantages. Nelson Mandela recognized the importance of looking at regional integration when he conceived of Development Corridors along cross-border transportation routes.
Africa and Supply Chains
Here in South Africa, I had a wonderful illustration of the connected world yesterday at the Ford factory in Silverton. It is an American investment, creating jobs in South Africa. Inputs, like raw materials and components, arrive from various locations around the world. Local workers assemble those components and the factory exports to other African countries and to European markets.
The United States recognizes Africa as a dynamic continent where economies are growing and innovation is taking root. Many African countries are reaping the benefits of economic reforms, better governance and social investments. We would like to be a part of this positive change and contribute to Africa taking its place in the global supply chain, so that the people of Africa can reap the benefits of global growth.
The United States is supporting Africa’s growth through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Trade Africa Initiative, and similar efforts. The Millennium Challenge Corporation, for example, has issued grants of almost $10 billion to support projects in sectors like transportation, education, and property rights and land policy. Through President Obama’s Power Africa initiative, a number of U.S. agencies are making available $7 billion in financial assistance to double access to power in six sub-Saharan African countries.
Some continue to argue that African nations need “protectionism” to compete. I disagree. Africans are strong, resilient, and ingenious, and I have seen in my meetings with entrepreneurs, businesses, and students people who can go toe-to-toe with the most competitive companies in the world. We need to go forward together towards openness, high standards, and opportunity for all of our citizens.
Thank you very much.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
EARLY VENOMOUS SNAKE FOSSILS FOUND IN AFRICA
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Snakes Alive! NSF-funded researchers find oldest fossil evidence of modern African venomous snakes
Seasonal habitats may have given rise to active hunters earlier than previously reported
National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded researchers at Ohio University have found the oldest definitive fossil evidence of modern, venomous snakes in Africa. The newly discovered fossil was unearthed in the Rukwa Rift Basin of Tanzania. The research results were published in PLOS ONE.
The lead author, Jacob McCartney, and his coauthors note that these findings demonstrate that elapid snakes, such as cobras, kraits and sea snakes--were present in Africa as early as 25 million years ago.
Elapids belong to a larger group of snakes known as colubrids--active foragers that use a variety of methods, including venom to capture and kill prey.
The team was surprised to discover higher-than-expected concentrations of colubroid snakes, suggesting the local environment was more open and seasonally dry, thus more hospitable to these types of active hunting snakes that don't require cover to ambush prey like boas and pythons do.
They say it also points to a fundamental shift toward more rapid venom delivery mechanisms to exert very different pressures on the local fauna.
-- Dena Headlee, National Science Foundation
Snakes Alive! NSF-funded researchers find oldest fossil evidence of modern African venomous snakes
Seasonal habitats may have given rise to active hunters earlier than previously reported
National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded researchers at Ohio University have found the oldest definitive fossil evidence of modern, venomous snakes in Africa. The newly discovered fossil was unearthed in the Rukwa Rift Basin of Tanzania. The research results were published in PLOS ONE.
The lead author, Jacob McCartney, and his coauthors note that these findings demonstrate that elapid snakes, such as cobras, kraits and sea snakes--were present in Africa as early as 25 million years ago.
Elapids belong to a larger group of snakes known as colubrids--active foragers that use a variety of methods, including venom to capture and kill prey.
The team was surprised to discover higher-than-expected concentrations of colubroid snakes, suggesting the local environment was more open and seasonally dry, thus more hospitable to these types of active hunting snakes that don't require cover to ambush prey like boas and pythons do.
They say it also points to a fundamental shift toward more rapid venom delivery mechanisms to exert very different pressures on the local fauna.
-- Dena Headlee, National Science Foundation
Saturday, July 6, 2013
REMARKS BY FIRST LADY OBMAMA AND FIRST LADY BUSH AT AFRICAN FIRST LADIES SUMMIT
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by First Lady Michelle Obama and First Lady Laura Bush in a Conversation at the African First Ladies Summit
Serena Hotel
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
9:56 A.M. SAT
MS. ROBERTS: What a great occasion, and what a tremendous honor for me to be here. Thank you so very, very much for inviting me to come to Tanzania. And thank you, Mrs. Kikwete, for hosting this. This is very -- it's important to do.
President Obama said in South Africa on Sunday, quoting the best possible source -- his mother -- (laughter) -- he said that you can measure how well a country does by how it treats its women. And, of course, President Obama's mother said that long before we had the data -- and we now have tons and tons of data to show that the single two biggest factors in development are the education of girls and the economic empowerment of women.
And for all the reasons that you've just delineated, Mrs. Bush -- the importance of the education of girls and the empowerment of women. So my hat's off to all of you, and especially the first ladies of Africa -- who are wearing wonderful hats, by the way -- because you work on these issues every day in your countries, pushing and prodding the powers that be -- and yes, your husbands -- to do the right things; to help your countries by helping the women and girls in your countries. So congratulations to you.
And this is a session where we are going to have some congratulations and also some learning. And in that spirit, I was going to start by saying, why can't the guys get together like this, but now they are getting together. (Laughter.) They're getting together this morning; I think they've probably taken their example from you.
MRS. OBAMA: They're learning from us as women. (Laughter.)
MS. ROBERTS: Exactly. But you know, this question of "First Lady" has always been somewhat fraught. You quoted Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Bush, but it really -- particularly, I know in the United States, Americans have always been a little bit wary about first ladies -- they're not elected, and they can't be fired -- (laughter) -- and they have a whole lot of power. But it can also be a little confining, I think is a fair way to put it.
Martha Washington, our first First Lady, wrote in the first year that she was First Lady, she wrote to her niece that she felt like a "Chief State Prisoner." (Laughter.) But she was able to do good -- she lobbied for all of those veterans that she had been to camp with through the Revolutionary War. And people don’t realize that first ladies have been doing that kind of thing from Martha Washington --
MRS. OBAMA: Absolutely.
MS. ROBERTS: And, Mrs. Obama, you talked about -- you've talked about, wherever you go, there's a light that shines, and that you're able to shine that light on something that needs attention that wouldn’t otherwise get it. Talk about that a little bit.
MRS. OBAMA: That’s absolutely true. I always joke that we have probably the best jobs in the world because, unlike our husbands who have to react and respond to crisis on a minute-by-minute basis -- they come into office with a wonderful, profound agenda, and then they're faced with the reality. (Laughter.)
On the other hand, we get to work on what we're passionate about. And I think that that’s something that I would encourage all first ladies to never lose sight of. You have an opportunity to speak to your passions and to really design and be very strategic about the issues you care most about. And I just found it just a very freeing and liberating opportunity.
MS. ROBERTS: No state prisoner? (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: No, there are prison elements to it. (Laughter.) But it's a really nice prison, so --
MRS. BUSH: But with a chef. (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: You can't complain. But there is definitely elements that are confining.
MS. ROBERTS: And she said that before tweeting and cell phones.
MRS. OBAMA: That’s right, 24-hour media.
MS. ROBERTS: And she could cover her hair with that cap. (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: Right. But being able to pursue our passions and do things that not only help our country and connect us with the rest of the world, it's a great privilege. So while people are sort of sorting through our shoes and our hair -- (laughter) -- whether we cut it or not --
MRS. BUSH: Whether we have bangs.
MRS. OBAMA: Whether we have bangs. (Laughter.) Who would have thought? I didn’t call that one. (Laughter.)
MRS. BUSH: I said that just because our daughter, Barbara, cut bangs at the same time Michelle did. They commiserated --
MRS. OBAMA: I was doing what Barbara was doing. (Laughter.) I was just following her lead. But we take our bangs and we stand in front of important things that the world needs to see. And eventually, people stop looking at the bangs and they start looking at what we're standing in front of.
MRS. BUSH: We hope.
MRS. OBAMA: They do, and that’s the power of our roles.
MS. ROBERTS: Mrs. Bush, you quoted, again, Lady Bird Johnson, talking about, I have a podium and I'm going to use it. But it's a unique role, and there must be a learning curve. And I remember as you were leaving the White House, you said that at first you were "dense" -- (laughter) -- about how hard it was; how the role is really not something that you understood the power of.
MRS. BUSH: Well, and I should have understood it, because I had a mother-in-law who was a First Lady. I had watched her, of course, the whole time she served in public office with her husband, my father-in-law, President Bush. And so, I really had an advantage that -- the only other First Lady that’s had this advantage was Louisa Adams, whose mother-in-law had been first lady as well.
So I really did come to the White House knowing a lot about the White House and knowing where things were, and we even knew the staff -- the butlers and the ushers -- because we had stayed there so often with President Bush and Barbara. But what I didn’t really understand was how people would listen to the First Lady.
And right after attacks of September 11th when -- I gave the presidential radio address to talk about women in Afghanistan. And right after that, I was in a department store with my daughter, Jenna -- she was a freshman in college and I was in Austin seeing her -- and we want to a department store. And the women who sold cosmetics at the department store said, thank you so much, Ms. Bush, thank you for speaking for the women in Afghanistan. And that was the first time it really occurred to me that people really did hear me, and that I really did have that podium that Lady Bird Johnson knew about and had told us about.
And so, I want to encourage every first lady to speak out and speak up and let people know, because people are watching and they are listening. And you can be so constructive for your country if you speak up about issues that you think are important.
MS. ROBERTS: Did you have an experience like that?
MRS. OBAMA: Absolutely, but I just want to take a moment to commend Mrs. Bush, because she and her staff helped my team with that transition. And that’s a powerful lesson for other leaders, is that there's a lot of give and take when you're campaigning, but when the dust settles, we are all in this together. And Laura has been just so helpful. Her Chief of Staff, Anita McBride, and many of the team members left notes for my staff. My chief of staff calls Anita on a regular basis -- (laughter) -- I think it's daily or weekly or something like that.
But having your predecessors be people who are willing to extend themselves on behalf of the country, to help with that transition makes the world of difference. But nothing prepares you. (Laughter.) Nothing prepares you for this role. I mean, it is so startling that the transition of power in the United States happens so quickly that you don’t have access to the house until the President takes the oath of office.
So, literally --
MRS. BUSH: During the inaugural parade -- one family moves out and the next family moves in. (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: Literally. And I remember walking into that house and I didn’t even know where the bathrooms were. (Laughter.) But I had to get ready for a ball. (Laughter.) It was like, and I've got to look nice? It's like, what door is this, and you're opening up all these doors, and you can't find your toothpaste, you don’t know where your kids are. (Laughter.) So that’s day one.
MRS. BUSH: Exactly.
MS. ROBERTS: That’s a daunting experience. One of the things -- we did ask the first ladies of Africa if they wanted to submit some questions, and one of the things that was true throughout the questions was the sense of continuity; that -- was there a way to keep your efforts going after the spotlight does go away. Now, Mrs. Bush, is this one of your ways of doing that?
MRS. BUSH: Yes, this is. But for George and me, through the Bush Institute, we're able to focus on four areas that were so important to us when George was President.
When you are President, every issue comes to the desk of the President of the United States. First ladies have it a little bit easier because we can choose specific issues to focus on, but now that we're home, through the Bush Institute -- the policy institute that’s part of our Bush Presidential Center at SMU -- we are able to continue to work on issues that were important to us.
MS. ROBERTS: And you said, Mrs. Obama, that you want your issues to have a lasting effect, so how do you do that?
MRS. OBAMA: Four to eight years is really a blink of an eye. And you often find that you're just starting to get your teeth into your issues, and then it's time to go. But none of the issues --
MS. ROBERTS: -- your children.
MRS. OBAMA: That’s true, that’s true. (Laughter.) That’s absolutely true. But none of the work that we do and any of us does will be concluded at the end of a term. I tell the young people that I work with around health, the military families that I support, that for me, these issues are -- I say a forever proposition.
This isn't work that I'm just doing
(Audio drops out.)
MRS. OBAMA: -- that I find in this position that there are girls around the world who are looking to us and how we behave and how we carry on our issues. And they're going to be watching us for decades to come.
MS. ROBERTS: There's that prisoner thing again.
MRS. OBAMA: There it is. (Laughter.) Keeps coming --
MRS. BUSH: But there are things that you could establish, like the National Book Festival that I started. I'm the librarian, and so it was a very obvious sort of thing for me to start. I started a Texas book festival in Dallas -- I mean, in Austin, when George was governor, and then started one that the Library of Congress now runs. And so it continues to go on.
But Michelle's right -- we'll never finish with education. We'll never get to rub our hands together and say, oh, we took care of that. There will be another little class of kindergartners. And it's something we'll always work on.
MS. ROBERTS: Well, again, it's like child-raising. Yes, it's like child-raising.
MRS. BUSH: Exactly -- it's never over.
MS. ROBERTS: But, Mrs. Bush, you all talked about the -- agenda and it gets disrupted, but your agenda got disrupted too. And you were on Capitol Hill about to testify before Ted Kennedy's committee about education when September 11th --
MRS. BUSH: That’s right. I mean, of course, things happen that you don’t expect, like what happened to us in the United States on September 11th. And the National Book Festival that I founded, it -- just then the weekend before -- the Saturday before that, September 8th. And then I was scheduled -- in fact, I went onto Capitol Hill on the morning of September 11th because I was going to brief the Senate Education Committee on a summit that I had hosted that summer on early childhood education, and got to the Capitol and joined Senator Kennedy in his office then as we watched on television and started to see the towers fall. And we knew -- he knew and I knew -- that everything had changed for us and for our country, really.
And that’s what happens to presidents also; those kinds of issues come up that you don’t expect, and it changes your whole focus. In fact, in our new presidential museum, the very first part of it is everything that we thought we would be working on -- tax cuts, the book festival, the faith-based and community service projects, tee ball on the South Lawn of the White House -- (laughter) -- our first state dinner, which was with Mexico -- which is where we really expected to spend a lot of our time in the Americas because we were from a border state -- and then September 11th --
MS. ROBERTS: And that’s how you got involved with the women of Afghanistan.
MRS. BUSH: That’s right.
MS. ROBERTS: One of the questions that has come in from the South African -- or from the African first ladies refers to both of you as the mothers of girls -- and you are now the grandmother of a girl.
MRS. BUSH: That’s right, the grandmother of another girl -- baby Margaret Laura. (Applause.)
MS. ROBERTS: And the question of the education of girls -- and you, of course, know how important it is in your own lives, but as I alluded to earlier, one of the things we now have just so much data on is that if you educate a girl, you can save a country. And the first ladies here are saying, what can you do to work with them globally for the education of girls?
MRS. BUSH: Well, we both obviously spend a lot of time on education, especially the education of girls. But the fact is, in the United States, now more girls are graduating from high school than boys. And more girls are in college and more girls are in masters programs -- women are -- than boys. And that --
(Audio interruption.)
MRS. OBAMA: -- Mandela's most important quote of the millions of things he has said is that education is probably the most powerful weapon for change. But a lot of our kids don’t understand that. In the United States, many of them take it for granted. Many of them have a mindset that they can't do it because they've been grown up to be taught that they can't.
So there's a large part of my initiative that’s really trying to get into the heads of these young people and use my story as an example of what -- the power of education. And I tell kids all across the country, I want them to look at me not as the First Lady, but as one of them.
I was a girl who grew up on the South Side of Chicago, my parents didn’t have much money, but they invested in my education. And they invested in my education as equally as they did my brother; there was no different bar. And as a result of that training and preparation, I have had opportunities and I am sitting here now as First Lady of the United States of America because of education. (Applause.)
MS. ROBERTS: It was -- one of the things that the PEPFAR program is doing is not just reaching -- not just treating people -- which is, of course, wonderful -- but getting to the orphans and vulnerable children. I was in -- Ethiopia with Save The Children where this 13-year-old girl that had been through our program stood up and started talking about what was needed in the community, and then the local minister from that region told her she was crazy and she just stood right back up and just went -- and I -- you go, girl. And that really does make a difference in the future.
MRS. BUSH: Well, it is important to reach parents as well. So the parents know that they need to make sure their children are educated -- in whatever way they can.
We know from research that mothers who can bring in a little bit of money, they're more likely to spend their money on their fees for their children's education and on their uniforms and others things they need to go to school. So all of it really works together -- the economic empowerment as well as just the understanding of how important education is.
MRS. OBAMA: And I just want to take a moment to recognize Mama Kikwete's work educating female orphans here, the school she has started. (Applause.) I got an opportunity to sit with some of the children and watch a cultural program. But there are so many young girls that don’t have families, they don’t have role models. And as Mama Kikwete understands, they need a safe place to land, a place where they can get food and shelter and love and direction.
So I applaud Mama Kikwete and all the first ladies who are providing that kind of safe harbor for our young girls. So, congratulations. (Applause.)
MS. ROBERTS: Well, you talk about the role models, and you talked about yourselves as role models, but, Mrs. Bush, you said at one point, I think that our first ladies are a lot more complicated than they get treated in the media. I suspect every first lady here would agree with that. Why do you think that is? Why do you think that it's always those sort of --
MRS. BUSH: Well, I think -- in the United States, it has a lot to do with the way you look. That’s a lot of the discussion about women. That’s a problem everywhere in the United States -- for girls as well. The way you look -- girls worry about all sorts of problems that they shouldn’t have to worry about. They should be worried about what they're doing and how they're being educated instead of whether they look pretty or they look sexy. (Applause.)
But that’s the way we treat women, sadly. And it's obviously when you read in the press -- I mean, it's like talking about the bangs, or somebody writing about them, really -- worse -- the press writing about them.
MS. ROBERTS: Do you think you get put in a box?
MRS. BUSH: Yes, a little bit.
MRS. OBAMA: Absolutely. I constantly get asked, especially in the first term, are you more like Laura Bush, or are you more like Hillary Clinton? And I'm like, is that it? That’s all I -- (laughter) --
MRS. BUSH: Exactly the problem -- everyone said -- reporters -- are you Hillary Clinton or Barbara Bush? And I always just said, well, I think I'll be Laura Bush; I do Laura Bush pretty well, having grown up as her. (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: But this is also why it's important for us to make sure that more women use their voices and their power. Because we know, as women, that we're not that complicated, but we are complex. We are deep, diverse, enlightened people in the universe. And the world will be better off when our voices are at the table.
We just bring a different perspective. We are mothers. We are nurturers. We have to juggle a lot. I love my husband, but sometimes when he has, like, five things to do at one time, it's funny to watch it. (Laughter.) You don’t know where you jacket is right now -- (laughter) -- can't find that shoe, Mr. President. (Laughter.) It's a little --
MRS. BUSH: I always think -- but they're good at focus.
MRS. OBAMA: Very focused. Focus. (Laughter.) But I think that that’s the -- and we as women cannot underestimate the value of what we bring, and I think that’s what young girls are taught -- that their voices aren't important; be small, be quiet.
MRS. BUSH: The way we look is more important --
MRS. OBAMA: The way they look is more important --
MRS. BUSH: -- than what they learn and say.
MRS. OBAMA: And we are missing 50 percent of the intellect that could go -- and needs to go to -- that’s true. But I want to keep it fair. I don’t want the men to feel too --
MS. ROBERTS: Left out.
MRS. OBAMA: -- lesser.
MS. ROBERTS: You know, you talked -- just briefly mentioned the campaign trail. And of course, both of you spent a great deal of time on the campaign trail, and wives -- and it has been wives so far -- are sort of in the role of validators, character witnesses for their husbands on the trail. But then you get to the White House and you have another role, which seemed to me to be incredibly difficult, which is that sometimes you have to be the only truth teller.
Now, this is true of all spouses to some degree, but when I have to tell my husband the truth, there's not his political future or the peace of the world riding on it.
MRS. OBAMA: It's just "that tie looks bad." (Laughter.)
MS. ROBERTS: So how do you deal with sometimes being the only person who can tell your husband the truth?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I have that famous story -- I think I told it to the first ladies last year in New York -- about how Barbara Bush, my mother-in-law, said, don’t criticize George's speeches -- (laughter) -- because she criticized her George's speech and he came home for weeks afterwards with letters saying it was the best speech he'd ever given. (Laughter.)
So I took her advice -- this was years ago when George was running for Congress -- and we were driving into our driveway after a campaign event in another town. We were just driving up, and he said, how was my speech? And I said, well, it wasn't really very good, and he drove into the garage wall. (Laughter and applause.)
But I think you have to be really careful, actually -- (laughter) -- with -- tells him the truth. Actually, the President --
Remarks by First Lady Michelle Obama and First Lady Laura Bush in a Conversation at the African First Ladies Summit
Serena Hotel
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
9:56 A.M. SAT
MS. ROBERTS: What a great occasion, and what a tremendous honor for me to be here. Thank you so very, very much for inviting me to come to Tanzania. And thank you, Mrs. Kikwete, for hosting this. This is very -- it's important to do.
President Obama said in South Africa on Sunday, quoting the best possible source -- his mother -- (laughter) -- he said that you can measure how well a country does by how it treats its women. And, of course, President Obama's mother said that long before we had the data -- and we now have tons and tons of data to show that the single two biggest factors in development are the education of girls and the economic empowerment of women.
And for all the reasons that you've just delineated, Mrs. Bush -- the importance of the education of girls and the empowerment of women. So my hat's off to all of you, and especially the first ladies of Africa -- who are wearing wonderful hats, by the way -- because you work on these issues every day in your countries, pushing and prodding the powers that be -- and yes, your husbands -- to do the right things; to help your countries by helping the women and girls in your countries. So congratulations to you.
And this is a session where we are going to have some congratulations and also some learning. And in that spirit, I was going to start by saying, why can't the guys get together like this, but now they are getting together. (Laughter.) They're getting together this morning; I think they've probably taken their example from you.
MRS. OBAMA: They're learning from us as women. (Laughter.)
MS. ROBERTS: Exactly. But you know, this question of "First Lady" has always been somewhat fraught. You quoted Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Bush, but it really -- particularly, I know in the United States, Americans have always been a little bit wary about first ladies -- they're not elected, and they can't be fired -- (laughter) -- and they have a whole lot of power. But it can also be a little confining, I think is a fair way to put it.
Martha Washington, our first First Lady, wrote in the first year that she was First Lady, she wrote to her niece that she felt like a "Chief State Prisoner." (Laughter.) But she was able to do good -- she lobbied for all of those veterans that she had been to camp with through the Revolutionary War. And people don’t realize that first ladies have been doing that kind of thing from Martha Washington --
MRS. OBAMA: Absolutely.
MS. ROBERTS: And, Mrs. Obama, you talked about -- you've talked about, wherever you go, there's a light that shines, and that you're able to shine that light on something that needs attention that wouldn’t otherwise get it. Talk about that a little bit.
MRS. OBAMA: That’s absolutely true. I always joke that we have probably the best jobs in the world because, unlike our husbands who have to react and respond to crisis on a minute-by-minute basis -- they come into office with a wonderful, profound agenda, and then they're faced with the reality. (Laughter.)
On the other hand, we get to work on what we're passionate about. And I think that that’s something that I would encourage all first ladies to never lose sight of. You have an opportunity to speak to your passions and to really design and be very strategic about the issues you care most about. And I just found it just a very freeing and liberating opportunity.
MS. ROBERTS: No state prisoner? (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: No, there are prison elements to it. (Laughter.) But it's a really nice prison, so --
MRS. BUSH: But with a chef. (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: You can't complain. But there is definitely elements that are confining.
MS. ROBERTS: And she said that before tweeting and cell phones.
MRS. OBAMA: That’s right, 24-hour media.
MS. ROBERTS: And she could cover her hair with that cap. (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: Right. But being able to pursue our passions and do things that not only help our country and connect us with the rest of the world, it's a great privilege. So while people are sort of sorting through our shoes and our hair -- (laughter) -- whether we cut it or not --
MRS. BUSH: Whether we have bangs.
MRS. OBAMA: Whether we have bangs. (Laughter.) Who would have thought? I didn’t call that one. (Laughter.)
MRS. BUSH: I said that just because our daughter, Barbara, cut bangs at the same time Michelle did. They commiserated --
MRS. OBAMA: I was doing what Barbara was doing. (Laughter.) I was just following her lead. But we take our bangs and we stand in front of important things that the world needs to see. And eventually, people stop looking at the bangs and they start looking at what we're standing in front of.
MRS. BUSH: We hope.
MRS. OBAMA: They do, and that’s the power of our roles.
MS. ROBERTS: Mrs. Bush, you quoted, again, Lady Bird Johnson, talking about, I have a podium and I'm going to use it. But it's a unique role, and there must be a learning curve. And I remember as you were leaving the White House, you said that at first you were "dense" -- (laughter) -- about how hard it was; how the role is really not something that you understood the power of.
MRS. BUSH: Well, and I should have understood it, because I had a mother-in-law who was a First Lady. I had watched her, of course, the whole time she served in public office with her husband, my father-in-law, President Bush. And so, I really had an advantage that -- the only other First Lady that’s had this advantage was Louisa Adams, whose mother-in-law had been first lady as well.
So I really did come to the White House knowing a lot about the White House and knowing where things were, and we even knew the staff -- the butlers and the ushers -- because we had stayed there so often with President Bush and Barbara. But what I didn’t really understand was how people would listen to the First Lady.
And right after attacks of September 11th when -- I gave the presidential radio address to talk about women in Afghanistan. And right after that, I was in a department store with my daughter, Jenna -- she was a freshman in college and I was in Austin seeing her -- and we want to a department store. And the women who sold cosmetics at the department store said, thank you so much, Ms. Bush, thank you for speaking for the women in Afghanistan. And that was the first time it really occurred to me that people really did hear me, and that I really did have that podium that Lady Bird Johnson knew about and had told us about.
And so, I want to encourage every first lady to speak out and speak up and let people know, because people are watching and they are listening. And you can be so constructive for your country if you speak up about issues that you think are important.
MS. ROBERTS: Did you have an experience like that?
MRS. OBAMA: Absolutely, but I just want to take a moment to commend Mrs. Bush, because she and her staff helped my team with that transition. And that’s a powerful lesson for other leaders, is that there's a lot of give and take when you're campaigning, but when the dust settles, we are all in this together. And Laura has been just so helpful. Her Chief of Staff, Anita McBride, and many of the team members left notes for my staff. My chief of staff calls Anita on a regular basis -- (laughter) -- I think it's daily or weekly or something like that.
But having your predecessors be people who are willing to extend themselves on behalf of the country, to help with that transition makes the world of difference. But nothing prepares you. (Laughter.) Nothing prepares you for this role. I mean, it is so startling that the transition of power in the United States happens so quickly that you don’t have access to the house until the President takes the oath of office.
So, literally --
MRS. BUSH: During the inaugural parade -- one family moves out and the next family moves in. (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: Literally. And I remember walking into that house and I didn’t even know where the bathrooms were. (Laughter.) But I had to get ready for a ball. (Laughter.) It was like, and I've got to look nice? It's like, what door is this, and you're opening up all these doors, and you can't find your toothpaste, you don’t know where your kids are. (Laughter.) So that’s day one.
MRS. BUSH: Exactly.
MS. ROBERTS: That’s a daunting experience. One of the things -- we did ask the first ladies of Africa if they wanted to submit some questions, and one of the things that was true throughout the questions was the sense of continuity; that -- was there a way to keep your efforts going after the spotlight does go away. Now, Mrs. Bush, is this one of your ways of doing that?
MRS. BUSH: Yes, this is. But for George and me, through the Bush Institute, we're able to focus on four areas that were so important to us when George was President.
When you are President, every issue comes to the desk of the President of the United States. First ladies have it a little bit easier because we can choose specific issues to focus on, but now that we're home, through the Bush Institute -- the policy institute that’s part of our Bush Presidential Center at SMU -- we are able to continue to work on issues that were important to us.
MS. ROBERTS: And you said, Mrs. Obama, that you want your issues to have a lasting effect, so how do you do that?
MRS. OBAMA: Four to eight years is really a blink of an eye. And you often find that you're just starting to get your teeth into your issues, and then it's time to go. But none of the issues --
MS. ROBERTS: -- your children.
MRS. OBAMA: That’s true, that’s true. (Laughter.) That’s absolutely true. But none of the work that we do and any of us does will be concluded at the end of a term. I tell the young people that I work with around health, the military families that I support, that for me, these issues are -- I say a forever proposition.
This isn't work that I'm just doing
(Audio drops out.)
MRS. OBAMA: -- that I find in this position that there are girls around the world who are looking to us and how we behave and how we carry on our issues. And they're going to be watching us for decades to come.
MS. ROBERTS: There's that prisoner thing again.
MRS. OBAMA: There it is. (Laughter.) Keeps coming --
MRS. BUSH: But there are things that you could establish, like the National Book Festival that I started. I'm the librarian, and so it was a very obvious sort of thing for me to start. I started a Texas book festival in Dallas -- I mean, in Austin, when George was governor, and then started one that the Library of Congress now runs. And so it continues to go on.
But Michelle's right -- we'll never finish with education. We'll never get to rub our hands together and say, oh, we took care of that. There will be another little class of kindergartners. And it's something we'll always work on.
MS. ROBERTS: Well, again, it's like child-raising. Yes, it's like child-raising.
MRS. BUSH: Exactly -- it's never over.
MS. ROBERTS: But, Mrs. Bush, you all talked about the -- agenda and it gets disrupted, but your agenda got disrupted too. And you were on Capitol Hill about to testify before Ted Kennedy's committee about education when September 11th --
MRS. BUSH: That’s right. I mean, of course, things happen that you don’t expect, like what happened to us in the United States on September 11th. And the National Book Festival that I founded, it -- just then the weekend before -- the Saturday before that, September 8th. And then I was scheduled -- in fact, I went onto Capitol Hill on the morning of September 11th because I was going to brief the Senate Education Committee on a summit that I had hosted that summer on early childhood education, and got to the Capitol and joined Senator Kennedy in his office then as we watched on television and started to see the towers fall. And we knew -- he knew and I knew -- that everything had changed for us and for our country, really.
And that’s what happens to presidents also; those kinds of issues come up that you don’t expect, and it changes your whole focus. In fact, in our new presidential museum, the very first part of it is everything that we thought we would be working on -- tax cuts, the book festival, the faith-based and community service projects, tee ball on the South Lawn of the White House -- (laughter) -- our first state dinner, which was with Mexico -- which is where we really expected to spend a lot of our time in the Americas because we were from a border state -- and then September 11th --
MS. ROBERTS: And that’s how you got involved with the women of Afghanistan.
MRS. BUSH: That’s right.
MS. ROBERTS: One of the questions that has come in from the South African -- or from the African first ladies refers to both of you as the mothers of girls -- and you are now the grandmother of a girl.
MRS. BUSH: That’s right, the grandmother of another girl -- baby Margaret Laura. (Applause.)
MS. ROBERTS: And the question of the education of girls -- and you, of course, know how important it is in your own lives, but as I alluded to earlier, one of the things we now have just so much data on is that if you educate a girl, you can save a country. And the first ladies here are saying, what can you do to work with them globally for the education of girls?
MRS. BUSH: Well, we both obviously spend a lot of time on education, especially the education of girls. But the fact is, in the United States, now more girls are graduating from high school than boys. And more girls are in college and more girls are in masters programs -- women are -- than boys. And that --
(Audio interruption.)
MRS. OBAMA: -- Mandela's most important quote of the millions of things he has said is that education is probably the most powerful weapon for change. But a lot of our kids don’t understand that. In the United States, many of them take it for granted. Many of them have a mindset that they can't do it because they've been grown up to be taught that they can't.
So there's a large part of my initiative that’s really trying to get into the heads of these young people and use my story as an example of what -- the power of education. And I tell kids all across the country, I want them to look at me not as the First Lady, but as one of them.
I was a girl who grew up on the South Side of Chicago, my parents didn’t have much money, but they invested in my education. And they invested in my education as equally as they did my brother; there was no different bar. And as a result of that training and preparation, I have had opportunities and I am sitting here now as First Lady of the United States of America because of education. (Applause.)
MS. ROBERTS: It was -- one of the things that the PEPFAR program is doing is not just reaching -- not just treating people -- which is, of course, wonderful -- but getting to the orphans and vulnerable children. I was in -- Ethiopia with Save The Children where this 13-year-old girl that had been through our program stood up and started talking about what was needed in the community, and then the local minister from that region told her she was crazy and she just stood right back up and just went -- and I -- you go, girl. And that really does make a difference in the future.
MRS. BUSH: Well, it is important to reach parents as well. So the parents know that they need to make sure their children are educated -- in whatever way they can.
We know from research that mothers who can bring in a little bit of money, they're more likely to spend their money on their fees for their children's education and on their uniforms and others things they need to go to school. So all of it really works together -- the economic empowerment as well as just the understanding of how important education is.
MRS. OBAMA: And I just want to take a moment to recognize Mama Kikwete's work educating female orphans here, the school she has started. (Applause.) I got an opportunity to sit with some of the children and watch a cultural program. But there are so many young girls that don’t have families, they don’t have role models. And as Mama Kikwete understands, they need a safe place to land, a place where they can get food and shelter and love and direction.
So I applaud Mama Kikwete and all the first ladies who are providing that kind of safe harbor for our young girls. So, congratulations. (Applause.)
MS. ROBERTS: Well, you talk about the role models, and you talked about yourselves as role models, but, Mrs. Bush, you said at one point, I think that our first ladies are a lot more complicated than they get treated in the media. I suspect every first lady here would agree with that. Why do you think that is? Why do you think that it's always those sort of --
MRS. BUSH: Well, I think -- in the United States, it has a lot to do with the way you look. That’s a lot of the discussion about women. That’s a problem everywhere in the United States -- for girls as well. The way you look -- girls worry about all sorts of problems that they shouldn’t have to worry about. They should be worried about what they're doing and how they're being educated instead of whether they look pretty or they look sexy. (Applause.)
But that’s the way we treat women, sadly. And it's obviously when you read in the press -- I mean, it's like talking about the bangs, or somebody writing about them, really -- worse -- the press writing about them.
MS. ROBERTS: Do you think you get put in a box?
MRS. BUSH: Yes, a little bit.
MRS. OBAMA: Absolutely. I constantly get asked, especially in the first term, are you more like Laura Bush, or are you more like Hillary Clinton? And I'm like, is that it? That’s all I -- (laughter) --
MRS. BUSH: Exactly the problem -- everyone said -- reporters -- are you Hillary Clinton or Barbara Bush? And I always just said, well, I think I'll be Laura Bush; I do Laura Bush pretty well, having grown up as her. (Laughter.)
MRS. OBAMA: But this is also why it's important for us to make sure that more women use their voices and their power. Because we know, as women, that we're not that complicated, but we are complex. We are deep, diverse, enlightened people in the universe. And the world will be better off when our voices are at the table.
We just bring a different perspective. We are mothers. We are nurturers. We have to juggle a lot. I love my husband, but sometimes when he has, like, five things to do at one time, it's funny to watch it. (Laughter.) You don’t know where you jacket is right now -- (laughter) -- can't find that shoe, Mr. President. (Laughter.) It's a little --
MRS. BUSH: I always think -- but they're good at focus.
MRS. OBAMA: Very focused. Focus. (Laughter.) But I think that that’s the -- and we as women cannot underestimate the value of what we bring, and I think that’s what young girls are taught -- that their voices aren't important; be small, be quiet.
MRS. BUSH: The way we look is more important --
MRS. OBAMA: The way they look is more important --
MRS. BUSH: -- than what they learn and say.
MRS. OBAMA: And we are missing 50 percent of the intellect that could go -- and needs to go to -- that’s true. But I want to keep it fair. I don’t want the men to feel too --
MS. ROBERTS: Left out.
MRS. OBAMA: -- lesser.
MS. ROBERTS: You know, you talked -- just briefly mentioned the campaign trail. And of course, both of you spent a great deal of time on the campaign trail, and wives -- and it has been wives so far -- are sort of in the role of validators, character witnesses for their husbands on the trail. But then you get to the White House and you have another role, which seemed to me to be incredibly difficult, which is that sometimes you have to be the only truth teller.
Now, this is true of all spouses to some degree, but when I have to tell my husband the truth, there's not his political future or the peace of the world riding on it.
MRS. OBAMA: It's just "that tie looks bad." (Laughter.)
MS. ROBERTS: So how do you deal with sometimes being the only person who can tell your husband the truth?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I have that famous story -- I think I told it to the first ladies last year in New York -- about how Barbara Bush, my mother-in-law, said, don’t criticize George's speeches -- (laughter) -- because she criticized her George's speech and he came home for weeks afterwards with letters saying it was the best speech he'd ever given. (Laughter.)
So I took her advice -- this was years ago when George was running for Congress -- and we were driving into our driveway after a campaign event in another town. We were just driving up, and he said, how was my speech? And I said, well, it wasn't really very good, and he drove into the garage wall. (Laughter and applause.)
But I think you have to be really careful, actually -- (laughter) -- with -- tells him the truth. Actually, the President --
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AT DINNER IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by President Obama in an Exchange of Dinner Toasts -- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
State House
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
8:58 PM EAT
PRESIDENT OBAMA: President Kikwete, Madam First Lady, distinguished guests -- on behalf of myself and Michelle, our delegation, our daughters -- we want to thank you for the incredible warmth and hospitality with which you've greeted us throughout the day. We could not be more grateful.
I am not the first American leader to visit this beautiful country. Other Presidents and prominent citizens have come before me. We just came from South Africa, where Robert Kennedy famously spoke of how every time we stand up for an ideal, we send out a "tiny ripple of hope." Less known is that after that trip to South Africa, Robert Kennedy also came here to Tanzania. It was a little different back then. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, rode in the back of an open truck. The Secret Service has me and Michelle inside a fortified limousine. We call it "The Beast." (Laughter.) As Kennedy's truck made its way through the crowds, he picked up two boys and let them ride alongside them. The Secret Service doesn't let me do these things. (Laughter.) When Kennedy came, it was a public holiday here. I apologize to Tanzanians that you all had to work today. (Laughter.)
But while these times have changed, the good feelings stay the same. We've been deeply touched by the welcome and the warm wishes from the Tanzanian people along the streets as we came in here with you tonight. Dar es Salaam means "harbor of peace," and we thank you for sharing that sense of peace and brotherhood for which this country and its people have long been known.
Mr. President, you've shown wisdom and strength in seeking reforms so that more Tanzanians can enjoy progress, more opportunity. And like me, you're strengthened by a woman who is a leader in her own right. (Applause.) I am told that Mama Kikwete is fond of a traditional Tanzanian saying -- "My neighbor's child is my child." And that sentiment I think also captures the feeling, the partnership between -- our two countries must have. We live thousands of miles apart, but as fellow human beings, we share a sense of obligation to each other, especially to the youngest among us.
So you might say an American child is my child. We might say a Tanzanian child is my child. In this way, both of our nations will be looking after all of our children and we'll be living out the vision of President Nyerere. The core values that he proclaimed for Tanzania also describe what both our countries seek -- wisdom, unity, and peace -- Hekima, Umoja, na Amani. (Applause.)
So what I'd like to do is to propose a toast -- if I can get my water here -- to our gracious Tanzanian hosts, to our Tanzanian friends and to wisdom, unity and peace that we all seek in the world. Cheers.
Remarks by President Obama in an Exchange of Dinner Toasts -- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
State House
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
8:58 PM EAT
PRESIDENT OBAMA: President Kikwete, Madam First Lady, distinguished guests -- on behalf of myself and Michelle, our delegation, our daughters -- we want to thank you for the incredible warmth and hospitality with which you've greeted us throughout the day. We could not be more grateful.
I am not the first American leader to visit this beautiful country. Other Presidents and prominent citizens have come before me. We just came from South Africa, where Robert Kennedy famously spoke of how every time we stand up for an ideal, we send out a "tiny ripple of hope." Less known is that after that trip to South Africa, Robert Kennedy also came here to Tanzania. It was a little different back then. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, rode in the back of an open truck. The Secret Service has me and Michelle inside a fortified limousine. We call it "The Beast." (Laughter.) As Kennedy's truck made its way through the crowds, he picked up two boys and let them ride alongside them. The Secret Service doesn't let me do these things. (Laughter.) When Kennedy came, it was a public holiday here. I apologize to Tanzanians that you all had to work today. (Laughter.)
But while these times have changed, the good feelings stay the same. We've been deeply touched by the welcome and the warm wishes from the Tanzanian people along the streets as we came in here with you tonight. Dar es Salaam means "harbor of peace," and we thank you for sharing that sense of peace and brotherhood for which this country and its people have long been known.
Mr. President, you've shown wisdom and strength in seeking reforms so that more Tanzanians can enjoy progress, more opportunity. And like me, you're strengthened by a woman who is a leader in her own right. (Applause.) I am told that Mama Kikwete is fond of a traditional Tanzanian saying -- "My neighbor's child is my child." And that sentiment I think also captures the feeling, the partnership between -- our two countries must have. We live thousands of miles apart, but as fellow human beings, we share a sense of obligation to each other, especially to the youngest among us.
So you might say an American child is my child. We might say a Tanzanian child is my child. In this way, both of our nations will be looking after all of our children and we'll be living out the vision of President Nyerere. The core values that he proclaimed for Tanzania also describe what both our countries seek -- wisdom, unity, and peace -- Hekima, Umoja, na Amani. (Applause.)
So what I'd like to do is to propose a toast -- if I can get my water here -- to our gracious Tanzanian hosts, to our Tanzanian friends and to wisdom, unity and peace that we all seek in the world. Cheers.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK APPROVES $1.5 BILLION TO HELP U.S. EXPORTS TO AFRICA
FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANKEx-Im Bank Approves Record $1.5 Billion in Financing of U.S. Exports to Sub-Saharan Africa in First Three Quarters of FY 2012
Ex-Im Bank Expands Cover Policy in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Angola
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the first three quarters of FY 2012, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) approved a historic $1.5 billion in financing to support U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa, surpassing the previous record of $1.4 billion for the entire year in FY 2011.
The increase was driven by export growth in several sectors, including machinery, vehicles and parts, commodities and aircraft. Two of the top markets for U.S. exports in the region are South Africa and Nigeria, which are among Ex-Im Bank’s nine key country markets.
"Proportionately, Ex-Im Bank supports more U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa than it does to the world at large. Last year, we financed 6.7 percent of U.S. exports to this region. With this new record in sub-Saharan authorizations already achieved in FY 2011, we are on target to increase that percentage," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg.
"Sub-Saharan Africa is a priority region because many countries have strong prospects for long-term economic growth and infrastructure development. We want to help more U.S. exporters increase their sales to this emerging region," he added.
In 2012, Ex-Im Bank expanded its cover policies in four sub-Saharan African countries: Cameroon (opened for long-term in the public sector), Ethiopia (opened for short-term and medium-term in both the public and private sectors), Tanzania (opened for long-term in the public sector) and Angola (opened for long-term in the private sector). The cover policies changes were approved by the Bank’s board of directors, following upon country-risk upgrades determined through an interagency country-risk review process.
Ex-Im Bank Chairman Hochberg, Vice Chair Wanda Felton and Bank staff conducted a business-development mission in sub-Saharan Africa from August 6 – 10, visiting South Africa and Mozambique. The trip included participation in the U.S.-South Africa Strategic Dialogue with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pretoria on August 7.
On August 7, Chairman Hochberg signed a Declaration of Intent with the Industrial Development Corp. of South Africa Ltd. (IDC), indicating Ex-Im Bank’s interest in financing up to $2 billion of U.S. technologies, products and services to South Africa’s energy sector, with an emphasis on clean-energy technologies.
Recent Ex-Im Bank success stories in sub-Saharan Africa:
In April, Ex-Im Bank authorized a $37.2 million loan guarantee to support the export of U.S. road-construction equipment and related services by Hoffman International Inc. in Piscataway, N.J., to the Republic of Cameroon. Ex-Im Bank is guaranteeing a medium-term loan from Societe Generale in New York, N.Y., to Cameroon’s Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development. The financing will support the purchase of 150 new and used machines produced by U.S. manufacturers that include Mack Trucks Inc., Terex Corp., Caterpillar Inc. and Grove US LLC.
In June, Ex-Im Bank approved a $7 million loan guarantee supporting the export of dredging equipment and spare parts from Dredging Supply Co., in Reserve. La., to Japaul Oil and Maritime Services PLC in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Ex-Im Bank is guaranteeing a medium-term loan from RB International Finance (USA) LLC in Bethel, Conn., to Japaul Oil and Maritime Services for the purchase of the equipment. The foreign buyer’s primary business is oil and maritime services in the upstream segment of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The U.S. exporter, Dredging Supply Co., specializes in manufacturing custom-designed, portable dredges for a variety of uses. The company has a total of approximately 125 employees at its facilities in Reserve, La.; Poplarville, Miss.; Greenbush, Mich.; and Stoneboro, Pa.
About Ex-Im Bank:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers $1.9 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 -- an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales -- also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
EX-IM BANK RENEWS $100 MILLION AFRICA INSURANCE INITIATIVE
FROM: EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Cover Policy Expansions Coming in Three African Countries
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today announced a three-year renewal of the Bank’s Short-Term Africa Initiative (STAI) that provides export-credit insurance for U.S. exporters selling to 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, up to a program limit of $100 million. The initiative is renewed through March 31, 2015.
The Bank also anticipates expanding the availability of its export financing in three sub-Saharan African countries: Cameroon, Ethiopia and Tanzania. Ex-Im Bank’s board of directors is expected to authorize cover-policy expansions for each respective country in May. The changes will be made possible by risk-assessment upgrades that were recently approved through a federal interagency review.
“Sub-Saharan Africa offers great, untapped potential for U.S. companies looking to grow by increasing their foreign sales. Through Ex-Im’s initiative, the U.S. government is opening markets throughout this region,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “We encourage more exporters to enter these markets now to establish a presence that can lead to follow-on business for years to come.”
Hochberg added that the financing risks of many sub-Saharan markets have improved significantly and are lower than commonly perceived. He noted that the Bank has had an excellent experience of repayment in these markets in recent years.
“Since 2002, Ex-Im Bank has authorized $4 billion to support U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa, and we’ve netted more than $150 million in fees,” Chairman Hochberg said. “Ex-Im’s net loss rate in the region is 2 percent, with our fees earning 2.5 times more than the claims we’ve received. This is a very solid repayment record. We want more U.S. exporters to initiate or expand their business in Africa.”
In FY 2011, Ex-Im Bank surpassed the $1 billion authorizations mark for the first time in sub-Saharan Africa, with almost $1.4 billion approved to support U.S. exports to the region. The Bank anticipates another strong authorizations year in FY 2012.
Under STAI, Ex-Im Bank provides support for short-term transactions (repayment terms of up to 180 days, exceptionally up to 360 days) in markets where coverage would not be available under the Bank’s standard cover policy, which is normally based upon credit-risk analysis for medium-term transactions (repayment terms up to seven years).
Currently, Ex-Im’s insurance on all short-term STAI country transactions is available only under the Bank’s single-buyer insurance policy, which is a select-risk authorization. Existing Ex-Im multibuyer policyholders with a diverse spread of country and buyer risk are also eligible but must submit separate single-buyer policy applications for each STAI country buyer. However, under the initiative’s renewal, exporters having favorable experience with highly creditworthy STAI country buyers may have these buyers endorsed to their multibuyer policy.
Ex-Im’s insurance is available to support U.S. exports of a wide range of goods, including consumer items, spare parts, raw materials, agricultural commodities, and construction and mining equipment, among others. The insurance covers irrevocable letters of credit, promissory notes and open-account repayment terms that enable the exporter to extend short-term financing to the foreign buyer. Policies are also available for eligible U.S. banks.
About Ex-Im Bank:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers $1.9 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 -- an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales -- also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country.
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