HOME HEALTH CARE COMPANY OWNER SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR ROLE IN $6.5 MILLION MEDICARE FRAUD

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Monday, September 8, 2014

Owner of Home Heath Care Company Sentenced to 75 Months in Prison for $6.5 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

The owner and operator of a Miami home health care company was sentenced to 75 months in prison today for her participation in a $6.5 million Medicare fraud scheme involving the now defunct home health care company, Nestor’s Health Services Inc. (Nestor Home Health).

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Derrick Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office, made the announcement.   U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. of the Southern District of Florida imposed the sentence.

Cruz Sonia Collado, 64, of Homestead, Florida, was an owner and operator of Nestor Home Health, a Miami home health care agency that purported to provide home health and physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.   On June 23, 2014, Collado pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to offer and pay health care kickbacks and to defraud the United States, and one count of offering and paying health care kickbacks.   In addition to her prison term, Collado was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $6,536,657 in restitution.  

According to court documents, Collado paid kickbacks and bribes to patient recruiters in return for the recruiters providing patients to Nestor Home Health for home health care and therapy services that were medically unnecessary and, in many instances, not provided.   Collado then fraudulently billed the Medicare program for home health care services on behalf of the recruited patients.  

From March 2009 through at least January 2014, Nestor Home Health submitted more than $6.5 million in false claims for home health services.  Medicare paid Nestor Home Health more than $6.1 million for these fraudulent claims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.   This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Anne P. McNamara and A. Brendan Stewart of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

WASTEWATER GETS A COLD

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Harnessing the power of viruses to improve wastewater treatment

Researcher developing a system to isolate and replicate a natural phenomenon 

that removes pollutants and other contaminants

Just as certain viruses infect humans, there also are viruses that infect only bacteria. Unlike human viruses, however, which are non-discriminatory and will infect any number of different people, these viruses, known as bacteriophages, are "host-specific,'' meaning each will attack only one particular bacteria.

"Wherever bacteria exist, there are bacteriophages,'' says Ramesh Goel, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Utah. "If we go to any wetland, or streams or wastewater treatment process, bacteria are there, and so are bacteriophages."

Goel believes he can put this phenomenon to good use.

The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist, who studies the microbial ecology of natural and engineered systems, particularly those that use microbes to remove pollutants and other contaminants from waste water, is trying to harness the power of bacteriophages to rid treated wastewater of problematic bacteria that cause operational problems during treatment.

The use of bacteria in wastewater treatment has become increasingly popular in recent years, but it is not without challenges. Certain bacteria involved in the process, for example, called filamentous bacteria, continue to float on the surface of the water when the treatment is complete, rather than settle on the bottom where they can be removed through a simple physical process known as gravity settling.

"On the one hand, we use the bacteria to treat the water, but some are not cooperating and create problems," Goel says. "We end up having bacteria in our final, treated water."

The problem-causing bacteria are non-toxic to humans, making them harmless, but can cause problems if the treated water is discharged into streams or rivers, where they will consume oxygen and pose a threat to aquatic life.

"The danger is in having them escape with the treated water,'' he says, adding that to otherwise kill the bacteria "requires a lot of chlorine,'' as well as other challenges.

Goel is developing a system to isolate and replicate the viruses that infect several filamentous bacteria known to cause settling problems in biological wastewater treatment processes.

"The idea is to use either single or a mixture of phages to kill unwanted filamentous bacteria up to their optimum concentration, a process we call phage therapy for filamentous bulking," he says. "We have been able to demonstrate phage therapy for filamentous bulking in laboratory scale reactors. The next challenge is to bring it into practice for full scale applications."

In a related project, Goel also is trying to use phages to solve the problem of biofilm formation in wastewater treatment systems that use membrane filtering, rather than gravity settling. During this process, which sends treated wastewater flowing through a membrane to separate it from bacteria, the bacteria often form biofilms on the surface of the membranes, which are substances that resemble slime, a problem known as biofouling. Goel hopes to use bacteriophages to eliminate biofilms, thus preventing biofouling, either by direct application of phages or by using intermediate chemicals produced by phages that are capable of degrading biofilm.

If successful in these water treatments, the use of bacteriophages "will have tremendous impact, unimaginable impact, since these are worldwide problems," he says.

Goel thinks there may be additional future practical applications for bacteriophages separate from wastewater treatment. He sees potential for them in the health field, for example, in drug delivery or in using them to treat external bacterial infections, such as on skin, or on medical devices, such as catheters, "which sometimes get biofilms," he says. "You end up using expensive chemicals. Could we use phages to remove these biofilms?

"Can we use phages to deliver drugs?" he adds. "There may be some antibiotics we want to deliver that aren't reaching the person--the phages will not only kill that particular bacteria, but deliver the drug. These are all new ideas we are exploring."

Goel is conducting this research under an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which he received in 2011. The award supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organization.

As part of the grant's educational component, Goel is hosting a number of local K-12 students in his lab, exposing them to the field of wastewater engineering and microbiology. He also is working with three women undergraduates in his lab; one of them, from the computer science department, is creating computer animations for public outreach.

"The whole idea is to use animations to create a virtual lab, something that will go beyond our borders and that we can share with other countries," he says. "The animations will show how phages infect bacteria, and we think they will really help students better understand these concepts."

-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Ramesh Goel
Related Institutions/Organizations
University of Utah

AG HOLDER ADDRESSES HISPANIC NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION CONVENTION

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks by Attorney General Eric Holder at the Hispanic National Bar Association 39th Annual Convention

Washington, D.C. ~ Friday, September 12, 2014

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

 Buenas tardes.   Muchas gracias por sus emotivas palabras y su calurosa bienvenida.

It’s a privilege to help welcome the Hispanic National Bar Association to our nation’s capital for your 39 th Annual Convention.   And it’s a great pleasure, as always, to be in such distinguished company.

I’d like to thank President [Miguel Alexander] Pozo and the entire HNBA leadership team – along with your Honorary Convention Chair, Ricardo Anzaldua; President [Fernando] Rivero, of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia; and all of this organization’s members – for everything you’ve done to bring us together this week.   I’d also like to congratulate the award recipients who are being honored for their leadership over the course of this Latina Commission Awards Luncheon.   And I want to recognize the law students, attorneys, and judges who make up this remarkable organization – and who have taken time away from their busy schedules and full dockets to take part in this important annual convention.

We come together today in a moment of great consequence – with critical challenges stretching before us.   Six decades after Hernandez v. Texas extended the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection to people of all races and backgrounds – and half a century since the passage of the Civil Rights Act finally codified American equality into American law – there’s no question that our nation has taken a range of extraordinary, once-unimaginable steps forward.   Yet recent headlines remind us that these advances have not put the issue of equal justice to rest.

On the contrary: from America’s heartland to our southwest border, the events that have captured attention and sparked debate over the course of this summer illustrate that the fight for equality, opportunity, and justice is not yet over.   These issues have not yet been relegated to the pages of history.   And although this is a struggle that predates our Republic, it poses challenges as contemporary as any others we currently face.

For over four decades, the HNBA has stood at the forefront of national efforts to confront these challenges – by working to increase diversity on the bench and bar.   By helping to educate the leaders of tomorrow.   By empowering members of America’s Latino communities.   And by fostering new opportunities for legal professionals of Hispanic heritage – and particularly Latinas in the law – so we can grow their ranks and ensure that their voices are heard from the chambers of our courts to the halls of Congress.

For me – and for my colleagues at every level of today’s Department of Justice – this work is also a personal and professional priority.   More than ten years ago, during my service as Deputy Attorney General, I worked hard to strengthen the Justice Department’s internal efforts to build a diverse and effective workforce.   When I returned to the Department as Attorney General, in 2009, I significantly expanded this work – because it not only improves our ability to draw on the skills and talents of everyone ; it also makes the Justice Department both more credible and more effective.   In fact, since I understand this convention includes a job fair, I can’t pass up the chance to urge all of the young and aspiring attorneys in this crowd to consider a career in public service – and coming to work for me.

Beyond the institution itself, my colleagues and I also are striving to bolster the legal profession at large – by opening its doors to women and men from every race, background, ethnicity, and walk of life.   According to the Pew Research Center, the Hispanic population in the United States currently exceeds 53 million people.   It has increased almost sixfold since around the time the HNBA was founded.   It’s doubled since the year 2000.   Yet statistics show that, of the approximately 1.2 million attorneys working in the U.S. today, fewer than 50,000 – that’s less than four percent – identify as Hispanic.

Although women and people of color have made up an increasing percentage of both licensed lawyers and law students in recent years, the law continues to lag far behind many other professions.   So we need to do everything in our power to ensure that the coming decades witness an uptick in the number of people of color, women, people with disabilities – and new immigrants – who find productive avenues into the legal field and the American workforce as a whole.   And once they have fair opportunities to compete for these jobs, we need to close the “pay gap” – and make sure every worker is compensated according to their skills and experience, not simply their gender or gender identity.

As the HNBA has made clear throughout its history, all of us – both collectively and as individuals – have more work to do: to tear down persistent barriers, to combat discrimination, and to uphold the civil rights to which every person is entitled.   In our comprehensive work to advance equality, we need to look far beyond law school campuses and workplaces.   We need to keep building upon the exemplary record of civil rights enforcement that the Justice Department has established over the last five and a half years.   We need to keep striving – through programs such as President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative – to address persistent opportunity gaps and ensure that all people can reach their full potential.   And we need to summon our collective experience as legal professionals – and our shared commitment as a nation – to tackle the urgent challenges faced by millions of people every day: from America’s immigrant communities to our military bases; from our places of worship to our financial markets; and from our voting booths to our border areas – where, as you know, a critical situation is unfolding as we speak.

Among the most pressing of our domestic challenges is the problem of unaccompanied young people traveling to the United States and entering the country illegally.   I know this is an issue with which we are all too familiar, and which has provoked intense discussion throughout the summer – both within, and far beyond, the United States.   In fact, earlier this week, I traveled to Mexico City to hold meetings with my counterparts from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.   And this was among the major items on our agenda.

As the chief law enforcement officials for each of the nations we serve, my colleagues and I agreed to create a high-level working group, staffed by representatives from each of our offices, to develop an integrated strategy to deal with this situation.   This working group will hold its first meeting in the coming weeks.   And they will help us formulate a coordinated plan of action.

But another potential solution to this problem is obvious: fixing our broken immigration system.   The Senate, on a bipartisan basis, has already passed a bill that would go a long way to doing just that. The issue is compelling, the solution is present and the need to reaffirm our commitment to remaining a nation of immigrants is critical.   This is who we are as an exceptional nation.   If we are to remain true to our heritage, we must fix our immigration system, bring people out of the shadows and establish a path to citizenship. There are a variety of ways in which much of this can be done and in the face of House inaction this Administration will proceed.   It will do so lawfully and in a manner that is consistent with our values.   We will, as Americans always have, seek to make our Union more perfect.

In the meantime – within America’s borders – the increasing numbers of unaccompanied children appearing in our immigration courts present an urgent challenge:   how to conduct immigration proceedings in an efficient manner while any claims for relief are presented as clearly as possible.   One way to address that challenge is to facilitate access to legal representation for these children.   Though these children may not have a Constitutional right to a lawyer, we have policy reasons and a moral obligation to insure the presence of counsel.   And that’s why the Justice Department began planning a legal aid program well before the recent surge of unaccompanied children.

Last July, President Obama announced the creation of a task force to expand national service, calling on federal agencies to meet that goal by creating volunteer opportunities that are aligned with agency priorities.   The Justice Department’s response to that call was clear.   By partnering with the Corporation for National and Community Service to design and implement a new legal aid program, the Department is protecting vulnerable populations while improving our operations and strengthening the delivery of Department services in their communities.

The first phase of this new program – known as “justice AmeriCorps” – was announced in June.   It will provide legal aid to children who make the long and often dangerous journey to the U.S. without a parent or legal guardian.   And this week, we are taking the next step in this work – by announcing approximately $1.8 million in grant awards to legal aid organizations in more than 15 cities around the country.

These grants will enable recipients to enroll approximately 100 lawyers and paralegals as justice AmeriCorps members, who – after extensive training in December – will begin to represent these children in our immigration courts in early 2015.   The justice AmeriCorps members will also help to identify children who have been victims of human trafficking or abuse – and, as appropriate, will refer them to support services and authorities responsible for investigating and prosecuting those who perpetrate such crimes.

This initiative reaffirms our allegiance to the values that have always shaped our pursuit of justice.   It will bolster the efficacy and efficiency of our immigration courts, empower new generations of aspiring attorneys and paralegals to serve their country, and provide important legal aid to some of the most vulnerable individuals who interact with our immigration system.   Most importantly, it will bring our system closer to our highest ideals – because the way we treat those in need, and particularly young people who may be fleeing from abuse, persecution, and violence, goes to the core of who we are as a nation.

Fortunately, thanks to the work that’s underway; the leadership of President Obama and other Administration officials; and the tireless efforts of nonpartisan groups like the Hispanic National Bar Association, it’s clear that we stand together this week – in defiance of gridlock and the narrow politics of the moment – truly “Unidos en Washington.”   We stand together in our assertion that civil rights are human rights – and they must be extended to all.   We stand together in our demand that equal work should be performed for equal pay – and our daughters deserve the same opportunities as our sons.   And we stand together in our conviction that it is both the right – and the responsibility – of every American to forge his or her own future; to build on the progress we’ve seen in recent decades; and to extend the promise of our great country until it includes every single person who dares, and dreams, to call this nation their home.

As we carry this work into the future, I want you to know how proud I am to count you as colleagues and partners.   Always remember that positive change is not inevitable.   It is a function of hard work and resilience.   I am confident that - together - we will make our great nation even more great, more just.   I look forward to everything we will achieve together in the months and years ahead.   And I thank you, once again, for all that you do.

West Wing Week: 9/12/14 or, "Meeting Those Threats with Strength and Res...

NSF VIDEO: SCIENCE NATION - EVEN HEALTHY CORALS HAVE VIRUSES

PRESS AVAILABILITY: SECRETARY KERRY AND EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAMEH SHOUKRY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Joint Press Availability With Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry

Press Availability

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

September 13, 2014

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) Today we had discussions, (inaudible) long discussions during which the U.S. Secretary met President Abdelfattah al-Sisi, and this was an opportunity for them to discuss bilateral relations in details and openly. And they addressed several issues regionally and on the global (inaudible), the situation in Iraq or Syria or Libya, in addition to developments related to the cease-fire in Gaza.

They also discussed the meeting that they held in – concerning terrorism and joint and common action in order to address the phenomena of terrorism in general, and also with respect to the spread of ISIS throughout Syria and Iraq. They also discussed the importance of the strategic relationship between the U.S. and Egypt, and they agreed on the importance of continuing this relationship and further enhancing in the service of the interests of both countries on the basis of mutual respect and also the status of the U.S. as a major global power and Egypt as a regional power. And they focused on the political scene and the ability of each party to positively impact the situation and reach a positive resolution to several issues in the region.

The discussions also addressed the Palestinian question, which is a central problem in the Middle East region, and there was agreement in opinion over the importance of resuming the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations leading up to the founding of a Palestinian state on Palestinian territory with Jerusalem – East Jerusalem as its capital. And there was agreement that resolving this problem will result in stability and the removal of several of the root causes of tension at the regional and global levels.

I would welcome Secretary Kerry, and I have had the opportunity to discuss several issues with him here in Egypt and also through the constant communication that we have together, and I would like to thank him for his cooperation, and I hope there would be certainly more opportunities in the future to continue our joint work in the interest of both countries. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you very much, Foreign Minister Shoukry, my friend Sameh. I’m very appreciative for that. I’m very appreciative for the welcome here. And indeed, Foreign Minister Shoukry and I are constantly in touch with each other, and I think we have a very strong working relationship which is now defining itself even in more initiatives that we will be working on together. I’m very pleased to be back here in Cairo and I’m very grateful to Foreign Minister Shoukry and President al-Sisi for their invitation to come back here in order to talk about the coalition that we are building to deal with ISIL, but also to deal with a number of other very complicated and important issues in the region, ranging from Gaza-Palestine to the Iran nuclear negotiations, Libya, and other issues.

I had an opportunity to meet this morning also with Secretary General Nabil Eraraby of the Arab League, and I want to thank the Secretary General for his continued commitment to peace and to security within the Arab world. The relationship that the United States and Egypt share has long been a critical part of the United States relationship with the entire region. And today, I reiterated to President al-Sisi and to Foreign Minister Shoukry the United States commitment and desire to see Egypt succeed in the many transitions that it currently faces. We will support Egypt as it undertakes significant economic reforms, as it holds parliamentary elections at near term, and as it works to follow through on its pledge to protect human rights, which we believe is an essential ingredient of stability.

We also pledged to continue to work closely with Egypt to advance our common strategic interests, a number of which were the centerpiece of our discussions here today. I reiterated to President al-Sisi and to Foreign Minister Shoukry how appreciative we are of Egypt’s leadership in brokering the Gaza cease-fire. Together, our nations and other international partners will continue to discuss the path forward for the two parties to be able to reconvene in Cairo, to work through the critical underlying issues that have stood in the way of an enduring cease-fire, and frankly have prevented it for too long.

We also discussed the clear need to support the elected government next door in Libya. Both Egypt and the United States understand that while our nations must continue to push for a peaceful resolution, ultimately, the Libyan people and their elected representatives are the only ones who can decide that it is time to resolve their conflicts through constructive political dialogue. And we hope they will make that decision as swiftly as possible. What we both know is they had an election, the election had an outcome, and everyone should respect the outcome of that election.

Our conversations also focused extensively on our shared fight against terrorism and extremism. Egypt is on the front lines of extremist threats, particularly when it comes to the extremist groups in the Sinai. And that is why, in an effort to support the Egyptian Government’s work to counter those threats, last month we announced our intention to deliver 10 Apache helicopters to the Egyptian military. The fact is that in today’s globalized world, it’s only a matter of time before the threat of terrorism anywhere becomes a threat of terrorism everywhere.

That has certainly been proven true in the case of ISIL. It is an organization whose brutality and sheer evil knows no bounds. ISIL claims to be fighting on behalf of Islam, but it actually has nothing to do with Islam. It is increasingly clear that its message of hate is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Muslims all around the world. I have heard this loud and clear from leader after leader in Muslim states that I have visited, and it is clear in the pronouncements of religious leaders around the world in meetings that I have had throughout the region this week, including the conference in Jeddah where I met with the leaders from Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and the GCC states. And we all met with the sole goal of discussing the global effort to take on ISIL and to continue to fight against terrorism.

As an intellectual and cultural capital of the Muslim world, Egypt has a critical role to play in publicly renouncing the ideology that ISIL disseminates. This was a very important feature of our discussions in Jeddah and again today here in Cairo. And it is something that the Egyptian religious establishments at Al Azhar and Dar al-Ifta – they both fully support and understand.

As President Obama explained earlier this week, we believe the only way to eliminate the ISIL threat is by building a global coalition that will support the Iraqi Government across a number of critical efforts, including by providing military support, but also – importantly, because this won’t be done by military alone – importantly, humanitarian aid, by addressing the illicit funding streams that come to ISIL, by stopping the flow of foreign fighters which all countries can become engaged in, and by repudiating the gross distortion of Islam that ISIL is spreading to whoever will listen.

So we’re very grateful that both Egypt and the Arab League have supported this coalition every step of the way. And in each of the meetings that I had today, we discussed how we could better accelerate the efforts in bringing more nations on board and in dividing up the responsibilities. We also discussed the urgent need to engage our international partners as well as Iraq’s diverse groups in supporting the new, inclusive Iraq Government. And this needs to be at the forefront of every aspect of the global coalition’s work.

Today, we discussed with President al-Sisi steps that Egypt can and will take with respect to Iraq. And I’m very pleased to say that today, Prime Minister Abadi, the new prime minister of Iraq, announced that they are taking some very specific steps to minimize the potential for any civilian casualties as they take on ISIL in populated areas.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Shoukry, Secretary General Elaraby, and I will meet again in Paris for the International Conference on Peace and Security in Iraq. And there, we will continue our work to move the coalition forward. Almost every country has an ability to play some kind of a role in this fight against ISIL, and to join this coalition one way or the other. And we are committed to working with nations in every corner of the globe to figure out in what way they can constructively contribute to the effort to push back against terrorism.

The bottom line is that terrorists like ISIL have no place in the modern world, but it’s up to the world to enforce that truth. Engaging the global community of nations in that effort is our goal in Paris, and it will be our goal at the United Nations General Assembly in several different events that will focus on Iraq and on ISIL and on foreign fighters. And it will be our goal, I am convinced, from our meetings today and over the last week – it will be our goal, in every meeting that we have on the international basis together, working to degrade and ultimately to defeat ISIL wherever it exists. Thank you.

MODERATOR: (In Arabic.)

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) (Inaudible.) My question is to John Kerry. U.S.-Egyptian relations have witnessed perhaps some (inaudible). But what is the future of these relations and what’s the strategic dimension in this relationship?

And my question to Minister Shoukry: There are meetings that are taking place (inaudible) countries and most of the UN. What is Egypt’s vision regarding what’s going on? And also what is its position towards the situation in Iraq and fighting terrorism? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Do you want me to go first now?

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: Please.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you for the question. As I think you know, I served in the United States Senate for 29 years, and many times as a senator, I came here to Egypt, to Cairo. So for many years, I have had a sense of the importance of Egypt. Egypt is one quarter of the population of the Arab world. And as I said in my comments a moment ago, Egypt is a cultural, an intellectual center as well as a critical leader with respect to this part of the world, and obviously, with its history, carries great importance on a global basis.

Egypt has been going through an enormous transition itself in these last few years. Most importantly, the people of Egypt have had a chance to vote and define their future. And President al-Sisi is now trying to work hard to implement that future, and the United States wants this government to succeed, because its success is important to the region, important to all Egyptians, obviously, and important to the world. Egypt is an ally, an important partner in regional security. Egypt had the courage to make peace years ago with Israel, and that brought great pain and suffering to Egypt, but it was a courageous act. It was the right thing to do. And today, Egypt is helping to broker a cease-fire to make peace a leader for stability and for the region.

So we have great hopes that this economic transition, this cultural, this political transition taking place will grow in its dimensions. And President al-Sisi reaffirmed to me today the commitment of Egypt to hold the parliamentary elections, the importance of moving forward on any number of fronts to stabilize, to attract capital, to bring business in, to create jobs, and to focus on the real business of governing. The United States will work with Egypt in that process because of our longstanding friendship of importance.

And yes, sometimes friends have a disagreement over one thing or another, but friends also understand the roots of their relationship and the reason for continuing to work for those things that are of common interest. That’s exactly what the United States and Egypt will continue to do.

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) (Inaudible) responsibility with respect to achieving stability in the Middle East and at a global level. This is an immediate interest to Egyptian national interest and reflects the desire of the Egyptian people to create a framework that would respond to its own needs and development and (inaudible), also to build a modern democratic state that would positively respond and react on its regional and international (inaudible).

The (inaudible) have put forward a vision for fighting terrorism and the rise of – and also to fight ISIL because Egypt believes that it’s very important for the world to continue their efforts strongly to fight this extremism and these terrorist actions that take Islam as a cover, when in reality, they seek to realize political gains and use military methods and barbaric methods. This cannot be in line with the (inaudible) of the modern times or the interest of the peoples of the region. We support all international effort to fight terrorism and we support these efforts and we will take all measures that are intended to eliminate this phenomena altogether, whether in Libya or any other part of the Arab world or in the African continent in particular.

With respect to the Libyan issue, on the 13th, we will hold a conference on Libya with the participation of our European partners who also look at the political structure that Egypt has proposed to find a resolution – political solution to the situation in Libya, and to also alert people to the threats associated with the use of military action. We are also considering the interests of the Libyan people and we hope that the conflicting parties would come together for a political solution. At the same time, we will also continue to support the legitimacy of the Libyan Government and parliament, because it’s the only true reflecting, of course, of the desire of the Libyan people who have elected, and that has been recognized also by the international community.

We hope that this support will assist the Libyan people and institutions in restoring their ability to control the future of Libya.

MODERATOR: And (inaudible), Jason from Reuters.

QUESTION: My first question is for Mr. Foreign Minister. Is there any evidence of Islamic states or ISIL linking up with Ansar either through teaching or other forms of cooperation, and is this a concern? And I just have a follow-up: From your perspective, should the coalition against ISIL be brought in doubt – or, sorry, be limited to Sunni Arabs? Should it include Iran?

And, sorry, one last follow-up question for Mr. Secretary: You keep raising human rights issues and Egypt’s leaders keep disregarding you, most notably when three Al Jazeera journalists were jailed a day after you called for their release. Isn’t it clear the Egyptians are disregarding your concerns because they understand you want their cooperation in counterterrorism?

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) With respect to the first part of the question and the relations between terrorist organization, we definitely monitor these relationships between the various organizations, and in the end, this – ideologically speaking, this organization is linked and these organizations share that common vision, and we don’t believe there’s a different – perhaps just in the tactics used by these organizations and the way they depict themselves to the international community.

But we believe that this extremist, exclusionary ideology is common among all terrorist organizations, and the cooperation is something we monitor, and we realize that they cross borders and defeat the idea of the national state, and they want to eliminate these states so that this extremist ideology will prevail. We believe also that this action and the elimination of terrorism is a collective responsibility for members of the international community, and we will take honest and credible steps in order to achieve this goal to prevent any form of funding or communication any (inaudible) between these organizations, and also to fight the ideas of these extremist organization. There should be agreement between members of the international community to eliminate these phenomena wherever they may be.

SECRETARY KERRY: Look, let me be clear. The United States doesn’t ever trade its concern for human rights for any other objective. It is always a concern. It’s an honest concern. And we had a frank discussion today about the concerns that have been expressed. I believe that President al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry and others are well aware of concerns that have been expressed and are, in fact, working at a number of things, including reviewing the demonstration law and other things that have been expressed as part of those concerns.

Now, just as in the United States, we have a separation of powers, so they have a separation of powers here with an independent judiciary. And I am personally confident that over the course of the next weeks, months, days – on an appropriate schedule that is controlled by Egyptians, not by me or anybody else complaining – that issues will be addressed as they ought to be. And I am confident that this is a concern shared by this government, and let’s just see how things play out in the months and days ahead.

Weekly Address: We Will Degrade and Destroy ISIL

NASA VIDEO: SCIENCECASTS: VISIT TO PLUTO

FTC CHARGES LEAD TO BAN AGAINST MARKETER OF 'FAT BURNER' DIET PILLS

 FROM:  U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

FTC Settlement Bans Marketer Behind ‘Fat Burner’ Diet Pills from Manufacturing, Marketing Weight-Loss Products

The former CEO and co-founder of an Atlanta-based marketing operation has agreed to settle FTC charges that he deceived consumers with promises that they would “Get High School Skinny” by taking Healthe Trim supplements that supposedly burned fat, increased metabolism, and suppressed appetite.

John Matthew Dwyer III, the co-founder of HealthyLife Sciences, LLC, has agreed to be banned from the weight-loss industry to settle FTC charges of deceptive advertising.

Dwyer and HealthyLife Sciences advertised that their Healthe Trim supplements – which were sold online and at CVS, GNC, and Walgreens for up to $65 for a month’s supply – would cause rapid and substantial weight loss of as much as 165 pounds, according to the FTC. HealthyLife Sciences sold an Original Formula that purportedly contained hoodia gordonii as well as formulas containing raspberry ketone, green coffee bean, and garcinia cambogia. The advertising relied heavily on consumer testimonials, which portrayed losing weight as easy.

“Losing weight is rarely easy, and it would be a miracle if a pill made it so,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Consumers should be skeptical when a product like this one claims to make weight loss easy.”

In radio and television ads, Dwyer and HealthyLife Sciences claimed Healthe Trim was clinically proven to cause weight loss, and would suppress users’ appetites and boost their metabolisms to help them lose weight without exercising or changing their daily routine. They used the tagline “Get High School Skinny,” and included testimonials from consumers who claimed that the weight was just “falling off.”

Under the settlements, Dwyer is banned from manufacturing and marketing weight-loss products. HealthyLife Sciences is banned from advertising that its products cause weight loss of two pounds or more a week for a month or more without dieting or exercise; cause substantial weight loss no matter what or how much the user eats; cause permanent weight loss; block the absorption of fat or calories to enable the user to lose substantial weight; safely enable users to lose more than three pounds per week for more than four weeks; cause substantial weight loss for all users; or cause substantial weight loss by wearing a product on the body or rubbing it into the skin. The FTC has previously issued guidance that these “gut check” claims are always false when made for dietary supplements, over-the-counter drugs, or patches, creams, wraps, and similar products worn on the body or rubbed into the skin.

The settlement with HealthyLife Sciences also requires that the company have two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trials to support other claims relating to weight loss, increased metabolism, or appetite suppression. Both Dwyer and HealthyLife Sciences are prohibited from claiming that any dietary supplement, food, or drug is effective unless they have competent and reliable scientific evidence to back up the claims. They also are prohibited from misrepresenting the results of any tests, studies, or research. And they are required to retain data from human clinical trials used to support their advertising claims.    

Consumers should carefully evaluate advertising for weight-loss products and for products that claim to cure diseases. For more information, see: Weight Loss & Fitness and Miracle Health Claims. Publishers, broadcasters, and marketers should consult Gut Check: A Reference Guide for Media on Spotting False Weight-Loss Claims.

The Commission vote to accept the proposed administrative consent orders for public comment was 5-0.

The FTC will publish a description of the consent orders in the Federal Register shortly. The orders will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through October 14, 2014, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent orders final. Interested parties can submit written comments electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in  the “Supplementary Information” section of the Federal Register notice.

The FTC is a member of the National Prevention Council, which provides coordination and leadership at the federal level regarding prevention, wellness, and health promotion practices. This case advances the National Prevention Strategy’s goal of increasing the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life.

NOTE: When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.

ARMY GEN. JACOBY'S REFELCTIONS ON 9-11

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Right:  Army Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, addresses nearly 700 service members and community leaders from across Colorado Springs at the 9/11 Commemoration held at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Sept. 11, 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Andy Bellamy  

ISIL Fight Fitting Backdrop to 9/11 Reflections, Jacoby Says
By Cheryl Pellerin
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2014 – International efforts of the United States to deal effectively and decisively with the scourge of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists is a fitting backdrop to reflections taken on a mountain in Colorado on the 13th anniversary of 9/11, the commander of U.S. Northern Command said today.

President Barack Obama unveiled a plan last night for the United States, along with an international coalition, to defeat the terrorist group.

Army Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., the commander of the 56-year-old North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, and U.S. Northern Command, established after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, spoke this afternoon during the first Colorado Springs Combined Military 9/11 Commemoration at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station in Colorado Springs.
NORAD is a binational military command formally established in 1958 by the United States and Canada to monitor and defend North American airspace. A maritime warning mission was added in 2006.

Canadian Defense Minster Rob Nicholson also spoke at the event, along with Melodie Homer, widow of United Airlines Flight 93 pilot LeRoy W. Homer Jr.
“As we work to build a coalition to confront the ISIS threat,” Jacoby said in his opening remarks, using an acronym by which the terrorists also are known, “we also reflect on how, on 9/11, America’s friends and allies stood by us shoulder to shoulder, and we can say with certainty that no one has stood by us closer than our Canadian partners.”

Jacoby introduced the Canadian defense minister by noting that Canada is leading the way in the world response to what he called “the latest manifestation of murderous extremist ideology.”

Truly, the general added, “we know no better friends than our Canadian neighbors.”

“Today we remember more than 2,700 Americans, 24 Canadians and more than 350 other victims from around the world who tragically lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001,” Nicholson said. Canadians were shocked at the audacity and cruelty of the attacks and horrified by the invasion of North America, the defense minister added, “a continent we believed was relatively safe and distant from the threat of terrorism.”

Swift reaction

The Canadian sense of security was shattered, but NORAD’s reaction was swift, he said. Nearly 200 armed aircraft were deployed into U.S. skies, and all nonessential U.S. air traffic was grounded. Canada responded by receiving 293 flights that were to have landed in the United States until the grounding order came.

“Canadians across the country opened up their hearts and homes to more than 33,000 stranded travelers,” Nicholson said, “offering them shelter, food and comfort. The actions of Canadians that day stand as a powerful example of the Canadian-U.S. relationship.”

U.S.-Canadian defense cooperation grew stronger during years of military engagement in Afghanistan, he added, and by the time Canada withdrew from Afghanistan in March, 40,000 of its men and women had fought there – the largest deployment of Canadian military personnel since World War II.
The two nations also work together to bring peace to the region during Russia’s aggressive military actions and provocation of Ukraine, and as participants in NATO’s reassurance measures to promote security and stability in central and eastern Europe, Nicholson said.

Both nations also work together at home, the defense minister added, intensifying their joint training and exercise regime and making important investments in counterterrorism and intelligence capabilities to better detect, prevent and address potential threats.

“This is why it is especially meaningful to be here at NORAD to mark the 13th anniversary of Sept. 11,” Nicholson said. “Seeing Canadian and American military personnel working side by side at this impressive facility is a testament to the fact that our defense partnership accords us greater security than we could ever achieve alone. We pledge to continue our work to reinforce our joint defense of the continent so that we may never see such a terrible day again.”
A widow remembers

Next, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, introduced Melodie Homer, widow of Leroy W. Homer Jr., first officer of United Airlines Flight 93.

The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, the crew and passengers of his flight attempted to overtake four hijackers before crashing into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, rather than its intended target, the U.S. Capitol.

Homer founded the Leroy W. Homer Foundation in 2002 in memory of her husband, a 1987 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. The foundation encourages young adults who wish to pursue aviation careers by awarding flight scholarships.

She’s president and founder of the foundation, works as a clinical nursing instructor and has 20 years of nursing experience in the United States and Canada, where she was born.

In her remarks, Homer described the day 13 years ago that her husband of more than three years left for work and never came home. Their daughter was 10 months old.

“To this day, I think it’s hard for us to conceptualize the loss of 2,973 lives,” she said. “Using airplanes as weapons of mass destruction to take innocent lives and destroy symbols of this country’s freedoms was unimaginable.”

Gratitude for protection

Both governments worked quickly, Homer added.

“Homeland Security was created, NORAD was working with the Canadian government to keep the airspace safe for North America, and I say on behalf of both countries, we are grateful for your protection and for keeping us safe for the past 13 years,” she said.

“On occasions such as this we are reminded that we do have to continue to be vigilant,” Homer added. “Those who wish to harm our way of life will never stop trying.”

As Homer finished her remarks, Jacoby stepped forward and presented her with a piece of granite that he described as “blasted from the heart of our beautiful Cheyenne Mountain.” He said the rock “represents the Cold War generation that had the strength and courage to prevail against the threat of that era, and it provides us strength and inspiration to prevail against the threats today.”

Honoring those lost

Sharing his own thoughts, the general said that the 700 U.S. and Canadian service members and state and local leaders were there today first to remember and honor the lives lost on September 11, 2001, “as are millions of others across the country and around the world. We have done that every year, and we’ll always do it, and we always must.”

Jacoby added, “Today as we continue to fight against another ideological extremist terrorist organization, I would argue that remembering how we felt on 9/11, remembering our commitment, has never been more relevant.”
The general said Americans may have lost feelings of invulnerability and innocence but gained things as well.

“We rolled up our sleeves as nations of strong communities and we committed to doing whatever it took to answer the challenges to our safety, to our security and to our pride, like generations before us have done,” he said.

A dangerous world

The world has changed significantly in the 13 years since 9/11 but it remains a very dangerous place, Jacoby added. “You only need to watch the morning news or attend my daily intel brief to know that’s true.”

The faces and locations of extremism have changed but the senseless violence and hatred in its heart has not, he said, “and the families of James Foley and Steven Sotloff are in our thoughts today.”

The free nations of the world are more vulnerable than ever, the general said, “even while our hearts and our spirit remain as they were on Sept. 10, inclined toward peace and cooperation.”

The fights of the last 13 years have been difficult and the challenge remains, but there are more fights ahead, Jacoby added.

“We must look to the inspiration as well as the tragedy of 9/ll to keep us faithful to our values, firm in our commitments and steadfast in our hopes,” he said.

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL'S REMARKS AT UN SECURITY COUNCIL ON MINUSTAH

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

U.S. Mission to the United Nations: Remarks at the Security Council Debate on MINUSTAH

AS DELIVERED 

Thank you, Special Representative Honoré, for your briefing and for your leadership. And thank you to all the dedicated women and men who are serving in MINUSTAH, who are working with you to build a more secure and stable Haiti.

The troop and police contributors to Haiti, many of whom we have heard from – several of whom we will soon hear from – have made a world of difference in the lives of the Haitian people. The whole international community is grateful.

When the Council met to discuss Haiti in March, there was cautious optimism that the signature of the El Rancho Accord and the dialogue mediated by the Episcopal Conference would help break the country’s political stalemate, and lead to long-overdue elections. So it is deeply disappointing, as other Council members have pointed out, that five months later, so little progress has been made toward that goal. Haiti still doesn’t even have an electoral law, leading the country’s provisional electoral council to declare recently that Haiti will not be able to hold elections on October 26, 2014, the date the government had set.

Many of Haiti’s elected leaders have worked tirelessly to seek a political compromise and have offered meaningful concessions toward that end, including with regard to the composition of the electoral council and the cabinet. But a group of six senators seems intent on holding elections hostage to partisan concerns, even going so far as to prevent a debate on the electoral law. Legislators in a democracy have a responsibility to defend their constituents’ rights. But when elected officials take advantage of democracy’s checks and balances to cynically block debate and elections altogether, they stand in the way of addressing citizens’ real needs.

And the needs of Haiti’s citizens, as we all know, are real – very, very real. Massive progress has been made to find homes for the one and a half million people displaced by the 2010 earthquake, but 70,000 people are still displaced. And much work remains to be done to provide for citizens’ basic needs – like electricity, quality schools, and access to doctors. Haitians expect their government to provide for these needs, and are understandably frustrated when they are not met.

So our message to all of Haiti’s politicians is clear: come together to pass an electoral law, and hold free, fair, and inclusive elections in respect of constitutional deadlines. Every UN member state should join that call and we are heartened that so many have done so.

Despite the political deadlock in Haiti, there has been encouraging progress on other fronts. We welcome the ongoing expansion and professionalization of the Haitian National Police. Police have shown an increased capacity to maintain public order while respecting people’s rights. We also recognize MINUSTAH’s efforts to strengthen Haiti’s justice sector, such as seeking to improve the capacity of judges and prosecutors, and increasing access to legal aid. Haiti’s prison system needs urgent fixing. Haiti’s prisons, which have a capacity of around 6,000 people, currently house over 10,000. And nearly 80 percent are awaiting trial.

Let us be clear: our work in Haiti is not finished. But just because significant development and political challenges persist does not make MINUSTAH the solution to all of them, nor does it mean that the mission should be kept just as it is. We have to right-size MINUSTAH to fit Haiti’s evolving needs. We agree with our colleagues that decisions about the size and configuration of the force should be conditions-based. And like our friends in the region who have given so much to Haiti’s recovery, we are a neighbor of Haiti’s and we have a deep and demonstrated interest in Haiti’s security and the growth and success of its democracy. The United States agrees with the Secretary General’s determination – based on a thorough review – that conditions support further consolidating MINUSTAH’s military component in the upcoming mandate. We agree with the Special Representative that support from MINUSTAH’s robust police component to Haiti’s National Police is still critically necessary. And a smaller military component must stand ready to assist – on short notice – anywhere that unrest overwhelms the combined capacity of Haitian and UN police. With continued, robust MINUSTAH support, we look to Haiti’s government to assume greater responsibility for security, including for elections.

We are committed to discussing with partners how MINUSTAH should be adjusted. We believe that the Secretariat, the SRSG, and the Force Commander have taken the facts on the ground into account, and they have concluded that conditions support the adjusted force levels recommended by the Secretary-General.

In conclusion, Haiti has real needs. It has been through so much and it faces tremendous challenges. We as an international community continue to experiment and to learn and to adjust around the most effective ways to help the Haitian people address those very real needs. We will continue to do so as Haiti continues to move along the path to self-sufficiency. Thank you.

STATE DEPARTMENT TESTIMONY ON ISIL'S PERSECUTION OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

ISIL's Persecution of Religious Minorities in Iraq and Syria

Testimony

Tom Malinowski

Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

As-Prepared Opening Statement

House Foreign Affairs Subcommittees on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations and the Middle East and North Africa

Washington, DC

September 10, 2014

Chairman Smith, Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member Bass, Ranking Member Deutch and Members of the Subcommittees, thank you for holding this hearing on such a timely and important issue. We, like you, are outraged by the violence waged by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against Iraqis of all sects, ethnicities, and religions. The U.S. government is very focused on ending ISIL’s reign of terror and ensuring protection and access to humanitarian assistance for all its victims. We are particularly appalled by ISIL’s targeted and systematic efforts to drive out and potentially eradicate entire religious communities from their historic homelands in the Ninewa plains area and Sinjar district. Among ISIL’s clear ambitions is the destruction of Iraq’s rich religious heritage and ethnic diversity and absolute subjugation of all people within its reach.

The Iraqi people need and deserve a government that not only represents all of their voices but also provides basic government services and security, paving a stable and prosperous path forward for all the people of Iraq, regardless of religion or ethnicity. The State Department was very pleased to see the new government formed earlier this week, and we are urging them to quickly demonstrate their commitment to be responsive to the ongoing threat against minority populations, including the abduction of and sexual violence against women and children. We are also working with the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government and with a wide array of international partners, to address the urgent needs of Iraqi forces, including Kurdish forces, as they continue to battle ISIL.

When ISIL took Mosul on June 9, the world once again was made witness to the heartbreaking human cost of this group’s brutality. Beyond the mass evictions and forced migrations perpetrated against Christians, Yezidis, Shia Muslims including Shabak and Turkmen, and others, we have seen reports of extrajudicial and mass killings, beheadings, abductions, forced conversions, torture, rape and sexual assault, using women and children as human shields, and people being burned or buried alive. Women and girls as young as 12 or 13 have been taken captive, to be sold as sex slaves or put into forced marriages with ISIL fighters.

Meanwhile, we realize that ISIL’s recent assault on northern and western Iraq is an extension of its brutal acts in Syria, where it has conducted a similar campaign of violence and atrocities against the Syrian population, targeting broad swathes of the population. There have been reports of mass killings in Christian and Alawite villages, conversion at gunpoint, beheadings, kidnappings, and extreme oppression and abuse of women from all communities. Two Syrian bishops and a priest were kidnapped by extremists in early- and mid-2013, and their fates remain unknown. And in February, ISIL announced that Christians in Raqqa, Syria must convert, pay a special tax administered during medieval times, or face death—just as it later did in Mosul, Iraq. This, Mr. Chairmen and Ranking Members, to say nothing of the unspeakable atrocities they have committed against members of their own sect, Sunni Muslims, who we’ve seen ISIL crucify in public squares and stone to death Sunni women accused of adultery, proudly tweeting and posting these horrific acts on Youtube and other social media.

The interconnected aspects of ISIL’s campaign of terror in both countries have the potential to further destabilize the region and dramatically increase gross violations of human rights.

Iraqi ethnic and religious minority populations suffer acutely. While exact numbers are not known, many organizations working with displaced Iraqis, as well as religious leaders and activists, believe nearly all of the Christian and Yezidi population in areas controlled or contested by ISIL have been displaced. These are communities that have lived on these lands for thousands of years, forced to flee their ancestral homeland. Shabak and Turkmen Shia have been significantly affected as well, with Turkmen leaders, reporting an estimated 300,000 Turkmen Shia were displaced. My colleagues from the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) and USAID will address the issue of displaced persons more thoroughly, so I will focus my testimony on ISIL’s brutality and persecution. But I do want to note the immensity of the needs the displaced now face, even to meet their most basic of necessities—clean water, something to feed their children, shelter from the scorching heat as well as the looming winter. These are the challenges my PRM and USAID colleagues are grappling with.

After about a week in Mosul, ISIL began ramping up the pace of religious persecution. Christians were barred from receiving work at public sector jobs and wage stipends. Christian churches and offices were looted and occupied by ISIL. Meanwhile, further west near the Syrian border, dozens of Yezidis were kidnapped for a $50,000 ransom to avoid execution. A group of Yezidi men held captive had their eyes gouged out for refusing to convert to Islam. They were then reportedly burned to death.

In addition to their attacks on religious minorities, ISIL targeted religious leaders of any group that opposed its unconditional and absolute dominance. According to UN officials, in June ISIL murdered at least 13 Sunni Muslim clerics in Mosul who had encouraged their followers to reject ISIL. They paid the ultimate sacrifice for refusing to submit to ISIL’s hateful ideology.

By mid-July, ISIL had destroyed hundreds of mosques and shrines throughout the territory it controlled, destroyed Christian statues of the Virgin Mary, and took sledgehammers to the tomb of the Prophet Jonah in Mosul.

Then we learned of the ultimatum against Christians, Yezidis, and at least some Shia groups in Mosul, that they must convert, pay a special tax I mentioned earlier, or vacate the city by July 19—or face execution. This ultimatum prompted a wave of hundreds more displaced families, robbed of all possessions as they fled the city. We received reports that ISIL took a reported five Christians unable to flee due to disability or illness to a mosque and forced them to profess acceptance of Islam.

ISIL’s second major offensive, on August 2 and 3 led to another wave of displaced people from Ninewa—again, many of them from towns with predominantly Christian or other minority populations. Some were fleeing for the second time. We heard heart-breaking reports of a 3-year old child taken from her mother by an ISIL fighter as the family was forced to continue on.

Concurrently, ISIL also advanced into Sinjar district near the Syrian border, a predominantly Yezidi region. With little warning, Kurdish forces retreated in the face of ISIL’s advance and the Yezidi population was left with almost no means of defending itself. Hundreds, if not thousands, were killed, and tens of thousands were stranded on Mount Sinjar where they sought refuge from the immediate onslaught, only to find themselves at risk of perishing from thirst or exposure.

Representatives of the Yezidi community in the United States contacted my bureau, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) immediately to share the terrible stories of suffering they were hearing from relatives trapped on the mountain, communicating via mobile phones they were sometimes able to charge using car batteries. As the crisis on Sinjar unfolded, my staff organized meetings with high-level officials at the State Department and the White House for representatives of the Yezidi community in the United States and we heard firsthand their stories and requests for assistance. They talked about hearing children crying for water in the background of phone calls with relatives. One man told us how he was on the phone with his brother as the family was fleeing ISIL fighters, and when he called back five minutes later no one answered because, as he learned from another relative, his brother had been shot in the back of the head as he was trying to shepherd his family to safety. One woman described how she had heard a woman being raped by ISIL fighters in the background of a call with another woman.

As you know, on August 7, in addition to authorizing operations to protect U.S. personnel, President Obama authorized a humanitarian effort to help save thousands of Iraqi civilians who were trapped on Mount Sinjar without food and water, facing almost certain death. This effort was reinforced by a series of targeted airstrikes to assist forces in Iraq as they fought to break ISIL’s siege of Mount Sinjar and protect the civilians trapped there. The U.S. military conducted seven nightly humanitarian air drops between August 8-13, delivering more than 114,000 meals and 35,000 gallons of water to those displaced on Mount Sinjar. Detailed information—and even GPS coordinates—provided by the Yezidi community in the U.S. on where the people were sheltered on Mount Sinjar helped inform decisions about where to drop aid. Targeted airstrikes helped protect the evacuation route as people were escaping. Our contacts in the Yezidi community also provided us information about where ISIL fighters were advancing or firing on evacuees as they escaped, and we shared this information immediately with the military. During that week, most civilians were able to evacuate from Mount Sinjar.

But not everyone in the surrounding area was able to flee. For example, residents of the village of Kocho were trapped in their village, held hostage for almost two weeks under the threat of death if they refused to convert to ISIL’s brutal, twisted version of Islam. On August 15, residents were rounded up at the village schoolyard, where women and children were loaded onto buses and taken away. The men were taken to the outskirts of town and executed, shot in the back of the head at the edge of shallow ditches.

The women and children from Kocho joined the hundreds upon hundreds of others being held captive by ISIL in various cities in northern Iraq. Hundreds of families have reportedly been pressured to convert, in some cases with severe coercion by, for example, forcing mothers to watch their young children beaten until they could no longer stand. In most cases, girls and unmarried women as young as age 12 are separated from mothers and children. We regularly receive blood-chilling reports of girls distributed to ISIL fighters as spoils of war, sold in markets in the cities as sex slaves, or held in houses in small groups where they are raped by a daily rotation of ISIL fighters. We have seen reports that ISIL trafficked hundreds of Yezidi women to Syria for its fighters there. We recently heard reports that a few dozen Christian women from Qaraqosh who had been unable to flee before ISIL’s recent offensive were taken to Mosul, likely to same fate as ISIL’s other women captives.

Truly, this brutality is beyond imagination, but despite the odds, a few captives have managed to escape, often when their ISIL guards are distracted, for example by airstrikes in the area. One woman shared her reaction after making a 50 kilometer hike from the village where she and her family had been held captive, through the wilderness, to get back to Mount Sinjar and the safe evacuation route the other IDPs had used: “My family—my husband, my two children, and I—were on the run from ISIS. After 20 hours of walking from the town of Til Azir to Mt. Sinjar, everyone was terrified, everyone was shaking, crying. We could only calm down after hearing U.S. jets above us. We felt, ‘There is still someone there to save us.’”

Officials throughout the Administration have been closely tracking developments on the ground, and in Washington we are in regular communication with representatives of the Iraqi Yezidi, Christian, and other religious communities in Iraq. They are sharing helpful information with us about ISIL abuses against their community members in northern Iraq and about humanitarian conditions their displaced community members are facing. These reports are invaluable as the entire U.S. government examines all the viable options for protecting Iraq’s minority vulnerable communities and halting the parade of atrocities ISIL is committing. My staff in DRL hears regularly from contacts in the Iraqi Christian diaspora in the U.S. and Iraqi Christians in Iraq with information about where aid is reaching IDPs and where more assistance or coordination is needed, which we share with colleagues in PRM and USAID, who also share information they hear from these communities with us. We’ve met with church leaders like the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church, advocacy and aid groups like International Christian Concern and Catholic Relief Services, and human rights organizations like Yezidi Human Rights Organization—International. Our diplomats in Iraq have the same kinds of meetings regularly. Likewise, we collect reports from our contacts in religious minority groups facing discrimination about cases of abuse against minorities by local Iraqi or Kurdish security forces.

In Syria, after sustained engagement by U.S. officials, the Syrian Opposition Coalition has committed itself to “the protection and inclusion of all the constituent groups of the Syrian people,” including religious minorities, and to meeting its obligation to “ensure the rights, integration, and participation of all Syrians, regardless of religion…” in the transition process and in the new government. We have received assurances from a number of armed opposition leaders that they understand and are committed to these principles, and we continue to closely monitor the situation.

In Iraq we have repeatedly emphasized to both the Iraqi government and the KRG the need to take measures to protect all Iraqis, including Iraq’s vulnerable religious and ethnic minority communities. During these formative days for the new government, we are continuing to urge political party leaders and lawmakers to be inclusive in their governance, responsive to the needs and concerns of all Iraq’s people. In a phone call with President Obama on Monday, the new Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, expressed his commitment to work with all communities in Iraq. We will continue to press Iraqi and Kurdish regional government officials to take appropriate action to ensure the security and rights of members of ethnic and religious minority communities are respected.

The Government of Iraq has continued to send equipment to the Kurdish forces - the cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil on this effort is at historic levels and we hope to continue to build on that. The Iraqi Air Force continues to provide direct support to Kurdish forces engaged in combat against ISIL. We are also working closely with the Government of Iraq to expedite Foreign Military Sales that will help Baghdad resupply Iraqi forces, including Kurdish forces in the north.

At the same time, we have been and will continue to invest in measures to address the underlying causes of and motivations for violent extremism, religious intolerance, societal polarization, and elected officials. We are working with NGOs, civil society groups, and religious leaders to build relationships between religious communities, combat terrorist propaganda about religious minorities, and administer programs that promote tolerance and empower minorities to better advocate for their interests and rights.

In conclusion, ISIL’s systematic persecution of religious minorities in northern Iraq, and their brutal and oppressive ideology in general, is of utmost concern to the Department and to the Administration. We are painfully aware of the suffering of so many people in Iraq, and in Syria, simply because their beliefs differ from those of these ruthless, inhuman terrorists.

Mr. Chairmen, members of the Committee, thank you again for the opportunity to address you today and for your engagement on this important issue. I would be pleased to respond to any questions you may have. Thank you.

NSF VIDEO: COMPUTER-EQUIPPED DOGS LEAD WAY IN SEARCH-AND-RESCUE: SMARTMART AMERICA EXPO

9/12/14: White House Press Briefing

SECRETARY KERRY MAKES REMARKS IN ANKARA, TURKEY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Press Availability in Ankara, Turkey

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Ankara, Turkey

September 12, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you for being patient. I appreciate it very, very much. And good evening to all.

I’m very pleased to be back here in Turkey, where I have had a series of productive meetings through the course of the day with President Erdogan and Prime Minister Davutoglu and my new counterpart, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu, who I’ve actually gotten to know pretty well in a frequency of meetings in the last week or so beginning with the Wales summit, and then we met in Jeddah at the coalition meeting yesterday and then again today.

The importance of coming here to Turkey to follow up on the meeting yesterday should be obvious to all because we confront very significant challenges in Iraq and Syria, and obviously the border of Turkey, the numbers of refugees coming into Turkey and Turkey’s role is very, very critical. We share a partnership with Turkey that is essential, and Turkey plays a key role in bolstering security and stability in the entire region, and together we literally work to pursue those goals every single day.

There are few countries, also, that have felt the ripple effect of the crises in Syria and Iraq as much as Turkey has. Since 2011 Turkey has opened its doors to roughly 1.3 million Syrian refugees, and more recently they’ve had a huge influx of Iraqi refugees who are fleeing ISIL.

The United States and indeed the entire international community are very grateful for Turkey’s generosity in providing shelter and care, food, to these refugees. We’re committed to helping to provide relief for the millions of people who have lost their homes, their health, their dignity, in the Syrian conflict. And we have contributed very significant amounts of humanitarian assistance, and today I am proud to announce that we are going to contribute even more to the 2.9 billion that we have already contributed to the United States – to the UN since the conflict started. And today we’re announcing an additional $500 million, about 50 million of which will come here to Turkey in order to assist Turkey in providing the humanitarian assistance that I described.

Today’s announcement marks the single largest tranche of funding that we have contributed to date, and the reason for this is that this is the largest humanitarian crisis in recent history. But even with this initial assistance from the United States, the humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis remains largely underfunded. And with the international community preparing to meet in New York to convene for the annual United Nations General Assembly meetings, and with the Syrian donors conference in Kuwait on the horizon in October, we hope very, very much that other nations will follow our lead and contribute even more to improving what is unquestionably one of the worst humanitarian disasters in history.

In the meetings that we had today we also discussed the U.S. commitment to protecting Turkey’s security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. We agreed that today ISIL is one of the greatest threats to Turkey’s security and the security of the entire region and beyond. I have reiterated the United States commitment to working with the broadest coalition of international partners possible to eliminate the ISIL threat once and for all.

So let me be very clear about the U.S.-Turkey relationship in this coalition. Turkey and the United States will stand together against any challenges in the region, including all terrorism. Within the coalition there are many ways that Turkey can help in this effort, and we will continue our conversations with our military and other experts spending time to define the specific role that Turkey will play.

In the meantime, I’m very happy to make an announcement: that the United States has asked one of our most respected and experienced military experts, General John Allen, to join the State Department to serve as Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. In this role, General Allen will help build and sustain the coalition so it can operate across multiple lines of effort in order to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL. General Allen is a patriot and a remarkable leader. He is a Marine and by “is,” I mean “is,” because as a Navy man I have to admit that retired or not once a Marine, always a Marine. His extraordinary career in the military speaks for itself. Whether as the top commander of NATO’s ISAF forces in Afghanistan during a critical period from 2011-2013, or as a deputy commander in Anbar during the Sunni awakening, or as a thinker, scholar, and teacher at the U.S. Naval Academy. And he has done significant public service out of uniform since he returned to civilian life. His commitment to country and to service has really been enduring.

Most recently we worked together very closely in designing new approaches to meet the long-term security needs of the state of Israel, and I could not be more pleased than to have General Allen coming on board now fulltime at the State Department. He’ll be joined by a terrific team, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk who is here with us now, who will serve as General Allen’s deputy senior envoy with the rank of ambassador. Not only has Brett been back and forth to Baghdad and Erbil almost every single month this past year, but he has also spent a number of years over the past decade posted in Iraq as a top advisor to three different ambassadors. And he has been a partner to even more. He’s one of our most – our foremost experts really on Iraq, and he will be integral to this effort’s success. And both General Allen and Ambassador McGurk will work very closely with Assistant Secretary of State Anne Patterson, who is not just a three-time ambassador and an ambassador of recent time to both Pakistan and to Egypt, but also one of our nation’s top diplomats deeply respected in the region, and she will continue to lead our diplomacy throughout the Middle East.

So we have a superb team in place to lead our work in the coalition to take on ISIL and to help the innocent people of Iraq and Syria and elsewhere to be able to rebuild their lives. And we will continue to consult closely with our partners In the days and weeks ahead, including in the very near term at the UN General Assembly later this month where Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and I will co-chair the fifth ministerial meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Fund and one of the biggest contributors to the ISIL threat happens to be the steady flow of foreign fighters making their way into Iraq and Syria in order to fight alongside ISIL. These people who are deciding to make that choice to go there and fight are men and women who regrettably carry passports from countries all over the world, which entitles them therefore to travel without a visa.

So a primary focus of that taskforce meeting in New York at UNGA will be on building the political and the financial support throughout the international community in order to track, stop, and prevent foreign fighters from joining ISIL.

Let me close by again thanking the Government of Turkey for their ongoing partnership, not only on Syria and Iraq but also on the other areas that we discussed today. We had a very broad discussion about the region, including some of the frozen conflicts and other challenges that we face, and particularly about Libya, with an agreement that we will all meet again in New York at the United Nations General Assembly with a broader group of people in order to focus on the Libya situation.

We look forward to continuing our work with Turkey and with others in order to promote peace, security, and stability in this region, as well as around the world. And we particularly look forward to the efforts in the days ahead to define and finalize the steps that each country will take in concert with others in order to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL.

I’d be happy to take a few questions.

MS. PSAKI: The first question is from Barbara Plett of BBC.

QUESTION: Thanks. Mr. Kerry, could you tell us what specific commitments Turkey has made as part of its role in the coalition? And in particular, could you clarify the status of the Incirlik base? Will the Americans be allowed to use the base to launch military operations in this campaign or have the Turks said no, you can’t?

And then a completely different question to round this up. We have reports on American networks that the Foley family was pressured by the U.S. Government, including the State Department, not to pay ransom. Is that true?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me deal, first of all, with the question of not just Turkey but any country at this point. It is entirely premature and frankly inappropriate at this point in time to start laying out one country by one country what individual nations are going to do. We are, as I said, continuing the conversation because this needs to be coordinated and there needs to be clear definition and a lot of details are being worked out by the experts in each of the sectors where they need to be worked out – that includes financial, closing off routes of finance, which involves treasury departments and finance ministers of various countries. The intel community obviously has a component in this, the Department of Defense has a component in it, the State Department, in terms of diplomacy and communications, and all of that is being coordinated. That’s precisely why I announced General John Allen today and Ambassador Brett McGurk, who will assume their roles immediately to help coordinate that.

At the appropriate time, every role will be laid out in detail, but I can tell you that the full range of activities that are necessary, that President Obama articulated in his speech are being addressed and all of the participants are defining the ways in which they’re going to contribute to this effort to degrade and defeat ISIL.

Let me just say that I am really taken aback – surprised, I guess, is the word, by this comment with respect to the Foley family. And I can tell you that I am totally unaware and would not condone anybody that I know of within the State Department making such statements. So I don’t know about it. But I will tell you this: Diane Foley and John Foley are extraordinary people. They’re an extraordinary family. And she did an amazing job on behalf of her family to try to do everything possible, leaving no stone unturned in order to try to bring Jim back safely. I worked previously in the effort to help Jim get freed when he was previously taken hostage. And everybody is heartbroken that we were not able to do it.

I and others in the government worked as hard as we know how to reach out to country after country – dozens of countries were talked to in an effort to try to create some avenue of success. And as everybody knows, President Obama ordered a risky but very important and necessary effort to try to rescue these hostages. I sat through that mission, watching every moment of it, waiting for word of a rescue and holding our breath because our people were on the ground performing very difficult tasks.

Tragically, obviously, we were not successful in finding them. So my heart goes out to the family. I know how difficult this is, and all I can say to you is I know of no one who issued such a construction. I have no knowledge of it.

MS. PSAKI: All right. The next question will be from Nicolas Revise from AFP.

QUESTION: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. I’d like to ask you about ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Who is on board with the United States among its European partners, not only for military action in Iraq but also for possible strikes in Syria? We have conflicting report of statements already from the British about what they are willing to do in Syria, and we have not very clear position from the French saying that they are ready to, if needed, to strike in Iraq but not in Syria. So what kind of military assistance can you expect from your European allies, or are you going to continue to take action alone?

And related to the – if I may, to the upcoming conference in Paris, there is no consensus yet on Iran’s presence. Is the U.S. going to accept to have Iran at the table to continue your diplomatic conversation, or is the U.S. opposing to Iran’s presence in Paris? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, again, let me repeat what I said earlier with respect to any announcements about countries. I think France has publicly made clear its willingness to take action in Iraq, as you said, and to use force. And there are other countries that are currently making up their minds, making decisions. But as I said a moment ago with respect to Turkey and other countries, it’s just not appropriate to start laying out, as we are in the process of talking to all these countries, which country is doing what. Next week I’ll be testifying before Congress and we’ll have more of the reports back in as others are talking to various countries and we’ll have a better sense of where we stand on that.

I will tell you this: More than 40 countries had already offered assistance of one kind or another before I left Washington. And those are the – that’s the work that we had done in the previous days in communicating with a host of countries around the world. I think Australia has made it clear that it’s prepared to do things, Canada’s prepared to do things, other countries. But we will lay out what country is doing what, who’s doing what within the coalition, when we have the work done that we just hired General John Allen and Brett McGurk to do. And we will continue to coordinate effectively over the course of the next days.

I have been very, very pleased by the meetings that we’ve had. I read a report today suggesting somehow that there was less than a full-throated measure of support from the Arab nations that were there yesterday. I just don’t agree with that. Last night, I sat for two and a half hours with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and we could not have heard a more fulsome commitment to doing anything that is necessary going forward. Similarly, I have heard that and you heard it yesterday and reiterated by other countries who signed the communique in the course of yesterday. And there are others who will continue to sign up over the course of the next days.

So I’m comfortable that this will be a broad-based coalition with Arab nations, European nations, the United States, others contributing to every single different facet of what President Obama laid out as a strategy and fully embracing the need to degrade and destroy ISIL.

MS. PSAKI: Thanks, everyone.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) with respect to Iran?

SECRETARY KERRY: No one has called me and asked me with respect to the presence of Iran, but I think under the circumstances, at this moment in time, it would not be right for any number of reasons. It would not be appropriate, given the many other issues that are on the table with respect to their engagement in Syria and elsewhere. But – so that would be my answer, but I haven’t been asked with respect – and I don’t know specifically where that stands in terms of the French invitations.

QUESTION: Would you mind if I did a quick follow-up on that? I know it’s against the rules, but --

MS. PSAKI: You just did an entire interview yesterday. I think we can --

QUESTION: Well, I mean, I’m sorry, but this has been an issue with Iran that has gone on with many of these types of conferences. I mean, I understand that they – that you have problems with their behavior, but don’t you think engaging them is part of --

SECRETARY KERRY: We are engaged with Iran. We’re engaged in a very deep, serious conversation about their nuclear program with high hopes that it will be possible to change the relationship through an agreement that would meet the international standards that have been set at the United Nations and the questions that have been raised not just at the UN, but by the International Atomic Energy Association[1]. So it’s not the United States; it’s the world that is asking serious questions about Iran’s nuclear program.

Now, Iran has been deeply involved with its forces on the ground in Syria. IRGC forces are on the ground. So there would have to be much greater clarity and understanding of exactly what the purpose was and what the meaning was of any kind of presence, which is the only thing that stands in the way, as well as they’re a state sponsor of terror in various places.

So these are serious issues, and that’s why they need to be approached in a proper way, not a conference like this at this moment, but through a process which we are entirely prepared over a period of time to engage in, or we wouldn’t be engaged in the negotiations that we’re engaged in today.

MS. PSAKI: Okay. Thanks, everyone.

QUESTION: Would you boycott if they were invited?

STAFF: Thank you.

MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.

SECRETARY KERRY: I’m not going to answer hypotheticals.

QUESTION: Do you oppose them just --

STAFF: Thanks, everybody. Thank you very much.

MS. PSAKI: Okay. Thank you.

QUESTION: -- being in this conference or the coalition as a whole. Are you opposed to them being – just being in this conference or in the coalition?

SECRETARY KERRY: There’s no issue with the coalition. That’s not even been raised.


[1] International Atomic Energy Agency

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER CAVUSOGLU

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Before Their Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ankara, Turkey

September 12, 2014

FOREIGN MINISTER CAVUSOGLU: (In Turkish.)

Ladies and gentlemen, it is a privilege to have my dear friend and colleague in Ankara. This is third meeting, it’s going to the third meeting of us after Wales and Jeddah. And we have spoken on the phone several times again. And you know the issues that you can imagine on what issues we are going to focus during the meetings, particularly what’s going on in the Middle East and particularly in the Syria and Iraq and challenges and the threats. And since we got this chance, of course we would like to discuss some other issues besides the bilateral one – Middle East – I mean, the peace process over there, cease-fire, and maybe Armenia, Cyprus, definitely Ukraine.

Once again, I would like to welcome my dear friend. I’m looking forward to having (inaudible) to discuss all these issues. John, would you like to say something, both in English and Turkish, please? (Laughter.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. It’s a great privilege for me to be back in Ankara. I’m happy to be here in Turkey, and happy to be here with Mevlut. He and I have gotten to know each other quickly. We’ve had very in-depth conversations about all of the subjects on which Turkey and the United States are deeply involved. And we are important partners, obviously, in NATO, but not just in NATO. We have concerns with respect to what’s happening from Libya to Mali to the Horn of Africa and throughout the Middle East, and of course, now the events in Iraq. So we have a great deal to talk about.

Over the last year and a half I grew to have one of my closest relationships in foreign policy with Ahmet Davutoglu, now prime minister. And we worked extremely closely, talking frequently. So far in my relationship with Minister Cavusoglu, we are already engaging in that kind of discussion. We met in Wales, we talked about the urgency of dealing with ISIL and the urgency of dealing with the support for the Government of Iraq. And of course, together we will be chairing a counterterrorism forum and the United Nations General Assembly in a few days.

So we have a very full agenda and I look forward to constructive conversations both with him, with the new prime minister, and with the new president and my old friend, President Erdogan. Thank you all very much.