U.S. CYBER COMMANDER SAYS U.S. NOT PREPARED FOR CYBER WAR

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Cybercom Chief: U.S. Unprepared for Serious Cyber AttacksBy Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

ASPEN, Colo., July 26, 2012 - The United States is not adequately prepared for a serious cyber attack, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command told the audience at the Aspen Institute's annual security forum today.

Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who also serves as the director of the National Security Agency and the chief of the Central Security Service, said that, in terms of preparation for a cyber attack on a critical part of its network infrastructure, the U.S. is at a three on a scale of one to ten.

The problem of defending the nation from a cyber attack is complicated, Alexander said. It's not just a question of preparing the Department of Defense or federal networks. Private industry also has to be defended.

"Industry has a variety of capabilities," Alexander said. While networks serving the financial community are well-defended, others sectors need help.

Key to developing a strong cyber security infrastructure is educating its users, Alexander said.

"We have a great program, it's jointly run by [the National Security Agency] and [the Department of Homeland Security] working with over 100 different colleges and universities to set up an information assurance/cyber security portfolio," he said.

Ensuring people who didn't grow up in the Internet age are security-aware is one of the major challenges facing those who secure the network, Alexander said.

The number of exploits of mobile technology has almost doubled over the past year, he said, and many people don't realize that phones are tied into the same digital network infrastructure as computers.

Alexander defined exploits as the means that a hacker uses to penetrate a system, including mobile phones or tablets, to potentially steal files and credentials or jump to another computer.

"The attack surfaces for adversaries to get on the internet now include all those mobile devices," Alexander said. And mobile security lags behind that of cyber security for landline devices like desktop computers.

Alexander said the Department of Defense, in concert with agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, works together with industry to secure network devices.

"If we identify a problem, we jointly give that back to industry and say 'Here's a problem we found,'" Alexander said.

Using the nuclear model, or concentrating solely on major nation-states, to analyze the cyber threat is wrong, he said. Several nations are capable of serious cyber attacks, he explained, but anyone who finds vulnerabilities in the network infrastructure could cause tremendous problems.

Industry and government must work as a team to combat these threats, Alexander said.

"There are great folks in industry who have some great insights," he said. "That's the only way that we can prevent those several states from mounting a real attack on this nation's cyber."

In addition, deterrence theory worked for nuclear weapons in part because the decision time was much slower than it is for cyber threats.

"A piece of information can circumnavigate the globe in about 133-134 milliseconds," he said. "Your decision space in cyber [is] half that—60 seconds."

"My concern is...you've seen disruptions like in Estonia in 2007, in Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, you could go on," he said. "We've seen them here in the United States... What I'm concerned about is the shift to destructive [attacks]. Those are the things that will hurt our nation."

Disruptive attacks, like distributed denial-of-service attacks, are aimed at interrupting the flow communication or finance, but aren't designed to cause long-term damage.

In contrast, destructive attacks are designed to destroy parts of the network infrastructure, like routers or servers, which would have to be replaced in order to resume normal operations, Alexander said. In some cases this could take weeks or months.

Congress is considering bills that would give the Department of Homeland Security a greater role in setting performance requirements for network industries. Alexander said this legislation is important to assist in setting network infrastructure standards.

Both parties have something to bring to the table, he said. Industry knows things that government doesn't, and government knows things that industry doesn't.

"If we were to be completely candid here, the reality is that industry is getting hacked [and] government is getting hacked," he said. "What we need to do is come together and form best practices."

Government-civil partnerships open up the possibility that the U.S. can accomplish things in cyber space that no other nation has the capability to accomplish, Alexander said.

"When we put together this ability for our nation to work as a team in cyber space, what that allows us to do now is do things that other countries aren't capable of doing in defending the nation," Alexander said.

Because attributing the source of a cyber attack is difficult, the focus is currently on defense rather than offense, Alexander said.

"Today, the offense clearly has the advantage," he said. "Get cyber legislation in there, bring industry and government together, and now we have the capability to say 'You don't want to attack us. We can stop it and there are other things that we can do to really make this hurt.'"

"The key is having a defensible capability that can survive that first onslaught," Alexander said.

CHARGES UNVEILED IN ALLEGED $97 MILLION MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, July 26, 2012

Owners and Employees of Houston Mental Health Company and Patient Recruiters Charged for Alleged Roles in $97 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

A superseding indictment was unsealed today charging two owners of a Houston mental health care company, Spectrum Care P.A., some of its employees and the owners of Houston group care homes for their alleged participation in a $97 million Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the FBI.

Mansour Sanjar, 79, Cyrus Sajadi, 64, and Chandra Nunn, 34, were originally charged in December 2011, and are expected to make their initial appearances on the superseding indictment in the coming days. The indictment was originally retuned on July 24, 2012, and was unsealed today.

Adam Main, 31, Shokoufeh Hakimi, 65, Sharonda Holmes, 38, and Shawn Manney, 50, all from the Houston area, were arrested today and are expected to make their initial appearances in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston either today or tomorrow.

The superseding indictment charges Sanjar, Sajadi, Main, Terry Wade Moore, 51, Hakimi and Nunn each with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud; Sanjar, Sajadi, Main and Moore are charged with various counts of health care fraud; Sanjar, Sajadi, Hakimi, Nunn, Holmes and Manney each are charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay health care kickbacks; and Sanjar, Sajadi, Hakimi, Nunn, Holmes and Manney are charged with various counts of payment and receipt of healthcare kickbacks. The superseding indictment also seeks forfeiture.

According to the indictment, Sanjar and Sajadi orchestrated and executed a scheme to defraud Medicare beginning in 2006 and continuing until their arrest in December 2011. Sanjar and Sajadi owned Spectrum, which purportedly provided partial hospitalization program (PHP) services. A PHP is a form of intensive outpatient treatment for severe mental illness. The Medicare beneficiaries for whom Spectrum billed Medicare for PHP services did not qualify for or need PHP services. Sanjar, Sajadi, Main and Moore signed admission documents and progress notes certifying that patients qualified for PHP services, when in fact, the patients did not qualify for or need PHP services. Sanjar and Sajadi also billed Medicare for PHP services when the beneficiaries were actually watching movies, coloring and playing games – activities that are not covered by Medicare.

Sanjar, Sajadi and Hakimi paid kickbacks to Nunn, Holmes, Manney and other group care home operators and patient recruiters in exchange for delivering ineligible Medicare beneficiaries to Spectrum, according to the indictment. In some cases, the patients received a portion of those kickbacks. The indictment alleges that Spectrum billed Medicare for approximately $97 million in services that were not medically necessary and, in some cases, not provided.

Today’s charges were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas; Special Agent in Charge Stephen L. Morris of the FBI’s Houston Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Regional Office of HHS’s Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU); Joseph J. Del Favero, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the Railroad Retirement Board, Office of Inspector General (RRB-OIG); and Scott Rezendes, Special Agent in Charge of Field Operations of the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General (OPM-OIG).

An indictment is merely a formal accusation. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Laura M.K. Cordova and Allan J. Medina and Deputy Chief Sam S. Sheldon of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section with assistance from Trial Attorneys Jennifer Ambuehl and Aixa Maldonado-Quinones of the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section. The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG, MFCU, RRB-OIG and OPM-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,330 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $4 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

　

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SECRETARY DUNCAN WARNS OF AUTOMATIC BUDGET CUTS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
U.S. Education Secretary Warns that Automatic Budget Cuts Would Hurt Children and Families Education Secretary Calls on Congress to Work with President Obama for a Long-Term Solution
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today detailed the impact of looming automatic budget cuts, saying they would force schools to lay off teachers and eliminate services for students while indiscriminately reducing programs that serve Americans of all ages.

"Essentially, we’re playing chicken with the lives of the American people – our schools, communities, small businesses, farms, public safety, infrastructure and national security," Secretary Duncan told members of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee. "If we don’t work together to solve this problem, it further erodes what little faith remains in our elected leadership to put partisan politics aside and do the right thing for children and families."

If Congress fails to create a long-term plan to reduce the budget deficit by the end of the year, across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration will go into effect on almost every discretionary program, reducing funding for education, defense, public safety and all other federal agencies.

Duncan urged Congress to work with President Obama, who has submitted a plan that includes $4 trillion in deficit reductions and calls for targeted cuts in spending.

"We have tightened our belts in a responsible way," Duncan said. "Most importantly, the President’s plan is a long-term fix. It will put an end to the see-saw budgeting that leaves state and local officials wondering if they can count on the federal government to be a partner with them on education and other vital programs."

Based on the Congressional Budget Office’s projection that sequestration will reduce programs by 7.8 percent, Duncan estimated that the following programs would be at risk:
Title I funding would be cut by $1.1 billion, cutting off funding to more than 4,000 schools serving an estimated 1.8 million disadvantaged students. The jobs of more than 15,000 teachers and aides would be at risk. Students would lose access to individual instruction, afterschool programs, and other interventions that help close achievement gaps.
Funding for special education would be reduced by $900 million. That could translate into the layoffs of more than 10,000 teachers, aides, and other staff who provide essential instruction and other support to 6.6 million children with disabilities.
In higher education, the Department would need to slash spending on contracts to support the processing and origination of student loans, which could cause delays that will hurt students as they make decisions about college and could reduce services for borrowers seeking to repay their loans.
For Title I, special education and other large K-12 programs, the cuts would take effect in the fall of 2013. Duncan pointed out that in a recent poll 80 percent of school administrators said they would be unable to replace the lost federal funds with state and local money.

Duncan also highlighted the potential impact on Head Start, child care, health research and other programs that support children and their families.




　

KOREAN WAR VET HAS VIVID MEMORIES OF POW EXPERIENCE

Sherman tanks perform roll call before heading out on a mission.
　
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Korean War Vet's Memories Vivid of Time Spent as POWBy Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2012 - When infantryman David Mills joined the Army on his 17th birthday and was sent to fight in the Korean War, his mission was to hold Outpost Harry "at all costs."

Mills, now 76, says those orders came from 8th Army on April 2, 1953, to stave off enemy Chinese troops from the strategically placed outpost in the Iron Triangle, about 50 miles from Seoul at the 38th parallel, which divided North and South Korea. The outpost was close to Chinese lines.

The Chinese had "an affinity" for Outpost Harry, said Mills, a member of Company F, 15th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division.

"They came to 'visit' us often and fought ferociously," he said. "They tried [several times] to take it. Had it fallen, with its high elevation, it would've made it difficult for the main line of resistance to remain where it was. [We] perhaps would've had to withdraw as far back as Seoul, which no doubt would have extended the war for quite some time."

It was unlikely the United States would have accepted a cease fire with the capital of South Korea under Chinese control at that time, he added, so it was important for American troops to hold the outpost's position.

But on April 24, Chinese troops nearly took Outpost Harry.

"We had 88 men holding the outpost," he said. "The attack was ferocious. We were overrun. Hand-to-hand fighting occurred in all of the trenches, and very heavy losses were suffered on both sides."

The forward observer from the 39th Field Artillery called for backup artillery to stop the attack, which was successful, he said.

But things didn't turn out as well that day for Mills, who received nine wounds -- two in the head, six in the leg and one in the left arm.

During what Mills described as very close fighting with hand grenades and bayonets, his weapon overheated and became inoperable. While searching for another, he crawled on his stomach to the entrance of a bunker about 30 yards away.

"Nobody was in there," he said. "I reached in to grab a rifle, and I felt something poke me in my back. I backed out very slowly and turned over, and was looking at the muzzle of a Russian-made submachine gun."

Three Chinese soldiers stood over him, Mills said. One held the gun, and the other two carried six grenades each, three on each side of their chests, he said.

"I thought I was going to die," Mills recalled reciting a short prayer as he looked up at the barrel of the weapon.

"I was ready to die," he said. "Then I had an immediate second thought. I was 17 years old, and I thought, 'How are my parents going to take this?' And I thought, maybe, I could get the weapon away from that soldier, and kill all three of them. Then I had a rational thought: He had his finger on the trigger and the likelihood of me being successful was rather slim. I lay there until they picked me up."

As the captors walked him to a Chinese camp, Mills saw the dead everywhere. "There were many Americans, but many more Chinese," he said.

As the soldiers roughed him up and forced him down hilly terrain, Mills said he felt no pain and wasn't aware he was wounded.

"Each time we got to the top of a rise, they'd hit me between the shoulder blades with the butt of the weapon, and I'd go tumbling down the hill. After the third time, my leg felt funny and I had difficulty maintaining balance," Mills recalled. It was when he felt blood running down his neck that he knew he'd been hit.

"Eventually, I half-crawled and was half-dragged to a cave, in which I spent the first night of my captivity," he said.

Mills found himself next to a Chinese soldier who had three bullet holes in his stomach.

"I could hear bubbles as the air escaped [from his wounds]," he said. "He died during the night."

The next morning, the Chinese soldiers took Mills from the cave and repeatedly prodded him with a rifle to make him walk up a road, but by then he was in such pain from his injuries, he couldn't walk.

"They pointed to a rock for me to sit down on, went around the corner," Mills said. "I thought I was going to be executed."

Instead, he said, four Chinese soldiers came around the corner with a stretcher, put him on it and carried him for seven days to a place Mills estimated to be 30 to 50 miles behind the lines.

"I was placed in a dungeon not high enough for me to stand, or long enough for me to stretch out straight," he said. He couldn't eat for two weeks. Knowing he would die of starvation otherwise, Mills said he forced himself to eat.

Rain poured into the dungeon. "I spent a lot of my time snapping the backs off lice," Mills said of his confinement. "My leg hurt so bad, I asked them to cut it off. They sent someone to look at it. I don't know if he was a doctor ... he just looked at it, and [now] I'm glad they didn't acquiesce to my request."

After enough prisoners of war to fill an army truck were brought in, they were taken to a prisoner camp, Mills said. Still not treated for his wounds, with bullets and shrapnel intact, Mills said he was not made to do hard labor like the other prisoners.

During his four-month captivity "the 15th Infantry Regiment with its company-sized outpost decimated the entire 74th Chinese Infantry Division, killing more than 5,000 of them," Mills said. "There were very heavy American losses, but we held that hill."

Four months to the day after he was taken prisoner, the Chinese repatriated Mills and the other POWs on Aug. 24, 1953. His family didn't know he was alive, Mills said, and initially were told he was killed in action. Mills said he has copies of his two published obituaries.

Reflecting on that April day in 1953 when the outpost was attacked, Mills said he was the last soldier, U.S. or Chinese, on the hill firing a weapon.

"I've often wondered if I was captured with an empty gun," he said.

He also thought he was likely the only survivor of the attack, until decades later when he found the Outpost Harry Survivors Association and similar groups.

For being wounded during combat Mills received the Purple Heart, but it took 57 years, because of omissions in his paperwork, he said. Mills said his initial discharge papers indicated he'd served overseas, but they didn't say where, and didn't note that he'd been wounded, had served in combat, or been taken as a POW.

Knowing he was eligible for the Purple Heart, Mills' daughter set out to find and correct her father's records.

After hearing his records likely had burned in a fire in a St. Louis military repository, Mills' papers were found archived in Philadelphia.

The paperwork was corrected, and the award was approved in nine short days, Mills said. Then-Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli presented Mills with his Purple Heart in 2010.

"To receive [the Purple Heart] from General Chiarelli was worth the wait," Mills said.

Although the Korean War is sometimes called "The Forgotten War," Mills said that was not his experience. Upon his enlistment in the Army, Mills recalled that he "wanted to see the world."

"And I did. A small part of it," he said.

Above:  North Korean Tank Used During Korean War.
T-34/85. This model evolved from the T-34/76, which was equipped with a 76-mm gun. The North Korean People’s Army was reported to have 150 T34/85 tanks at the beginning of the Korean War.
Crew: 5 men
Main gun: 85 mm
Machine guns: two 7.62 mm (one in bow and one coaxially with the main gun)
Weight (combat loaded): 35 short tons
Length (not including gun): 19 feet 7 inches
Width (overall): 9 feet 10 inches
Height to top of turret: 7 feet 11 inches
Armor: turret front, 90 mm; hull front, 47 mm; hull rear, 60 mm
Ammunition carried: 55 rounds for main gun; 2,745 rounds for 7.62.
Engine: 12-cylinder diesel, 493 hp
Maximum speed: 31–34 mph
Armor penetration at 500 yards: 114 mm
Range: 86 miles
Fording depth: 4 feet 4 inches
Vertical obstacle: 2 feet 5 inches
Trench crossing: 8 feet 2 inches

INTEGRATED INTELLIGENCE FRAMEWORK LEADS TO BETTER RESULTS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSEThe Distributed Common Ground System-Army serves as a dedicated avenue for ingesting, fusing, analyzing, and disseminating information throughout the Army and associated defense agencies. U.S. Army photo
Integrated Intelligence Framework Takes Shape
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., July 25, 2012 - An intelligence effort being advanced by each of the military services is promoting more complete intelligence analysis, better collaboration across the services and faster delivery of actionable intelligence to support combat operations.

Each military service is developing its own version of the Distributed Common Ground System, a Defense Department-directed initiative to create a common framework for analyzing and sharing intelligence, reported Army Col. Charles Wells, project manager for the Army's system.

This state-of-the-art battlefield intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance architecture will enable analysts from every service to take data from multiple military and government sensors and databases and compile them into a single, easy-to-access format, he explained.

DCGS-Army, already fielded in Afghanistan as it undergoes operational testing and evaluation, provides a glimpse into that intelligence enterprise.

"It brings together data from all the sensors," Wells said, regardless of whether they're based in space, on aircraft or on the ground -- even biometric data collected by a soldier at a local forward operating base -- and incorporates it into a single platform.

"All of this comes into the same system, in the same display," he said. "This allows Army analysts to see connections that they could never see before. They can do a very powerful analysis, because they see the entire picture."

Fueling that powerful analysis is cloud technology. DCGS-Army represents the military's first tactical deployment of a cloud node, which brings enormous storage and computing power to analysts' fingertips, explained Army Col. Edward Riehle, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command's capability manager for sensor processing.

"What the cloud brings is the ability to very easily conduct analysis, and to very easily present the terrain, the weather, the enemy situation simply and easily," Riehle said. And because the system is able to process massive quantities of data at speeds unheard of before introduction of the cloud -- some 60 million text reports in less than a second -- it's able to provide a far broader operational picture.

As developers work to make the system more intuitive and user-friendly, Army analysts in Afghanistan are giving it high marks. They're using it to post data, process ISR reports and distribute information about the threat, weather and terrain to all components and echelons, Wells said.

And with benefit of the cloud, they're able to conduct far more extensive analyses based on intelligence reports filed, not just in recent months or years, but since 2003.

"Analysts are able to make connections they would have never been able to make before," Wells said.

The result is improved situational awareness for commanders in the theater, who can task battle-space sensors and receive intelligence from multiple sources, and for troops on the ground whose lives depend on complete, accurate data.

"What this does is make our forces more agile," Wells said. "It makes the commander on the ground much more agile and effective than his adversary."

By providing a more complete data picture, it also helps commanders make better-informed decisions, he said. "The fog of war is our tactical commanders' greatest challenge, and this is a tool that helps cut through that fog of war," he said. "Commanders can turn to their intelligence analyst and make more effective decisions and ultimately, be much more effective."

"This system is empowering our intelligence analysts to answer those important questions for the commander, which in turn helps mission effectiveness," echoed Riehle. "And there is no doubt a correlation between good intelligence and support to a commander and saving lives."

Based on an operational ground test recently completed at Fort Stewart, Ga., the Army hopes to get the green light to take the system servicewide beginning this fall.

The Marine Corps is interested in Army's use of cloud technology and ultimately could partner with the Army to apply it to the Marines' own distributed common ground system.

Meanwhile, the Air Force is applying its own system to produce intelligence collected by manned and unmanned ISR aircraft and other sensors. Similarly, the Navy its installing its own DCGS systems at multiple ground sites and on large-deck ships, with plans to ultimately also equip all destroyers and cruisers.

As these systems take shape, Wells said, they will go a long way toward improving the military's intelligence processes. "The real power of DCGS is very powerful analysis and very powerful collaboration," he said. "It's a big step toward incorporating analytic products through a common framework."

THE ACID RAIN PROBLEM AND LEGACY

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Has acid rain washed out of forests and streams? Or is a new threat on the way?
Credit: NSF Hubbard Brook LTER Site

Acid Rain: Scourge of the Past or Trend of the Present?New connection between climate change and acidification of Northeast's forests and streams
July 25, 2012
Acid rain. It was a problem that largely affected U.S. eastern states. It began in the 1950s when Midwest coal plants spewed sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air, turning clouds--and rainfall--acidic.

As acid rain fell, it affected everything it touched, leaching calcium from soils and robbing plants of important nutrients. New England's sugar maples were among the trees left high and dry.

Acid rain also poisoned lakes in places like New York's Adirondack Mountains, turning them into a witches' brew of low pH waters that killed fish and brought numbers of fish-eating birds like loons to the brink.

Then in 1970 the U.S. Congress imposed acid emission regulations through the Clean Air Act, strengthened two decades later in 1990. By the 2000s, sulfate and nitrate in precipitation had decreased by some 40 percent.

Has acid rain now blown over? Or is there a new dark cloud on the horizon?

In findings recently published in the journal Water Resources Research, Charles Driscoll of Syracuse University and the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Hubbard Brook Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in New Hampshire reports that the reign of acid rain is far from over.

It's simply "shape-shifted" into a different form.

Hubbard Brook is one of 26 NSF LTER sites across the nation and around the world in ecosystems from deserts to coral reefs to coastal estuaries.

Co-authors of the paper are Afshin Pourmokhtarian of Syracuse University, John Campbell of the U.S. Forest Service in Durham, N.H., and Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University. Pourmokhtarian is the lead author.

Acid rain was first identified in North America at Hubbard Brook in the mid-1960s, and later shown to result from long-range transport of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from power plants.

Hubbard Brook research influenced national and international acid rain policies, including the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments.

Researchers at Hubbard Brook have continued to study the effects of acid rain on forest growth and on soil and stream chemistry.

Long-term biogeochemical measurements, for example, have documented a decline in calcium levels in soils and plants over the past 40 years. Calcium is leaching from soils that nourish trees such as maples. The loss is primarily related to the effects of acid rain (and acid snow).

Now Hubbard Brook LTER scientists have discovered that a combination of today's higher atmospheric carbon dioxide level and its atmospheric fallout is altering the hydrology and water quality of forested watersheds--in much the same way as acid rain.

"It's taken years for New England forests, lakes and streams to recover from the acidification caused by atmospheric pollution," says Saran Twombly, NSF program director for long-term ecological research.

"It appears that these forests and streams are under threat again. Climate change will likely return them to an acidified state. The implications for these environments, and for humans depending on them, are severe."

Climate projections indicate that over the 21st century, average air temperature will increase at the Hubbard Brook site by 1.7 to 6.5 degrees C, with increases in annual precipitation ranging from 4 to 32 centimeters above the average from 1970-2000.

Hubbard Brook scientists turned to a biogeochemical model known as PnET-BGC to look at the effects of changes in temperature, precipitation, solar radiation and atmospheric carbon dioxide on major elements such as nitrogen in forests.

The model is used to evaluate the effects of climate change, atmospheric deposition, and land disturbance on soil and surface waters in northern forest ecosystems.

It was created by linking the forest-soil-water model PnET-CN with a biogeochemical sub-model, enabling the incorporation of major elements like calcium, nitrogen, potassium and others.

The results show that under a scenario of future climate change, snowfall at Hubbard Brook will begin later in winter, snowmelt will happen earlier in spring, and soil and stream waters will become acidified, altering the quality of water draining from forested watersheds.

"The combination of all these factors makes it difficult to assess the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems," says Driscoll.

"The issue is especially challenging in small mountain watersheds because they're strongly influenced by local weather patterns."

The Hubbard Brook LTER site has short, cool summers and long, cold winters. Its forests are made up of northern hardwood trees like sugar maples, American beeches and yellow birches. Conifers--mostly balsam firs and red spruces--are more abundant at higher elevations.

The model was run for Watershed 6 at Hubbard Brook. "This area has one of the longest continuous records of meteorology, hydrology and biogeochemistry research in the U.S.," says Pourmokhtarian.

The watershed was logged extensively from 1910 to 1917; it survived a hurricane in 1938 and an ice storm in 1998.

It may have more to weather in the decades ahead.

The model showed that in forest watersheds, the legacy of an accumulation of nitrogen, a result of acid rain, could have long-term effects on soil and on surface waters like streams.

Changes in climate may also alter the composition of forests, says Driscoll. "That might be very pronounced in places like Hubbard Brook. They're in a transition forest zone between northern hardwoods and coniferous red spruces and balsam firs."

The model is sensitive to climate that is changing now--and climate changes expected to occur in the future.

In scenarios that result in water stress, such as decreases in summer soil moisture due to shifts in hydrology, the end result is further acidification of soil and water.

U.S.-CHAD RELATIONS

Map Credit:  U.S. State Department.
FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
The United States established diplomatic relations with Chad in 1960, following its independence from France. Relations between the United States and Chad are good. Chad is emerging from half a century of regionalized conflict and internal turmoil, and it has the potential to lay foundations for better governance and development. A 2010 peace agreement with Sudan continues to hold, and Chad currently enjoys relative stability; however, the risk of spillover of tensions from Libya, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria remains. Chad ranked 183rd out of 187 countries in the 2011 United Nations Development Program Human Development Index and is one of the most food-insecure countries in the world. The Chadian Government is taking steps to improve infrastructure and foster stability. The United States continues to encourage Chad to advance good governance.

U.S. Assistance to Chad
U.S. interests in Chad include continued provision of humanitarian assistance to Sudanese and Central African Republic refugees and internally displaced persons in eastern Chad; continued Chadian commitment to efforts to reinforce regional stability and security; continued Chadian progress toward deepening democratization, including promotion of human rights and the rule of law; more responsible public-revenue management to promote sustainable socio-economic development; and continued U.S.-Chadian cooperation on regional and international counterterrorism efforts. The U.S. Government utilizes a combination of global, multilateral, regional, and bilateral programs, along with diplomacy, to achieve its goals in Chad. U.S. bilateral foreign assistance priorities for Chad focus on professionalizing the Chadian military and improving food security and maternal health. There is no U.S. Agency for International Development mission or Peace Corps program in Chad.

Bilateral Economic Relations
Chad is eligible for preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Chad's exports to the United States are dominated by oil, while imports from the United States include machinery, plastics, and cereals. The United States is a leading investor in Chad, largely through the Chad-Cameroon petroleum pipeline project. The United States does not have an investment treaty or a bilateral tax agreement with Chad.

Chad's Membership in International Organizations
Chad and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization.

RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

FROM:  U.S. NAVY
An MV-22 Osprey aircraft assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 261 (Reinforced) takes off from the flight deck of the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21). New York is part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group with the embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Zane Ecklund (Released) 120714-N-NN926-123　

U.S. Navy and Royal Canadian Navy sailors watch a MK 45 5-inch gun fire during a live-fire exercise aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Chosin (CG 65) as part of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2012. Twenty-two nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC exercise from June 29 to August 3 in and around the Hawaiian Islands. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2012 is the 23rd exercise in the series that began in 1971. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Raul Moreno Jr. (Released) 120716-N-LP801-035

U.S.-BOTSWANA RELATIONS

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

The United States considers Botswana an excellent partner and an advocate of and model for stability in Africa. Botswana has consistently maintained a democratic government, responsibly managed its natural resources, and invested in its people and infrastructure. The bilateral relationship is strong, grounded in a shared commitment to democracy, good governance, and human rights. The United States and Botswana also share an interest in ensuring the sustainability of Botswana's success by deepening economic diversification and promoting regional economic growth and development.

U.S. Assistance to Botswana
The United States has been a major partner in Botswana's development since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1966. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) phased out its bilateral partnership with Botswana in the mid-1990s, after successful programs emphasizing education, training, entrepreneurship, environmental management, and reproductive health. Botswana benefits along with its neighbors in the region from USAID's Initiative for Southern Africa, based in Pretoria, and USAID's Southern Africa Trade Hub, headquartered in Gaborone. The U.S. International Board of Broadcasters operates a major Voice of America relay station in Botswana serving most of the African continent.

Botswana is one of the focus countries for PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief. PEPFAR assistance to Botswana supports sustainable, high-quality, cost-effective HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care interventions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has undertaken many projects and has assisted many organizations in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana. HIV/AIDS-related programs also are a focus of the Peace Corps.

The International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), which is jointly financed, managed, and staffed by the Governments of Botswana and the United States, provides training to police and government officials from across the sub-Saharan region. Over 4,300 law enforcement professionals from 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have received training from ILEA since it began offering classes in 2001.

Bilateral Economic Relations
Botswana is eligible for preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The country belongs to the Southern African Customs Union, which has signed a Trade, Investment, and Development Cooperative Agreement (TIDCA) with the United States. The TIDCA establishes a forum for consultative discussions, cooperative work, and possible agreements on a wide range of trade issues, with a special focus on customs and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and trade and investment promotion.

Botswana's Membership in International Organizations
Botswana puts a premium on economic and political integration in Southern Africa. Botswana and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization.

DoD Briefing with Little

DoD Briefing with Little

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER'S REMARKS AT CAMP HUMPHREYS

FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Presenter: Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter and Commanding General, 8th U.S. Army, Lt. Gen. Johnson
Deputy Secretary Carter Delivers Remarks to Troops at Camp Humphreys

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JOHN D. JOHNSON: OK, take your seats. How's everybody doing?

OK. We have the great privilege today to have our Deputy Secretary of Defense with us to talk to us, Dr. Ashton Carter.

I've got just three things to tell you about him real quick before we begin.

Number one, as the Deputy Secretary of Defense, you know that he's the number two guy in charge of our military.

Number two, he's from Pennsylvania. Anybody out there from Pennsylvania?

AUDIENCE: Hoo-ah!

LT. GEN. JOHNSON: That's what I thought, Sir.

All right, number three, as a former assistant to the SecDef -- previous SecDef, Dr. Perry -- he's been at Pyongyang, North Korea. Hoo-ah?

AUDIENCE: Hoo-ah!

LT. GEN. JOHNSON: And I guess there's a fourth one. The fourth one is, in his previous job as the undersecretary, he was fighting for us the whole way. So MRAPs, UAVs, other ISR platforms, he's responsible for getting that for us in the fight.

So a big Humphreys welcome to our Deputy Secretary of Defense, hoo-ah.

AUDIENCE: Hoo-ah! (Applause.)

DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ASHTON B. CARTER: OK. Well, thank you. Thanks very much, General Johnson.

General Thurman's here. He and I have spent the day together.

It's terrific to be here with you. I'll be really brief, and then I look forward to meeting each and every one of you and giving you a coin and just getting a chance to see your face.

I just want to -- the main thing I want to say to each and every one of you, from the Secretary of Defense, Secretary Panetta, from me, from the entire leadership of the Department is: Thank you. Thanks for what you're doing out here. Means an enormous amount to our country. Means an enormous amount to this region. Means an enormous amount to the world.

And so I want you to go home tonight after this and talk to whomever's close to you, a parent, kids, spouse, good friend, whatever, and say that, "Today I was thanked for what I do." And please do that for me.

And what you've got to understand is that we kind of share something together, I feel, and I'm sure you feel -- each and every one of you feels as well, which is it's a great feeling to wake up every morning and be part of something that's bigger than yourself. And that's what we do.

And in fact it's even bigger than the great nation that we all serve, because the world still looks to our country, to the United States for much of its security. We provide that. And that's a big deal.

People take it for granted. You look out, you know, around here, the community around here. You go to any American community and people are waking up every morning and they're living their lives and they're raising their families and they're taking care of their parents and they're going to school and they're going to work and they're doing all these things.

And when you then look at -- turn on your television and look at Syria or someplace where there is no security, you realize how fortunate it is to have security. You provide that to people.

I always say security is like oxygen. If you -- when you have it, you don't pay any attention to it. But when you don't have it, it's all you think about.

So it is the most important thing to this world and to our societies, and you deliver that. And believe me, if they didn't have it, that's all they'd think about. And sometimes you -- you know, we all say to ourselves, "Geez, we feel underappreciated. We feel taken for granted."

We're not. I think most people understand that we provide to them the most basic thing you can have in life, without which none of the other things that are -- that make life worth living are possible.

So, you do that. Go home and tell your family you were thanked today by the leadership of the Department for what you do.

You, right here, right now, in this part of the world, are at the fulcrum of the strategic change that we in the United States are making, that the rest of the world is experiencing, from a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan -- which is not over yet, because we're still fighting hard in Afghanistan and we will be for another few years -- but you can see that that era is coming to an end.

And so we are trying to turn the energies of this great Department and its capabilities as the greatest military on Earth, to the challenges that will define our future and the world's future in security.

Many of those challenges are out here. So when the President and the Secretary of Defense asked all of us -- General Thurman was right in the middle of this last winter -- asked all of us in the senior leadership to look up from the foxhole, so to speak, of Iraq and Afghanistan that we have been in and we have been amazingly successful at and amazingly proficient at, but look up, look beyond that and say, "What should we be doing next?"

And when you do that, the first thing you see is this part of the world because of its central importance to the world going forward.

So when the president and everybody talks about rebalancing the effort of our military towards this region, that's what they're talking about. So you'll see that reflected in everything we do.

And so for you and your careers, this is a very exciting place to be at this time in our history. You're going to be right at the center of things.

And within the region as a whole, nothing is more central than Korea, because you have a mission that there's nothing abstract about it, there's nothing -- requires a lot of imagination. All you have to do is look north.

It was remarked that I've been there. And if you haven't had the pleasure of being there, going there reminds you why you're here.

And you have to be ready every day. You are ready every day. You are next to our units that are actually in Afghanistan at this moment. You, like them, have to be at the highest state of readiness.

That's why you're getting great new facilities, the fanciest base in the Army. That's why you have the newest and best equipment. Because your proficiency, your readiness, your capability has to be absolutely tip-top for you to do what you do.

And I know you do that. And that's the great thing about our military. You not only do that, but as the Japanese learned in the earthquake relief, we have not only the best fighting military in the world, but we have the most humane and skilled at dealing with people and foreign societies.

And I know you do that every day. You're out there in the society and so forth and you conduct yourselves with decency and dignity and treat other people with -- with dignity.

And that's amazingly important. You don't find that everywhere around the world. And in the American military you find it. You should be very proud of that, as proud of that as you are proud of your combat capabilities.

So you have much to be proud of. You have much to feel good about when you wake up every morning. And you should. And I just wanted you to know that and to reflect on that a little bit and go home and tell your family about it.

But the main message from Secretary Panetta and all of us on down is: Thank you for what you're doing.

Now, come on up and we'll chat a little bit. (Applause.)

SATELLITES SEE UNPRECEDENTED GREENLAND ICE SHEET SURFACE MELT

FROM:  NASA
WASHINGTON -- For several days this month, Greenland's surface ice
cover melted over a larger area than at any time in more than 30
years of satellite observations. Nearly the entire ice cover of
Greenland, from its thin, low-lying coastal edges to its 2-mile-thick
center, experienced some degree of melting at its surface, according
to measurements from three independent satellites analyzed by NASA
and university scientists.

On average in the summer, about half of the surface of Greenland's ice
sheet naturally melts. At high elevations, most of that melt water
quickly refreezes in place. Near the coast, some of the melt water is
retained by the ice sheet and the rest is lost to the ocean. But this
year the extent of ice melting at or near the surface jumped
dramatically. According to satellite data, an estimated 97 percent of
the ice sheet surface thawed at some point in mid-July.

Researchers have not yet determined whether this extensive melt event
will affect the overall volume of ice loss this summer and contribute
to sea level rise.

"The Greenland ice sheet is a vast area with a varied history of
change. This event, combined with other natural but uncommon
phenomena, such as the large calving event last week on Petermann
Glacier, are part of a complex story," said Tom Wagner, NASA's
cryosphere program manager in Washington. "Satellite observations are
helping us understand how events like these may relate to one another
as well as to the broader climate system."

Son Nghiem of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.,
was analyzing radar data from the Indian Space Research
Organisation's (ISRO) Oceansat-2 satellite last week when he noticed
that most of Greenland appeared to have undergone surface melting on
July 12. Nghiem said, "This was so extraordinary that at first I
questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?"

Nghiem consulted with Dorothy Hall at NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Md. Hall studies the surface temperature of
Greenland using the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. She confirmed that MODIS
showed unusually high temperatures and that melt was extensive over
the ice sheet surface.

Thomas Mote, a climatologist at the University of Georgia, Athens,
Ga., and Marco Tedesco of City University of New York also confirmed
the melt seen by Oceansat-2 and MODIS with passive-microwave
satellite data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder on a
U.S. Air Force meteorological satellite.

The melting spread quickly. Melt maps derived from the three
satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet's
surface had melted. By July 12, 97 percent had melted.

This extreme melt event coincided with an unusually strong ridge of
warm air, or a heat dome, over Greenland. The ridge was one of a
series that has dominated Greenland's weather since the end of May.
"Each successive ridge has been stronger than the previous one," said
Mote. This latest heat dome started to move over Greenland on July 8,
and then parked itself over the ice sheet about three days later. By
July 16, it had begun to dissipate.

Even the area around Summit Station in central Greenland, which at 2
miles above sea level is near the highest point of the ice sheet,
showed signs of melting. Such pronounced melting at Summit and across
the ice sheet has not occurred since 1889, according to ice cores
analyzed by Kaitlin Keegan at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. A
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather station at
Summit confirmed air temperatures hovered above or within a degree of
freezing for several hours July 11-12.

"Ice cores from Summit show that melting events of this type occur
about once every 150 years on average. With the last one happening in
1889, this event is right on time," says Lora Koenig, a Goddard
glaciologist and a member of the research team analyzing the
satellite data. "But if we continue to observe melting events like
this in upcoming years, it will be worrisome."

Nghiem's finding while analyzing Oceansat-2 data was the kind of
benefit that NASA and ISRO had hoped to stimulate when they signed an
agreement in March 2012 to cooperate on Oceansat-2 by sharing data.

For more information about NASA programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

UNEMPLOYMENT WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING JULY 21, 2012

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending July 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 353,000, a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 388,000. The 4-week moving average was 367,250, a decrease of 8,750 from the previous week's revised average of 376,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending July 14, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 14 was 3,287,000, a decrease of 30,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,317,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,309,000, a decrease of 3,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,312,750.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 337,059 in the week ending July 21, a decrease of 118,201 from the previous week. There were 369,207 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent during the week ending July 14, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,333,287, a decrease of 26,780 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.0 percent and the volume was 3,752,532.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending July 7 was 6,034,225, an increase of 280,405 from the previous week.

Extended benefits were available in the Idaho, Nevada, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, during the week ending July 7.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,658 in the week ending July 14, a decrease of 52 from the prior week. There were 2,776 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 497 from the preceding week.

There were 16,975 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending July 7, an increase of 509 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 39,046, an increase of 1,527 from the prior week.

States reported 2,556,456 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending July 7, an increase of 32,093 from the prior week. There were 3,172,428 claimants in the comparable week in 2011. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 7 were in the Virgin Islands (4.7), Puerto Rico (4.1), New Jersey (3.9), Pennsylvania (3.9), Connecticut (3.7), Alaska (3.7), Rhode Island (3.5), California (3.4), Wisconsin (3.4), and Oregon (3.4).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 14 were in California (+26,244), North Carolina (+11,948), Georgia (+8,372), Alabama (+4,148), and Oregon (+3,019), while the largest decreases were in New York (-10,794), Michigan (-7,453), Kentucky (-4,904), Pennsylvania (-4,186), and Ohio (-3,120).

DOD News Briefing with George Little from the Pentagon

DOD News Briefing with George Little from the Pentagon

Partnering to Prevent Fraud

Partnering to Prevent Fraud

A CEO ACCUSED OF BEING A PHONY BY THE SEC

FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C., July 25, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York man for his role in a scheme to disseminate news of a fake investment to boost a struggling penny stock company.

The SEC alleges that Ronald Feldstein pretended to be the president of a private company, LED Capital Corp., and entered into an investment agreement with penny stock issuer Interlink-US-Network Ltd. Feldstein in fact held no such position at LED Capital Corp. and was merely being paid by Interlink’s management to play the role of a purported Interlink investor so they could spread news of a much-needed capital infusion. Feldstein then helped Interlink disseminate the false information in an SEC filing.

The SEC charged Interlink last year as part of a complaint against several perpetrators of an alleged green product-themed Ponzi scheme.

"Feldstein was nothing more than a fake president for hire who schemed with a public company to tout news of a sham investment and deceive investors," said Andrew M. Calamari, Acting Regional Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office.

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Feldstein purportedly committed LED Capital Corp. – which in reality had no operations or assets – to pay $6 million for a minority block of Interlink shares that had an actual market value of less than $1.2 million. Although Feldstein knew the actual owner of LED Capital Corp., he concealed the purported contract committing his company to pay more than a 500 percent premium for a minority block of shares in a penny stock company that had liabilities far exceeding its assets. When SEC investigators spoke with the actual owner, he testified that he has been the sole officer-stockholder of LED Capital Corp. and never had any knowledge of the purported agreement. He testified that Feldstein had no authority or permission to act on behalf of the company, which he said doesn’t and likely never would have $6 million available to it. For his performance as the phony president of LED Capital Corp., Interlink awarded Feldstein shares of its common stock that had a market value of more than $400,000.

The SEC alleges that when Interlink sought to inform the stock market of the remarkable investment, Feldstein offered crucial assistance in developing the substance of a Form 8-K filing with the SEC to disclose the purported agreement. After Interlink’s CFO e-mailed Feldstein a draft Form 8-K for his review, Feldstein responded "Not good" and thereafter discussed the contents with Interlink’s CFO. Based on Feldstein’s comments, the agreement was instead called a "memorandum of understanding." Feldstein then separately signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of "LED Capital LLC" – a company similar in name to LED Capital Corp. but that does not actually exist. On Dec. 14, 2010, Interlink filed with the SEC the version of the Form 8-K that reflected Feldstein’s input.

The SEC’s complaint charges Feldstein with aiding and abetting violations by Interlink and its President of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder as well as violations by Interlink of Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act and Rules 12b-20 and 13a-11 thereunder. The Commission seeks injunctions from future violations of these provisions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and a monetary penalty.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted in the New York Regional Office by Celeste Chase and Daniel Michael, and the litigation will be conducted by Howard Fischer and Daniel Michael. The SEC acknowledges the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with this matter.

PANETTA AND SHINSEKI WARN CONGRESS OF BUDGET CUTS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Panetta, Shinseki Warn of Stress on VA From Wars, Budget
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki warned Congress today that looming budget cuts as well as the surge of troops returning from a decade of wars will further challenge the government's ability to provide for veterans in a timely manner.
Both testified before a joint session of the House Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Panetta told lawmakers troop drawdowns as well as the impact of wars over the last decade will, for years to come, place additional strain on an already burdened system charged with caring for veterans.

"We're going to be adding another hundred thousand per year. And the ability to be able to respond to that in a way that effectively deals with the heath care issues, with the benefits issues, with all of the other challenges, that is not going to be an easy challenge," he said, adding that the current system is already "overwhelmed."

Shinseki, whose agency is attempting to process a backlog of veterans' claims within a bureaucracy that he described as still largely unautomated and "paperbound," further laid out the daunting task ahead.

"Our history suggests that VA's requirements will continue growing for a decade or more after the operational missions in Iraq and Afghanistan are ended," he said. "Over the next five years, there is the potential for 1 million serving men and women to either leave military service or demobilize from active duty." Of the roughly 1.4 million veterans who have returned from both wars, nearly 70 percent, he said, currently rely on the VA.

Rep. Howard McKeon of California, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, noted if an additional round of draconian budget cuts known as "sequestration" takes effect next year, 100,000 additional service personnel will be leaving the military and likely would add to the strain on resources that DOD and VA are providing to current veterans.

Shinseki told lawmakers he has been informed that VA would be largely exempt from sequestration, and that only "administrative costs" would be affected. He told the panel he doesn't yet have a definition of administrative costs, and he offered to provide that information later.

Sequestration is a federal budget maneuver written into legislation passed last year that raised the U.S. debt ceiling. Unless lawmakers take action to prevent it, the measure will slash spending across the federal budget beginning in January, taking an additional $500 billion from defense accounts. Panetta has said the cuts would be a disaster, and told lawmakers today that such a move would make it "near impossible" to do the kind of work the departments are trying to do.

SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON REMARKS AT GLOBAL DIASPORA FORUM

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the Second Annual Global Diaspora Forum
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Kris Balderston
Special Representative for Global Partnerships
Loy Henderson Auditorium
Washington, DC
July 25, 2012
MR. BALDERSTON: Thank you, everyone. I always take it as a point of personal privilege to be able to say a few words about my boss of 12 years, Secretary Clinton. And I’ve worked with her for over a decade and I’ve learned many lessons from her, too plentiful to list here. But one is very relevant here today. It’s the way she subtly and sometimes directly asks in any decision-making process whether we’ve reached out to the people who’ll be affected by the problem or the issue. Have we reached out and sought their opinion? Have we sparked their creativity? Have we tapped their networks? I pretty quickly learned that I did not want to enter a meeting without having affirmative answers to all of those questions. It always, always made the product or decision better, and quite frankly it made the process more interesting.

This is the inspiration behind the State Department’s Global Diaspora Initiative. This is the Department’s way of getting advice and counsel in an effective and in an efficient manner from the diversity that is America. We are honored to have the Secretary today because it’s rare to have her in this building. (Laughter.) She’s just returned from an around-the-globe trip addressing many of the issues that face the world. And in every single case, she is looking to better the lives of the diasporans that you all care about.

Ladies and gentlemen, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, Kris. Thank you. Well, it truly is a great pleasure for me to have this opportunity to address you and to thank you. I want to start by thanking Kris. He’s worked very hard along with his extremely able staff to make this Global Diaspora Forum a reality. And as he said, he and I have been working together for a long time to try to maximize the potential impact of everything we do to improve the lives of people and to enable everyone everywhere to at least have the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential.

I also want to thank our colleagues from USAID. They are co-sponsoring this conference with the State Department. And I am particularly delighted to welcome our friends from Canada, because working together on diaspora issues makes perfect sense, since both of our countries have been blessed by having so many people from all over the world add to our diversity and our efforts. And so for me, having Canadian involvement in this just makes good sense.

Thanks also to the Migration Policy Institute, The HAND Foundation, Western Union, the OneVietnam Network, and Boom Financial for being such supportive partners. And let me say a special hello to everyone joining us remotely from the Twin Cities in Minnesota and also watching from Massachusetts to Missouri and around the world.

Now, why is this room packed and we have such interest on Twitter and through other means of connectivity? Well, it’s because we all believe that diaspora communities have enormous potential to help solve problems and create opportunities in their countries of origin, because we believe that, as the title of this conference says, we can move forward by giving back. By tapping into the experiences, the energy, the expertise of diaspora communities, we can reverse the so-called "brain drain" that slows progress in so many countries around the world, and instead off the benefits of the "brain gain."

Now, in terms of international development and our work to reduce poverty and improve lives, this can be a game-changing effort. But that is not all. It is also a recipe for spurring greater economic growth in the United States as well. And it holds the promise of advancing strategic interests like rebuilding societies after conflicts or disasters and improving relations with key countries.

Now, I saw this myself just two weeks ago when I visited Hanoi with a delegation of American businesses. This is a priority for us, because as I emphasized throughout my trip across Asia, economic growth and political reform are linked and we are supporting both. The business leaders were all buzzing about the opportunities they are discovering in Vietnam’s burgeoning market. But a few savvy entrepreneurs were clearly way ahead of the curve. One was Jonathan Hanh Nguyen. He had left Vietnam as a young man, lived in the Philippines, and then studied in the United States, and when relations between America and Vietnam opened up in the 1990s, he was one of the first to see the economic potential. And he built a thriving business bringing well-known American brands into the Vietnamese marketplace, from designer clothing to fast food pizza, creating in the process thousands of jobs and bringing our countries closer together.

Now, that’s one way the diaspora has and continues to make a difference, but it’s certainly not the only way. One of the founding partners of the International Diaspora Engagement Alliance is the nonprofit OneVietnam Network, which uses the power of social networking to connect thousands of people in Vietnam – thousands of people of Vietnamese origin – in 30 countries, with health and development projects on the ground in Vietnam, like a cleft lip and palette clinic in Hanoi or dental missions in rural villages, that makes it easier for members of the diaspora to contribute directly to projects they care about and to see the impact of their donations.

So whether it’s a profitable business venture or an innovative nonprofit, we can see just from the example of one diaspora, namely the Vietnamese diaspora, how you can help bring progress and prosperity to a once closed country.

Now, this story can be and is being replicated in country after country. For instance, we have Katleen Felix here today. She helped launch a new microfinance organization to connect members of the Haitian diaspora with access to capital to businesses and development projects on the ground in Haiti that would not qualify for traditional bank loans. So far, they’ve raised more than $1 million, created more than 760 jobs, and helped fund everything from clean water filters to halt the spread of cholera, to a new hen house in northeast Haiti that is earning income for 100 women.

We created the International Diaspora Engagement Alliance to support exactly these kinds of efforts. And I am so pleased that in its very first year the Alliance has already expanded into new and exciting endeavors. The Caribbean Idea Marketplace, for example, is a business competition sponsored by the governments of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, along with the Inter-American Development Bank, Scotiabank, Digicel, and other partners. It is offering up to a million dollars in matching funds to finance innovative entrepreneurial proposals from the Caribbean diaspora to create jobs and economic growth back in the region. The African diaspora marketplace is a similar effort that is already starting, supporting startups like EcoPower Liberia, which distributes an affordable electrical generator that runs on plentiful and cheap agricultural waste, and Promo Tunisia, which is promoting tourism and investment in Tunisia.

And today I’m pleased to announce that we are officially launching a new business competition for Latin America. This is the result of a partnership between the United States Government, Univision, the Inter-American Development Bank, Accion, WellSpace, and Boom Financial. We’re going to find the best ideas and help them grow into successful businesses that create value and jobs throughout the hemisphere.

Now, we have other projects getting off the ground as well – a diaspora volunteer corps that will deploy highly skilled professionals on short-to-medium-term development assignments in the countries of origin; a new mentoring and networking web platform specifically for diaspora members trying to get involved and give back; an online portal created in partnership with the nonprofit Global Giving that will serve as a fundraising clearinghouse for diaspora organizations and initiatives.

We’re working on all these fronts so we can try to help you harness the amazing energy out there to help people around the world lift themselves out of poverty and create new economic opportunities and bring together more partners to take on big, global challenges.

Now, one of those challenges that is front and center right now is the crisis in Syria, where the Assad regime continues to wage war on the Syrian people. We have a number of Syrian Americans here with us today, and I want to recognize the work of Syrian diaspora organizations to shine a light on what is happening in Syria and to carry the concerns of the Syrian people not only onto the pages of American newspapers, but also into the halls of Congress. They’re helping to collect funds and humanitarian assistance for Syrians who are suffering because of this terrible violence, and they’re trying to help those who’ve had to flee their homes and communities – some of them crossing over borders into neighboring countries. They’re serving as a link between the international community and opposition activists on the ground.

We are obviously hoping to work to further a transition that will be bringing the people of Syria together to help form a new government, helping to rebuild the country, helping to avoid sectarian conflict. These are all extremely difficult challenges, but I think our efforts are enhanced by having the members of the Syrian diaspora, the Syrian Americans and others, being able to advise us.

The fact is that the United States has always benefited from the influx of talent and dynamism that diasporas of all kinds bring to our shores. And if you pick up The Washington Post today, you see that Baltimore, among other countries, is actually finally recognizing the importance that immigrants can play in revitalizing cities. And so they are reaching out and inviting – opening the doors of that venerable American city to immigrants from everywhere. Because in fact, we are well aware that our diversity is one of our greatest assets in the 21<sup>st century.

I met yesterday with the Prime Minister from – yes, the Prime Minister from Haiti, and he was very clear that they need more support from the Haitian diaspora. We saw that when the earthquake devastated Haiti, communities from New York to Miami and elsewhere in the world sprang into action. And Haiti has the unfortunate standing of losing more of their college graduates per capita than any country in the world. So reversing that, finding ways for people to help and even to move back, is one of the priorities.

Now, when countries across North Africa and the Middle East threw off autocrats and dictators and cried out for skilled professionals to help them build modern economic systems, modern political systems, Americans of Arab descent have been answering that call. And each year, Americans send billions of dollars in remittances throughout the world. In fact, remittances are the largest form of inflows into many, many countries. And what we’re trying to do is figure out how to harness those remittances to do even more than what they are currently doing in supporting individuals and families.

So through the International Diaspora Engagement Alliance, through this forum, we’re asking you for your ideas. We’re asking you to help us. Give us the benefit of your experience and insight. We see so many places around the world being torn apart by ethnic, religious, racial, sectarian divides of all kinds. When I walk down the street, as I love to do in New York, and I see people living together and working together whose relatives back in the countries from where they came hate each other, kill each other, it just – it makes me so grateful for our country, but it also makes me so heartbroken that other countries don’t have that opportunity, don’t see beyond moving beyond the past. And I think Americans, like all of you, have such an opportunity to talk with, to support these kinds of changes in minds and hearts. Because democracy is not just an election; democracy is changing the way people relate to one another, work with one another, listen to one another. And there’s no place that has more experience, since we are now the longest-lasting democracy, than we do. And there are no people with more credibility than all of you.

And that’s why we have focused in on the importance of our own diaspora to our efforts here at the State Department. But we can’t do this without your constructive criticism, your ideas, your support. And I hope that out of this forum we will get many, many more ideas. And all the ones that I’ve mentioned today you will learn about and come up with your own, because we have to send a clear, unmistakable call to action to people everywhere. They really can have a better life; they really can see their children do better than they have done; they really can live in peace, one with the other.

I know we have friends from the American Irish diaspora, and I remember meeting with a group of women in Belfast, Ireland about 15 or so, 16 or so years ago from both communities. Now Northern Ireland, as many of you, has been divided not on racial grounds, not on tribal grounds, not on any grounds other than two different branches of Christianity – Protestants and Catholics. And they have been at each other for a long, long time. And then they made a lot of tough decisions to try to figure out how to live with each other.


But in those early days, they really didn’t see each other as fellow human beings. They were different creatures, one to the other. And I remember going to Northern Ireland for the first time and getting together a group of women from the two communities who had never been in the same room with each other. They lived in different neighborhoods; their children went to different schools; they avoided each other every way they possibly could. Each thought the other was illegitimate.

And we started the discussion, and nobody really wanted to say anything. And finally, I just called on a woman. I said, "What are you afraid of?" And she said, "I’m afraid that when my husband goes to work in the morning, he won’t come back alive." And then I pointed to another woman and I said, "What are you afraid of?" She said, "I’m afraid when my son goes out at night, he won’t come back alive." I said, "It sounds like you’re afraid of the same things. So there’s got to be a way to reach across the divide of history and begin to talk about what together you can do to ensure that your husbands and your sons, your daughters and your friends, and everyone else has a chance to have a better life."

When I travel around the world that is what I see as our biggest problem. I see people in one sect of the same religion intimidating, harassing, and even approving of the killing of somebody in the same religion but in a different sect. I see people in different tribal backgrounds convinced that they are going to kill or be killed. What a waste of the great gift God has given us to live our lives in peace, to pursue our own dreams. Are we so insecure about our own beliefs that we have to marginalize and even kill those who don’t share them? I mean, ultimately we’ll all found out who was right, but we’re not going to find out on this earth. (Laughter.) And frankly, I think it’s a pretty big tent up there, where people will be judged individually more than by sect or religion or faith or ethnicity.

So these are big issues. And as part of our diaspora, you have lived in a place, with all of our problems and challenges, that has given more opportunity to more people over a longer period of time than anywhere in human history to live out your own dreams and your own hopes. And one of the great challenges we face in the world today is to convey that to others.

Now, many of the reasons many of you are here is because you did not want to stay where you were from, or your parents didn’t, or your grandparents didn’t, which was my case. They left seeking better economic opportunity, a better future. Some come seeking religious freedom, freedom of conscience, a chance to stretch your own ambition. And it is part of America’s ongoing mission to try to help more people everywhere to have that same chance.

So I thank you for taking time out of what I know are very busy schedules for every one of you to come and trade ideas about how to alleviate poverty and suffering, how to open up doors and minds, and to be part of this ongoing mission of giving every person in the world the chance that you and I have had because of the blessings in this country that I never, ever want us to take for granted.

So I’m looking forward to seeing the results of your work. Thank you all very much.</sup>

U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK APPROVES NEARLY $65 MILLION FOR SRI LANKA WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS

FROM: EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Ex-Im Approves $64.9 Million in Financing for Water-Supply System in Sri Lanka
Washington, D.C. – For the first time since 2008, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has authorized a sovereign transaction – a $64.9 million, 12-year direct loan – to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to finance the design and construction of the Badulla, Haliela and Ella Integrated Water Supply System by Tetra Tech of Pasadena, Calif.

The transaction will support approximately 400 American jobs, according to U.S. government estimates, including those at Tetra Tech’s design centers across the United States, particularly in Denver and Longmont, Colo.; Morris Plains, N. J.; Langhorne, Pa.; and Fairfax, Va.

The water-supply project will integrate new and rehabilitated treatment plants, storage tanks, pumping stations, a new dam and impoundment reservoir, new and existing water intake structures, nearly 50 kilometers of transmission pipeline, and more than 100 kilometers of distribution pipeline. Once in place, the water-supply system will help the government of Sri Lanka to realize its objective of providing safe drinking water to 85 percent of the population, in line with the United Nations Millennium Development goals.

"Not only does this transaction stimulate U.S. job creation, but it also contributes directly to the quality of life in Sri Lanka," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. "This project will bring potable water to thousands of those who need it, and that is a success."

According to Sri Lankan government estimates in 2009, 79.5 percent of the population had access to water supplies, but only 37.5 percent of the population, or 8.06 million people, could access potable water through pipe-borne systems. In some regions, it was estimated that more than 80 percent of the water supply was contaminated. Much of the contamination was attributed to agrichemical runoff and saltwater intrusion, the latter of which resulted from the 2004 tsunami when four tidal waves inundated part of the island’s freshwater aquifer and well network with seawater.

"This is the first full-scale, design-build water-supply project that Ex-Im Bank has financed for an international client," said Dan Batrack, Tetra Tech’s chairman and CEO. "Tetra Tech is proud to support the government of Sri Lanka in this important effort to bring safe drinking water to its people. This transaction supports high-end technical jobs in the United States and allows us to bring our best water services where they are needed most."

Founded in 1966, Tetra Tech provides consulting, engineering, and construction services related to waterways, harbors, and coastal areas. Over the past 40 years, the company has substantially increased the size and scope of its business and expanded its service offerings through a series of acquisitions and internal growth. The company employs approximately 13,000 people around the globe.

Sri Lanka accounted for approximately $20 million of the Bank’s worldwide credit exposure as of the end of FY 2011.

The Bank’s Environmental Export Program includes support for U.S. goods and services to international water projects, and its enhanced financing includes repayment terms up to 18 years.

Ex-Im Bank’s financing has supported the sale of approximately $270 million in water-related exports since FY 2009.