INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

International Holocaust Remembrance Day Event

Remarks

Michael G. Kozak
Acting Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism

Washington, DC

January 28, 2013

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Thank you for joining us this afternoon in the Dean Acheson auditorium to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On behalf of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, welcome to today’s commemoration. Today we honor the millions of victims of the Holocaust and learn more about the ‘Holocaust by Bullets’ that took place in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union during World War II.

When many of us reflect on the Holocaust, the horrific gas chambers and ovens of the death camps of Auschwitz and Treblinka immediately come to mind. Yet in parts of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, there was a less known part of the terrible genocide perpetrated against Jews, Roma, and other victims of the Nazis and their allies between 1941 and 1945. To the East of the line drawn by Hitler and Stalin in 1939 dividing Europe and starting WWII, the Nazis committed a low tech but equally murderous genocide. During this period, death squads of German soldiers or local collaborators dug pits, marched their victims to them, and machine gunned the men, women and children whose only crime was being born Jewish or otherwise considered “inferior” by the murderous Nazi regime. Millions of men, women and children died this way, their remains covered over in unmarked mass graves. Virtually no one escaped. In the death camps in the West, some victims were kept alive temporarily to serve as slave labor or to help “administer” the death camps until their turn came. In the East, you were picked up and killed within hours.

During my time as the U.S. Ambassador to Belarus, I saw just how the legacy of this abomination still affects the entire population. It is part of the everyday experience of people living there. You do not need to go to a death camp to be confronted with the evidence of mass murder. You drive or walk past a depression in the earth and someone will say, “Oh, that is where they killed my grandparents.” I drove past a mass grave on my way to work each morning (albeit one containing victims of the NKVD). My wife taught aerobics in a gymnasium, the courtyard of which was a mass grave containing thousands. My USAID coordinator found where her grandparents were presumably killed; the depression in the earth made a convenient place for a garbage dump. Minsk and other cities in Belarus before the war had large Jewish populations, in some cases Jews comprised the majority. Street signs were in Yiddish as well as Russian. After the war all but a handful of the Belarusian Jews were dead. The story was similar in the Baltics and Ukraine and in parts of the Russian Federation.

This ‘Holocaust by Bullets’ was the subject of a documentary produced by Yahad-In Unum, an organization whose goal is to systematically identify and document every mass execution site during the Second World War.

We are honored to have with us today as a panelist Father Patrick Desbois, one of the founders and the current President of Yahad-In Unum. Yahad-In Unum means ‘unity’ in Hebrew and Latin, and the mission of Father Desbois and his colleagues is to truly bring unity out of the discord of the past carefully and deliberately created by the Nazi State. To quote Father Desbois, Yahad-In Unum’s “objectives are to substantiate this ‘Holocaust by Bullets’, to irrevocably refute the Holocaust deniers of today and tomorrow, to serve as a permanent warning to humanity of the dangers of genocide and to allow for the respectful remembrance of the fallen.”

In this spirit of remembrance of the past and action in the future, I am very pleased that Dr. Suzanne Brown-Fleming, Director of Visiting Scholar Programs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, is among today’s panelists. One of the great tragedies of the Holocaust is that the message ‘Never Again!’ was unfortunately not heeded in many parts of the world in the latter half of the 20^th century and the beginning of this century. Through the work of Dr. Brown-Fleming and her colleagues at the Holocaust Museum here in Washington, the Museum is marking its 20^th anniversary this year with the theme of ‘Never Again – What You Do Matters’. This anniversary theme, “asks America to renew its pledge to honor Holocaust survivors and World War II veterans and challenges today’s generations to act on the lessons of the Holocaust and fulfill the promise of “Never Again.” ”
President Obama has taken up that challenge. Soon after entering office, he signed Presidential Study Directive 10 making the prevention of atrocities a key focus of this Administration’s foreign policy, both a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States. Our other panelist, my friend Victoria Holt, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, is especially qualified to address current efforts to ensure that mass murder such as occurred during the Holocaust is never repeated. Tori was an expert leader for the Genocide Prevention Task Force -- led by former Secretaries Albright and Cohen -- that recommended the creation of an Atrocities Prevention Board, which the President created in 2011. Unfortunately, one of our scheduled panelists, Julia Fromholz, Special Assistant to Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Maria Otero, is unwell and unable to be with us this afternoon. Julia in her life in the NGO world developed the key training module we and other agencies use in this field, and now serves as the coordinator within the State Department of our efforts to use the Atrocity Prevention Board to make a difference.

Our moderator today will be my esteemed colleague, U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, Douglas Davidson. The Department of State office that he leads seeks to bring a measure of justice and assistance to Holocaust victims and their families and to create an infrastructure to assure that the Holocaust is remembered properly and accurately. This is an important issue in our bilateral relations with European countries and with the State of Israel. Much of the office's work relates to bringing closure to issues left outstanding during the Cold War.

In a few moments, we will watch the brief documentary by Yahad-In Unum, called ‘Holocaust by Bullets’, which I mentioned previously. It will be followed by several taped testimonials from actual eye witnesses from the former Soviet Union. Afterwards, we will have an opportunity to hear from Father Desbois and the other panelists about their work and engage in an open discussion with members of the audience.

Remembering the Holocaust and pledging to prevent future genocide is not an issue unique to any one country or society. It is a matter of global importance. On January 14, the Greek government joined several European countries by creating a Special Envoy position for Holocaust Issues. Last Thursday, the Senate of Belgium ratified a resolution acknowledging the role of the Belgian government officials during the Holocaust. Many countries have difficulty coming to terms with their roles in history. Belgium’s lawmakers acted courageously in ratifying this resolution. The Belgian government, which currently chairs the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, has acted with leadership and commitment in confronting its past. If a country cannot bring itself to recognize where it fell short in combating or actively collaborated with the Nazi genocide over a half century ago, how can we expect them to deal honestly with contemporary atrocities in the making? The object here is not to condemn our ancestors who fell short or fell guilty about them, but to ensure that we recognize what they did and perhaps how they were brought to do it so that we can try to inoculate ourselves and others from falling victim to the same demons. I am pleased that present today are diplomats from the embassies of Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom, including Ambassador Marina Kaljurand from the Estonian Embassy, Ambassador Andris Razans from the Latvian Embassy, and Ambassador Zygimantas Pavilionis from the Lithuanian Embassy.

They are joined by representatives from non-governmental organizations, academia, think tanks, and the media, among others. Together, we are all witnesses to the past. And together, we are all future activists.

Please join me in welcoming all of our distinguished guests, panelists and moderator. Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA ASKS CONGRESS TO STOP SEQUESTRATION

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFESNE
Obama Calls on Congress to Avoid Sequestration
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
 WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2013 - President Barack Obama today called on Congress to avoid deep, across-the-board spending cuts looming March 1 under a "sequestration" mechanism in budget law and to take a balanced approach to America's debt problems.

If sequestration happens, hundreds of thousands of Defense Department civilian employees could be furloughed and readiness of the military force will plummet, Pentagon officials have said.

The American economy is poised to make progress in 2013, the president said in remarks at the White House today, but sequestration could put an end to any forward movement.

"We've seen the effects that political dysfunction can have on our progress," Obama said. "The drawn-out process for resolving the 'fiscal cliff' hurt consumer confidence. The threat of massive automatic cuts [has] already started to affect business decisions."

While it is critical for the U.S. government to cut wasteful spending, "we can't just cut our way to prosperity," Obama said.

"Deep, indiscriminate cuts to things like education and training, energy and national security will cost us jobs, and it will slow down our recovery," he added.

The president emphasized that sequestration does not have to happen.

"For all of the drama and disagreements we've had over the past few years, Democrats and Republicans have still been able to come together and cut the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion through a mix of spending cuts and higher rates on taxes for the wealthy," he said.

"A balanced approach has achieved more than $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction," the president continued. "That's more than halfway towards the $4 trillion in deficit reduction that economists and elected officials from both parties believe is required to stabilize our debt."

Obama called on Congress to finish the job with a balanced mix of spending cuts and more tax reform. Though he favors a balanced approach that will solve the problem, the president said, he is realistic.

"I know that a full budget may not be finished before March 1," he said. "And unfortunately, that's the date when a series of harmful automatic cuts to job-creating investments in defense spending ... are scheduled to take effect."

If Congress cannot act immediately on a bigger package, Obama said, "then I believe that they should at least pass a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms that would delay the economically damaging effects of the sequester for a few more months until Congress finds a way to replace these cuts with a smarter solution."

There's no reason "that the jobs of thousands of Americans who work in national security or education or clean energy -- not to mention the growth of the entire economy -- should be put in jeopardy just because folks in Washington couldn't come together," he added. "Our economy right now is headed in the right direction, and it will stay that way, as long as there aren't any more self-inflicted wounds coming out of Washington."

 

Encontrar a chave para a imunidade

Encontrar a chave para a imunidade

President Obama’s Message to the People of Kenya | The White House

President Obama’s Message to the People of Kenya | The White House

AIR FORCE READIES MISSILE COUNTER-MEASURE PROTOTYPE IN MICHIGAN

Tech. Sgt. John Kerschenheiter, an electrician with the 191st Maintenance Squadron connects wiring for a new antennae to the flight controls of a KC-135 Stratotanker at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., Jan. 30, 2013. The KC-135, assigned to the 127th Air Refueling Group of the Michigan Air National Guard, was being outfitted with the additional antennae to allow it to serve as a platform for testing a prototype of a new aircraft defense system. (U.S. Air Force photo by Brittani Baisden)

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Michigan base to test missile counter-measure prototype
by Tech. Sgt. Dan Heaton
127th Wing Public Affairs

2/4/2013 - SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mich. (AFNS) -- The Air National Guard has begun installing a new prototype missile counter-measure device on aircraft at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. If tests on the prototype conclude favorably, as expected, the device could mean safer travels for KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft and additional job security for maintenance personnel at the base.

Working in conjunction with the KC-135 Systems Project Office (SPO) at Tinker Air Force Base, aircraft maintenance personnel at Selfridge began work in mid-January preparing a single KC-135 aircraft at the base for a prototype of the LAIRCM - large aircraft infrared countermeasure - system. After several weeks of prep work on the aircraft, the LAIRCM pod, known as The Guardian, will be added to the aircraft and a series of tests will be conducted with the aircraft at an Air Force test range in another state. An exact timeline on the testing project has not been publicly released, but the prototype testing is expected to conclude by late spring or early summer.

"This testing mission is important not only to the Air Force, but to our Army, Navy, Marine Corps and allied partners as well," said Col. Michael Thomas, commander of the Michigan Air National Guard's 127th Wing and a KC-135 pilot at Selfridge. "The work being done by our Airmen on this project will have a direct impact on the future safety of not only aircraft, but the Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines aboard those aircraft."

The LAIRCM is specifically designed to defeat a portable, man-carried surface-to-air missile. While such missiles don't pose much threat when the KC-135 is refueling another aircraft at a high altitude, the tanker can be susceptible to such weapons while taking off and landing.

Safety in a hostile environment is of particular concern when KC-135s are used to perform one of the key alternate missions of the aircraft - serving as an aeromedical transportation system to move injured military personnel from remote bases to larger hospitals.

"We volunteered to serve as a test site for this project," said Col. David Brooks, commander, 127th Air Refueling Group, a component of the 127th Wing at Selfridge. "First, our maintainers have the skills and abilities necessary to work on this type of project. Second, when anyone in the Air Force thinks about tankers, we want them to think about Selfridge first."

Initial testing of the LAIRCM began with the 190th Air Refueling Wing in Kansas in 2010. After making adjustments from that testing, a prototype of the system was created for the Selfridge tests.

The LAIRCM is a pod that can be attached to the external skin of the aircraft. The receiving aircraft has to be modified to have a receiving plate, an additional antennae and wiring inside the aircraft. Once the aircraft is prepped to be able to accommodate the LAIRCM pod, the pod would only be added to the aircraft - a procedure that only takes a few moments for a trained maintenance crew - on specific missions.

The system, said officials, was designed to be detachable from the aircraft to save on costs as a single LAIRCM pod could be attached and detached to multiple aircraft, as mission requirements change. The Air Force has not finalized plans on how many of the KC-135s in the fleet would be equipped with the necessary equipment to receive a pod. The Air Force has 167 KC-135s in the active duty fleet, 180 with the Air National Guard and 67 with the Air Force Reserve.

The LAIRCM is designed to continuously scan for any threats to the aircraft. If a missile is detected, it jams the incoming missile's guidance system using a laser beam. The system does not require the aircraft pilot or another aircrew member to take action to eliminate a potential threat.

The Air National Guard's LAIRCM test is taking place at the same time as a similiar prototype is being tested with a U.S. Navy C-40 Clipper cargo aircraft.

Selection of the air refueling group at Selfridge to work on the prototype project is a direct result of a certain mind-set found in the maintenance crew in the group, Brooks said.

"When someone says, 'we can't do because...,' we've taken the approach of 'what can we do, what steps can we take, how can we work smarter to get this project done,'" he said.

The unit's mix of full-time aircraft maintainers and traditional, one-weekend-a-month Guard members helps bring new eyes and new ideas to a project, said Chief Master Sgt. Henry Ryan, superintendent of the 191st Maintenance Squadron.

"A lot of our traditional members are engineers, are electricians in their civilian jobs," Ryan said. "Sometimes that can spark an idea. Our full-time people are on the same aircraft all the time, so they get to know an aircraft and that can spark an idea. It's up to leadership then to hear those ideas and be open to them, not just look for ways to say 'no.'"

Earlier this month, roughly 60 or so maintenance Airmen from the 127th Air Refueling Group shared in the receipt of the Wing Commander's Trophy for Excellence in 2012 for dramatically reducing the time an aircraft spends out of commission in a maintenance hangar.

"One thing leads to another," Ryan said. "You're doing good work on bringing your ISO (maintenance) times down and now you have the opportunity to be considered for a new, high-profile project to be brought on to the base."

U.S. GOVERNMENT STRIVES FOR HEALTHIER HOMES

FROM: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Federal Agencies Working to Make Homes Healthier
Improving housing quality can dramatically affect the health of residents

WASHINGTON – Several federal agencies today unveiled Advancing Healthy Housing – A Strategy for Action. White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chair Nancy Sutley, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, M.D., and Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman discussed the new plan during an event at the National Building Museum this morning.

The initiative represents a bold new vision for addressing the nation’s health and economic burdens caused by preventable hazards associated with the home. The Strategy for Action encourages federal agencies to take preemptive actions that will help reduce the number of American homes with health and safety hazards.

People in the United States spend about 70% of their time in a home. Currently, millions of U.S. homes have moderate to severe physical housing problems, including dilapidated structure; roofing problems; heating, plumbing, and electrical deficiencies; water leaks and intrusion; pests; damaged paint; and high radon gas levels. These conditions are associated with a wide range of health issues, including unintentional injuries, respiratory illnesses like asthma and radon-induced lung cancer, lead poisoning, result in lost school days for children, as well as lost productivity in the labor force. The health and economic burdens from preventable hazards associated with the home are considerable, and cost billions of dollars.

The Strategy for Action unifies, for the first time, federal action to advance healthy housing, demonstrating the connection between housing conditions and residents’ health. It also promotes strategies and methods intended to reduce in-home health hazards in a cost-effective manner.

"It is clear that unhealthy and unsafe housing has an impact on the health of millions of people in the United States, which is why we must do everything we can to ensure that individuals and families have a healthy place to call home," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "Today’s announcement will help the federal government unify action to controlling and preventing major housing-related exposures and hazards."

"Thanks to unprecedented collaboration across the federal family and among our many partners, we now have a specific plan for action to address radon and other preventable hazards found in homes across the country. This is important progress, especially when you consider that people spend an estimated 70 percent of their time inside a home," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "At EPA we’re committed to ensuring Americans in all communities have healthy places to live, work and play, and the strategy we announced today is a critical step toward reaching that goal."

"Healthy homes and communities are essential to our quality of life, our productivity, and our economic vitality," said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. "Through this plan, Federal agencies have committed to working together to make sure all Americans can count on safe, healthy places to live, grow, and thrive."

Dr. Mary Jean Brown, Chief of CDC’s Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch added, "Healthy homes lead to healthier lives. People can take simple steps to protect themselves from health hazards in the home."

"Energy efficiency and healthy homes are inextricably linked," explained U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman. "We cannot, in good conscience, pursue one in the absence of the other. DOE is committed to ensuring that our efforts towards creating an efficient national housing stock also strive to maximize the health and safety of the families we serve."

The overall vision for the Strategy is to reduce the number of American homes with residential health and safety hazards, achieved through five goals:

1. Establish healthy homes recommendation

2. Encourage adoption of healthy homes recommendations

3.Create and support training and workforce development to address health hazards in housing

4. Educate the public about healthy homes

5. Support research that informs and advances healthy housing in a cost-effective manner

RECENT PHOTOS FROM FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

FROM: FEMA
Union Beach, N.J., Jan. 29, 2013 -- The Salvation Army has set up at center in Union Beach, N.J., where Hurricane Sandy survivors can come and get clothing, essentials, and counseling. The Salvation Army is just one of the many organizations FEMA works with during disaster response and recovery. Photo by Liz Roll/FEMA



Union Beach, N.J., Jan. 29, 2013 -- The Salvation Army has set up at center here that Hurricane Sandy survivors can come and get clothing, essentials, and counseling. The Salvation Army is just one of the many organizations FEMA works with during disaster response and recovery. Photo by Liz Roll/FEMA

DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CARTER INSPECT MISSILE BATTERY IN SYRIA

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter speaks to troops on arrival on a Turkish army base at Gaziantep, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2013. Carter was there to see Patriot missile batteries installed with the help of U.S. forces to help deter potential incursions by Syrian forces. DOD photo By Glenn Fawcett.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter Visits Turkish Defense Leaders, U.S. Patriot Battery Troops
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2013 - On his first official visit to this prosperous capital as deputy defense secretary, Ashton B. Carter spent the day with Turkish defense leaders, then traveled southeast to Gaziantep near the Syrian border to examine the first of two U.S. Patriot missile batteries to be located there.

But Carter's first stop was the U.S. Embassy here on Atatürk Boulevard, where on Friday a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint on the embassy's perimeter, killing Mustafa Akarsu, a guard in his forties and the father of two teenagers.

At the embassy today, Ambassador Frank Ricciardone ordered the American flag flown at half-staff until sunset on Wednesday, and the embassy operated on a reduced-manning schedule.

Those who did come to work to support the deputy secretary's planned visit observed a moment of silence at 1:13 p.m., exactly 72 hours after the bomb went off. The explosion blew out checkpoint windows, creating scattered debris, wounding several people and ending Akarsu's own life as he attempted to save the lives of his colleagues and friends.

Carter met with the ambassador this morning and walked the blast site. He then met with Akarsu's coworkers in the local guard force and with the embassy's seven Marine Corps guards. He also met -- in person and by telephone and digital video conference -- with about 45 embassy staff members from Ankara, Istanbul and the consulate in Adana, as well as with U.S. staff members from Turkey's Incirlik Air Base.

After the bombing, Carter told the embassy staff, "the ambassador called me and said, 'Do you still want to come?' And I said, 'One blankety-blank isn't going to stop us.'"

Carter said that later in the day he would visit the 80 or so Army troops manning and supporting the NATO-led U.S. deployment of two Patriot missile batteries at Gaziantep "because that ... stands for the strength of our alliance and the willingness of America to stand with Turkey at this moment of danger, when so many unsettled things are happening in Syria [that] pose a threat to the people of Turkey."

The deputy secretary added, "We stand with the people and the government of Turkey, and missile defense is just one way we are doing that."

This afternoon Carter began meeting with Turkish defense leaders.

At the Ministry of National Defense, he and Undersecretary of Defense for Industries Murad Bayar met and discussed three major U.S.-Turkey defense acquisition efforts.

Later, at the Ministry of National Defense, Carter met with Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, and both made statements ahead of their discussion.

"This unfortunate incident [involving the death of Mustafa Akarsu] has again shown us that the new [era] is one in which cooperation between countries has become more important than ever," Yilmaz said, adding, "The fight against terrorism has great importance and calls for sustained cooperation."

In his remarks, Carter said he planned his trip to Turkey to discuss with Yilmaz and other leaders the military-to-military cooperation long shared by the United States and Turkey in ... counterterrorism, missile defense and every other area of cooperation."

For decades, he added, the United States "has been pleased and honored to be your partners ... [and] we thank the government of Turkey for everything it does to combat terrorism with us."

Later in the day, Carter traveled to a military facility in Gaziantep, just over 60 miles from Aleppo, Syria, where one U.S. Patriot battery is operational and another will be moved from nearby Incirlik as soon as the grounds at the base are prepared for its massive components and the troops required to operate the systems.

The Patriot missile system uses ground-based radar to find, identify and track incoming missile targets. The system can lock onto an incoming missile that's up to 50 miles away. The system can even be made to operate automatically.

Patriot missiles, each weighing nearly a ton, launch from ground-based batteries. A battery is made up of MIM-104 surface--to-air missiles; a launcher that holds, transports, aims and launches the missiles; an MPQ-53 or MPQ-65 radar antenna for detecting incoming missiles; an equipment van called an engagement control station that holds computers and consoles to control the battery; and power-plant truck with two 150-kilowatt generators that power the radar antenna and van. Each Patriot missile battery can have up to 16 launchers.

At the missile launch site, Carter spoke with about 18 soldiers -- men and women -- who operate the site, and then spoke with 80 more in a small theater near the battery site. They're assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, based on Fort Sill, Okla.

"I'm so pleased that two days ago you rolled all the way in from Incirlik with all this fantastic equipment," Carter told the troops.

"Your country is watching and the world is watching and what they see is this magnificent performance," he added. "The good people of Gaziantep see it and the good people of Turkey see it and the good people of the Middle East see it and your country sees it. And you know what? The bad guys see it too."

Carter told the young men and women that they're doing a significant thing.

"When you place your next call," the deputy secetary said, "whether it's to a spouse or your mom and dad, kids, if you have them, or good friends ... tell them that you were thanked today by the leadership of your department, the leadership of your country, for what you're doing here."

Tonight, after leaving Turkey, Carter will travel to Amman, Jordan, to meet on Tuesday with U.S. Embassy personnel and government and defense leaders. He'll also have lunch with troops to thank them for their service to the nation.

SEC CHARGES HUSBAND AND WIFE WITH DEFRAUDING SENIOR CITIZENS WITH CHARITY SCHEME

FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2013 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a husband and wife who raised millions of dollars selling investments for a purported charitable organization in Tallahassee, Fla., while defrauding senior citizens and significantly exaggerating the amount of contributions actually made to charity.

The SEC alleges that after Richard K. Olive and Susan L. Olive were hired at We The People Inc., the organization obtained $75 million from more than 400 investors in Florida, Colorado, and Texas among more than 30 states across the country by selling an investment product they described as a charitable gift annuity (CGA). However, the CGAs issued by We The People differed in several ways from CGAs issued legitimately, namely that they were issued primarily to benefit the Olives and other third-party promoters and consultants. Only a small amount of the money raised was actually directed to charitable services. Meanwhile the Olives received more than $1.1 million in salary and commissions, and they also siphoned away investor funds for their personal use.

The SEC further alleges that the Olives lured elderly investors with limited investing experience into the scheme by making a number of false representations about the purported value and financial benefits of We The People’s CGAs. The Olives also lied about the safety and security of the investments.

"The Olives raised millions from senior citizens by claiming that We The People’s so-called CGAs provided attractive financial benefits and were re-insured and backed by assets held in trust," said Julie Lutz, Associate Director of the SEC’s Denver Regional Office. "Investors were not given the full story about the true value and security of their investments."

According to the SEC’s complaint against the Olives filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, investors were coaxed to transfer assets including stocks, annuities, real estate, and cash to We The People in exchange for a CGA. We The People claimed to operate as a non-profit organization while it was offering the CGAs from June 2008 to April 2012. However, We The People was not operating as a charity but instead for the primary purpose of issuing CGAs and using the proceeds to pay substantial sums to the Olives, third-party promoters, and consultants. On rare occasions when We The People did actually direct money raised toward charitable services, it was insignificant. For instance, the organization made public statements that it donated $21.8 million in relief aid to AIDS orphans in Zambia, but in fact the supplies were donated by others and We The People merely made a small payment to the third party that was shipping the supplies.

The SEC alleges that We The People’s marketing and promotional materials for the CGA offering contained misrepresentations and omissions including:
False statements that the CGAs were worth the "full" accumulated value of the assets transferred by investors to We The People. Investors were not told in advance of transferring their assets that the value of the CGA as calculated by We The People was always substantially less than the "full" accumulated value of those assets because We The People took a significant percentage of the asset’s value and kept it as a purported "charitable gift."

False statements about the safety and security of the CGA program including that We The People held in trust a reserve equal to 110 percent of its liabilities and that it "reinsured" its products through "highly rated" commercial insurance companies. We The People did not in fact have any restricted-access trust accounts let alone maintain a reserve in them, and it did not purchase reinsurance from any insurance company to cover its potential liabilities under the CGAs.
Omissions of the previous indictments and regulatory sanctions against Richard and Susan Olive when they previously sold similar products.
Omissions of the sizable commissions that We The People paid to third-party promoters and the Olives on the sale of the CGAs, hiding from investors that these commissions totaled several million dollars.
The SEC’s complaint charges the Olives with violations, or aiding and abetting violations, of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws as well as violations of the securities and broker-dealer registration provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus pre- and post-judgment interest and financial penalties against the Olives.

The SEC also filed separate complaints today against We The People as well as the company’s in-house counsel William G. Reeves. They both agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations. The settlements are subject to court approval.

We The People consented to a final judgment that will enable the appointment of a receiver to protect more than $60 million of investor assets still held by the company. The final judgment also provides for disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and provides injunctive relief under the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.

Reeves entered into a cooperation agreement with the SEC, and the terms of his settlement reflect his assistance in the SEC’s investigation and anticipated cooperation in its pending action against the Olives. Reeves agreed to be suspended from appearing or practicing before the SEC for at least five years, and consented to a final judgment providing injunctive relief under the provisions of the federal securities laws that he violated. The court will determine at a later date whether a financial penalty should be imposed against Reeves.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Michael Cates and Ian Karpel in the Denver Regional Office. The SEC’s litigation against the Olives will be led by Nicholas Heinke and Dugan Bliss.

RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. NAVY
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) gets underway from Naval Air Station North Island to conduct sea trials during the final stage of a six-month planned incremental availability. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Lowell Whitman (Released) 130201-N-HA376-002

Sailors watch Super Bowl XLVII in the hangar bay aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). Carl Vinson is underway conducting sea trials as the final stage of a six-month planned incremental availability. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Giovanni Squadrito (Released) 130203-N-DI878-346

 

COURT ENTERS INJUNCTION AGAINST DRUG MANUFACTURER

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, January 31, 2013
District Court Enters Permanent Injunction Against Ohio-Based Drug Manufacturer and Company’s Senior Executives

U.S. District Court Judge Lesley Wells entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Ben Venue Laboratories Inc., a Bedford, Ohio-based drug manufacturer, the Justice Department announced today. The permanent injunction was also entered against George P. Doyle, president and chief executive officer, Kimberly A. Kellermann, vice president of operations, and Douglas A. Rich, vice president of quality operations, for Ben Venue. The department, at the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), asked the court to enter the consent decree.

Ben Venue manufactures numerous generic sterile injectable drug products, including cancer medications. As set forth in the complaint filed by the United States on January 22, FDA conducted an inspection of defendants’ facility from Nov. 7 to Dec. 2, 2011, and documented 10 deviations from current good manufacturing practices. According to the complaint, the FDA found, among other things, that the company failed to create and follow appropriate procedures to prevent contamination of drugs which were purported to be sterile. The FDA also found that the company failed to properly clean and maintain its equipment to ensure the safety and quality of the drugs it manufactured. In addition, the FDA determined that the company failed to conduct adequate investigations of drugs that did not meet their specifications.

Compliance with current good manufacturing practices requirements assures that drugs meet the safety requirements of the law and have the identity and strength and meet the quality and purity characteristics that they purport to or are represented to possess. FDA regulations, which establish minimum current good manufacturing practices applicable to human drugs, require manufacturers to control all aspects of the processes and procedures by which drugs are manufactured in order to prevent the production of unsafe and ineffective products.

According to the complaint, t he deviations observed by FDA during the November - December 2011 inspection were similar to deviations observed by FDA during its many previous inspections of Ben Venue’s facility. During FDA’s May 2011 inspection, FDA documented 48 deviations from current good manufacturing practices including an inadequate quality control unit, inadequate and untimely investigations, inadequately designed aseptic processing areas, poor employee aseptic practices, failure to prevent microbial contamination of drug products purporting to be sterile and failure to determine the root cause for microbial contaminants.

As described in the complaint, FDA’s long inspection and regulatory history of Ben Venue, including 35 inspections since 1997, and approximately 40 recalls since February 2002 associated with drugs manufactured at the Ben Venue facility (including 10 recalls in 2011 and 10 recalls in 2012), reflects a continuing pattern of significant deviations from current good manufacturing practices with its drugs. Some recalls involved drugs contaminated with glass and other particulates. Additional recalls were based on the company’s inability to assure the drug’s sterility. Of the roughly 40 recalls, nine were classified by FDA as "Class I," meaning that FDA determined that there was "a reasonable probability that the use of . . . a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death."

The consent decree entered resolves the complaint by requiring Ben Venue to take a wide range of actions to correct its violations and ensure that they do not happen again. The injunction establishes a series of steps which must occur before Ben Venue can fully resume operations, including the retention of an expert to inspect the company’s facility, the development and then implementation of a remediation plan, and an inspection by FDA to confirm that the company’s manufacturing processes are fully compliant with the law.

"This consent decree restricts Ben Venue from manufacturing and distributing certain drugs until the company fully complies with the law," said Stuart F. Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. "As this case demonstrates, the Department of Justice and FDA will work together to protect the health and safety of Americans by making sure that those who produce and distribute prescription drugs follow the law."

"This resolution comes following nearly three dozen inspections which revealed inadequate quality control, including contaminated drugs, and led to approximately 40 recalls on products from this facility alone," said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. "The Justice Department and the Food and Drug Administration will continue to place its highest priority on protecting consumers."

Under the decree, Ben Venue may continue to manufacture and distribute a subset of their drugs (listed on Attachment A to the decree), which FDA has determined are currently in shortage (domestically or abroad) or are vulnerable to shortage. However, prior to distribution of each batch of these drugs, the company’s expert must conduct a batch-by-batch review and certify that no deviations occurred during the manufacture of the drug that would adversely affect the safety or quality of the batch.

Fotografiando Marte

Fotografiando Marte

HEARING FOR ACCUSED USS COLE BOMBER GOES ON

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Hearing for Accused USS Cole Bomber Continues, Despite Delays
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

FORT MEADE, Feb. 4, 2013 - Pre-trial hearings for the alleged bomber of the USS Cole opened today at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and encountered issues from both the prosecution and defense that threatened more delays.

The first of four days of pre-trial hearings in the government's case against Abd al Rahim Hussein Mohammed Abdu al-Nashiri opened with the defense asking for a postponement over concerns that third-party monitoring could spill over to confidential attorney-client communications.

Army Col. James L. Pohl, the commission judge, denied the request by Navy Lt Cmdr. Stephen Reyes, saying it was based on unsubstantiated suspicion. The judge upheld prosecutor Anthony Mattivi's argument that the defense bears the burden of proving such allegations and said in his ruling that lacking such proof, the trial will go on.

The debate stemmed from an incident last week during pre-trial hearings for five defendants charged with orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

During the Jan. 28 hearing, an unnamed "original classification authority" activated a censor button in the courtroom. The button set off a flashing warning light and blocked about two minutes of audio for everyone observing the proceedings via closed-circuit TV, as well as for media, who sit behind soundproof glass in the courtroom.

The incident caught Pohl and others by surprise, and he ruled last week that in the future, only he will have the authority to block audio feeds believed to contain classified information.
But Reyes told Pohl today the incident opened a Pandora's Box that needs resolution.

"We can't ignore the man behind the curtain," he said, because it is unclear how pervasive the monitoring is. Reyes said the defense team must assume that if a third-party organization is listening in on courtroom activities, it must also assume that it's eavesdropping on other activities, including privileged discussions between defense lawyers and their client.

"We see a tremendous ethical issue here," Reyes said. Until these questions are answered, he said there is no way to effectively defend Nashiri. Civilian defense counsel Richard Kammen told the judge he would not meet with his client outside the courtroom until this issue is resolved.

To address these concerns, Pohl suggested that all microphones at empty desks within the courtroom, as well as at the defense table, be "ripped out" and that attorneys address the court only from the podium. He did not, however, order the removal.

Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, chief prosecutor in the Office of Military Commissions, denied any insinuation that the prosecution is listening in on or has any access to privileged communication between the defense and defendant.

The prosecution "actively avoids the confidential communications between an accused and his counsel," he wrote in a statement released today. "This is part of our professional responsibilities and our oaths to serve justice. No one has ever asserted a substantive or credible allegation that the prosecution listens to such communications."

After Pohl's ruling, Reyes asked for a three-hour delay to consult with other members of the defense team. The judge approved the request but chided Reyes for not being prepared to move forward and said all parties should be prepared to do so in the future, regardless of how he rules on their motions.

But the government's case against Nashiri encountered another potential delay as discussion turned to Nashiri's mental competence. Much of today's hearing delved into whether he should be evaluated before the trial goes forward, and by whom.

The prosecution challenged the defense claim that Nashiri suffers from long-term post-traumatic stress disorder allegedly caused by CIA torture before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay. Navy Cmdr. Andrea Lockhart asked Pohl to order a mental health board to evaluate Nashiri and determine the validity of this claim. Kammen questioned what such an assessment would provide, telling Pohl he lacks faith in whatever "hacks" the convening authority might appoint to conduct it.

The judge authorized a mental health exam. But before it is conducted, he granted the defense's request that Dr. Vincent Iacopino, a member of the Physicians for Human Rights organization, be called on to provide advice on how to conduct it without "doing harm."

Iacopino is expected to testify within the next day or two. Pohl said he would not take up other legal and administrative issues surrounding the case until after the mental-health assessment is complete.

The prosecution asked the judge today to clarify previous rulings that give Nashiri the right to skip court sessions if he chooses, while also allowing him to change his mind during a day's proceedings and be transported to the hearing.

The defense team also requested that Nashiri not be restrained with belly chains when he is moved within the detention facility. Defense attorneys said the chains could bring up past trauma from the period when Nashiri was allegedly restrained while he was tortured.

Prosecutors raised concern that eliminating current security safeguards could threaten the safety of others, including the guard force.

Nashiri, who appeared in court in a traditional white tunic and wore headphones to follow the translated proceedings, is the alleged mastermind behind the attack off the Yemeni coast that killed 17 sailors. He is charged with perfidy, murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, terrorism, conspiracy, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects and hazarding a vessel.

The charges arise out of an attempted attack on the USS The Sullivans in January 2000, the actual attack on the USS Cole in October 2000, and an attack on the motor vessel Limburg -- a civilian oil tanker -- in October 2002.

Nashiri is a Saudi-born member of al-Qaida. U.S. officials allege he was under the personal supervision of Osama bin Laden, and that bin Laden personally approved the attacks on the U.S. Navy ships.

RECENT U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE

A French Mirage 2000 prepares to refuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker over Africa Feb. 2, 2013. Tanker crews from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall, England, began conducting refueling missions in support of French operations in Mali from a deployed location in southwest Europe Jan 27. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Austin M. May/Released)

A French air force Mirage 2000 flies behind a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker over Africa Feb. 2, 2013. Tanker crews from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall, England, began conducting refueling missions in support of French operations in Mali from a deployed location in southwest Europe Jan 27. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Austin M. May/Released)

NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN FOR JANUARY 4, 2013



U.S. soldiers and Afghan border police hike from their landing zone to Observation Point 12 along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Jan. 21, 2013. The soldiers are assigned to the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jon Heinrich

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Afghan, Coalition Troops Arrest Taliban IED Facilitator
Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban improvised explosive device facilitator in the Nad-e Ali district of Afghanistan's Helmand province today, military officials reported.

The facilitator is believed responsible for the procurement, construction and distribution of IEDs and other weapons to Taliban leaders operating in the district. He is alleged to have overseen the acquisition and delivery of heavy weapons to insurgents for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

The security force also detained two suspected insurgents and seized firearms in the operation.

In Afghanistan operations yesterday:

-- A combined force in Kandahar province's Maiwand district arrested a Taliban leader who is believed to have overseen nearly 30 Taliban fighters and is suspected of being responsible for coordinating complex attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- In Baghlan province's Baghlan-e Jadid district, a combined force detained two insurgents during a search for a senior Taliban leader believed to command 25 Taliban fighters and to oversee IED operations.

In Feb. 1 operations:

-- A combined force in Kunduz province's Khanabad district arrested a Taliban IED coordinator who is believed to have conducted attacks against Afghan government officials and Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also seized IED-making materials.

-- In Khost province's Khost district, a combined force arrested a Haqqani network IED expert accused of coordinating the acquisition and transfer of homemade explosives, weapons and IEDs for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also detained another suspected insurgent and seized assault rifles in the operation.

DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER ATTENDS MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter walks with U.S. Ambassador to Germany Philip D. Murphy as they prepare to meet with German Defense Minister Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière during the 49th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Feb. 2, 2013. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

 
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
In Munich, Carter Details Sequestration's Reckless Reality
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

Munich, Feb. 2, 2013 - Before one of the world's largest gatherings of foreign and defense ministers, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter took time to detail the grim consequences a second round of severe and potentially imminent budget cuts could have on the Defense Department.

Carter spoke as part of an expert panel that took the stage here late in the afternoon on day two of the Munich Security Conference, also called the Wehrkunde Conference on Security Policy.

Their topic was the future of European defense, and Carter was joined on the panel by Netherlands Defense Minister Jeanine-Antoinette Hennis-Plasschaert, Russian Federation Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, European Union Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier, NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros and others.

As the deputy secretary neared the end of his talk, he remarked on what has become nearly a routine occurrence at Munich security conferences -- a U.S. defense secretary urging allies to meet their agreed-on NATO benchmarks for defense spending.

"At this point at Wehrkunde," Carter said, "it's traditional for the DOD leader of the U.S. delegation to emphasize, as [former Defense Secretary] Bob Gates did memorably a few years ago, the need for allies to provide the necessary resources for defense."

"'In the final analysis,'" the deputy secretary quoted Gates as saying, "'there's no substitute for nations providing resources necessary to have the capability they need when faced with security challenges.'"

This time at Wehrkunde, Carter told the audience, "I have to add my own country to this exhortation because we're facing the very real prospect of a huge and reckless additional cut in our defense budget."

The department absorbed a budget cut of $487 billion over 10 years beginning in fiscal year 2012, crafting as a result, and with input from every part of DOD and the services, a defense strategy for the 21st century that President Barack Obama and the Defense Department leadership launched in January 2012.

The looming March 1 threat of another half-trillion dollars slashed from military spending over 10 years will happen unless Congress manages to avoid the "huge and reckless cuts," he said, that sequestration would generate.

"What's tragic is that this is not a result of economic emergency or recession," the deputy secretary said. "It's not because defense cuts are the answer to the fiscal challenge -- do the math. It's not in reaction to a change to a more peaceful world. It's not due to a breakthrough in military technology or a new strategic insight. It's not because paths of revenue growth and entitlement spending have been explored and exhausted. It's purely collateral damage from political gridlock."

In response, as the Defense Department's chief management officer, Carter said he has directed "that we take some immediate steps ... to protect the department as best as it is possible to do in this eventuality."

One action will be to freeze the hiring of civilians, he said, adding, "And I'll just remind you that the Department of Defense hires between 1,000 and 2,000 people a week," 44 percent of them veterans.

He'll also reduce temporary-term employees and defer maintenance contracts, among many other actions.

Sequestration will affect every function in every state and every district, he said, producing economic inefficiency and needless waste.

"The result over time, in fact very quickly, would be a readiness crisis. And the effect over a longer period of time would be to threaten the [new defense] strategy itself," Carter said.

On the European side of the Atlantic, he added, "I know that, in myriad ways that are different for every country, something similar is happening -- a political dynamic that threatens spending."

That's why, in his Wehrkunde address today, Carter spoke to Europeans and Americans, he said, "about the level of investment they're willing to make to protect our great countries and the great unity and values represented by our countries."

PENTAGON LEADERS DISCUSS AFGHAN WAR AND WOMEN IN THE MILITARY

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Panetta, Dempsey Speak on War, Women in Combat
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2013 - Three-quarters of the Afghan population is under the security responsibility of its country's own forces because of the progress those forces, the U.S. military and its coalition partners have achieved in the war there, the nation's defense chief said today.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey spoke during interviews on CNN's "State of the Nation" and on NBC's "Meet the Press" about the war's drawdown, the U.S. military's responsibility in Afghanistan after its combat mission ends in late 2014, and the recent decision to lift the combat exclusion for servicewomen.

"We've made good progress in the war," Panetta said. "We've been able to diminish the Taliban's capabilities. Violence has gone down. We're also developing an Afghan army that's increased its operations skills to provide security. We're on the right path to give [Afghanistan] the opportunity to govern itself."

With significant gains in building their army's numbers and skills, he said, "[The Afghans] have developed their ability to provide security."

The secretary added, "We couldn't make a transition in the areas that need transition ... if there weren't an Afghan army that was becoming much more capable of doing their jobs."

Panetta said the rate at which Afghan forces gain competency will, in part, determine "the level of enduring presence that we will have once we reach the end of 2014."

He reiterated that the core U.S. and coalition mission in Afghanistan is to make sure al-Qaida never again establishes a safe haven there.

Dempsey said the military will live up to its commitments to maintain a long-term partnership and relationship with the Afghan government.

The U.S. military's top-ranking officer also said that post-war U.S. and NATO missions with the Afghan government will "largely relate to the counter-terror mission, continuing to keep pressure on transnational global terrorism, [and] the continued development of the Afghan security forces. My instinct ... [is] that our numbers after 2014 can be modest."

About 68,000 U.S. troops continue to serve in Afghanistan, Dempsey noted. And while the number of U.S. troops that will maintain a presence there beyond 2014 hassn't yet been determined, he added, that decision will be based on several factors.

"The ultimate number will be based on the mission and how deeply we want to be involved with their continued development, and what they want ... literally, what the sovereign nation of Afghanistan wants," he said.

"You can also count on us to match the mission to the number of troops and to keep three things in equilibrium as we get there," Dempsey said. "... The mission, retrograding equipment and people out, and the protection of the force."

"Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd told Dempsey that as women begin to fill combat roles following the end to the ban against their serving on front lines, there is a movement on Capitol Hill to pass a law to make sure standards aren't lowered for them.

Dempsey said there's no need for such legislation.

"We are going to make sure that we have the right standards for the right jobs that maintain the readiness of the force," he said.

"My primary responsibility is the readiness of the force, and I would do nothing to allow that to be undermined," the chairman said, adding that a requirement exists for Congress to review the department's actions in opening occupational specialties to women.

At that point, he noted, Congress will "have the opportunity to ask us what we've done to standards."

Lifting the ban, Dempsey said, "really is about changing the paradigm from one of exclusiveness to inclusiveness; to do the best job to make the best force for Joint Force 2020. We've got to ... make sure we've got the right talent force, and this is part of that."

STATE DEPARTMENT REMARKS ON 'TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT'

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Release of the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Maria Otero
Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights
Luis CdeBaca
Ambassador-at-Large, Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Vincent Paraiso
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, DC
June 19, 2012
　

UNDER SECRETARY OTERO: Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to the Department of State. It’s wonderful to have you all here. I want to especially welcome Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith for being here with us. Thank you for being here. (Applause.)

Every year, this event brings together committed leaders and activists from across the anti-trafficking movement, and the enthusiasm that’s surrounding this rollout shows us the momentum that we have built in the struggle against modern slavery.

I am Maria Otero. I am the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights. My office oversees the bureaus that help countries and governments create just societies, societies that are grounded in democratic principles that guarantee respect for human rights and that apply the rule of law. Whether we’re helping strengthen judicial systems or we’re denouncing human rights abuses or helping build strong law enforcement capacities or combating trafficking in persons, we’re aiming to help countries protect the individual citizens in their countries.

Trafficking challenges are one of the problems that we have. And it is also the one area that deals with one of our most fundamental values. That is the basic freedom and dignity of every individual. Trafficking also tears at the very fabric of society. It rips families apart. It devastates communities. It holds people back from becoming full participants in their own political processes in their own economies. And it challenges the ability of countries to build strong justice systems and transparent governments. That’s why fighting modern slavery is a priority for the United States. In that fight, we partner with governments around the world to improve and increase the prosecution of this crime, to prevent the crime from spreading, and to protect those individuals who are victimized by it.

While governments bear this responsibility of protecting their individual citizens, this fight depends on a broader partnership as well. Without the efforts of civil society, the faith community, the private sector, we would not be able to advance and we would not be able to see the advances that the report highlights. The report that we are issuing today guides our work. It represents the very best knowledge and information on the state of modern slavery in the world today. It shows the fruit of partnerships around the world. It shows the strides that we’ve made in protecting individuals, and it shows how far we yet still have to go to assure the basic human rights.

I want to thank everyone who has worked this last year to compile these reports, from the NGOs that submit this information to the governments that provide us with data, from the diplomats in our overseas missions, to the staff of the Office of Monitor and Combating Trafficking in Persons who are here today. And today really is the culmination of tireless work over many months that they have taken on. And for that reason, it is really my pleasure and my privilege to be able to introduce my colleague who runs that office and who has shepherded and given leadership to this process, our Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Luis CdeBaca. (Applause.)

AMBASSADOR CDEBACA: Thank you, Madam Under Secretary, for the introduction and for your leadership here at the State Department. Bringing so many different issues together under this label of civilian security over the last year has allowed room here in the State Department and across the U.S. Government for constructive collaborations, whether we’re dealing with human rights, migration, criminal justice, war crimes, counterterrorism, or, as today, human trafficking. Because building democracy, growing economies, unleashing the full potential of the individual, these things don’t just happen. They start with people.

Around the world in the last year, we’ve heard those people, their voices calling, calling out for democracy, for greater opportunity. We recognize that sound. It’s the sound of hope. And traffickers ensnare their victims by exploiting that hope, especially the hope of the vulnerable. "Come with me, I’ll help you start a modeling career. Pay me $10,000, I’ll get you that job. I love you. I’ll take care of you. Just do this for us." As long as the Trafficking in Persons Report is needed, we will find in its pages account after account of traffickers peddling false hope.

But that’s not all that we find in the pages of this report because every year that passes, those false hopes are overtaken more and more by real hope; the real hope that the modern abolitionist movement provides. And just as trafficking takes many forms, the way that we fight slavery today, the way that we provide hope for those who have been exploited, is growing. It is growing more diverse and more innovative, and so are the people who are stepping up.

We see it in the private sector, where corporate leaders are using their business skills. They’re hearing from consumers who don’t want to buy things tainted by modern slavery. Leaders like CEO Tom Mazzetta. When he read a report about forced labor in the fishing industry, he wasn’t just shocked. He acted. He wrote two letters. The first was to the company he used, until that day, to source calamari. The second was an open letter to all of his customers telling them that his brand was his family, his family name, and he would not taint it or his customers with slavery in his supply chain. We’re inspired by his principled stand.

We see it among activists like Jada Pinkett Smith and her family, who have a unique platform from which to act. When her daughter Willow began asking about these types of subjects, she didn’t just explain it away as something that happens over there. She got to work. She’s launching a new website to serve as a resource for victims and survivors and is an information hub for those who seek to learn more about this crime. Jada, we thank you for your advocacy.

We see it in people’s day to day lives, like when Aram Kovach was watching CNN one day. He saw the story of a young boy castrated because he refused to take part in a begging ring. He wasn’t just horrified by the reality of modern slavery. Aram did something. He got in touch with the boy’s family and he paid for him to come to the United States for surgery. Mr. Kovach we’re moved by your compassion.

And if I can take a moment of personal privilege, we see it in the men and women who contribute to this report: our colleagues at embassies around the world, in our regional bureaus here in Washington, and especially the reports in political affairs team of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. We thank you all for your rigor, your commitment, and the zeal with which you attack this problem.

And we see it ultimately in the victims, the survivors, whether they choose to become activists or whether they choose to lead a life of quiet anonymity. When you log on to slaveryfootprint.org – and I hope you do – and it asks you how many slaves work for you, remember that those victims are not statistics. It’ll give you a number, but these people are not numbers. They are people with hopes, with dreams, with courage, and with names. Remember their names, names like Amina, Maria Elena, Joel, Ashley. It’s their courage that challenge us to deliver on this promise, this promise of freedom.

And it’s my pleasure to introduce someone who has never turned away from that challenge. From the start of this effort, when most people didn’t want to talk about modern slavery, to this day, when we recommit ourselves to the vision of a world without slavery, ladies and gentlemen, the Secretary of State. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you all very much. And I am delighted to see a standing room only crowd here in the Benjamin Franklin Room for this very important annual event. I welcome all of you here to the State Department. And I want to begin by thanking Ambassador CdeBaca and his team for all the hard work that goes into this report, and the passion that they bring to the fight against modern slavery. I would like, Lou, for you and your team to either stand or wave your hand if you’re already standing. Could we have everyone from – (applause) – thank you. I so appreciate what you do every day, not just when we roll out the report, and I’m very proud to be your colleague.

I also want to welcome our 10 TIP heroes, whose work is making a real difference. You will hear more about each one individually when we recognize them, but I want, personally, to thank them because they do remind us that one person’s commitment and passion, one person’s experience and the courage to share that experience with the world, can have a huge impact. And I am delighted to welcome all of our TIP heroes here today. Thank you. (Applause.)

And I will join Lou in thanking Jada Pinkett Smith and Will for being here, and through you, your daughter. Because, as Lou said, it was their daughter who brought this issue to Jada’s attention, and I am so pleased that she has taken on this cause. And we look forward to working with you.

In the United States today, we are celebrating what’s called Juneteenth. That’s freedom day, the date in 1865 when a Union officer stood on a balcony in Galveston, Texas and read General Order Number 3, which declared, "All slaves are free." It was one of many moments in history when a courageous leader tipped the balance and made the world more free and more just. But the end of legal slavery in the United States and in other countries around the world has not, unfortunately, meant the end of slavery.

Today, it is estimated as many as 27 million people around the world are victims of modern slavery, what we sometimes call trafficking in persons. As Lou said, I’ve worked on this issue now for more than a dozen years. And when we started, we called it trafficking. And we were particularly concerned about what we saw as an explosion of the exploitation of people, most especially women, who were being quote, "trafficked" into the sex trade and other forms of servitude. But I think labeling this for what it is, slavery, has brought it to another dimension.

I mean, trafficking, when I first used to talk about it all those years ago, I think for a while people wondered whether I was talking about road safety – (laughter) – what we needed to do to improve transportation systems. But slavery, there is no mistaking what it is, what it means, what it does. And these victims of modern slavery are women and men, girls and boys. And their stories remind us of what kind of inhumane treatment we are still capable of as human beings. Some, yes, are lured to another country with false promises of a good job or opportunities for their families. Others can be exploited right where they grew up, where they now live. Whatever their background, they are living, breathing reminders that the work to eradicate slavery remains unfinished. The fact of slavery may have changed, but our commitment to ending it has not and the deeply unjust treatment that it provides has not either.

Now the United States is not alone in this fight. Many governments have rallied around what we call the three P’s of fighting modern slavery: prevention, prosecution, and protection. And this report, which is being issued today, gives a clear and honest assessment of where all of us are making progress on our commitments and where we are either standing still or even sliding backwards. It takes a hard look at every government in the world, including our own. Because when I became Secretary of State, I said, "When we are going to be issuing reports on human trafficking, on human rights that talk about other countries, we’re also going to be examining what we’re doing," because I think it’s important that we hold ourselves to the same standard as everyone else.

Now, this year’s report tells us that we are making a lot of progress. Twenty-nine countries were upgraded from a lower tier to a higher one, which means that their governments are taking the right steps. This could mean enacting strong laws, stepping up their investigations and prosecutions, or simply laying out a roadmap of steps they will take to respond.

But this issue and the progress we’ve made are about much more than statistics on prosecutions and vulnerable populations. It’s about what is happening in the lives of the girls and women I recently met in Kolkata. I visited a few months ago and was able to meet with some extraordinary women and girls who were getting their lives back after suffering unspeakable abuses. One young girl, full of life, came up and asked me if I wanted to see her perform some karate moves. And I said, "Of course." And the way she stood up so straight and confident, the pride and accomplishment in her eyes, was so inspiring. This was a child who’d been born in a brothel to a young mother who had been forced and sold into prostitution. But when her mother finally escaped and took her daughter with her, they were out of harm’s way and finally able to make choices for themselves.

Now I don’t know what’s going to happen to that young girl, whose image I see in my mind’s eye, in the years and decades ahead. But I do know that with a little help, her life can be so much better than her mother’s. And that’s what we need to be focused on, and it’s what we need to try to do for all victims and survivors.

That’s why in this year’s report, we are especially focused on that third P, victim protection. And in these pages, you’ll find a lot of proven practices and innovative approaches to protecting victims. This is a useful and specific guide for governments looking to scale up their own efforts. What kind of psychological support might a victim need? How should immigration laws work to protect migrant victims? How can labor inspectors learn to recognize the warning signs of traffickers? And what can you and all of us do to try to help?

When I met with the people who were working with victims in Kolkata, I met several young women from the United States who had been inspired by reading about and watching and going online and learning about what was happening in the efforts to rescue and protect victims. And they were there in Kolkata, working with organizations, NGOs, and the faith community, to do their part. So this is a moment for people to ask themselves not just what government can do to end modern slavery, but what can I do, what can we do together.

Ultimately, this report reminds us of the human cost of this crime. Traffickers prey on the hopes and dreams of those seeking a better life. And our goal should be to put those hopes and dreams back within reach, whether it’s getting a good job to send money home to support a family, trying to get an education for oneself or one’s children, or simply pursuing new opportunities that might lead to a better life. We need to ensure that all survivors have that opportunity to move past what they endured and to make the most of their potential.

I’m very pleased that every year we have the chance to honor people who have made such a contribution in this modern struggle against modern slavery. And I’m also pleased that this is a high priority for President Obama and the Obama Administration. It’s something that is not just political and not just a policy, but very personal and very deep. You might have seen over the weekend a long story about Mrs. Obama’s roots going back to the time of our own period of slavery and the family that nurtured her, which has roots in the fields and the houses of a time when Americans owned slaves.

So as we recommit ourselves to end modern slavery, we should take a moment to reflect on how far we have come, here in our country and around the world, but how much farther we still have to go to find a way to free those 27 million victims and to ensure that there are no longer any victims in the future.

Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

AMBASSADOR CDEBACA: We are joined today by 10 amazing individuals representative of thousands of more amazing individuals who work so hard to do their part in this fight. And I’d ask that the TIP heroes from this side of the stage come over and join us starting with –

SECRETARY CLINTON: Stand over here?

AMBASSADOR CDEBACA: I think we’re going to do it right over here. Starting with Marcelo Colombo. Marcelo Colombo from Argentina, in recognition of his profound influence on efforts to investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases and take a bold stance against corruption and official complicity. Marcelo Colombo. (Applause.)

In recognition of her extraordinary commitment to uncovering human trafficking cases, her innovative strategy to raise public awareness in spite of limited resources, and a proactive approach to providing protection services to victims in Aruba, Jeannette Richardson-Baars (Applause.)

In recognition of her ambitious efforts to strengthen legislative and criminal justice responses to trafficking in Southeast Asia and her substantial contribution to identify the core elements of a comprehensive anti-trafficking model from Australia, Anne Gallagher. (Applause.)

In recognition of his amazing courage to escape slavery and his remarkable activism to end human trafficking, raising awareness of labor exploitation in the fishing industry of Southeast Asia, Vannak Anan Prum. (Applause.)

In recognition of his unwavering efforts in the face of threats and acts of violence against him and his family to provide aid to trafficking victims in the Republic of the Congo, Raimi Vincent Paraiso. (Applause.)

In recognition of his dedication to victim protection and support and his tireless work to enlist new partners in anti-trafficking efforts in Greece, Phil Hyldgaard. (Applause.)

For her compassion and courage in bringing attention to the suffering of the human trafficking victims in the Sinai and her groundbreaking projects that identify these abuses, Sister Azezet Habtezghi Kidane. (Applause.)

For her ongoing and exemplary leadership to increase engagement and strengthen commitments to fight trafficking in the OSCE region, Judge Maria Grazia Giammarinaro. (Applause.)

In recognition of her courageous advocacy on behalf of vulnerable people and her pioneering work to outlaw slavery once and for all in Mauritania, a country in which she was the first woman lawyer, Fatimata M’Baye. (Applause.)

The founder of International Justice Mission, an internationally recognized human rights organization, for his work to preserve rule of law around the globe, Gary Haugen. (Applause.)

UNDER SECRETARY OTERO: If I could ask Vincent to please come to the podium and speak on behalf of the TIP heroes, please. (Applause.)

MR. PARAISO: Bonjour. (Via interpreter) Madam Secretary, honorable under secretaries, honorable ambassadors, heads of diplomatic missions, distinguished guests. On behalf of my organization, Alto-Afrique Enfants, and of all the heroes here that I have the honor to represent, I would like to thank the United States Government for honoring us with this award at this unforgettable moment.

The phenomenon of human trafficking has reached alarming proportions around the world. My country, the Republic of Congo, and many others represented at this meeting are unfortunately not spared from this crime. Therefore, the international community cannot remain silent against this evil and must continue to respond relentlessly. I would also like to thank the U.S. embassies in our respective countries for their advocacy and dialogue with host country governments in the fight against this phenomenon.

In my career as a medical doctor, the numerous traumatic injuries I have seen inflicted and cured on child victims of trafficking led me to stand as a pillar of support for hundreds of children. These child victims of trafficking have been identified, rescued, protected, and sometimes supported by our organization in the Republic of the Congo. This work has led to several kidnapping and assassination attempts against me by potential traffickers. But it has also filled me with joy and happiness when, for instance, I heard a Senegalese teenager who I rescued tell me, "You are my father."

I have the honor to represent Alto-Afrique Enfants, and we will continue the fight against traffickers with passion. As for its commitments to the fight and trafficking and forced labor, Alto will continue to work jointly with the government, UNICEF, and other international and national organizations. This is a problem that must be resolved through a joint effort. Human trafficking is a human rights violation.

An approach grounded in human rights in the prevention of and the fight against trafficking has several requirements in both law and practice. Most of all, victims’ rights must be fully respected and they must be clearly identified. Finally, these victims are entitled to justice, reparations, and should be treated with close attention, as they are vulnerable. Perseverance and collaboration will lead us to success, meaning the eradication of this phenomenon.

Madam Secretary, distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen, I would like to conclude by stating that I hope we can work together to build a better future for all children of the world. Thank you. (Applause.)

UNDER SECRETARY OTERO: Merci beaucoup, Vincent. C’est magnifique. C’est tres magnifique. (Laughter.) Your words are inspiring and your leadership in this struggle is also inspiring. You and all the TIP heroes are once again reminding us that the individual actions of each human being has tremendous impact and that we are all responsible for playing a role in eradicating this horrible crime that continues to persist in our societies.

I want to thank you all for joining this event today. The commitment, the passion, the responsibility that all of you take on and that is represented in this room, once again reminds us that we are not only moving in the right direction, but that we are going to make this goal be within our reach. So thank you very much for being here with us today. Thank you, Madam Secretary. (Applause.)