STATE DEPARTMENT BACKGROUND BRIEFING: ADDITIONAL NONLETHAL ASSISTANCE TO SYRIA

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Background Briefing on Additional Nonlethal Assistance to Syria
Special Briefing
Senior State Department Official
Hotel Excelsior
Rome, Italy
February 28, 2013
　

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: All right, everybody. We are on background, Senior State Department Official. To remind that this is embargoed until the formal announcement by Secretary Kerry at his joint press availability later today about 12:20 with Italian Foreign Minister Terzi and SOC Chairman al-Khatib. Most of what I’m going to give you now will be in the Secretary’s statement, but this will give us an opportunity to have questions. So let me just start, then.

Later today in Rome, after the meeting with the Syrian Opposition Coalition, Foreign Minister Terzi, Secretary Kerry, will be joined by Syrian Opposition Coalition President al-Khatib for a press announcement. Secretary Kerry will announce there our intention to work with Congress to provide an additional $60 million in --

QUESTION: Six-zero?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: -- six-zero million dollars in nonlethal assistance to --

QUESTION: Nonlethal?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: -- nonlethal assistance to support the efforts of the Syrian Opposition Coalition over the coming months. This money will be used particularly to enable the SOC to help local councils and communities in liberated areas of Syria expand the delivery of basic goods and essential services, and to fulfill administrative functions, including security, sanitation, and educational services.

QUESTION: What was the first one?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Security, sanitation, and educational services. Additionally, these funds are going to be used to enhance the capacity of the SOC and the local councils to extend the rule of law and establish interim justice as needed in newly liberated territories in Syria.

The United States will be sending technical advisors through our implementing partners to support the SOC’s staff at their Cairo headquarters in the execution of this assistance. This will ensure that the assistance continues to comply with U.S. rules and regulations on the use of foreign assistance, including vetting, oversight, and monitoring. To remind that this additional 60 million for the SOC is in addition to the more than 50 million in nonlethal support we have already provided to help Syrian activists organize opposition efforts across the country and to amplify their message to Syrians and to the world through communications and broadcasting equipment.

In addition to the 60 million, the Secretary will announce today that the United States will look for opportunities to work with the SMC.

QUESTION: What’s the SMC?

QUESTION: What’s that stand for? The military --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The Syrian Military Council.

QUESTION: The Supreme?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The Supreme Military Council, apologies – to provide concrete, nonlethal support to the Free Syrian Army. This will include things like military rations to feed hungry fighters and medical supplies to tend the sick and the wounded. And then also, just to remind, that separately, we continue to provide $385 million in humanitarian assistance to help IDPs in Syria and refugees in neighboring countries.

So just to draw the picture even more clearly for you, with the $60 million to the SOC, we’re trying to do two things. We’re trying to strengthen them in Cairo as a political organization that actually can begin to deliver concrete assistance to their people. And we’re trying to help them ensure that in newly liberated areas of Syria, the administration of those areas meets the needs of the people and is done in a manner that comports with the human rights standards and rule-of-law standards that the SOC has articulated and that the Syrian opposition has committed to in its own founding documents.

And you know why we’re doing this. We’ve talked about it before. We are concerned that we have extremists operating in and among the opposition who don’t share the goals of a future Syria that is democratic, that’s united, that is just and that respects the human rights of all Syrian citizens and provides a place for all of them. So those members of the opposition who support our shared values need to be able to demonstrate that they can deliver a better day and need to set an example of a Syria where daily life is governed neither by the brutality of the Assad regime nor by the agenda of al-Qaida-affiliated extremists.

QUESTION: Sorry, could you say that last – those last six words, "not dominated by?"

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The brutality of the Assad regime and its cronies, nor by the violent agenda of extremists.

QUESTION: You said "governed," right, or did you say "dominated?"

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I think I said --

QUESTION: You said "governed."

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I said "governed," whatever I said, whatever brilliant thing I said. (Laughter.)

Okay. Let’s go to your questions. There may be a limit to what I can answer, but let’s do what we can on background.

QUESTION: [Senior State Department Official], a question I have is, obviously, there are a range of options and – to include things that go beyond medical care and food rations that might fall in the nonlethal category. These include vehicles, night vision goggles, bulletproof vests, things of that sort. Is – are those still on the table as possible options depending on how things go in Syria, or has the United States basically decided that this is the limit of what it wants to do at this particular time?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: What I’ve articulated are the items that we have decided to provide today. You’ll hear the Secretary make clear that in his meeting with the opposition, they talked about many needs, and we will continue to keep those under review.

QUESTION: [Senior State Department Official], one question on the language. You said "will look for opportunities to work with." That doesn’t sound like a commitment. It means you’re looking for opportunities to provide this. Have you actually decided that you will provide this?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes. We wouldn’t be announcing that we were going to work with them on rations and on medical care unless we’d made the decision that we are open to doing that. As you know, we will do this with vetted individuals, vetted units, so this has to be done carefully and appropriately.

QUESTION: And [Senior State Department Official], in other words, is this kind of a staged, set pattern where you give them this at this point, you evaluate how they are respecting human rights, et cetera, and then you go on and perhaps evaluate – provide more?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Let’s just say that, as the Secretary’s been saying, we need to change the calculation that Assad is making. We also need to support those on the ground in Syria who want a democratic future that respects human rights of all Syrians, provides a place for all Syrians. So we want to support on the political side and on the military side those who represent those values.

QUESTION: [Senior State Department Official] --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We’re going to do this, and as I said, we will continue to look at whatever – we will continue to look at the situation on the ground and the needs.

QUESTION: [Senior State Department Official], can you --

QUESTION: (Inaudible) ask you for things that you specifically – that you have been unwilling – that you are unwilling currently to provide?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I don’t think I have anything else to share on that besides the way I articulated it a minute ago.

QUESTION: Can you address the current state of U.S. military training that’s going on in this effort?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I don’t have anything to share on that front.

QUESTION: Can I clarify the 60 million?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah.

QUESTION: Does that include the MREs and the medical, or is that – the MREs --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No.

QUESTION: -- and the medical stuff is on top of it, or is there another --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Would be – will be on top of. I don’t have a dollar figure for you today. I think this will be something that we’ll have to feel going forward.

QUESTION: And this group --

QUESTION: How about a rough estimate? I mean, millions? I mean --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Certainly in the millions, but I can’t go beyond that.

QUESTION: Not tens of millions, though, right?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I just don’t --

QUESTION: 60 million is tens of millions.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I don’t have --

QUESTION: No, I’m talking about the MREs and the other stuff.

QUESTION: MREs and medical are on top of the 60?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Correct. I don’t have a dollar figure for you today.

QUESTION: Do you deny that we’re involved in training right now?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I’m not prepared to get into that issue at all.

QUESTION: And [Senior State Department Official], this is the --

QUESTION: Can I just – we’re wondering if you could clarify the language about the technical advisors you’re sending to the SOC. You said you’ll be sending them through implementing partners. Does that mean that they’re not actually Americans, or are you --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: My understanding is that this will be done – and we can get you more detail on this as we go forward – but my understanding is that these will be some of the NGOs that we regularly work with in this part of the world to deliver these kinds of services.

QUESTION: But what (inaudible)?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: They’ll be contracted.

QUESTION: What is technical adviser? I just want to make sure we understand.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: This is – for example, if you are in the SOC leadership in Cairo and you know that local coordinating council in the newly liberated area outside of Idlib, for example, wants to stand up an interim police force or needs to rebuild its school or hire teachers, you may know what it is you want to buy for them, but you may not yet have the experience where to get it cheapest, fastest to get it in, et cetera. Anything from radios for local police to schoolbooks that you’re trying to buy for kids to – so what the implementing partners will do will be to advise the SOC on where it can provision the needs, how it can best get them in, and ensure that we use this support to pay for things that they have contracted for, if that makes sense --

QUESTION: [Senior State Department Official]?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: -- until they build the capacity to do this themselves.

QUESTION: I’m just confused on --

QUESTION: So it’s not military. These are not --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No, no, no. This is on the --

QUESTION: Because when you say technical advisers, you’d think of --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No, this is for contracting and provisioning of the nonlethal support to the SOC.

QUESTION: [Senior State Department Official], I’m just confused who these people are. You may have answered, I’m just – the implementing partners and the technical advisers are some State Department employees, are they contractors, are they American citizens, are they foreign governments, are they NGOs?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: My understanding is that they are NGO – they are contracted NGO folks who specialize in getting this kind of civilian support in quickly.

QUESTION: Those are the implementing partners?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Correct.

QUESTION: But the technical advisers in Cairo are --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The technical advisers in Cairo are also – my understanding, and we’ll get you more if I haven’t gotten this right – my understanding is that they will be contracted by AID, et cetera. They are experts in how to procure and send this kind of support in.

QUESTION: [Senior State Department Official], can you explain --

QUESTION: How will this change Assad’s calculation? You’ve said how this will help the opposition people. How is it going to help change his calculation?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Well, first of all, we are, for the first time here, albeit nonlethal, explicitly supporting the needs of the Supreme Military Council and vetted members of its fighting force. Second, we are supporting the SOC in its efforts to ensure that those areas that have been liberated become freer, more democratic, more just, and set a positive example for what can happen in the rest of Syria if those still supporting Assad will peel away from him and will change their calculation, stop the fight, and begin supporting a true transition, as called for in Geneva and as supported in the opposition’s own documents.

So it’s a demonstration project, if you will, of what a better Syria can look like. And the concern that the SOC has, very explicitly, is that if they can’t touch, improve, and heal the lives of Syrians in those places that have been freed, then extremists will step in and do it. And we’ve seen this pattern before, whether it’s the – Hezbollah buying influence in Lebanon with its social welfare projects or whether it is the efforts of al-Nusrah now to establish extremist forms of justice, to veil women, to change the traditional tolerant nature of Syrian society in those areas where it is freed. So we have to provide – we have to help the SOC provide and demonstrate a real democratic, free alternative.

QUESTION: Can you explain the technicalities of this? These dollar numbers you’re describing, that’s the value of the goods. We are not now --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Correct. We will not give cash.

QUESTION: -- hand the money --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We do not give cash.

QUESTION: -- to the military council or the SOC?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Correct.

QUESTION: And what you’re describing sounds like the establishment of governance, then the next step being the creation of a state. Are we at – can you describe what the U.S. Government’s view is of where we are on the ground? Are we at the point where this becomes a true government and military that we’re recognizing?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: What we’re supporting here are two things. There is the top-down process of the SOC getting stronger in Cairo in its ability to support alternative administration in liberated areas, and there’s a bottom-up process of the SOC providing the goods and services and support and training that those at the local level in the political opposition who are starting to try to provide services need to demonstrate to the people in their neighborhood, the people in their towns, the people in their villages, that a better day is coming.

QUESTION: At the top you mentioned working with Congress. What does that mean? Is money not appropriated or --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I’m going to have to get back to you on exactly what pots of money this comes from. But whenever you make a change to the way you spend money, you have to notify, you have to brief, you have to have consent.

QUESTION: But can – just to follow up on what I was asking, though, with the military council part, are we trying to build them into the military equivalent of the SOC, that is the military representatives of the Free--

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The Supreme Military Council is now itself working as a partner with the SOC in trying to provide coordination and better execution of the military side of the opposition’s work, in a manner that’s consistent with the democratic values of the future Syria that they want.

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS WITH ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TERZI AND SYRIAN OPPOSITION COUNCIL CHAIRMAN aL-KHATIB

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi and Syrian Opposition Council Chairman Moaz al-Khatib
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Villa Madama
Rome, Italy
February 28, 2013

FOREIGN MINISTER TERZI: (Via interpreter.) Good morning and welcome to Villa Madama. In particular, I welcome my friend the Secretary of State John Kerry and the head of the Syrian Opposition Forces Coalition, Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib.

In the past few days, the Secretary of State Mr. Kerry stated that this meeting was needed in order to take concrete decisions and this is an appeal to be concrete and to realize how urgent new measures are. And in fact, this is in complete agreement with President Moaz al-Khatib. There is a sense of urgency, and we need to take concrete steps. And these are the grounds for the decisions and discussions in which Italy is involved with regard to the Syrian crisis.

Now, today’s meeting here in Rome is based on these considerations, and therefore I accept the request of the Secretary of State to summon the countries that are most involved in the crisis in order to have an operational meeting, open it up to the Syrian National Coalition, because we see the coalition as being the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

I thank all the foreign affairs ministers, my colleagues, who have come today. And in the past three hours this morning, we’ve been saying that we have to shoulder responsibilities that can no longer be postponed. The suffering of the Syrian people is forcing us to go above and beyond the efforts that have been made to now. We must be able to reach a turning point. 70,000 victims are a huge weight on the conscience of the international community. We can no longer allow this massacre to continue. We cannot allow the bombings to continue, and clearly not with SCUD missiles, the massacre, illegal detention. The regime is perpetrating crimes against humanity, crimes against its own people.

And I would like to say what Italy has done up to now. In the past few months, together with our main partners in Europe and together with the United Nations as well, we’ve taken action on the humanitarian plane in order to alleviate the suffering of 2 million internally displaced persons and thousands of refugees. We’ve allocated 30 million Euros to help neighboring countries to alleviate this suffering as well. And we’ve supported the different components of the coalition in seeking a leadership and a unitary program of action. And we want to have a strong convincing alternative to the dictatorship.

Today – as I was saying, today’s meeting here in Rome has given us a new momentum. I think that we’re taking a step forward, first of all, because we are taking the responsibility to provide not only humanitarian support but material assistance to the coalition as well. This stepped up support must be perceived directly in the Syrian territory through our support to local councils in the liberated areas. And we’ve also talked about the possibility to open humanitarian corridors and to be closely coordinated with all the countries who’ve met here today.

Our friend, Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib, has just pronounced the encouraging – some encouraging words on the work that he is doing together with his colleagues, and the opposition has to be able to fully play the role that it has in order to build up a new democratic Syria. He’s also told us that they are about to establish a provisional executive body, which should be operating within Syrian soil.

And I wish to close with a warning that was expressed during today’s meeting to the regime in Damascus. They have to stop violence, they have to release political prisoners, and they have to clearly enable a democratic and pluralist Syria with the exiting of Assad. Of course, all countries working side by side with the coalition are involved, and we can say that the Syrian people will never be left alone.

And it is a great pleasure for me to give the floor now over to the Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry. And after his remarks, we’ll hear President al-Khatib’s remarks. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, my friend, Giulio Terzi. Thank you for welcoming us. Thank you for hosting this very, very important meeting here in Rome. We are honored to be here. And Sheikh Moaz Khatib, thank you for joining us today and being part of this important discussion. It’s a pleasure to be here working with friends on a very important and consequential issue. And we are grateful for the opportunity to come together with allies – partners – working together in pursuit of peace as a first resort.

Particularly important to be joined here today by our partners in this endeavor, the Syrian Opposition Coalition. They are the legitimate voice of the Syrian people. And that stands in very stark contrast to the rule of Bashar al-Assad, who long ago lost his legitimacy and who is out of time and who must be out of power. So with our united voice today, and the voices of those other ministers who joined us from other countries from the Gulf, across Europe – with our united voice today, we express our commitment to helping the Syrian people in order to achieve their goal to live in a free and a safe and a just society. Their goal is our goal.

And so we are determined to find a way forward to a better day that we know awaits Syria, a day that will not come as long as Assad is in power. For more than a year, the United States and our partners who gathered here today in Rome have called on Assad to heed the voice of the Syrian people and to halt his war machine. Instead, what we have seen is his brutality increase.

Just this week, we witnessed a desperate leader engage in ruthless attacks on Aleppo with rockets and with the appalling use of SCUD missiles, claiming dozens of innocent lives. I heard this morning the story of maybe 50 to 70 young men and women who were taking an exam, dreaming of their future, whose lives were snuffed out by one of Bashar Assad’s SCUD missiles. That’s what he thinks of the future and of the people of Syria. Even hospitals have come under attack in his cold-blooded effort to cling to power.

The simple fact is Assad cannot shoot his way out of this. And as he deludes himself in pursuit of the military solution, the United States, our partners, and now the Syrian Opposition Coalition, make a different choice. Our choice is a political solution, outlined in the Geneva communique, which Russia has also signed onto. It is in line with the opposition’s own transition plan, and this must include a transitioning governing body with full executive powers formed on the basis of mutual consent.

This is the right path to peace, and it is one that can unite the Syrian people, rebuild a society that respects and protects them regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or gender. These are the same standards that we set for our own countries, so there’s nothing different here. All Syrians, including those who have not yet taken sides in this conflict, must know that they all can have a future in a post-Assad Syria. The opposition is prepared to take the steps necessary to get there.

The question we ask today is this: Will the regime allow its people this chance at peace, or is it going to continue its brutal campaign? Because as we make clear today, the United States decision take further steps now is the result of the continued brutality of a superior armed force, propped up by foreign fighters from Iran and Hezbollah, all of which threatens to destroy Syria. The United States and all the countries represented here believe the Syrian Opposition Coalition can successfully lead the way to a peaceful transition, but they cannot do it alone. They need more support from all of us, and they need Bashar al-Assad to make a different set of decisions.

So today, on behalf of President Obama, who has been very clear about the stakes in Syria, I’m proud to announce that the United States of America will be providing an additional $60 million immediately in nonlethal assistance to support the coalition in its operational needs day to day as it continues to organize and work for the political transition that we all want to see. And I look forward to working with the United States Congress on this.

This funding will allow the opposition to reach out and help the local councils to be able to rebuild in their liberated areas of Syria so that they can provide basic services to people, who often lack access today to medical care, to food, to sanitation. This includes helping Syrians preserve institutions of state, which are critical to enabling a future transition in Syria itself, and also to helping those who work within them, those without blood on their hands, to be able to continue to do their important humanitarian work.

We will also channel this assistance to those projects and local groups that the coalition decides needs it the most. And as the regime continues to lose ground, these funds will also help the opposition forces and political leaders are able to extend stability, as well as build representative government and rule of law and extend that rule of law to those newly liberated areas.

I want to make clear this new support that President Obama has ordered is on top of more than 50 million that we provided to help the Syrian activists organize opposition efforts across the country to be able to communicate with each other and to broadcast a message of hope across their country.

Today, in our meeting, which I found to be remarkably united, every country expressing its revulsion against these SCUDs, against the tactics of this regime, every country articulating an urgency to our need to unite in our efforts to help the people of Syria against an enemy that respects no battlefield rules.

In 2011, the armed Syrian opposition was a small group, dedicated to protecting peaceful protestors. Now it is holding and extending the frontlines against elite regime forces. The United States has decided, that given the stakes, the President will now extend food and medical supplies to the opposition, including to the Syrian Opposition’s Supreme Military Council. So there will be direct assistance to them, though nonlethal.

Of course, we will continue to work with our partners to provide critical humanitarian support for all Syrians in desperate need of relief, some 3,000 refugees a night crossing into Jordan, tens of thousands of refugees in Turkey. That’s why the United States is providing $385 million for everything from emergency food, shelter, blankets, surgical equipment, and mobile clinics. And in the Ahmad refugee camp on the Turkish border, we are bringing in medical supplies.

In all cases, we are working and we will continue to work closely with the Syrian Opposition Coalition and our international partners in order to make sure that the assistance we give reaches the people who need it and that we want to have receive it, even those who are trapped in some of the hard-to-reach areas. All of this work will be guided by our partners in the Syrian Opposition Coalition and in the Supreme Military Council.

We had a very thorough discussion today, in which all of the leaders present articulated their further needs for the opposition, and I will be taking some of these ideas back to Washington for further consideration. We agreed that we will consult on a regular basis, in constant touch with each other, and meet when necessary and we consult together whenever we deem appropriate.

Now, we all understand this is a complicated challenge, but the principle that guides this challenge is very simple: No nation, no people, should live in fear of their so-called leaders. And all people deserve freedom and the opportunity to live in peace and dignity and with justice. We cannot meet this moment, so long as this leader decides to wage war on this own people in the manner that he has chosen. And we must meet this moment so that the people of Syria can live their full promise. Thank you.

CHAIRMAN AL- KHATIB: I wish to thank the Italian Government and the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs for allowing for this very important meeting with Mr. Kerry and all the foreign ministers who participated in this meeting in order to speak about the suffering of Syria in the hands of the mafia that is ruling the country now.

We are now speaking after two years of massacres of our people and the destruction of our infrastructures. The Syrian revolution is a peaceful revolution. I insist on this. And it’s only the regime that has forced people to resort to arms. And of course, proof to this is the massacre and the bombarding with the SCUD missiles of this regime. The hole that was dug by the rocket that fell in (inaudible) was 150 meters deep. How can people who live under such conditions, while they witness the massacre of their children and people – how can they feel?

We speak of terrorism. I said to the ministers of foreign affairs that there are three questions we, as Syrians, are tired of and I, as a president, am tired of. Speaking of terrorism, no terrorists in the world have such a savage nature as that of the Syrian regime. That’s one. Two, chemical weapons – the destruction by the regime in Syria, while using all sorts of weapons, is much more harmful than any chemical weapon. Number three is minorities. The regime has always presented itself as a regime that protects minorities. What I say to you is go to Lebanon and see what the Syrian regime did to the minorities in Lebanon when it occupied Lebanon. This is all I want to say regarding this.

Concerning the fighters, the mass media pay more attention to the length of the beard of a fighter than to the massacres. Days ago, the blood of children was actually kneaded into the dough with which the bread was made after the massacre. And this is more important than the length of the beard of the fighters. There are people who carry ideas that are strange to our society. We are against all sorts of opinions that want to impose themselves or to destroy the social fabric of Syria.

The colonel who is a martyr, Abu Farat, one of the combatants in Aleppo, is proof to this. He said, "I am sad because of every human being that is killed on the other side, because this human being at the end is a human being, and he has a family, and we are humans and not beasts. I’m sad when I see any tank that is destroyed, but I’m forced to fight." Abu Farat was killed a few minutes later after he said this.

We – our Muslim fighters – the Islam as we see it is an Islam that wants the best for everybody, the good for everybody. We all descended from Adam and we were created in order to cooperate, not to kill each other.

There are several issues that were raised with the ministers, and we called for several points. One, to commit the regime to create humanitarian corridors that are safe and that – especially leading to Homs, which has been under siege for 250 days, and al Dara’a which is the cradle of the peaceful movement in Syria, and that witnessed also the martyr (inaudible), who tried to help the fighters and he was tortured by the regime and his tongue was actually sent in a plastic bag to his family because he was calling for freedom. We ask for the protection of the civilians.

Two, to consider the unity of Syria as a must. And independently of all claims that it might be divided, we will fight this.

Three, negotiation was called upon by the coalition while putting a main pre-condition, the elimination of the regime. I am saying, here and now, Bashar Assad, you have to behave for once as a human being. Stop killing and massacring this people, arresting and torturing its children. Bashar Assad, you have to adopt at least one wise decision in your life for the future of this country.

Four, giving the Syrian people and its revolutionaries the right to defend themselves. There is an international tendency not to arm the opposition, for different reasons. And I say, if this is what you want, then stop supplying the regime with weapons that they still receive in the context of old arms agreements.

Five, there is a point on the ban of – on weapons. Six, calling upon all countries to facilitate the residents’ permits to Syrians. Some countries are harassing and even arresting, in certain countries, the Syrians who are in favor of the opposition. We ask for you to facilitate things for them and to give them medical aid and scholarships and all types of support that may be necessary.

Finally, we asked for support to neighboring countries, because they are under pressure due to the Syrian crisis. Finally, the international community can no longer stand aside and watch what is happening in Syria.

I wish to conclude by saying that our great cities, historical cities, are being destroyed, and whoever launches a stone against Syria is like launching a stone against one’s own mother, because we are the cradle of civilization. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

CDC Press Release: Innovative policy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV shows positive impact

CDC Press Release: Innovative policy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV shows positive impact

NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN FOR FEBRUARY 28, 2013

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Combined Force Arrests Haqqani Facilitator
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 28, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force today arrested a high-profile Haqqani network attack facilitator and detained two other insurgents in the Pul-e Alam district of Afghanistan's Logar province, military officials reported.

The facilitator is believed to be responsible for transporting and facilitating weapons for insurgents in provinces across Afghanistan for use against Afghan and coalition security forces.

In other news, a precision strike called in by a combined force in Helmand province's Marjah district yesterday killed one insurgent and injured another.

Invitation aux médias - présentation de Proba-V le 5 mars

Invitation aux médias - présentation de Proba-V le 5 mars

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 23, 2013

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA


In the week ending February 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 344,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 366,000. The 4-week moving average was 355,000, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average of 361,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending February 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 16 was 3,074,000, a decrease of 91,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,165,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,155,000, a decrease of 35,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,190,500.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 307,589 in the week ending February 23, a decrease of 43,208 from the previous week. There were 334,242 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent during the week ending February 16, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,516,563, a decrease of 152,148 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,668,711. A year earlier, the rate was 3.1 percent and the volume was 3,882,527.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending February 9 was 5,764,168, an increase of 183,841 from the previous week. There were 7,498,600 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.

Extended Benefits were available in Alaska during the week ending February 9.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,352 in the week ending February 16, a decrease of 67 from the prior week. There were 2,303 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 221 from the preceding week.

There were 22,682 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending February 9, an increase of 403 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 39,466, a decrease of 144 from the prior week.

States reported 2,005,991 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending February 9, an increase of 186,935 from the prior week. There were 2,904,562 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2012. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 9 were in Alaska (6.5), Puerto Rico (4.3), Montana (4.2), New Jersey (4.2), Pennsylvania (4.2), Rhode Island (4.1), Wisconsin (4.0), California (3.9), Idaho (3.8), Illinois (3.8), and Massachusetts (3.8).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 16 were in California (+26,683), Connecticut (+1,747), Massachusetts (+883), and New Mexico (+5), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-3,285), Kansas (-3,114), Pennsylvania (-2,865), Florida (-2,442), and Ohio (-2,265).

RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. NAVY

130222-N-KL846-028 SAN DIEGO (Feb. 22, 2013) An F/A-18F Super Hornet prepares for takeoff behind the Sea 'N Air golf course at Naval Air Station North Island as golfers in the Wings Over America Scholarship Foundation golf tournament finish up the 17th hole. The tournament is a fundraiser in support of the foundation's mission to provide college scholarships to dependent children and spouses of U.S. Navy service members in the naval aviation community. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Christopher Lindahl/Released)

130225-N-GI544-156 SAN DIEGO (Feb. 25, 2013) Military working dog (MWD) Goro, assigned to Commander, Navy Region Southwest, searches for explosives during an explosives detection training exercise. The exercises are conducted to train MWDs in smelling out and locating explosive devices. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Laurie Dexter/Released

HHS WARNS PUBLIC OF PETS THAT CAN MAKE KIDS SICK

Photo Credit:  Wikimedia/U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat
The right animal can be fun and educational in a childcare center. But the wrong animal can make kids sick. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, epidemiologist Dr. Neil Vora has some examples of risky pets. He says reptiles such as turtles, lizards and snakes – and amphibians such as frogs and salamanders – commonly carry germs called Salmonella.

"Children younger than 5 years of age are at particularly high risk for serious illness with Salmonella. This is why it’s particularly important that pets or animals carrying Salmonella are not kept in day care centers."

Vora says small pet turtles are still sold in some places despite federal rules banning sales.

His study is the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

'EXPRESS INSURANCE' ALLOWS COMPANY TO EXPORT PICKLES TO CHINA

Credit:  Wikimedia Commons.

FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
North Carolina Small Business Grows Sales of Pickles in China,
Becomes Ex-Im Bank’s 500th ‘Express Insurance’ Customer

Washington, D.C. --- With the export financing support of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), a small North Carolina food manufacturer will be significantly increasing sales of its signature "Miss Jenny’s Pickles" to stores in Mainland China. The sales increase is being made possible as the company that produces them, Old Orchard Foods, LLC, becomes the 500th small business using the Bank’s ‘Express Insurance’ product.

Old Orchard was started in January, 2010 by two self-described "burned-out" stockbrokers, Jenny Fulton and her former sales assistant, Ashlee Furr. In just three years the company’s pickles are being sold in 1,000 stores in the United States, and now 40 stores in China.

"The Miss Jenny’s Pickles success story is one that is being repeated all across the country," Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg said. "Jenny Fulton and her business partner are great role models for what can be accomplished by smart, energetic and dedicated entrepreneurs. They and many other small-business exporters who use Express Insurance are discovering that they can seize opportunities to sell overseas, grow their sales and make sure they are paid by using export finance products that Ex-Im Bank offers."

Fulton says she expects Ex-Im Bank’s Express Insurance product to result in her sales to China increasing about 400 percent. And she plans to soon expand into Canada as well.

"Ex-Im Bank’s export-credit insurance enables us to offer terms to our foreign buyers, so they don’t have to pay for the whole order at once," Fulton said. "Our export sales have permitted us to hire our first full-time and four part-time employees, and with the new orders from China supported by Ex-Im’s Express Insurance we hope to turn those part-time jobs into full-timers by the end of the year."

Fulton was inspired to seek export opportunities after hearing a presentation by Ex-Im Bank Chairman Hochberg during one of the Bank’s "Global Access for Small Business" forums. Her experience that day was later recounted during a segment of the CBS-TV News program, "60 Minutes."

Express Insurance, a product launched in April 2011, provides small businesses with a user-friendly and cost-effective option to protect against foreign-buyer nonpayment and enhance access to working capital financing because banks are more likely to lend to companies if their foreign accounts receivable are insured. The policy features a streamlined application, complimentary policy quotation, foreign-buyer credit reports and buyer credit-limit pre-approvals often in five working days.

Old Orchard Foods is based in Kernersville, North Carolina, a town of just over 23,000 people located ten miles from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Global Business Solutions, Inc., an export-credit insurance broker based in Winston-Salem, explained how the policy works and helped Old Orchard during the policy acceptance process.

SECRETARY SALAZAR'S REMARKS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY ON PUBLIC LANDS

Secretary Of Interior Ken Salazar

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
Secretary Salazar: Renewable Energy on Public Lands and Waters Making Rapid Advances
Looming sequester threatens to slow progress on permitting

BOSTON – The Obama Administration’s renewable energy program has authorized dozens of renewable energy projects on public lands and will hold the first-ever auctions for commercial wind development in the Atlantic this year, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar told offshore wind stakeholders at a conference in Boston today. Salazar noted that the rapid progress – as well as conventional oil and gas development on federal lands and waters – could be stymied by potential cuts under sequestration.

"We have made impressive gains, approving dozens of utility-scale solar, wind and geothermal projects in the West and transitioning from planning to commercial leasing for offshore wind," Salazar told about 300 industry leaders in a keynote address at the Offshore Wind Power USA Conference. "The potentially devastating impact of budget reductions under sequestration could slow our economy and hurt energy sector workers and businesses."

Salazar said he elevated renewable energy development to a departmental priority and Interior worked with industry, state, tribal and local partners to approve 34 projects on public lands in western states and to build an offshore regulatory framework in the Atlantic. The 18 utility-scale solar facilities, 7 commercial wind farms and 9 geothermal plants Interior green-lighted onshore would provide 10,400 megawatts when built, enough to power 3.4 million homes. The developers estimate that these projects would support 13,000 construction and operations jobs.

Mandatory budget cuts under sequestration, however, could delay Interior’s ability to issue permits for new development, plan for new projects, conduct environmental reviews and lease new federal lands for future development – both for renewable and conventional energy. Delays in offshore oil and gas permitting in the Gulf of Mexico, for example, could affect more than 500 exploration plans and development documents that are anticipated for review this year.

Onshore, nearly 300 oil and gas leases issued for public land in western states could be threatened under sequestration, delaying prospective production and deferring payments to the states and the U.S. Treasury. Delays in coal leasing could defer $50-60 millions of dollars in revenue sharing among states and the Treasury. Sequestration could have serious consequences for the emerging domestic renewable energy industry. The cuts would mean fewer studies, fewer opportunities to obtain meaningful stakeholder input, and delays in identification of potential use conflicts. The result could be a slower pace in identifying and leasing wind energy areas in federal waters, adversely impacting Interior’s ability to address offshore renewable energy management in a timely manner.

Under a ‘Smart-from-the-Start’ strategy, Interior has identified six Wind Energy Areas along the Atlantic coast that contain the greatest wind potential and fewest conflicts with competing uses. Interior has already issued two non-competitive commercial wind leases, one off Massachusetts and another off Delaware, and is moving forward with the first-ever competitive lease sales for Wind Energy Areas off Virginia and Rhode Island/Massachusetts, which will offer nearly 278,000 acres for development. The areas proposed could support more than 4,000 megawatts of wind generation – enough electricity to power 1.4 million homes. Salazar also signed a lease and approved a Construction and Operations Plan for the 130-turbine Cape Wind project, the first commercial wind development slated for federal offshore waters.

Calling 2013 a pivotal year for the industry, Salazar said Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will propose additional commercial lease sales this year for Wind Energy Areas offshore New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts and is working to determine industry interest in three areas off North Carolina. BOEM also is processing a lease request from a company with Department of Energy funding to develop cutting-edge floating wind turbines in federal waters off Maine. Other demonstration projects are proposed off Virginia and Oregon.

In addition, BOEM is considering a mid-Atlantic wind energy transmission line that would 7,000 megawatts of wind turbine capacity to the grid. This Atlantic Wind Connection would run from southern Virginia to northern New Jersey, collecting power produced by wind facilities off New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia and bringing it ashore.

FORMER SEN. CHUCK HAGEL SWORN IN AS U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE



Chuck Hagel is sworn into office as the 24th defense secretary by Michael L. Rhodes, the Defense Department's director of administration and management, as Hagel's wife, Lilibet, holds a Bible at the Pentagon, Feb. 27, 2013. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Hagel Takes Office as 24th Defense Secretary
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2013 – Just before his private swearing-in ceremony as the 24th secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel and his wife, Lilibet, arrived at the Pentagon this morning and were greeted by Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, military assistant to the secretary of defense.

Hagel said hello to waiting members of the Pentagon press corps as he hurried up the steps of the Pentagon’s river entrance. From there, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little and other defense officials accompanied him into the building.

Family members and his immediate office staff attended the ceremony, during which Hagel was sworn in by Director of Administration and Management Michael L. Rhodes.

Hagel then hosted the daily senior staff update meeting attended by DOD civilian and military leaders.

In a statement released after Hagel’s Senate confirmation yesterday, Little said the new secretary received congratulatory phone calls from his predecessor, Leon E. Panetta, congressional leaders, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki.

In his conversation with Secretary Shinseki, Little added, Hagel "indicated his desire to meet as soon as possible to continue and deepen the strong partnership between the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs on common priorities for serving our troops, veterans and military families."

After the staff meeting, Hagel will speak to service members and civilian Defense Department employees in the Pentagon Auditorium. The address will be covered live on the Pentagon Channel. It’s scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. EST.

This afternoon, Hagel will meet with the service secretaries and attend meetings at the White House.

Yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement that he’d travelled across the world with Hagel and has seen him in action in the U.S. Senate.

"Wherever he is, his talent and dedication to our country are clear. He feels a deep commitment to our men and women in uniform, and as the head of the Pentagon, I know their interests will always be close to his heart," Biden said.

"Most importantly," he added, "I know the president will be able to rely on Chuck’s sound, unvarnished judgment on any issue where our troops are involved. For that and many more reasons, I’m looking forward to working with Secretary Hagel."

President Obama Dedicates a Statue Honoring Rosa Parks | The White House

President Obama Dedicates a Statue Honoring Rosa Parks | The White House

NEW TERRORIST DESIGNATIONS FROM U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Terrorist Designations of the Commander Nazir Group and Malang Wazir
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 26, 2013
　

The Department of State has designated the Commander Nazir Group (CNG) and its sub-commander Malang Wazir as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. As a result of the designation, all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which CNG and Malang have any interest is blocked and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with CNG, Malang, or to their benefit.

Since 2006, CNG has run training camps, dispatched suicide bombers, provided safe haven for al-Qa’ida fighters, and conducted cross-border operations in Afghanistan against the United States and its allies. In addition to its attacks against international forces in Afghanistan, CNG is also responsible for assassinations and intimidation operations against civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

CNG leader Commander Nazir died in early-January 2013, but the group has since chosen a new leader, and in a statement vowed to continue the group’s activities, including supporting al-Qa’ida and conducting attacks in Afghanistan. In the same statement, Malang was named as a part of CNG’s top leadership. Acting as a sub-commander for CNG, Malang has overseen training centers and has been known to send fighters to Afghanistan to support the Taliban.

Although CNG and Malang have been behind numerous attacks against international forces in Afghanistan, the group has also been known to attack targets in Pakistan. For example, Malang claimed CNG responsibility for a March 2008 vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack in front of an army brigade headquarters in Zari Noor, South Waziristan, Pakistan, which killed five Pakistani soldiers and injured 11 more. In May 2011, CNG broke a ceasefire agreement and attacked a Pakistani army camp in Wana, Pakistan, with missiles and rockets.

U.S. State Department Daily Press Briefing - February 27, 2013

Daily Press Briefing - February 27, 2013

THE BUILDING OF THE USS MONITOR

FROM: U.S. NAVY
Monitor: A Naval Shipbuilding First

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (AW) Tim Comerford, Naval History and Heritage Command Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- It was a juggernaut; a Confederate 275-foot blackened structure of iron that would forever change the face of warfare.

The ship was a black-iron beast reborn from the frigate Merrimack, a burnt husk raised and armor-clad, transformed into a ship with no purpose but war. Its formidable complement boasted more than 300 men and its iron-bound hull bristled with cannons. The renamed ironclad ram, CSS Virginia, seemed unstoppable given existing maritime technology. This was the monstrosity that was being built to wreak havoc in U.S. waters, with hopes of decimating the Union Navy. The time for action was slipping through Union hands, like fingers trying to grasp water.

Through intelligence reports, Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles learned of the refitting of the Merrimack, which began in July 11, 1861.

Welles published an announcement in August of 1861 calling on designers to submit plans for ironclad warships to the Navy Department. One of resulting plans was for that of the Monitor.

The Monitor was almost never built. John Ericson, a Swedish-born New York engineer and inventor submitted a steamship plan for what he called, "An impregnable steam battery of light draught, suitable to navigate the shallow rivers and harbors of Confederate States." But his plan was rejected, because the board of Naval officers questioned its stability. Ericson went to Washington and personally demonstrated the soundness of his design to the board. That fateful day, the board gave him permission to build what would be the Union's answer to the CSS Virginia - a 172-foot icon of Union justice that would mete out destruction wherever it went, armed with two menacing cannons.

The engineer's plan had some characteristics that helped convince the board that his design was the right one. It was small; larger ships would have taken longer to build, time they did not have with the work on the CSS Virginia. It was completely iron; no vessel of wood could stand up to the bombardment from the battery of the CSS Virginia. It featured a revolutionary turret; the rivers and inlets of the southern U.S. were too narrow and it would be impossible for ships to turn broadsides at all times to shoot their cannons. It featured a shallow draft; the shallow waters off the coast of the South called for a ship that could maneuver nimbly.

Ericson returned to New York to begin building his ship, splitting the workload between eight New York state companies and one Baltimore comapny in order to build faster. Continental Iron Works constructed the hull, Delamater and Company built the steam engines and Novelty Iron Works formed the 8-inch thick turret.

Contracts to begin building were signed Oct. 4, 1861 and 118 days later a new type of ship was born into the world of naval supremacy. Even by 2013's standards, 118 days to build any kind of working ship is a remarkable feat but at the time that speed would seem almost impossible.

"It's a complex ship," Calhoun said. "It was a far cry from the wooden warships that were being built. Any ship that has been built in the 20th century has flaws in it and not everything goes by the book when you take the ship out to commission it. The fact that they built this brand new ship that no one had ever attempted to build before in 118 days and not have many flaws in it is remarkable."

The Monitor was a small, dynamically-designed, low lying craft with only 10 feet of draft and 987 tons displacement and a crew of only 65 Sailors.

"You will perceive by the dimensions that she is not very large, but she carries a couple of guns that throw a shot weighing 170 pounds," wrote Alban C. Stimers, a Naval Officer inspector of the ironclads, of the Monitor, in a letter to his father. "When equipped and manned ready for sea she was only 20 inches out of the water. This gives her the most singular appearance. I could not for a time get over being impressed with the idea that she was sinking."

The new ship was launched Jan. 30, 1862, outfitted over the next month and placed in commission Feb. 25 under the command of Lt. John L. Worden. After trials and modifications, Monitor received orders March 4, 1862 to move to Hampton Roads. She left New York March 6 and encountered her first challenge: stormy weather, which abundantly demonstrated both the inherent seakeeping problems of the design and some more-easily correctable technical difficulties. But her most notable challenge was only two days off. Late March 8, just a few hours after CSS Virginia had spread terror among the Union fleet, the weather-beaten Monitor arrived off Hampton Roads, where her exhausted crew spent a long night urgently preparing their ship for a battle that made history.

The Navy will honor Monitor Sailors March 8 with a graveside interment ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony for the remains of two unknown Sailors recovered from the USS Monitor shipwreck. The unknown Sailors were lost along with 14 of their shipmates when Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, N.C. Dec. 31, 1862. All 16 Sailors will be memorialized on a group marker in section 46 of the cemetery, which is between the amphitheater and the USS Maine Mast memorial.

DEFENSE SECRETARY HAGEL ADDRESSES PENTAGON EMPLOYEES AND SERVICE MEMBERS

New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel addresses Pentagon employees and service members during an all-hands call during his first day at the Pentagon, Feb. 27, 2013. Hagel earlier took the oath of office to serve as the 24th defense secretary. DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENTOF DEFENSE
Hagel Vows to Ensure Well-being of Service Members, Families
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2013 - New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel promised today to always be frank with the men and women of the department and said he expects all to be direct in return.

Hagel spoke to the Pentagon workforce and a worldwide audience on the Pentagon Channel just after taking the oath as the nation's 24th defense secretary.

"I'll never ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't do," the secretary said. "I'll never ask anybody to do more than I would do. That's the story of your lives. I wouldn't be worthy if that was not the case."

Army Sgt. 1st Class John Werth, a native Nebraskan and combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, introduced the new secretary. He said Hagel already had held the most important job in the department: that of a combat infantryman. Hagel served in Vietnam as a young enlisted soldier and was wounded twice.

This is a defining time for the world, Hagel said.

"It's a difficult time. It's a time of tremendous challenge, but there are opportunities," he added. "I think it's important that we all stay focused, obviously, on our jobs, on our responsibilities, which are immense, but not lose sight of the possibilities for a better world."

Service members should not forget that America is a force for good in the world, he said.

"We've made mistakes. We'll continue to make mistakes. But we are a force for good," he said. "And we should always keep that out in front as much as any one thing that drives us every day."

The military needs to deal with the budget realities, the geopolitical challenges, cyber issues and the threats of terrorism, Hagel noted.

"We've got ahead of us a lot of challenges," he said. "They are going to define much of who we are -- not this institution only, but our country, what kind of a world our children are going to inherit. That's the bigger picture of the objective for all of us."

Facing these challenges is difficult, the secretary said.

"But it's also pretty special," he added. "When you think about ... how many generations have had an opportunity to be part of something great, as difficult as this is ... we can really do something pretty special for our country."

The secretary promised service members he will do everything he can "to ensure the safety, the well-being, the future of you and your families."

"Now, I've got to go to work," he said.

GSA CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES OFFICER TESTIFIES BEFORE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE

FROM: U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
Metzler Testimony at House Subcommittee
Testimony of Cynthia Metzler
Chief Administrative Services Officer, U.S. General Services Administration
Before the
Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and the Census
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
February 27th, 2012

Good morning Chairman Farenthold, Ranking Member Lynch, and Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Cynthia Metzler, and I am the Chief Administrative Services Officer of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). In that capacity, I promote efficiency within the agency and, in part, ensure that our travel and conference policies have strong controls, effective oversight, and focus on reducing costs.


Under new leadership, GSA has refocused on its mission of delivering the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology service to government and the American people. GSA has instituted a number of reforms internally to meet this goal. To streamline and simplify our services, make GSA more efficient, and provide greater accountability and transparency, GSA is consolidating many of our central services. The Acting Administrator has put in place new leadership in the Public Buildings Service and the Federal Acquisition Service to reinvigorate our business lines and continue our reform efforts. To lead the consolidation of GSA’s financial services and to stress the importance of strong oversight of GSA’s finances, we have hired a new Chief Financial Officer. Last year, to ensure taxpayer funds were being used wisely, we cut
Senior Executive Service bonuses substantially and put in place a targeted hiring freeze across the agency. And by engaging GSA’s staff through the "Great Ideas Hunt," we have put in place simple reforms that are anticipated to save taxpayers an estimated $5.5 million per year.


GSA’s travel policies have also been reformed to reflect this mission. GSA has put in place strict internal travel and conference policies to reduce costs, provide strong oversight, and ensure that travel only occurs when necessary. Additionally, as part of our agency’s mission to serve our Federal partners and deliver savings, we are providing tools to allow agencies to better manage their travel and conference spending and we are working with OMB on changes to government-wide travel policies to increase efficiency and effectiveness, reduce costs, and incorporate industry best practices. These efforts are in line with the Administration’s aim to promote cost reduction across a wide range of administrative expenses, particularly travel and conferences.


GSA’s Policies –
GSA has instituted rigorous new controls and oversight to ensure that all proposed travel and conference expenses are cost-effective, serve legitimate mission needs, and have appropriate levels of review.

Travel can only be approved when all other alternatives, including video-conferencing, teleconferencing, and webinars have been considered. Additionally, travel must be for work related to GSA’s essential mission, such as building inspections or conducting litigation. To ensure all travel requests received appropriate review, GSA has instituted policies that limit the use of blanket authorizations and require that travel is authorized in advance on a trip-by-trip basis. And to make sure that what is often the most costly travel is only done for legitimate purposes, any international travel request must be approved by the Deputy Administrator.

Conferences can no longer be held without submission of a detailed justification, a proposed budget, and review and approval from multiple divisions. At minimum, this means any conference, no matter the proposed cost, is reviewed both by the head of the relevant division and GSA’s Chief Administrative Services Officer (CASO). In line with Administration guidance, when the proposed cost of a conference is more than $100,000, the Deputy Administrator must approve it, and if a conference is more than $500,000, the Acting Administrator must approve it and document the justification for why it must be held. To ensure that we carefully scrutinize any internal management meetings, the Deputy Administrator must review and approve these regardless of cost. Additionally, even attendance at a conference requires multiple layers of
approval, including by our CASO. Employees must justify their potential attendance and outline their expenses.


GSA now requires mandatory annual online training regarding conference attendance for GSA employees through the Conference Attendance Training module. This training highlights the importance of considering cost-effective alternatives like teleconferencing, and ensures every employee understands the difference between appropriate and inappropriate expenses. Employees learn about the Federal Travel Regulations, ensuring better compliance. To date, more than 11,000 GSA employees have completed the training, and we have presented the training to other agencies to either incorporate into their own training courses or to use our web capability for their own agency use.

In line with the Administration’s policies, we also have provided greater transparency into our conference expenses. We have posted all approved, agency-sponsored conferences held last year with a cost of over $100,000 on a publically available website that includes the budget and a justification for why the conference was held. We are contemplating ways to provide additional transparency into our travel and conference expenses.

All told, these changes under our new leadership have dramatically reduced costs, improved oversight, and made certain that travel and conference expenses are fully justified and missionrelated. Through the end of Fiscal Year 2012 alone, these policies have helped to save more than $28 million in travel and transportation costs.


Government-Wide Efforts –
This Administration has been clear about the need to cut wasteful spending and increase efficiency. Executive Order 13589, "Promoting Efficient Spending," directed agencies to cut waste in Federal government spending and identify opportunities to promote efficient and effective spending, including a reduction in conference and travel costs. This EO was further translated into guidance with OMB Memorandum M-12-12, "Promoting Efficient Spending to Support Agency Operations," which provided policies and practices to achieve these efficiencies. Among other items, this Memorandum directed agencies to reduce their travel
expenses by 30 percent off a Fiscal Year 2010 baseline, require the approval of senior officials for conferences with expenses over $100,000, prohibit conferences with expenses of more than $500,000 (unless the agency’s head provides a waiver finding that exceptional circumstances exist whereby spending in excess of $500,000 on a single conference is the most cost-effective option to achieve a compelling purpose), and increase transparency on these costs.The requirements on travel and conferences have already been implemented within GSA, and are outlined in detail above. To further these efforts government-wide, GSA has also looked for ways we can assist agencies by providing tools to help them better manage their travel and conference costs.


To help agencies prioritize use of Federally-owned space, GSA has created an online tool known as "Federal Meeting Facilities," which identifies Federal agencies that have conference and meeting space for agencies’ use. Conducting business and hosting conferences in space controlled by the Federal government is one way to reduce travel and related costs. The tool allows agencies to search and sort through a variety of different offerings, with contact information for the agency point of contact to work with to secure the space.


Additionally, GSA intends to enhance our e-Gov travel system through the award of ETS2 to help further consolidate online travel booking services, driving additional cost-savings and efficiencies while delivering improved accountability and reducing waste. ETS2 will be leveraged to standardize conference spend reporting to meet the requirements of OMB to provide greater transparency, as well as internal control enhancements that will allow agencies to track, monitor, and control conference attendee numbers and dollars spent.


GSA is also utilizing data to allow agencies to make better decisions about where to host conferences, when they are determined to be needed. GSA’s Conference Planning Tool compares potential destinations by major cost drivers, such as airfare and per diem, enabling agencies to make data-backed decisions on where meetings should be held. GSA is training administrative officers in over 20 Federal agencies on how to identify low cost destinations and venues for conferences and meetings.As part of this effort, GSA is also utilizing its unique leverage, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Defense (DOD), to help achieve savings through government-wide travel policies. As a first step, GSA froze the Federal per diem travel reimbursement rates, keeping FY13 reimbursement rates at FY12 levels. This will result in an anticipated $20 million in avoided costs in FY13, helping to meet the Administration’s directives to reduce government-wide travel costs.

Additionally, GSA is proposing to eliminate what is known as the conference lodging allowance. This allows travelers attending a conference to exceed the maximum lodging per diem rate by up to 25 percent when authorized by the hosting agency or by the traveler's agency if a conference is hosted by a private party. We have already taken away this provision at GSA, and are currently following the process to eliminate this provision government-wide.

Finally, GSA is interested in finding ways to further reduce the government’s travel costs longterm. Last year, we announced the formation of a Government-Wide Travel Advisory Committee (GTAC). The GTAC’s purpose is to review existing travel policies, processes, and procedures to determine ways agencies can achieve their mission-related travel needs at the lowest possible cost. To ensure we get input from all relevant stakeholders, the Committee’s members will be chosen from the travel industry, local and state governments, travel and convention bureaus, and representatives from corporations and the Federal Government. The GTAC will provide advice and recommendations for improvements to increase travel efficiency and effectiveness, reduce costs, and incorporate industry best practices. To ensure
transparency on how these recommendations are formulated, Committee business will be posted publically, in line with the rules for Federal Advisory Committees.

In sum, GSA believes that these government-wide efforts will result in significant savings for government and the American people.


Conclusion –
The Administration is focused on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the government, including reducing travel and conference costs. GSA is committed to helping with those efforts. We have already taken swift action on GSA’s internal policies, provided tools to other agencies to help them make better travel and conference spending decisions, and are working with OMB and DOD on broader reforms that would result in even greater savings long-term.

GSA is fully dedicated to its renewed mission of delivering the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology service to government and the American people. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today and I welcome any questions you have.

Controlando trenes con precisión espacial

Controlando trenes con precisión espacial

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY MAKES REMARKS WITH GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE



U.S. Sec. Of State Kerry Takes Cell Phone Photo Of Brandenberg Gate.  Credit: U.S. State Department. 

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle After Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Foreign Ministry
Berlin, Germany
February 26, 2013

FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: And I will speak in my native language.

SECRETARY KERRY: For sure.

FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: So Mr. Secretary John Kerry, ladies and gentlemen, welcome in Berlin to all of you. And I will now continue in my native language.

(In German.)

So once again, John, thank you so much for coming to Berlin so early in your new office. We are honored and we are delighted to have not only an experienced politician here in Berlin as a guest, but also someone who has some very special personal background with this city. So please welcome, and may I ask you now to take the floor.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, guten tag. Thank you very much, Guido. (In German.) And I thank you all very much for a generous welcome. (In German), if you don’t mind, because it’s easier for me.

But it’s a great, great privilege. I want to start by thanking the Foreign Minister for his very generous welcome today. I want to thank him for his hospitality, but I also thank him because he and I have met and worked together at a number of conferences in various parts of the world over time. So we begin with a relationship and we begin as friends, and I look forward to continuing that.

It’s also – the Minister has mentioned a personal connection here to the city, and it’s a great pleasure for me to be able to return to Berlin, which is a special city indeed. As a young man, I spent some time here when my father worked here as a Foreign Service officer in the 1950s. In those challenging times the United States stood with the people of Germany, and through the years we have worked successfully side by side in order to meet an extraordinary number of challenges across Europe and around the world.

Germany is without doubt one of our strongest and most effective allies in the world, and we are very, very grateful for your leadership, the leadership of your government, and the sustaining friendship and support of your people because it has made a difference. A lot has changed, but today the ties that bind the United States and Germany obviously remain stronger than ever, and they are, again, going to guide us through these challenging times, I’m confident, Guido. I look forward to continuing discussion.

We began now, and in a short period of time I think it’s fair to say we touched on a remarkable number of issues, found significant agreement, and talked about things that we will continue to talk about over lunch.

We are going to discuss our ongoing efforts to build a peaceful and stable Afghanistan. And I want to thank, on behalf of President Obama and the American people, I want to thank the Foreign Minister and the Chancellor, and I will have a chance to thank her personally in a little while, for Germany’s steadfast support in a very difficult undertaking in order to make this critical transition work for everybody.

As I said in London, we are, of course, talking with all of our allies about the issue of Syria in advance of our meeting in Rome on Thursday, and I want to especially thank the Foreign Minister for Germany’s leadership in increasing the pressure on the Syrian regime. The German Patriot missile deployment in Turkey is important, and Germany’s support in planning the future reconstruction with the Friends of Syrian People is also an important consideration.

And of course, the Foreign Minister and I are going to talk about one of the most important things in our relationship, and that is our strong economic partnership. President Obama has announced his vision, which I think is an important one and shared by the Chancellor and others here, for a new economic partnership with Europe. Germany is our largest trade partner in Europe, and we want to see even more trade and investment that will create jobs – jobs for Germans, jobs for Americans, jobs for all Europeans – and help to lift the European economy at a time that it obviously needs it. That’s why it is a priority for President Obama and one that I will work on diligently to try to advance a comprehensive, transatlantic trade and investment partnership. And I look forward to hearing the Foreign Minister’s views and sharing thoughts about how we can accelerate that and try to do it seriously and rapidly.

The list of shared concerns goes on and on: security, counterterrorism, financial regulations, trade, many, many other issues. So I am really delighted to have an opportunity to dig into these issues with the Foreign Minister. I am confident that in the years ahead the German-American partnership is going to continue to be strong, continue to be as important as it has been, and in fact, I’m sure it can grow. And we look forward to doing that.

I will say that I had an opportunity a little while ago at a coffee shop to share thoughts with a large number of young people. It was really interesting for me as an American to listen to the questions of young Germans and their hopes for the future. They’re very similar to the hopes of young people in America, all of whom are connected today in ways that are profound and important to all of our hopes and to all of our politics. So I think all of what we do here and talk about is really for future generations. That’s what this is about, and Guido and I look forward to having an in-depth lunch and a longer conversation about these issues.

Thank you, my friend.

FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: Thank you so much.

QUESTION: Concerning the Euro (inaudible), Mr. Kerry –

SECRETARY KERRY: I think we have – wait, wait.

MODERATOR: I have two questions, the first question from Jill Dougherty, CNN.

QUESTION: Secretary Kerry, thank you very much. I want to ask you about Iran. As we know, the Iran talks are taking place in Kazakhstan. And how realistic is it to expect any type of progress toward any type of agreement? I mean, just look at the facts. You have Iran continuing to enrich uranium to 20 percent, practically on the eve of the talks they say that they’re going to be building more reactors, they’re installing new centrifuges. Why shouldn’t we think that they are just playing for time, because after all, they have elections coming up in June? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Jill, look, I want to respect the fact that the Almaty talks are going on. And given that, I think it would really be a mistake in the middle of the talks for me to try to talk at any length about what the dynamics of those talks are. Let me simply say this: Our P-5+1 proposal includes reciprocal measures that encourage Iran to make concrete steps in order to begin addressing international community’s concerns. Those concerns are very clear; we couldn’t make them more clear.

And so what I will do in the middle of these talks today here in Germany is express my hope, and I think our hope, that these talks can advance that dialogue and that Iran itself will make its choice to move down the path of a diplomatic solution. There is a diplomatic path. There is a clear way through this. And I want these talks to have their chance to work through before I comment further.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.) Mr. Secretary, (inaudible). You already mentioned Syria in your statement. People keep dying there on a daily basis. What can the U.S., what can Germany do in terms of an immediate support for the militant opposition in Syria? And will that topic be on the agenda in your talks later today with Secretary Lavrov of Russia?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, my talks – there will be a lot of topics on the agenda with Foreign Minister Lavrov. And I look forward to that conversation. He and I know each other fairly well. I’m anxious to have a chance to sit down with him. And I think I should let him have an opportunity to define that agenda with me. So I’m not going to comment on talks that haven’t yet taken place.

With respect to Syria, we began a discussion. We have more to talk about in the course of lunch. But there’s a reason we’re going to Rome. We’re going to Rome to bring a group of nations together to precisely talk about this problem. And I don’t want to get ahead of that meeting or our ability to begin to think about exactly what will be part of it. What I’ve said previously is I’ve gone to London, I’m here in Berlin today, I’m going to Paris tonight and then to Rome, precisely to consult with our friends and allies. And I think it’d be a mistake to start laying out what we’re going to do before we’ve consulted, number one, and number two, before we’ve all come together to make those decisions. So we’ll see where we are when we get to Rome.

FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE: (In German.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

AMBULANCE COMPANY TO PAY $800,000 TO RESOLVE MEDICARE FALSE CLAIMS ALLEGATIONS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, February 25, 2013
South Carolina Ambulance Company to Pay U.S $800,000 to Resolve False Claims Allegations
Williston Rescue Squad Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $800,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by making false claims for payment to Medicare for ambulance transports, the Justice Department announced today. Williston, based in Williston, S.C., provides ambulance transport services in the southwestern part of South Carolina.

Medicare is a federally-funded health care program that is intended to provide basic medical insurance to people over the age of 65. Medicare reimburses providers only for non-emergency ambulance transports if the patient transported is bed-confined or has a medical condition that requires ambulance transportation. The settlement resolves allegations that Williston billed Medicare for routine, non-emergency ambulance transports that were not medically necessary and that Williston created false documents to make the transports appear to meet the Medicare requirements.

"Billing Medicare for unnecessary ambulance transports contributes to the soaring costs of health care," said Stuart F. Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. "The Department of Justice is committed to pursuing companies that waste limited Medicare funds."

"Medicare fraud is stealing, and it is crippling America’s health care system. We have doubled the number of attorneys working these cases in South Carolina. Take notice, if you are bilking the Medicare system designed to support our elders, we are working to find you. For the honest service providers, which is a greater majority of the community, you can report fraud at 1-800-MEDICARE," said William N. Nettles, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by Sandra McKee under the qui tam, or whistleblower provisions, of the False Claims Act. McKee is a clinical social worker at a facility that regularly received patients transported by Williston’s ambulances. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. Ms. McKee will receive $160,000 as her share of the government’s recovery.

This resolution is part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and another step for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in May 2009. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover nearly $10.2 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. The Justice Department’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 are over $14 billion.