THOMAS COUNTRYMAN'S REMARKS ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS RENUNCIATION BY UKRAINE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Twenty Years of Renunciation From Nuclear Weapons by Ukraine: Lessons Learned and Prospects of Nuclear Disarmament"

Remarks

Thomas M. Countryman

Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation

The Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations

New York City

April 28, 2014

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Introduction
The 2014 PrepCom is an opportunity to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and to reinforce our shared responsibilities to uphold it. The United States remains committed to full implementation of the 2010 Review Conference Action Plan. Through this PrepCom we will build on the momentum of the successful 2010 Review Conference and PrepComs in 2012 and 2013. As we approach the 2015 NPT Review Conference, the United States looks to all States Parties to work together towards strengthening this critical treaty which has underpinned international security for nearly 45 years.

I thank our Ukrainian friends for hosting us today. As President Obama and Secretary Kerry have said, the United States strongly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Last week, Vice President Biden traveled to Kyiv in order to demonstrate our solidarity with the Ukrainian people. He discussed how the United States is supporting the international community’s efforts to stabilize and strengthen Ukraine’s economy and assist Ukraine in political reform and uniting the country. The Vice President announced a U.S. package of assistance totaling $50 million to help Ukraine pursue political and economic reform and strengthen our partnership. He made clear that Ukraine has a difficult road ahead, but it will not walk this road alone. And today the United States announced that it will impose new targeted sanctions on a number of Russian individuals and entities and restricting licenses for certain U.S. exports to Russia.

Budapest Memorandum Commitments

In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom made a commitment to respect the independence, sovereignty, and existing borders of Ukraine. The United States government remains committed to the Budapest Memorandum.
Our partnership with Ukraine goes back many years, and is particularly strong in the area of nonproliferation. We appreciate Ukraine’s continued leadership in this area.

Ukraine’s Nonproliferation Record

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Ukraine’s historic decision to remove the third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world from its territory and to accede to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear-weapon state. Ukraine’s unwavering commitment to its obligations under the NPT demonstrates that when a country places itself squarely within the NPT and diligently adheres to all of the Treaty’s obligations, all nations benefit.
Since 1994, Ukraine has a strong record of supporting nuclear nonproliferation and threat reduction. With support from the “Nunn-Lugar” Cooperative Threat Reduction program, Ukraine dismantled an enormous stockpile of ICBMs, heavy bombers, and related delivery systems. In 2004, it began an augmented program with the U.S. Department of Defense that includes weapons of mass destruction proliferation prevention and border security initiatives. By hosting the multilateral Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), Ukraine has engaged over 20,000 scientists from the former Soviet weapons program in peaceful activities. The United States has been proud to be a partner in those efforts.

Ukraine brought its IAEA safeguards agreement into force in 1995; it signed the Additional Protocol in 2000 and brought it into force in 2006. Ukraine joined the Global Partnership against the spread of WMD in 2005, in 2007 it was one of the first countries to join the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. Ukraine participated actively in all three Nuclear Security Summits. In 2012, Ukraine fulfilled its pledge to remove all highly enriched uranium from Ukraine, a highlight of the 2012 Summit.

In 2013, we extended the U.S.-Ukraine Cooperative Threat Reduction Umbrella Agreement for another seven years, as well as an agreement to increase safety and risk reduction at civilian nuclear facilities in Ukraine. Recent events in Ukraine underline the importance of bringing to closure to the legacy of Chernobyl by finishing construction of a landmark shelter to durably protect the population and environment, a project to which the United States has pledged approximately $337 million. Last month, a joint U.S. – Ukraine project to construct a Neutron Source Facility at the Kharkiv Institute for Physics and Technology was completed, providing Ukraine with new research capabilities and the ability to produce industrial and medical isotopes. In short, U.S. – Ukrainian cooperation on nuclear security and nonproliferation is broad and deep.

U.S. Commitment to Nonproliferation

We applaud Minister of Foreign Affairs Deshchytsia’s reaffirmation of Ukraine’s longstanding commitment to its nonproliferation obligations at the Nuclear Security Summit last month. Like Ukraine, the United States is committed to achieving the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. This is a central element of President Obama’s nuclear agenda. There is a long road ahead, but we are working to create the conditions for its eventual achievement. As President Obama said in Berlin in June, 2013, the United States can ensure its security and that of its allies while safely pursuing further nuclear reductions with Russia of up to one-third in the deployed strategic warhead level established in the New START Treaty.
As next steps toward nuclear disarmament, the United States remains committed to pursuing entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and consensus to start negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.

I would like to highlight the work done at the P5 Conference earlier this month in Beijing toward implementing the Action Plan adopted at the 2010 NPT Review Conference
The NPT serves as a key element of international security and the basis for international nuclear cooperation. We will continue to address the serious challenges of cases of noncompliance with Treaty obligations, and will continue to support expanding access to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. We look forward to a productive Preparatory Committee meeting, and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the Treaty’s contributions to international peace and security are strengthened.

I thank our Ukrainian hosts again for today and congratulate them again on this important anniversary and their continued leadership within the NPT. I look forward to working with Ukraine, and with all other NPT Parties, over the coming weeks to ensure that the NPT remains strong.

As Secretary Kerry stated last week, the world will remain united for Ukraine.

U.S. CONGRATULATES PEOPLE OF REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS ON THEIR NATIONAL DAY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

The Marshall Islands National Day

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

April 29, 2014

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on the anniversary of your nation’s independence.

Our two countries share a long history of cooperation, mutual respect, and friendship. We look forward to continuing to work together on advancing human rights, strengthening economic development, enhancing regional security, mitigating environmental threats, and improving health and education services for all Marshallese citizens. We are grateful for the dedication and voluntary sacrifice of Marshallese serving in the U.S. Armed Forces as we work together promoting security and stability around the world.

Congratulations and warmest wishes for a year of progress, prosperity, and peace.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS ON RAISING MINIMUM WAGE

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

April 30, 2014

Remarks by the President on Raising the Minimum Wage

East Room

3:02 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Please have a seat.  Good afternoon.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Aloha!

THE PRESIDENT:  Aloha.  (Laughter.)  Got a Hawaiian guy here.

After 14 months since I’ve called on Congress to reward the hard work of millions of Americans like the ones who we have here today to raise the federal minimum wage, we saw this morning a majority of senators saying “yes,” but almost every Republican saying “no” to giving America a raise.

They blocked a bill –- sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin and Congressman George Miller, who is right here in front.  (Applause.)  A bill that would have gradually raised the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour.  By preventing even a vote on this bill, they prevented a raise for 28 million hardworking Americans.   They said no to helping millions work their way out of poverty -- and keep in mind, this bill would have done so without any new taxes, or spending, or bureaucracy.  They told Americans like the ones who are here today that “you’re on your own” -– without even looking them in the eye.

We know these Americans.  We depend on them.  The workers who’d benefit from a minimum wage increase often work full-time, often in physically demanding jobs.  They average 35 years of age.  Most low-paying jobs are held by women.  But because Republicans in Congress said “no” to even allowing a vote on the floor of the Senate, these folks are going to have to wait for the raise they deserve.

Now the good news is outside of Washington folks aren’t waiting.  While Republicans have been deciding whether to even allow a minimum wage bill to even come up for a vote, you’ve seen 10 states and the District of Columbia go ahead and raise theirs.  (Applause.)  Yesterday, the Hawaii legislature voted to raise their minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.  Maryland did the same thing earlier this month -– and I know we’ve got some Maryland state legislators here today.  Thanks for the good work.  (Applause.)

So the actions that have been taken in just four states -- Maryland, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Hawaii -– means that over a million workers will see a raise.  What’s more, we’ve seen big companies like The Gap, and small businesses -- from a pizza joint in St. Louis to an ice cream parlor in Florida -- increasingly choosing to raise wages for their employees because they know it’s good business.  They know that it means employees are more likely to stay on the job, less turnover.  It means that they’re going to be more productive, and customers see the difference.  That’s one of the reasons I issued an executive order requiring employees on new federal contracts to be paid a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour.  (Applause.)

So Americans have been way out in front of Congress on this issue.  In fact, about three in four Americans support raising the minimum wage.  And that’s because we believe that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, nobody who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty.  That’s a basic principle.  (Applause.)  And at a time when those at the top are doing better than ever, while millions of Americans are working harder and harder just to get by, that three out of four Americans understands that America deserves a raise.

A few months ago, I got a letter from a woman named Sheila Artis.  And Sheila lives in Lilburn, Georgia and at the time she was working two jobs -- making $8 an hour at each job.  As Sheila wrote, “I do not have days off, I have hours off.”  But she kept going to work every day because she wanted to be able to afford college tuition for her daughter.  And so she wrote to me and said, “I do not want a pot of gold.  All I want is to pay for college and pay my bills in full every month.”  That's all she’s looking for.  Doesn't expect to get wealthy, just wants to be able to pay the bills at the end of every month, be able to act responsibly, meet her responsibilities based on her own hard work.

People like Sheila deserve a fair shot.  So far Republicans in Congress disagree.  In fact, some of them want to scrap the minimum wage entirely.  One House Republican said, “It’s outlived its usefulness.  I’d vote to repeal the minimum wage.”  A Senate Republican said he doesn’t think the minimum wage helps the middle class.

This is a very simple issue.  Either you’re in favor of raising wages for hardworking Americans, or you’re not.  Either you want to grow the economy from the middle out and the bottom up so that prosperity is broad-based, or you think that top-down economics is the way to go.

Republicans in Congress have found the time to vote more than 50 times to undermine or repeal the health care bill for millions of working families.  Earlier this month, they voted for a budget that would give the wealthiest Americans a massive tax cut while forcing deep cuts to investments that help middle-class families.  But they won’t raise wages for millions of working families when three-quarters of Americans support it?  That makes no sense.  And on top of that, they’ve blocked our efforts to make sure women receive equal pay for equal work.  They’ve stood in the way as we’ve fought to extend unemployment insurance for parents who need a little help supporting their families while they’re out looking for work.  Republicans have failed to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and they’ve increasingly failed to do anything when it comes to helping people who work hard get ahead.

If there’s any good news here, it’s that Republicans in Congress don’t get the last word on this or any issue -- you do, the American people, the voters.  (Applause.)  Change is happening, whether Republicans in Congress like it or not. And so my message to the American people is this:  Do not get discouraged by a vote like the one we saw this morning.  Get fired up.  Get organized.  Make your voices heard.  (Applause.)  And rest assured, I’m going to keep working with you and Leader Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress who are here today to raise wages for hardworking Americans.  It’s the right thing to do.  (Applause.)

If your member of Congress doesn’t support raising the minimum wage, you’ve got to let them know they’re out of step, and that if they keep putting politics ahead of working Americans, you’ll put them out of office.  Tell them to reconsider.  Tell them it’s time for $10.10.  You can tweet at them -- use hashtag #1010Means.  Let them know how raising the minimum wage would help you, or your family, or somebody that you know.  And while you’re at it, tell them to restore unemployment insurance for Americans who are trying to support their families right now while they look for work.  (Applause.)  Extending this lifeline of unemployment insurance would actually strengthen the economy and create jobs, and give millions of Americans across the country a sense of hope.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep offering my support to every business owner, and mayor, and governor, and county official, and legislator, and organization that’s working to give America a raise.  Because change does not come from Washington, it comes to Washington from all the folks out there who are working hard.  Americans want the people they send here to set aside the old political arguments and move this country forward.  With enough determination and enough persistence, the American people will ultimately win out.

So thank you, God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTS FOR APRIL 30, 2014

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

CONTRACTS

ARMY

TMG Services*, Cleveland, Ohio (W9127S-14-D-6000); Aerostar SES LLC*, Oak Ridge, Tenn. (W9127S-14-D-6001); Zieson Construction Co., LLC*, Topeka, Kan. (W9127S-14-D-6002) were awarded a $200,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award task order contract for designing and building repairs to the infrastructure for U.S. Air Force Medical Service healthcare facilities nationwide. Funding and work performance location will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is April 29, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 25 received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock, Ark., is the contracting activity.

JCB Inc., Pooler, Ga., was awarded a $39,446,851 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for procurement of an estimated 90 High Mobility Engineer Excavators-Type-I (HMEE-I) and vehicle attachments. Funding and work performance location will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is Dec. 29, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Internet with one received. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-14-D-0066).

Columbia Helicopters Inc.*, Aurora, Ore., was awarded a $30,552,180 firm-fixed-price contract for the after rotor head and the forward rotor head for the Chinook weapons system. The minimum quantity (combined for the rotor heads) is ten and the maximum quantity is 198. Funding and performance location will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is April 24, 2019. Bids were solicited via the Internet with two received. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-14-D-0078).
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Kongsberg, Norway, was awarded a $29,702,000 modification (P00079) to contract W15QKN-12-C-0103 for depot support for the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $29,702,000 were obligated at the time of the award. Work will be performed at in Johnstown, Pa., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 16, 2017. Army Contracting Command, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., is the contracting activity.

Hellfire Systems LLC, Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $28,408,525 modification (P00083) to foreign military sales contract (Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Jordan) W31P4Q-11-C-0242 for 372 Hellfire II air-to-ground tactical containerized models: AGM-114R, AGM-114R-3, and AGM-114P-4A. Fiscal 2012, 2013 and 2014 other procurement funds in amount of $28,408,525 are being obligated at award. Work will be performed at Orlando, Fla., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2016. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.

Longbow LLC, Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $25,197,219 modification (P00006) to contract W58RGZ-12-C-0049 for the production of seventeen radar electronics units and unmanned aerial system tactical common data link assemblies, a P4.00 software upgrade, and associated gold standard hardware for production testing. Fiscal 2013 other procurement funds in the amount of $25,197,239 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is July 31, 2015. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla. Army Contracting Command, Redstone, Ala., is the contracting activity.

L-3 Communications Corp., Muskegon, Mich., was awarded a $10,533,875 modification (P00122) to contract W56HZV-09-C-0098 for 26,752 hours for systems technical support for the Bradley transmission. Fiscal 2014 research, development, technology, and evaluation funds in the amount of $10,408,156 and fiscal 2010 other procurement funds in the amount of $125,719 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is June 30, 2015. Work will be performed Muskegon, Mich. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity.

ARMTEC, Coachella, Calif., was awarded a $9,900,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, sole-source contract to design, develop, maintain and manufacture systems using combustible and consumable type products technology for the Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. Funding and work performance location will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is May 1, 2019. One bid was solicited and one received. Army Contracting Command, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., is the contracting activity (W15QKN-14-D-0004).

Value Management Strategies Inc.*, Escondido, Calif. (W912DR-14-D-0001); Strategic Value Solutions Inc.* Independence, Mo. (W912DR-14-D-0002) were awarded a $9,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for architectural and engineering management service for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District Military, Environmental and Civil Works programs throughout the North Atlantic Division. Funding and work performance location will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is April 29, 2019. Two bids were solicited and two received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Md., is the contracting activity.

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

SupplyCore*, Rockford, Ill., has been awarded a maximum $200,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for maintenance, repair, and operations tailored logistics support prime vendor programs. This is a competitive acquisition, and seven offers were received. This is a five-year base contract with no options. Location of performance is Illinois with a May 1, 2019 performance completion date. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM8EG-14-D-0002).

Signature Flight Support Corp., Newport News, Va., has been awarded a maximum $15,088,634 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for fuel. This is a competitive acquisition, and two offers were received. This is a four-year base contract with no options. Locations of performance are Virginia and California with a March 31, 2018 performance completion date. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 through fiscal 2017 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-14-D-0017).

NAVY

Contracting Solutions International LLC,* Tulsa, Okla. (N62645-14-D-5023); Distinctive Spectrum Healthcare Joint Venture,* Largo, Md. (N62645-14-D-5024); Protégé Health Services LLC,* Newington, Va. (N62645-14-D-5025); Saratoga Medical Center Inc.,* Fairfax, Va. (N62645-14-D-5026); TIST Corp., Inc.,* San Antonio, Texas (N62645-14-D-5027), are each being awarded a 36-month, firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award task order contract for various nursing services that include the labor bands of advanced practice nurse and nursing. The aggregate not-to-exceed amount for these multiple award contracts combined is $27,693,133. The five contractors will have the opportunity to bid on each individual task order. Work will be performed at military treatment facilities in the Southeast region of the United States to include: Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Fla. (25 percent); Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi, Texas (25 percent); Naval Hospital Pensacola, Fla. (25 percent); Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, N.C. (10 percent); Naval Hospital Beaufort, S.C. (3 percent); Naval Hospital Cherry Point, N.C. (3 percent); Naval Health Clinic Charleston, S.C. (3 percent); Navy Medicine Operational Training Center Pensacola, Fla. (3 percent); and any associated branch clinics (3 percent). Work performed under these contracts is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2017. Fiscal 2015 defense health program funds in the amount of $1,999,801 will be obligated at the time of award and the funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Funding is predominantly from the Defense Health Program; however, other funding initiatives such as psychological health/traumatic brain injury, overseas contingency operations and wounded, ill, and injured may be used. These are all one-year funding types. These contracts were solicited via a multiple award electronic request for proposals as a 100 percent small business set-aside; 55 offers were received. The Naval Medical Logistics Command, Fort Detrick, Md., is the contracting activity.

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded $26,725,000 for cost-plus-incentive-fee delivery order 0080 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-11-G-0001) to provide seven flight critical engineering changes proposals for fracture and maintenance critical areas of the F/A-18 A-D airframe under the Service Life Extension Program Phase C1 effort. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. (55 percent) and El Segundo, Calif. (45 percent), and is expected to be completed in July 2015. Fiscal 2013 and 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $13,095,250 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
COLSA Corp., Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a potential $25,607,908 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) Integrated Voice Networks Branch to provide telephony network support. This is one of two contracts awarded: both awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract including two, one-year option periods, which, if exercised, would bring the potential ceiling value of this award to an estimated $43,071,400. Work will be performed at SSC Pacific facilities, on Navy ships, and at other government sites in San Diego, and work is expected to be completed April 29, 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy and other procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via full and open solicitation and publication on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website. Three proposals were received and two were selected for award. SSC Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-14-D-0100).

Engineering Services Network Inc., Arlington, Va., is being awarded a potential $24,530,896 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) Integrated Voice Networks Branch to provide telephony network support. This is one of two contracts awarded: both awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract including two, one-year option periods, which, if exercised, would bring the potential ceiling value of this award to an estimated $41,213,375. Work will be performed at SSC Pacific facilities, on Navy ships, and at other government sites in San Diego, and work is expected to be completed April 29, 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy and other procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via full and open solicitation and publication on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website. Three proposals were received and two were selected for award. SSC Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-14-D-0101).

Ball Aerospace Technologies Inc., Boulder, Colo., is being awarded a $23,933,170 firm-fixed-price contract for “Stalker” or long range electro-optical/infrared/laser range finder (SLREOSS) production. SLREOSS is used with the NATO Seasparrow Missile System MK 57 on the MK 9 Tracker Illuminator System. Work will be performed in Broomfield, Colo., and is expected to be completed by April 2016. Fiscal 2014 other procurement, Navy and fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $13,419,877 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-14-C-5412).

Logos Technologies Inc.*, Fairfax, Va., is being awarded a $23,648,907 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for field service representatives, operators, and analysts required to support Persistent Ground Surveillance Systems Kestrel systems deployed outside of the continental United States for the U.S. Army. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Va. (68 percent); Afghanistan (28 percent); and Raleigh, N.C. (4 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $1,500,000 are being obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-14-C-0196).

Brady GCE II*, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a maximum amount $20,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineering (A-E) contract for A-E services for comprehensive environmental response, Compensation Liability Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, underground storage tank studies and environmental engineering support services at Navy and Marine Corps installations in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest (NAVFAC SW) area of responsibility (AOR). No task orders are being issued at this time. All work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps installations in California (90 percent); Arizona (3 percent); Nevada (3 percent); Colorado (2 percent); Utah (1 percent), and other Department of Defense installations in the NAVFAC SW AOR (1 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of April 2019. Fiscal 2014 environmental restoration, Navy contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with eight proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N62473-14-D-1405).

Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $6,553,058 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for calendar years 2014-2016 Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM) depot and intermediate level maintenance, all-up-round recertifications, and special maintenance tasks. This contract will provide for the repair, maintenance and recertification of ESSM Missiles, sections, assemblies, subassemblies, components and test or support equipment. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $15,007,740. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. (89 percent), Camden, Ark. (8 percent), Huntsville, Ala. (2 percent), and Andover, Mass. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2016. Fiscal 2014 other procurement, Navy and fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funding in the amount of $4,379,678 is being obligated at time of award. Contract funds in the amount of $500,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-14-C-5411).

AIR FORCE

Georgia Tech Applied Research Corp., Atlanta, Ga., has been awarded a $19,999,676 delivery order (0269) on the SENSIAC indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, sole source (HC1047-05-D-4000) for Systems Engineering, Modeling & Simulation, and Scientific Studies & Analysis Support on Emerging Threats Affecting National Security and DoD Acquisition Process. SENSIAC will provide recommendations for specified areas of study, United States/allies capability gaps concerning the threats, and how the U.S. should posture itself to counter these threats in order to favorably shape the battlespace. The work will be performed in Atlanta, Ga., and work is expected to be complete by Dec. 6, 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance and research and development funds in the amount of $2,384,604 are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Installation Contracting Agency/KD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity.

Alion Science and Technology Corp., McLean, Va., has been awarded a $14,138,642 delivery order (0063) on the AMMTIAC indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, sole-source contract (FA4600-06-D-0003) for operational safety, suitability and effectiveness materials improvement program. AMMTIAC's goal is to increase C-5 aircraft safety and mission readiness while reducing maintenance requirements and cost. The work will be performed at Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., various U.S. Air Force locations, and at the AMMTIAC contractor facilities, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 29, 2016. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance and defense working capital funds funds in the amount of $2,075,098 are being obligated at time of award. AFICA/KD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity.

Flight Safety Services Corp., Centennial, Colo., has been awarded an $11,787,928 firm-fixed-price modification (P00071) to FA8223-11-C-0003 for student aircrew training. The contract modification provides instructors to teach aircrew initial qualification courses, refresher courses, upgrade courses and others to fully qualify C-5 aircrews in all mission design series versions. This affects five training locations: Dover Air Force Base (AFB), Del., Travis AFB, Calif., Lackland AFB, Texas, Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., and Martinsburg Air National Guard Base, W.Va., and the work is expected to be completed March 31, 2015 This effort also provides new student aircrew training pricing matrices for the remainder of the contract. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,860,395 are being obligated at time of award. Agile Combat Support, Simulators Division, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity.

Qinetiq North America Inc., Waltham, Mass., has been awarded a maximum $7,750,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided Knowledge II (BATMAN II)-Advanced Technology Demonstration Program, and a $218,128 cost-plus-fixed-fee task order for BATMAN II. The BATMAN II program is designed to focus on advancing technologies relevant to the special operators of the Air Force. The complex nature of the ground operations conducted by Battlefield Airmen require advanced technologies to reduce fatigue and workload in austere environments, increase mission effectiveness, reduce tactical decision making time and errors, and enhance situational awareness. The technologies developed under the BATMAN II program will focus on accelerating the development, demonstration, and assessment timeline of critical, mission capabilities. Work will be performed in Waltham, Mass., and is expected to be completed by April 30, 2020. Task order 0001 is expected to be completed by April 30, 2015. The award is the result of a competitive acquisition, and five offers were received. Fiscal 2014 research and development funds in the amount of $218,128 are to be obligated at time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness-Biosciences Protection Contracting, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-14-D-6529 and Task Order 0001).

Northrop Grumman Corp., Aerospace Systems, El Segundo, Calif., has been awarded a $6,567,841 modification (P00264) to F19628-00-C-0100 for radar system development and demonstration schedule extension. The contract modification is for Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) radar system development and demonstration alignment with the Global Hawk Block 40 program schedule. Work will be performed at El Segundo, Calif., and is expected to be completed on Aug. 31, 20 14. Fiscal 2013 research and development funds in the amount of $3,843,413 are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity.

DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY

Lockheed Martin Advanced Technologies Lab, Cherry Hill, N.J., has been awarded a $13,362,252 modification (P00016) to previously awarded contract (HR0011-11-C-0033) to incorporate new add work, Phase 3, to the DARPA Behavioral Learning for Adaptive Electronic Warfare (BLADE) program. The modification brings the estimated face value of the contract to $29,367,326 from $16,005,074. The objectives of the Phase 3 BLADE program are to refine and technically mature algorithms and software developed during Phase 2 of the program and to apply them in tactically relevant environments and timeframes on tactical military electronic attack platforms. The program will culminate in over-the-air and on-the-move testing and valuation of the BLADE system in an operationally representative environment. Work will be performed in Cherry Hill, N.J. (64.2 percent), Blacksburg, Va. (3.3 percent), Fort Wayne, Ind. (28.7 percent), and California, Md. (3.8 percent), and is expected to be completed by October 2015. Fiscal 2014 research and development funds in the amount of $8,000,000 will be obligated at the time of the award. The contracting activity is DARPA, Arlington, Va.

U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

Cyberspace Solutions of Reston, Va., is being awarded a $35,556,730 firm-fixed-price contract for intelligence analyst support, in support of U.S. Special Operations Command. The work will be conducted at multiple locations in the United States and overseas and is expected to be completed May 1, 2015. Fiscal 2014 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,000,000 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was awarded through a competitive Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business set-aside with 15 proposals received. U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Fla., is the contracting activity (H92222-14-C-0019).

*Small Business

NASA'S CURIOSITY MARS ROVER LOOKS AT TARGET

FROM:   NASA 

This image from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a sandstone slab on which the rover team has selected a target, "Windjana," for close-up examination and possible drilling.  The target is on the approximately 2-foot-wide (60-centimeter-wide) rock seen in the right half of this view.  The Navcam's left-eye camera took this image during the 609th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (April 23, 2014). The rover's name is written on the covering for a portion of the robotic arm, here seen stowed at the front of the vehicle. The sandstone target's informal name comes from Windjana Gorge in Western Australia.  If this target meets criteria set by engineers and scientists, it could become the mission's third drilled rock and the first that is not mudstone. The rock is within a waypoint location called "the Kimberley," where sandstone outcrops with differing resistance to wind erosion result in a stair-step pattern of layers.  Windjana is within what the team calls the area's "middle unit," because it is intermediate between rocks that form buttes in the area and lower-lying rocks that show a pattern of striations. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover and the rover's Navcam.  NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Inspects Site Image Credit-NASA-JPL-Caltech.

MAN SENTENCED IN $4 MILLION HOME LOAN MODIFICATION SCAM

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Maryland Man Sentenced for Defrauding Thousands of Homeowners in $4 Million Nationwide Home Loan Modification Scam

A Maryland man was sentenced today to serve one year and a day in prison for defrauding thousands of homeowners in a $4 million nationwide home loan modification scheme.

Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts and Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) Christy Romero made the announcement.

Brian Kelly, 37, of Forest Hill, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel of the District of Massachusetts and ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.   Restitution will be determined at a later date.

Kelly pleaded guilty on May 2, 2013, to one count of conspiracy, nine counts of mail fraud and nine counts of wire fraud.

According to court records, Kelly and others, operating under the name Home Owners Protection Economics Inc. (HOPE), made a series of misrepresentations to induce struggling homeowners to pay HOPE $400 to $2,000 in up-front fees in exchange for HOPE’s help obtaining federally funded home loan modifications.   Kelly was one of HOPE’s more successful salespeople, receiving approximately $24,000 after arranging fraudulent home loan modifications totaling approximately $180,000.

Also according to court documents, the conspirators misrepresented that, with HOPE’s assistance, the homeowner was guaranteed to receive a loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which is part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and is a federally funded mortgage-assistance program.   For example, the defendants routinely claimed that the homeowner had already been approved for a loan modification, provided phony “approval codes,” quoted new (and wholly fictitious) mortgage terms and due dates, touted their 98 percent past success rate and claimed that they were “underwriters” or were otherwise affiliated with the homeowners’ mortgage companies.   HOPE also claimed that it would offer homeowners refunds in the unlikely event that they did not receive a loan modification.

According to court documents, in exchange for the up-front fees, HOPE sent its customers, including homeowners in Massachusetts, a do-it-yourself application package, which was virtually identical to the application that the government provides free of charge.   The HOPE customers had no advantage in the application process, and, in fact, most of their applications were denied.   Through these misrepresentations, HOPE was able to persuade thousands of homeowners to pay more than $4 million in fees.

Two co-defendants, Christopher S. Godfrey, 44, of Delray Beach, Fla., and Dennis Fischer, 42, of Highland Beach, Fla., were convicted after trial and were each sentenced on Feb. 20, 2014, to serve 84 months in prison.  A third co-defendant, Vernell Burris, Jr., 54, of Coconut Creek, Fla, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Feb. 25, 2014, to serve a year and a day in prison.

The case was investigated by SIGTARP and is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Bookbinder in the District of Massachusetts’s Computer Crimes Unit.

U.S. MARSHALS REPORT ESCAPEE CAPTURED AND RETURNED TO U.S. AFTER 16 YEARS ON THE RUN

FROM:  U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE 

Contact:

April 24, 2014 SDUSM Arthur Fernandez

Southern District of Texas 

USMS Office of Public Affairs

Texas Prison Escapee Captured After 16 Years, Returned to the U.S. from Mexico
Capture ended one of the longest escape investigations in Texas history
Houston, TX – Members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offender and Fugitive Task Force escorted an international fugitive back to the United States today following his extradition from Mexico.

Juan Jose Salaz was wanted for escaping a Texas prison 17 years ago. Mexican federal agents arrested him in Mexico in January 2013. He was extradited to the United States today, where he will serve the remainder of his multiple sentences. He is currently being held in the Harris County Jail.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice Office of Inspector General and members of the GCVOFTF, worked jointly with the U.S. Marshals on this case.

“This capture and extradition closes an important fugitive case that took extensive international coordination and determination by our task force investigators,” said Gary Blankinship, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Texas. “Justice will finally be served.”

Salaz escaped from the recreation yard of the TDCJ – Garza East Prison in Beeville March 22, 1997. He climbed over three 16-feet razor-wired security fences, launching one of the longest prison escape investigations in Texas history.

At the time of the escape, Salaz was serving three concurrent 35-year sentences for aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon and two counts of attempted capital murder of a police officer. Police records show Salaz and an accomplice abducted a man at gunpoint April 2, 1995, and demanded a ransom. Houston police undercover officers arranged for the exchange. Once the abducted man was freed, they identified themselves as police and Salaz and his accomplice opened fire. A police sergeant was hit in the chest, but was saved by his ballistic vest. Salaz was seriously wounded when police returned fire, but he recovered from his injuries and subsequently pleaded guilty. His accomplice was arrested and is serving a life sentence.

"The capture and return of offender Salaz to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice bring to close a 17-year endeavor for the Office of the Inspector General,” said Inspector General Bruce Toney, Texas Department of Criminal Justice. “During this time, the OIG never retreated from the pursuit or lost sight of the goal to bring Salaz back to Texas to serve his sentence. I would like to thank the efforts of the United States Marshals, who worked diligently with the OIG to see justice served. The cooperative working relationship shared between the United States Marshals and OIG cannot be over emphasized.”

REPUBLIC STEEL SETTLES SAFETY AND HEALTH VIOLATION ISSUES AT FOUR PLANTS

FROM:  U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT 

US Labor Department and Republic Steel reach comprehensive settlement

agreement over safety and health violations at four plants

Company to abate all hazards, implement unprecedented safeguards to prevent future injuries

CANTON, Ohio — The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced that Republic Steel has agreed to settle alleged health and safety violations at the company's facilities in Lorain, Canton and Massillon, Ohio, as well as Blasdell, N.Y. The comprehensive settlement, in which the company agrees to abate all cited hazards and implement numerous safeguards to prevent future injuries, addresses more than 100 safety and health violations found by OSHA at the company's facilities during inspections conducted in the fall of 2013. The agreement also resolves contested citations from two previous inspections regarding a June 2013 arc flash incident at the Lorain facility and a case alleging numerous fall hazards at the company's Canton facility that OSHA issued in August of 2013.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Republic Steel has agreed to pay $2.4 million, and has further agreed on additional penalty amounts in the event there is a determination of substantial non-compliance with the agreement. The company has agreed to abate all safety and health hazards identified by OSHA, including willful and serious violations for failure to provide required fall protection, failure to implement lockout/tag out procedures to protect workers who service or maintain machines, and failure to provide machine guarding to protect workers from hazardous machinery.

In addition to abating the cited hazards, Republic Steel has agreed to several additional measures to improve compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and better protect its employees. Republic Steel will: hire additional safety and health staff; conduct internal safety and health inspections with representatives of the United Steelworkers; establish and implement a comprehensive safety and health management program to identify and correct hazardous working conditions; hire third-party auditors to assure that hazards are identified and improvements are made; and meet quarterly with OSHA staff to assure implementation of this agreement.

OSHA initiated the inspections last fall in response to a serious injury after an employee fell through the roof of a building at the Lorain plant. OSHA expanded its inspections to all Republic Steel's facilities under the Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

"By agreeing to the terms of this settlement, Republic Steel has demonstrated a commitment to change its culture, invest in its employees, and work with OSHA and the United Steelworkers to make significant changes at its facilities that will improve the safety and health of its workers," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "The Labor Department looks forward to working with Republic Steel to ensure that it lives up to its commitment to improve workplace safety."
In addition to improvements noted, Republic Steel has agreed to several key changes in the management of its safety and health program, including:

reviewing and improving plant procedures to ensure OSHA compliance with machine guarding, control of hazardous energy (lockout/tag out), fall protection, personal protective equipment and other critical safety procedures;

implementing an electronic tracking system for identifying hazards/near misses, injuries and illnesses reported by workers;

mailing a letter to workers' families detailing the company's commitment to health and safety;

providing a card to employees informing them of the right to refuse to perform work that they reasonably and in good faith believe is unsafe or unhealthful without fear of being disciplined; and providing supplemental training for all production and maintenance employees, including managers.

"The terms of this agreement to improve conditions and training are unprecedented," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA. "The company has committed to supporting extensive worker participation, an important role for the joint health and safety committee, and implementation of a comprehensive safety and health program to better protect Republic Steel employees."

NSF ON BUILDING A BRAIN-MACHINE INTERFACE

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

How to build a brain-machine interface

New-generation brain technologies are now in use thanks to new body-compatible materials, smaller electronics and better sensors designed by engineers
Devices that tap directly into the nervous system can restore sensation, movement or cognitive function. These technologies, called brain-machine interfaces or BMIs, are on the rise, increasingly providing assistance to people who need it most.

But what exactly does it take to build a BMI?

To understand how (and why) BMIs are developed, the engineers who created the artifical retina can provide a kind of "how-to" guide for the curious and technically inclined.

While a greater understanding of biology has been essential to BMI development, advances in engineering and materials science have led to their design and performance. From creating new materials that are more compatible with the human body, to designing smaller electronics and better sensors, engineers are playing a major role in the development of existing and future brain technologies.

Like any other engineering challenge, building a BMI involves background research, feasibility testing, prototyping and production.

But building a BMI is unique in that engineers must design these devices to seamlessly interface with another complex system: the human nervous system.

The model: The bionic eye

In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Argus II® Retinal Prosthesis System for use in individuals who have lost their vision as a result of severe-to-profound retinitis pigmentosa. A genetic condition affecting one in every 4,000 individuals, early symptoms of retinitis pigmentosa often include night blindness, followed by gradual but progressive loss of peripheral vision and ultimately total blindness.

The system works by bypassing damaged photoreceptors, cells in the retina that normally convert light into electrical signals that the brain interprets as visual information. The Argus II® transmits images from a small camera to an implant in the back of the eye. Like the photoreceptors, the implant produces electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain.

"Seeing my grandmother go blind motivated me to pursue ophthalmology and biomedical engineering to develop a treatment for patients for whom there was no foreseeable cure," says the device's co-inventor, Mark Humayun, associate director of research at the Doheny Retina Institute at the University of Southern California.

Without this motivation, the daunting design challenges and constraints might have been enough to make even the most meticulous researcher think twice about tackling such a project.

"The artificial retina was a great engineering challenge under the interdisciplinary constraints of biology, enabling technology, [and] regulatory compliance" says Humayun's collaborator Wentai Liu, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles.

In addressing such a challenge, before researchers begin to worry about the technological details, they must first determine whether a BMI is the right fit.

Step one: Decide if a condition is a good candidate for a BMI

Like most engineering endeavors, the first step in building a BMI has more to do with understanding the system at hand than with cutting-edge design.

When it came to creating an artificial retina, this meant that researchers needed to determine which parts of the visual pathway were working and which were not.

"We needed to know there were enough neurons left in the eye to stimulate and still transmit nerve impulses and communicate with the vision center of the brain," Humayun says.

With initial funding in the late 1980s and early 1990s from the National Eye Institute, the National Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation and others, the researchers showed that neurons in the retina were still capable of responding to electrical stimulation--a sign that patients with this disease could potentially benefit from a BMI. If the nerves had been damaged, then signals would not have had a path to the brain, meaning that an artificial eye alone would not have solved the problem.

Step two: Determine if a fix is feasible

Once a condition is identified as a good candidate for a BMI, investigators need to determine whether the basic technologies needed to create such a device are even feasible.

For Humayun and colleagues, this meant tackling some tough engineering challenges, including how to mimic photoreceptor activity with artificial electrical stimulation, how to power the implant and enable real-time data transmission and how to integrate external components with the implant.

With early support from the National Science Foundation and others, the researchers set about answering each of these questions throughout the 1990s, meticulously developing prototypes of the miniature video camera and belt-worn computer that would capture and convert visual information, the integrated computer chip that would wirelessly receive the data and the tiny electrode array that would stand in for the damaged photoreceptors.

Step three: Consider the human factor

When designing a BMI, it's critical to remember that these devices must operate in concert with the human body. In addition to incorporating feedback from potential users throughout the design process, this means that the device must be designed in such a way that it can function effectively in the presence of body fluids and tissues.

Humayun and his collaborators addressed this challenge by creating a hermetically sealed packaging system that would allow the device to work in the gelatinous environment of the eye. They also carefully planned how they would implant the device to minimize the disruption to the body.

"The inside of the eye is a relatively immune-privileged site and the scarring reaction is minimal," Humayun says. "But, having said this, the surgery and the attachment of the device inside the eye has to be performed in the least invasive manner possible."

Step four: Optimize, shrink and integrate

Before a BMI reaches the end user, each component must be optimized, miniaturized and integrated with the rest of the device.

Unlike traditional design practices, which focus on optimizing each component, the artificial retina was developed by tweaking and streamlining the device as a whole, known as systems-level optimization.

The result?

A sleek, small system that packs a punch.

"The engine for the artificial retina is a 'system on a chip' of mixed voltages and mixed analog-digital design, which provides self-contained power and data management," Liu says.

Step five: Scale up and get the go-ahead

One of the final steps in building a BMI is getting it into the hands of those who need it. When the initial technology is developed in an academic research setting, this can often mean handing it off to a company that will facilitate manufacturing and manage clinical trials and commercial distribution to patients.

Founded in 1998 by Humayun's former graduate student Robert Greenberg, Second Sight Medical Products Inc., took the artificial retina from the laboratory bench to the marketplace. Clinical trials for the first-generation device (the Argus I) were conducted in 2002, and were followed by pilot studies and patient trials for the Argus II in 2006. On Feb. 14, 2013, the Argus II became the first visual prosthesis to receive market approval in the United States.

Step six: Rinse and repeat

Perhaps the most important aspect of building a BMI is recognizing that there is always room for improvement.

"While we are still at the earliest stages, people are already benefiting from these implants, through improved mobility," says James Weiland, former deputy director of the Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems (BMES) Engineering Research Center at the University of Southern California.

"Working on advanced technology projects convinces me that it is feasible to create the technology needed for better outcomes."

Led by Humayun, the BMES Engineering Research Center was founded in 2003 to continue to advance the development of this technology. The latest prototype features an ultra-miniature camera that can be implanted directly in the eye. The system also contains more than 15 times the number of electrodes in the Argus II, which the researchers anticipate will greatly improve image resolution.

-- Valerie Thompson, AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, National Science Foundation vthompso@nsf.gov
Investigators
Wentai Liu
Gerald Loeb
Brian Justus
Mark Humayun
James Weiland
Related Institutions/Organizations
Doheny Eye Institute
Johns Hopkins University
North Carolina State University
University of Southern California
University of California-Santa Cruz

AG HOLDER'S REMARKS AT UKRAINE FORUM ON ASSET RECOVERY

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Attorney General Holder Delivers Remarks at the Ukraine Forum on Asset Recovery

~ Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Thank you for those kind words – and thank you all for such a warm welcome.  It’s an honor to join so many dedicated leaders, committed public servants, and distinguished policymakers from around the world for this important Forum.  It’s a pleasure, as always, to be back in London.  And it’s a great privilege to be here at Lancaster House – where history has brought others together many times before to address fundamental questions about the right of self-determination and the necessity for the rule of law.

 I would like to thank Her Majesty’s Government, Prime Minister [David] Cameron, my good friend and esteemed colleague Home Secretary [Theresa] May, and the British people for welcoming me, the entire U.S. delegation, our Ukrainian counterparts, and all of our foreign and agency partners to this beautiful city – and for co-hosting this week’s critical gathering.

The goals that bind together every nation represented here are, as ever, rooted in our long shared and defining values.  For well over a century, our mutual commitment to cooperation has played an indispensable role in ensuring stability, international security and bolstering global collaboration.  And today, once again, this community of nations stands as one – our ranks strengthened by partners, old and new, from around the world, and our peoples united by a joint and pressing obligation:  to respond to the challenges of this day, to help resolve the conflicts of this hour, and to stand with the people of Ukraine in this moment as they rightfully chart their own, independent course to safety, prosperity, and peace.

By our presence here today and participation in this vital Forum on Asset Recovery, we reaffirm our dedication to supporting Ukrainian leaders and citizens as they strengthen law enforcement efforts, reinforce key institutions, and build and improve systems that will help guarantee the economic stability, the vital political independence, and the national sovereignty of a strong and free Ukraine.  As President Obama said in the Oval Office early last month, the interests of the United States – and the interests of our friends and allies around the world – are squarely consistent with the overwhelming desire of the Ukrainian people, as with peoples around our world, to determine their own destiny.  Their desire is not a unique one and is as old as recorded time.  And today’s gathering should send a powerful message to those in every region of Ukraine – and others across the globe and in the region – who are striving to move their country forward:  that they have, and can continue to expect, the strong and unwavering support of every nation represented here.

Together, we are committed to providing much-needed aid and supporting economic reforms.  We’re determined to offer technical assistance to help ensure free and fair elections.  We will do all that we can to bolster investigative efforts to locate and return stolen assets coopted by members of the previous regime.  And wherever our partnership can make a positive difference, we will not hesitate to use every tool and resource at our disposal to enable Ukraine to rebuild, reform, and refocus on its future.

We gather this morning, in part, in recognition of the fact that this process will be anything but easy.  The challenges we face are both numerous and profound.  As the President said last month in Brussels, this is “[a time] of testing for Europe and the United States and for the international order that we have worked for generations to build.”  And the adversity we must confront is exacerbated in no small part by the rampant corruption of Ukraine’s previous regime, which deprived the country of vital resources and lined the pockets of unscrupulous leaders with ill-gotten gains.

This state of affairs underscores the reality that many of us have seen firsthand throughout our careers – including during my own service, decades ago, as a young prosecutor in the Public Integrity Section of the United States Department of Justice:  that official misconduct and corruption is acutely corrosive.  And I saw, as you all have seen, that the costs of this corruption can be both immense and long-lasting.

We now know that, worldwide, the cross-border flow of proceeds from criminal activity, including corruption, has been estimated to be as great as $1.6 trillion per year.  Corruption often serves as a gateway crime, paving the way for money laundering, transnational organized crime, and in some cases even terrorism.  It’s no exaggeration to say that it undermines the fundamental promise of democracy and legitimate self-rule.  It siphons precious resources away from those in need.  It imperils development, security, stability, and faith in financial markets.  And it profoundly weakens that which is the basis of the desired modern society – the rule of law.

Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions.  As you know, fighting corruption and retrieving stolen assets requires a great deal of patience and persistence.  Investigations of, and prosecutions against, corrupt officials are inherently complex and resource-intensive.  International corruption cases are even more so.  And all too often, the processes necessary to refine laws and law enforcement modalities are cumbersome at best – and arcane or even nonexistent at worst.

 These obstacles are real – and they can be daunting.  But I have been proud to work with my British counterparts to convene this Forum – and bring this community of nations together – precisely because I believe that we can, but more importantly must, create out of this significant challenge an even greater global opportunity:  to discuss our respective experiences, to share knowledge and expertise, to refine our understanding of best practices, and to seek new avenues for communication and cooperation, both in Ukraine and far beyond.

This effort will be bolstered by the great work we’ve already done, and the infrastructure we’re currently building, to carry similar efforts through to completion around the world.  Fourteen years ago, officials from many of the nations represented here gathered in Washington, D.C., for the very first Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity.  That meeting marked a groundbreaking new start – and the culmination of a growing international willingness to acknowledge corruption as a problem that every country, every region, and every people, must learn to confront.

In the decade and a half since, international leaders and luminaries have repeatedly come together – in a variety of ways – to foster widespread consensus on the need for collective action in the face of shared challenges.  And our nations have accomplished a great deal.

In recent years, we’ve worked together to draft and bring into force the United Nations Convention Against Corruption – the first-ever global anti-corruption treaty – which has transformed transnational cooperation on issues ranging from anticorruption to counterterrorism.  More recently – as the world watched winds of change sweep across the Middle East – we gathered in Doha and in Marrakech for the first and second Arab Forums on Asset Recovery.

In Colombia and other nations, the United States has helped set up vetted units within key government institutions to ensure that those very bodies tasked with rooting out crime and corruption are not themselves tainted.  These lessons are valuable ones and should be passed on to Ukraine and other countries seeking to cope with the legacy of endemic corruption.

And today, as we open the Ukraine Forum on Asset Recovery, we also reaffirm our enduring commitment to the ideals that characterized those earlier gatherings and endeavors.  And we assert our unyielding determination to fight corruption wherever it exists and in whatever form it exists – however long it may take.

 Of course, if this work is to be successful, each of us must be willing to meet our individual responsibilities – and to serve not as just productive partners, but as leaders, of our comprehensive global effort.  This is why, as my country’s Attorney General, I have made certain that anticorruption and asset forfeiture have consistently stood as top priorities for my colleagues across the U.S. Department of Justice.  I launched a Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative within the Department – in 2010 – to combat large-scale foreign official corruption and help recover funds for their proper and intended use:  ensuring the welfare and well-being of the citizens to which they rightly belong.

Through this initiative, my colleagues and I have assembled a team of highly-skilled prosecutors to enhance our anticorruption activities and deny corrupt officials the benefit of the funds they’ve stolen.  Already, our Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section has initiated a number of cases targeting hundreds of millions of dollars in corruption proceeds – including, most recently, over $550 million that was stolen by the Nigerian dictator and notorious kleptocrat Sani Abacha.

 As we turn our collective attention and resources to the situation in Ukraine, it’s clear that we face a variety of new dangers and unprecedented challenges.  The importance of our cooperative work has been brought into stark focus.  The untenable situation currently confronting the Ukrainian people clearly impels the international community to further action and engagement.  And that’s why, within days of the fall of President Yanukovych’s regime, the U.S. Department of Justice had a response team on the ground in Kyiv to assess the needs of Ukraine’s investigation into stolen assets belonging to its people; to provide assistance with document review and preservation; and to help initiate and coordinate any and all efforts required by further investigations.

We have also deployed significant resources from the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section; from our Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training; from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network – or FinCEN – to help gather information, analyze data, and look into potential leads.  This represents an extremely promising start.  But if we are to be successful in our effort to help the people of Ukraine realize their own destinies – and help create the basis for a more fair and more just society that they desire and that they deserve – the international community must stand together, once again, to do even more.  And today, just as we have in the past, the people and government of the United States are ready and willing to do our part.

Last week – at President Obama’s direction, and in order to build on the work that’s already ongoing – Vice President Biden announced that the United States is committing an additional $1 million in technical assistance to aid the Ukrainian investigation for equipment and other developing needs.  Among other things, these funds will place a Justice Department attorney on the ground in Kyiv to work exclusively with Ukraine and its partners on asset recovery and mutual legal assistance issues.  As we’ve learned from providing similar assistance and support to Arab Spring countries, this move will be critical to augmenting vital information-gathering and communications capabilities in order to enhance asset recovery in both the short and long term.

 Fortunately, this is just the beginning.  This morning, I am pleased to announce the creation of a dedicated Kleptocracy squad within the FBI.  This specialized unit will partner with our Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section to aggressively investigate and prosecute corruption cases – not only in Ukraine, but around the world.  The squad of about a dozen personnel will consist of case agents and forensic analysts who are capable of unraveling the intricate money laundering transactions commonly employed by kleptocrats.  Their sophisticated work will be supported by deputy marshals from the United States Marshals Service and analysts from FinCEN, which is our financial intelligence unit.  And this new initiative will provide the United States with increased capacity to respond rapidly to political crises as they arise – so we can help prevent stolen assets from being dissipated or secreted away by deposed regimes.

 I thank you all for your partnership, and your steadfast support, of this and other work that’s currently underway.  And I urge every nation to join the United States in helping to solidify and institutionalize the collaborative efforts of investigators, prosecutors, and other practitioners in tracing, freezing, confiscating, and repatriating proceeds of corruption and other financial crimes not only in Ukraine, but around the world.  We will need the leadership of both practitioners, sharing evidence and expertise, and policymakers, who hold the keys to unlock resources for these complex investigations – and the legislative remedies to remove obstacles to efficient cooperation in asset recovery.

This, after all, is the clear mission and the singular focus of this Forum: not to rest on our laurels or extol past achievements, but – through common cause and, primarily, collective action – to help sovereign nations chart their own courses for transparent and accountable government in order to secure the better and brighter futures that they and their citizens deserve.

It is only by working together, learning from one another, and striving to move forward as a community of nations – united by our means as well as our objectives – that we can help fulfill the promise of democracy, and ensure respect for the rule of law, throughout Europe and in every corner of the globe.  And today we declare once again – with one voice and one purpose – that we must not, and we shall not, settle for anything less.

The United States is proud to stand with you in taking up this charge.  We are fortunate to count each of you as a friend and ally in this vital effort.  We will continue to count on your partnership and leadership.  And we join millions around the world in expressing our admiration for the boundless courage and tenacity of the Ukrainian people – to speak out against corruption; to stand up for their right to be free from foreign intervention; and to insist on a government that’s committed to democracy and the rule of law.

We can all be encouraged by the swift action that’s being taken by a broad coalition of countries to strongly condemn unwarranted aggression and violations of international law.  And we pledge this morning that we will never stop fighting alongside Ukraine and its partners to make the progress we need – to ensure accountability, to strengthen transnational cooperation, and to meet instability and irresponsibility with resolve – and robust diplomacy.

 Thank you, once again, for all that you do.  I look forward to a most productive Forum, but caution you that – though our joint work begins here in London – our continuing efforts will take place in many venues around the world.  And our ultimate success will be dependent on the commitment to both action and perseverance with which all of the nations gathered here are capable.  We owe the Ukrainian people – and others watching around the world – nothing less than our best efforts.  We must not fail them.  Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at the Atlantic Council's "Toward a Europe Whole and Free" Conference

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

April 29, 2014

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So after that I thought I’d just stand up and say, “I accept the nomination.” (Laughter.) Fred, thank you very, very much – very, very generous comments.

Thank you all for the privilege of sharing some thoughts with you at this both timely and very, very important gathering. It’s my privilege to be able to be here, and I’m particularly happy to be here with so many of my colleagues, both our foreign ministers and defense ministers who are here. We had a chance to chat briefly out there. We have been meeting regularly along the trail, and I have come to admire and respect each of them for the clarity of their vision and for the way in which they have been really prescient on many of these issues.

I love the new digs and thank all those who are responsible for that. And also, Fred, thanks so much for your leadership and for the tremendous work that is being done at the Atlantic Council lately, the success of this particular conference but also the work, the groundwork you’ve been laying, and the focus that you have had on the criticality of the NATO relationship, the European relationship, which, as we know, thinking back to comments of the near past about Old Europe and New Europe and other times things that have been floating out there over these last years, this discussion is even more timely and relevant.

This year marks a number of different milestones that are really worth remembering, obviously beginning with the fact that it is 65 years since Secretary of State Dean Acheson and his European counterparts came together to sign the North Atlantic Treaty. And it’s been 25 years, amazingly, since the fall of the Berlin Wall. And that wall, as we all know too well, symbolically and literally divided East and West and Europe.

It’s been 15 years, and 10 years, and 5 years since then that NATO has welcomed new partners into the post-Cold War era. And as we have expanded as an organization, as NATO has expanded as an organization, I think it’s safe to say we have also expanded democracy, prosperity, and stability in Europe, and we have opened new opportunities in order to be able to advance security even further, and we have spurred economic growth around the globe.
Year after year, importantly, NATO’s newest members have proven their mettle in ways that we hoped for but necessarily weren’t able to predict with certainty. And so today I can tell you that I’ve seen it firsthand. Governor Huntsman and others have had occasion to travel, and we know what has been achieved in Afghanistan, where our allies in Central and Eastern Europe have served alongside us and others with distinction – on occasion not just making a sacrifice, but asking their young soldiers to join in making the ultimate sacrifice. And that perhaps more than anything else can define an alliance.

In addition, over the decades-long history, I think NATO, without any question, has done more to promote security, more to promote prosperity, and more to promote freedom than any other alliance in human history.

But today it serves us well to remember the words of President Eisenhower, who said about NATO when he was talking to our NATO allies, he said, “We can take satisfaction from the past, but no complacency in the present.”

As we come together then to reflect on 65 years of partnership, perseverance, and protection, we also have to take a look – a hard, cold, sober look – at the clear threats that regrettably still exist – not because of some inherent continuous push over these last years, but frankly, because of a fairly, it appears, uniquely personally driven set of choices that are being made.
And after two decades of focusing primarily on our expeditionary missions, the crisis in Ukraine now calls us back to the role that this alliance was originally created to perform, and that is to defend alliance territory and advance transatlantic security.

The events in Ukraine are a wake-up call. Our European Allies have spent more than 20 years with us working to integrate Russia into the Euro-Atlantic community. It is not as if we really haven’t bent over backwards to try to set a new course in the post-Cold War era. And so we’ve pursued serious bilateral engagement. We invited Russians to join organizations like the WTO, the NATO-Russia Council. But what Russia’s actions in Ukraine tell us is that today Putin’s Russia is playing by a different set of rules. And through its occupation of Crimea and its subsequent destabilization of Eastern Ukraine, Russia seeks to change the security landscape of Eastern and Central Europe.

So we find ourselves in a defining moment for our transatlantic alliance, and nobody should mistake that. And we are prepared to do what we need to do, and to go the distance, to uphold that alliance. Our strength will come from our unity. And the strength of our alliance always has come from our unity over the course of the 65 years.

So together, we have to push back against those who want to try to change sovereign borders by force.

Together, we have to support those who simply want to try to live as we do or as others do. I remember being in Kyiv and a man came up to me near the Maidan and said to me. “You know, I just came back from Australia, and I had to come back here and I have to be part of this, and I have to work so that people here could live the way I saw people living in Australia.” In today’s era of mobile devices and smartphones, everybody is in touch with everybody all of the time. And that sense of aspiration and hope and possibility is something that fills the imaginations of young people all around the planet.

So together, we have to support those folks who want to live free, making their choices about their own future. Together, we have to continue our strong support for Ukraine. And we can do that through economic assistance and we can do it through support for free and fair elections, for constitutional reform, for anti-corruption and for demobilization efforts.

And most important, together, we have to make it absolutely clear to the Kremlin that NATO territory is inviolable. We will defend every single piece of it. Article 5 of the NATO Treaty must mean something, and our allies on the front lines need and deserve no less.

Now, obviously, there have to be consequences for those who want to put to test what has been the norm of international relations and the goal, if you will, of international behavior ever since World War II.

Two weeks ago, I traveled to Geneva with my counterparts from Russia, from the EU, and from Ukraine. We agreed on a number of steps that needed to be taken in order to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. I will tell you we had a very candid conversation, and Foreign Minister Lavrov agreed with all of us that we needed to be reciprocal in the steps that we need to take; both sides needed to do things in order to move forward.
Well, I will tell you that I was that afternoon directly in touch with Prime Minister Yatsenyuk and gave him the full download on those things that were legitimate expectations out of that, and he went to work immediately – immediately.

And so it was that from day one, Ukraine undertook to implement both the spirit and the substance of what was laid out in Geneva. He immediately agreed to help to vacate buildings, and he set out to do so, and they did vacate some buildings. They immediately began to remove barricades from the Maidan. Even now in the last 24 hours or so, they’ve vacated an entire building in the Maidan, because that was a specific complaint of Russia.

They proposed a specific amnesty bill in the legislature in order to follow through on the amnesty for protestors so that they could leave buildings with a sense of security about the justice system. They withheld their legitimate right to use their power of the state to remove people from buildings; instead stood back and canceled their CT operation over the course of the Easter weekend.

They actually took a trip – the prime minister himself – out to the region to indicate a willingness to listen to people in order to shape the constitutional reform, and in every respect began to open up the dialogues which even today they are pursuing throughout the region in order to discuss constitutional reform. That’s what Ukraine did starting on day one.

Meanwhile, I have to say to you, not one single step has been taken by Russia in any public way that seriously attempts to live by the spirit or the law of what was signed in that agreement. They have not announced publicly to their people that they need to come out of the buildings. They haven’t engaged with the OSCE in order to negotiate people out of the buildings. Every time you have a conversation, it’s pointing the finger at what the Ukrainians haven’t done, without even tallying up what they have done or acknowledging their own zero in the column with respect to what they have undertaken.

In fact, it’s fair to say they have escalated the crisis even further. There is strong evidence that I laid out several days ago of the degree to which Russian engagement exists directly in the east and has been building up over some period of time. Yet, what do we hear, regrettably? What we hear are the outrageous claims from certain people that the CIA somehow invented the internet in order to control the world, or that the forces occupying buildings, armed to the teeth, all wearing brand new military uniforms with the same lack of insignia, with the same faces in some cases of people who were identified as being in Crimea and in Georgia – they somehow want to assert to people that these people, moving in disciplined military formation to take over buildings and then bring the local separatists in to occupy the building while they move on to another building in an orderly, absolutely discernable, trackable fashion – they assert that these people are merely local activists seeking to exercise their legitimate rights.

As we have made clear, those kinds of claims are absurd. They defy any common sense. They defy the facts. And worse, they’re an indicator of the disingenuous dissembling, the policy of complete fiction that is being pursued in an effort to pursue their own goals and their own ends.
The Russians claim the government in Kyiv is illegitimate, but it’s a government that came to power with the vast supermajority of the Rada voting for it, including President Yanukovych’s own party, who deserted him because he deserted his country. And if your fear is illegitimacy, then you would step out of the way and encourage an election, which is set for about three and a half weeks from now, on the 25^th of May, and you would encourage that election to take place in order to provide the legitimacy.

But instead, they’re doing everything in their power to undermine free and fair elections. They claim eastern Ukraine is too violent for monitors from the OSCE to be there; but when it comes to the armed, pro-Russian separatists – the ones who are actually perpetrating the violence – they do absolutely nothing to prevent them from taking those prisoners and hostages they’ve taken, in order to free them, and they allow them to be paraded in front of the press. And we see no evidence – no evidence at all – that Russia has actually pressured any of these groups in order to release any of these people or change course.

I say this with a certain element of sorrow, because of all of the effort and energy that has been expended to try to create a structure by which we would behave – all of us – differently, representing the best hopes and aspirations of all people on the face of this planet. That’s what all of our predecessors worked so hard to achieve, setting up a structure of rule of law and international law and multilateral mechanisms by which we try to resolve these kinds of differences.

So as a result, for all of these reasons, yesterday the United States announced again – President Obama announced – additional sanctions on more Russian individuals and entities. And we’ve also restricted export licenses for high-tech items that could be used to bolster Russia’s military capabilities.

Now these steps and other steps that we and our partners have taken over the past few months are already forcing Russia to pay a steep price for its efforts to create this instability. And I mean that. You just have to look at the ratings on the bonds, you look at the capital outflow, you look at the GDP numbers that are trending downwards. This is having an impact. And as long as Russia decides to continue to fan the flames rather than help to put them out, we stand ready – with our partners – to do what is necessary, not to necessarily punish somebody, but to find a way forward that restores this process we’ve worked so hard to honor through the years.
The Russians have a clear choice: Leave Ukraine in peace and work with us together to create a strong Ukraine, a Ukraine that is not a pawn, pulled and tugged at between East and West, but a Ukraine that could be a bridge to both, with the ability to have an open trading mechanism on all degrees, 360 around Ukraine. And whatever path they choose, I can guarantee this: The United States and our allies will stand together in support of Ukraine.

This crisis is a wake-up call for us to accelerate the other work that we’ve been doing to promote a stronger, more prosperous transatlantic community.

So to start, we cannot continue to allow allied defense budgets to shrink. Clearly, not all allies are going to meet the NATO benchmark of 2 percent of GDP overnight or even next year. But it’s time for allies who are below that level to make credible commitments to increase their spending on defense over the next five years. And if we’re going to move the trend line in a positive direction, this has to be an alliance-wide effort.

Two, if we want a Europe that is both whole and free, then we have to do more together immediately, with a sense of urgency, to ensure that European nations are not dependent on Russia for the majority of their energy. In this age of new energy markets, in this age of concern about global climate change and carbon overload, we ought to be able to rush to the ability to be able to make Europe less dependent. And if we do that, that will be one of the greatest single strategic differences that could be made here. We can deliver greater energy independence and help to diversify energy sources that are available to the European markets, and we can expand the energy infrastructure across Europe, and we can build up energy storage capacity throughout the continent.

Third, we have to invest in the underpinnings of our economic partnership. We are together, Europe and the United States, two of the largest markets in the world. And the fact is that we can seriously strengthen our economic ties and accelerate growth and job creation and serve as a buffer to any negative impacts of some of the steps we need to take if we move on both sides of the Atlantic rapidly to complete the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. That agreement will do more to change the way we do business and some of our strategic considerations than any other single economic step that we can take, with the sole exception of the energy independence.

So my friends, I’ll just close by saying to all of you that this moment – without reaching for any hyperbole because the moment is serious enough that it doesn’t require that – this moment is about more than just ourselves. The fact is that our entire model of global leadership is at stake. And if we stand together, if we draw strength from the example of the past and refuse to be complacent in the present, then I am confident that NATO, the planet’s strongest alliance, can meet the challenges, can absolutely take advantage of the opportunities that are presented by crisis, and that we can move closer to a Europe that is whole and prosperous, at peace, and free and strong.

That’s our goal, and we look forward to working with our fellow ministers and with each of these countries to achieve it. Thank you for letting me be with you. (Applause.)