SECRETARY KERRY MEETS WITH EMBASSY STAFF IN MEXICO CITY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Meeting With Embassy Mexico City Staff

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Mexico City, Mexico

May 21, 2014

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AMBASSADOR WAYNE: Okay. Good afternoon, everybody. It’s a great honor for me to have the pleasure of introducing Secretary of State John Kerry. Mr. Secretary, thanks for carving out this time on your first official visit as Secretary of State to Mexico City. As you can see, we have a great, dedicated team here of Mexicans and Americans who work together on all sorts of issues to make our relationship better and to promote our interests. But we’re really pleased that you’re with us and we very much appreciate all the hard work and dedication that you have been showing in the service of our country as Secretary of State, and helping give us guidance and the other embassies around the world.

So thanks very much for being with us, and I give you the Secretary of State. (Applause.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Muchas gracias. Thank you very, very much, Tony. Muy buenas tardes. How are you? Everybody good? Como les va?(Laughter.) Okay. You got some energy in here. Thank you. Thank you, (inaudible). That is the best welcome I’ve had anywhere in the world. Thank you. (Applause.) I love it. Somebody said somebody up there had something to do with the Navy? Is that true? Are you guys a Navy mariachi band? (Laughter.) I was in the Navy; I never knew we could do that. (Laughter.) That’s outstanding. Thank you guys very, very much. Really appreciate it. I’d love to hear more. We can dance and whatever into the night.

I am really, really happy to be here, very privileged to be here with Tony, who is really an outstanding ambassador. He’s had extraordinary experience. Been here since 2011 I guess, and is doing an amazing job of not just marshaling this very, very important relationship, but also managing the extraordinary transition that is taking place here. We just keep getting bigger and bigger. I think we’ve got 2,700 people, 1,700 of whom are local employees. And I want to say a huge, huge thank you –muchas gracias – to those of you who work here, giving of yourselves to the effort of the United States to help build our relationship with Mexico. Everyone here is really grateful to you for what you do, so thank you very, very, very much. Thank you. (Applause.)

I know a lot of you are very nervous about what’s going to happen with this transition to the new embassy compound. I promise you I will exert all the power of the Secretary of State to make absolutely certain that when you move into the new compound, the jugo verdes will flow. (Laughter.) Does that matter to you or not? I don’t know. I was told it’s a big deal around here. Is that true? No. Only with some of you. How many people love it? Jugo verdes, right? That’s all. I’ve been misinformed. What’s the matter with the rest of you? What’s the matter with jugo verdes? (Laughter.)

Let me just say to everybody here, President Obama has now been out here five times, and Vice President Biden was obviously here last September. The President was here most recently, and now I’m here on my first trip as Secretary of State – and I promise you not my last trip. And I want to just emphasize how really both exciting and critical this relationship is. I just looked over here and I see Laura Dogu, our DCM, who is also the winner of the Baker-Wilkins Award for best DCM around. So congratulations to you. (Applause.) And her husband, Aydin , who I just met. Thank you both very much, and thank you very much, Laura, for that extraordinary leadership.

I just came from a really, really unbelievably friendly, open, constructive meeting with President Pena Nieto. And I tell you, it’s interesting to listen to him talk about the possibilities of this relationship and what we’ve achieved and what we want to achieve. Obviously, we have challenges. That’s why you’re here in these numbers. This is a critical relationship. It’s our hemisphere; it’s our neighbor; it’s an historic, long cultural attachment with enormous possibilities and potential to still develop and define. And when I think of the journey – I spent 29 years in the United States Senate – when I think of the journey from the early days of that incredibly divisive and difficult fight over NAFTA, and now you look at this journey and what has been accomplished. Our economy has grown, our jobs have grown, our jobs have gone through an incredibly sort of revolutionary kind of transition as we’ve modernized and moved into the technology era, the management of data and information, new kinds of jobs. And Mexico is doing exactly the same thing. And now we’re working on this absolutely critical relationship, the T – actually two relationships, but the TPP, which is going to be critical to all of us with respect to Asia Pacific, the Asia – and the future of the relationship in terms of both jobs and security. There are masses of young people all around the world looking for opportunity and for jobs.
The challenge to governance is really greater than it’s ever been. We have to deliver, and it requires a kind of cooperative effort that is different from anything we’ve ever known. We have this extraordinary amount of money – a billion dollars a day, unbelievable economic relationship that is moving one way and the other way between our nations. We have a million people a day crossing the border legally one way or the other. It’s an astounding relationship in that regard. And we’re only tapping into it because there’s still too many people yet to fully reach their economic potential in our country and in Mexico. So that’s the challenge, together with the challenge, obviously, of people who don’t like anything to do with modernity or who want to fight back against law and rule of law and structure. So Mexico is fighting some of that battle, and we’re trying to help them do that.

We have a whole bunch of unaccompanied children crossing over the border. It’s an enormous challenge, and we need to meet the challenge even as we are trying to fix our immigration laws, which I hope we could do this year. We passed that bill in the Senate. We now need to and want to pass it in the House of Representatives. I still have hopes that might be possible this year, and that would revolutionize the relationship between us.

But we have to make certain that we don’t let people exploit that issue or create problems with it, so we need to get ahead of it. We have too many guns coming from the United States of America into Mexico. We need to do our fair share of making certain that that’s not disrupting their capacity to fully develop and reach their potential, and to control the communities and the streets and not have chaos in certain places, or challenges by criminal enterprises.
So this is hard stuff. Building community is hard work, but it works. You can see it. You can measure the difference that we are making together every day in our countries, and particularly nearer the borders and in the communities that feel the greatest impact of the flow of those people.

So I just want to say thank you to you for what you’re doing. It’s a big embassy; it’s one of our biggest in the world, and it probably is going to grow, because the population’s going to grow and the challenges are going to grow. And when you add all the consulates and the 20 – I think it’s 26 agencies that – 29 agencies – 29 agencies that are all working together in a coordinated way, that’s more agencies by far than almost every other embassy in the country – in the world has.

So this is a big deal, and I am very, very happy to finally be able to get here and begin a series of engagements which we think are going to mature over the next year on the innovation, research, education front. The bilateral discussion that we had today where we’re actually pinning down real steps that we can take to guarantee that we’re going to expand the opportunities of Fulbright English language, of students moving across both borders both ways and learning in each other’s countries – that’s how you build relationships. I’ve seen that all over the world. I can’t tell you how many foreign ministers, finance ministers, environment ministers, prime ministers, presidents I meet somewhere in the world who brag to me privately how pleased and excited and incredibly affected they were by their relationship to the American university that they went to in their youth. And it builds a foundation of understanding, a relationship on which we have an ability to get through, sometimes, the toughest times.
So a profound thank you to every single one of you. You – I say this everywhere I go because I believe it: We, all of us – me, you, everybody involved in this – gets to wake up every morning – a lot of people who go to work don’t – liking what you do, loving the fact that you get to make a difference in the lives of other people and in the life and definition of your country. If you’re a local employee, Mexican working to help Americans do that, you’re still – you’re making a difference for Mexico and for the United States. And if you’re American, you’re making a difference for both, and that’s the way you build community, that’s the way you build stability, that’s the way you provide opportunity to young people, that’s the way you build the future. How many people get to get up and not punch the clock or go in or do something where they don’t feel that way? So it’s a blessing. And I hope we all work very, very hard as part of a family, which is what we are in the State Department, to keep it that way.

So thank you all. God bless you for what you do, and keep on doing, all the way (inaudible). (Applause.)

PARTICIPANT: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Let me – I actually wrote a note down on that. I want to call everybody’s attention to two very, very special people: Arturo Montaño Robles – (applause) – and Ana Elena Tappan Alvarado. (Applause.) I can’t believe either of them, they look so young. I can’t believe either of them have worked here in Mexico City at this embassy for 42 years. That is amazing – amazing. (Applause.) Thank you.

And I want to – no, no, don’t go away. Don’t go away. Don’t go away. Stay here. No, no. (Laughter.) I want you to say thank you also, because everybody here knows that you don’t just serve alone; your families serve when you come home late at night, and you’re traveling, you’re doing whatever or you’ve had to leave them for a while. The families also contribute. And I particularly want to call attention – Arturo’s wife, Lucinda, and his daughter, Lucy, are here. You guys stand up and let everybody say thank you to you too, okay? Thank you, Lucy. (Applause.)
And Ana Elena has brought her brother and her sister, Ricardo and Silvia. Ricardo, Silvia, thank you very, very much. (Applause.) No, don’t get up. That’s okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for the reminder.

STATEMENT ON TERRORIST ATTACK IN CHINA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

WHITE HOUSE PRESS 

Statement by Press Secretary Jay Carney on Terrorist Attack in China

The United States condemns the horrific terrorist attack in Urumqi, China today.  We are aware of reports that the attack resulted in the death of 31 citizens and the injury of 90 more. This is a despicable and outrageous act of violence against innocent civilians, and the United States resolutely opposes all forms of terrorism.  We offer our condolences and sympathies to the victims, their families, and all those affected by this attack.

16 FORMER, CURRENT MEMBERS PUERTO RICO POLICE INDICTED FOR ROLES IN ORGANIZED CRIME

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Sixteen Current and Former Puerto Rico Police Officers Indicted for Allegedly Running Criminal Organization out of Police Department

Officers Charged with Racketeering, Robbery, Extortion, Firearm, Narcotics, Civil Rights and Theft Charges

Sixteen current and former Puerto Rico police officers have been indicted for their alleged participation in a criminal organization, run out of the police department, that used their affiliation with law enforcement to make money through robbery, extortion, manipulating court records and selling illegal narcotics.

Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez of the District of Puerto Rico and Special Agent in Charge Carlos Cases of the FBI’s San Juan Division made the announcement.

“ The criminal action today dismantles an entire network of officers who, we allege, used their badges and their guns not to uphold the law, but to break it,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General O’Neil.   “The indictment portrays a classic criminal shakedown, an organized crime spree of which the most experienced mafia family would have been proud.   But the people wielding the guns and stealing the drugs here weren’t mob goodfellas or mafia soldiers – these were police officers violating their oaths to enforce the law, making a mockery of the police’s sacred responsibility to protect the public. ”

“This is a troubling day for law enforcement in Puerto Rico. Officers who use their badges as an excuse to commit egregious acts of violence and drug trafficking are an affront to the rule of law,” said US Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez.  “According to these allegations, the law enforcement officers charged today sold their badges by taking payoffs from drug dealers that they should have been arresting, extorting money, planting evidence and stealing from them, to mention a few of their crimes.  They not only betrayed the citizens they were sworn to protect, they also betrayed the thousands of honest, hard-working law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to keep us safe.  We will continue to work with our local law enforcement partners to end this cycle of corruption and renew Puerto Rico’s trust in its police officers.”

“Today is a sad day for Puerto Rico, where a group of police officers allegedly disgraced their uniform and are a shame to the Police of Puerto Rico,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Cases.   “They not only let their colleagues and family down, they let the citizens of Puerto Rico down.”

The indictment, returned yesterday by a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico, includes 36 charges against the following individuals: Osvaldo Vazquez-Ruiz, 38; Orlando Sierra-Pereira, 37; Danny Nieves-Rivera, 34; Roberto Ortiz-Cintron, 34; Yovanny Crespo-Candelaria, 33; Jose Sanchez-Santiago, 31; Miguel Perez-Rivera, 34; Nadab Arroyo-Rosa, 33; Jose Flores-Villalongo, 52; Luis Suarez-Sanchez, 36; Eduardo Montañez-Perez, 29; Carlos Laureano-Cruz, 40; Carlos Candelario-Santiago, 46; Ruben Casiano-Pietri, 36; Ricardo Rivera-Rodriguez, 39; and Christian Valles-Collazo, 28.   At the time of the crimes charged, Flores-Villalongo and Candelario-Santiago were sergeants with the Police of Puerto Rico (POPR); the others were police officers.

The first 13 defendants listed are charged with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.   Other charges against certain defendants include extortion and attempted extortion under color of official right, conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted robbery, illegal use and sale of firearms, narcotics trafficking, civil rights violations, theft of government property, and false statements to federal agents.

According to the indictment, the officers charged with RICO conspiracy were members of a criminal organization who sought to enrich themselves through a pattern of illegal conduct.   The officers worked together to conduct traffic stops and enter homes or buildings used by persons suspected of being engaged in criminal activity to steal money, property and narcotics.    The officers planted evidence to make false arrests, then extorted money in exchange for their victims’ release from custody.   In exchange for bribe payments, the defendants gave false testimony, manipulated court records and failed to appear in court when required so that cases would be dismissed.   The officers also sold and distributed wholesale quantities of narcotics.

For example, in April 2012, defendants Vazquez-Ruiz and Sierra-Pereira allegedly conducted a traffic stop in their capacity as police officers and stole approximately $22,000 they believed to be illegal drug proceeds.   Vazquez-Ruiz later attempted to extort approximately $8,000 from an individual they believed to be a drug dealer’s accomplice in exchange for promising to release an alleged prisoner.

In another example, the indictment alleges that in November 2012, defendants Sierra-Pereira, Nieves-Rivera, Ortiz-Cintron and Valles-Collazo illegally entered an apartment and stole approximately $30,000, which they believed were illegal lottery proceeds.

The indictment charges that the defendants frequently shared the proceeds they illegally obtained and that they used their power, authority and official positions as police officers to promote and protect their illegal activity.   Among other things, the indictment charges that they used POPR firearms, badges, patrol cars, tools, uniforms and other equipment to commit the crimes and concealed their illegal activity with fraudulently obtained court documents and falsified POPR paperwork to make it appear that they were engaged in legitimate police work.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations.   The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s San Juan Division.   The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Brian K. Kidd, Emily Rae Woods and Menaka Kalaskar of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mariana Bauza of the District of Puerto Rico.

AIR FORCE LT. GEN. SCHISSLER SAYS RUSSIA'S ACTIONS HAVE CHANGED EUROPE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

NATO: Russia’s Moves Have Changed Europe, the World

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

BRUSSELS, May 21, 2014 – Russia’s annexation of Crimea and threats to southern and eastern Ukraine has made the world a different place, a senior NATO military official said.

The Russian moves endanger NATO’s aspiration of a Europe “whole, free and at peace,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Mark O. Schissler, the deputy chairman of NATO’s Military Committee. “Maybe the freedom of every country is not assured now either.”

Schissler spoke to reporters traveling with Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dempsey is here for the Chiefs of Defense Meeting.

The chiefs of defense discussed Russia-Ukraine during their meetings at NATO headquarters.

Russia’s moves in Crimea and Ukraine are really new threats to the alliance. NATO officials have trouble describing what has taken place there and what the appropriate reactions are.

“It’s not warfare. It is confrontation. It is aggression,” Schissler said.
“It is hard to understand,” he continued. “It is not classic military warfare. It’s not purely political, it’s not purely military. Clearly there is an information dynamic here that covers the entire aspect of it.”

Russian troops did not wear uniforms, making it difficult to say who the actors are. All of NATO’s reactions have been defensive in nature, and have been transparent. Moving aircraft to the Baltic Air Policing mission, moving aircraft to Poland, moving ships to the Baltic Sea and Black Sea are all prudent, defensive moves.

Sending troops to exercise with the Baltic Republics and Poland is in that same vein.

These steps have satisfied and pleased the nations that felt threatened, officials said.

Officials stressed that one in NATO wants to respond to the situation in a way that provokes a bigger outcome or bigger confrontation. From the first, NATO leaders have asked the Russians to de-escalate the situation. They have asked the Russians to move their 40,000 troops away from the border with Ukraine and do things to lessen the crisis first in Crimea, later throughout Ukraine.

While the alliance needs to engage with Russia, the events of the past months cannot be forgotten. “You can’t set the clock back and pretend nothing happened in the past two months,” Schissler said. “A lot of things happened and so we will have to re-set to a new reality.”

The chiefs also discussed Afghanistan. The International Security Assistance Force mission continues through the end of the year. Officials are hopeful that a new Afghan president will sign the basic security agreement and that the alliance will get the necessary status-of-forces agreement necessary for the follow-on mission, Operation Resolute Support.

“I haven’t heard a trend that says we think this whole thing is coming apart, we’re not going to do it,” Schissler said. “Everyone is committed to the plan that NATO has developed over this year to do Resolute Support and we’re hopeful and 100 percent committed to launch the mission once the legal framework is in place.”

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTS FOR MAY 22, 2014

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

CONTRACTS

ARMY

Archer Western Aviation Partners, Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a $143,727,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a three-bay general maintenance hangar, two-bay corrosion control/fuel cell hangar, general purpose hangar, and aircraft parking apron. Work will be performed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, with an estimated completion date of March 6, 2017. Fiscal 2014 military construction funds in the amount of $143,727,000 are being obligated at award. Bids were solicited via the Internet with five received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912DQ-14-C-4006).

Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace AS, Kongsberg, Norway, was awarded a $49,683,100 modification (P00099) to W15QKN-12-C-0103 to exercise contract line item number 0001 for an additional quantity of M153 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations (CROWS). Performance location is Johnstown, Pennsylvania, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 16, 2017. Fiscal 2014 other procurement funds in the amount of $49,683,100 will be obligated at award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., St. Petersburg, Florida, was awarded a $37,645,020 modification (P00011) to W52P1J-12-C-0026) to procure M865 recapitalization cartridges for 120mm tank training ammunition. Work will be performed at St. Petersburg, Florida, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2016. Fiscal 2013 other funds in the amount of $12,612,874 and fiscal 2014 other funds in the amount of $25,032,145 are being obligated at award. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

Alliant Techsystems Operations LLC, Plymouth, Minnesota, was awarded a $31,643,010 modification (P00017) to W52P1J-12-C-0027 for 120 mm tank training ammunition. Work will be performed at Plymouth, Minnesota, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2016. Fiscal 2014 other procurement funds in the amount of $31,643,010 are being obligated at award. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Illinois, is the contracting activity.
Ernst & Young LLP, Washington, District of Columbia, was awarded a $21,786,077 time-and-materials contract for the assistant secretary of the Army for financial management and comptroller who requires audit preparation services to include personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to assist the Army in achieving auditability of the four general fund annual financial statements through improvements in the supporting financial systems, Army financial management processes, effective internal controls and supporting documentation. The overall strategic approach must adhere to financial improvement and audit readiness guidance and the Army’s existing strategy. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia, with an estimated completion date of July 9, 2017. Fifty bids were solicited and three received. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $21,786,077 are being obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-14-F-0013).

Okland /Geneva Joint Venture*, Salt Lake City, Utah, was awarded a $19,481,987 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of a fuselage trainer building on Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. Work will be completed at Cannon, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 8, 2016. The bid was solicited via the Internet, with five bids received. Fiscal 2010 military construction funds; fiscal 2011 military construction funds; and fiscal 2013 military construction funds, in the amount of $19,481,987 are being obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (W912PP-14-C-0014).

Bowers + Kubota Consulting*, Waipahu, Hawaii, was awarded a $9,800,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide management and technical support services for Army Pacific Regional Medical Command. Performance location and funding will be determined with each order. The estimated date of completion is May 22, 2019. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W912DY-14-D-0049).

Information Management Resources Inc.*, Aliso Viejo, California, was awarded a $8,500,000 firm-fixed-price, multi-year contract to provide financial, administrative, logistical and technical services for operation and management integration of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center Environmental Laboratory in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The estimated date of completion is May 12, 2019. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi, is the contracting activity (W912HZ-14-D-0004).

NAVY

Raytheon Co., Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded a $115,545,116 modification to previously awarded contract (N0024-13-C-5406) for MK15 Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) upgrades and conversions, system overhauls and associated hardware. The CIWS is a fast-reaction terminal defense against low- and high-flying, high-speed maneuvering anti-ship missile threats that have penetrated all other defenses. The CIWS is an integral element of the Fleet Defense In-Depth concept and the Ship Self-Defense Program. Work will be performed in Williston, Vermont (13 percent); Melbourne, Florida (9 percent); Andover, Massachusetts (6 percent); Louisville, Kentucky (5 percent); Tempe, Arizona (5 percent); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (5 percent); Ottobrunn, Germany (5 percent); Bloomington, Minnesota (3 percent); Ashburn, Virginia (3 percent); Phoenix, Arizona (3 percent); El Segundo, California (2 percent); Hauppauge, New York (2 percent); Syracuse, New York (2 percent); Salt Lake City, Utah (2 percent); Joplin, Missouri (2 percent); Bracknell, United Kingdom (2 percent); Grand Rapids, Michigan (1 percent); Norcross, Georgia (1 percent); and various other locations less than 1 percent each (29 percent); it is expected to be completed by September 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2014 weapons procurement (Navy), and fiscal 2013 and 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $115,545,116, will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds in the amount of $43,657,810 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.
American Systems Corp., Chantilly, Virginia (N65236-14-D-4986); Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., McLean, Virginia (N65236-14-D-4987); Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc., Columbia, Maryland (N65236-14-D-4988); Ideal Innovations, Inc., Arlington, Virginia (N65236-14-D-4989); Science Applications International Corp., McLean, Virginia (N65236-14-D-4990); and Scientific Research Corp., Atlanta, Georgia (N65236-14-D-4991) are each being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, with provisions for firm-fixed-price task orders, performance based contract. The contracts are for the procurement of biometric support services in the areas of research and development, investigation, analysis, test and evaluation procurement and reporting for counterterrorism, counterinsurgency and force protection technology needs, intelligence gathering technology, identity exploitation, and the overall development of multi-modal biometric technologies. The cumulative, estimated value (ceiling) of the base year is $33,133,000. These contracts include options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value (ceiling) of these contracts to an estimated $99,400,000. This contract action merely establishes a potential ceiling value and does not obligate the Navy to fund to the ceiling. Work will be performed in Charleston, South Carolina, (50 percent); Washington, District of Columbia, (20 percent); and outside the continental U.S. (30 percent). Work is expected to be completed by May 2015. If all options are exercised, work could continue until May 2017. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic Navy Working Capital funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award as the minimum guarantee and will be split among the six awardees; these funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract action establishes a potential ceiling value, in which funds are obligated on individual task orders for efforts that fall within the core competency areas. The multiple award contracts were competitively procured by full and open competition via the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center e-Commerce Central website and the Federal Business Opportunities website, with nine offers received. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity.

The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, is being awarded a $21,985,964 indefinite-delivery, requirements contract for sustaining engineering services for the Navy’s C-40A aircraft fleet. Services to be provided include project management and technical and engineering services. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, and will be completed in January 2019. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-2. No funds are being obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated against individual task orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-14-D-0002).

United States Technologies, Inc.,* Fair Lawn, New Jersey, is being awarded a $19,122,236 ceiling-priced indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of hardware and modification services for the development, integration, and operational support of countermeasure and emitter threat simulator systems for the Airborne Threat Simulation Organization. Work will be performed in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and is expected to be completed in May 2019. Fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $340,540 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via Small Business set-aside electronic request for proposals; seven offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity (N68936-14-D-0020).

Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems Inc., Braintree, Massachusetts, is being awarded a $19,045,850 three-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to manufacture parts for the Torpedo Countermeasures program. Work will be performed in Braintree, Massachusetts, and work is expected to be completed by May 2017. Fiscal 2014 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,793,285 will be obligated at the time of award, and will expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This requirement was a sole source in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) - only one firm was solicited; and only one offer was received. NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00104-14-D-K072).

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is being awarded a $9,836,818 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order modification to an existing performance based logistics contract (N00383-06-D-001J-0014) for supply chain management of spares and repairs for the F/A-18 E/F aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (40 percent), and Jacksonville, Florida (60 percent); work is expected to be completed by December 2015. Navy Working Capital Fund funds in the amount of $9,836,818 will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00383-06-D-001J-0014).
Oceaneering International, Inc., Hanover, Maryland, is being awarded $8,941,224 for cost-plus-fixed-fee task order 0004 under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00014-11-D-0327) for the Advanced Mooring System (AMS) Phase III Development. The Office of Naval Research is interested in a technology designed to develop skin-to-skin mooring capabilities for the Navy because there is a need to quickly and safely moor lightweight hull connectors and high-flare container ships to the mobile landing platform in high sea states. No system exists to do this. The AMS will improve the vehicle personnel and container transfer during skin-to-skin mooring within the sea base through Sea State 3 (threshold) and Sea State 4 (objective). Task order 0004 will provide a Six Mooring Module Demonstrator System that will go through factory acceptance testing. Work will be performed in Hanover, Maryland, and is expected to be completed September 2015. Fiscal 2013 and 2014 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $7,409,224 will be obligated at the time of award, of which $1,606,628 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

AAR Airlift Group, Inc., Palm Bay, Florida, is being awarded a $6,922,160 firm-fixed-price contract to provide ship-based and shore-based vertical replenishment and other rotary-wing logistic services (i.e., search and rescue support, medical evacuations, passenger transfers, internal cargo movement, and dynamic interface testing) in support of Commander, Naval Air Forces Command. AAR Airlift Group, Inc., will provide helicopters, personnel, support equipment, and all supplies necessary to perform flight operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet and U.S. 7th Fleet areas of responsibility. This contract includes four 12-month option periods, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $34,370,323. Work will be performed in the U.S. 5th Fleet and U.S. 7th Fleet areas of responsibility, and is expected to be completed September 2015. If all option periods are exercised, work will continue through September 2019. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. No funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with solicitations sent to more than 50 companies via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online and the Federal Business Opportunities websites, with four offers received. The Military Sealift Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00033-14-C-8013).

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

FN Manufacturing, LLC, Columbia, South Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $18,268,158 firm-fixed-price contract for machine gun barrels. This contract was a competitive acquisition, with one offer received. This is a three-year base contract with two one-year option periods. Location of performance is South Carolina with a May 21, 2017 performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-14-D-0044).
*Small Business

 

SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT OF DISAPPOINTMENT REGARDING MILITARY COUP IN THAILAND

Coup in Thailand

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

May 22, 2014

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I am disappointed by the decision of the Thai military to suspend the constitution and take control of the government after a long period of political turmoil, and there is no justification for this military coup. I am concerned by reports that senior political leaders of Thailand’s major parties have been detained and call for their release. I am also concerned that media outlets have been shut down. I urge the restoration of civilian government immediately, a return to democracy, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as press freedoms. The path forward for Thailand must include early elections that reflect the will of the people.
While we value our long friendship with the Thai people, this act will have negative implications for the U.S.–Thai relationship, especially for our relationship with the Thai military. We are reviewing our military and other assistance and engagements, consistent with U.S. law.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT CLEAN TECH CHALLENGE TAMAYO MUSEUM, MEXICO

THE STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at CleanTech Challenge

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Tamayo Museum

Mexico City, Mexico

May 21, 2014

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SECRETARY KERRY: (Applause.) Muy buenas noches a todos. (Inaudible.) (Laughter.) (Inaudible.) What an enormous pleasure for me to be here. I’m really delighted to be able to join you, and I hope everybody can hear me. Can you all hear? Okay?

AUDIENCE: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY KERRY: (Inaudible) can hear? (Inaudible.)

Dr. Aguirre-Torres, thank you very, very much. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for bringing everybody together here. And I’m particularly happy to be able to be here as we launch the final round of the 2014 CleanTech Challenge. I’m very grateful to Dr. Torres for the visionary leadership that he has shown, and I’m grateful to all of you who are part of this incredibly important exercise, and I’ll talk a little more about that in a minute. But you all have turned the CleanTech Challenge into the top green business plan competition in all of Latin America, and I think you ought to be very, very proud of that. It’s a pleasure to be joining so many contestants, judges, mentors, innovators, and it’s clear that you are not only lifting Mexico’s economy, but with the successes that are achieved, you are designing things that have the ability to lift other people’s economies.

I had a chance just a little while ago to feast briefly – unfortunately, too briefly – on the historic central square with Diego Rivera’s remarkable murals. And I suppose from the prehistoric[1] palaces of the Aztecs to the Zocalo’s towering cathedral to this museum that we are gathered in today, Mexico has always had a very, very special sense of history, a very special commitment to culture and an extraordinary (inaudible). As much as we admire that past, I am not here to talk about the past, nor are you. Every single person here is fixated on the future, and that’s what we’re here to talk about.

And that’s appropriate. Because today, our global economy is more interconnected than it has ever been or than perhaps any of us might have imagined it might have become as fast as it has. I want to emphasize, the work of diplomacy is not just about our shared security and thinking about borders and terrorism and narcotics and all of those kinds of things. That’s not all that is at stake. It is about creating shared prosperity. And no society is going to survive unless it has a strong foundation of shared prosperity. There are many places in the world, including in my country, where the divide between people at the top and people struggling to get to the middle even is much too big. The way we’re going to deal with this is not through political speeches; it’s going to be through innovation, through hard work, through research, through education, and creating the kind of opportunity that creates the products of the future.
I want to emphasize to everybody here, from the day that I became Secretary of State, President Obama and I have been on a mission to emphasize to people that economics is not some separate component of policy. Foreign policy is economic policy and economic policy is foreign policy. And when you look at the world today, with millions of young people, whole countries where 60, 65 percent in a few cases, but many cases 55 and 60 percent of the young people are under the age of 30, 50 percent are under the age of 21, and 40 percent are under the age of 18. And if we don’t provide jobs and opportunity and education that is the entryway to those jobs and opportunity, we’re all going to have a much tougher time making the world safer. It’s just the bottom line.

So what we’re here to do is now us, together, through the green business design and the planning, is celebrate the idea that you can do things that are good for the broad society even as you do well for yourselves. You can make money and make life better.

I know people who only invest on that basis. They always make a judgment about their investment as to what it’s going to create in terms of community and society. So that’s why competitions like this are really so important. A few minutes ago, I had an opportunity with Aguirre to be able to go in and look at the table that had a few successes on it. And it’s incredible what people are able to do with their imagination in the context of today’s challenges.
So President Obama and I – and this is the part that I want to convey in coming here to Mexico City today – we are deeply committed to elevating our partnership with Mexico on innovation, entrepreneurship, and clean energy.

USAID is a very proud sponsor of the CleanTech Challenge, and our challenge is clear: in the past, we used to trade together. Today, due to trade relationships, we build together. In the future, we want to innovate and invent together. And we believe in the possibilities of a Mexico-U.S. strength with respect to that. If any nation has an ability to be able to drive towards that horizon, we believe it is Mexico. And if there’s one person – I mean, I’ll give you an example. Why do I believe that? Well, go look at the table that I just looked at up there. One of the inventions up there is made by a young man, or comes from the mind of a young man, by the name of Gerardo Patino.

Many of you know Gerardo. He won this competition last year, and his story should be an inspiration to everybody. He grew up in the small mountain town of Tepoztlan. But from an early age, he always had a big idea. And he was – Gerardo wanted to protect the environment. So he left the mountains just south of here and he worked really hard to get a first-class education. And when he graduated, he didn’t just cash in, he didn’t just take the easy path. He was prepared to take risks. He wanted to give back, even if that meant traveling a difficult road.
So he founded Terra Humana – Humans for the Earth. And his goal was to reinvent the way that we use water. Gerardo worked with engineers to develop a new technology that treats water so that plants can absorb it better for agricultural irrigation. And his device was really groundbreaking. But guess what? A lot of entrepreneurs will tell you, it’s not an easy thing to take it from a head to the shelf. It’s not easy always to get it out there into the marketplace. And Gerardo will tell you that, that getting farmers to adopt it was like asking them to believe in magic, he says. He literally had to go door to door, show each farmer, farm to farm, to sell his device. But guess what? Now he’s in the sixth year. His invention has moved from generation to generation, year to year. And it can cut agricultural water use by up to 30 percent.

Gerardo, his story, puts a human face on something that is pretty profound and pretty fundamental: The United States and Mexico are growing clean and growing green together. And never forget that what you’re doing is not hypothetical. It’s not a theory. It’s real. And it matters to the lives of real people.

It absolutely matters that the CleanTech Challenge in Mexico has produced nearly 200 clean technology businesses. It matters that the CleanTech Challenge has created more than 2,500 green jobs. It matters that the hundreds of companies that are engaged in this competition – entrepreneurs just like Gerardo – are on track to slash nearly 22 million metric tons of CO2, greenhouse gases, over the next five years.

Now, there’s an old saying in Mexico, and it’s not one that I know because I’ve been here a long time, but I know it. And I think it’s more appropriate for this occasion: “Aquel que no mira hacia adelante, se queda atras” – “If you don’t look ahead, you’re going to be looking behind.” And I look out at all of you and I think that’s accurate.

The question now is not just whether you’re looking ahead. It’s whether or not you can look ahead and translate what you see into something real that people will be able to use. And the secret to that is the meeting we had earlier this morning with your education leaders and our education leaders. The secret is three words: education, innovation, and conservation.
Now, this morning, we talked a lot about that and we are looking to you, the next generation, for the next big idea. But ideas alone are clearly not going to be enough to be able to get things to the market. You need to link the idea to the market and to a viable business plan, and ultimately find the capital, the finance to be able to go out and take it to the marketplace.

So I think that what we’re building between the U.S. and Mexican educational institutions, through the Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research, is the foundation to be able to take this idea of green business planning and actually turn it into a bigger reality for all of us.

Now, let me just say to all of you, through the Mexico-U.S. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Council – MUSEIC – we are bringing together people from the private sector and the public sector in order to test new ideas. And we’re creating an environment where innovation hopefully can flourish. We’re going to create boot camps for young Mexican entrepreneurs and conferences that connect Latin diaspora communities in the United States with entrepreneurs in Mexico.

This is an important effort. And as part of this commitment, we are going to make a $400,000 grant to the University of Texas in Austin so that it can host four technology startup boot camps. And guess what? One of them is going to take place right here in Mexico. We’re also providing $100,000 to bring the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps model to Mexico. And this is going to help provide entrepreneurship training to Mexican scientists and support their efforts to build cutting-edge technology startups.

I’m also particularly proud of our Peace Corps program here in Mexico, which is focused on science, technology, and the environment. I think we have some of our volunteers here, do we? Raise your hands. Peace Corps volunteers, thank you very much for what you are doing. We deeply appreciate it. (Applause.)

So let me try to make this as real as I can. We are educating and innovating. But we really have an urgency about this. Just before I came down here, I caught about 10 minutes in my hotel room and happened to see CNN, and I saw the temperatures around the world right now – the flooding in Serbia, and the incredible storms that are taking place in France and elsewhere. Thirty-four degrees centigrade in Vietnam today, in May. Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-two, thirty-three in places all around Europe. Unprecedented. Breaks every record that’s ever been seen. What we are seeing around the world is what scientists have predicted. They’re not telling us that we may see global climate change. We are seeing it, and we’re seeing the impacts now. And we are closer and closer to a time where the tipping point that they’ve warned us about is going to be reached. It’s becoming more and more dangerous. All you have to do is look at the last two reports, and particularly the IPCC report of the United Nations, with 97 percent of the scientists of the world warning us about the devastating impact of global climate change if we don’t take action -- and take serious action – soon.

Now, I’d just say to all of you: What is the solution to climate change? It’s very simple. It’s energy policy. Energy policy is the solution to climate change. We have to stop providing energy to buildings, to automobiles, airplanes, houses, electricity plants, with fuel that we know is creating more and more of the problem in a compounded fashion. Fossil fuel coal-fired power plant, so forth.

And I ask you just to think about the possibilities. The marketplace that made America particularly wealthy in the 1990s – a lot of people don’t focus on this. The United States got wealthier in the 1990s than we got during the Gilded Age, during the Rockefellers, Morgans, Pierponts, Fricks, all of that period of no taxes. People got wealthier in the 1990s. And they did it with a $1 trillion market that served 1 billion users – one and one.
The energy market that we are staring at today is right now, today, a $6 trillion market with 4 to 5 billion users, and it’s going to grow to 9 billion users by about 2035, with about $17 trillion of expenditure and maybe more – who knows? So the bottom line is this: The countries, the people, the individuals who design the means of providing that clean, alternative, renewable, sustainable energy are the people who are going to help save the Earth, life itself, as well as help their countries to do enormously better.

And I would just close by saying to all of you, there’s still a debate in some places about why we ought to do it or whether it’s real – amazingly. But let me ask you something. If we do what you know you can do as entrepreneurs, as scientists, as innovators, if we do it, and if we were wrong about the science – which I don’t believe we are, but if we were – and we move to new and sustainable energy, what is the worst thing that could happen to us? The worst thing is we would create millions of new jobs; we would transition to cleaner energy, which hopefully would be homegrown, which makes every country much more secure; we would have cleaner air, which would mean we have less hospitalization for children for asthma and people with particulates causing cancer; and we would have greater energy security for everybody and independence as a result. That’s the worst that could happen.

What’s the worst that happens if the other guys are wrong, the people who don’t want to move in this direction? Catastrophe. Lack of water. Lack of capacity to grow food in many parts of the world. Refugees for climate. People fighting wars over water. Devastation in terms of sea-level rise. We’re already seeing it in the Pacific.

So I’d just close by saying to all of you, this is an important meeting. This is an important initiative. This is how we have a chance to define the future, and this is how Mexico and the United States can do it together – by innovating, conserving, and educating. This is one big challenge.

It was the great Mexican novelist Octavio Paz who said: “Deserve your dream.” Well, I think everybody here deserves it. The question is now: Are we going to go get it? Are we going to live it? That’s what this is about. And I hope, together, we’re going to redefine the future.
Thank you all very, very much.

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[1] pre-Hispanic

AIR FORCE THUNDERBIRDS PERFORM AT JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Air Force Majs. Blaine Jones, and Jason Curtis, perform the inverted opposing knife-edge pass during open house on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., May 10, 2014. Jones and Curtis are pilots assigned to the Air Demonstration Squadron Thunderbirds. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Larry E. Reid Jr.

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds perform the diamond formation roll during open house on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., May 10, 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Larry E. Reid Jr.

CDC WARNS PUBLIC ABOUT POOL CHEMICAL SAFETY

FROM:  CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION 

Thousands Sent to Emergency Room by Preventable Pool Chemical Injuries

Children often the ones hurt by pool chemicals

Injuries from pool chemicals led to nearly 5,000 emergency room visits in 2012, according to a study released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly half of these preventable injuries were in children and teenagers and more than a third occurred at a home. Pool chemical injuries were most common during the summer swim season, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and almost half occurred on weekends.

“Chemicals are added to the water in pools to stop germs from spreading. But they need to be handled and stored safely to avoid serious injuries,” said Michele Hlavsa, chief of CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program.

Residential pool owners and public pool operators can follow these simple and effective steps to prevent pool chemical injuries:

Read and follow directions on product labels.

Wear appropriate safety equipment, such as goggles and masks, as directed, when handling pool chemicals.

Secure pool chemicals to protect people and animals.

Keep young children away when handling chemicals.

NEVER mix different pool chemicals with each other, especially chlorine products with acid.

Pre-dissolve pool chemicals ONLY when directed by product label.
Add pool chemical to water, NEVER water to pool chemicals.

The study analyzed data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). NEISS captures data on injuries related to consumer products from about 100 hospital emergency departments nationwide. The NEISS data can then be used to calculate national estimates.

May 19–25, 2014 is Recreational Water Illness and Injury (RWII) Prevention Week. The theme for RWII Prevention Week 2014 is Healthy and Safe Swimming: We’re in it Together. It focuses on the role of swimmers, aquatics and beach staff, residential pool owners, and public health officials in preventing drowning, pool chemical injuries, and outbreaks of illnesses.

Chlorine and bromine do not kill germs instantly; most are killed within minutes. So it is important that everyone help keep germs out of the water in the first place by not swimming when ill with diarrhea and taking kids on bathroom breaks. Protect yourself by not swallowing pool water.

FDIC CITES RURAL DEPOPULATION IMPLICATIONS ON RURAL COMMUNITY BANKS

FROM:  FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today published an article in its FDIC Quarterly on the trends in rural depopulation and the implication of these trends on rural community banks. Overall, banks in areas affected by declining population are performing relatively well, but achieving growth and succession remain important challenges, according to the article titled "Long-Term Trends in Rural Depopulation and Their Implications for Community Banks."

Rural depopulation has been ongoing for over a century, and the paper examines the recent 30-year period from 1980 through 2010. Half of rural counties in the U.S. experienced a decrease in population between 1980 and 2010, compared with 12 percent of their counterparts in metro areas. The regions that experienced the most rapid depopulation during this period are located in the Great Plains, which reported declining population in 86 percent of its rural counties and the Corn Belt, which saw a drop in residents in 59 percent of its rural counties. Other regions with concentrations of rural counties that experienced depopulation during the study period were the southern Mississippi Delta and Appalachia.

More than 1,000 banks with $150 billion in assets are headquartered in rural counties where depopulation is occurring. These banks have recently experienced relatively strong financial performance, however, mainly due to their concentration on lending to the agricultural sector, which has outperformed other business segments during and after the recent recession.

The article concludes that the biggest obstacles bankers face in rural areas with depopulation are sustaining growth amidst a shrinking customer base and finding qualified management to fill vacancies. In 2004, the FDIC published a similar research paper on these trends.

"Community banks have demonstrated their continued resilience and value in the American financial system," said FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg. "I am particularly encouraged by our findings that banks operating in areas with a declining customer base are overcoming the additional hurdles rural depopulation poses and in many respects are outperforming their counterparts in other areas of the country. Comprehensive research covering the community banking sector is critical to formulating policies that are well-informed as to the particular challenges community banks have faced and the trends that will shape the sector in coming years."

As part of its Community Banking Initiative, the FDIC announced a number of actions in the fall of 2011 focused on understanding of the evolution of community banks over the past 25 years and the challenges and opportunities this segment of the banking industry faces.

The study, Long-Term Trends in Rural Depopulation and Their Implications for Community Banks, will be published in the next edition of FDIC Quarterly.

JORDANIAN COMPANY PLEADS GUILTY TO OIL SLUDGE WASTE DISCHARGE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Jordanian Shipping Company Pleads Guilty to Illegally Discharging Oily Waste

Company Sentenced to Pay $500,000 Criminal Penalty

Jordan-based Arab Ship Management Ltd. pleaded guilty today in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, to one count of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, the Justice Department and the U.S. Coast Guard announced.

In accordance with the terms of the plea agreement, Arab Ship Management Ltd. was sentenced to pay a criminal penalty totaling $500,000 and be placed on probation for two years, during which time ships operated by the company will be banned from calling on ports of the United States.

“The defendant violated environmental laws that protect our marine environment from harmful pollution,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware Charles M. Oberly III.  “This conviction ensures that the defendant is held accountable with a criminal fine and a contribution to conservation efforts in coastal Delaware, as well as a two-year ban from United States ports.  The message to the shipping industry is clear: environmental crimes at sea will not be tolerated.”

“This case demonstrates one way the Coast Guard acts to protect the environment,” said Captain Kathy Moore, U.S. Coast Guard Commander of Sector Delaware Bay.  “Marine Inspectors detected serious problems with the ship’s operations.   They dove into the details and worked with the Department of Justice and the Coast Guard Investigative Service to bring this case to an appropriate resolution.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, Arab Ship Management Ltd. operated the M/V Neameh, a 6,398 gross ton ocean-going livestock carrier.   On March 28, 2013, the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the vessel in the Delaware Bay Big Stone Anchorage to conduct an inspection.   The inspection and subsequent criminal investigation revealed heavy oil sludge inside the piping on the discharge side of the pollution prevention equipment leading directly overboard, where no oil sludge should be if the pollution prevention equipment is operated properly.   Inspectors also discovered that the vessel’s piping arrangement had been modified in a prohibited manner so as to allow oil sludge to be pumped directly overboard.   This prohibited piping arrangement was removed prior to the vessel’s arrival in Delaware.   Also during the inspection, Coast Guard officers were presented with two oil record books which are required by law to be accurately maintained onboard the vessel.   These two oil record books contained different and contradictory entries for the time period of Nov. 30, 2011, through Jan. 2, 2012, as well as fake oily waste disposal receipts.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay, Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Lewes and the Coast Guard Investigative Service.   The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Stephen Da Ponte in the Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edmond Falgowski from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware.

REMARKS BY SECRETARY KERRY AND MEXICAN FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With Mexican Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Meade

Press Availability

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Secretariat of Foreign Affairs

Mexico City, Mexico

May 21, 2014

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MODERATOR: (In progress, via interpreter) – couple of questions for both secretaries.

FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE: (Via interpreter) Good morning. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the Secretary of State of the United States, John Kerry. It is a great pleasure for us to receive him in our country, in this first official visit that he has had in our country. We have beyond a strong relationship; we have a very close dialogue, a dialogue that has a lot of actually (inaudible) different subjects which are important for both countries.
This time, we had a look at the progress of the different dialogue spaces. Is it working? Is the translation working?

SECRETARY KERRY: The translation’s working, but it cuts in and out.

FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE: (Via interpreter) Well, so again, I welcome Mr. Kerry for – and I want to thank him for being here.

As I was saying, we have beyond a strong relationship and we have had a very good dialogue in this process. And this time, we have had a look at the progress of the different dialogue spaces that we have had in this program fostered by both administrations. The purpose is to follow up on the commitments made last year. We had the opportunity to look at the progress made in terms of the high-level economic dialogue and the progress being made in the national – in the U.S.-Mexican council for fostering innovation.

The idea is to foster companies – small and medium-sized companies – and to empower women. We started the Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation, and Research, a space that brings different institutions together – all of those in charge of developing public policies in order to make of education a key element.

As a result of this, a first group of Mexicans has left to improve their English, and this really shows the pace that we want to achieve, the type of mechanisms that we want to implement together. In Mexico, we want to exchange wellbeing opportunities for citizens in both countries, for Mexican communities in the United States. These communities have played an important role in terms of culture and economy, and they represent the future of our region.
We’re taking advantage of our network of consulate officers, always paying attention to the rights of citizens. In Mexico, we are trying to improve our economy, knowing that this joint venture will make of North America the most competitive region in the world. Again, I want to thank Mr. Kerry for his time, for his willingness to have this open dialogue, and be welcome.

SECRETARY KERRY: Good afternoon, everybody. Buenas tardes. I am very happy to be here. I want to thank my friend, Pepe, for his welcome here. He’s been a great partner. We have talked many times. And as I commented earlier, the education/innovation/research bilateral discussion, I think, (inaudible) my first or second point that I made when I first became Secretary of State. We’ve had an excellent cooperative relationship. President Obama was here in March. That’s his fifth trip. Vice President Biden here last September. So we will continue to be growing the strength of this relationship with high-level visits, and most importantly, with a cooperative agenda.

We’ve had a very constructive and very in-depth discussion this morning with the – you okay?
(Break.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Is the translation working?

PARTICIPANT: No.

SECRETARY KERRY: No, I can tell it’s not. (Inaudible.) (Laughter.) Should we test it? One, two, three, four, five, testing. One, two, three, four, five.

PARTICIPANT: Yeah, it’s working now.

SECRETARY KERRY: So I was saying that we had a very comprehensive and very constructive working lunch, and I’m now looking forward to an afternoon meeting with President Pena Nieto and also a meeting with major businessmen and women from Mexico.
There are really few countries with whom the United States enjoys as dynamic and as close a relationship as the one that we enjoy with Mexico. Our interests are obviously intertwined in many ways. We are neighbors, but we also have a common set of objectives, a common set of goals and aspirations. And because of our histories, our people are connected as closely as any two peoples on Earth.

As I said in January when Foreign Secretary Meade visited the State Department, when one of us prospers, both of us prosper; when one of us succeeds, we all succeed. And as North America itself becomes increasingly competitive as a continent, then our futures are going to be linked even more closely together.

Foreign Secretary Meade and I covered a lot of ground today. And the fact is that more than a billion dollars a day passes between us in bilateral trade. That literally translates into thousands of jobs, from Baja to Yucatan, from Boston all the way to Los Angeles. We all benefit from that economic relationship. When Presidents Obama and Pena Nieto met last year, they agreed to create a new high-level economic dialogue in order to foster more trade and more jobs and to spur even greater economic development, and most importantly, better opportunity for the citizens of both of our countries.

Today, I will meet with business leaders, this evening, and we’re going to talk about how we can use that dialogue in order to advance our interests and to ensure that our citizens have an even greater amount of opportunity and benefit from the growth that takes place between our countries.

Frankly, it is our citizens who ultimately define the relationship between us. And to make sure that that continues, we have invested time and energy in strengthening the education, research and innovation ties between our nations. Today, we had former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, former Cabinet member and now president of the University of California; we had the president of Arizona State University; we had other education leaders here working with your secretary, the secretary of education of Mexico, and other education leaders in Mexico – not just to talk, but to define between us a real agenda, a real set of objectives that will see more students from America study here in Mexico, and more Mexicans study in America, that will see us have more research and innovation projects where we create the jobs and the opportunities of the future. And I am convinced that this is the way that we’re going to strengthen our ties as well as, ultimately, our security and our economies.

Part of the cooperation that we’re focused on comes in the form of these educational exchanges. Already, there are 14,000 Mexicans studying in the United States every year, and 4,000 Americans studying here in Mexico. We want both numbers to grow. President Obama has set a target of 100,000 students going each way between the United States and Mexico, Central America, Latin America. We believe that that is achievable, and we’re ready to do more in order to achieve it.

Part of the reason that I’m also excited about the scientific and the research and innovation exchange is because of the essential role that that plays in clean energy, in dealing with the problem of climate change, and in helping especially with the clean technology initiative, the challenge which I’ll address later today. We have an opportunity to be able to create more jobs that are sustainable and that speak to the future of both of our countries. Clean energy is the mother of all markets. It’s the biggest market in the world. And all of us can benefit by moving in that kind of direction.

Finally, Foreign Secretary Meade and I discussed our cooperation on security and immigration – always issues of concern, but issues on which we are making significant progress. We reaffirmed our commitment to meeting our shared challenges in the spirit of a shared responsibility and mutual respect that characterizes – and must characterize – our bilateral relationship.

The world saw the seriousness of Mexico’s commitment to security with the remarkable capture of El Chapo, and we applaud our neighbors for all of their efforts in that initiative. We will continue to work together to respond to threats of transnational criminal organizations and to recognize that they pose a threat not to one country or the other but to both countries simultaneously.

I also reaffirmed to Foreign Secretary Meade that President Obama is determined to reform our immigration system, a goal that a majority of the American people support. It is the right thing to do. Reform, done the right way, will not only benefit our security and our economy, but it will provide for long-overdue relief to immigrant families that include many Mexican-Americans. So that is a very fundamental commitment by the President and myself and the Administration that we’re going to everything in our power to move. The Senate, as you know, has passed legislation; the House of Representatives has the bill in front of it. We’ hope that we can get that bill taken up. This is a matter of fundamental justice, fundamental relationship between countries. It needs to be done, it’s long overdue, and we hope we can make it happen.
So Foreign Secretary Meade, thank you for your always very generous welcome. Thank you for your partnership, and we look forward to continuing to work together, and I look forward to answering the questions with you.

MS. HARF: Great. Well, our first question comes from Tricia – excuse me – Tricia Zengerle of Reuters. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, sirs. For Secretary Kerry: The dialogue between President Maduro and the opposition has broken down and there’s growing unrest in Venezuela. There’s concern that time’s running out. What are the United States and Mexico prepared to do to address the crisis? And more importantly, what can the two governments do? Is the United States finally prepared to impose sanctions? And lastly, for Mr. Secretary: Has President Putin outmaneuvered the United States by signing an energy deal with China?

And for Foreign Minister Meade: What are your concerns about the direction of the crisis in Venezuela, and what is your assessment – what is Mexico’s assessment – about what can be done and what should be done?

Thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, with respect to Venezuela, substantial effort has been made by the Unasur Group, personal engagement by the foreign ministers of Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador, along with the papal nuncio. And we have had high hopes that this effort to mediate was going to produce a product that would put Venezuela on the route to recovery – recovery in terms of its economy and recovery in terms of the politics, the relationship of the government with the people.

Regrettably, there has just been a total failure by the Government of Venezuela to demonstrate good-faith actions to implement those things that they agreed to do approximately a month ago. And so we believe that what is important for the Venezuelan Government now to honor the dialogue process and to restore the civil liberties of opposition leaders who have been unjustly imprisoned and to protect the human rights of those who were simply trying to exercise their democratic right to express dissent.

The power is in the hands of the government, and the government has to exercise that power in a responsible way in order to make the choices to create stability and a way forward in Venezuela. All of this region will benefit if they will honor the agreements that have been made.
So we are witnessing an impatience that is growing in the neighborhood, and we consider ourselves to part of the neighborhood. We have great concern about the instability that is created as a result of what is happening in Venezuela. And again and again, we have said to Venezuela: We’re prepared to have a normal relationship. We are not engaged in any activities in Venezuela, except – in fact, we’ve purposely tried to encourage others: the foreign ministers I named and the papal nuncio. I personally visited in Rome with the secretary of state, His Eminence Cardinal Parolin, and we discussed the possibility of the Vatican being engaged as a mediator.

This is important for all of us. Our interest is for a stable, peaceful, democratic Venezuela that respects the interests of its people. And so our hope is that sanctions will not be necessary. Our hope is that we can move in the direction of reconciliation and a political path forward. But Congress clearly – the Congress of the United States is discussing those sanctions now. They have already passed some legislation reflecting that attitude; they’re moving it. And our hope is that the leaders, that President Maduro and others will make decisions that will make it unnecessary for them to be implemented. But all options remain on the table at this time, with the hopes that we can move the process forward.

With respect to President Putin and China, we don’t see any relationship whatsoever to an agreement with respect to gas and an energy supply between Russia and China that they’ve been working on for 10 years – for 10 years. This isn’t new. This isn’t a sudden response to what’s been going on. And if the world benefits as a result of that, it’s fine. That’s not what’s at stake here.

What’s at stake here is whether or not Russia is going to decide to respect the right of Ukrainians to be able to decide their future. And I don’t personally think that Russia signing a deal with China for gas that they’ve been working on for 10 years has any impact on what is about to happen in Ukraine, which is the people hopefully are going to have a chance to have an election.

And we welcome President Putin’s statement two days ago that he has instructed the troops that have been bivouacked on the border of Ukraine to move back to their home bases, to move away from there. If that happens – and we’re watching carefully – that’s extremely constructive. It’s positive. And we hope that – and the president has also – President Putin made other statements with respect to the separatist process going forward.
So it is possible with cooperative effort by everybody engaged here – the Europeans who have been involved in – most recently in some of the efforts to create a dialogue; working with the UN, with us, and with others; the efforts of the government of Kyiv; the interim government in Kyiv; and the efforts, obviously, of some leaders particularly in the east, recently, who have demonstrated courage in standing up for law and order and for a restoration of the process that will free people from this conflict.

So hopefully, we, in fact, are in a good moment – not a moment of one party outwitting another, but at a constructive moment where there’s a possibility of the people of Ukraine being able to determine their future, and all of us trying to find a way to further de-escalate this crisis. That’s our goal and that’s what we’re focused on.

FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE: Secretary Kerry, thank you. Mexico has always believed that the way through conflict is dialogue. We have been very supportive of the dialogue process in Venezuela, but believe – we believe that this dialogue has to have some characteristics for it to be successful. We believe that the dialogue first has to be respectful; the dialogue has to – of course, to be inclusive; and the dialogue should bring about refocus.

In order for that dialogue to be meaningful, it should be held in an environment which is clearly respectful of human rights. We have stated that here. We have stated that in Venezuela when I went for my unofficial visit, but we have also stated that of which – for that process and that dialogue process to be very respectful of our democratic institutions. Latin America has worked very hard to generate the conditions for democracy to be born. So we think that the dialogue should have all of these characteristics, but at the same time it should be held within the context of the democratic institutions that we have constructed and with so much effort within the Latin American region.

MODERATOR: (In Spanish.)

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) This is a question for Secretary Kerry. When President Pena came into office, the level that he would have with the United States was questionable, especially in terms of unity. After one year and a half, what do you think about the relationship of this administration with the United States?

You said that the United States doesn’t have any interest in Venezuela, only to foster dialogue. But how can you explain that in Mexico, we learned some time ago that U.S. operatives was spying the candidate Pena Nieto. And recently, we found out that many of the telephone calls are wired. How can you explain this to the Mexican population in terms of migration? Is it true that President Obama has – it is true that President Obama has been fostering the reform, but it seems that he’s going into history as the president that has deported the most migrants. I know that this is something related to Congress, but I don’t know what is the position of President Obama and how he wants to go into history.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I believe President Obama will go down in history as the president who has held himself and his Administration accountable to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. The President has personally committed his Administration, which it has accomplished, to take an in-depth analysis of precisely what was happening, which everybody here knows President Obama didn’t order because he was in the Senate – and not even in the Senate – when much of this was put in place. And President Obama
And President Obama has ordered a process of accountability and transparency, and has been willing to lay it out for the world to see and understand that process of accountability. He gave a speech recently in which he set up new standards by which he believed the United States ought to behave, and I will tell you, because I was the author in the United States Senate with Senator John McCain of privacy with respect to the Internet and other uses, that we both believe very, very powerfully in the right of people to privacy (inaudible).

Now at the same time, the President of the United States has a fundamental responsibility to protect our people and to help protect people in the rest of the world who are potentially targeted by vicious extremists, terrorists in various parts of the world. The fact is that we have, because of our capable intelligence-gathering, been able to thwart many plots which would’ve resulted in the loss of civilian lives in one attack or another. There’s a delicate balance, and President Obama has worked very, very hard to achieve that balance. No President, I think, in our history has laid open as willingly for everybody to judge what we are doing as a guideline or as a standard by which we are going to try to balance this equity between security and protection and prevention versus privacy and respect for the rights of all of our citizens. And I think the President will actually be measured as having taken the most extraordinary steps of any president in our history in order to try to put that relationship back in balance.
Now, with respect to the relationship with President Pena Nieto and Mexico, I am convinced that our relationship is as strong and as vital as it has been. It is as productive on cross-border issues, on immigration issues, extradition issues, deportation issues; on our mutual interests in the economy; on our mutual interests of innovation, research, education that we’ve just been talking about – I don’t think we’ve ever had as in-depth and as repeated a series of meetings in an effort to make sure we’re on track. Now, does everything change overnight? No. I wish it did in lots of respects. But we are on track, with the agenda that we have set and the relationship that has been created, to deal with any bumps in the road, to work through difficulties of border police or policing or military, other kinds of things.

We’re working cooperatively. That’s what’s important. And we have made tremendous gains in the actual cooperation day to day in those endeavors. So I think the people of the United States and the people of Mexico should be pleased with the direction that we’re moving in. It’s open, it’s transparent, it’s accountable, and it’s productive. And I think we’re headed in the right direction.

FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE: (Via interpreter) I’ll make further comments. This meeting has given us the opportunity to open a dialogue about different topics. At the beginning, President Pena Nieto had two objectives. He was convinced that Latin America could be very dynamic, even competitive. He thought that Latin America could be the most dynamic and economic region. He’s convinced that in order to have a good dialogue with the United States, it was necessary to find different spaces for different topics.

As the Secretary Kerry was saying, we have a million (inaudible) every year, and we have had benefits of this exchange. But we want to have a more structured dialogue so we can talk about migration, security in a framework of the right of migrants. That’s something that Mexico has always fostered, and we agree with President Obama. Security is a shared responsibility.
Apart from those two important subjects, Mexico and the United States are investing in education. We are investing capital – human capital – to increase the number of students going to the other country. We are talking about entrepreneurship; we are talking about empowering women; we are talking about giving people the power to manage their own businesses; we are talking about climate; we are talking about multilateral dialogues. And these have been achieved. We have the commitment of Obama’s Administration, and with the help of Secretary Kerry we have achieved a very well-balanced dialogue that will bring us together, that will bring us closer to this objective of making Latin America a very competitive region.
So the relationship between the two countries can be seen in terms of respect, with the necessary spaces to talk about very important topics. Today we are talking about education, the Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation, and Research. This type of initiatives will make sure that Latin America will be a point of the spear in order to achieve the competitiveness that we want to achieve. Thank you very much.

U.S. CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS ALARMED AT RUSSIA'S USE OF "BOTH MILITARY FORCE AND SUBVERSION"

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, right, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the NATO Chiefs of Defense meetings in Brussels, May 21, 2014. DOD photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Sean K. Harp.  

Dempsey Discusses Russian Tactics in Ukraine
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

BRUSSELS, May 21, 2014 – Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its threats to eastern and southern Ukraine amount to an “alarming use of both military force and subversion” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey discussed the Ukraine situation with his counterparts at the NATO defense chiefs’ conference. The defense leaders used the phrase “proximate coercion and subversion” to describe Russia’s actions in Ukraine over the past few months.

Regarding Ukraine, the Russians have employed the threat of conventional force -- but only the threat, Dempsey said in an interview following NATO meetings. Instead of using conventional military power, he said, the Russians have employed surrogates, proxies, misinformation and economic levers to accomplish their goals in Ukraine.

“I don’t know if that is a new type of warfare,” Dempsey said. “One might argue that it is very similar to the issue in 2008 with Georgia, but it is certainly an alarming use of both military force and subversion to affect the future of a sovereign nation.”

And the tactic has caused great concern among other countries in Eastern Europe, the chairman added.

Defending or deterring this threat requires different capabilities, Dempsey said. “The military instrument of power generally deals strength-on-strength,” the chairman said. “It can array itself against strength and understand the outcomes. In this case, the use of subversive tactics … requires a different combination of stakeholders.”

If an Eastern European nation wanted to harden itself against such a threat it would require different instruments of deterrence, he said. There is a military piece, but there is also a law enforcement portion, an informational aspect and “some governance activities in order for these populations to feel safe within their own borders so they are not subject to being coerced,” Dempsey said.
“It’s a whole-of-government approach,” he said. “You can’t just do this with military power [only].”

NATO nations obviously have experience with this, the chairman said. He pointed to NATO forces deployed in Afghanistan where they have used the whole-of-government approach in establishing and running provincial reconstruction teams around the country.

Such an approach employed “the different agencies of different governments all coalescing on a campaign plan, contributing their unique abilities and authorities and producing a positive outcome,” he said. “They know how to do it externally; I think it surprised them that they might have to think that way internally.”

Meanwhile, there is still no sign of a Russian pull-back from the southern and eastern borders of Ukraine, the chairman said.

“I can’t speak on the exact number of battle groups or tanks or armored personnel carriers,” Dempsey said, noting Russian President Vladimir Putin “still maintains a very sizeable force on the borders of Ukraine.”

The chairman spoke about information the NATO chiefs of defense received during a briefing by Ukrainian army Lt. Gen. Mykhailo Kutsyn.

“He told a very persuasive narrative about the fact that they had built their military to be kind of expeditionary, out of area,” Dempsey said. “As he put it, ‘We believed the commitment our Russian brothers had made to us,’ which was that they wouldn’t affect their sovereignty.”

Ukraine’s army is small and there is no territorial army, no National Guard equivalent, and no ability to call up reserves with any speed or responsiveness.
“He told a clear tale to NATO and particularly the Eastern European countries that they must not make the same mistake,” Dempsey said of Kutsyn’s message.
Looking forward, the Ukrainian general told the chiefs that Ukraine will not use its military against its own citizens, but that the military will ensure the country’s sovereignty.

“He said, if they are invaded, they will defend Ukraine,” Dempsey said. “And he made an appeal for military, economic and political support.”

VP BIDEN, ROMANIAN PRIME MINISTER PONTA MAKE REMARKS IN BUCHAREST, ROMANIA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

Remarks by Vice President Joe Biden and Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta in a Joint Press Statement

Victoria Palace

Bucharest, Romania

1:10 P.M. (Local)

PRIME MINISTER PONTA:  (As interpreted) Good day.

We are very glad and honored to have the visit of Mr. Vice President Joe Biden here in Bucharest and at the headquarters of our government.

We are very happy to see you once again after the gathering that happened in October last year in Washington.  At that time, Vice President Biden said that he will come back to Romania, and as always he kept his word, and we’d like to thank him for that.

But I believe that his visit here is at the most necessary and right time for Romania, a moment when we have to reaffirm the idea of a strategic partnership that is stable and of long term between the United States of America and Romania, and the importance and confidence that the United States grant to the entire region and all of our partners and allies from the area, and also a special feeling towards the Romanian people that it’s not just our desire to have this strategic partnership, but also the United States considers Romania to be a trustworthy partner and a respected partner.

So this is the most important formula, and the presence of Vice President Biden in Bucharest is confirming this fundamental idea.  I want to restate once again in the name of Romania our total commitment to meet the requirements in our role that we play as a country at the border of NATO and the European Union, of the democratic world which is at this time confronted with a crisis situation that is unprecedented in the past 25 years, the aggression on behalf of the Russian Federation, breaching the international norms, the illegal annexing of Romania [sic].  These are challenges that this region has not seen in a long time.

And furthermore the presence of Vice President Biden here is a strong message for Romania, but also a strong message for the other countries in the region, first of all for Moldova, the country for which Romania has a lot of good feelings, but also for Ukraine, for Georgia and all the others that have decided to take the route of democracy, the route of reforms, and abiding the international law.

I had discussions with Vice President Biden for the decision of the Romanian government to assume all the positions that involve our situation right now.  The security can never be obtained free.  The investments that the Romanian government has to increase and has already increased regarding the defense system -- and I can tell you that we have an agreement and a political consensus in that -- for that point in the sense that for a short time period up until 2016, Romania will start allocating 2 percent of the GDP for defense expenditures.  And also the investment that Romania has made in -- from budgetary resources and EU financing and private financing in order to develop a strategic concept and specifically energy independence.

Romania is investing quite a lot.  It is open for investments so that it -- Romania itself can ensure for itself and for the Moldovan Republic an energy independence that is even more important in the current crisis conditions, an independence that will allow us to ensure to the Romanian and Moldovan population, to the economy of both countries that Russia will never be able to impede the normal functioning of these countries by using its energy supply.

The Romanian GDP increase, and I was happy to inform Vice President Biden of the situation that right now Romania is the economy that has the most rapid growth in the European Union.  This also grants the guarantee that we can be strong, that we can meet the tasks that we all have to meet here at the border of the NATO and EU, and we have an economic development later on that is even better.

In our discussion in October when I discussed with the state Secretary for Commerce, we had discussed an action plan that the Romanian government has already concluded, and it is implementing at this time in order to increase the investments of U.S. companies in encouraging commerce, in encouraging economic development and the collaboration between the two nations.

Furthermore than the bilateral collaboration, Romania is a very determined supporter of concluding the agreement that is known as T-TIP, the trade commerce agreement between the United States and the European Union.  We believe that at this time in the common trading area where we also have economic collaboration and democratic similar ideas can make us stronger in front of any challenges.

I would like to say in my conclusion that Romania must and can be an example of success in this region, an example of security -- military security, of political collaboration with the United States, of economic development, and of the economic and the democratic functioning of its institutions.  We have reaffirmed the government’s support for an independent justice system, an impartial justice system, an efficient justice system that will be able to apply truly that important principle of the fact that no one is above the law.  And whoever breaks the law no matter what his position is must answer in front of the court.

I would like to mention at this point that we have talked quite a lot about the Moldovan state.  Every time we have the opportunity to meet, I keep telling Mr. Vice President how important Moldova is for Romania, how important it is to support the United States, the European Union for this pro-European and pro-Romanian development of the Moldovan Republic.  And I want to thank for the support that the Washington administration is providing in an explicit manner, and they have assumed the fact that Romania and the Romanian people will be the beneficiary of what many other European citizens have, which is the visa waiver system.  All of the Romanians that go into the United States are contributing to what means the United States as a whole.

And I would like to say in my closing that I assured Vice President Biden that also in this year and the following years Romania will be for the United States a reliable and respected partner.

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: (In progress) hospitality, Mr. Prime Minister.  It’s good to see you again.  I appreciate your dedication to the U.S.-Romanian relationship, and I’ve enjoyed our chances to talk together both in Washington and here.

The first thing the Prime Minister and I spoke about today was cooperation, security cooperation between the United States and Romania.  I reiterated to the Prime Minister what he already knew that -- America’s unwavering commitment to collective self-defense and Article 5.  We expect all nations to honor their NATO commitments.  We will honor ours.  And there should be no doubt about that on anyone’s mind.

We also spoke at some length about energy security and how national security and energy security come together in this part of the world in the need to ensure that Russia can no longer continue to use its energy resources and European dependence on those resources as a weapon -- a weapon against anyone in this region.

And that's why I believe that the development of a secure, diverse and interconnected energy market in Europe is the next big step for our European colleagues to initiate in a great project of European economic integration.

We are -- where our help is welcome, we are ready to provide help, and we have some little, unique expertise in this area if it is desired.

And Romania can and should be a significant part of a European energy solution.  By upgrading Romania’s infrastructure, Romania can be a lynchpin that holds together the energy markets from the Black Sea to Central and Eastern Europe.  And by expanding domestic production of natural gas, Romania can emerge as an alternative supplier for its neighbors.

And by extending the Romanian pipeline network, Romania can be part of the energy solution for Moldova, a country that is now overwhelmingly almost 100 percent reliant on Russian energy.

Our countries stand together in supporting Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, its democratic development and its European aspirations.

The Prime Minister and I also spoke about steps we are taking to grow and deepen the economic partnership, including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that we’re in the process of negotiating.  Not only will it strengthen the vibrant economies of Europe and the United States and strengthen them all, but it also will set down new rules of the road that are necessary for the conduct to trade and commerce in the 21st century.

And as I discussed with the President and the Prime Minister, there is no more important step Romania can take than to attract jobs and investment that can continue to help it grow but continue in the process to strengthen the rule of law in order to allow that to continue.

When other countries exploit corruption to undermine their neighbor’s sovereignty and independence, this is not only a matter of economic opportunity, but national security.  But it’s also a matter of economic competitiveness.  Where the rule of law is strong, where courts adjudicate disputes and in a transparently fair way, where the rules of the marketplace are predictable, this is where companies around the world invest.  This is where they make their homes.

I was encouraged by the Prime Minister’s agreement last October to take concrete steps to improve Romania’s business climate.  Of course, the follow-through is essential.  But it’s underway.  I applaud you, Mr. Prime Minister, for taking this initiative on such an important issue.

Romania to state the obvious is already a terrific ally, partner and friend.  And our future together is bright.  It’s no longer a matter of what it was a decade or more ago about what the United States can do for Romania.  It’s about what we can do together to strengthen each of our countries.

So, Mr. President [sic], thank you for your commitment to continue to strengthen this relationship, for your work to make our futures even brighter and may God bless the Romanian people.  May God bless America and may God protect our troops -- Romanian and American -- who are still deployed in Afghanistan.

Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister.

END
1:23 P.M. (Local)