SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH PERUVIAN AND FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTERS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Secretary's Remarks: Remarks With Peruvian Foreign Minister Gonzalo Gutierrez and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change Ministerial

Remarks With Peruvian Foreign Minister Gonzalo Gutierrez and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change Ministerial

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Marriott East Side

New York City

September 21, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good afternoon, everybody. Thank you very, very much for joining us here at the Major Economies Forum. We’re deeply appreciative for so many ministers making the effort to be here. This is the first time we’ve had ministers like this at the Major Economies, so it’s significant. And I’m delighted to be here co-hosting with my friends, Foreign Minister of Peru Gonzalo Gutierrez, and of course, Laurent Fabius of France, and we’re very appreciative to all of you for taking part in this.

President Obama launched the Major Economies Forum in 2009, recognizing that the vast – not the vast majority – I mean, by far, almost all of the greenhouse gas emissions doing damage to the planet come from about 20 countries. And regrettably, the United States is number two. We’ve been surpassed by China now. But this is not good for anybody in the world, and we understand this.

So these are the economies that are in the best position to be able to address the global threat of climate change and whose partnership is absolutely essential in order to do so. Today, as I said, is the first time ever that foreign ministers have met under this forum, and it’s obviously not going to be the last because it’s increasingly clear that climate change has impacts not only on the environment but for our economies and for global security interests as well.

Today, we can see climate refugees. We see people fighting over water in some places. There are huge challenges to food security and challenges to the ecosystem, our fisheries and otherwise. The acidification of the ocean is a challenge for all of us.

And when you accrue all of this, while we are confronting ISIL and we are confronting terrorism and we are confronting Ebola and other things, those are immediate. This also has an immediacy that people need to come to understand, but it has even greater longer-term consequences that can cost hundreds of billions, trillions of dollars, lives, and the security of the world.

So that’s why we’ve invited all of you here today, and that’s why I’m so pleased that so many of you have recognized the urgency at hand and you’ve made it a priority to be here. I know this is obviously a very busy week for all of us, and there’s a long list of important issues for all of us to focus on while we’re here at the General Assembly, but the grave threat that climate change poses warrants a prominent position on that list. I can remember being in Rio at the Earth Summit in 1992. I can remember a voluntary commitment, which we all know didn’t work. I was in Kyoto. Many of you were there. We all understand the road we’ve traveled. But it hasn’t gotten the job done. So the Major Economies obviously understand that if we collectively elevate the important issue of global action to address this threat, we will succeed.

And unlike many of the challenges that we face, when it comes to climate change we know exactly what it takes to get the job done. There’s no mystery to this. The solution to climate change is energy policy. If we make the right choices about how we build buildings, how we transport people, what we do with respect to providing electricity and power to our countries, this problem gets solved. And every one of our countries has the technologies today to be able to do this. The policies aren’t complicated. It’s getting the political will to make the decisions to do what we know we have to do about it. It’s as simple as that, and that is true all over the world.

So that’s where our focus needs to be. We’re going to have a chance to finalize a program and approach to this at the Climate Conference in Paris next year. We’re grateful to France for its efforts already to help countries begin to target that. It’s only 16 months away, and as foreign ministers we have a key role in the coming months to raise the importance of this issue – excuse me – and to help all of our countries to focus on the targets that we need to put forward in order to deal with it.

So again, a profound thank you to all of you for being here. I turn now to Foreign Minister Gonzalo Gutierrez for his words of welcome.

FOREIGN MINISTER GUTIERREZ: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary of State, distinguished ministers and delegates. We in Peru welcome the timely initiative of the Secretary of State John Kerry to convene a foreign ministers meeting to discuss some of the global implications of climate change. Many of our countries are already experiencing unprecedented weather events that cause destruction and cripple communications, production, transport infrastructure, and above all, taking away precious human lives.

We in Peru are watching helplessly how the largest tropical glaciers on Earth continue melting away, depriving large coastal population and future agricultural developments of valuable water reserves. In the higher parts of the Andean region, unusual freezing temperatures are having a tragic impact on vulnerable population, food production, and different areas of the human life.

Response to these radical changes of nature is not always possible or efficient. This is why adaptation – we think it’s a key pillar in the climate change agenda, one that requires vast mobilization of cooperation, resources, and human qualification. Governments and business will have a chance this week to look closer at the opportunities to work together in innovative investment oriented towards low-carbon economies. We expect announcements that will bolster – booster confidence and ambition in the process that can lead to a substantial outcome in the COP 20 in Lima.

This, as a basis to conclude a new climate agreement in 2015 in Paris only – and let me stress only – if we are able to create a concrete basis for agreement in the Lima COP, there will be a solid basis for a comprehensive understanding in Paris. We expect significant announcements that major economies at this stage may do in order to expect a productive and significant outcome next year.

I thank you very much again for your invitation and I hope we all may have a very fruitful discussion today.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Gonzalo, very much. And now, Laurent Fabius.

FOREIGN MINISTER FABIUS: I will speak French. That’s for the earphones.

(Via interpreter) Dear John, thank you very much for this initiative of yours, which does not surprise us on your part since before you even were Secretary of State of the United States, you have always been interested in climate questions, the environment. You are an expert.

And I also tell my Peruvian colleague how happy I am to be sitting next to him, all the more since, as he said himself but in another way, the more the Lima results will be good, the less work we’ll have to do in Paris. If we end the thing in Lima, I invite all of you in Paris for two weeks – only in nightclubs. (Laughter.)

Two or three quick remarks. First remark: I think it’s the first time that foreign affair ministers gather in order to talk about this topic. And it’s not only because John is Secretary of State; it is not only because we all have the secret wish to take the job of our environment colleagues; it is much more, because we all understood that this question was a major question for the balance of the world. Of course, there are technical details in the discussions that we’re going to have, but before all, as my colleague said very well, it is a question of political will – political will. And we are here, we as foreign affair ministers, in order to try to express this political will. And I’m certain that we’ll make it number one.

Number two, in our work we keep talking about climate change, and sometimes we talk about global warming. As far as I’m concerned, I like to talk about climate disruption – climate disruption because it is not a question that is limited, it is a question that’s going to last 50 years, it is a question that is major and that is of today’s importance. So I think that if we want to succeed in Lima, in Paris, we must show two things: number one, that it is a question for right now; and then, that it is a question which needs solutions, of course, with some constraints, but also can give us some extremely positive fallout. And I think we have to be positive in the results; we have to have positive results around new growth, job creation, because this is how we’re going to convince people who are still reluctant.

Two last words. Today, a certain number of us have walked and marched in the streets of New York, and I’m told that there were other meetings in the world. I was there. I was with Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the UN. I was with Al Gore and other VIPs. And I think that it shows that people are now much more aware in all our countries of how important this topic is. And this coming week, at the initiative of Ban Ki-moon, is going to strengthen even more this new awareness. And I think in our countries we have to lean on this new awareness in order to obtain the results that are necessary in the Lima conference and in the Paris conference.

And lastly, in Warsaw – it was my first conference; I’m less of a veteran than some of you – I got in touch with different delegations. And I didn’t ask them what needs to be done in order to succeed. What I asked them was what should not be done. And I’ve had very interesting answers. One of the conclusions I drew was the following: If, in the past, we have had a few disappointments, it’s because we believed that at the very last minute, when the biggest political leaders were going to come, thanks to them, they’re going to solve all the problems.

No. Things must be prepared in a way that’s both ambitious and humble, ahead of time. That’s the reason why it’s so important to see each other right now. The UN week must be positive. In Lima, things must go forward, and then in many, many other meetings. So we have to be very ambitious and very modest. And my role, because France is going to chair the conference and the president of the republic has asked me to chair it as minister of foreign affairs, my role will be to listen to all of you and to try not really to push the French solutions. Let’s not be arrogant. But I’ll have the role of facilitator, so I’m very optimistic because I have all of your support. Thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Laurent, very, very much. We appreciate your words and leadership, and we very much look forward to the Paris conference, to Lima first and then to Paris, and really a year of decision.

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO: PRESIDENT OBAMA DELIVERS A STATEMENT AT THE ARAB COALITION LEADERS MEETING

FTC HALTS ABUSIVE DEBT COLLECTION COMPANY FROM THREATENING CUSTOMERS WITH ARREST

FROM:  U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

FTC Stops Abusive Debt Collection Operation That Threatened Consumers with Legal Action and Arrest for Not Paying ‘Phantom’ Debts

The Federal Trade Commission has halted the abusive debt collection practices of an operation that used fictitious names and threatened consumers into paying debts they may not have owed.

Under settlements with the FTC and a default judgment by the court, Pinnacle Payment Services, LLC and its principals have been barred from debt collection activities and are subject to a $9,384,628 judgment, which has been suspended for most of the defendants, due their inability to pay.

“The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is designed to ensure that debt collectors do not use abusive tactics to coerce consumers into making payments,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “In this case, Pinnacle threatened many consumers by telling them their bank accounts would be closed, their wages garnished, they would face felony fraud charges, or they would be arrested if they failed to pay the phantom debts. This is unacceptable, and the Commission will act swiftly to stop such flagrant law violations.”

According to an FTC complaint filed in 2013, the Pinnacle defendants, operating out of Atlanta and Cleveland, used fictitious business names that implied an affiliation with a law firm or a law enforcement agency, such as Global Legal Services, Allied Litigation Group, and Dockets Liens & Seizures. Using robocalls and voice messages that threatened legal action and arrest unless consumers responded within a few days, the defendants collected millions of dollars in payment for phantom debts – debts many of the consumers contacted did not owe. Their illegal practices generated nearly 3,000 complaints to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database.

Based on their alleged violations of the FTC Act and the FDCPA, on October 24, 2013, the U.S. District Court in Atlanta temporarily stopped the alleged illegal conduct, pending final resolution.

The settlements with the corporate defendants and individual defendants Dorian Wills, Lisa Jeter, Nichole Anderson, Hope Wilson, Demarra Massey, and Angela Triplett and the default judgment against Tobias Boyland ban the defendants from debt collection activities, including helping anyone else engage in debt collection or selling debts. They also are prohibited from making misrepresentations related to the provision of any financial products or services, and must destroy all consumer information they have on file.

The settlements with each defendant except Massey require them, jointly and severally, to pay judgments of $9,384,628, which represents the total consumer injury caused by their allegedly illegal conduct. The settlement with Massey includes a judgment of $1,558,657, which reflects the consumer injury caused during her tenure with the operation. Under the settlements, the monetary judgments against Jeter, Wilson, Anderson, Triplett, and Massey will be partially suspended due to their inability to pay.

The actions announced today settle the FTC’s charges against all of the defendants in this matter. The Commission vote approving each proposed stipulated order was 5-0.

NOAA/NSF VIDEO: SCIENTISTS DISCOVER AND IMAGE EXPLOSIVE DEEP-OCEAN VOLCANO

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS WITH PRIME MINISTER ABADI OF IRAQ

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE PRESIDENT OBAMA 

September 24, 2014

Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Abadi of the Republic of Iraq After Bilateral Meeting

United Nations Building

New York City, New York

12:05 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, I want to thank Prime Minister Abadi and his delegation for the opportunity to meet here this morning.

As I’ve said previously, the United States and Iraq have a strategic relationship that is important to both countries.  We believe in a vision of an Iraq that is inclusive, in which Sunni, Shia, Kurd are all able to come together to peacefully iron out their differences and to achieve prosperity and peace for all the people of the country.

Obviously, Iraq is under enormous threat at the moment from the organization that calls itself ISIL.  And as I’ve discussed today and for many weeks now, we consider ISIL to be a threat not only to Iraq, but to the region, to the world, and to the United States.

We are committed to working in support of Iraq regaining territory that ISIL has currently taken over, and making sure that an inclusive Iraqi government is able to control its territory and push ISIL back.  In doing that, we are coordinating closely in our military campaign.  And the airstrikes and air support that we’re able to provide, as well as the training and assistance, I think will be critical in partnership with Iraqi forces on the ground.

One of the things I’m very impressed with, however, is the fact that Prime Minister Abadi understands that in order for Iraq to succeed it’s not just a matter of a military campaign; it’s also the need for political outreach to all factions within the country.  And I’ve been very impressed with Prime Minister Abadi’s vision.

Since he took over the prime-ministership, he has reached out systematically to all the peoples of Iraq.  He has articulated a vision of reform and a commitment to moving forward with many of the laws that had previously stalled but offer the potential of unleashing energy and entrepreneurship inside of Iraq.

And so, in addition to the military campaign in which we’re going to be coordinating, I want to say directly to the Prime Minister that we fully support his political vision, and we are also encouraged by his willingness to reach out and work with other countries in the region who are going to be very important in supporting our overall effort to defeat ISIL.

The last point I would make:  I think that the Prime Minister recognizes this is not something that is going to be easy and it is not going to happen overnight.  But after talking with the Prime Minister, I’m confident that he’s the right person to help work with a broad-based coalition of like-minded Iraqis and that they will be successful.

And my main message to the Prime Minister is that although we cannot do this for you, we can be a strong partner, and we are fully committed to your success.  We wish you Godspeed.  And we are grateful for your willingness to take on this leadership mantle at such a critical time in your country’s history.

PRIME MINISTER ABADI:  (As interpreted.)  In the name of God, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful, I would like to thank President Obama for allowing for this opportunity for Iraq to explain its points of view towards the confrontation that is happening in Iraq and in which Iraq is at the forefront of the confrontation against the forces of ISIL.

The Iraqi people have confronted this very brutal, ruthless attack on the Iraqi territory with bravery, and I am very proud to say that I am the commander of the Iraqi armed forces.  Our armed forces have also offered a lot of sacrifices when they confronted the Daesh attack.  And I can say today that in many of the areas we are now turning around the ground.  

Today, I am also proud to say that our people are brave, and the popular effort on the ground has been of utmost importance.  I am keen to protect our brave people on the ground, and I am proud of the sacrifices and protect them and protect all that they have been doing to protect their communities on the ground, their religious sites, and to stand a firm stance against the terrorist attacks that targeted the minorities, and targeted and killed children, men and women.

In my discussion with President Obama, I emphasized the importance of the respect of the sovereignty of Iraq and the territorial integrity of Iraq.  And as a Prime Minister of Iraq, I reaffirmed the importance for all forces that want to help Iraq to respect the sovereignty of Iraq and its territorial integrity. I am very thankful for President Obama and all the allies, all who are helping, for maintaining and respecting the territorial integrity of Iraq and its sovereignty.

Finally, one of the requests that I have put forth for President Obama is the importance of equipping and arming the Iraqi army and to provide the Iraqi armed forces with weapons.  As you know, our armed forces are in dire need for equipment and for weapons, mostly because we lost a lot of the equipment and the weapons in our confrontation and our fight against ISIL, and specifically when the ISIL groups came through the borders from Syria, many of the weapons were destroyed.  Some of the weapons fell in the hand of ISIL.  Therefore, I am very thankful for President Obama that he promised that weapons and supplies would be delivered to Iraq as soon as possible so Iraq can defeat ISIL and Iraq can overcome this crisis.

We are keen in Iraq to promote further the strategic relationship between our two countries, a strategic relationship that is based on mutual respect within the Strategic Framework Agreement that was signed between the two governments back in 2008.  I am pleased to say that President Obama has promised to reinvigorate the Strategic Framework Agreement not only to put the focus on the military and security aspect of that agreement, but also on all other levels -- scientific, educational, economic, cultural and academic, social and other aspects of our relationship.

Mr. President, I thank you for all your support and all the promises that you have given us.  And I hope to see that these promises will be concretely fulfilled on the ground as soon as possible.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you very much, everybody.

DOJ SETTLES IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT CLAIMS AGAINST AIR CARRIER

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT  

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Employment Discrimination Claim Against Major Airline

The Justice Department announced today that it reached an agreement with United Continental Holdings Inc. resolving a claim that divisions of the company previously operating as Continental Airlines discriminated against individuals because of citizenship status in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).  

The department’s investigation was initiated based on a telephone call to the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices’s (OSC) hotline.  The department found that the company requested lawful permanent resident employees, but not U.S. citizen employees, to complete additional Forms I-9 and provide additional proof of employment eligibility after hire even though the law prohibits this practice.  The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from placing additional documentary burdens on work-authorized employees during the employment eligibility verification process based on their citizenship status.

“The INA’s anti-discrimination provision protects individuals from being singled out for unnecessary and unauthorized employment reverification based on their citizenship or immigration status,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Molly Moran for the Civil Rights Division.  “We commend Continental’s willingness to resolve the issues uncovered during the department’s investigation.”

Under the settlement agreement, Continental will pay $215,000 to the United States, create a $55,000 back pay fund to compensate individuals who may have lost wages due to the company’s practices, and undergo training on the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.  The company will also be subject to departmental monitoring of its employment eligibility reverification practices for a period of two years.  

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices within the Justice Department is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.  Among other things, the statute prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; retaliation; and intimidation.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS REGARDING HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at Event on Human Rights in the D.P.R.K.

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Waldorf-Astoria

New York City, DC

September 23, 2014

Thank you very much, Ambassador King, and I want to thank Assistant Secretary Tom Malinowski for bringing us together today with Danny Russel. And I’m particularly grateful to our fellow ministers and diplomatic corps for being here today, and particularly grateful to my colleagues, the Foreign Minister of Japan, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, for being here to share in this, and Prince Zeid also, whose leadership is so important on it.

We are here today to really confront some of the most urgent issues of conscience, and policymaking is often marked by complicated decisions, by close calls. But some things remain crystal clear: Barbarity, inhumanity – I think you can call it evil – we all recognize still exist. And in the challenges that we’re facing in the Middle East right now, that has been underscored in the last days. We simply cannot be blind to these egregious affronts to human nature and we cannot accept it, and silence would be the greatest abuse of all.

What goes on inside North Korea – systematic repression, collective punishment, arbitrary execution, penal colonies, prison camps – these abuses are actually unfathomable to nearly the entire world, and they should have no place in the 21st century. North Korea’s leadership may act as if it is impervious to our concern, as if nothing that we say can penetrate its self-imposed isolation. And yet on some level, North Korea’s leaders do understand that their behavior brings shame upon their country in the eyes of the world. Why else would Pyongyang go to such extraordinary lengths to keep their prison camps secret? Why else would they refuse to allow access to the Red Cross, the UN, and the international NGOs, or dismiss out of hand horrific accounts provided by defectors as mere propaganda?

Well, in many ways now, the veil has been truly lifted. No longer can North Korea’s secrecy be seen as an excuse for silence or ignorance or inaction, because in 400 pages of excruciating detail and testimony from over 80 witnesses, the UN Commission of Inquiry’s report on the DPRK has laid bare what it rightly calls systematic, widespread, and grave violations of human rights. Thousands upon thousands of North Korea’s citizens are being robbed of their dignity and stripped of their humanity in penal colonies, if they are lucky enough to survive at all. Torture and forced abortions are routine. And the sentencing of Americans to labor camps without a trial – a fair trial – is as unjust as it is reprehensible.

So today, many nations come together with one voice. To the tens of thousands who are suffering in Yodok, Hwasong, Kaechon, and in prison camps across North Korea, we say, “You may be hidden, but we can see you. We know you’re there. Your captors can silence your voice and assault your dignity, but they cannot deny your basic humanity.” And we have someone with us today who you will meet shortly whose life story proves that to be true.

We should all ask ourselves if we who are free, we who have the extraordinary privilege of coming together in a way like this today, if we don’t stand with men and women suffering in anonymity in places like North Korea, then what do we stand for? And if we don’t give voice to the voiceless, then why even bother to speak about these issues?

So we say to the North Korean Government, all of us here today: You should close those camps. You should shut this evil system down. As the Commission of Inquiry report concludes, “The gravity, scale, and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.” And the commission makes a set of clear recommendations to the DPRK Government. Some are as simple as acknowledging its abuses and holding those responsible to account. Others involve reforming the basic institutions of society.

The United States looks forward to working with the European Union, Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other nations on a strong UN resolution that carries these recommendations forward. And I want to thank High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid and former Justice of the High Court of Australia Mr. Michael Kirby, who chaired the commission. Let me also recognize the extraordinary work of the Australian Government. My friend, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who is here, for helping to ensure the UN report gets the attention that it deserves.

And finally, I want to thank my counterpart from the Republic of Korea, Minister Yun Byung-se, for his country’s commitment to host a High Commission Field Office that will serve as our eyes and ears to North Korea’s injustice. And of course, I thank the Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida for lending his strong, important voice to this cause.

But most of all, I want to thank Shin Dong-hyuk for being here with us today. Shin was born in a North Korean prison camp. At a young age, Shin was forced to watch executions, to eat frogs and rodents to survive, and to endure having part of a finger cut off as a punishment. He spent the first 23 years of his life living this way. And by recounting his experiences of brutality and humanity, he makes witnesses of us all.

But Shin is far more than a survivor of unconscionable cruelty. In his escape from such remarkable evil, from a nightmare that few of us could even imagine, he is also a source of inspiration and hope. There is no easy solution to this challenge, but none of us have a right to lose hope because the people in those camps don’t. We must stay persistent in standing up for our most fundamental values whenever and wherever they are threatened. That is the only way we can achieve the transformation that is imperative.

Shin, thank you for bearing witness to that truth and for being here with us today, and we look forward to hearing your comments. Thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS REGARDING CULTURAL HERITAGE THREATS IN IRAQ, SYRIA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Secretary's Remarks: Remarks at Threats to Cultural Heritage in Iraq and Syria Event

09/22/2014 09:50 PM EDT

Remarks at Threats to Cultural Heritage in Iraq and Syria Event

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York City

September 22, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Tom, thank you very, very much for hosting us all here at this rather remarkable gathering in this absolutely extraordinary location, for which we thank the Egyptians for their generosity and Augustus for his creativity. It’s a pretty special backdrop for anybody.

For decades – it’s a privilege for me to be able to be here with all of you, and particularly to break away from a day of dealing with the realities of the policies behind what is happening here, and very, very special for me to come to this museum – which I’ve had the pleasure of coming to as a civilian just to walk through and enjoy, as so many of you do – this remarkable institution that has given millions of people the opportunity to learn about our collective past and to share some of the finest examples of human achievement on the planet.

Later this evening, all of you will have a chance to see many of those achievements firsthand at the groundbreaking exhibition, “Assyria to Iberia at the Dawn of the Classical Age.” And Tom, we can’t thank you enough for your leadership. It’s extraordinary.

I also want to thank Emily Rafferty. Emily’s historic tenure as the president of the Met has made everybody in the country proud. Few people have done more or fought harder to make this museum and the treasures that it holds accessible to all of the public. That is an enduring conviction, and Emily will leave behind her an enduring legacy when she retires next year after an extraordinary four decades of service here. And I think everybody would join in saying thank you for that. (Applause.)

I also want to thank Professor Michael Danti for shining a light on what is without question a global, critical challenge. And I’m particularly glad that he hails from Boston and came down here tonight. Thank you. When it comes to elevating the fight to protect the cultural heritage of Iraq and Syria, Michael and his colleagues at the American Schools of Oriental Research are literally the gold standard. And Michael was the first American archeologist in more than half a century to gain access to the Zagros Mountains, and that’s the Iraqi Kurdistan Region along the Turkish and Iranian border. And he traveled to Syria for more than two decades, right up until the conflict erupted, researching Syria’s ancient heritage. And we are all profoundly grateful for his commitment. And I must say, in the last 29 years that I served in the United States Senate, I went to Damascus a number of times and to Syria, and I cringe at what is happening now, and particularly to an extraordinary place like Aleppo.

It’s my pleasure to be here with President Hadi al-Bahra, the – of the Iraqi opposition coalition – Syrian Opposition Coalition. It’s a long day. (Laughter.) Director-General Irina Bokova of UNESCO; Elizabeth Duggal, the chair of the U.S. Committee of the International Council of Museums; Bonnie Burnham, the president of the World Monuments Fund; and Dr. Zaki Aslan, the director of the International Center for the Study of Preservation’s Regional Conservation Center in Sharjah.

Now I’m going to pick up where Tom began, and I’m not going to mince words. We gather in the midst of one of the most tragic and one of the most outrageous assaults on our shared heritage that perhaps any of us have seen in a lifetime. Ancient treasures in Iraq and in Syria have now become the casualties of continuing warfare and looting. And no one group has done more to put our shared cultural heritage in the gun sights than ISIL.

ISIL is not only beheading individuals; it is tearing at the fabric of whole civilizations. It has no respect for life. It has no respect for religion. And it has no respect for culture, which for millions is actually the foundation of life. Far from hiding their destruction of churches and mosques, they broadcast these, purposefully and with pride, for all the world to see their act of depravity and for all of us to be intimidated and to perhaps back off from our values. For the proud people of Iraq and Syria – ancient civilizations, civilizations of great beauty, great accomplishment, of extraordinary history and intellectual achievement – the destruction of their heritage is a purposeful final insult, and another example of ISIL’s implacable evil. ISIL is stealing lives, yes, but it’s also stealing the soul of millions.

How shocking and historically shameful it would be if we did nothing while the forces of chaos rob the very cradle of our civilization. So many different traditions trace their roots back to this part of the world, as we all know. This is the first thing many of us learned in school. The looting of Apamea and Dura Europos, the devastation caused by fighting in the ancient UNESCO heritage city of Aleppo, the destruction of the Tomb of Jonah – these appalling acts aren’t just a tragedy for the Syrian and the Iraqi people. These acts of vandalism are a tragedy for all civilized people, and the civilized world must take a stand.

So what is really at stake here? When you walk around the exhibit and you see the limestone reliefs from Assyria or the Syro-Hittite sculptures, you get up close and personal reminders of the power of human creation. Each artifact tells a story – a human story, our story. But we also know this: When ISIL destroys dozens of shrines in Mosul or the historic lion statues in Raqqa, when Assad’s forces shell the Roman Temple of Bel in Palmyra or care more about regaining territory in Aleppo than protecting its ancient treasures, we are all bearing witness to cultural barbarism at its worst – ugly, savage, inexplicable, valueless barbarism. It’s not just that the forces of extremism threaten to take us back to the Stone Age. Extremists want to rob future generations of any connection to this past. That is profoundly what is at stake. And if you leave it unstopped, if you don’t stand up, we are all complicit.

I want you to know that President Obama and our Administration are laser-focused on protecting the cultural heritage of countries all around the world. That is why we’re funding a landmark effort with the American Schools of Oriental Research to document the condition of cultural heritage sites in Syria. And we’re providing additional support to extend this effort into Iraq. We’re also doubling down on our support for Iraqi conservation experts and providing them with critical training on emergency documentation and disaster preparedness and response at the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage.

Through the National Science Foundation, we’re partnering with the American Association for the Advancement of Science on a project that uses geospatial technologies to track the destruction of the historical sites in Syria. They just released a big study that proves the destruction of these sites publicly. And this is yet another wakeup call, and those who deny the evidence or choose excuses over action are playing with fire as a consequence.

Our heritage is literally in peril in this moment, and we believe it is imperative that we act now. We do so knowing that our leadership, the leadership of the United States, can make a difference and that the fight to protect the cultural heritage of Iraq and Syria isn’t just about shared values. It’s about protecting a shared legacy. And that is the story that I want to leave you with this evening.

The Tomb of Jonah that I mentioned a moment ago was a sacred place in Mosul for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. It was a symbol of tolerance, and a powerful reminder of the traditions that we all share. In its perverse reality, ISIL saw the Tomb and the Nabi Younes Mosque that housed it – they saw it as a threat. So they ringed the mosque with explosives and literally turned it into dust. When he saw the destruction, a local man named Omar summed up the reaction in Mosul. He said, “We cried for it with our blood.”

Those are the stakes, and this is our world – our world: ISIS forces the people of Iraq and Syria to pay for their cultural heritage in blood. We are determined instead to help Iraqis and Syrians protect and preserve their heritage in peace. That’s our common responsibility. And that is why the cause of conscience and conviction in our cause for action in Iraq and Syria today is so important.

Thank you for being part of this tonight, this reminder of our values and this reminder of our connectedness, and reminder of our responsibility. Thank you. (Applause.)

NSF ON HARVESTING HOME INSTALATION: A FIBERGLASS ALTERNATIVE

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Plant-based building materials may boost energy savings

Insulation for homes of the future may be harvested from fields of kenaf, an alternative to fiberglass

September 23, 2014

Scientists worldwide are turning to plants as a resource for biodegradable, renewable and environmentally friendly products and materials that can reduce landfill waste, help the environment and cause little to no damage to natural ecosystems.

Over a three-year period, University of North Texas researchers developed and tested structured insulated panel building materials made from kenaf, a plant in the hibiscus family that is similar to bamboo. Kenaf fibers are an attractive prospect because they offer the same strength to weight ratio as glass fibers.

The researchers found that the kenaf materials, including composite panels, provide up to 20 percent energy savings, reduce energy consumption and reduce overall carbon footprint, compared to fiberglass or steel and Styrofoam products.

The study to develop kenaf-based building materials was led by Nandika D'Souza, a professor in UNT's College of Engineering, with grant funding from the National Science Foundation. The building materials were tested at UNT's Zero Energy Laboratory in 2012. The laboratory is a testing ground for current and future sustainable materials and technologies.

A low-cost process to prepare kenaf for use as a building material was developed by UNT Associate Professor of Biology Brian Ayre and University of California Riverside Professor Michael Allen. The process involved using a microbial solution to extract and prepare plant fibers. Kenaf is soaked in the microbial solution, and the microbes dissolve everything but the essential plant fibers.

Researchers found that using the microbial solution minimized water absorption and created a 40-percent increase in mechanical properties over steam-processing the plant fibers, a common alternative used to create other plant fiber products.

"The development of natural fiber alternatives to fiberglass, and plant-modified structural foam, offers a zero volatile compound option for home, automotive and consumer applications," D'Souza said.

"None of this would have been possible without the collaboration of our interdisciplinary team of plant biologists; construction engineers; and materials, mechanical and energy engineers and their collective recognition of, and contribution to, the intellectual value of this work," she said. "Plant biologists determined a new method to process grown fiber that materials and mechanical engineers determined had remarkable physical properties and architectures. Construction engineers enabled the building of the housing using the panels."

D'Souza and her research team have been studying kenaf as an alternative to glass and other synthetic fibers for years.

This work is a project in the Farmer-Academic-Industry Partnership for the Development of Sustainable, Energy Efficient, Multifunctional Bioproducts for the Built Environment. Hands-on activities with fourth to 12th-grade children through outreach camps, undergraduate and graduate student education and scholarship further broadened the project's impact.

The team also worked with industrial partners as part of the National Science Foundation's Partnership for Innovation program. Kengro, based in Mississippi, is a bioremediation and absorption product manufacturer, and Rubberlite, based in Virginia, is rubber and plastic manufacturer.

Kengro grew fibers over multiple acres to help scale up the project and Rubberlite provided a recycled tire-based structural foam for the panels that led to reduced energy consumption in the zero net energy model.

The research team's next step will be to use the materials in a zero net energy model home construction at UNT's Discovery Park campus.

-- Leslie Minton, University of North Texas
Investigators
Yong Tao
Brian Ayre
Michael Allen
Nandika D'Souza
Vishwanath Prasad
Related Institutions/Organizations
Kengro
Rubberlite
University of North Texas
University of California Riverside

PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNS THE AMERICA'S PROMISE SUMMIT DECLARATION

REMARKS BY SECRETARY KERRY, IRAQI PRESIDENT MASUM AND IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER AL-JAFARI

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at a Stakeout with Iraqi President Fuad Masum and Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Eshaiker al-Jafari

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

UN Headquarters

New York City

September 23, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Mr. President, you go right ahead.

PRESIDENT MASUM: (Via interpreter) Our meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State was very positive and very fruitful. We have discussed several issues, especially the situation in Iraq and the region. And also, we specifically focused on this terrorist organization known as ISIL. We have common views concerning this issue, and also we believe that the latest session of the UN Security Council was remarkable, and it gives peace and – gives assurances to people in the region that this threat will be dealt with.

Therefore, we would like to thank the countries that have come together in order to support Iraq and to stand by Iraq and support it in its war against terrorism, which is a new threat in this area.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Delighted to be here with President Masum and with Foreign Minister Jafari, who have already proven to be important partners in this effort, and I appreciate the very constructive meeting that we’ve just had to talk about where we are.

Before I get started, I want to just say a few words about our decision to conduct strikes against ISIL targets in Syria, and also against seasoned al-Qaida operatives in Syria, who are known as the Khorasan Group. We have been very clear from the beginning we will not allow geography or borders to prevent us from being able to take action against ISIL, and we will not allow them to have a safe haven where they think they can have sanctuary against accountability. We will hold them responsible for their grotesque atrocities, and we will not allow these terrorists to find a safe haven anywhere. That is President Obama’s resolve.

If left unchecked, ISIL is not only a threat to the stability of Iraq and to the region, but it is a threat to countries elsewhere, including here. From the beginning President Obama has been very clear that this is not America’s fight alone. ISIL poses a threat to not just Iraq and Syria but to the region as a whole, and the region has to be a leader in this effort in order to fight back.

I want to commend President Masum and Prime Minister Abadi for the critically important steps that Iraq has taken to help form a government, and it is obviously important that they continue to take those steps, and we talked about some of that today. They are committed to doing so.

But they’ve also been, importantly, reaching out to their neighbors and helping to build this coalition. More than 50 countries have now agreed to join this effort to combat ISIL, including the Arab countries that joined us last night in taking military action in Syria. The overall effort is going to take time, there are challenges ahead, but we are going to do what is necessary to take the fight to ISIL, to begin to make it clear that terrorism, extremism does not have a place in the building of civilized society. And we will work with our friends from Iraq in order to make certain that their choice to move forward in a democratic and viable way will bear fruit and be supported by the international community.

Thank you.

U.S. DOD VIDEO: AIRSTRIKES HIT ISIL STRONGHOLDS

SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT ON SENTENCING IN CHINA OF HUMAN RIGHTS PROMOTER

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Conviction and Sentencing of Ilham Tohti

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 23, 2014

The United States is deeply disturbed that Ilham Tohti has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Peaceful dissent is not a crime.

This harsh sentence appears to be retribution for Professor Tohti’s peaceful efforts to promote human rights for China’s ethnic Uighur citizens.

Ilham Tohti is known to the world for his many years working to foster mutual understanding, tolerance, and dialogue to peacefully promote harmony and unity between Uighurs and Han Chinese. His detention silenced an important moderate Uighur voice.

Mr. Tohti and those like him are indispensable in helping to resolve the underlying causes of unrest and violence. Silencing them can only make tensions worse.

I have raised Professor Tohti’s case repeatedly, including during the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in July. Ambassador Baucus reiterated our calls for Professor Tohti’s release just last week during his visit to Xinjiang. And we again urge the Chinese authorities to release Professor Tohti, as well as his students who remain in detention.

They deserve the protections and freedoms to which they are entitled under China’s international human rights commitments and its own constitution.

Differentiating between peaceful dissent and violent extremism is vital to any effective efforts to counter terrorism.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S STATEMENT ON AIRSTRIKES WITHIN SYRIA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

September 23, 2014

Statement by the President on Airstrikes in Syria

South Lawn

10:11 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  Last night, on my orders, America’s armed forces began strikes against ISIL targets in Syria.  Today, the American people give thanks for the extraordinary service of our men and women in uniform, including the pilots who flew these missions with the courage and professionalism that we've come to expect from the finest military that the world has ever known.

Earlier this month, I outlined for the American people our strategy to confront the threat posed by the terrorist group known as ISIL.  I made clear that as part of this campaign the United States would take action against targets in both Iraq and Syria so that these terrorists can't find safe haven anywhere.  I also made clear that America would act as part of a broad coalition.  And that's exactly what we've done.

We were joined in this action by our friends and partners -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, and Qatar.  America is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with these nations on behalf of our common security.

The strength of this coalition makes it clear to the world that this is not America’s fight alone.  Above all, the people and governments in the Middle East are rejecting ISIL and standing up for the peace and security that the people of the region and the world deserve.

Meanwhile, we will move forward with our plans, supported by bipartisan majorities in Congress, to ramp up our effort to train and equip the Syrian opposition, who are the best counterweight to ISIL and the Assad regime.  And more broadly, over 40 nations have offered to help in this comprehensive effort to confront this terrorist threat -- to take out terrorist targets; to train and equip Iraqi and Syrian opposition fighters who are going up against ISIL on the ground; to cut off ISIL’s financing; to counter its hateful ideology; and to stop the flow of fighters into and out of the region.

Last night, we also took strikes to disrupt plotting against the United States and our allies by seasoned al Qaeda operatives in Syria who are known as the Khorasan Group.  And once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and try to do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people.

I've spoken to leaders in Congress and I'm pleased that there is bipartisan support for the actions we are taking.  America is always stronger when we stand united, and that unity sends a powerful message to the world that we will do what’s necessary to defend our country.

Over the next several days I will have the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Abadi of Iraq, and with friends and allies at the United Nations to continue building support for the coalition that is confronting this serious threat to our peace and security.  The overall effort will take time.  There will be challenges ahead.  But we're going to do what’s necessary to take the fight to this terrorist group, for the security of the country and the region and for the entire world.

Thanks.  God bless our troops.  God bless America.

END

9/22/14: White House Press Briefing

SPACEX DRAGON VERSION 2 TO TRANSPORT U.S. ASTRONAUTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT REGARDING CHLORINE USE IN SYRIA

 FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

OPCW Report and Ongoing Concerns with Chemical Weapons Use in Syria

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 21, 2014

The OPCW’s Fact-Finding Mission investigating chlorine use in Syria recently released a second interim report that concludes with a high degree of confidence that chlorine was used as a weapon “systematically and repeatedly” in attacks on three villages in northern Syria earlier this year. The report cites witness accounts indicating helicopters were used in the attacks—a capability the opposition lacks. This strongly points to Syrian regime culpability.

The OPCW report raises serious questions about the Syrian regime’s compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and UN Security Council Resolution 2118 as well as its willingness to continue using chemical weapons to kill or injure the people of Syria.

The OPCW Fact-Finding Mission also referenced a spate of reports about additional attacks in late August, “with accounts of the incidents bearing a strong resemblance to those that are now confirmed as having been chlorine attacks.” This finding, coupled with deep concerns regarding the accuracy and completeness of Syria’s declaration to the OPCW, raises especially troubling concerns that continued chemical attacks on the Syrian people by the regime could occur. The United States is gravely concerned about the findings in this report, which point to a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Assad regime must know that it will be held to account for such use in the international community.

AT BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: NSA ADVISOR RICE MAKES REMARKS AT REGARDING SOUTHEAST ASIA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE

September 22, 2014

Remarks by National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice on Southeast Asia at the Brookings Institution

Good afternoon everyone.  It’s great to be back at Brookings.  This was my place for six years, and since my mother and I both worked here for so long, it really has the feel of home.  This is where I met so many gracious and insightful colleagues, whom I still turn to for guidance and support.  And of course, working here was the last time I got a full 7 hours of sleep.  So I’m especially nostalgic.  Strobe and Martin, thank you for inviting me to participate today.

I’m honored to be here with Foreign Minister Shanmugam. President Obama and I met with Prime Minister Lee at the White House a few months ago to affirm the excellent partnership between Singapore and the United States.  And, I think it’s fitting that Brookings’ new Chair in Southeast Asian Studies is named for Singapore’s founding father, a man who has played such a key role in shaping the region’s growth, Lee Kuan Yew.

In many ways, Singapore embodies the arc of development that nations across Southeast Asia are achieving.  The people of Southeast Asia are increasingly connected—to each other and to the global economy.  Entrenched dictatorships have given way to new democracies, and throughout the region, citizens are playing a greater role in their government and civil life.  As President Obama said in Malaysia earlier this year, “perhaps no region on earth has changed so dramatically” during the past several decades.

With this change comes growing influence and greater opportunities to engage on the world stage.  Asia’s rise in global affairs is due in no small part to Southeast Asia’s contributions.  That’s why the nations of Southeast Asia are and will remain a central focus of America’s rebalance to Asia.  We see the nations of Southeast Asia as equal partners in our mission to advance a vision that promotes growth and development, bolsters the security of nations, strengthens democratic governance, and advances human rights for all people. President Obama will continue this work when he visits the region again in November, including stops in China to participate in APEC, Burma for the East Asia Summit, and Australia for the G-20 meeting.

Southeast Asia and its markets are critical to America’s prosperity.  Together, ASEAN comprises the seventh largest economy in the world and the fourth largest trading partner for the United States.  ASEAN nations draw more U.S. investment than any single country in Asia.  And, with some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, ASEAN will only become more important to our economic future.  That’s why we’re committed to completing the Trans-Pacific Partnership.  One-third of TPP participants are from ASEAN, including members like Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia, for whom the high-standard agreement means making serious new commitments.  But, this agreement will deliver tremendous benefits to all our economies, and we are committed to helping our partners meet TPP’s requirements and realizing the opportunities for greater trade and investment that come with it.

We’re working to deepen our trade and investment ties with the region.  In June, Secretary Pritzker led a delegation of American business leaders to the Philippines, Vietnam, and Burma to explore new commercial opportunities.  Ambassador Froman met with all his ASEAN counterparts in Burma last month.  Together, we’re promoting growth that is broad-based and sustainable, so that economies can compete on an equal footing and prosperity is shared among citizens at every level of society.  Equally, Southeast Asia plays a vital role in maintaining peace and stability throughout Asia.  We have long-standing alliances with Thailand and the Philippines, as well as an important security partnership with Singapore.  In April, President Obama and President Aquino announced a new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement that will strengthen cooperation between our militaries.  We’re also enhancing our security cooperation with nations like Malaysia and Vietnam, including by improving their capacity to contribute to maritime security.

We continue to work with nations in the region on challenges that none of us can meet alone.  This includes addressing borderless threats like climate change, responding to humanitarian crises like last year’s super typhoon, countering violent extremism, and peacefully resolving maritime disputes among neighbors.  To support cooperative solutions to these challenges, the United States has made historic investments to strengthen the region’s institutions, including ASEAN.  President Obama hosted the first U.S.-ASEAN leaders meeting in 2009, and it’s now an annual event.  The President sent our first resident ambassador to ASEAN, and the Senate just confirmed Nina Hachigian to fill the post in the coming years.  This increased engagement with ASEAN has already delivered substantial benefits, including improved coordination in responding to natural disasters, growing investment in developing the region’s infrastructure and green energy sources, and rapidly expanding cooperation on maritime safety and security.

We’re also working with governments, institutions and people to strengthen the democratic foundations of the region and fortify protections for human rights.  We’ve seen significant successes, as in Indonesia, which demonstrated the strength of its democracy through successful elections and peaceful arbitration.  President Obama is looking forward to meeting with President-elect Widodo in November.  We’ve seen hopeful steps in Burma, but significant challenges remain as we continue to work with the government and people as they pursue their democratic transition.  Unfortunately, we’ve also seen troubling setbacks, as in Thailand.  We remain committed to our alliance with the Thai people, but we want to see the country return soonest to an inclusive and democratic government.

We’re also building partnerships directly with the people of the region.  We’re doing this through programs like the Lower Mekong Initiative, which helps strengthen communities’ ability to provide for their own healthcare, educate their children, and protect their environment.  In Cambodia, USAID is working with local authorities to improve school enrollment among young children.  In Indonesia, the Millennium Challenge Cooperation is helping villages raise incomes while reducing their dependence on fossil fuels.  And, through President Obama’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, we are helping young people across the region build their skills and connect them to the resources they need to serve their communities, create new businesses, and become the next generation of leaders.

President Obama hosted a remarkable town hall with many of these young people in April in Malaysia.  There were entrepreneurs and activists and advocates, all of them impressive and thoughtful young people, and each determined to forge a brighter future.  They wanted to know not just how they could become stronger leaders, but how to bridge gaps of culture and language and belief in order to unite a region as diverse as Southeast Asia so that it can to achieve its full potential.

That’s a goal we share—because Southeast Asia is brimming with enormous potential.  It’s also facing serious questions about how to adapt as several major powers become more active in the region.  China’s rise, Japan’s reemergence, India’s revival, and, of course, America’s rebalance—these dynamics are real, and they converge squarely in Southeast Asia.  But, these trends ought to be an opportunity for greater cooperation, not just competition.  Southeast Asian nations should not have to choose sides among major powers, particularly when it comes to the United States and China.  Preserving the independence and sovereignty of all our partners in the region is at the heart of our policy toward Southeast Asia.

To be sure, America’s relationship with China is important to the future of both our nations, to the region, and to the world.  I just traveled to China a couple weeks ago and met with their senior leaders.  In November, President Obama will meet again with President Xi to continue deepening our cooperation on major regional and global challenges—building a relationship that allows us to work together on shared interests, and to talk frankly about areas where we disagree, including human rights.

At the same time, we continue to build stronger bilateral relationships with the nations of Southeast Asia and to work together as equals in multilateral fora so that individual nations can preserve their independence while fostering a group dynamic that reinforces collective norms and prevents large states from pressuring smaller ones.  That’s another reason we’ve focused on strengthening Asia’s regional institutions, like the East Asia Summit.  We want to build and reinforce habits that encourage collaboration—to establish a common set of rights as well as responsibilities that ultimately ensures a level playing field for all.

All of the challenges I’ve discussed today require sustained attention, and even in the press of world events—ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, heightened tensions with Russia over Ukraine, an Ebola epidemic ravaging West Africa—the U.S. commitment to Asia, and to Southeast Asia in particular, remains a priority.  

The United States is a Pacific nation.  Our shared future is as certain as our shared past.  And, the people of the United States and the people of Southeast Asia share a common vision for that future—a future where daughters and sons can go to school and reach confidently for their dreams; where anyone can start a business and have a fair shot to succeed; where fundamental rights can never be restricted or denied.  That’s what we’ve been building toward for the past five years.  That’s why we’ve worked so closely together in pursuit of shared goals—whether we’re securing the sea lanes of the Pacific or delivering relief in the wake of natural disasters.

With each year, the ties between our peoples grow stronger.  And, as we continue working together toward our shared future, the United States will remain a reliable partner and a true friend to all the people of the region.  Thank you.

$99 MILLION IN GRANTS ANNOUNCED TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVIES 

September 22, 2014

Contact: SAMHSA Press Office

240-276-2130

HHS announces $99 million in new grants to improve mental health services for young people

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced today $99 million to train new mental health providers, help teachers and others recognize mental health issues in youth and connect them to help, and increase access to mental health services for young people. These funds were included in the President and Vice President’s Now Is the Time plan to reduce gun violence by keeping guns out of dangerous hands, increasing access to mental health services, and making schools safer.

“The Administration is committed to increasing access to mental health services to protect the health of children and communities,” said Secretary Burwell. “Today, I am pleased to announce another step the Department is taking to help ensure that our young people have access to the mental health services they need to reach their full potential.”

The Obama Administration has taken a number of steps to reduce the barriers that too often prevent people from getting the help they need for mental health and other behavioral health problems. The historic expansion of insurance coverage for mental health and substance abuse services made possible by the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act will help make mental health services more affordable and accessible for tens of millions of Americans.

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services is announcing the following awards:

More than $34 million to train just over 4000 new mental health providers, including:

$30.3 million to expand the mental health workforce through 100 new grants to training programs to train new mental health and substance abuse health professionals who treat children, adolescents, and young adults with, or at risk for, a mental health or substance use disorder.

$2.7 million for 5 new grants to support youth Minority Fellowship Programs to increase access to mental health services for youth and young adults in America.
$1.6 million for 2 new grants to support addiction counselor Minority Fellowship Programs to increase access to substance abuse treatment services for youth in America.

More than $48 million to support teachers, schools and communities in recognizing and responding to mental health issues among youth, creating safe and secure schools and promoting the mental health of students in communities across the country through 120 new Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education) grants to state and local educational agencies.

$16.7 million to support 17 new Healthy Transitions grants, to improve access to treatment and support services for youth and young adults ages 16 to 25 that either have, or are at high risk of developing, a serious mental health condition.
To see the lists of award winners, visit

www.hrsa.gov/about/news/2014tables/behavioralworkforce/

http://beta.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/fy14-grant-awards-nitt.pdf

SEC SAYS WHISLTEBLOWER AWARD OF $30 MILLION TO BE PAID TO PERSON LIVING ABROAD

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an expected award of more than $30 million to a whistleblower who provided key original information that led to a successful SEC enforcement action.

The award will be the largest made by the SEC’s whistleblower program to date and the fourth award to a whistleblower living in a foreign country, demonstrating the program’s international reach.

“This whistleblower came to us with information about an ongoing fraud that would have been very difficult to detect,” said Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.  “This record-breaking award sends a strong message about our commitment to whistleblowers and the value they bring to law enforcement.”

Sean McKessy, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, added, “This award of more than $30 million shows the international breadth of our whistleblower program as we effectively utilize valuable tips from anyone, anywhere to bring wrongdoers to justice.  Whistleblowers from all over the world should feel similarly incentivized to come forward with credible information about potential violations of the U.S. securities laws.”

The SEC’s whistleblower program rewards high-quality, original information that results in an SEC enforcement action with sanctions exceeding $1 million.  Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected in a case.  The money paid to whistleblowers comes from an investor protection fund established by Congress at no cost to taxpayers or harmed investors.  The fund is financed through monetary sanctions paid by securities law violators to the SEC.  Money is not taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards.

By law, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.  The previous high for an SEC award to a whistleblower was $14 million, which was announced in October 2013.  

The SEC awarded its first whistleblower under the program following its inception in fiscal year 2012.  The program awarded four more whistleblowers in FY 2013, and has awarded nine whistleblowers in FY 2014.

“We’re pleased with the consistent yearly growth in the number of award recipients since the program’s inception,” Mr. McKessy said.

SECRETARY KERRY MAKES REMARKS AT NYC CLIMATE WEEK OPENING EVENT

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at NYC Climate Week Opening Event

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Morgan Library

New York City

September 22, 2014

Thank you. Well, Steve, thank you very, very much for a generous introduction. More importantly, thank you for reminding me, but I really should be doing that. Sam Adams sounds great. (Laughter.) Sounds very appropriate right now. I’m really delighted, I very privileged actually, to be able to share thoughts with this distinguished gathering of CEOs and government officials, leaders in the environment, and I’m particularly happy to do so at a time where climate week is coinciding with the Secretary-General’s climate summit. And I’m very grateful to the Secretary-General for bringing leaders together from around the world in order to put this issue where it really ought to be, obviously.

I thank Brigadier General Steve Cheney for his very kind, warm introduction. For me, it’s personally extremely gratifying to see somebody with his national security experience – a graduate with the Naval Academy, 30 years in the United States Marine Corps, was commandant of the Marine training camp at Paris Island – and is bringing his leadership skills to this conversation. As everybody here knows, too often climate change is put into an “environmental challenge” box, when in fact it’s a major set of economic opportunities and economic challenges, it’s a public health challenge, and it’s also unquestionably – and this is something that the American Security Project is deeply focused on – an international security challenge.

And when you think about terrorism, which we think about a lot today; poverty, which is linked obviously to the levels of terror that we see in the world today; and, of course, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction – all of these are challenges that don’t know any borders. And that’s exactly what climate change is. Importantly, climate change, without being connected in that way to everybody’s daily thinking, in fact, ranks right up there with every single one of the rest of those challenges. You can make a powerful argument that it may be, in fact, the most serious challenge we face on the planet because it’s about the planet itself. And today, more than 97 percent of all the peer reviewed studies ever made confirm that.

But despite the scientific consensus, we are collectively still allowing this problem to grow, not diminish. I was privileged to take part in the first hearing of the United States Senate in 1988 with Al Gore, Tim Wirth, a group of us – Jack Heinz – all of whom joined together in order to begin to learn about it. That was the first hearing at which Jim Hansen announced that climate change was here and happening. 1988. And then I attended the Earth Summit in Rio two years later when many of us gathered, and George Herbert Walker Bush appropriately sent a delegation and we made a voluntary commitment to create a framework for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. And then, of course, Kyoto followed and Buenos Aires and Copenhagen and many other places where we’ve had the so-called COP meetings, the Conference of the Parties, to follow up on the conversations. The truth is, however, that during all of this time, notwithstanding the focus, we are not meeting the challenge.

In 2013, last year, we witnessed the largest single-year increase in carbon pollution that causes climate change – the largest single increase in 20 years. So it is about time that world leaders come to the United Nations to recognize this threat in the way that it requires and demands, and it gives me hope that this global summit may actually produce the leadership that is necessary to try to come together and move the needle, to take advantage of the small window of time – and I mean that – the small window of time that we have left in order to be able to prevent the worst impacts of climate change from already happening.

When we began this discussion a number of years ago, we were warned by the scientists that you had to keep the greenhouse gas levels about 450 parts per million in order to be able to hold to the 2 degree centigrade possible allowable warming taking place. Then, because of the rate at which it was happening, the scientists revised that estimate and they told us, “No, no, no, you can’t do 450 anymore. It’s got to be 350 or we’re not going to meet the standard.” And I, unfortunately, tell you that today not only are we above 450 parts per million, but we are on track to warm – having already warmed at 1 degree – we’ve got 1 degree left – we’re on track to warm at at least 4 degrees over the course of the next 20, 30, 40 years, and by the century, even more.

So this is pretty real. And what is so disturbing about it is that the worst impacts can be prevented still – there is still time – if we make the right set of choices. It’s within our reach. But it is absolutely imperative that we decide to move and to act now. You don’t have to take my word for it. You don’t have to Al Gore’s word for it. You don’t have to take the IPCC’s word and the Framework Convention, all those people who are sounding the alarm bells. You can just wake up pretty much any day and listen to Mother Nature, who is screaming at us about it.

Last month was the hottest August the planet has experienced in recorded history, and scientists now predict that by the end of the century the sea could rise a full meter. Now, a meter may not sound like all that much to a lot of people, but just one meter is enough to put up to 20 percent of the greater New York City underwater. Just one meter would displace hundreds of millions of people worldwide and threaten billions in economic activity. It would put countless homes and schools and parks, entire cities, and even countries at risk. We all know that climate change also means heat waves, water shortages. I can show you parts of the world where people are killing each other today over drought and water. There’s a potential of massive numbers of climate – what we call climate refugees. And obviously, this also has huge implications for agriculture on a worldwide basis.

Scientists predict that in some places climate change will make it much more difficult for farmers to be able to grow major staples like wheat, corn, soy, and rice. I was in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam earlier this year and year before, and I saw firsthand the impacts of climate change on the great rice production center of that part of Southeast Asia. And it’s not only farmers who suffer; it’s the millions who depend on the crops that the farmers grow. And the scientists further predict that climate change is also going to mean longer, more unpredictable monsoon seasons, and we’re already seeing that in levels of rainfall that are taking place in one day that used to take place in a month or in six months. Extreme weather events.

Nobody can tell you – no scientist can stand up in front of you and tell you that one particular storm or one particular event was the direct result. We don’t have that direct correlation at this point in time. But we do know that all of these scientists in that 97 percent are predicting that there will be greater intensity to the storms, that there will be much more disastrous effects, if we continue down the current path. You all who live here remember too well what happened just with Super Storm Sandy flooding the subways and the shorelines and destroying homes, businesses, and lives. So New Yorkers understand this by experience.

So I also want to understand – want everybody to understand that despite these relatively draconian realities that we face – and they are – there’s also a huge amount of good news staring us in the face. That’s what really makes this so extraordinarily frustrating, to be honest with you. Common sense is not particularly common right now. (Laughter.) We have this opportunity to be able to make a certain set of choices, and that’s why President Obama has stepped up unilaterally, because we don’t have a Congress that yet completely buys into it and we have one house particularly that not only doesn’t but fights back against the science, and over the past five years the United States has actually done more to reduce the threat of climate change domestically, and with the help of our international partners than in all of the 20 years before that. Just in the last five years.

We’re laying the groundwork for a clean energy economy of the future. And today, thanks to President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the United States is well on our way to meeting our international commitments to seriously cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. That’s because we’re going straight to the largest sources of pollution. Just yesterday, I convened a meeting of foreign ministers for the first time to sit down and talk about this among foreign ministers as we plan for the Lima, Peru meeting in December and then plan for Paris next year.

We are targeting emissions from transportation, from power sources that account for 60 percent of the dangerous greenhouse gasses that release. And the President has put in place standards to double the fuel efficiency on cars on American roads. We’ve proposed regulations that will curb carbon pollution coming from new power plants and similar regulations to limit the carbon that is coming from power plants that are already up and running. And just last week, the President announced an aggressive series of steps alongside leading private sector partners to cut emissions of highly potent greenhouse gasses like methane.

At the same time, since President Obama took office, the United States has upped our wind energy production more than threefold, and we’ve upped our solar energy production by more than tenfold. We’ve also become smarter about the way that we provide energy to our homes and our businesses, and as a result, today we’re emitting less than we have in two decades. And we’re contributing to a range of global and multinational initiatives as well in order to pioneer new, shared approaches that reduce global greenhouse gas pollution.

And I’m pleased to announce today that the United States will be contributing $15 million to kick-start the World Bank’s new pilot auction facility. This initiative will set up a guaranteed price for each ton of methane that project developers are able to cut from their facilities, which means that these developers, we hope, will be much more inclined to cut methane from livestock, landfills, waste treatment facilities, because they’ll be able to do so with the confidence that they’re going to be able to get an adequate if not better return on their investment. And this is especially important for those of you – and I assume that’s everybody here – follow this so closely. Methane is 20 times more dangerous and damaging than carbon dioxide. And I hate to say this to you, but among the many challenges we face, in parts of the world where the permafrost is melting, you have automatic natural emissions of methane. There are places in the world you can go where the methane is bubbling up through the ocean, that you can take a match and light it and it will ignite. And we have serious methane challenges, how do you capture this methane, in various parts of the world.

The United States is not able – this may be stating the obvious – to do this alone. I went to China early this year – or last year, actually, when I first went to China as Secretary – and proposed to them that we elevate climate change to a ministerial level and make it part of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue with China. They grabbed onto it, and we had our second round of that this year in Beijing and actually have made significant progress in coming to mutual understanding about steps we can both take, because together, China and the United States represent about 45 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions of the world. And so if together we can state ambitious goals for next year, our hope is that will act as a major incentive to other countries to come along and to become part of this effort. (Applause.)

Obviously, it’s particularly difficult because – I also went to India and I spoke with Prime Minister Modi about this – there are other challenges with other countries – Indonesia, other nations. What happens is if the United States were to be perfect and we eliminated all emissions, we still would see all of those gains eradicated by one of these other countries if they continue to put coal-fired burning plants online at the rate that they currently are.

So this is an enormous challenge. And this is why the United States is prepared to take the lead in order to bring other nations to the table. And as Secretary of State, I promise you I am personally committed to making sure that this is front and center in all of our diplomatic efforts. That’s why yesterday I convened a group of foreign ministers for the first time. We agreed that we would meet again next year to hold all the nations that were there accountable and to measure ourselves about what the targets are we set as we go into Paris next year. It’s hard to believe that that’s the first time ever that many foreign ministers – not climate ministers, not environment ministers, but foreign ministers who set foreign policy came together in order to discuss this topic.

But it is not going to be the last time, we assure you. I’ve also set a directive to every single one of our 275 missions, embassies, consulates, that the chiefs of mission are to put this issue on the front burner in all of our interventions with our – with the host countries wherever they may be.

Now, this is going to require an all-out effort. And well before Paris, we need to make sure that the major economies of the world are publicly putting forward their mitigation goals, and the United States needs to do that before March of next year, and we are committed to doing that. The 2015 UN agreement is not going to be the final step towards solving climate change. But I’ve got news for you; it’s going to be the most important one we’ve had perhaps since Kyoto and may be the demarcation point for the reality of whether we have a chance of getting there or don’t.

So over the next 15 months, we need all of you to use whatever pressures you can in order to try to help make this happen. I’ll just tell you that I led the efforts in the United States Senate to try to get climate legislation in the last two years before I became Secretary. We actually built up to 55 votes. We had 55 votes ready to do something. We arrived at an agreement with the major oil companies – Exxon, Chevron, BP were all – Shell – had all joined in, and we were in a position where we were able to actually put a fee on carbon through their voluntary participation in this effort. And regrettably, at the last moment two things happened. One, we had the BP oil spill in the Gulf the weekend – the Friday before the Monday we were supposed to announce this deal, and in the intervening time because they were distracted, coal started to spend money on TV in America and scare people. And so everybody here needs to think hard about the relationship of campaign contributions to outcomes. That is critical to our getting there. (Applause.)

Now, let me give you the best news of all because it really is good news. I believe it’s exciting. The market that made America wealthier than we have ever been made was not the 1920s, not the folks – J.P. Morgan who built this library and the Rockefellers and the Fricks and the Carnegies and others – great time of wealth, no income tax and all the rest of it. We actually made more money and more people wealthy to a greater amount in the 1990s than in any other time in American history. And every quintile of American income earners saw their income go up during that period. Everybody did well. That came from a $1 trillion market with 1 billion users. It was the tech market – computer, personal computer, communications, et cetera.

The energy market that is staring us in the face today, staring a nation like the United States of America that actually doesn’t even have a national energy grid – a lot of people don’t realize that; we have an East Coast grid, a West Coast grid, a Texas grid, and up in the north around Chicago, out to the Dakotas, we have a line of connection. That’s it. There’s a gaping hole in the center of America. We do not have a national grid. A country that doesn’t have a national grid is sitting here in the year 2014 with extraordinary possibilities of building new energy connections, new energy production, new energy sourcing. If Cape Wind ever gets built in Massachusetts, it can’t sell to anywhere but in the immediate vicinity. You can’t take solar thermal from the four corners of Colorado and New Mexico, et cetera, California, and – if it were being produced – and transport it to Minnesota or to Chicago or cold parts of the winter. You can’t do that because we don’t have the ability to transmit.

Think of the jobs that could be created if we moved in that direction. Think of the competitiveness America that would be created if we began to embrace the possibilities of that economy. Because the economy we’re looking at, the energy economy of the future, is a $6 trillion market with 4 to 5 billion users today, and it’s going to go up to 6 to 9 billion users over the course of the next 50 years. It’s the mother of all markets with the most extraordinary opportunity if we could begin to have a price and – you see solar and you see wind beginning to now on the kilowatt-per-hour basis get closer and closer – we build in some incentives, we could make these decisions if we wanted to.

And so we’re looking at the possibility here of $90 trillion going to be invested in infrastructure, in the world’s cities, in agriculture, in energy systems. It’s an unprecedented opportunity to drive investment into low-carbon growth, which would bring enormous benefits in terms of jobs, health, business. I’ll tell you, having been 30 years in the – almost 30 years in the United States Senate, I saw so many issues cross our plate where they were real tradeoffs, and you struggled to be able to get to a place where you said I could vote for that and survive, and you had enough to be able to say to people why you’re doing it, what their benefit was.

This – this solution to climate change is a win-win-win-win-win if people would stop and really look at it. We’d reduce the number of kids who got – largest cause of hospitalization of children in the course of the summer in the United States of America is the impact of asthma induced by climate – by diesel fuels and gas and the climate. Huge cost. All kinds of other health implications for people, environment implications for people. Obviously, we would have greater energy independence. We’ve had far greater security. You build up all of the things that would benefit us, not to mention this $6 trillion economy and the jobs that are available to us, and the impact would be absolutely stunning.

So I just say to all of you: At the end of the day, we have to rise above politics. We have to recognize the moral obligation that is part of this and the benefits that we could sell to people all across the country. It doesn’t cost more to deal with climate change; it costs more to ignore it and to put our head in the sand and continue down this road of obfuscation and avoidance, and we need to make that clear to people in this country. (Applause.)

The guy who built this library that we’re privileged to be in today said that the first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you’re not going to stay where you are. (Laughter.) So I hope everybody here in this week will make a commitment that this is the year, this is the time, we are the people who are going to make the decision not to stay where we are; we are going to live up to our responsibility. There isn’t a philosophy of life or a religion in the world – not one – that doesn’t have at its core the responsibility of the stewardship of Earth and our responsibility to future generations. Our chance to live up to it is now.

Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

CHAIR JOINT CHIEFS SUMMARIZES NATO LITHUANIA MEETINGS

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, center, talks with Army Gen. John Campbell, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, right, between sessions of the NATO Military Committee conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, held Sept. 20-21, 2014. DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen.  
Dempsey Recaps NATO Meetings in Lithuania
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2014 – Russia’s continuing aggression in Ukraine, vulnerabilities posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other threats along NATO’s southern borders, and the alliance’s continuing commitments in Afghanistan were the chief topics in meetings with NATO’s chiefs of defense in Vilnius, Lithuania, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today.
In a statement summarizing the meetings, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey added that today’s agreement between Afghanistan’s presidential candidates to form a new national unity government “puts us in a much better place than we were a week ago.”

“Now we need a signed security agreement and a NATO [status of forces agreement], both of which should be accomplished fairly quickly,” Dempsey said. The agreements are necessary for U.S. and NATO forces to have a role in Afghanistan beyond the current mission, which ends Dec. 31, and both candidates said during the election process that they would sign the agreements.
The chiefs of defense also elected Gen. Petr Pavel, the chief of staff of the Czech Republic's armed forces, to be the next chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the chairman said. “His appointment is significant, because he will be the first Eastern European military leader to take the job,” he added.
Pavel will take the post in July, succeeding Danish Gen. Knud Bartels, whom Dempsey called “a trusted friend.”

SECRETARY KERRY, UK FOREIGN MINISTER HAMMOND MAKE REMARKS BEFORE MEETING

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond Before Their Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Waldorf Astoria

New York City

September 22, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Good morning. I’m very happy to meet the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom. And we’re going to focus today, obviously, on ISIL, where we have continuing efforts to organize the coalition and plan the road ahead. But we’ll also talk about Ukraine and the challenges there with respect to the winter coming and the gas needs and other needs. And finally, of course, we’ll be very focused on Ebola and on the global reaction there.

So those are the three principal concerns. And I congratulate our friend from Great Britain that the United Kingdom is still united. We are happy with the outcome of the Scottish referendum. Congratulations.

FOREIGN SECRETARY HAMMOND: We’re very happy with it, too.

SECRETARY KERRY: I know you are happy. (Laughter.)

FOREIGN SECRETARY HAMMOND: Thank you. Well, it’s a great pleasure to be here. We’ve had a lot of opportunities to meet over the last few weeks and a lot of problems to discuss during those meetings. And as Secretary Kerry says, ISIL is top of the agenda. But we shouldn’t forget the continuing challenges in Ukraine and the new and rapidly developing challenge of combating the Ebola virus. We’re going to discuss together and with – over the next few days with many of our colleagues how best to take those agendas forward, working together, cooperating closely to make sure that we tackle all of them and show that we have, frankly, the bandwidth to deal with all of these problems at the same time.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. Thank you.

U.S. CONGRATULATES PEOPLE OF MALTA ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

On the Occasion of Malta's Independence Day

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 21, 2014

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Malta as you celebrate your Independence Day on September 21.

Today marks 50 years since independence came to your country by democratic vote. Decades later, Malta’s steadfast promotion of economic prosperity and human rights stands as a powerful example of democracy’s promise. Your country continues to stand up for these values this year by hosting the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law.

We wish you a joyous celebration as you observe your Independence Day.