FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, March 30, 2015
Former Federal Agents Charged With Bitcoin Money Laundering and Wire Fraud
Agents Were Part of Baltimore’s Silk Road Task Force
Two former federal agents have been charged with wire fraud, money laundering and related offenses for stealing digital currency during their investigation of the Silk Road, an underground black market that allowed users to conduct illegal transactions over the Internet. The charges are contained in a federal criminal complaint issued on March 25, 2015, in the Northern District of California and unsealed today.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag of the Northern District of California, Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson of the FBI’s San Francisco Division, Special Agent in Charge José M. Martinez of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) San Francisco Division, Special Agent in Charge Michael P. Tompkins of the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General Washington Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Lori Hazenstab of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General in Washington D.C. made the announcement.
Carl M. Force, 46, of Baltimore, was a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Shaun W. Bridges, 32, of Laurel, Maryland, was a Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service (USSS). Both were assigned to the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force, which investigated illegal activity in the Silk Road marketplace. Force served as an undercover agent and was tasked with establishing communications with a target of the investigation, Ross Ulbricht, aka “Dread Pirate Roberts.” Force is charged with wire fraud, theft of government property, money laundering and conflict of interest. Bridges is charged with wire fraud and money laundering.
According to the complaint, Force was a DEA agent assigned to investigate the Silk Road marketplace. During the investigation, Force engaged in certain authorized undercover operations by, among other things, communicating online with “Dread Pirate Roberts” (Ulbricht), the target of his investigation. The complaint alleges, however, that Force then, without authority, developed additional online personas and engaged in a broad range of illegal activities calculated to bring him personal financial gain. In doing so, the complaint alleges, Force used fake online personas, and engaged in complex Bitcoin transactions to steal from the government and the targets of the investigation. Specifically, Force allegedly solicited and received digital currency as part of the investigation, but failed to report his receipt of the funds, and instead transferred the currency to his personal account. In one such transaction, Force allegedly sold information about the government’s investigation to the target of the investigation. The complaint also alleges that Force invested in and worked for a digital currency exchange company while still working for the DEA, and that he directed the company to freeze a customer’s account with no legal basis to do so, then transferred the customer’s funds to his personal account. Further, Force allegedly sent an unauthorized Justice Department subpoena to an online payment service directing that it unfreeze his personal account.
Bridges allegedly diverted to his personal account over $800,000 in digital currency that he gained control of during the Silk Road investigation. The complaint alleges that Bridges placed the assets into an account at Mt. Gox, the now-defunct digital currency exchange in Japan. He then allegedly wired funds into one of his personal investment accounts in the United States mere days before he sought a $2.1 million seizure warrant for Mt. Gox’s accounts.
Bridges self-surrendered today and will appear before Magistrate Judge Maria-Elena James of the Northern District of California at 9:30 a.m. PST this morning. Force was arrested on Friday, March 27, 2015, in Baltimore and will appear before Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan of the District of Maryland at 2:30 p.m. EST today.
The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s San Francisco Division, the IRS-CI’s San Francisco Division, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General in Washington D.C. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also provided assistance with the investigation of this case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Haun and William Frentzen of the Northern District of California and Trial Attorney Richard B. Evans of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
FTC REPORT SHOWS CIGARETTE SALES DECLINE, SMOKELESS TOBACCO SALES RISE
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC Releases Reports on 2012 Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Sales and Marketing Expenditures
Cigarette Sales Declined, Smokeless Tobacco Sales Increased From 2011 Levels
The number of cigarettes sold to wholesalers and retailers in the United States declined from 273.6 billion in 2011 to 267.7 billion in 2012, according to the most recent Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report.
The amount spent on cigarette advertising and promotion by the largest cigarette companies in the United States rose from $8.37 billion in 2011 to $9.17 billion in 2012, due mainly to an increase in spending on price discounts (discounts paid to cigarette retailers or wholesalers in order to reduce the price of cigarettes to consumers). Spending on price discounts increased from $7.0 billion in 2011 to $7.8 billion in 2012. The price discounts category was the largest expenditure category in 2012, as it has been each year since 2002; in 2012, it accounted for 85.1 percent of industry spending.
The Commission has issued the Cigarette Report periodically since 1967 and the Smokeless Tobacco Report periodically since 1987.
According to the 2012 Smokeless Tobacco Report, spending on advertising and promotion by the major manufacturers of smokeless tobacco products in the United States, which had risen from $444.2 million in 2010 to $451.7 million in 2011, declined to $435.7 billion in 2012. As with cigarettes, price discounts made up the largest spending category, totaling $212.1 million, or 48.7 percent of all spending in 2012.
Smokeless tobacco sales rose from 122.7 million pounds in 2011 to 125.5 million pounds in 2012. The total value of those sales increased from $2.94 billion in 2011 to $3.08 billion in 2012.
The Commission vote to issue the reports was 5-0. (FTC File No. P114508)
FTC Releases Reports on 2012 Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Sales and Marketing Expenditures
Cigarette Sales Declined, Smokeless Tobacco Sales Increased From 2011 Levels
The number of cigarettes sold to wholesalers and retailers in the United States declined from 273.6 billion in 2011 to 267.7 billion in 2012, according to the most recent Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report.
The amount spent on cigarette advertising and promotion by the largest cigarette companies in the United States rose from $8.37 billion in 2011 to $9.17 billion in 2012, due mainly to an increase in spending on price discounts (discounts paid to cigarette retailers or wholesalers in order to reduce the price of cigarettes to consumers). Spending on price discounts increased from $7.0 billion in 2011 to $7.8 billion in 2012. The price discounts category was the largest expenditure category in 2012, as it has been each year since 2002; in 2012, it accounted for 85.1 percent of industry spending.
The Commission has issued the Cigarette Report periodically since 1967 and the Smokeless Tobacco Report periodically since 1987.
According to the 2012 Smokeless Tobacco Report, spending on advertising and promotion by the major manufacturers of smokeless tobacco products in the United States, which had risen from $444.2 million in 2010 to $451.7 million in 2011, declined to $435.7 billion in 2012. As with cigarettes, price discounts made up the largest spending category, totaling $212.1 million, or 48.7 percent of all spending in 2012.
Smokeless tobacco sales rose from 122.7 million pounds in 2011 to 125.5 million pounds in 2012. The total value of those sales increased from $2.94 billion in 2011 to $3.08 billion in 2012.
The Commission vote to issue the reports was 5-0. (FTC File No. P114508)
WILL WHITE NOSE SYNDROME COME OUT OF CAVES AND MINES AS BATS EMERGED FROM HIBERNATION
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Hibernation season over, will disease-ridden bats emerge from caves and mines this spring?
White Nose Syndrome now infects bats in several northeastern U.S. states
Hibernacula, they're called: Places where species like bats hibernate.
Bats by the thousands congregate in such caves and mine shafts, spending their winters away from the elements.
Now they're anything but safe.
Their promixity to one another, along with the caves' and mines' natural humidity, has fueled the outbreak of one of the worst bat diseases in history: White Nose Syndrome (WNS).
First diagnosed in bats in a cave near Albany, N.Y., in 2006, WNS spread from bat to bat, colony to colony, across the northeastern United States.
The disease is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which results in a skin infection, a distinctive white growth around the muzzles and on the wings of bats. WNS spreads as bats hibernate in winter.
As of 2012, the disease was linked to some 6.7 million North American bat deaths.
The fungus was likely carried to the United States by humans traveling to and from Europe, scientists believe.
WNS and the skin lesions it causes are widespread in European bats. In Europe's bats, however, no mass mortality has been documented. Why? Researchers are working to find answers.
Back across the pond: From Vermont to Virginia and beyond
In the United States, WNS has been present for several years in Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, says biologist Winifred Frick of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
She and colleagues recently published a paper in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography that details the disease in 468 bat colonies in these six states.
The scientists compared the results with those from 640 colonies in eight European countries: Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
WNS infections have been confirmed in all these nations but for Norway, where no surveys have yet been conducted.
"We used four decades of population counts in 16 species of hibernating bats," says Frick, "to determine the effect of WNS on bats in North America compared to those in Europe."
WNS caused a 10-fold decrease in colony sizes of hibernating bats in eastern North America, a dramatic decline across multiple bat species, Frick says.
Most affected, perhaps, is the northern long-eared bat, Myotis septentrionalis. The species is being considered for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Northern long-eared bats have vanished from some 69 percent of the hibernacula where they were once found.
"Mortality from WNS has placed this bat species in peril," says Frick. "It now appears at significant risk of extinction."
Into the field...or the cave
To obtain information on the status of bat colonies, biologists visit subterranean habitats where bats hibernate during winter--caves, mines, old war bunkers, anywhere that's dark, cool, moist and protected from harsh winds and freezing temperatures.
There scientists count numbers of bats in each species. For the past few decades, such winter censuses have taken place every year or every other year in countries in Europe and North America, says Frick.
In the recent study, she and co-authors focused on bats in the family Vespertilionidae, which has members on both the European and North American continents.
"North America and Europe don't share any of the same bat species," she says, "so we compared bats related at the family level."
U.S. and European bat colonies now similar-sized
The researchers found that declines in U.S. bat populations have resulted in colonies in North America and Europe that are roughly the same size.
"The finding raises the intriguing question of whether hibernating bat colonies in Europe used to be larger prior to the presence of WNS," says Frick. "It hints that disease may be an important hidden force behind basic ecological patterns in bats and other species across continents."
Sam Scheiner, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology, agrees. Scheiner represents the joint NSF-National Institutes of Health-Department of Agriculture Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) program, which funded the research.
"This study provides important insights into how a devastating disease has affected bats in the U.S.," he says. "Such information is essential for developing management plans to help save these species."
The EEID program supports efforts to understand the ecological and biological mechanisms behind human-induced environmental changes and the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases.
The benefits of research on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, says Scheiner, include development of theories about how diseases are transmitted, increased capacity to forecast disease outbreaks, and knowledge of how infectious diseases emerge and re-emerge.
Does disease shape species distributions and abundances?
Disease is increasingly recognized as a serious threat to wildlife species, "especially as human travel increases the chance that we could accidentally introduce pathogens [disease-causing microbes] to new parts of the planet," says Frick.
Measuring how infectious diseases may change fundamental ecological patterns is essential for determining effects of these diseases on wildlife species.
"Our study offers the first evidence that disease can change macroecological patterns across continents," says Frick. Macroecology is the study of broad-scale patterns of species distributions and abundance.
Bat losses have widespread effects
Many bats are insect predators. As such, researchers report, they provide valuable "ecosystem services" for humans. Increases in insects like gypsy moths and cutworms--favorite bat meals--have economic consequences.
Cutworms, for example, are destructive garden pests that cause fatal damage to vegetables, fruits and flowers. Until bats swoop to the rescue.
Nonetheless, says Frick, when it comes to important wildlife species, bats are often overlooked.
It's late March and winter hibernacula are opening, their bats beginning to emerge. Without bats, scientists say, the landscape of spring would be a far more insect-ridden, crop-damaged place.
-- Cheryl Dybas, NSF
Hibernation season over, will disease-ridden bats emerge from caves and mines this spring?
White Nose Syndrome now infects bats in several northeastern U.S. states
Hibernacula, they're called: Places where species like bats hibernate.
Bats by the thousands congregate in such caves and mine shafts, spending their winters away from the elements.
Now they're anything but safe.
Their promixity to one another, along with the caves' and mines' natural humidity, has fueled the outbreak of one of the worst bat diseases in history: White Nose Syndrome (WNS).
First diagnosed in bats in a cave near Albany, N.Y., in 2006, WNS spread from bat to bat, colony to colony, across the northeastern United States.
The disease is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which results in a skin infection, a distinctive white growth around the muzzles and on the wings of bats. WNS spreads as bats hibernate in winter.
As of 2012, the disease was linked to some 6.7 million North American bat deaths.
The fungus was likely carried to the United States by humans traveling to and from Europe, scientists believe.
WNS and the skin lesions it causes are widespread in European bats. In Europe's bats, however, no mass mortality has been documented. Why? Researchers are working to find answers.
Back across the pond: From Vermont to Virginia and beyond
In the United States, WNS has been present for several years in Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, says biologist Winifred Frick of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
She and colleagues recently published a paper in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography that details the disease in 468 bat colonies in these six states.
The scientists compared the results with those from 640 colonies in eight European countries: Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
WNS infections have been confirmed in all these nations but for Norway, where no surveys have yet been conducted.
"We used four decades of population counts in 16 species of hibernating bats," says Frick, "to determine the effect of WNS on bats in North America compared to those in Europe."
WNS caused a 10-fold decrease in colony sizes of hibernating bats in eastern North America, a dramatic decline across multiple bat species, Frick says.
Most affected, perhaps, is the northern long-eared bat, Myotis septentrionalis. The species is being considered for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Northern long-eared bats have vanished from some 69 percent of the hibernacula where they were once found.
"Mortality from WNS has placed this bat species in peril," says Frick. "It now appears at significant risk of extinction."
Into the field...or the cave
To obtain information on the status of bat colonies, biologists visit subterranean habitats where bats hibernate during winter--caves, mines, old war bunkers, anywhere that's dark, cool, moist and protected from harsh winds and freezing temperatures.
There scientists count numbers of bats in each species. For the past few decades, such winter censuses have taken place every year or every other year in countries in Europe and North America, says Frick.
In the recent study, she and co-authors focused on bats in the family Vespertilionidae, which has members on both the European and North American continents.
"North America and Europe don't share any of the same bat species," she says, "so we compared bats related at the family level."
U.S. and European bat colonies now similar-sized
The researchers found that declines in U.S. bat populations have resulted in colonies in North America and Europe that are roughly the same size.
"The finding raises the intriguing question of whether hibernating bat colonies in Europe used to be larger prior to the presence of WNS," says Frick. "It hints that disease may be an important hidden force behind basic ecological patterns in bats and other species across continents."
Sam Scheiner, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology, agrees. Scheiner represents the joint NSF-National Institutes of Health-Department of Agriculture Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) program, which funded the research.
"This study provides important insights into how a devastating disease has affected bats in the U.S.," he says. "Such information is essential for developing management plans to help save these species."
The EEID program supports efforts to understand the ecological and biological mechanisms behind human-induced environmental changes and the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases.
The benefits of research on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, says Scheiner, include development of theories about how diseases are transmitted, increased capacity to forecast disease outbreaks, and knowledge of how infectious diseases emerge and re-emerge.
Does disease shape species distributions and abundances?
Disease is increasingly recognized as a serious threat to wildlife species, "especially as human travel increases the chance that we could accidentally introduce pathogens [disease-causing microbes] to new parts of the planet," says Frick.
Measuring how infectious diseases may change fundamental ecological patterns is essential for determining effects of these diseases on wildlife species.
"Our study offers the first evidence that disease can change macroecological patterns across continents," says Frick. Macroecology is the study of broad-scale patterns of species distributions and abundance.
Bat losses have widespread effects
Many bats are insect predators. As such, researchers report, they provide valuable "ecosystem services" for humans. Increases in insects like gypsy moths and cutworms--favorite bat meals--have economic consequences.
Cutworms, for example, are destructive garden pests that cause fatal damage to vegetables, fruits and flowers. Until bats swoop to the rescue.
Nonetheless, says Frick, when it comes to important wildlife species, bats are often overlooked.
It's late March and winter hibernacula are opening, their bats beginning to emerge. Without bats, scientists say, the landscape of spring would be a far more insect-ridden, crop-damaged place.
-- Cheryl Dybas, NSF
OSHA FINDS NY CITY TRANSIT AUTHROITY RETALIATED AGAINST EMPLOYEE
FROM: U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT
New York City Transit Authority retaliates against employee for participating in safety inspection and filing complaint, OSHA finds
Whistleblower investigation concludes that "culture must change"
NEW YORK — It began as a routine safety inspection in August 2012 at the New York City Transit Authority's Linden Shop maintenance facility in Brooklyn. It ended with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration finding that the transit authority and one of its supervisors discriminated against an employee for exercising his safety rights under the National Transit Systems Security Act. As a result, OSHA has ordered the NYCTA and supervisor Mark Ruggerio to pay the employee $52,500 in damages and take other corrective action.
"The transit authority's response to this worker's actions suggests that employee safety is not its primary concern. Threatening or retaliating against even a single employee, as happened in this case, harms all employees. It can intimidate them into silence and allow hazards to flourish undetected until they injure or sicken workers. This type of culture must change,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York.
The employee and Mark Ruggerio, then the acting general superintendent at the Linden shop, participated in a safety inspection by the New York Public Employees Safety and Health Bureau on Aug. 9, 2012. The PESH inspectors asked about the condition of a drill press, and Ruggerio told them it was not working. The employee stated that the press was operating and turned it on. The supervisor then threatened the employee with a loss of overtime work. PESH inspectors informed Ruggerio that his behavior appeared to be retaliatory and he needed to stop. He did not.
The employee filed a timely whistleblower complaint with OSHA, which enforces the antidiscrimination provisions of NTSSA. He also subsequently transferred to another job at the Linden shop. In July 2013, the employee contacted OSHA regarding possible harassment by his new supervisor and, in turn, OSHA contacted the transit authority for further information. The new supervisor then shared information unrelated to the complaint with the employee's fellow workers, leading them to shun him.
OSHA investigators determined that the employee's complaint had merit. Specifically, he engaged in protected activity when he took part in the safety inspection, filed his complaint and shared his concerns with OSHA. As a result of their findings, OSHA has ordered the transit authority to pay the employee $48,000 in punitive damages, $2,500 in compensatory damages, expunge the complainant's employment records and not retaliate against him in the future. It also orders Ruggerio individually to pay the complainant $2,000 in punitive damages.
In addition, the NYCTA must provide all Linden Yards managers with OSHA whistleblower training, provide all new hires with information on OSHA jurisdiction and post a notice to all employees of their whistleblower rights under NTSSA.
Both the employee and the transit authority have 30 days from receipt of OSHA's findings to file objections and request a hearing before a U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge. If no objections are filed, the findings and order will become final and not subject to court review.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of NTSSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws.
Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees
New York City Transit Authority retaliates against employee for participating in safety inspection and filing complaint, OSHA finds
Whistleblower investigation concludes that "culture must change"
NEW YORK — It began as a routine safety inspection in August 2012 at the New York City Transit Authority's Linden Shop maintenance facility in Brooklyn. It ended with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration finding that the transit authority and one of its supervisors discriminated against an employee for exercising his safety rights under the National Transit Systems Security Act. As a result, OSHA has ordered the NYCTA and supervisor Mark Ruggerio to pay the employee $52,500 in damages and take other corrective action.
"The transit authority's response to this worker's actions suggests that employee safety is not its primary concern. Threatening or retaliating against even a single employee, as happened in this case, harms all employees. It can intimidate them into silence and allow hazards to flourish undetected until they injure or sicken workers. This type of culture must change,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York.
The employee and Mark Ruggerio, then the acting general superintendent at the Linden shop, participated in a safety inspection by the New York Public Employees Safety and Health Bureau on Aug. 9, 2012. The PESH inspectors asked about the condition of a drill press, and Ruggerio told them it was not working. The employee stated that the press was operating and turned it on. The supervisor then threatened the employee with a loss of overtime work. PESH inspectors informed Ruggerio that his behavior appeared to be retaliatory and he needed to stop. He did not.
The employee filed a timely whistleblower complaint with OSHA, which enforces the antidiscrimination provisions of NTSSA. He also subsequently transferred to another job at the Linden shop. In July 2013, the employee contacted OSHA regarding possible harassment by his new supervisor and, in turn, OSHA contacted the transit authority for further information. The new supervisor then shared information unrelated to the complaint with the employee's fellow workers, leading them to shun him.
OSHA investigators determined that the employee's complaint had merit. Specifically, he engaged in protected activity when he took part in the safety inspection, filed his complaint and shared his concerns with OSHA. As a result of their findings, OSHA has ordered the transit authority to pay the employee $48,000 in punitive damages, $2,500 in compensatory damages, expunge the complainant's employment records and not retaliate against him in the future. It also orders Ruggerio individually to pay the complainant $2,000 in punitive damages.
In addition, the NYCTA must provide all Linden Yards managers with OSHA whistleblower training, provide all new hires with information on OSHA jurisdiction and post a notice to all employees of their whistleblower rights under NTSSA.
Both the employee and the transit authority have 30 days from receipt of OSHA's findings to file objections and request a hearing before a U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge. If no objections are filed, the findings and order will become final and not subject to court review.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of NTSSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws.
Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees
Monday, March 30, 2015
DOJ ALLEGES SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST TRANSGENDER EMPLOYEE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, March 30, 2015
Justice Department Files Lawsuit Alleging that Southeastern Oklahoma State University Discriminated Against Transgender Woman
The Justice Department announced today the filing of a lawsuit against Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Southeastern) and the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO) for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against a transgender employee on the basis of her sex and retaliating against her when she complained about the discrimination. Attorney General Eric Holder announced in December 2014 that the Department of Justice takes the position that Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination is best read to extend the statute’s protection to claims based on an individual’s gender identity, including transgender status.
According to the United States’ complaint, filed in federal district court in Oklahoma City today, Rachel Tudor began working for Southeastern as an Assistant Professor in 2004. At the time of her hire, Tudor presented as a man. In 2007, Tudor, consistent with her gender identity, began to present as a woman at work. Throughout her employment, Tudor performed her job well, and in 2009, she applied for a promotion to the tenured position of Associate Professor. Southeastern’s administration denied her application, overruling the recommendations of her department chair and other tenured faculty from her department. The United States’ complaint alleges that Southeastern discriminated against Tudor when it denied her application because of her gender identity, gender transition and non-conformance with gender stereotypes.
“By standing beside Dr. Tudor, the Department of Justice sends a clear message that we are committed to eliminating discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “We will not allow unfair biases and unjust prejudices to prevent transgender Americans from reaching their full potential as workers and as citizens. And we will continue to work tirelessly, using every legal tool available, to ensure that transgender individuals are guaranteed the rights and protections that all Americans deserve.”
In 2010, Tudor filed complaints regarding the denial of her application for promotion and tenure. Shortly after it learned of her complaints, Southeastern refused to let Tudor re-apply for promotion and tenure despite Southeastern’s own policies permitting re-application. At the end of the 2010-11 academic year, Southeastern and RUSO terminated Tudor’s employment because she had not obtained tenure.
Tudor filed a charge of discrimination with the Oklahoma City Area Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that Southeastern’s decisions were unlawful. The EEOC investigated the charge and determined that there was reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred. The EEOC’s attempts at conciliation were unsuccessful, and it referred the matter to the Department of Justice.
This lawsuit was brought by the Department of Justice as a result of a joint effort to enhance collaboration between the EEOC and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for vigorous enforcement of Title VII.
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, including transgender Americans,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “Discrimination against employees because of their gender identity, gender transition, or because they do not conform to stereotypical notions about how men and women should act or appear violates Title VII. Retaliating against an employee for complaining about unlawful discrimination, as happened in this case, is also unacceptable under Title VII.”
“This is a tremendous example of how collaboration between EEOC and the Department of Justice leads to strong and coordinated enforcement of Title VII,” said EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang. “This case furthers the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan, which includes coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals under Title VII's sex discrimination provisions as a national enforcement priority.”
“The American workplace must be a level playing field free from discrimination – a place where employees compete based on their merit,” said Director Holly Waldron Cole of the EEOC’s Oklahoma City Area Office. “Here, the decisions about Dr. Tudor’s employment should have been based on her qualifications, not on impermissible bias and stereotype.”
As alleged in the complaint, Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination includes discrimination because of gender identity or because an employee has completed a gender transition or is undertaking a gender transition. Title VII also prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee because her behavior or appearance does not conform to traditional gender stereotypes. In addition, Title VII prohibits employers from retaliating against employees, like Tudor, who lodge complaints about discriminatory treatment. Through its lawsuit, the United States seeks both monetary and injunctive relief.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced in December 2014 that the Department of Justice takes the position that Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination is best read to extend the statute’s protection to claims based on an individual’s gender identity, including transgender status.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Justice Department Files Lawsuit Alleging that Southeastern Oklahoma State University Discriminated Against Transgender Woman
The Justice Department announced today the filing of a lawsuit against Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Southeastern) and the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO) for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against a transgender employee on the basis of her sex and retaliating against her when she complained about the discrimination. Attorney General Eric Holder announced in December 2014 that the Department of Justice takes the position that Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination is best read to extend the statute’s protection to claims based on an individual’s gender identity, including transgender status.
According to the United States’ complaint, filed in federal district court in Oklahoma City today, Rachel Tudor began working for Southeastern as an Assistant Professor in 2004. At the time of her hire, Tudor presented as a man. In 2007, Tudor, consistent with her gender identity, began to present as a woman at work. Throughout her employment, Tudor performed her job well, and in 2009, she applied for a promotion to the tenured position of Associate Professor. Southeastern’s administration denied her application, overruling the recommendations of her department chair and other tenured faculty from her department. The United States’ complaint alleges that Southeastern discriminated against Tudor when it denied her application because of her gender identity, gender transition and non-conformance with gender stereotypes.
“By standing beside Dr. Tudor, the Department of Justice sends a clear message that we are committed to eliminating discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “We will not allow unfair biases and unjust prejudices to prevent transgender Americans from reaching their full potential as workers and as citizens. And we will continue to work tirelessly, using every legal tool available, to ensure that transgender individuals are guaranteed the rights and protections that all Americans deserve.”
In 2010, Tudor filed complaints regarding the denial of her application for promotion and tenure. Shortly after it learned of her complaints, Southeastern refused to let Tudor re-apply for promotion and tenure despite Southeastern’s own policies permitting re-application. At the end of the 2010-11 academic year, Southeastern and RUSO terminated Tudor’s employment because she had not obtained tenure.
Tudor filed a charge of discrimination with the Oklahoma City Area Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that Southeastern’s decisions were unlawful. The EEOC investigated the charge and determined that there was reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred. The EEOC’s attempts at conciliation were unsuccessful, and it referred the matter to the Department of Justice.
This lawsuit was brought by the Department of Justice as a result of a joint effort to enhance collaboration between the EEOC and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for vigorous enforcement of Title VII.
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, including transgender Americans,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “Discrimination against employees because of their gender identity, gender transition, or because they do not conform to stereotypical notions about how men and women should act or appear violates Title VII. Retaliating against an employee for complaining about unlawful discrimination, as happened in this case, is also unacceptable under Title VII.”
“This is a tremendous example of how collaboration between EEOC and the Department of Justice leads to strong and coordinated enforcement of Title VII,” said EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang. “This case furthers the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan, which includes coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals under Title VII's sex discrimination provisions as a national enforcement priority.”
“The American workplace must be a level playing field free from discrimination – a place where employees compete based on their merit,” said Director Holly Waldron Cole of the EEOC’s Oklahoma City Area Office. “Here, the decisions about Dr. Tudor’s employment should have been based on her qualifications, not on impermissible bias and stereotype.”
As alleged in the complaint, Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination includes discrimination because of gender identity or because an employee has completed a gender transition or is undertaking a gender transition. Title VII also prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee because her behavior or appearance does not conform to traditional gender stereotypes. In addition, Title VII prohibits employers from retaliating against employees, like Tudor, who lodge complaints about discriminatory treatment. Through its lawsuit, the United States seeks both monetary and injunctive relief.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced in December 2014 that the Department of Justice takes the position that Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination is best read to extend the statute’s protection to claims based on an individual’s gender identity, including transgender status.
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS AT DEDICATION OF EDWARD M. KENNEDY INSTITUTE
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
March 30, 2015
Remarks by the President at Dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Boston, Massachusetts
12:16 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. To Vicki, Ted, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, Ambassador Smith, members of the Kennedy family -- thank you so much for inviting me to speak today. Your Eminence, Cardinal O’Malley; Vice President Biden; Governor Baker; Mayor Walsh; members of Congress, past and present; and pretty much every elected official in Massachusetts -- (laughter) -- it is an honor to mark this occasion with you.
Boston, know that Michelle and I have joined our prayers with yours these past few days for a hero -- former Army Ranger and Boston Police Officer John Moynihan, who was shot in the line of duty on Friday night. (Applause.) I mention him because, last year, at the White House, the Vice President and I had the chance to honor Officer Moynihan as one of America’s “Top Cops” for his bravery in the line of duty, for risking his life to save a fellow officer. And thanks to the heroes at Boston Medical Center, I’m told Officer Moynihan is awake, and talking, and we wish him a full and speedy recovery. (Applause.)
I also want to single out someone who very much wanted to be here, just as he was every day for nearly 25 years as he represented this commonwealth alongside Ted in the Senate -- and that's Secretary of State John Kerry. (Applause.) As many of you know, John is in Europe with our allies and partners, leading the negotiations with Iran and the world community, and standing up for a principle that Ted and his brother, President Kennedy, believed in so strongly: “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.” (Applause.)
And, finally, in his first years in the Senate, Ted dispatched a young aide to assemble a team of talent without rival. The sell was simple: Come and help Ted Kennedy make history. So I want to give a special shout-out to his extraordinarily loyal staff -- (applause) -- 50 years later a family more than one thousand strong. This is your day, as well. We're proud of you. (Applause.) Of course, many of you now work with me. (Laughter.) So enjoy today, because we got to get back to work. (Laughter.)
Distinguished guests, fellow citizens -- in 1958, Ted Kennedy was a young man working to reelect his brother, Jack, to the United States Senate. On election night, the two toasted one another: “Here’s to 1960, Mr. President,” Ted said, “If you can make it.” With his quick Irish wit, Jack returned the toast: “Here’s to 1962, Senator Kennedy, if you can make it.” (Laughter.) They both made it. And today, they’re together again in eternal rest at Arlington.
But their legacies are as alive as ever together right here in Boston. The John F. Kennedy Library next door is a symbol of our American idealism; the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate as a living example of the hard, frustrating, never-ending, but critical work required to make that idealism real.
What more fitting tribute, what better testament to the life of Ted Kennedy, than this place that he left for a new generation of Americans -- a monument not to himself but to what we, the people, have the power to do together.
Any of us who have had the privilege to serve in the Senate know that it’s impossible not to share Ted’s awe for the history swirling around you -- an awe instilled in him by his brother, Jack. Ted waited more than a year to deliver his first speech on the Senate floor. That's no longer the custom. (Laughter.) It's good to see Trent and Tom Daschle here, because they remember what customs were like back then. (Laughter.)
And Ted gave a speech only because he felt there was a topic -- the Civil Rights Act -- that demanded it. Nevertheless, he spoke with humility, aware, as he put it, that “a freshman Senator should be seen, not heard; should learn, and not teach.”
Some of us, I admit, have not always heeded that lesson. (Laughter.) But fortunately, we had Ted to show us the ropes anyway. And no one made the Senate come alive like Ted Kennedy. It was one of the great pleasures of my life to hear Ted Kennedy deliver one of his stem winders on the Floor. Rarely was he more animated than when he’d lead you through the living museums that were his offices. He could -- and he would -- tell you everything that there was to know about all of it. (Laughter.)
And then there were more somber moments. I still remember the first time I pulled open the drawer of my desk. Each senator is assigned a desk, and there’s a tradition of carving the names of those who had used it before. And those names in my desk included Taft and Baker, Simon, Wellstone, and Robert F. Kennedy.
The Senate was a place where you instinctively pulled yourself up a little bit straighter; where you tried to act a little bit better. “Being a senator changes a person,” Ted wrote in his memoirs. As Vicki said, it may take a year, or two years, or three years, but it always happens; it fills you with a heightened sense of purpose.
That’s the magic of the Senate. That’s the essence of what it can be. And who but Ted Kennedy, and his family, would create a full-scale replica of the Senate chamber, and open it to everyone?
We live in a time of such great cynicism about all our institutions. And we are cynical about government and about Washington, most of all. It’s hard for our children to see, in the noisy and too often trivial pursuits of today’s politics, the possibilities of our democracy -- our capacity, together, to do big things.
And this place can help change that. It can help light the fire of imagination, plant the seed of noble ambition in the minds of future generations. Imagine a gaggle of school kids clutching tablets, turning classrooms into cloakrooms and hallways into hearing rooms, assigned an issue of the day and the responsibility to solve it.
Imagine their moral universe expanding as they hear about the momentous battles waged in that chamber and how they echo throughout today’s society. Great questions of war and peace, the tangled bargains between North and South, federal and state; the original sins of slavery and prejudice; and the unfinished battles for civil rights and opportunity and equality.
Imagine the shift in their sense of what’s possible. The first time they see a video of senators who look like they do -- men and women, blacks and whites, Latinos, Asian-Americans; those born to great wealth but also those born of incredibly modest means.
Imagine what a child feels the first time she steps onto that floor, before she’s old enough to be cynical; before she’s told what she can’t do; before she’s told who she can’t talk to or work with; what she feels when she sits at one of those desks; what happens when it comes her turn to stand and speak on behalf of something she cares about; and cast a vote, and have a sense of purpose.
It’s maybe just not for kids. What if we all carried ourselves that way? What if our politics, our democracy, were as elevated, as purposeful, as she imagines it to be right here?
Towards the end of his life, Ted reflected on how Congress has changed over time. And those who served earlier I think have those same conversations. It’s a more diverse, more accurate reflection of America than it used to be, and that is a grand thing, a great achievement. But Ted grieved the loss of camaraderie and collegiality, the face-to-face interaction. I think he regretted the arguments now made to cameras instead of colleagues, directed at a narrow base instead of the body politic as a whole; the outsized influence of money and special interests -- and how it all leads more Americans to turn away in disgust and simply choose not to exercise their right to vote.
Now, since this is a joyous occasion, this is not the time for me to suggest a slew of new ideas for reform. Although I do have some. (Laughter.) Maybe I’ll just mention one.
What if we carried ourselves more like Ted Kennedy? What if we worked to follow his example a little bit harder? To his harshest critics, who saw him as nothing more than a partisan lightning rod -- that may sound foolish, but there are Republicans here today for a reason. They know who Ted Kennedy was. It’s not because they shared Ted’s ideology or his positions, but because they knew Ted as somebody who bridged the partisan divide over and over and over again, with genuine effort and affection, in an era when bipartisanship has become so very rare.
They knew him as somebody who kept his word. They knew him as somebody who was willing to take half a loaf and endure the anger of his own supporters to get something done. They knew him as somebody who was not afraid. And fear so permeates our politics, instead of hope. People fight to get in the Senate and then they’re afraid. We fight to get these positions and then don’t want to do anything with them. And Ted understood the only point of running for office was to get something done -- not to posture; not to sit there worrying about the next election or the polls -- to take risks. He understood that differences of party or philosophy could not become barriers to cooperation or respect.
He could howl at injustice on the Senate floor like a force of nature, while nervous aides tried to figure out which chart to pull up next. (Laughter.) But in his personal dealings, he answered Edmund Randolph’s call to keep the Senate a place to “restrain, if possible, the fury of democracy.”
I did not know Ted as long as some of the speakers here today. But he was my friend. I owe him a lot. And as far as I could tell, it was never ideology that compelled him, except insofar as his ideology said, you should help people; that you should have a life of purpose; that you should be empathetic and be able to put yourself in somebody else’s shoes, and see through their eyes. His tirelessness, his restlessness, they were rooted in his experience.
By the age of 12, he was a member of a Gold Star Family. By 36, two of his brothers were stolen from him in the most tragic, public of ways. By 41, he nearly lost a beloved child to cancer. And that made suffering something he knew. And it made him more alive to the suffering of others.
While his son was sleeping after treatment, Ted would wander the halls of the hospital and meet other parents keeping vigil over their own children. They were parents terrified of what would happen when they couldn’t afford the next treatment; parents working out what they could sell or borrow or mortgage just to make it just a few more months -- and then, if they had to, bargain with God for the rest.
There, in the quiet night, working people of modest means and one of the most powerful men in the world shared the same intimate, immediate sense of helplessness. He didn't see them as some abstraction. He knew them. He felt them. Their pain was his as much as they might be separated by wealth and fame. And those families would be at the heart of Ted’s passions. Just like the young immigrant, he would see himself in that child. They were his cause -- the sick child who couldn’t see a doctor; the young soldier sent to battle without armor; the citizen denied her rights because of what she looked like or where she came from or who she loves.
He quietly attended as many military funerals in Massachusetts as he could for those who fell in Iraq and Afghanistan. He called and wrote each one of the 177 families in this commonwealth who lost a loved one on 9/11, and he took them sailing, and played with their children, not just in the days after, but every year after.
His life’s work was not to champion those with wealth or power or connections; they already had enough representation. It was to give voice to the people who wrote and called him from every state, desperate for somebody who might listen and help. It was about what he could do for others.
It’s why he’d take his hearings to hospitals in rural towns and inner cities, and push people out of their comfort zones, including his colleagues. Because he had pushed himself out of his comfort zone. And he tried to instill in his colleagues that same sense of empathy. Even if they called him, as one did, “wrong at the top of his lungs.” Even if they might disagree with him 99 percent of the time. Because who knew what might happen with that other 1 percent?
Orrin Hatch was sent to Washington in part because he promised to fight Ted Kennedy. And they fought a lot. One was a conservative Mormon from Utah, after all; the other one was, well, Ted Kennedy. (Laughter.) But once they got to know one another, they discovered certain things in common -- a devout faith, a soft spot for health care, very fine singing voices. (Laughter.)
In 1986, when Republicans controlled the Senate, Orrin held the first hearing on the AIDS epidemic, even hugging an AIDS patient -- an incredible and very important gesture at the time. The next year, Ted took over the committee, and continued what Orrin started. When Orrin’s father passed away, Ted was one of the first to call. It was over dinner at Ted’s house one night that they decided to try and insure the 10 million children who didn’t have access to health care.
As that debate hit roadblocks in Congress, as apparently debates over health care tend to do, Ted would have his Chief of Staff serenade Orrin to court his support. When hearings didn’t go Ted’s way, he might puff on a cigar to annoy Orrin, who disdained smoking. (Laughter.) When they didn’t go Orrin’s way, he might threaten to call Ted’s sister, Eunice. (Laughter.) And when it came time to find a way to pay for the Children’s Health Insurance Program that they, together, had devised, Ted pounced, offering a tobacco tax and asking, “Are you for Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man, or millions of children who lack adequate health care?”
It was the kind of friendship unique to the Senate, calling to mind what John Calhoun once said of Henry Clay: “I don’t like Clay. He is a bad man, an imposter, a creator of wicked schemes. I wouldn’t speak to him, but, by God, I love him!” (Laughter.)
So, sure, Orrin Hatch once called Ted “one of the major dangers to the country.” (Laughter.) But he also stood up at a gathering in Ted’s last months, and said, “I’m asking you all to pray for Ted Kennedy.”
The point is, we can fight on almost everything. But we can come together on some things. And those “somethings” can mean everything to a whole lot of people.
It was common ground that led Ted and Orrin to forge a compromise that covered millions of kids with health care. It was common ground, rooted in the plight of loved ones, that led Ted and Chuck Grassley to cover kids with disabilities; that led Ted and Pete Domenici to fight for equal rights for Americans with a mental illness.
Common ground, not rooted in abstractions or stubborn, rigid ideologies, but shared experience, that led Ted and John McCain to work on a Patient’s Bill of Rights, and to work to forge a smarter, more just immigration system.
A common desire to fix what’s broken. A willingness to compromise in pursuit of a larger goal. A personal relationship that lets you fight like heck on one issue, and shake hands on the next -- not through just cajoling or horse-trading or serenades, but through Ted’s brand of friendship and kindness, and humor and grace.
“What binds us together across our differences in religion or politics or economic theory,” Ted wrote in his memoirs, “[is] all we share as human beings -- the wonder that we experience when we look at the night sky; the gratitude that we know when we feel the heat of the sun; the sense of humor in the face of the unbearable; and the persistence of suffering. And one thing more -- the capacity to reach across our differences to offer a hand of healing.”
For all the challenges of a changing world, for all the imperfections of our democracy, the capacity to reach across our differences is something that’s entirely up to us.
May we all, in our own lives, set an example for the kids who enter these doors, and exit with higher expectations for their country.
May we all remember the times this American family has challenged us to ask what we can do; to dream and say why not; to seek a cause that endures; and sail against the wind in its pursuit, and live our lives with that heightened sense of purpose.
Thank you. May God bless you. May He continue to bless this country we love. Thank you. (Applause.)
END
12:44 P.M. EDT
March 30, 2015
Remarks by the President at Dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Boston, Massachusetts
12:16 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. To Vicki, Ted, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, Ambassador Smith, members of the Kennedy family -- thank you so much for inviting me to speak today. Your Eminence, Cardinal O’Malley; Vice President Biden; Governor Baker; Mayor Walsh; members of Congress, past and present; and pretty much every elected official in Massachusetts -- (laughter) -- it is an honor to mark this occasion with you.
Boston, know that Michelle and I have joined our prayers with yours these past few days for a hero -- former Army Ranger and Boston Police Officer John Moynihan, who was shot in the line of duty on Friday night. (Applause.) I mention him because, last year, at the White House, the Vice President and I had the chance to honor Officer Moynihan as one of America’s “Top Cops” for his bravery in the line of duty, for risking his life to save a fellow officer. And thanks to the heroes at Boston Medical Center, I’m told Officer Moynihan is awake, and talking, and we wish him a full and speedy recovery. (Applause.)
I also want to single out someone who very much wanted to be here, just as he was every day for nearly 25 years as he represented this commonwealth alongside Ted in the Senate -- and that's Secretary of State John Kerry. (Applause.) As many of you know, John is in Europe with our allies and partners, leading the negotiations with Iran and the world community, and standing up for a principle that Ted and his brother, President Kennedy, believed in so strongly: “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.” (Applause.)
And, finally, in his first years in the Senate, Ted dispatched a young aide to assemble a team of talent without rival. The sell was simple: Come and help Ted Kennedy make history. So I want to give a special shout-out to his extraordinarily loyal staff -- (applause) -- 50 years later a family more than one thousand strong. This is your day, as well. We're proud of you. (Applause.) Of course, many of you now work with me. (Laughter.) So enjoy today, because we got to get back to work. (Laughter.)
Distinguished guests, fellow citizens -- in 1958, Ted Kennedy was a young man working to reelect his brother, Jack, to the United States Senate. On election night, the two toasted one another: “Here’s to 1960, Mr. President,” Ted said, “If you can make it.” With his quick Irish wit, Jack returned the toast: “Here’s to 1962, Senator Kennedy, if you can make it.” (Laughter.) They both made it. And today, they’re together again in eternal rest at Arlington.
But their legacies are as alive as ever together right here in Boston. The John F. Kennedy Library next door is a symbol of our American idealism; the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate as a living example of the hard, frustrating, never-ending, but critical work required to make that idealism real.
What more fitting tribute, what better testament to the life of Ted Kennedy, than this place that he left for a new generation of Americans -- a monument not to himself but to what we, the people, have the power to do together.
Any of us who have had the privilege to serve in the Senate know that it’s impossible not to share Ted’s awe for the history swirling around you -- an awe instilled in him by his brother, Jack. Ted waited more than a year to deliver his first speech on the Senate floor. That's no longer the custom. (Laughter.) It's good to see Trent and Tom Daschle here, because they remember what customs were like back then. (Laughter.)
And Ted gave a speech only because he felt there was a topic -- the Civil Rights Act -- that demanded it. Nevertheless, he spoke with humility, aware, as he put it, that “a freshman Senator should be seen, not heard; should learn, and not teach.”
Some of us, I admit, have not always heeded that lesson. (Laughter.) But fortunately, we had Ted to show us the ropes anyway. And no one made the Senate come alive like Ted Kennedy. It was one of the great pleasures of my life to hear Ted Kennedy deliver one of his stem winders on the Floor. Rarely was he more animated than when he’d lead you through the living museums that were his offices. He could -- and he would -- tell you everything that there was to know about all of it. (Laughter.)
And then there were more somber moments. I still remember the first time I pulled open the drawer of my desk. Each senator is assigned a desk, and there’s a tradition of carving the names of those who had used it before. And those names in my desk included Taft and Baker, Simon, Wellstone, and Robert F. Kennedy.
The Senate was a place where you instinctively pulled yourself up a little bit straighter; where you tried to act a little bit better. “Being a senator changes a person,” Ted wrote in his memoirs. As Vicki said, it may take a year, or two years, or three years, but it always happens; it fills you with a heightened sense of purpose.
That’s the magic of the Senate. That’s the essence of what it can be. And who but Ted Kennedy, and his family, would create a full-scale replica of the Senate chamber, and open it to everyone?
We live in a time of such great cynicism about all our institutions. And we are cynical about government and about Washington, most of all. It’s hard for our children to see, in the noisy and too often trivial pursuits of today’s politics, the possibilities of our democracy -- our capacity, together, to do big things.
And this place can help change that. It can help light the fire of imagination, plant the seed of noble ambition in the minds of future generations. Imagine a gaggle of school kids clutching tablets, turning classrooms into cloakrooms and hallways into hearing rooms, assigned an issue of the day and the responsibility to solve it.
Imagine their moral universe expanding as they hear about the momentous battles waged in that chamber and how they echo throughout today’s society. Great questions of war and peace, the tangled bargains between North and South, federal and state; the original sins of slavery and prejudice; and the unfinished battles for civil rights and opportunity and equality.
Imagine the shift in their sense of what’s possible. The first time they see a video of senators who look like they do -- men and women, blacks and whites, Latinos, Asian-Americans; those born to great wealth but also those born of incredibly modest means.
Imagine what a child feels the first time she steps onto that floor, before she’s old enough to be cynical; before she’s told what she can’t do; before she’s told who she can’t talk to or work with; what she feels when she sits at one of those desks; what happens when it comes her turn to stand and speak on behalf of something she cares about; and cast a vote, and have a sense of purpose.
It’s maybe just not for kids. What if we all carried ourselves that way? What if our politics, our democracy, were as elevated, as purposeful, as she imagines it to be right here?
Towards the end of his life, Ted reflected on how Congress has changed over time. And those who served earlier I think have those same conversations. It’s a more diverse, more accurate reflection of America than it used to be, and that is a grand thing, a great achievement. But Ted grieved the loss of camaraderie and collegiality, the face-to-face interaction. I think he regretted the arguments now made to cameras instead of colleagues, directed at a narrow base instead of the body politic as a whole; the outsized influence of money and special interests -- and how it all leads more Americans to turn away in disgust and simply choose not to exercise their right to vote.
Now, since this is a joyous occasion, this is not the time for me to suggest a slew of new ideas for reform. Although I do have some. (Laughter.) Maybe I’ll just mention one.
What if we carried ourselves more like Ted Kennedy? What if we worked to follow his example a little bit harder? To his harshest critics, who saw him as nothing more than a partisan lightning rod -- that may sound foolish, but there are Republicans here today for a reason. They know who Ted Kennedy was. It’s not because they shared Ted’s ideology or his positions, but because they knew Ted as somebody who bridged the partisan divide over and over and over again, with genuine effort and affection, in an era when bipartisanship has become so very rare.
They knew him as somebody who kept his word. They knew him as somebody who was willing to take half a loaf and endure the anger of his own supporters to get something done. They knew him as somebody who was not afraid. And fear so permeates our politics, instead of hope. People fight to get in the Senate and then they’re afraid. We fight to get these positions and then don’t want to do anything with them. And Ted understood the only point of running for office was to get something done -- not to posture; not to sit there worrying about the next election or the polls -- to take risks. He understood that differences of party or philosophy could not become barriers to cooperation or respect.
He could howl at injustice on the Senate floor like a force of nature, while nervous aides tried to figure out which chart to pull up next. (Laughter.) But in his personal dealings, he answered Edmund Randolph’s call to keep the Senate a place to “restrain, if possible, the fury of democracy.”
I did not know Ted as long as some of the speakers here today. But he was my friend. I owe him a lot. And as far as I could tell, it was never ideology that compelled him, except insofar as his ideology said, you should help people; that you should have a life of purpose; that you should be empathetic and be able to put yourself in somebody else’s shoes, and see through their eyes. His tirelessness, his restlessness, they were rooted in his experience.
By the age of 12, he was a member of a Gold Star Family. By 36, two of his brothers were stolen from him in the most tragic, public of ways. By 41, he nearly lost a beloved child to cancer. And that made suffering something he knew. And it made him more alive to the suffering of others.
While his son was sleeping after treatment, Ted would wander the halls of the hospital and meet other parents keeping vigil over their own children. They were parents terrified of what would happen when they couldn’t afford the next treatment; parents working out what they could sell or borrow or mortgage just to make it just a few more months -- and then, if they had to, bargain with God for the rest.
There, in the quiet night, working people of modest means and one of the most powerful men in the world shared the same intimate, immediate sense of helplessness. He didn't see them as some abstraction. He knew them. He felt them. Their pain was his as much as they might be separated by wealth and fame. And those families would be at the heart of Ted’s passions. Just like the young immigrant, he would see himself in that child. They were his cause -- the sick child who couldn’t see a doctor; the young soldier sent to battle without armor; the citizen denied her rights because of what she looked like or where she came from or who she loves.
He quietly attended as many military funerals in Massachusetts as he could for those who fell in Iraq and Afghanistan. He called and wrote each one of the 177 families in this commonwealth who lost a loved one on 9/11, and he took them sailing, and played with their children, not just in the days after, but every year after.
His life’s work was not to champion those with wealth or power or connections; they already had enough representation. It was to give voice to the people who wrote and called him from every state, desperate for somebody who might listen and help. It was about what he could do for others.
It’s why he’d take his hearings to hospitals in rural towns and inner cities, and push people out of their comfort zones, including his colleagues. Because he had pushed himself out of his comfort zone. And he tried to instill in his colleagues that same sense of empathy. Even if they called him, as one did, “wrong at the top of his lungs.” Even if they might disagree with him 99 percent of the time. Because who knew what might happen with that other 1 percent?
Orrin Hatch was sent to Washington in part because he promised to fight Ted Kennedy. And they fought a lot. One was a conservative Mormon from Utah, after all; the other one was, well, Ted Kennedy. (Laughter.) But once they got to know one another, they discovered certain things in common -- a devout faith, a soft spot for health care, very fine singing voices. (Laughter.)
In 1986, when Republicans controlled the Senate, Orrin held the first hearing on the AIDS epidemic, even hugging an AIDS patient -- an incredible and very important gesture at the time. The next year, Ted took over the committee, and continued what Orrin started. When Orrin’s father passed away, Ted was one of the first to call. It was over dinner at Ted’s house one night that they decided to try and insure the 10 million children who didn’t have access to health care.
As that debate hit roadblocks in Congress, as apparently debates over health care tend to do, Ted would have his Chief of Staff serenade Orrin to court his support. When hearings didn’t go Ted’s way, he might puff on a cigar to annoy Orrin, who disdained smoking. (Laughter.) When they didn’t go Orrin’s way, he might threaten to call Ted’s sister, Eunice. (Laughter.) And when it came time to find a way to pay for the Children’s Health Insurance Program that they, together, had devised, Ted pounced, offering a tobacco tax and asking, “Are you for Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man, or millions of children who lack adequate health care?”
It was the kind of friendship unique to the Senate, calling to mind what John Calhoun once said of Henry Clay: “I don’t like Clay. He is a bad man, an imposter, a creator of wicked schemes. I wouldn’t speak to him, but, by God, I love him!” (Laughter.)
So, sure, Orrin Hatch once called Ted “one of the major dangers to the country.” (Laughter.) But he also stood up at a gathering in Ted’s last months, and said, “I’m asking you all to pray for Ted Kennedy.”
The point is, we can fight on almost everything. But we can come together on some things. And those “somethings” can mean everything to a whole lot of people.
It was common ground that led Ted and Orrin to forge a compromise that covered millions of kids with health care. It was common ground, rooted in the plight of loved ones, that led Ted and Chuck Grassley to cover kids with disabilities; that led Ted and Pete Domenici to fight for equal rights for Americans with a mental illness.
Common ground, not rooted in abstractions or stubborn, rigid ideologies, but shared experience, that led Ted and John McCain to work on a Patient’s Bill of Rights, and to work to forge a smarter, more just immigration system.
A common desire to fix what’s broken. A willingness to compromise in pursuit of a larger goal. A personal relationship that lets you fight like heck on one issue, and shake hands on the next -- not through just cajoling or horse-trading or serenades, but through Ted’s brand of friendship and kindness, and humor and grace.
“What binds us together across our differences in religion or politics or economic theory,” Ted wrote in his memoirs, “[is] all we share as human beings -- the wonder that we experience when we look at the night sky; the gratitude that we know when we feel the heat of the sun; the sense of humor in the face of the unbearable; and the persistence of suffering. And one thing more -- the capacity to reach across our differences to offer a hand of healing.”
For all the challenges of a changing world, for all the imperfections of our democracy, the capacity to reach across our differences is something that’s entirely up to us.
May we all, in our own lives, set an example for the kids who enter these doors, and exit with higher expectations for their country.
May we all remember the times this American family has challenged us to ask what we can do; to dream and say why not; to seek a cause that endures; and sail against the wind in its pursuit, and live our lives with that heightened sense of purpose.
Thank you. May God bless you. May He continue to bless this country we love. Thank you. (Applause.)
END
12:44 P.M. EDT
WHITE HOUSE READOUT OF VP BIDEN'S CALL WITH IRAQ'S PRIME MINISTER ABADI
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
March 29, 2015
Readout of Vice President Biden's Call with Prime Minister Abadi of Iraq
Vice President Joe Biden spoke this morning with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. They discussed ongoing military operations across Iraq, including in Anbar and Salah Ad Din provinces. The Vice President praised Prime Minister Abadi for his leadership in directing operations to clear ISIL from Tikrit. Both leaders expressed their strong support for continued cooperation between the Iraqi government and the international coalition. The Vice President commended the patriotism of the Iraqi Security Forces and those Iraqis who have volunteered to join the fight against ISIL. He reiterated the United States’ support for Iraq’s security under the Strategic Framework Agreement and full respect for Iraq’s sovereignty and independence.
March 29, 2015
Readout of Vice President Biden's Call with Prime Minister Abadi of Iraq
Vice President Joe Biden spoke this morning with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. They discussed ongoing military operations across Iraq, including in Anbar and Salah Ad Din provinces. The Vice President praised Prime Minister Abadi for his leadership in directing operations to clear ISIL from Tikrit. Both leaders expressed their strong support for continued cooperation between the Iraqi government and the international coalition. The Vice President commended the patriotism of the Iraqi Security Forces and those Iraqis who have volunteered to join the fight against ISIL. He reiterated the United States’ support for Iraq’s security under the Strategic Framework Agreement and full respect for Iraq’s sovereignty and independence.
ONGOING AIRSTRIKES AGAINST ISIL CONTINUES IN SYRIA AND IRAQ
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Airstrikes Hit ISIL in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, March 29, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Airstrikes in Syria
Fighter aircraft conducted an airstrike near Kobani, Syria, which struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, fighter, bomber and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 14 airstrikes against ISIL terrorists in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Bayji, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.
-- Near Fallujah, an airstrike destroyed an ISIL excavator.
-- Near Mosul, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles, two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL building.
-- Near Tal Afar, three airstrikes struck an ISIL large tactical unit, an ISIL storage facility, an ISIL fighting position and destroyed an ISIL building and an ISIL heavy machine gun; and
-- Near Tikrit, six airstrikes struck six ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL anti-aircraft artillery weapon.
All aircraft returned to base safely.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Airstrikes Hit ISIL in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, March 29, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Airstrikes in Syria
Fighter aircraft conducted an airstrike near Kobani, Syria, which struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, fighter, bomber and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 14 airstrikes against ISIL terrorists in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Bayji, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.
-- Near Fallujah, an airstrike destroyed an ISIL excavator.
-- Near Mosul, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles, two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL building.
-- Near Tal Afar, three airstrikes struck an ISIL large tactical unit, an ISIL storage facility, an ISIL fighting position and destroyed an ISIL building and an ISIL heavy machine gun; and
-- Near Tikrit, six airstrikes struck six ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL anti-aircraft artillery weapon.
All aircraft returned to base safely.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
U.S., GEORGIAN AND AFGHAN SOLDIERS PATROL IN AFGHANISTAN
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
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| U.S., Georgian and Afghan army soldiers patrol outside of the Qaleh Musa Pain village in Helmand province, Afghanistan, March 12, 2015. The U.S. troops are assigned to U.S. Forces Afghanistan, Task Force Solid. The mission was to attend an opening ceremony for repaired culverts in the village. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class David Wheeler. |
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| A Georgian soldier patrols past a compound outside the Qaleh Musa Pain village in Helmand province, Afghanistan, March 12, 2015. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class David Wheeler. |
PLANKTON BLOOM FINDS WAY TO MOVE DOWN
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Spring plankton bloom hitches ride to sea's depths on ocean eddies
Eddies--whirlpools within currents--transport plankton downward from the ocean surface
Just as crocus and daffodil blossoms signal the start of a warmer season on land, a similar "greening" event--a massive bloom of microscopic plants, or phytoplankton--unfolds each spring in the North Atlantic Ocean from Bermuda to the Arctic.
Fertilized by nutrients that have built up during the winter, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every spring and summer with a vivid display of color that stretches across hundreds and hundreds of miles.
North Atlantic Bloom turns ocean into sea of plankton
In what's known as the North Atlantic Bloom, millions of phytoplankton use sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO2) to grow and reproduce at the ocean's surface.
During photosynthesis, phytoplankton remove carbon dioxide from seawater and release oxygen as a by-product. That allows the oceans to absorb additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. If there were fewer phytoplankton, atmospheric carbon dioxide would increase.
Flowers ultimately wither and fade, but what eventually happens to these tiny plants produced in the sea? When phytoplankton die, the carbon in their cells sinks to the deep ocean.
Plankton integral part of oceanic "biological pump"
This so-called biological pump makes the North Atlantic Ocean efficient at soaking up CO2 from the air.
"Much of this 'particulate organic carbon,' especially the larger, heavier particles, sinks," says scientist Melissa Omand of the University of Rhode Island, co-author of a paper on the North Atlantic Bloom published today in the journal Science.
"But we wanted to find out what's happening to the smaller, non-sinking phytoplankton cells from the bloom. Understanding the dynamics of the bloom and what happens to the carbon produced by it is important, especially for being able to predict how the oceans will affect atmospheric CO2 and ultimately climate."
In addition to Omand, other authors of the paper are Amala Mahadevan of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Eric D'Asaro and Craig Lee of the University of Washington, and Mary Jane Perry, Nathan Briggs and Ivona Cetinic of the University of Maine.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
"It's been a challenge to estimate carbon export from the ocean's surface waters to its depths based on measurements of properties such as phytoplankton carbon," says David Garrison, program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. "This paper describes a mechanism for doing that."
Tracking a bloom: Floats, gliders and other instruments
During fieldwork from the research vessels Bjarni Saemundsson and Knorr, the scientists used a float to follow a patch of seawater off Iceland. They observed the progression of the bloom by taking measurements from multiple platforms.
Autonomous gliders outfitted with sensors were used to gather data such as temperature, salinity and information about the chemistry and biology of the bloom--oxygen, nitrate, chlorophyll and the optical signatures of the particulate matter.
At the onset of the bloom and over the next month, four teardrop-shaped seagliders gathered 774 profiles to depths of up to 1,000 meters (3,281 feet).
Analysis of the profiles showed that about 10 percent had unusually high concentrations of phytoplankton bloom properties, even in deep waters, as well as high oxygen concentrations usually found at the surface.
"These profiles were showing what we initially described as 'bumps' at depths much deeper than phytoplankton can grow," says Omand.
Staircases to the deep: Ocean eddies
Using information collected at sea by Perry, D'Asaro and Lee, Mahadevan modeled ocean currents and eddies ("whirlpools" within currents) and their effects on the spring bloom.
"What we were seeing was surface water, rich with phytoplankton carbon, being transported downward by currents on the edges of eddies," Mahadevan says.
"Eddies hadn't been thought of as a major way organic matter is moved into the deeper ocean. But this type of eddy-driven 'subduction' could account for a significant downward movement of phytoplankton from the bloom."
In related work published in Science in 2012, the researchers found that eddies act as early triggers of the North Atlantic Bloom.
Eddies help keep phytoplankton in shallower water where they can be exposed to sunlight to fuel photosynthesis and growth.
Next, the scientists hope to quantify the transport of organic matter from the ocean's surface to its depths in regions beyond the North Atlantic and at other times of year and relate that to phytoplankton productivity.
Learning more about eddies and their link with plankton blooms will allow for more accurate global models of the ocean's carbon cycle, the researchers say, and improve the models' predictive capabilities.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF
Spring plankton bloom hitches ride to sea's depths on ocean eddies
Eddies--whirlpools within currents--transport plankton downward from the ocean surface
Just as crocus and daffodil blossoms signal the start of a warmer season on land, a similar "greening" event--a massive bloom of microscopic plants, or phytoplankton--unfolds each spring in the North Atlantic Ocean from Bermuda to the Arctic.
Fertilized by nutrients that have built up during the winter, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every spring and summer with a vivid display of color that stretches across hundreds and hundreds of miles.
North Atlantic Bloom turns ocean into sea of plankton
In what's known as the North Atlantic Bloom, millions of phytoplankton use sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO2) to grow and reproduce at the ocean's surface.
During photosynthesis, phytoplankton remove carbon dioxide from seawater and release oxygen as a by-product. That allows the oceans to absorb additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. If there were fewer phytoplankton, atmospheric carbon dioxide would increase.
Flowers ultimately wither and fade, but what eventually happens to these tiny plants produced in the sea? When phytoplankton die, the carbon in their cells sinks to the deep ocean.
Plankton integral part of oceanic "biological pump"
This so-called biological pump makes the North Atlantic Ocean efficient at soaking up CO2 from the air.
"Much of this 'particulate organic carbon,' especially the larger, heavier particles, sinks," says scientist Melissa Omand of the University of Rhode Island, co-author of a paper on the North Atlantic Bloom published today in the journal Science.
"But we wanted to find out what's happening to the smaller, non-sinking phytoplankton cells from the bloom. Understanding the dynamics of the bloom and what happens to the carbon produced by it is important, especially for being able to predict how the oceans will affect atmospheric CO2 and ultimately climate."
In addition to Omand, other authors of the paper are Amala Mahadevan of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Eric D'Asaro and Craig Lee of the University of Washington, and Mary Jane Perry, Nathan Briggs and Ivona Cetinic of the University of Maine.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
"It's been a challenge to estimate carbon export from the ocean's surface waters to its depths based on measurements of properties such as phytoplankton carbon," says David Garrison, program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. "This paper describes a mechanism for doing that."
Tracking a bloom: Floats, gliders and other instruments
During fieldwork from the research vessels Bjarni Saemundsson and Knorr, the scientists used a float to follow a patch of seawater off Iceland. They observed the progression of the bloom by taking measurements from multiple platforms.
Autonomous gliders outfitted with sensors were used to gather data such as temperature, salinity and information about the chemistry and biology of the bloom--oxygen, nitrate, chlorophyll and the optical signatures of the particulate matter.
At the onset of the bloom and over the next month, four teardrop-shaped seagliders gathered 774 profiles to depths of up to 1,000 meters (3,281 feet).
Analysis of the profiles showed that about 10 percent had unusually high concentrations of phytoplankton bloom properties, even in deep waters, as well as high oxygen concentrations usually found at the surface.
"These profiles were showing what we initially described as 'bumps' at depths much deeper than phytoplankton can grow," says Omand.
Staircases to the deep: Ocean eddies
Using information collected at sea by Perry, D'Asaro and Lee, Mahadevan modeled ocean currents and eddies ("whirlpools" within currents) and their effects on the spring bloom.
"What we were seeing was surface water, rich with phytoplankton carbon, being transported downward by currents on the edges of eddies," Mahadevan says.
"Eddies hadn't been thought of as a major way organic matter is moved into the deeper ocean. But this type of eddy-driven 'subduction' could account for a significant downward movement of phytoplankton from the bloom."
In related work published in Science in 2012, the researchers found that eddies act as early triggers of the North Atlantic Bloom.
Eddies help keep phytoplankton in shallower water where they can be exposed to sunlight to fuel photosynthesis and growth.
Next, the scientists hope to quantify the transport of organic matter from the ocean's surface to its depths in regions beyond the North Atlantic and at other times of year and relate that to phytoplankton productivity.
Learning more about eddies and their link with plankton blooms will allow for more accurate global models of the ocean's carbon cycle, the researchers say, and improve the models' predictive capabilities.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF
CEO, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF BROKER-DEALER GIVEN PRISON SENTENCE FOR ROLES IN BRIBERY CASE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Friday, March 27, 2015
CEO and Managing Director Of US Broker-Dealer Sentenced for International Bribery Scheme
The former chief executive officer and former managing director of a U.S. broker-dealer (the Broker-Dealer), were sentenced to prison today for their roles in a scheme to pay bribes to a senior official in Venezuela’s state economic development bank, Banco de Desarrollo Económico y Social de Venezuela (Bandes), in return for trading business that generated more than $60 million in commissions.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York made the announcement. The sentences were imposed by U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote of the Southern District of New York.
Benito Chinea, 48, of Manalapan, New Jersey, and Joseph DeMeneses, 45, of Fairfield, Connecticut, were each sentenced to four years in prison. They were also ordered to pay $3,636,432 and $2,670,612 in forfeiture, respectively, which amounts represent their earnings from the bribery scheme. On Dec. 17, 2014, both defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Travel Act.
“These Wall Street executives orchestrated a massive bribery scheme with a corrupt official in Venezuela to illegally secure tens of millions of dollars in business for their firm,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “The convictions and prison sentences of the CEO and Managing Director of a sophisticated Wall Street broker-dealer demonstrate that the Department of Justice will hold individuals accountable for violations of the FCPA and will pursue executives no matter where they are on the corporate ladder.”
“Benito Chinea and Joseph DeMeneses paid bribes to an officer of a state-run development bank in exchange for lucrative business she steered to their firm,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “Chinea and DeMeneses profited for a time from the corrupt arrangement, but that profit has turned into prison and now they must forfeit their millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains as well as their liberty.”
Chinea, the chief executive officer, and DeMeneses, a managing director in the Broker-Dealer, admitted that they worked with others, to arrange bribe payments to the Bandes official, Maria De Los Angeles Gonzalez, in exchange for her directing Bandes’s financial trading business to the Broker-Dealer. Previously, Gonzalez, along with two employees of the Broker-Dealer, Tomas Alberto Clarke Bethancourt (Clarke) and Jose Alejandro Hurtado (Hurtado), pleaded guilty for their involvement in this bribery scheme. A managing director of the Broker-Dealer, Ernesto Lujan, also pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme.
Background on the Broker-Dealer and Bandes
According to court documents, and as admitted by Chinea and DeMeneses at their guilty pleas, the Broker-Dealer, which was headquartered in New York City and had offices in Miami, established a group called the Global Markets Group in 2008, which included DeMeneses, Lujan and Clarke, and which offered fixed income trading services to institutional clients. One of the Broker-Dealer’s clients was Bandes, which operated under the direction of the Venezuelan Ministry of Finance. The Venezuelan government had a majority ownership interest in Bandes and provided it with substantial funding. Gonzalez was an official at Bandes and oversaw the development bank’s overseas trading activity. At her direction, Bandes conducted substantial trading through the Broker-Dealer. Most of the trades executed by the Broker-Dealer on behalf of Bandes involved fixed income investments for which the Broker-Dealer charged Bandes a mark-up on purchases and a mark-down on sales.
The Bribery Scheme
In pleading guilty, Chinea and DeMeneses admitted that, together with three Miami-based Broker-Dealer employees, Lujan, Clarke and Hurtado, they participated in a bribery scheme running from late 2008 through 2012, in which Gonzalez directed trading business to the Broker-Dealer, and in return, agents and employees of the Broker-Dealer split the revenue the Broker-Dealer generated from this trading business with Gonzalez. During this time period, the Broker-Dealer generated over $60 million in commissions from trades with Bandes.
Chinea and DeMeneses also admitted that in order to conceal their conduct, they and their co-conspirators routed the payments to Gonzalez, frequently in six-figure amounts, through third-parties posing as “foreign finders” and into offshore bank accounts. In several instances, Chinea personally signed checks worth millions of dollars that were made payable to one of these purported “foreign finders” and later deposited in a Swiss bank account. Chinea and DeMeneses also admitted that they agreed to use Broker-Dealer funds to reimburse DeMeneses and Clarke for the approximately $1.5 million from their personal funds they used to bribe Gonzalez. To conceal their true nature, Chinea and DeMeneses agreed to hide these reimbursements in the Broker-Dealer’s books as sham loans from the Broker-Dealer to corporate entities associated with DeMeneses and Clarke.
This case is being investigated by the FBI, and prosecuted by Senior Deputy Chief James Koukios and Trial Attorney Kevin R. Gingras of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry A. Chernoff and Jason H. Cowley of the Southern District of New York. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolina Fornos of the Southern District of New York is responsible for the forfeiture aspects of the case. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also assisted with this investigation.
Friday, March 27, 2015
CEO and Managing Director Of US Broker-Dealer Sentenced for International Bribery Scheme
The former chief executive officer and former managing director of a U.S. broker-dealer (the Broker-Dealer), were sentenced to prison today for their roles in a scheme to pay bribes to a senior official in Venezuela’s state economic development bank, Banco de Desarrollo Económico y Social de Venezuela (Bandes), in return for trading business that generated more than $60 million in commissions.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York made the announcement. The sentences were imposed by U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote of the Southern District of New York.
Benito Chinea, 48, of Manalapan, New Jersey, and Joseph DeMeneses, 45, of Fairfield, Connecticut, were each sentenced to four years in prison. They were also ordered to pay $3,636,432 and $2,670,612 in forfeiture, respectively, which amounts represent their earnings from the bribery scheme. On Dec. 17, 2014, both defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Travel Act.
“These Wall Street executives orchestrated a massive bribery scheme with a corrupt official in Venezuela to illegally secure tens of millions of dollars in business for their firm,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “The convictions and prison sentences of the CEO and Managing Director of a sophisticated Wall Street broker-dealer demonstrate that the Department of Justice will hold individuals accountable for violations of the FCPA and will pursue executives no matter where they are on the corporate ladder.”
“Benito Chinea and Joseph DeMeneses paid bribes to an officer of a state-run development bank in exchange for lucrative business she steered to their firm,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “Chinea and DeMeneses profited for a time from the corrupt arrangement, but that profit has turned into prison and now they must forfeit their millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains as well as their liberty.”
Chinea, the chief executive officer, and DeMeneses, a managing director in the Broker-Dealer, admitted that they worked with others, to arrange bribe payments to the Bandes official, Maria De Los Angeles Gonzalez, in exchange for her directing Bandes’s financial trading business to the Broker-Dealer. Previously, Gonzalez, along with two employees of the Broker-Dealer, Tomas Alberto Clarke Bethancourt (Clarke) and Jose Alejandro Hurtado (Hurtado), pleaded guilty for their involvement in this bribery scheme. A managing director of the Broker-Dealer, Ernesto Lujan, also pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme.
Background on the Broker-Dealer and Bandes
According to court documents, and as admitted by Chinea and DeMeneses at their guilty pleas, the Broker-Dealer, which was headquartered in New York City and had offices in Miami, established a group called the Global Markets Group in 2008, which included DeMeneses, Lujan and Clarke, and which offered fixed income trading services to institutional clients. One of the Broker-Dealer’s clients was Bandes, which operated under the direction of the Venezuelan Ministry of Finance. The Venezuelan government had a majority ownership interest in Bandes and provided it with substantial funding. Gonzalez was an official at Bandes and oversaw the development bank’s overseas trading activity. At her direction, Bandes conducted substantial trading through the Broker-Dealer. Most of the trades executed by the Broker-Dealer on behalf of Bandes involved fixed income investments for which the Broker-Dealer charged Bandes a mark-up on purchases and a mark-down on sales.
The Bribery Scheme
In pleading guilty, Chinea and DeMeneses admitted that, together with three Miami-based Broker-Dealer employees, Lujan, Clarke and Hurtado, they participated in a bribery scheme running from late 2008 through 2012, in which Gonzalez directed trading business to the Broker-Dealer, and in return, agents and employees of the Broker-Dealer split the revenue the Broker-Dealer generated from this trading business with Gonzalez. During this time period, the Broker-Dealer generated over $60 million in commissions from trades with Bandes.
Chinea and DeMeneses also admitted that in order to conceal their conduct, they and their co-conspirators routed the payments to Gonzalez, frequently in six-figure amounts, through third-parties posing as “foreign finders” and into offshore bank accounts. In several instances, Chinea personally signed checks worth millions of dollars that were made payable to one of these purported “foreign finders” and later deposited in a Swiss bank account. Chinea and DeMeneses also admitted that they agreed to use Broker-Dealer funds to reimburse DeMeneses and Clarke for the approximately $1.5 million from their personal funds they used to bribe Gonzalez. To conceal their true nature, Chinea and DeMeneses agreed to hide these reimbursements in the Broker-Dealer’s books as sham loans from the Broker-Dealer to corporate entities associated with DeMeneses and Clarke.
This case is being investigated by the FBI, and prosecuted by Senior Deputy Chief James Koukios and Trial Attorney Kevin R. Gingras of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry A. Chernoff and Jason H. Cowley of the Southern District of New York. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolina Fornos of the Southern District of New York is responsible for the forfeiture aspects of the case. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also assisted with this investigation.
CDC SEEKS TO HAVE ZERO EBOLA CASES
FROM: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
Ebola in West Africa: The Importance of “Getting to Zero”
Despite progress, the region remains vulnerable to resurgence of Ebola
One year after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began the largest international emergency response in agency history, the goal is the same: Get to zero new Ebola cases in West Africa. In a digital press kit released today, CDC chronicles progress to date and the work needed to “Get to Zero” cases in West Africa.
“CDC’s critical and sustained response has helped contribute to the important progress seen in West Africa, including the dramatic decrease of new Ebola cases in Liberia during the first part of the year,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “But despite these signs of hope, the fight against Ebola is far from over.”
In March 2014, public health officials reported the first outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. Recognizing the danger not only to the region but to the world, CDC responded quickly. In West Africa, CDC teams have worked with the governments of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and other international partners to:
establish emergency operations centers in all three nations,
trace patient contacts in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach areas,
test more than 12,000 blood samples for Ebola virus in just one CDC lab in Sierra Leone,
train more than 23,000 West African healthcare workers to improve infection control, and
develop messages to help people understand how to protect themselves and their families.
In the United States, CDC helped establish airport screening to ensure all travelers from the affected West African countries are screened on arrival, and worked with state health partners to monitor returning travelers for 21 days to ensure they are Ebola-free. CDC also has helped 55 facilities in 17 states and the District of Columbia become designated as Ebola treatment centers to prepare to care for patients with Ebola if necessary. These efforts are showing progress. Liberia had a steady decrease in new cases during the first part of the year, and in March went more than 21 days. The identification in late March of a new Ebola case in Liberia and continuing identification of cases in Sierra Leone and Guinea highlight how vulnerable the region remains.
CDC remains committed to helping West Africa get to zero. Working with partners, we are strengthening public health systems to prevent Ebola and other outbreaks from taking hold in the future.
Ebola in West Africa: The Importance of “Getting to Zero”
Despite progress, the region remains vulnerable to resurgence of Ebola
One year after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began the largest international emergency response in agency history, the goal is the same: Get to zero new Ebola cases in West Africa. In a digital press kit released today, CDC chronicles progress to date and the work needed to “Get to Zero” cases in West Africa.
“CDC’s critical and sustained response has helped contribute to the important progress seen in West Africa, including the dramatic decrease of new Ebola cases in Liberia during the first part of the year,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “But despite these signs of hope, the fight against Ebola is far from over.”
In March 2014, public health officials reported the first outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. Recognizing the danger not only to the region but to the world, CDC responded quickly. In West Africa, CDC teams have worked with the governments of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and other international partners to:
establish emergency operations centers in all three nations,
trace patient contacts in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach areas,
test more than 12,000 blood samples for Ebola virus in just one CDC lab in Sierra Leone,
train more than 23,000 West African healthcare workers to improve infection control, and
develop messages to help people understand how to protect themselves and their families.
In the United States, CDC helped establish airport screening to ensure all travelers from the affected West African countries are screened on arrival, and worked with state health partners to monitor returning travelers for 21 days to ensure they are Ebola-free. CDC also has helped 55 facilities in 17 states and the District of Columbia become designated as Ebola treatment centers to prepare to care for patients with Ebola if necessary. These efforts are showing progress. Liberia had a steady decrease in new cases during the first part of the year, and in March went more than 21 days. The identification in late March of a new Ebola case in Liberia and continuing identification of cases in Sierra Leone and Guinea highlight how vulnerable the region remains.
CDC remains committed to helping West Africa get to zero. Working with partners, we are strengthening public health systems to prevent Ebola and other outbreaks from taking hold in the future.
WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET ON BUILDING A BETTER FINANCIAL SYSTEM AND PROTECTING CONSUMERS
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
March 26, 2015
FACT SHEET: Progress Toward Building a Safer, Stronger Financial System and Protecting Consumers from Unfair and Abusive Practices
Today, the President is in Birmingham, Alabama to speak about the progress we have made to build a safer and stronger financial system and to protect families from the types of abuses that led the economy to near collapse – and his commitment to safeguarding that progress.
Before the financial crisis, the irresponsibility and recklessness that was allowed to prevail on Wall Street may have seemed remote from Main Streets across the country. But we know now that was not the case. One of the most critical components of the Wall Street Reform bill passed by Congress in 2010 and signed by the President was the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a dedicated, independent cop on the beat with the single goal of protecting consumers from threats like abusive practices of unscrupulous lenders or the fraudulent practices of debt collectors. Today, in another example of how crucial Wall Street Reform protections are for Main Street families, the CFPB has announced they are taking an important first step toward writing rules to help prevent abuses in payday lending and protect consumers from getting trapped in expensive cycles of debt and fees.
Apart from the work of the CFPB, the Obama Administration has continued its broader fight to protect consumers. In the last year alone, President Obama has announced steps to crack down on conflicts of interest in retirement investment advice that are costing middle class families billions of dollars every year, to put in place a bill of rights for students borrowing for college, and to provide proactive mortgage payment relief for active duty servicemembers and their families.
Yet even as the President and the CFPB continue to take action on behalf of consumers, Congressional Republicans are advancing budget plans and legislation this week designed to limit the ability of the CFPB to do its job and to undermine other crucial reforms. The Republican budgets risk returning us to the days of “too big to fail,” protecting Wall Street firms from important regulatory safeguards and putting ordinary citizens and the economy at risk. These measures are part of a broader effort by Wall Street lobbyists, special interest groups, and their Republican allies in Congress to roll back the progress we have made in creating a safer financial system that supports the middle class.
We cannot let Republicans in Congress undo the progress we’ve made by unraveling Wall Street Reform. These reforms have made our financial system dramatically safer by curbing the reckless practices that helped precipitate the crisis and have delivered substantial benefits to consumers. Wall Street Reform has built a stronger and more stable foundation for economic growth. That’s why the President is reiterating today the message he delivered in the State of the Union: if Congress sends him a bill that unravels the new rules on Wall Street, he will veto it.
Progress from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Prior to the creation of the CFPB as an independent agency, there was no single agency that had all the tools and the mandate to oversee consumer financial products and services that Americans rely on every day. Even though many payday and similar lenders trap consumers in cycles of debt, too often these lenders have escaped regulation. But today, the CFPB is stepping up to help address this problem and better protect affected consumers, yet another example of how Wall Street Reform is delivering real results for working families.
Taking Action on Payday Lending
Problems Continue in Payday Lending: While marketed as a tool to meet consumers’ short-term credit needs, payday loans—and loans with similar structures like title loans or other installment loans—often trap families in an abusive and expensive cycle of debt and fees. Eighty percent of payday loans are rolled over or followed by another loan within 14 days, and the average borrower stays in debt for about 200 days out of the year.
As a Result of Wall Street Reform, an Independent Consumer Watchdog Can Now Take Action on Payday Lending: The CFPB is the first Federal regulator empowered to write rules that curb the abusive activities of payday lenders, and under that authority, today announced that it was considering proposing new rules that would end payday debt traps. The CFPB has made clear it recognizes the need for affordable small dollar credit while creating reasonable safeguards so that consumers are treated fairly and do not face an unsustainable debt cycle. The CFPB’s approach could serve as a Federal floor with states around the nation continuing to tailor their regulation of payday and similar loans as they see fit to meet the needs of their constituents.
The CFPB’s Continuing Record of Action
Since its creation as an independent agency, the CFPB has taken bold action in a number of important areas, providing a total of $5.3 billion in relief through enforcement actions to more than 15 million consumers who were harmed, and setting stronger rules of the road that prevent abuse in credit card, debt collection, student loan servicing, and mortgage lending markets. Following are some examples of how the CFPB is delivering for middle class and working families:
Cracked Down on Fraudulent Credit Card Practices: The CFPB has cracked down on costly and often unneeded credit card add-on products like identity protection and disability insurance, bringing enforcement actions that resulted in over $1 billion returned to millions of consumers signed up for products without their knowledge or paying for services they did not receive.
Prohibited Abusive Mortgage Lending: The CFPB has implemented significant mortgage lending reforms to address the actions and products that hurt so many homeowners during and after the financial crisis. For example, lenders are now prohibited from offering mortgages that borrowers cannot repay, must use significantly improved mortgage disclosures that make products easier to understand, and must limit high fees and abusive payment structures. The CFPB has also created national mortgage servicing standards, established clear rules of the road for borrowers, and put in place pro-consumer restrictions for mortgage servicers.
Created New Protections for Student Loan Borrowers: The CFPB has set up a complaint database for borrowers and launched oversight of student loan servicers. The CFPB and the Department of Education also initiated complementary enforcement actions against for-profit colleges that engaged in predatory or deceptive student loan practices, winning loan forgiveness for thousands of students.
Established Rules for Remittances Abroad: The CFPB has established rules making it easier for people who send money abroad to compare prices and ensure that all the money they send reaches its destination.
Penalized Discriminatory Auto Lending Practices: The CFPB has assessed $18 million in penalties and returned $80 million to consumers who were victimized by auto loan programs which resulted in higher interest rates being charged because of a borrower’s race or national origin.
Protected Military Service Members from Abusive Practices: The CFPB has secured more than $1 million in restitution through 2014 for military service members, veterans, and their families based on over 14,000 complaints the Bureau received.
Created a System for Handling Consumer Complaints: The CFPB has received more than 540,000 consumer complaints about financial products and services since it began processing complaints in 2011, including 240,000 complaints in FY2014. And this month, the CFPB announced that it will give consumers the choice to publicly share their personal financial complaint narratives with others through the Bureau’s complaint database, so consumers can learn from one another.
Building a Broader Record of Consumer Protection:
Apart from CFPB’s efforts, the Administration has taken a broad set of steps to fight to protect consumers from the abuses that led to the financial crisis. In the last year alone, President Obama:
Announced Steps to Crack Down on Conflicts of Interest That Sap Retirement Accounts: Last month, the President announced steps to crack down on backdoor payments and hidden fees that incentivize retirement advisers to recommend bad investments with high costs and low returns. These conflicts of interest sap away families’ hard earned dollars from their retirement accounts, costing working and middle-class families approximately $17 billion in losses each year. The Department of Labor is planning to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring retirement advisers to abide by a “fiduciary” standard—putting their clients’ best interest before their own profits.
Rolled Out A New Student Aid Bill Of Rights: This month the President underscored his vision for a quality, affordable education for all Americans through a new Student Aid Bill of Rights. Among the new actions, the President signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Education to work across the federal government to do more to help borrowers afford their monthly loan payments including by: creating a responsive student complaint system to ensure quality customer service and accountability for the Department of Education, its contractors, and colleges; requiring enhanced disclosures and stronger consumer protections for student loan borrowers; establishing a centralized hub for all federal student loan borrowers in repayment to access account and payment processing information; and ensuring fair treatment for struggling and distressed borrowers.
Provided Proactive Payment Relief to Active Duty Military and Their Families: The Administration has partnered with five large financial institutions to proactively offer interest rate reductions on their mortgage loans to active duty military and their families. Active duty military are entitled to this benefit under the 2003 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) but only if they request it and jump through hoops by providing unnecessary paperwork and documentation, which many of them do not. The President launched a coordinated effort across government to cut regulatory red tape, allowing participating lenders to proactively identify and reach out to our active duty service members to enroll them in these important financial protections.
Secured Billions in Penalties and Fines from Banks for their Involvement in the Mortgage Crisis: The Department of Justice (DOJ) secured billions from the country’s largest financial services institutions as a result of civil investigations related to the packaging, marketing, sale, arrangement, structuring and issuance of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS), collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), and the banks’ practices concerning the underwriting and origination of mortgage loans. A large portion of these settlements will be set aside as aid for hundreds of thousands of homeowners and other consumers harmed by the financial crisis precipitated in part by Wall Street’s unlawful conduct.
Protecting the Progress We’ve Made in Reforming Wall Street
The President’s Wall Street Reforms have made our financial system safer and stronger by limiting the excess risks and reckless practices that caused the crisis, providing substantial benefits to families, communities, and the broader economy.
Wall Street Reform has built a stronger and more stable foundation for economic growth and ended the worst of the practices that contributed to the financial crisis, such as curbing predatory lending and closing regulatory gaps.
Wall Street Reform has made our financial system safer and more resilient by curbing excessive risk-taking by financial institutions. Banks have added over $500 billion of capital to cushion against unexpected losses and reduce overall leverage.
These reforms benefit Main Street by providing businesses—large and small—with more stable access to credit to fund expansion, make payrolls, and help create jobs. Business lending is up by more than 50 percent since its post-crisis low.
These reforms also benefit middle-class families through new investor protections that will make it safer to invest and grow their savings, including through strengthened enforcement authorities for market regulators and enhanced disclosure requirements.
Yet, even as the President continues to work to build on this progress, Republicans in Congress are seeking to undermine it through attacks on Wall Street Reform. Given how far we have come since the crisis, it is hard to understand the efforts of some to undermine our ability to protect consumers, investors, and taxpayers from excessive risks taken by financial institutions. The Administration is willing to consider reasonable reforms that make the law work better and supports efforts by regulators to tailor rules to apply only where they should. But we cannot let Republicans take us back to the way things were before the crisis. Here are a few concerning ways that Wall Street lobbyists, the special interests, and their Republican allies in Congress are seeking to undermine these critical reforms:
Undermining the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Despite the CFPB’s progress, Republicans have consistently stood with Wall Street lobbyists and the special interests over middle class families by seeking to limit the power of the CFPB through proposals to replace its director with a five-member panel, limiting the Bureau’s ability to respond effectively to rapid changes in the financial services market, place additional procedural burdens on its rulemaking and data collection processes, and eliminate the fund that the CFPB uses to compensate consumers who have been the victims of fraudulent and deceptive practices. Just this week, Congressional Republicans are advancing budget plans and legislation designed to severely limit the ability of the CFPB to do its job of protecting consumers, among other things. The Administration will not allow Republicans to undermine the important work of the CFPB.
Using Small Lender Relief to let Big Banks Off the Hook: Small lenders play a vital role in their communities and the Administration supports tailoring regulations where appropriate, but we cannot allow measures that purport to help community banks be a back door to undermine reform, letting big banks take excessive risks like they took before the crisis.
Putting Roadblocks in the Way of Bringing the Financial System Under Stronger Regulatory Oversight and Supervision: Republicans in Congress are attempting to hobble financial overseers and independent watchdogs that are keeping an eye on risks in big banks and nonbank financial companies. Standing in the way of these independent watchdogs makes it tougher to catch and prevent the next threat to financial stability.
Sending us Back to the Days of “Too Big to Fail”: In the heart of the financial crisis, regulators needed to deal with faltering firms such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and AIG but lacked the ability to wind them down in an orderly manner without damaging the broader financial system. Orderly liquidation authority—in “Title II” of Dodd-Frank—is a critical emergency tool for resolving firms in an orderly manner, when the failure of a firm could threaten the financial stability of the United States and only when bankruptcy is not an effective option. We cannot accept proposals that would roll back the very tools needed to allow any firm, no matter how large and complex, to fail without harming the economy.
March 26, 2015
FACT SHEET: Progress Toward Building a Safer, Stronger Financial System and Protecting Consumers from Unfair and Abusive Practices
Today, the President is in Birmingham, Alabama to speak about the progress we have made to build a safer and stronger financial system and to protect families from the types of abuses that led the economy to near collapse – and his commitment to safeguarding that progress.
Before the financial crisis, the irresponsibility and recklessness that was allowed to prevail on Wall Street may have seemed remote from Main Streets across the country. But we know now that was not the case. One of the most critical components of the Wall Street Reform bill passed by Congress in 2010 and signed by the President was the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a dedicated, independent cop on the beat with the single goal of protecting consumers from threats like abusive practices of unscrupulous lenders or the fraudulent practices of debt collectors. Today, in another example of how crucial Wall Street Reform protections are for Main Street families, the CFPB has announced they are taking an important first step toward writing rules to help prevent abuses in payday lending and protect consumers from getting trapped in expensive cycles of debt and fees.
Apart from the work of the CFPB, the Obama Administration has continued its broader fight to protect consumers. In the last year alone, President Obama has announced steps to crack down on conflicts of interest in retirement investment advice that are costing middle class families billions of dollars every year, to put in place a bill of rights for students borrowing for college, and to provide proactive mortgage payment relief for active duty servicemembers and their families.
Yet even as the President and the CFPB continue to take action on behalf of consumers, Congressional Republicans are advancing budget plans and legislation this week designed to limit the ability of the CFPB to do its job and to undermine other crucial reforms. The Republican budgets risk returning us to the days of “too big to fail,” protecting Wall Street firms from important regulatory safeguards and putting ordinary citizens and the economy at risk. These measures are part of a broader effort by Wall Street lobbyists, special interest groups, and their Republican allies in Congress to roll back the progress we have made in creating a safer financial system that supports the middle class.
We cannot let Republicans in Congress undo the progress we’ve made by unraveling Wall Street Reform. These reforms have made our financial system dramatically safer by curbing the reckless practices that helped precipitate the crisis and have delivered substantial benefits to consumers. Wall Street Reform has built a stronger and more stable foundation for economic growth. That’s why the President is reiterating today the message he delivered in the State of the Union: if Congress sends him a bill that unravels the new rules on Wall Street, he will veto it.
Progress from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Prior to the creation of the CFPB as an independent agency, there was no single agency that had all the tools and the mandate to oversee consumer financial products and services that Americans rely on every day. Even though many payday and similar lenders trap consumers in cycles of debt, too often these lenders have escaped regulation. But today, the CFPB is stepping up to help address this problem and better protect affected consumers, yet another example of how Wall Street Reform is delivering real results for working families.
Taking Action on Payday Lending
Problems Continue in Payday Lending: While marketed as a tool to meet consumers’ short-term credit needs, payday loans—and loans with similar structures like title loans or other installment loans—often trap families in an abusive and expensive cycle of debt and fees. Eighty percent of payday loans are rolled over or followed by another loan within 14 days, and the average borrower stays in debt for about 200 days out of the year.
As a Result of Wall Street Reform, an Independent Consumer Watchdog Can Now Take Action on Payday Lending: The CFPB is the first Federal regulator empowered to write rules that curb the abusive activities of payday lenders, and under that authority, today announced that it was considering proposing new rules that would end payday debt traps. The CFPB has made clear it recognizes the need for affordable small dollar credit while creating reasonable safeguards so that consumers are treated fairly and do not face an unsustainable debt cycle. The CFPB’s approach could serve as a Federal floor with states around the nation continuing to tailor their regulation of payday and similar loans as they see fit to meet the needs of their constituents.
The CFPB’s Continuing Record of Action
Since its creation as an independent agency, the CFPB has taken bold action in a number of important areas, providing a total of $5.3 billion in relief through enforcement actions to more than 15 million consumers who were harmed, and setting stronger rules of the road that prevent abuse in credit card, debt collection, student loan servicing, and mortgage lending markets. Following are some examples of how the CFPB is delivering for middle class and working families:
Cracked Down on Fraudulent Credit Card Practices: The CFPB has cracked down on costly and often unneeded credit card add-on products like identity protection and disability insurance, bringing enforcement actions that resulted in over $1 billion returned to millions of consumers signed up for products without their knowledge or paying for services they did not receive.
Prohibited Abusive Mortgage Lending: The CFPB has implemented significant mortgage lending reforms to address the actions and products that hurt so many homeowners during and after the financial crisis. For example, lenders are now prohibited from offering mortgages that borrowers cannot repay, must use significantly improved mortgage disclosures that make products easier to understand, and must limit high fees and abusive payment structures. The CFPB has also created national mortgage servicing standards, established clear rules of the road for borrowers, and put in place pro-consumer restrictions for mortgage servicers.
Created New Protections for Student Loan Borrowers: The CFPB has set up a complaint database for borrowers and launched oversight of student loan servicers. The CFPB and the Department of Education also initiated complementary enforcement actions against for-profit colleges that engaged in predatory or deceptive student loan practices, winning loan forgiveness for thousands of students.
Established Rules for Remittances Abroad: The CFPB has established rules making it easier for people who send money abroad to compare prices and ensure that all the money they send reaches its destination.
Penalized Discriminatory Auto Lending Practices: The CFPB has assessed $18 million in penalties and returned $80 million to consumers who were victimized by auto loan programs which resulted in higher interest rates being charged because of a borrower’s race or national origin.
Protected Military Service Members from Abusive Practices: The CFPB has secured more than $1 million in restitution through 2014 for military service members, veterans, and their families based on over 14,000 complaints the Bureau received.
Created a System for Handling Consumer Complaints: The CFPB has received more than 540,000 consumer complaints about financial products and services since it began processing complaints in 2011, including 240,000 complaints in FY2014. And this month, the CFPB announced that it will give consumers the choice to publicly share their personal financial complaint narratives with others through the Bureau’s complaint database, so consumers can learn from one another.
Building a Broader Record of Consumer Protection:
Apart from CFPB’s efforts, the Administration has taken a broad set of steps to fight to protect consumers from the abuses that led to the financial crisis. In the last year alone, President Obama:
Announced Steps to Crack Down on Conflicts of Interest That Sap Retirement Accounts: Last month, the President announced steps to crack down on backdoor payments and hidden fees that incentivize retirement advisers to recommend bad investments with high costs and low returns. These conflicts of interest sap away families’ hard earned dollars from their retirement accounts, costing working and middle-class families approximately $17 billion in losses each year. The Department of Labor is planning to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring retirement advisers to abide by a “fiduciary” standard—putting their clients’ best interest before their own profits.
Rolled Out A New Student Aid Bill Of Rights: This month the President underscored his vision for a quality, affordable education for all Americans through a new Student Aid Bill of Rights. Among the new actions, the President signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Education to work across the federal government to do more to help borrowers afford their monthly loan payments including by: creating a responsive student complaint system to ensure quality customer service and accountability for the Department of Education, its contractors, and colleges; requiring enhanced disclosures and stronger consumer protections for student loan borrowers; establishing a centralized hub for all federal student loan borrowers in repayment to access account and payment processing information; and ensuring fair treatment for struggling and distressed borrowers.
Provided Proactive Payment Relief to Active Duty Military and Their Families: The Administration has partnered with five large financial institutions to proactively offer interest rate reductions on their mortgage loans to active duty military and their families. Active duty military are entitled to this benefit under the 2003 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) but only if they request it and jump through hoops by providing unnecessary paperwork and documentation, which many of them do not. The President launched a coordinated effort across government to cut regulatory red tape, allowing participating lenders to proactively identify and reach out to our active duty service members to enroll them in these important financial protections.
Secured Billions in Penalties and Fines from Banks for their Involvement in the Mortgage Crisis: The Department of Justice (DOJ) secured billions from the country’s largest financial services institutions as a result of civil investigations related to the packaging, marketing, sale, arrangement, structuring and issuance of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS), collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), and the banks’ practices concerning the underwriting and origination of mortgage loans. A large portion of these settlements will be set aside as aid for hundreds of thousands of homeowners and other consumers harmed by the financial crisis precipitated in part by Wall Street’s unlawful conduct.
Protecting the Progress We’ve Made in Reforming Wall Street
The President’s Wall Street Reforms have made our financial system safer and stronger by limiting the excess risks and reckless practices that caused the crisis, providing substantial benefits to families, communities, and the broader economy.
Wall Street Reform has built a stronger and more stable foundation for economic growth and ended the worst of the practices that contributed to the financial crisis, such as curbing predatory lending and closing regulatory gaps.
Wall Street Reform has made our financial system safer and more resilient by curbing excessive risk-taking by financial institutions. Banks have added over $500 billion of capital to cushion against unexpected losses and reduce overall leverage.
These reforms benefit Main Street by providing businesses—large and small—with more stable access to credit to fund expansion, make payrolls, and help create jobs. Business lending is up by more than 50 percent since its post-crisis low.
These reforms also benefit middle-class families through new investor protections that will make it safer to invest and grow their savings, including through strengthened enforcement authorities for market regulators and enhanced disclosure requirements.
Yet, even as the President continues to work to build on this progress, Republicans in Congress are seeking to undermine it through attacks on Wall Street Reform. Given how far we have come since the crisis, it is hard to understand the efforts of some to undermine our ability to protect consumers, investors, and taxpayers from excessive risks taken by financial institutions. The Administration is willing to consider reasonable reforms that make the law work better and supports efforts by regulators to tailor rules to apply only where they should. But we cannot let Republicans take us back to the way things were before the crisis. Here are a few concerning ways that Wall Street lobbyists, the special interests, and their Republican allies in Congress are seeking to undermine these critical reforms:
Undermining the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Despite the CFPB’s progress, Republicans have consistently stood with Wall Street lobbyists and the special interests over middle class families by seeking to limit the power of the CFPB through proposals to replace its director with a five-member panel, limiting the Bureau’s ability to respond effectively to rapid changes in the financial services market, place additional procedural burdens on its rulemaking and data collection processes, and eliminate the fund that the CFPB uses to compensate consumers who have been the victims of fraudulent and deceptive practices. Just this week, Congressional Republicans are advancing budget plans and legislation designed to severely limit the ability of the CFPB to do its job of protecting consumers, among other things. The Administration will not allow Republicans to undermine the important work of the CFPB.
Using Small Lender Relief to let Big Banks Off the Hook: Small lenders play a vital role in their communities and the Administration supports tailoring regulations where appropriate, but we cannot allow measures that purport to help community banks be a back door to undermine reform, letting big banks take excessive risks like they took before the crisis.
Putting Roadblocks in the Way of Bringing the Financial System Under Stronger Regulatory Oversight and Supervision: Republicans in Congress are attempting to hobble financial overseers and independent watchdogs that are keeping an eye on risks in big banks and nonbank financial companies. Standing in the way of these independent watchdogs makes it tougher to catch and prevent the next threat to financial stability.
Sending us Back to the Days of “Too Big to Fail”: In the heart of the financial crisis, regulators needed to deal with faltering firms such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and AIG but lacked the ability to wind them down in an orderly manner without damaging the broader financial system. Orderly liquidation authority—in “Title II” of Dodd-Frank—is a critical emergency tool for resolving firms in an orderly manner, when the failure of a firm could threaten the financial stability of the United States and only when bankruptcy is not an effective option. We cannot accept proposals that would roll back the very tools needed to allow any firm, no matter how large and complex, to fail without harming the economy.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
U.S. CONDEMNS ATTACK ON HOTEL IN SOMALIA
FROM: THE STATE DEPARTMENT
U.S. Condemns Terrorist Attack in Somalia
Press Statement
Marie Harf
Acting Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
March 28, 2015
The United States strongly condemns al-Shabaab’s terrorist attack on the Maka al-Mukarama Hotel in Mogadishu yesterday. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the innocent victims killed in the attack and our regrets to the many who were injured. The United States praises the Somali forces for their response to this terrorist attack.
The United States stands with the Somali people and their government as they bring stability, security, and prosperity to all Somalis. We will not be swayed by cowardly terrorist attacks, but will work together for a brighter future.
U.S. Condemns Terrorist Attack in Somalia
Press Statement
Marie Harf
Acting Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
March 28, 2015
The United States strongly condemns al-Shabaab’s terrorist attack on the Maka al-Mukarama Hotel in Mogadishu yesterday. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the innocent victims killed in the attack and our regrets to the many who were injured. The United States praises the Somali forces for their response to this terrorist attack.
The United States stands with the Somali people and their government as they bring stability, security, and prosperity to all Somalis. We will not be swayed by cowardly terrorist attacks, but will work together for a brighter future.
U.S.-MEXICO ISSUE STATEMENT ON CLIMATE POLICY COOPERATION
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
March 27, 2015
Joint Statement on U.S.-Mexico Climate Policy Cooperation
On the occasion of Mexico submitting its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), President Barack Obama and President Enrique Peña Nieto reaffirm their commitment to addressing global climate change, one of the greatest threats facing humanity. The leaders underscore the importance of jointly addressing climate in their integrated economy. Smart action on climate change and developing clean energy can drive economic growth, and bring broad security, health, and development benefits to the region. The two countries will seize every opportunity to harmonize their efforts and policies towards their common climate goals. The two countries will launch a new high-level bilateral clean energy and climate policy task force to further deepen policy and regulatory coordination in specific areas including clean electricity, grid modernization, appliance standards, and energy efficiency, as well as promoting more fuel efficient automobile fleets in both countries, global and regional climate modeling, weather forecasting and early alerts system. The interagency task force will be chaired by Secretary Ernest Moniz and Secretary Juan José Guerra Abud, and hold its first meeting this spring. The task force will also look to advance its work program through the Clean Energy Ministerial that Mexico is hosting on May 27-28 and related initiatives. Both countries also commit to enhanced cooperation on air quality and climate policy, including harmonization and implementation of heavy-duty diesel and light duty emission standards, common programs to reduce reliance on HFCs, and technical cooperation on black carbon.
March 27, 2015
Joint Statement on U.S.-Mexico Climate Policy Cooperation
On the occasion of Mexico submitting its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), President Barack Obama and President Enrique Peña Nieto reaffirm their commitment to addressing global climate change, one of the greatest threats facing humanity. The leaders underscore the importance of jointly addressing climate in their integrated economy. Smart action on climate change and developing clean energy can drive economic growth, and bring broad security, health, and development benefits to the region. The two countries will seize every opportunity to harmonize their efforts and policies towards their common climate goals. The two countries will launch a new high-level bilateral clean energy and climate policy task force to further deepen policy and regulatory coordination in specific areas including clean electricity, grid modernization, appliance standards, and energy efficiency, as well as promoting more fuel efficient automobile fleets in both countries, global and regional climate modeling, weather forecasting and early alerts system. The interagency task force will be chaired by Secretary Ernest Moniz and Secretary Juan José Guerra Abud, and hold its first meeting this spring. The task force will also look to advance its work program through the Clean Energy Ministerial that Mexico is hosting on May 27-28 and related initiatives. Both countries also commit to enhanced cooperation on air quality and climate policy, including harmonization and implementation of heavy-duty diesel and light duty emission standards, common programs to reduce reliance on HFCs, and technical cooperation on black carbon.
ALLEGED FTC IMPERSONATORS ORDERED BY COURT TO TEMPORARILY SHUTDOWN
FROM: FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FTC
Scammers Make Impossible Promises, Target Spanish-Speaking Consumers
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has halted the operations of a company that calls itself “FTC Credit Solutions.” The company allegedly used false affiliation with the Commission to market bogus credit repair services to Spanish-speaking consumers.
In a complaint filed with the court, the FTC alleges that defendants deceived consumers by claiming to be affiliated with or licensed by the Federal Trade Commission, falsely promising that they could remove negative information from consumers’ credit reports, and guaranteeing consumers a credit score of 700 or above within six months or less.
“Peddling lies under the name of the Federal Trade Commission to target consumers who are in difficult financial situations is appalling,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This scam used the promise of a fresh start to hurt consumers when they most needed help, so we are pleased the court has taken a first step to ending it for good.”
The FTC’s complaint quotes a radio advertisement hosted by defendant Guillermo Leyes, in which he falsely stated that FTC Credit Solutions had a license from the FTC. Defendant Leyes misrepresented that the purported license allowed FTC Credit Solutions to guarantee any consumer a credit score of 700 or higher within 120 days or less.
According to the FTC’s filings, in undercover calls placed to the company by FTC investigators posing as consumers seeking debt repair services, defendant Maria Bernal, an employee of the company, said that the company “works under the Federal Trade Commission, which is a law that was signed by the President in 2010.” She also falsely promised that the company could “delete” and “get [the investigator] a pardon” for $19,000 in debt.
The FTC further alleges that the company unlawfully charged consumers fees in advance of providing the promised credit repair services. The company also sent the major credit bureaus letters with false information on behalf of numerous consumers.
The FTC alleges that the company, along with employees Leyes, Bernal, Jimena Perez and Fermin Campos, violated the FTC Act and the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA). Specifically, defendants violated the FTC Act by misrepresenting that they were affiliated with the FTC, by falsely promising to remove negative information from consumers’ credit reports, and by making false promises about improving consumers’ credit scores. In addition, the FTC alleges that by charging consumers upfront for credit repair services and misrepresenting their services, the defendants violated the CROA.
Under the terms of the temporary restraining order granted by the court, the company has temporarily ceased operations and the defendants’ assets are frozen.
The County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs provided significant assistance in this case.
The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 5-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them.
Scammers Make Impossible Promises, Target Spanish-Speaking Consumers
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has halted the operations of a company that calls itself “FTC Credit Solutions.” The company allegedly used false affiliation with the Commission to market bogus credit repair services to Spanish-speaking consumers.
In a complaint filed with the court, the FTC alleges that defendants deceived consumers by claiming to be affiliated with or licensed by the Federal Trade Commission, falsely promising that they could remove negative information from consumers’ credit reports, and guaranteeing consumers a credit score of 700 or above within six months or less.
“Peddling lies under the name of the Federal Trade Commission to target consumers who are in difficult financial situations is appalling,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This scam used the promise of a fresh start to hurt consumers when they most needed help, so we are pleased the court has taken a first step to ending it for good.”
The FTC’s complaint quotes a radio advertisement hosted by defendant Guillermo Leyes, in which he falsely stated that FTC Credit Solutions had a license from the FTC. Defendant Leyes misrepresented that the purported license allowed FTC Credit Solutions to guarantee any consumer a credit score of 700 or higher within 120 days or less.
According to the FTC’s filings, in undercover calls placed to the company by FTC investigators posing as consumers seeking debt repair services, defendant Maria Bernal, an employee of the company, said that the company “works under the Federal Trade Commission, which is a law that was signed by the President in 2010.” She also falsely promised that the company could “delete” and “get [the investigator] a pardon” for $19,000 in debt.
The FTC further alleges that the company unlawfully charged consumers fees in advance of providing the promised credit repair services. The company also sent the major credit bureaus letters with false information on behalf of numerous consumers.
The FTC alleges that the company, along with employees Leyes, Bernal, Jimena Perez and Fermin Campos, violated the FTC Act and the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA). Specifically, defendants violated the FTC Act by misrepresenting that they were affiliated with the FTC, by falsely promising to remove negative information from consumers’ credit reports, and by making false promises about improving consumers’ credit scores. In addition, the FTC alleges that by charging consumers upfront for credit repair services and misrepresenting their services, the defendants violated the CROA.
Under the terms of the temporary restraining order granted by the court, the company has temporarily ceased operations and the defendants’ assets are frozen.
The County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs provided significant assistance in this case.
The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 5-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them.
HHS, USDA, DOD SECRETARIES DISCUSS COMBATING ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Our Plan to Combat and Prevent Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Mar 27, 2015
By: Sylvia Mathews Burwell, HHS Secretary
Co-Authored by: USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
Antibiotics save millions of lives every year. Today, however, the emergence of drug resistance in bacteria is undermining the effectiveness of current antibiotics and our ability to treat and prevent disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that drug-resistant bacteria cause two million illnesses and approximately 23,000 deaths each year in the United States alone. Antibiotic resistance also limits our ability to perform a range of modern medical procedures, such as chemotherapy, surgery, and organ transplants. That’s why fighting antibiotic resistance is a national priority.
Over the past year, the Administration has taken important steps to address the threat of antibiotic resistance. In September 2014, the President issued Executive Order (EO) 13676: Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, which outlines steps for implementing the National Strategy on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and addressing the policy recommendations of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)’s report on Combating Antibiotic Resistance. Furthermore, the President’s FY 2016 Budget released earlier this year proposed nearly doubling the amount of Federal funding for combating and preventing antibiotic resistance to more than $1.2 billion.
Combating and preventing antibiotic resistance, however, will be a long-term effort. That’s why, today, the Administration is releasing the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (NAP). The NAP outlines a whole-of-government approach over the next five years targeted at addressing this threat:
1. Slow the emergence of resistant bacteria and prevent the spread of resistant infections
The judicious use of antibiotics in health care and agriculture settings is essential to combating the rise in antibiotic resistance. We can help slow the emergence of resistant bacteria by being smarter about prescribing practices across all human and animal health care settings, and by continuing to eliminate the use of medically-important antibiotics for growth promotion in animals.
2. Strengthen national "One-Health" surveillance efforts
A “One-Health” approach to disease surveillance will improve detection and control of antibiotic resistance by integrating data from multiple monitoring networks, and by providing high-quality information, such as detailed genomic data, necessary to tracking resistant bacteria in diverse settings in a timely fashion.
3. Advance development and use of rapid and innovative diagnostic tests
The development of rapid “point-of-need” diagnostic tests could significantly reduce unnecessary antibiotic use by allowing health care providers to distinguish between viral and bacterial infections, and identify bacterial drug susceptibilities during a single health care visit making it easier for providers to recommend appropriate, targeted treatment.
4. Accelerate basic and applied research and development
New antibiotics and alternative treatments for both humans and animals are critical to maintaining our capacity to treat and prevent disease. This involves supporting and streamlining the drug development process, as well as increasing the number of candidate drugs at all stages of the development pipeline. Additionally, boosting basic research to better understand the ecology of antibiotic resistance will help us develop effective mitigation strategies.
5. Improve international collaboration and capacities
Antibiotic resistance is a global problem that requires global solutions. The United States will engage with foreign ministries and institutions to strengthen national and international capacities to detect, monitor, analyze, and report antibiotic resistance; provide resources and incentives to spur the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for use in humans and animals; and strengthen regional networks and global partnerships that help prevent and control the emergence and spread of resistance.
The NAP is a comprehensive effort that will require the coordinated and complementary efforts of individuals and groups around the world, including public- and private-sector partners, health care providers, health care leaders, veterinarians, agriculture industry leaders, manufacturers, policymakers, and patients. Working together, we can turn the tide against the rise in antibiotic resistance and make the world a healthier and safer place for the next generation.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell is the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Tom Vilsack is the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture. Ash Carter is the Secretary of the Department of Defense.
Our Plan to Combat and Prevent Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Mar 27, 2015
By: Sylvia Mathews Burwell, HHS Secretary
Co-Authored by: USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
Antibiotics save millions of lives every year. Today, however, the emergence of drug resistance in bacteria is undermining the effectiveness of current antibiotics and our ability to treat and prevent disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that drug-resistant bacteria cause two million illnesses and approximately 23,000 deaths each year in the United States alone. Antibiotic resistance also limits our ability to perform a range of modern medical procedures, such as chemotherapy, surgery, and organ transplants. That’s why fighting antibiotic resistance is a national priority.
Over the past year, the Administration has taken important steps to address the threat of antibiotic resistance. In September 2014, the President issued Executive Order (EO) 13676: Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, which outlines steps for implementing the National Strategy on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and addressing the policy recommendations of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)’s report on Combating Antibiotic Resistance. Furthermore, the President’s FY 2016 Budget released earlier this year proposed nearly doubling the amount of Federal funding for combating and preventing antibiotic resistance to more than $1.2 billion.
Combating and preventing antibiotic resistance, however, will be a long-term effort. That’s why, today, the Administration is releasing the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (NAP). The NAP outlines a whole-of-government approach over the next five years targeted at addressing this threat:
1. Slow the emergence of resistant bacteria and prevent the spread of resistant infections
The judicious use of antibiotics in health care and agriculture settings is essential to combating the rise in antibiotic resistance. We can help slow the emergence of resistant bacteria by being smarter about prescribing practices across all human and animal health care settings, and by continuing to eliminate the use of medically-important antibiotics for growth promotion in animals.
2. Strengthen national "One-Health" surveillance efforts
A “One-Health” approach to disease surveillance will improve detection and control of antibiotic resistance by integrating data from multiple monitoring networks, and by providing high-quality information, such as detailed genomic data, necessary to tracking resistant bacteria in diverse settings in a timely fashion.
3. Advance development and use of rapid and innovative diagnostic tests
The development of rapid “point-of-need” diagnostic tests could significantly reduce unnecessary antibiotic use by allowing health care providers to distinguish between viral and bacterial infections, and identify bacterial drug susceptibilities during a single health care visit making it easier for providers to recommend appropriate, targeted treatment.
4. Accelerate basic and applied research and development
New antibiotics and alternative treatments for both humans and animals are critical to maintaining our capacity to treat and prevent disease. This involves supporting and streamlining the drug development process, as well as increasing the number of candidate drugs at all stages of the development pipeline. Additionally, boosting basic research to better understand the ecology of antibiotic resistance will help us develop effective mitigation strategies.
5. Improve international collaboration and capacities
Antibiotic resistance is a global problem that requires global solutions. The United States will engage with foreign ministries and institutions to strengthen national and international capacities to detect, monitor, analyze, and report antibiotic resistance; provide resources and incentives to spur the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for use in humans and animals; and strengthen regional networks and global partnerships that help prevent and control the emergence and spread of resistance.
The NAP is a comprehensive effort that will require the coordinated and complementary efforts of individuals and groups around the world, including public- and private-sector partners, health care providers, health care leaders, veterinarians, agriculture industry leaders, manufacturers, policymakers, and patients. Working together, we can turn the tide against the rise in antibiotic resistance and make the world a healthier and safer place for the next generation.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell is the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Tom Vilsack is the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture. Ash Carter is the Secretary of the Department of Defense.
HHS TARGETS PRESCRIPTION OPIOID AND HEROIN RELATED OVERDOSING
FROM: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
March 26, 2015
HHS takes strong steps to address opioid-drug related overdose, death and dependence
Evidence-based, bipartisan efforts focus on prescribing practices and treatment to reduce prescription opioid and heroin use disorders
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell today announced a targeted initiative aimed at reducing prescription opioid and heroin related overdose, death and dependence. Deaths from drug overdose have risen steadily over the past two decades and currently outnumber deaths from car accidents in the United States. The President’s FY 2016 budget includes critical investments to intensify efforts to reduce opioid misuse and abuse, including $133 million in new funding to address this critical issue.
The Secretary’s efforts focus on three priority areas that tackle the opioid crisis, significantly impacting those struggling with substance use disorders and helping save lives.
Providing training and educational resources, including updated prescriber guidelines, to assist health professionals in making informed prescribing decisions and address the over-prescribing of opioids.
Increasing use of naloxone, as well as continuing to support the development and distribution of the life-saving drug, to help reduce the number of deaths associated with prescription opioid and heroin overdose.
Expanding the use of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), a comprehensive way to address the needs of individuals that combines the use of medication with counseling and behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorders.
Addressing the opioid crisis is a top priority for the department and the Secretary is committed to bipartisan solutions and evidence-informed interventions to turn the tide against opioid drug-related overdose and misuse.
“Opioid drug abuse is a devastating epidemic facing our nation. I have seen firsthand, in my home state of West Virginia, a state struggling with this very real crisis, the impact of opioid addiction. That’s why I’m taking a targeted approach to tackling this issue focused on prevention, treatment and intervention,” said Secretary Burwell. “I also know we can’t do this alone. We need all stakeholders to come together to fight the opioid epidemic.”
Prescription drugs, especially opioid analgesics—a class of prescription drugs used to treat both acute and chronic pain such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, codeine, morphine, and methadone, have increasingly been implicated in drug overdose deaths over the last decade. Deaths related to heroin have also sharply increased since 2010, with a 39 percent increase between 2012 and 2013.
Among drug overdose deaths in 2013, approximately 37 percent involved prescription opioids. Given these alarming trends, it is time for a sustainable response to prevent and treat opioid use disorders.
As part of these priority areas, the Secretary’s efforts build on current HHS strategies to address the opioid epidemic and expands many of the most promising initiatives with the greatest potential for impact, including:
Helping health professionals to make the most informed prescribing decisions:
Teaching medical professionals how and when to prescribe opioids by working with lawmakers on bipartisan legislation requiring specific training for safe opioid prescribing and establishing new opioid prescribing guidelines for chronic pain
Supporting data sharing for safe prescribing by facilitating prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) and health information technology integration and further adoption of electronic prescribing practices
Increasing investments in state-level prevention interventions, including PDMPs, to track opioid prescribing and support appropriate pain management
Increasing use of naloxone:
Supporting the development, review, and approval of new naloxone products and delivery options
Promoting state use of Substance Abuse Block Grant funds to purchase naloxone
Implementing the Prescription Drug Overdose grant program for states to purchase naloxone and train first responders on its use
Expanding use of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT):
Launching a grant program in FY 2015 to improve access to MAT services through education, training, and purchase of MAT medications for treatment of prescription opioid and heroin addiction
Exploring bipartisan policy changes to increase use of buprenorphine and develop the training to assist prescribing
Through bipartisan work across the federal government and with Capitol Hill, as well as strategic partnerships with states and private industry, Secretary Burwell will work to address the current opioid epidemic and reduce prescription opioid and heroin overdoses and deaths.
On March 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention for States program to provide state health departments with resources to enhance their PDMPs and advance innovative prevention efforts. This funding will support approximately 16 states in implementing robust prevention programs to improve safe prescribing practices and turn the tide on the prescription drug overdose epidemic. The application period is currently open to states. As part of her efforts to combat the opioid crisis as outlined above, Secretary Burwell included in the HHS 2016 budget a major expansion of this program so that this critical investment can reach all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
The Food and Drug Administration also plays an integral role in combatting opioid drug-related abuse and misuse from its review of products to monitoring use after distribution. FDA will continue to use its expedited review authorities to encourage the development of non-opioid pain medications intended to treat chronic pain. FDA also supports the wider use of naloxone and is working to support the development of abuse-deterrent opioid products.
March 26, 2015
HHS takes strong steps to address opioid-drug related overdose, death and dependence
Evidence-based, bipartisan efforts focus on prescribing practices and treatment to reduce prescription opioid and heroin use disorders
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell today announced a targeted initiative aimed at reducing prescription opioid and heroin related overdose, death and dependence. Deaths from drug overdose have risen steadily over the past two decades and currently outnumber deaths from car accidents in the United States. The President’s FY 2016 budget includes critical investments to intensify efforts to reduce opioid misuse and abuse, including $133 million in new funding to address this critical issue.
The Secretary’s efforts focus on three priority areas that tackle the opioid crisis, significantly impacting those struggling with substance use disorders and helping save lives.
Providing training and educational resources, including updated prescriber guidelines, to assist health professionals in making informed prescribing decisions and address the over-prescribing of opioids.
Increasing use of naloxone, as well as continuing to support the development and distribution of the life-saving drug, to help reduce the number of deaths associated with prescription opioid and heroin overdose.
Expanding the use of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), a comprehensive way to address the needs of individuals that combines the use of medication with counseling and behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorders.
Addressing the opioid crisis is a top priority for the department and the Secretary is committed to bipartisan solutions and evidence-informed interventions to turn the tide against opioid drug-related overdose and misuse.
“Opioid drug abuse is a devastating epidemic facing our nation. I have seen firsthand, in my home state of West Virginia, a state struggling with this very real crisis, the impact of opioid addiction. That’s why I’m taking a targeted approach to tackling this issue focused on prevention, treatment and intervention,” said Secretary Burwell. “I also know we can’t do this alone. We need all stakeholders to come together to fight the opioid epidemic.”
Prescription drugs, especially opioid analgesics—a class of prescription drugs used to treat both acute and chronic pain such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, codeine, morphine, and methadone, have increasingly been implicated in drug overdose deaths over the last decade. Deaths related to heroin have also sharply increased since 2010, with a 39 percent increase between 2012 and 2013.
Among drug overdose deaths in 2013, approximately 37 percent involved prescription opioids. Given these alarming trends, it is time for a sustainable response to prevent and treat opioid use disorders.
As part of these priority areas, the Secretary’s efforts build on current HHS strategies to address the opioid epidemic and expands many of the most promising initiatives with the greatest potential for impact, including:
Helping health professionals to make the most informed prescribing decisions:
Teaching medical professionals how and when to prescribe opioids by working with lawmakers on bipartisan legislation requiring specific training for safe opioid prescribing and establishing new opioid prescribing guidelines for chronic pain
Supporting data sharing for safe prescribing by facilitating prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) and health information technology integration and further adoption of electronic prescribing practices
Increasing investments in state-level prevention interventions, including PDMPs, to track opioid prescribing and support appropriate pain management
Increasing use of naloxone:
Supporting the development, review, and approval of new naloxone products and delivery options
Promoting state use of Substance Abuse Block Grant funds to purchase naloxone
Implementing the Prescription Drug Overdose grant program for states to purchase naloxone and train first responders on its use
Expanding use of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT):
Launching a grant program in FY 2015 to improve access to MAT services through education, training, and purchase of MAT medications for treatment of prescription opioid and heroin addiction
Exploring bipartisan policy changes to increase use of buprenorphine and develop the training to assist prescribing
Through bipartisan work across the federal government and with Capitol Hill, as well as strategic partnerships with states and private industry, Secretary Burwell will work to address the current opioid epidemic and reduce prescription opioid and heroin overdoses and deaths.
On March 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention for States program to provide state health departments with resources to enhance their PDMPs and advance innovative prevention efforts. This funding will support approximately 16 states in implementing robust prevention programs to improve safe prescribing practices and turn the tide on the prescription drug overdose epidemic. The application period is currently open to states. As part of her efforts to combat the opioid crisis as outlined above, Secretary Burwell included in the HHS 2016 budget a major expansion of this program so that this critical investment can reach all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
The Food and Drug Administration also plays an integral role in combatting opioid drug-related abuse and misuse from its review of products to monitoring use after distribution. FDA will continue to use its expedited review authorities to encourage the development of non-opioid pain medications intended to treat chronic pain. FDA also supports the wider use of naloxone and is working to support the development of abuse-deterrent opioid products.
PRESIDENT'S BUDGET SUPPORTS MODERNIZING COMBAT AVIATION PROGRAM
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Navy, Air Force Advocate for Modernizing Combat Aviation
By Terri Moon Cronk
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2015 – Top Navy and Air Force officials today told the House Armed Services subcommittee on tactical air and land forces the president’s budget request for fiscal year 2016 will support modernizing combat aviation programs.
Navy Vice Adm. Paul A. Grosklags, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisitions; Air Force Lt. Gen. James M. “Mike” Holmes, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, Air Force headquarters; and Air Force Maj. Gen. Timothy M. Ray, director, global power programs, office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, all testified on the need for a modern force.
Navy and Marine Corps aviation allows “sea-based and expeditionary naval forces to bring simultaneous influence over vast stretches of the maritime environment across the shoreline and deep inland,” Grosklags said.
Aviation Must Stay Ready, Poised
It is therefore critical that U.S. aviation forces remain “always ready and poised to engage at a moment’s notice with required capacity and capability to influence events, and if necessary, to fight and win,” he said.
As global threats and demands increase, the Navy’s budget grows more challenging, Grosklags said, adding that the Navy and Marine Corps depend on today’s modernization and readiness efforts.
“Across the department, the strategies for our development, procurement and sustainment of [existing] and future weapons systems are critically dependent upon stable, and predictable funding at a level commensurate with [the president’s 2016 budget request],” he said.
“The alternative has been made clear by our secretaries and service chiefs,” the admiral emphasized. “A smaller force, a force less forward deployed; a force slower to respond in a crisis, is a force, which, when it does respond, will be less capable and more vulnerable.”
Budget Would Help Balance Air Force Needs
The National Defense Strategy is increasingly at risk, Holmes said, and the proposed budget takes steps to balance the many challenges the Air Force faces.
“The Air Force continues every day to deliver global vigilance,” he said.
“However, [after] more than 25 years of sustained combat operations and years of constrained budgets, it is becoming more difficult to achieve our mission.”
The first of many difficult capacity decisions before the Air Force is whether to divest itself of the A-10 fighter jet, he said.
“There’s no question the A-10 has been a steady and stellar performer in recent conflicts,” Holmes told the panel. “Nevertheless, our force structure is simply unaffordable in today’s fiscal environment.”
Divesting the entire A-10 fleet would free up $4.7 billion for the Air Force’s future defense program, which would pay for priority capacity, capability and readiness needs, he said.
But overall, the Air Force fighter jet fleet is facing an average age of 30 years, the oldest in the service’s history, Holmes said.
“The fourth-generation F-15s and F-16s, that are the majority of our fighter fleet, require upgrades to extend their life span and provide the combat capability required to prevail in today’s increasingly contested environments,” he emphasized.
Similarly, the advanced capabilities of the fifth-generation fighters -- F-22s and F-35s -- are critical to ensure the service’s ability to fight and win in contested environments, he added.
“The Air Force continues to be the world’s finest across the spectrum of conflict, but the gap is closing,” Holmes noted. “A return to sequestration-level funding would result in a less-ready, less-capable, less-viable Air Force that’s unable to fully execute the National Defense Strategy.”
Sequestration is a provision of current budget law that mandates major across-the-board spending cuts in fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1.
Global Security Complex
Today’s global security environment is more complex than ever before, Ray told subcommittee members, and the Air Force “must continue to invest in science and technology to modernize our capabilities.”
The budget proposal continues to focus on modernizing Air Force capabilities while exploring game-changing technologies for the future, Ray added.
“Adversaries are developing technologies and capabilities to shape and deter our nation,” he pointed out.
“[We] must continue to institute servicewide efficiencies that will capitalize on innovative concepts, keep weapons systems on track and build affordability into new systems,” Ray said, adding that the president’s FY 16 budget proposal “reflects Air Force priorities in these areas.”
Navy, Air Force Advocate for Modernizing Combat Aviation
By Terri Moon Cronk
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2015 – Top Navy and Air Force officials today told the House Armed Services subcommittee on tactical air and land forces the president’s budget request for fiscal year 2016 will support modernizing combat aviation programs.
Navy Vice Adm. Paul A. Grosklags, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisitions; Air Force Lt. Gen. James M. “Mike” Holmes, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, Air Force headquarters; and Air Force Maj. Gen. Timothy M. Ray, director, global power programs, office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, all testified on the need for a modern force.
Navy and Marine Corps aviation allows “sea-based and expeditionary naval forces to bring simultaneous influence over vast stretches of the maritime environment across the shoreline and deep inland,” Grosklags said.
Aviation Must Stay Ready, Poised
It is therefore critical that U.S. aviation forces remain “always ready and poised to engage at a moment’s notice with required capacity and capability to influence events, and if necessary, to fight and win,” he said.
As global threats and demands increase, the Navy’s budget grows more challenging, Grosklags said, adding that the Navy and Marine Corps depend on today’s modernization and readiness efforts.
“Across the department, the strategies for our development, procurement and sustainment of [existing] and future weapons systems are critically dependent upon stable, and predictable funding at a level commensurate with [the president’s 2016 budget request],” he said.
“The alternative has been made clear by our secretaries and service chiefs,” the admiral emphasized. “A smaller force, a force less forward deployed; a force slower to respond in a crisis, is a force, which, when it does respond, will be less capable and more vulnerable.”
Budget Would Help Balance Air Force Needs
The National Defense Strategy is increasingly at risk, Holmes said, and the proposed budget takes steps to balance the many challenges the Air Force faces.
“The Air Force continues every day to deliver global vigilance,” he said.
“However, [after] more than 25 years of sustained combat operations and years of constrained budgets, it is becoming more difficult to achieve our mission.”
The first of many difficult capacity decisions before the Air Force is whether to divest itself of the A-10 fighter jet, he said.
“There’s no question the A-10 has been a steady and stellar performer in recent conflicts,” Holmes told the panel. “Nevertheless, our force structure is simply unaffordable in today’s fiscal environment.”
Divesting the entire A-10 fleet would free up $4.7 billion for the Air Force’s future defense program, which would pay for priority capacity, capability and readiness needs, he said.
But overall, the Air Force fighter jet fleet is facing an average age of 30 years, the oldest in the service’s history, Holmes said.
“The fourth-generation F-15s and F-16s, that are the majority of our fighter fleet, require upgrades to extend their life span and provide the combat capability required to prevail in today’s increasingly contested environments,” he emphasized.
Similarly, the advanced capabilities of the fifth-generation fighters -- F-22s and F-35s -- are critical to ensure the service’s ability to fight and win in contested environments, he added.
“The Air Force continues to be the world’s finest across the spectrum of conflict, but the gap is closing,” Holmes noted. “A return to sequestration-level funding would result in a less-ready, less-capable, less-viable Air Force that’s unable to fully execute the National Defense Strategy.”
Sequestration is a provision of current budget law that mandates major across-the-board spending cuts in fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1.
Global Security Complex
Today’s global security environment is more complex than ever before, Ray told subcommittee members, and the Air Force “must continue to invest in science and technology to modernize our capabilities.”
The budget proposal continues to focus on modernizing Air Force capabilities while exploring game-changing technologies for the future, Ray added.
“Adversaries are developing technologies and capabilities to shape and deter our nation,” he pointed out.
“[We] must continue to institute servicewide efficiencies that will capitalize on innovative concepts, keep weapons systems on track and build affordability into new systems,” Ray said, adding that the president’s FY 16 budget proposal “reflects Air Force priorities in these areas.”
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