FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Hagel Concludes Six-day Troop, Partner Nation Visits
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service
DOHA, Qatar, Dec. 10, 2013 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel wrapped up a dual-purpose six-day trip to the Middle East and Southwest Asia here today.
As the secretary told troops at his last stop here, “The first priority and the real reason I was out here and spent time was to thank our troops, thank our men and women who do so much for all of us.”
Hagel also spent time engaging with allies and partners to assure them of the United States’ commitment to the region. He delivered a speech on the U.S. regional force posture in Manama, Bahrain. Hagel also spent two days in Afghanistan talking with Afghan military leaders and U.S. troops and ground commanders. And, he attended high-level meetings in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and here.
The secretary’s day in Qatar started at a palace and concluded at a semi-secret military facility. In the interim, Hagel and Qatari Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah formally renewed the U.S.-Qatar Defense Cooperation Agreement. The agreement governs training, exercises and other cooperative interactions between U.S. and Qatari forces.
“This agreement promotes cooperation and is a testament to the longstanding security partnership enjoyed by the United States and Qatar,” Assistant Pentagon Press Secretary Carl Woog said in a written statement.
Woog added that the accord “underscores the close partnership between the United States and its [Gulf Cooperation Council] partners, which Secretary Hagel highlighted in his remarks at the Manama Dialogue this past weekend.”
The secretary’s first stop today was the Sea Palace, where he met with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, Qatar’s emir. He then moved on to the signing ceremony at Qatar’s government headquarters, and then paid a visit to U.S. and coalition forces at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center, located at Al Udeid Airbase, a Qatari base that hosts the U.S. command-and-control facility.
Addressing service members there -- his fourth troop talk this week -- Hagel thanked them and their families, offering his and President Barack Obama’s best wishes for the holiday season.
“I know occasionally you’re stuck in remote places and you wonder if anybody even knows where you are or who you are or what you’re doing,” the secretary said. “Let me assure you, we do.”
The center where they work coordinates military air operations in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility by integrating nearly 30 nations’ capabilities into a complete, real-time overview of mission execution. Hagel told troops that multinational approach is “where the world’s going.”
A senior defense official traveling with the secretary told reporters on background that the center might be unique in the degree of talent it brings together.
“[There’s] probably no other facility where you can go and see so many partners operating together at once,” the official said. “So that’s a story that is important, to reassure our allies and our partners.”
The official added that the center, which military leaders have in the past been reluctant to publicize because of regional sensitivities, makes it “visible to the world that we’re working together on common defense.”
Hagel told the airmen, sailors, soldiers and Marines at Al Udeid that the experience and training Gulf nation representatives receive there, along with integrated allied participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, furthers U.S. aims to build partner capacity.
“Our partners are going to be as important, and probably more so, than they’ve ever been, for our own national security [and] for their national security,” the secretary said, emphasizing a message he has delivered throughout his time in office.
“The more we can understand each other [and] work with each other, the better the world is going to be,” Hagel told the troops. “I’m particularly impressed with that part of what you’re doing here.”
The secretary began his trip telling delegates to the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain that the United States will maintain its troop posture in the region and that it seeks to strengthen coalitions there. He repeated that message today.
“We’re not going to get disconnected from our allies in this region,” he told reporters traveling with him before boarding the plane for Washington. “Our common interests are very clear here.”
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT BEGINS PRINCIPAL AMBASSADOR FELLOWSHIP WITH SELECTION OF THREE PRINCIPALS
FROM: U.S. EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Education Secretary Arne Duncan Launches Principal Ambassador Fellowship with Three Principals Selected for Inaugural Program
DECEMBER 9, 2013
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the names of three principals selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Education's first Principal Ambassador Fellows (PAFs) program. They are:
Sharif El-Mekki, Mastery Charter School - Shoemaker Campus, Philadelphia, Pa.;
Jill Levine, Normal Park Museum Magnet, Chattanooga, Tenn.; and,
Rachel Skerritt, Eastern Senior High School, Washington, DC.
The principals will serve from now until August 2014 as part-time employees to lend the perspective of school principals to the work of the Department. As the first PAFs, they will also help design the fellowship program for future participants.
"Each year I have the opportunity to visit schools and meet with leaders across the country who are committed to improving educational outcomes for our nation's students," said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "Principals are a linchpin in the effort to improve student success and raise achievement at any scale, and I look forward to working with the 2013 Principal Ambassador Fellows to continue a thoughtful conversation on the best ways to sustain and support school leaders for the long haul. Their firsthand knowledge of the challenges principals face will help shape policy and programs across the country to better prepare our nation's children for college and career."
Beginning today, the PAFs are participating in a two-day summit at the Department's headquarters in Washington, DC to become more familiar with federal education policy and Department staff, as well as to begin exchanging ideas for enhancing communication between school and education policy leaders.
Launched last February, the PAF program was created in recognition of the vital role principals play in every aspect of a school's success – from instruction to the school environment to staff performance -- and to better connect their expertise and talent with education policymakers. The principal fellows, in turn, will have the opportunity to lend their perspective on the best ways to implement policies at the school level and engage local communities in the outcomes.
Principals El-Mekki, Levine, and Skerritt were selected from a pool of over 450 applicants who serve in a wide variety of traditional public and charter schools, as well as alternative and private schools. Applications came from principals in nearly every state working in a range of urban, rural and suburban settings. The Principal Ambassador Fellowship program will complement and build on the benefits of the Department's Teaching Ambassador Fellowship, now in its sixth year.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan Launches Principal Ambassador Fellowship with Three Principals Selected for Inaugural Program
DECEMBER 9, 2013
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the names of three principals selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Education's first Principal Ambassador Fellows (PAFs) program. They are:
Sharif El-Mekki, Mastery Charter School - Shoemaker Campus, Philadelphia, Pa.;
Jill Levine, Normal Park Museum Magnet, Chattanooga, Tenn.; and,
Rachel Skerritt, Eastern Senior High School, Washington, DC.
The principals will serve from now until August 2014 as part-time employees to lend the perspective of school principals to the work of the Department. As the first PAFs, they will also help design the fellowship program for future participants.
"Each year I have the opportunity to visit schools and meet with leaders across the country who are committed to improving educational outcomes for our nation's students," said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "Principals are a linchpin in the effort to improve student success and raise achievement at any scale, and I look forward to working with the 2013 Principal Ambassador Fellows to continue a thoughtful conversation on the best ways to sustain and support school leaders for the long haul. Their firsthand knowledge of the challenges principals face will help shape policy and programs across the country to better prepare our nation's children for college and career."
Beginning today, the PAFs are participating in a two-day summit at the Department's headquarters in Washington, DC to become more familiar with federal education policy and Department staff, as well as to begin exchanging ideas for enhancing communication between school and education policy leaders.
Launched last February, the PAF program was created in recognition of the vital role principals play in every aspect of a school's success – from instruction to the school environment to staff performance -- and to better connect their expertise and talent with education policymakers. The principal fellows, in turn, will have the opportunity to lend their perspective on the best ways to implement policies at the school level and engage local communities in the outcomes.
Principals El-Mekki, Levine, and Skerritt were selected from a pool of over 450 applicants who serve in a wide variety of traditional public and charter schools, as well as alternative and private schools. Applications came from principals in nearly every state working in a range of urban, rural and suburban settings. The Principal Ambassador Fellowship program will complement and build on the benefits of the Department's Teaching Ambassador Fellowship, now in its sixth year.
DEPUTY AG COLE'S REMARKS AT DRUG POLICY REFORM CONFERENCE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole Delivers Remarks at the Office of National Drug Control Policy Drug Policy Reform Conference
~ Monday, December 9, 2013
Thank you Gil for that introduction, for your partnership, and for your tireless work on drug prevention, drug treatment, and criminal justice strategies to break the cycle of drug use and crime. It is an honor to be among this dedicated and diverse group of professionals, policymakers and community leaders whose work promotes public health and safety. The agenda for this conference is both important and timely.
At the Department of Justice, we have undertaken a number of initiatives that address the law enforcement, public safety, and public health aspects of drug policy reform. Law enforcement plays an indispensable part in protecting communities from drug-related crime and violence. We know that there are dangerous people out there, running drug organizations and committing murders as part of the drug trade. Those individuals need to be incarcerated for the crimes they commit.
But there are also lower level drug defendants. Many suffer from their own drug abuse issues, and fall into a vicious cycle of drug abuse, criminal behavior, incarceration, and release. Too often, this cycle repeats. But recognizing that these lower level drug defendants don’t present the same public safety risks as the more serious criminals, our approach to dealing with the problems posed by drugs should not be one-size-fits-all. Instead, we should look to provide a range of responses that include the chance to overcome an addiction, provide the opportunity to get help before going to prison, and provide an off-ramp from the vicious cycle of drugs and crime.
This approach could result in the avoidance of a criminal conviction in the first place or it could positively affect the defendant’s ability to successfully reintegrate into society in years to come. It shifts the paradigm by providing treatment and services to individuals who are motivated and truly want to turn their lives around. The advantages to this approach are many: we not only assist individuals and their families, but we gain the ability to improve public safety and public health, directly benefiting our citizens and our society and more efficiently using taxpayer dollars.
Together with our state and local law enforcement partners in the field -- whose tireless work keeps our communities safe -- we continue to make real inroads in protecting public safety. Even within limited budgets, we have been able to focus our efforts on prevention and reentry, as well as enforcement. For example, through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, the Department has brought state leaders, local stakeholders, private partners, and federal officials together to reform corrections and criminal justice practices. In recent years, no fewer than 17 states – supported by the Department, and led by governors and legislators of both parties – have directed funding away from prison construction and toward evidence-based programs and services that are designed to allow states to provide drug treatment and reduce recidivism. And the results are telling: many participating states have seen drops in recidivism rates and prison populations, while still maintaining public safety.
We are doing the same thing in the federal system because it has become clear that the trajectory of the federal criminal justice system, left unaltered, is unsustainable. Dollars are finite and the increasing costs of the federal prison and detention population drain funds from other enforcement priorities. They take dollars away from the Department’s prevention and recidivism reduction programs, and limi our capacity to fund other pressing criminal justice and national security priorities, such as hiring more agents and prosecutors or providing support to state and local partners to help in the fight against violent crime. Put simply, if we don’t find a way to reduce the federal prison population, public safety is going to suffer.
To try to address this problem, earlier this year the Department embarked on a review of its criminal justice policies. We made some specific changes to existing policy and strengthened our commitment to our prevailing goals. We modified the Justice Department’s charging policies so that certain low-level, non-violent drug defendants who have no significant ties to large-scale organizations, gangs, or cartels, will no longer be charged with offenses that impose mandatory minimum sentences. Instead, these low-level drug defendants will be charged with offenses for which the accompanying sentences are better suited to their individual conduct. By reserving the most severe prison terms for serious, high-level, or violent drug traffickers or kingpins, we enhance public safety.
The Department is also promoting and strengthening its diversion programs – such as drug treatment initiatives – to provide more effective alternatives to incarceration for some individuals. This summer, the Department issued a “best practices” memorandum to encourage more widespread adoption by prosecutors of programs such as drug courts, specialty courts and other treatment courts.
And to make sure these programs are a top priority, every U.S. Attorney now must designate a Prevention and Reentry Coordinator in his or her district to ensure that this work is done.
In addition, the Bureau of Prisons has expanded capacity for its Residential Drug Abuse Program, which provides important treatment to inmates. This expansion will provide more non-violent inmates with the opportunity to deal with their drug and mental health issues that are so often at the root of criminal behavior, so they can successfully re-enter and become productive members of society.
Our reforms also include changes in the Department's framework for considering compassionate release requests. We expanded the medical criteria that can be considered and announced new criteria including allowing consideration for elderly inmates and certain inmates who are the only possible caregiver for their dependents.
And finally I want to talk about the Federal Interagency Reentry Council. Created by the Attorney General, it brings together over 20 federal departments and agencies to focus an all of government approach to helping those coming out of prison. This collaboration works to reduce barriers to housing, employment and education and increase access to healthcare and treatment for those re-entering society. And this collaboration has borne fruit – not only by increasing the chances of successful re-entry for those leaving federal prison, but also helping incarcerated veterans get back on track, assisting children of the incarcerated, and reducing the unnecessary collateral consequences of a conviction. Across the federal government, we are partnering to strengthen communities, reduce recidivism, and improve public safety.
This morning, I’ve discussed several steps the Department has taken to build upon successes and make changes to our criminal justice system. In light of our limited resources, we have had to take a hard look at our policies and our priorities, and have recommitted to maintaining public safety in a manner that is both smart and efficient when battling drug related crime and the conditions that breed it.
As we move forward with these and other reforms, we will continue to stand and work alongside you, drawing upon your experience, relying on your expertise, and depending on your engagement to refine and strengthen each new proposal. Today’s conference -- and the exchange of ideas it will foster among our Nation’s drug policy experts -- is a necessary and important step in this process.
Thank you.
Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole Delivers Remarks at the Office of National Drug Control Policy Drug Policy Reform Conference
~ Monday, December 9, 2013
Thank you Gil for that introduction, for your partnership, and for your tireless work on drug prevention, drug treatment, and criminal justice strategies to break the cycle of drug use and crime. It is an honor to be among this dedicated and diverse group of professionals, policymakers and community leaders whose work promotes public health and safety. The agenda for this conference is both important and timely.
At the Department of Justice, we have undertaken a number of initiatives that address the law enforcement, public safety, and public health aspects of drug policy reform. Law enforcement plays an indispensable part in protecting communities from drug-related crime and violence. We know that there are dangerous people out there, running drug organizations and committing murders as part of the drug trade. Those individuals need to be incarcerated for the crimes they commit.
But there are also lower level drug defendants. Many suffer from their own drug abuse issues, and fall into a vicious cycle of drug abuse, criminal behavior, incarceration, and release. Too often, this cycle repeats. But recognizing that these lower level drug defendants don’t present the same public safety risks as the more serious criminals, our approach to dealing with the problems posed by drugs should not be one-size-fits-all. Instead, we should look to provide a range of responses that include the chance to overcome an addiction, provide the opportunity to get help before going to prison, and provide an off-ramp from the vicious cycle of drugs and crime.
This approach could result in the avoidance of a criminal conviction in the first place or it could positively affect the defendant’s ability to successfully reintegrate into society in years to come. It shifts the paradigm by providing treatment and services to individuals who are motivated and truly want to turn their lives around. The advantages to this approach are many: we not only assist individuals and their families, but we gain the ability to improve public safety and public health, directly benefiting our citizens and our society and more efficiently using taxpayer dollars.
Together with our state and local law enforcement partners in the field -- whose tireless work keeps our communities safe -- we continue to make real inroads in protecting public safety. Even within limited budgets, we have been able to focus our efforts on prevention and reentry, as well as enforcement. For example, through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, the Department has brought state leaders, local stakeholders, private partners, and federal officials together to reform corrections and criminal justice practices. In recent years, no fewer than 17 states – supported by the Department, and led by governors and legislators of both parties – have directed funding away from prison construction and toward evidence-based programs and services that are designed to allow states to provide drug treatment and reduce recidivism. And the results are telling: many participating states have seen drops in recidivism rates and prison populations, while still maintaining public safety.
We are doing the same thing in the federal system because it has become clear that the trajectory of the federal criminal justice system, left unaltered, is unsustainable. Dollars are finite and the increasing costs of the federal prison and detention population drain funds from other enforcement priorities. They take dollars away from the Department’s prevention and recidivism reduction programs, and limi our capacity to fund other pressing criminal justice and national security priorities, such as hiring more agents and prosecutors or providing support to state and local partners to help in the fight against violent crime. Put simply, if we don’t find a way to reduce the federal prison population, public safety is going to suffer.
To try to address this problem, earlier this year the Department embarked on a review of its criminal justice policies. We made some specific changes to existing policy and strengthened our commitment to our prevailing goals. We modified the Justice Department’s charging policies so that certain low-level, non-violent drug defendants who have no significant ties to large-scale organizations, gangs, or cartels, will no longer be charged with offenses that impose mandatory minimum sentences. Instead, these low-level drug defendants will be charged with offenses for which the accompanying sentences are better suited to their individual conduct. By reserving the most severe prison terms for serious, high-level, or violent drug traffickers or kingpins, we enhance public safety.
The Department is also promoting and strengthening its diversion programs – such as drug treatment initiatives – to provide more effective alternatives to incarceration for some individuals. This summer, the Department issued a “best practices” memorandum to encourage more widespread adoption by prosecutors of programs such as drug courts, specialty courts and other treatment courts.
And to make sure these programs are a top priority, every U.S. Attorney now must designate a Prevention and Reentry Coordinator in his or her district to ensure that this work is done.
In addition, the Bureau of Prisons has expanded capacity for its Residential Drug Abuse Program, which provides important treatment to inmates. This expansion will provide more non-violent inmates with the opportunity to deal with their drug and mental health issues that are so often at the root of criminal behavior, so they can successfully re-enter and become productive members of society.
Our reforms also include changes in the Department's framework for considering compassionate release requests. We expanded the medical criteria that can be considered and announced new criteria including allowing consideration for elderly inmates and certain inmates who are the only possible caregiver for their dependents.
And finally I want to talk about the Federal Interagency Reentry Council. Created by the Attorney General, it brings together over 20 federal departments and agencies to focus an all of government approach to helping those coming out of prison. This collaboration works to reduce barriers to housing, employment and education and increase access to healthcare and treatment for those re-entering society. And this collaboration has borne fruit – not only by increasing the chances of successful re-entry for those leaving federal prison, but also helping incarcerated veterans get back on track, assisting children of the incarcerated, and reducing the unnecessary collateral consequences of a conviction. Across the federal government, we are partnering to strengthen communities, reduce recidivism, and improve public safety.
This morning, I’ve discussed several steps the Department has taken to build upon successes and make changes to our criminal justice system. In light of our limited resources, we have had to take a hard look at our policies and our priorities, and have recommitted to maintaining public safety in a manner that is both smart and efficient when battling drug related crime and the conditions that breed it.
As we move forward with these and other reforms, we will continue to stand and work alongside you, drawing upon your experience, relying on your expertise, and depending on your engagement to refine and strengthen each new proposal. Today’s conference -- and the exchange of ideas it will foster among our Nation’s drug policy experts -- is a necessary and important step in this process.
Thank you.
CFTC CHAIRMAN GENSLER'S STATEMENT BEFORE FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT COUNCIL
FROM: COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Statement of Chairman Gary Gensler before the Financial Stability Oversight Council
December 9, 2013
I want to thank Secretary Lew for his kind words.
Five years ago when President-elect Obama asked me to serve, the economy was in a free fall. Americans were paying for the crisis with their jobs, their pensions and their homes.
Our financial system and our financial regulatory system had failed the American public.
Since then, the dedicated staffs of the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) member agencies have been hard at work to ensure finance better serves the economy.
Finance is but one part of our interconnected economy. The vast majority of opportunity, growth and innovation are outside of finance. In fact, 94 percent of private sector jobs are not in finance.
Finance best serves the economy when markets operate under common-sense rules of the road.
President Roosevelt understood this when he, along with Congress, transformed markets. Their reforms – enhancing transparency, access, and competition in the futures and securities markets and overhauling the nation’s banking laws – established the foundation for the U.S. economic growth engine for decades.
Five years ago President Obama and Congress faced similar challenges in the aftermath of this era’s financial crisis – how to modernize finance’s rules of the road so they work best for the public.
Through Dodd-Frank reforms, many of which now have been implemented by FSOC member agencies, much progress has been made.
First, at the heart of reform is ensuring that the largest financial institutions in our free-market system have the freedom to fail. That was true for my dad’s small family business in Baltimore. Nobody would have bailed him out if he didn’t make payroll each Friday.
That’s why I was pleased last month when Moody’s removed the uplift in credit ratings of the largest bank holding companies that had come from perceived government support. This is a real testament to the work of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve, under the leadership of Chairmen Martin Gruenberg and Ben Bernanke and Governor Daniel Tarullo.
Second, due to the U.S. banking regulators working hand-in-hand with international regulators, tougher capital and liquidity standards are becoming a reality. Further, annual stress tests of large banks determine if capital levels are sufficient.
Third, we now have an agency – with the energetic leadership of Richard Cordray – whose key mission is ensuring consumers are protected from predatory lending practices and get a fair deal on financial products from mortgages to credit cards.
Fourth, thanks to the leadership of Chairs Mary Schapiro and Mary Jo White at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), we now have real transparency into the hedge fund world and are addressing the risks of potential runs on money market funds.
Fifth, the swaps market, which was at the heart of the crisis, has been completely transformed. Bright lights of transparency now are shining on the $380 trillion market. The public can see the price and volume of every transaction, like a modern-day tickertape. Regulated trading platforms are trading a quarter of a trillion dollars in swaps each day. And more than 70 percent of the interest rate swaps market is now in central clearing – lowering risk and bringing access to everyone wishing to compete.
Sixth, each of us has been vigorous cops on the beat going after bad actors in the markets. The CFTC, working with the Department of Justice and the SEC, exposed the pervasive rigging of interest rate benchmarks and changed the entire public debate regarding LIBOR and other benchmarks.
I particularly want to thank the members of this council for the strong public policy statements included in the FSOC annual report calling for international regulators and market participants to find and transition to a replacement for LIBOR.
Lastly, is the benefit of this council. Through the leadership of Secretaries Geithner and Lew, and the collaboration of everyone around this table, we have become a real deliberative body. We have enhanced the lines of communication between the agencies, whether it’s the day to day assessing of risks in our financial system or working through the reform agenda. This week, for example, the Volcker Rule will be finalized based on our collaborative work.
Taken as a whole, the Dodd-Frank common-sense rules of the road have been truly transformative. These reforms are helping finance better serve the rest of the economy.
Once again, I want to thank all of you. It has been a real honor to serve with each of you on this council. It’s also an honor to share my last FSOC meeting with my fellow outgoing council member and seatmate, Ben Bernanke.
Statement of Chairman Gary Gensler before the Financial Stability Oversight Council
December 9, 2013
I want to thank Secretary Lew for his kind words.
Five years ago when President-elect Obama asked me to serve, the economy was in a free fall. Americans were paying for the crisis with their jobs, their pensions and their homes.
Our financial system and our financial regulatory system had failed the American public.
Since then, the dedicated staffs of the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) member agencies have been hard at work to ensure finance better serves the economy.
Finance is but one part of our interconnected economy. The vast majority of opportunity, growth and innovation are outside of finance. In fact, 94 percent of private sector jobs are not in finance.
Finance best serves the economy when markets operate under common-sense rules of the road.
President Roosevelt understood this when he, along with Congress, transformed markets. Their reforms – enhancing transparency, access, and competition in the futures and securities markets and overhauling the nation’s banking laws – established the foundation for the U.S. economic growth engine for decades.
Five years ago President Obama and Congress faced similar challenges in the aftermath of this era’s financial crisis – how to modernize finance’s rules of the road so they work best for the public.
Through Dodd-Frank reforms, many of which now have been implemented by FSOC member agencies, much progress has been made.
First, at the heart of reform is ensuring that the largest financial institutions in our free-market system have the freedom to fail. That was true for my dad’s small family business in Baltimore. Nobody would have bailed him out if he didn’t make payroll each Friday.
That’s why I was pleased last month when Moody’s removed the uplift in credit ratings of the largest bank holding companies that had come from perceived government support. This is a real testament to the work of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve, under the leadership of Chairmen Martin Gruenberg and Ben Bernanke and Governor Daniel Tarullo.
Second, due to the U.S. banking regulators working hand-in-hand with international regulators, tougher capital and liquidity standards are becoming a reality. Further, annual stress tests of large banks determine if capital levels are sufficient.
Third, we now have an agency – with the energetic leadership of Richard Cordray – whose key mission is ensuring consumers are protected from predatory lending practices and get a fair deal on financial products from mortgages to credit cards.
Fourth, thanks to the leadership of Chairs Mary Schapiro and Mary Jo White at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), we now have real transparency into the hedge fund world and are addressing the risks of potential runs on money market funds.
Fifth, the swaps market, which was at the heart of the crisis, has been completely transformed. Bright lights of transparency now are shining on the $380 trillion market. The public can see the price and volume of every transaction, like a modern-day tickertape. Regulated trading platforms are trading a quarter of a trillion dollars in swaps each day. And more than 70 percent of the interest rate swaps market is now in central clearing – lowering risk and bringing access to everyone wishing to compete.
Sixth, each of us has been vigorous cops on the beat going after bad actors in the markets. The CFTC, working with the Department of Justice and the SEC, exposed the pervasive rigging of interest rate benchmarks and changed the entire public debate regarding LIBOR and other benchmarks.
I particularly want to thank the members of this council for the strong public policy statements included in the FSOC annual report calling for international regulators and market participants to find and transition to a replacement for LIBOR.
Lastly, is the benefit of this council. Through the leadership of Secretaries Geithner and Lew, and the collaboration of everyone around this table, we have become a real deliberative body. We have enhanced the lines of communication between the agencies, whether it’s the day to day assessing of risks in our financial system or working through the reform agenda. This week, for example, the Volcker Rule will be finalized based on our collaborative work.
Taken as a whole, the Dodd-Frank common-sense rules of the road have been truly transformative. These reforms are helping finance better serve the rest of the economy.
Once again, I want to thank all of you. It has been a real honor to serve with each of you on this council. It’s also an honor to share my last FSOC meeting with my fellow outgoing council member and seatmate, Ben Bernanke.
FDA APPROVES NEW DRUG FOR TREATING CHRONIC HEPATITIS C
FROM: U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
For Immediate Release: Dec. 6, 2013
FDA approves Sovaldi for chronic hepatitis C
Drug is third with breakthrough therapy designation to receive FDA approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Sovaldi is the first drug that has demonstrated safety and efficacy to treat certain types of HCV infection without the need for co-administration of interferon.
“Today’s approval represents a significant shift in the treatment paradigm for some patients with chronic hepatitis C,” said Edward Cox, M.D., director of the Office of Antimicrobial Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Sovaldi is the second drug approved by the FDA in the past two weeks to treat chronic HCV infection. On November 22, the FDA approved Olysio (simeprevir).
Hepatitis C is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the liver that can lead to diminished liver function or liver failure. Most people infected with HCV have no symptoms of the disease until liver damage becomes apparent, which may take several years. Some people with chronic HCV infection develop scarring and poor liver function (cirrhosis) over many years, which can lead to complications such as bleeding, jaundice (yellowish eyes or skin), fluid accumulation in the abdomen, infections or liver cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 3.2 million Americans are infected with HCV.
Sovaldi is a nucleotide analog inhibitor that blocks a specific protein needed by the hepatitis C virus to replicate. Sovaldi is to be used as a component of a combination antiviral treatment regimen for chronic HCV infection. There are several different types of HCV infection. Depending on the type of HCV infection a patient has, the treatment regimen could include Sovaldi and ribavirin or Sovaldi, ribavirin and peginterferon-alfa. Ribavirin and peginterferon-alfa are two drugs also used to treat HCV infection.
Sovaldi’s effectiveness was evaluated in six clinical trials consisting of 1,947 participants who had not previously received treatment for their disease (treatment-naive) or had not responded to previous treatment (treatment-experienced), including participants co-infected with HCV and HIV. The trials were designed to measure whether the hepatitis C virus was no longer detected in the blood at least 12 weeks after finishing treatment (sustained virologic response), suggesting a participant’s HCV infection has been cured.
Results from all clinical trials showed a treatment regimen containing Sovaldi was effective in treating multiple types of the hepatitis C virus. Additionally, Sovaldi demonstrated efficacy in participants who could not tolerate or take an interferon-based treatment regimen and in participants with liver cancer awaiting liver transplantation, addressing unmet medical needs in these populations.
The most common side effects reported in clinical study participants treated with Sovaldi and ribavirin were fatigue and headache. In participants treated with Sovaldi, ribavirin and peginterferon-alfa, the most common side effects reported were fatigue, headache, nausea, insomnia and anemia.
Sovaldi is the third drug with breakthrough therapy designation to receive FDA approval. The FDA can designate a drug as a breakthrough therapy at the request of the sponsor if preliminary clinical evidence indicates the drug may demonstrate a substantial improvement over available therapies for patients with serious or life-threatening diseases. Sovaldi was reviewed under the FDA’s priority review program, which provides for an expedited review of drugs that treat serious conditions and, if approved, would provide significant improvement in safety or effectiveness.
Sovaldi is marketed by Gilead, based in Foster City, Calif. Olysio is marketed by Raritan, N.J.-based Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
For Immediate Release: Dec. 6, 2013
FDA approves Sovaldi for chronic hepatitis C
Drug is third with breakthrough therapy designation to receive FDA approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Sovaldi is the first drug that has demonstrated safety and efficacy to treat certain types of HCV infection without the need for co-administration of interferon.
“Today’s approval represents a significant shift in the treatment paradigm for some patients with chronic hepatitis C,” said Edward Cox, M.D., director of the Office of Antimicrobial Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Sovaldi is the second drug approved by the FDA in the past two weeks to treat chronic HCV infection. On November 22, the FDA approved Olysio (simeprevir).
Hepatitis C is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the liver that can lead to diminished liver function or liver failure. Most people infected with HCV have no symptoms of the disease until liver damage becomes apparent, which may take several years. Some people with chronic HCV infection develop scarring and poor liver function (cirrhosis) over many years, which can lead to complications such as bleeding, jaundice (yellowish eyes or skin), fluid accumulation in the abdomen, infections or liver cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 3.2 million Americans are infected with HCV.
Sovaldi is a nucleotide analog inhibitor that blocks a specific protein needed by the hepatitis C virus to replicate. Sovaldi is to be used as a component of a combination antiviral treatment regimen for chronic HCV infection. There are several different types of HCV infection. Depending on the type of HCV infection a patient has, the treatment regimen could include Sovaldi and ribavirin or Sovaldi, ribavirin and peginterferon-alfa. Ribavirin and peginterferon-alfa are two drugs also used to treat HCV infection.
Sovaldi’s effectiveness was evaluated in six clinical trials consisting of 1,947 participants who had not previously received treatment for their disease (treatment-naive) or had not responded to previous treatment (treatment-experienced), including participants co-infected with HCV and HIV. The trials were designed to measure whether the hepatitis C virus was no longer detected in the blood at least 12 weeks after finishing treatment (sustained virologic response), suggesting a participant’s HCV infection has been cured.
Results from all clinical trials showed a treatment regimen containing Sovaldi was effective in treating multiple types of the hepatitis C virus. Additionally, Sovaldi demonstrated efficacy in participants who could not tolerate or take an interferon-based treatment regimen and in participants with liver cancer awaiting liver transplantation, addressing unmet medical needs in these populations.
The most common side effects reported in clinical study participants treated with Sovaldi and ribavirin were fatigue and headache. In participants treated with Sovaldi, ribavirin and peginterferon-alfa, the most common side effects reported were fatigue, headache, nausea, insomnia and anemia.
Sovaldi is the third drug with breakthrough therapy designation to receive FDA approval. The FDA can designate a drug as a breakthrough therapy at the request of the sponsor if preliminary clinical evidence indicates the drug may demonstrate a substantial improvement over available therapies for patients with serious or life-threatening diseases. Sovaldi was reviewed under the FDA’s priority review program, which provides for an expedited review of drugs that treat serious conditions and, if approved, would provide significant improvement in safety or effectiveness.
Sovaldi is marketed by Gilead, based in Foster City, Calif. Olysio is marketed by Raritan, N.J.-based Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE 100TH ANNIVERSARY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's 100th Anniversary Celebration
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
National Women in the Arts Museum
Washington, DC
December 9, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Thank you very, very much. I much appreciate your welcome. I will inform you that Winston Churchill once said the only reason people give a standing ovation is they desperately need an excuse to shift their underwear. (Laughter.) But I will believe that you had a much more noble goal. (Laughter.)
Stuart, thank you. Stu, you are a marvel. And I tell you, I’m honored to be introduced by Stu Eizenstat. He is a great, really one of our sort of unsung heroes and treasures in our country for the remarkable work that he has always done and – (applause). Absolutely. I got to know him pretty well. His pro bono work that he’s done for years to help Holocaust victims and their families be able to recover the assets that were taken from them during the horrors of World War II is one mark. But I’ve seen him in his roles at the White House with the Carter Administration, the Clinton Administration.
And I will never forget when I was in Kyoto working on the global climate change treaty, Stu came flying in, literally, I think from Switzerland, where he’d been negotiating to pick up the negotiation responsibilities, which had, frankly, not been thoroughly and properly prepared in an appropriate way. And he kind of picked up this negotiation at half capacity, and I was stunned by his negotiating skill, his ability, and he put together an agreement – it’s now a matter of history that we had a difficult Senate that never did what it should have done, but this guy did what he was supposed to do and he did it brilliantly. And we are lucky to have public servants like him, so I thank him again for his great work. (Applause.)
President Penny Blumenstein, thank you very much. She was telling me back there that nobody gets her name right. I told her I will. (Laughter.) But she says she’s called Bloomberg and Blumenthal and a whole bunch of things whenever she gets introduced. Alan Gill, thank you for your great stewardship as CEO. And to every single one of you, thank you for an extraordinary job as civic-minded, good citizens of our nation who recognize a global responsibility. It’s an honor for me to be to be here to help you mark 100 years of the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. And I said to Penny when I came in here, I said, “You don’t look 100 years old.” She said, “I feel it some days.” (Laughter.) So we thank her for her commitment to this effort. I know what it takes to do this.
Some of you may know that the bond between the State Department – and Stuart referred to this a little bit in his introduction of me. The bond between the State Department and the JDC has been a longtime association and it runs deep. Stu described to you how Henry Morgenthau had a profound impact on the startup and what happened, and it responded to the needs of Jews at that time who were locked in the struggle of the Ottoman Palestine and Eastern Europe. And ever since then, it has performed – you have performed – brilliantly.
Today, you work alongside the State Department, USAID, and Congress, and embassies on a worldwide basis – the 70 nations that Stuart mentioned a minute ago – is really quite extraordinary. We collaborate superbly on infrastructure programs that foster economic development and growth in communities in Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America. We work side by side and provide humanitarian relief. And again, Stu talked for a moment about what happened. I am heading to the Philippines the day after tomorrow and to Vietnam, where we are engaged. But obviously, Typhoon Haiyan has left just stunning devastation across the Philippines, and your relief effort – JDC effort – in a short span of time has already contributed $1.4 million in aid to that effort.
We, the United States – I speak for President Obama, who as you all know has gone off to Nelson Mandela’s funeral – I gather tomorrow you will hear from the Vice President and then later from Jack Lew, Secretary Lew. But all of us are deeply, deeply grateful for the incredible sense of responsibility that is manifested in your generosity and in your commitment in order to make a difference around the world. You have provided relief to millions of people from every corner of the globe, all of whom are in desperate need of a helping hand. And part of the mission – and I should thank, actually, Chair Andrew Tisch, who – where did Andrew go? He’s sitting somewhere. Andrew, thank you for your great friendship to me and many years of involvement in this kind of thing.
But the ways in which all of you in the doing of this also support Jewish life around the world. Throughout history, of course, but particularly right now you are involved in ways that connect young Jewish men and women to their communities and that inspire them to address social challenges. The job training programs that you’re creating to address unemployment, the steps that you’re taking to alleviate hunger and poverty among the neediest Jews in the world, including in Israel, where despite the stunning growth and amazing prosperity that has been reached by so many, still sees about 25 percent of the country living under the poverty line. And the contributions that you continue to make to the Jewish community are changing lives everywhere.
I want to say a few words to you about another way in which hopefully we in the government are trying to also preserve and nurture Jewish life. And I’m talking about Jewish life in the state of Israel. I know this is not a political group in any way, but it would be a shameful omission if I didn’t honor the fact that everybody here obviously comes here with a passion for the preservation of life in Israel, and more importantly for the long term, the possibility of peace and of stability.
We are deeply committed to the security of Israel and of the well-being of the Jewish people by virtue of that. (Applause.) From the support that we’ve provided as a nation before I was in government, shortly after I’d come back from Vietnam, from the support we provided during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, to the hundreds of millions that we have contributed to help develop weapons systems like the Iron Dome as well as the military technology that we provide the Israelis with today, the United States has long viewed Israel’s security as absolutely fundamental to our own.
So when it comes to the range of issues that face the region today, there can be, in my judgment, no doubt – there should be no doubt – about where the United States stands. We stand squarely beside our Israeli friends and allies, and that bond is ironclad; it will never be broken. (Applause.)
This morning, I talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Bibi and I know each other really well now. We’ve known each other for about 25 years, maybe even 30. I knew him when he was in Cambridge, Massachusetts on an interval in politics that some of us have had occasionally. And I have visited with him many, many times, both when he was in office and out of office, and likewise for me. I just got back from what I think was my eighth trip to Israel since becoming Secretary of State, and I leave the day after tomorrow and I will be having dinner with Bibi again on Thursday night. So this is a commute, folks, nowadays. (Laughter.)
I want you to know that every single time that big blue and white plane that lugs me over there comes in for a landing at Ben Gurion Airport, I truly feel in my gut, for reasons of friendship as well as affiliation that Stu mentioned, how precious and how vulnerable and how real the security challenge of Israel is. It’s an extraordinary nation which, when you fly over it and you see what has been blooming out of a desert and built in this short span of time, is absolutely stunning. And when you compare GDPs and per capita incomes and other things to other nations that were in the same place in 1948 and 1950 and ’52 and see the differential today, it tells you a remarkable story of accomplishment and capacity.
I want to make it clear today that we are deeply committed going forward to honoring the bond and honoring those security needs. And I want to reiterate something that President Obama and I have said many times, and I underscored last week when I was in Israel and I underscored again two days ago when I spoke to the Saban Forum here in Washington. And that is: We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon – not now, not ever. And I promise you that. (Applause.)
Now, I know that some people are apprehensive and wonder sort of have we somehow stumbled into something or created something where in fact the Iranians have pulled the wool over our eyes and we’re going to not know what they’re doing. Let me just say to you very simply: I’ve spent, as Stu said, almost 30 years in the Senate. I chaired the Foreign Relations Committee. I understand military and security issues. And I understand the fundamental basics of – as does the President and most of the people around us – what is necessary for a nation to prove it has a peaceful nuclear program. And I can’t stand here today and tell you that the Iranians are going to do what they need to do. But I do know that Israel is actually safer today than it was the day before we made the deal, because in this deal they have to destroy all of their 20 percent enriched uranium; they have to hold their 3.5 percent low enriched at the current level; they are not allowed to install any new centrifuges; they have to allow us daily inspection inside that secret mountaintop, Fordow; they have to allow us daily inspection in Natanz in the nuclear plant; they have to allow us regular inspection in the heavy water reactor that has the potential of plutonium; they are not allowed to install any further nuclear components into that construction site; they cannot test additional fuel; and we are allowed to go into the storage sites and manufacturing facilities of all of their centrifuge production facilities – all things we couldn’t do before we made this first step agreement.
Because of what we’ve done while we negotiate the final comprehensive agreement, which is what Bibi wanted in the first place, we will actually be setting their program backwards, expanding the amount of time that it might take if they were to try to break out. That means we have more time to respond, more time to know what is going on. That is why I can say to you in good conscience I believe Israel is safer today than it was before. Now, does that mean this will be successful in the long run? I don’t know. But here’s what else I do know: If we aren’t successful, if we get to the end of these six months and they don’t do the simple things you need to do to prove your program is peaceful, then we will have kept united the P5+1, we will have shown the global community our bona fides to attempt to give them an opportunity through diplomacy to do what they need to do, and we will not have taken any sanction off the table. We can ratchet them up when we want. We will go back to Congress, we will ratchet them up, we will ask for additional sanctions. And if needs be, if we cannot get this done on time, we will take no other option, military or otherwise, off the table. So I am confident that we are going to approach this with a view to making Israel more secure.
Let me also say to all of you there are other issues that go to Israel’s existential security, and none more so than the ticking time bomb of demographics in the region and the realities of the de-legitimization campaign that has been taking place for some period of time. I believe, as President Obama does, that Israel will be far more secure if we can also put to test the possibilities of the two-state solution. And so we will continue to attempt to do that despite the skepticism, despite the cynicism in some quarters, that that day can never come where you would actually achieve a two-state solution with two peoples living side by side in peace and security.
I believe, though, that it remains a possibility. And it seems to me that for all of you, for anyone who cares about the security of Israel – and all of you do – for anyone who cares about the future, as I know all of you do, and engaged in the activities you are here at the JDC, you must also believe that peace is possible. And as these tough but very critical negotiations continue, I hope that you will understand we will continue to consult, we will continue to work closely, we will do everything in our power to make sure that our friends in Israel are comfortable with the direction we’re moving in and are part of it.
And I talk to Bibi at least two or three times a week. We are hand in hand and mind in mind trying to figure out how to do this in a way that protects the security of Israel, that establishes the sovereignty and dignity of an independent and viable Palestinian state. If it was easy, it would’ve done a long time ago. It isn’t. But I think the effort is worth it.
And I know why it’s worth it. I spent a lot of time – when I first went to Israel in 1986, I spent an entire week, and I traveled everywhere. And this wonderful fellow by the name of Yadin Roman, who’s the publisher of Eretz Israel magazine, was my guide and took me around. And he was brilliant, and he knew the history of everything and told me all the details of everything I was seeing. And I went up to Kiryat Shmona, and I went down into a bomb shelter where kids had to run and side from the Katyusha rockets. And I visited all the different religious sites – Christian and Muslim and Jewish, obviously. Went to the Wailing Wall, left my note, which I’m still working on. And visited – tried to swim in the Dead Sea, cloaked in black mud, everything else. And climbed Masada, which is one of the most stirring things I’ve ever done in my life, because we had this huge debate on top of Masada. And Yadin provoked us, purposefully. And he gave us the whole history of Josephus Flavius and told us all the writings in this great contentious debate about had these Jews really died there, had they in fact been there at this moment, or did they escape because they didn’t find a whole lot of skeletons, and people were wondering what happened.
Well, we had this long debate. And I’ll tell you, even before that, I had this marvelous experience of flying a jet out of (inaudible) air base. I’m a pilot. I love to fly. And I persuaded this ace colonel from the war to take me up in a jet, and he got it cleared in Tel Aviv. Somehow they let me do it. And they won’t let me do it now, but it was fun then. And I remember taking off, and he said, “Okay, it’s your airplane the minute you get up in the air.” I went up above the air, and I remember he – I was turning, and he said, “Senator, you better turn faster; you’re going over Egypt.” And so I turned the airplane and came back. And we did some aerobatics, and I was doing a loop, and I went up – way up high and came down. And as you look, you put your head back and catch the horizon underneath you. And I looked, and I looked out and I could see all the way out in the Sinai, all the way down in the Gulf of Aqaba. I could see all the way over into Jordan. And I said to myself, “This is perfect. I’m looking at the Middle East the right way, upside down – (laughter) – and I can understand it now.”
But after the debate on Masada, we took a vote, and we all voted unanimously that it happened exactly the way it is recorded, that they had fought and died. And at the end, Yadin took us to the edge of the precipice. And there, where a lot of the air force, I understand, and other military are sworn in and take the oath, we yelled across the chasm, “Am Yisrael chai.” (Applause.) And the echo came back. And I will tell you, it was stunning to hear that echo. You sort of felt like you were listening to the souls of the past tell you Israel is going to survive. And that’s why, my friends, you have a Secretary of State who gets it, who understands this mission. And with your help and your support, we’ll get it done the right way.
Thank you. (Applause.)
Remarks at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's 100th Anniversary Celebration
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
National Women in the Arts Museum
Washington, DC
December 9, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Thank you very, very much. I much appreciate your welcome. I will inform you that Winston Churchill once said the only reason people give a standing ovation is they desperately need an excuse to shift their underwear. (Laughter.) But I will believe that you had a much more noble goal. (Laughter.)
Stuart, thank you. Stu, you are a marvel. And I tell you, I’m honored to be introduced by Stu Eizenstat. He is a great, really one of our sort of unsung heroes and treasures in our country for the remarkable work that he has always done and – (applause). Absolutely. I got to know him pretty well. His pro bono work that he’s done for years to help Holocaust victims and their families be able to recover the assets that were taken from them during the horrors of World War II is one mark. But I’ve seen him in his roles at the White House with the Carter Administration, the Clinton Administration.
And I will never forget when I was in Kyoto working on the global climate change treaty, Stu came flying in, literally, I think from Switzerland, where he’d been negotiating to pick up the negotiation responsibilities, which had, frankly, not been thoroughly and properly prepared in an appropriate way. And he kind of picked up this negotiation at half capacity, and I was stunned by his negotiating skill, his ability, and he put together an agreement – it’s now a matter of history that we had a difficult Senate that never did what it should have done, but this guy did what he was supposed to do and he did it brilliantly. And we are lucky to have public servants like him, so I thank him again for his great work. (Applause.)
President Penny Blumenstein, thank you very much. She was telling me back there that nobody gets her name right. I told her I will. (Laughter.) But she says she’s called Bloomberg and Blumenthal and a whole bunch of things whenever she gets introduced. Alan Gill, thank you for your great stewardship as CEO. And to every single one of you, thank you for an extraordinary job as civic-minded, good citizens of our nation who recognize a global responsibility. It’s an honor for me to be to be here to help you mark 100 years of the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. And I said to Penny when I came in here, I said, “You don’t look 100 years old.” She said, “I feel it some days.” (Laughter.) So we thank her for her commitment to this effort. I know what it takes to do this.
Some of you may know that the bond between the State Department – and Stuart referred to this a little bit in his introduction of me. The bond between the State Department and the JDC has been a longtime association and it runs deep. Stu described to you how Henry Morgenthau had a profound impact on the startup and what happened, and it responded to the needs of Jews at that time who were locked in the struggle of the Ottoman Palestine and Eastern Europe. And ever since then, it has performed – you have performed – brilliantly.
Today, you work alongside the State Department, USAID, and Congress, and embassies on a worldwide basis – the 70 nations that Stuart mentioned a minute ago – is really quite extraordinary. We collaborate superbly on infrastructure programs that foster economic development and growth in communities in Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America. We work side by side and provide humanitarian relief. And again, Stu talked for a moment about what happened. I am heading to the Philippines the day after tomorrow and to Vietnam, where we are engaged. But obviously, Typhoon Haiyan has left just stunning devastation across the Philippines, and your relief effort – JDC effort – in a short span of time has already contributed $1.4 million in aid to that effort.
We, the United States – I speak for President Obama, who as you all know has gone off to Nelson Mandela’s funeral – I gather tomorrow you will hear from the Vice President and then later from Jack Lew, Secretary Lew. But all of us are deeply, deeply grateful for the incredible sense of responsibility that is manifested in your generosity and in your commitment in order to make a difference around the world. You have provided relief to millions of people from every corner of the globe, all of whom are in desperate need of a helping hand. And part of the mission – and I should thank, actually, Chair Andrew Tisch, who – where did Andrew go? He’s sitting somewhere. Andrew, thank you for your great friendship to me and many years of involvement in this kind of thing.
But the ways in which all of you in the doing of this also support Jewish life around the world. Throughout history, of course, but particularly right now you are involved in ways that connect young Jewish men and women to their communities and that inspire them to address social challenges. The job training programs that you’re creating to address unemployment, the steps that you’re taking to alleviate hunger and poverty among the neediest Jews in the world, including in Israel, where despite the stunning growth and amazing prosperity that has been reached by so many, still sees about 25 percent of the country living under the poverty line. And the contributions that you continue to make to the Jewish community are changing lives everywhere.
I want to say a few words to you about another way in which hopefully we in the government are trying to also preserve and nurture Jewish life. And I’m talking about Jewish life in the state of Israel. I know this is not a political group in any way, but it would be a shameful omission if I didn’t honor the fact that everybody here obviously comes here with a passion for the preservation of life in Israel, and more importantly for the long term, the possibility of peace and of stability.
We are deeply committed to the security of Israel and of the well-being of the Jewish people by virtue of that. (Applause.) From the support that we’ve provided as a nation before I was in government, shortly after I’d come back from Vietnam, from the support we provided during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, to the hundreds of millions that we have contributed to help develop weapons systems like the Iron Dome as well as the military technology that we provide the Israelis with today, the United States has long viewed Israel’s security as absolutely fundamental to our own.
So when it comes to the range of issues that face the region today, there can be, in my judgment, no doubt – there should be no doubt – about where the United States stands. We stand squarely beside our Israeli friends and allies, and that bond is ironclad; it will never be broken. (Applause.)
This morning, I talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Bibi and I know each other really well now. We’ve known each other for about 25 years, maybe even 30. I knew him when he was in Cambridge, Massachusetts on an interval in politics that some of us have had occasionally. And I have visited with him many, many times, both when he was in office and out of office, and likewise for me. I just got back from what I think was my eighth trip to Israel since becoming Secretary of State, and I leave the day after tomorrow and I will be having dinner with Bibi again on Thursday night. So this is a commute, folks, nowadays. (Laughter.)
I want you to know that every single time that big blue and white plane that lugs me over there comes in for a landing at Ben Gurion Airport, I truly feel in my gut, for reasons of friendship as well as affiliation that Stu mentioned, how precious and how vulnerable and how real the security challenge of Israel is. It’s an extraordinary nation which, when you fly over it and you see what has been blooming out of a desert and built in this short span of time, is absolutely stunning. And when you compare GDPs and per capita incomes and other things to other nations that were in the same place in 1948 and 1950 and ’52 and see the differential today, it tells you a remarkable story of accomplishment and capacity.
I want to make it clear today that we are deeply committed going forward to honoring the bond and honoring those security needs. And I want to reiterate something that President Obama and I have said many times, and I underscored last week when I was in Israel and I underscored again two days ago when I spoke to the Saban Forum here in Washington. And that is: We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon – not now, not ever. And I promise you that. (Applause.)
Now, I know that some people are apprehensive and wonder sort of have we somehow stumbled into something or created something where in fact the Iranians have pulled the wool over our eyes and we’re going to not know what they’re doing. Let me just say to you very simply: I’ve spent, as Stu said, almost 30 years in the Senate. I chaired the Foreign Relations Committee. I understand military and security issues. And I understand the fundamental basics of – as does the President and most of the people around us – what is necessary for a nation to prove it has a peaceful nuclear program. And I can’t stand here today and tell you that the Iranians are going to do what they need to do. But I do know that Israel is actually safer today than it was the day before we made the deal, because in this deal they have to destroy all of their 20 percent enriched uranium; they have to hold their 3.5 percent low enriched at the current level; they are not allowed to install any new centrifuges; they have to allow us daily inspection inside that secret mountaintop, Fordow; they have to allow us daily inspection in Natanz in the nuclear plant; they have to allow us regular inspection in the heavy water reactor that has the potential of plutonium; they are not allowed to install any further nuclear components into that construction site; they cannot test additional fuel; and we are allowed to go into the storage sites and manufacturing facilities of all of their centrifuge production facilities – all things we couldn’t do before we made this first step agreement.
Because of what we’ve done while we negotiate the final comprehensive agreement, which is what Bibi wanted in the first place, we will actually be setting their program backwards, expanding the amount of time that it might take if they were to try to break out. That means we have more time to respond, more time to know what is going on. That is why I can say to you in good conscience I believe Israel is safer today than it was before. Now, does that mean this will be successful in the long run? I don’t know. But here’s what else I do know: If we aren’t successful, if we get to the end of these six months and they don’t do the simple things you need to do to prove your program is peaceful, then we will have kept united the P5+1, we will have shown the global community our bona fides to attempt to give them an opportunity through diplomacy to do what they need to do, and we will not have taken any sanction off the table. We can ratchet them up when we want. We will go back to Congress, we will ratchet them up, we will ask for additional sanctions. And if needs be, if we cannot get this done on time, we will take no other option, military or otherwise, off the table. So I am confident that we are going to approach this with a view to making Israel more secure.
Let me also say to all of you there are other issues that go to Israel’s existential security, and none more so than the ticking time bomb of demographics in the region and the realities of the de-legitimization campaign that has been taking place for some period of time. I believe, as President Obama does, that Israel will be far more secure if we can also put to test the possibilities of the two-state solution. And so we will continue to attempt to do that despite the skepticism, despite the cynicism in some quarters, that that day can never come where you would actually achieve a two-state solution with two peoples living side by side in peace and security.
I believe, though, that it remains a possibility. And it seems to me that for all of you, for anyone who cares about the security of Israel – and all of you do – for anyone who cares about the future, as I know all of you do, and engaged in the activities you are here at the JDC, you must also believe that peace is possible. And as these tough but very critical negotiations continue, I hope that you will understand we will continue to consult, we will continue to work closely, we will do everything in our power to make sure that our friends in Israel are comfortable with the direction we’re moving in and are part of it.
And I talk to Bibi at least two or three times a week. We are hand in hand and mind in mind trying to figure out how to do this in a way that protects the security of Israel, that establishes the sovereignty and dignity of an independent and viable Palestinian state. If it was easy, it would’ve done a long time ago. It isn’t. But I think the effort is worth it.
And I know why it’s worth it. I spent a lot of time – when I first went to Israel in 1986, I spent an entire week, and I traveled everywhere. And this wonderful fellow by the name of Yadin Roman, who’s the publisher of Eretz Israel magazine, was my guide and took me around. And he was brilliant, and he knew the history of everything and told me all the details of everything I was seeing. And I went up to Kiryat Shmona, and I went down into a bomb shelter where kids had to run and side from the Katyusha rockets. And I visited all the different religious sites – Christian and Muslim and Jewish, obviously. Went to the Wailing Wall, left my note, which I’m still working on. And visited – tried to swim in the Dead Sea, cloaked in black mud, everything else. And climbed Masada, which is one of the most stirring things I’ve ever done in my life, because we had this huge debate on top of Masada. And Yadin provoked us, purposefully. And he gave us the whole history of Josephus Flavius and told us all the writings in this great contentious debate about had these Jews really died there, had they in fact been there at this moment, or did they escape because they didn’t find a whole lot of skeletons, and people were wondering what happened.
Well, we had this long debate. And I’ll tell you, even before that, I had this marvelous experience of flying a jet out of (inaudible) air base. I’m a pilot. I love to fly. And I persuaded this ace colonel from the war to take me up in a jet, and he got it cleared in Tel Aviv. Somehow they let me do it. And they won’t let me do it now, but it was fun then. And I remember taking off, and he said, “Okay, it’s your airplane the minute you get up in the air.” I went up above the air, and I remember he – I was turning, and he said, “Senator, you better turn faster; you’re going over Egypt.” And so I turned the airplane and came back. And we did some aerobatics, and I was doing a loop, and I went up – way up high and came down. And as you look, you put your head back and catch the horizon underneath you. And I looked, and I looked out and I could see all the way out in the Sinai, all the way down in the Gulf of Aqaba. I could see all the way over into Jordan. And I said to myself, “This is perfect. I’m looking at the Middle East the right way, upside down – (laughter) – and I can understand it now.”
But after the debate on Masada, we took a vote, and we all voted unanimously that it happened exactly the way it is recorded, that they had fought and died. And at the end, Yadin took us to the edge of the precipice. And there, where a lot of the air force, I understand, and other military are sworn in and take the oath, we yelled across the chasm, “Am Yisrael chai.” (Applause.) And the echo came back. And I will tell you, it was stunning to hear that echo. You sort of felt like you were listening to the souls of the past tell you Israel is going to survive. And that’s why, my friends, you have a Secretary of State who gets it, who understands this mission. And with your help and your support, we’ll get it done the right way.
Thank you. (Applause.)
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS ON INTERNATIONAL ANTICORRUPTION DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
International Anticorruption Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
December 9, 2013
The United States joins the international community today in saluting individuals, governments, businesses, civil society organizations, and international organizations dedicated to preventing and combating the scourge of corruption.
It is difficult to overstate the profoundly negative impact that corruption has on society. The abuse of entrusted power for private gain does violence to our values, our prosperity, and even our security.
Having spent two years of my own life as a young prosecutor in Massachusetts, where I focused on white-collar and organized crime, this issue is especially personal. And it’s a responsibility I take seriously as someone who spent years in the Senate leading difficult, sensitive, and comprehensive investigations on everything from the Bank of Credit and Commerce International to illegal money laundering.
During my travels as Secretary of State, especially to countries that are in the midst of political transitions, I underscore the importance of fighting corruption and promoting good governance. I do so proudly, knowing that we strengthen our credibility and our foreign policy when we make these issues a priority in our relationships.
That’s why the United States and 167 other countries have ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the world’s broadest framework for tackling corruption.
That’s why we worked with the G8 Deauville Partnership with Arab Countries in Transition to launch the Arab Forum on Asset Recovery, which has helped to stimulate the return of more than $70 million in stolen assets to the transition countries in the Middle East.
And that’s why the United States is deeply committed to the mission of the Open Government Partnership, an innovative multi-stakeholder initiative of governments, civil society, and business.
On this International Anticorruption Day, we call on all governments to implement their commitments under the UN Convention Against Corruption and to afford civil society a meaningful role in anti-corruption and transparency efforts.
This is an issue that matters greatly to all of us, which makes even greater our shared responsibility to fight corruption and promote free, open societies anywhere and everywhere they are threatened.
International Anticorruption Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
December 9, 2013
The United States joins the international community today in saluting individuals, governments, businesses, civil society organizations, and international organizations dedicated to preventing and combating the scourge of corruption.
It is difficult to overstate the profoundly negative impact that corruption has on society. The abuse of entrusted power for private gain does violence to our values, our prosperity, and even our security.
Having spent two years of my own life as a young prosecutor in Massachusetts, where I focused on white-collar and organized crime, this issue is especially personal. And it’s a responsibility I take seriously as someone who spent years in the Senate leading difficult, sensitive, and comprehensive investigations on everything from the Bank of Credit and Commerce International to illegal money laundering.
During my travels as Secretary of State, especially to countries that are in the midst of political transitions, I underscore the importance of fighting corruption and promoting good governance. I do so proudly, knowing that we strengthen our credibility and our foreign policy when we make these issues a priority in our relationships.
That’s why the United States and 167 other countries have ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the world’s broadest framework for tackling corruption.
That’s why we worked with the G8 Deauville Partnership with Arab Countries in Transition to launch the Arab Forum on Asset Recovery, which has helped to stimulate the return of more than $70 million in stolen assets to the transition countries in the Middle East.
And that’s why the United States is deeply committed to the mission of the Open Government Partnership, an innovative multi-stakeholder initiative of governments, civil society, and business.
On this International Anticorruption Day, we call on all governments to implement their commitments under the UN Convention Against Corruption and to afford civil society a meaningful role in anti-corruption and transparency efforts.
This is an issue that matters greatly to all of us, which makes even greater our shared responsibility to fight corruption and promote free, open societies anywhere and everywhere they are threatened.
IRS ANNOUNCES INTEREST RATES WILL REMAIN THE SAME FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2014
FROM: U.S. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Interest Rates Remain the Same for the First Quarter of 2014
WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today announced that interest rates will remain the same for the calendar quarter beginning Jan. 1, 2014. The rates will be:
three (3) percent for overpayments [two (2) percent in the case of a corporation];
three (3) percent for underpayments;
five (5) percent for large corporate underpayments; and
one-half (0.5) percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000.
Under the Internal Revenue Code, the rate of interest is determined on a quarterly basis. For taxpayers other than corporations, the overpayment and underpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points.
Generally, in the case of a corporation, the underpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points and the overpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 2 percentage points. The rate for large corporate underpayments is the federal short-term rate plus 5 percentage points. The rate on the portion of a corporate overpayment of tax exceeding $10,000 for a taxable period is the federal short-term rate plus one-half (0.5) of a percentage point.
The interest rates announced today are computed from the federal short-term rate determined during Oct. 2013 to take effect Nov. 1, 2013, based on daily compounding.
Interest Rates Remain the Same for the First Quarter of 2014
WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today announced that interest rates will remain the same for the calendar quarter beginning Jan. 1, 2014. The rates will be:
three (3) percent for overpayments [two (2) percent in the case of a corporation];
three (3) percent for underpayments;
five (5) percent for large corporate underpayments; and
one-half (0.5) percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000.
Under the Internal Revenue Code, the rate of interest is determined on a quarterly basis. For taxpayers other than corporations, the overpayment and underpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points.
Generally, in the case of a corporation, the underpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points and the overpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 2 percentage points. The rate for large corporate underpayments is the federal short-term rate plus 5 percentage points. The rate on the portion of a corporate overpayment of tax exceeding $10,000 for a taxable period is the federal short-term rate plus one-half (0.5) of a percentage point.
The interest rates announced today are computed from the federal short-term rate determined during Oct. 2013 to take effect Nov. 1, 2013, based on daily compounding.
BUSINESSMAN SENTENCED TO PRISON TERM FOR ROLE IN CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE IRS
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, December 5, 2013
California Businessman Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Defraud the IRS
Gary Mach, of Palm Desert, Calif., was sentenced to 16 months in prison, two months of house arrest, and 18 months of probation and ordered to pay $270,725 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Justice Department and IRS announced today. Mach previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States on Aug. 18, 2013.
Court documents state that, beginning around January 2002 and continuing through December 2010, Mach failed to report substantial income he earned from CSPS, a pool-servicing business operated throughout Riverside County. Mach and others established fictitious trusts which they used to receive income and hold assets in an attempt to conceal the assets and income from the IRS.
According to court documents, Mach purported to operate a trust called “Quintessential,” and directed that his paychecks be made payable to Quintessential. He also opened a bank account in the name of Quintessential where he deposited CSPS proceeds. Mach admitted that he did not report to the IRS any of the income he earned from CSPS between 2002 and 2010, and used Quintessential to conceal income from the IRS. In furtherance of the conspiracy, Mach also attempted to impede an IRS summons issued to a bank for business account records. Mach closed his bank account after the bank complied with the IRS summons. As set forth in the plea agreement, Mach admitted that his total unreported income for the tax years 2002 through 2010 was $1,410,430, upon which the total tax due and owed to the IRS is $270,275.
Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the department’s Tax Division, commended the investigative efforts of the special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, Tax Division Trial Attorneys Sonia M. Owens and Mark L. Williams, who prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra R. Brown and Paul Rochmes of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, who assisted in the prosecution.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
California Businessman Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Defraud the IRS
Gary Mach, of Palm Desert, Calif., was sentenced to 16 months in prison, two months of house arrest, and 18 months of probation and ordered to pay $270,725 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Justice Department and IRS announced today. Mach previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States on Aug. 18, 2013.
Court documents state that, beginning around January 2002 and continuing through December 2010, Mach failed to report substantial income he earned from CSPS, a pool-servicing business operated throughout Riverside County. Mach and others established fictitious trusts which they used to receive income and hold assets in an attempt to conceal the assets and income from the IRS.
According to court documents, Mach purported to operate a trust called “Quintessential,” and directed that his paychecks be made payable to Quintessential. He also opened a bank account in the name of Quintessential where he deposited CSPS proceeds. Mach admitted that he did not report to the IRS any of the income he earned from CSPS between 2002 and 2010, and used Quintessential to conceal income from the IRS. In furtherance of the conspiracy, Mach also attempted to impede an IRS summons issued to a bank for business account records. Mach closed his bank account after the bank complied with the IRS summons. As set forth in the plea agreement, Mach admitted that his total unreported income for the tax years 2002 through 2010 was $1,410,430, upon which the total tax due and owed to the IRS is $270,275.
Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the department’s Tax Division, commended the investigative efforts of the special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, Tax Division Trial Attorneys Sonia M. Owens and Mark L. Williams, who prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra R. Brown and Paul Rochmes of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, who assisted in the prosecution.
STUDY LOOKS AT TOMATOES ON THE WILDSIDE TO EXAMINE BIODIVERSITY
(NRCS_Photo_Gallery)Natural+Resources+Conservation+Service,+part+of+the+United+States+Department+of+Agriculture,+taken+or+made+as+part+of+an+employee's+official+duties..jpg) |
| Supermarket Tomatoes. Credit: USDA-Wikimedia. |
Staple of recipe favorites--the tomato--reveals processes that maintain biodiversity
No hothouse plants: Study examines supermarket tomatoes' wild relatives, which live in Earth's most extreme environments
Tomatoes are in almost everything we eat, from salad and soup to chili and pizza. For some, tomato-based dishes are featured during the holiday season.
Most people don't realize, however, that there are more than a dozen wild tomato species, or that wild tomatoes grow in the deserts, rainforests and highlands of South America and on the Galapagos Islands.
These wild species don't have the big, bold fruits we're used to seeing in the supermarket, though. Wild tomato fruits are smaller, from the size of a pea to that of a large marble and are sometimes green and bitter when they're ripe.
But compared with their domesticated relatives, wild tomatoes are more diverse in many hidden and not-so-hidden ways.
Now scientists are using the genomes of wild tomatoes to study the processes that drive Earth's biodiversity.
Their goal is to learn how species cope with differences in climate and natural enemies, and what might happen in this time of environmental change.
Wild tomato genomes as a framework for understanding biodiversity
To study natural trait and genome diversity in wild tomatoes, scientists Leonie Moyle, David Haak and Matthew Hahn of Indiana University Bloomington received a grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Dimensions of Biodiversity program.
Dimensions of Biodiversity is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability investment and is supported by NSF's Directorates for Biological Sciences and Geosciences.
Scientists funded through Dimensions of Biodiversity integrate genetic, taxonomic and functional approaches in their research.
"The resulting discoveries go beyond expanding our knowledge of the depth and breadth of life on Earth," says John Wingfield, NSF assistant director for Biological Sciences.
"They have the potential to revolutionize the way we manage agriculture, practice medicine, address global climate change and develop new technologies."
The award to Moyle's team funds sequencing of the complete set of all expressed genes (the transcriptome) in populations of wild tomato species.
"Variations within and between these wild tomato genomes can be compared by using the genome sequence of the domesticated tomato as a 'backbone,'"says Moyle.
By linking this genome-wide sequence data with information on wild tomato trait variation, the biologists hope to identify the genes responsible for adaptation to environmental change.
The research focuses on the role of drought and of defense against herbivores, or plant-eaters, in the diversity of wild tomatoes.
"These factors," says Haak, "capture two of the most important aspects of any plant's environment: climate and natural enemies."
Wild tomatoes: From hothouse to deep freeze
While domesticated tomatoes thrive only in agricultural irrigation, wild tomatoes live in some of the planet's most extreme environments.
They're among the few plants found in the driest place on Earth--the Atacama Desert in Chile. Other wild tomatoes blossom along the rocky, salty shores of the Galapagos Islands, and in the daily rains of Ecuador's rainforests.
But it's not just the climate in which they grow that varies among wild tomatoes.
The plants bristle with an array of natural defenses, from dense coverings of plant hairs to toxins deadly against insect attackers.
Measuring biodiversity in plant defenses
In a forthcoming paper in the journal Ecology, Haak, Moyle and colleagues document large differences in defenses among wild tomatoes.
They used bioassays--experiments in which living organisms are used to reveal the potency or concentration of a substance.
In this case, they fed leaf samples of different wild tomato species to tobacco hornworms.
The tobacco hornworm--also known as the tomato hornworm--is an enemy of both domesticated and wild tomatoes. It rapidly eats its way through the plants' leaves.
Each hornworm caterpillar was weighed before and after feeding to determine how much it had gained on a diet of wild tomato leaves.
Those tomatoes on which caterpillars gained little or no weight, says Haak, have more natural defenses than those on which the caterpillars gained weight.
In one wild tomato species, caterpillars lost significant weight; they refused to consume the plant's toxic leaves.
The researchers showed that the level of natural defense varies widely among wild tomato species.
"Although all wild tomatoes are closely related, these patterns of defense variation don't simply follow historical, evolutionary relationships," says Moyle. "The defense level of each wild tomato population is likely shaped by responses to local herbivores."
Linking biodiversity to genomics to understand environmental responses
Moyle and Haak are using DNA sequencing to look at the genes that are expressed differently in wild tomatoes with varying levels of natural defenses, and with differences in responses to drought.
Genes that are consistently up- or down-regulated in these conditions, says Moyle, can reveal the changes important for responding to and coping with environmental stresses.
"By linking data on DNA sequence variation, and on variation in gene expression, with wild tomatoes' responses to drought and natural enemies," she says, "we may find a powerful model for understanding the genetics of responses to environmental change."
The study could also uncover genetic variations helpful in improving domesticated tomatoes and their cultivated relatives, including potatoes and peppers.
"This research on tomatoes' wild relatives offers insights into the huge reservoir of genetic information available to ensure our future food security," says Simon Malcomber, lead NSF program director for Dimensions of Biodiversity.
"Tomatoes are one of the most widely consumed foods around the world," he says. "Studies such as this provide important information that could be used to improve herbivore resistance in crop cultivars."
Next time you're in the supermarket, tomatoes are worth a closer look. These common plants may offer a glimpse of our global food security, and of Earth's environmental future.
-- Cheryl Dybas, NSF
Investigators
David Haak
Leonie Moyle
Matthew Hahn
Related Institutions/Organizations
Indiana University
Related Programs
Dimensions of Biodiversity
Monday, December 9, 2013
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S COMMENTS ON LIU XIAOBO
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Fifth Anniversary of Liu Xiaobo's Detention
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
December 9, 2013
Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of Nobel laureate and writer Liu Xiaobo’s detention. The United States is deeply concerned that Chinese authorities continue to imprison Liu Xiaobo, as well as other activists, such as Xu Zhiyong, for peacefully exercising their universal right to freedom of expression. Equally concerning is the nearly three-year politically motivated house arrest of Liu Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia.
We note that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined Liu Xiaobo’s ongoing imprisonment and Liu Xia’s house arrest to be in contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We strongly urge Chinese authorities to release Liu Xiaobo, to end Liu Xia’s house arrest, and to guarantee to Liu Xiaobo and his family members all internationally recognized human rights protections and freedoms.
As the United States builds a constructive relationship with China, U.S. leaders will continue to raise concerns related to respect for the rule of law, human rights, religious freedom, and democratic principles with their Chinese counterparts. We continue to believe that respect for international human rights is critical to China’s growth, prosperity, and long-term stability.
Fifth Anniversary of Liu Xiaobo's Detention
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
December 9, 2013
Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of Nobel laureate and writer Liu Xiaobo’s detention. The United States is deeply concerned that Chinese authorities continue to imprison Liu Xiaobo, as well as other activists, such as Xu Zhiyong, for peacefully exercising their universal right to freedom of expression. Equally concerning is the nearly three-year politically motivated house arrest of Liu Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia.
We note that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined Liu Xiaobo’s ongoing imprisonment and Liu Xia’s house arrest to be in contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We strongly urge Chinese authorities to release Liu Xiaobo, to end Liu Xia’s house arrest, and to guarantee to Liu Xiaobo and his family members all internationally recognized human rights protections and freedoms.
As the United States builds a constructive relationship with China, U.S. leaders will continue to raise concerns related to respect for the rule of law, human rights, religious freedom, and democratic principles with their Chinese counterparts. We continue to believe that respect for international human rights is critical to China’s growth, prosperity, and long-term stability.
TOYS DONATED AND PROCESSED DURING ANNUAL RANDY OLER MEMORIAL OPERATION TOY DROP
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Dawn breaks as paratroopers line up to donate toys and win a coveted seat in the 16th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop, at Green Ramp on Pope Army Airfield, Fort Bragg, N.C., Dec. 6, 2013. The first phase of Toy Drop includes donating an unwrapped toy to receive a ticket. Tickets are raffled, and the winner secures a seat for an airborne operation on Sicily Drop Zone. Last year, Operation Toy Drop collected more than 12,000 toys, which were donated to charities and organizations across North Carolina. U.S. Army photo by Timothy L. Hale - Download Hi-Res.
Soldiers prepare to process thousands of donated toys during the 16th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop, at the Green Ramp on Pope Army Airfield, Fort Bragg, N.C., Dec. 6, 2013. U.S. Army photo by Timothy L. Hale.
U.S. DEFENSE CONTRACTS FOR DECEMBER 9, 2013
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
CONTRACTS
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Physio-Control Inc., Redmond, Wash., has been awarded a maximum $46,011,356 modification (P00012) exercising the third one-year option period on a five-year base contract (SPM200-07-D-8261) with five one-year option periods for defibrillators, related components, and accessories. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Washington with a Dec. 7, 2014 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.
NAVY
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $35,019,637 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-5432) to exercise an option to accomplish fiscal 2014 design agent engineering services for the MK-31 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Guided-Missile Weapon System (GMWS) improvement program support, guided-missile round pack support, and guided-missile launching system support. The RAM MK-31 GMWS is a cooperative development and production program conducted jointly by the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany under Memoranda of Understanding. The support is required to maintain current weapon system capability, as well as resolve issues through design, systems, software maintenance, reliability, maintainability, quality assurance and logistics engineering services. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by September 2014. Fiscal 2014 weapons procurement Navy; fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy and German funding in the amount of $8,246,505 will be obligated at the time of contract award. Contract funds in the amount of $733,035 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-10-C-5432).
Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Sudbury, Mass., is being awarded a $29,521,981 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-13-C-5115) to exercise options for the production of the AN/SPY-1D(V) radar transmitter group, missile fire control system MK 99 and site support for DDG 119. Raytheon will also be responsible for related technical services to facilitate system testing, shipyard installation, and other requirements. Work will be performed in Andover, Mass. (78.3 percent); Sudbury, Mass. (19.3 percent); Moorestown, N.J. (0.9 percent); Norfolk, Va. (0.5 percent); and Canada (1 percent) and is expected to be completed by June 2017. Fiscal 2013 ship conversion, Navy contract funds in the amount of $29,521,981 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
Sechan Electronics Inc.*, Lititz, Pa., is being awarded a $17,212,201 firm-fixed-priced, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of the Target Detecting Device (TDD) MK 71 Mod 1 to support the Quickstrike Mine Improvement program. This contract will require the fabrication, assembly, integration, testing and delivering of the hardware components which constitute TDD MK 71 Mod 1. TDD MK 71 Mod 1 has been developed and fielded for use in the air-delivered Quickstrike mine shape MK 65, and is also planned for use in two additional mines: Mine MK 62 and Mine MK 63. Work will be performed in Lititz, Pa., and is expected to be completed by December 2018. Fiscal 2013 weapons procurement, Navy contract funds in the amount of $3,071,600 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online and the Federal Business Opportunities websites, with one offer received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division, Panama City, Fla., is the contracting activity (N61331-14-D-0001).
Air Cruisers Co., LLC, Township, N.J., is being awarded a five year $16,970,294 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the long term repair of four different sized life rafts that comprise the Multi-Place Life Raft (MPLR) Program. The MPLR is a critical safety/critical application item designed to save and sustain the lives of Navy and Marine Corps air crewmen in the event of ejection or aircraft abandonment at sea. Work will be performed in Liberty, Miss., and work is expected to be completed December 2018. Fiscal 2013 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $2,252,626 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was not competitively procured in accordance FAR 6.302-1. The NAVSUP Weapons System Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (N00383-14-D-002P).
AIR FORCE
Diversitech Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, has been awarded a $7,499,501 modification (P00011) for an existing indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (FA8601-11-D-0001) for civil engineering facility and equipment support (FA8601-11-D-0001) extending the ordering period for one year. This requirement provides routine maintenance and repair work for 7,352 pieces of equipment that support the mission of the Air Force Institute of Technology, Air Force Research Laboratory, National Air and Space Intelligence Center, and others. Work will be performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance and eesearch and development funds will be obligated on individual task orders. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/PZIO, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
ARMY
Luhr Bros., Inc., Columbia, Ill., was awarded a $7,000,000 contract modification (P00001) to exercise option year one on contract W912QR-13-D-0032 for the leasing of a dredge, plant attendant, and on-shore disposal equipment for channel maintenance dredging on the Ohio River and Ohio River pooled tributaries and the upper Mississippi River 0.0-185.00. Funding and the work performance site will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is Dec. 31, 2014. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Ky., is the contracting activity.
*Small Business
CONTRACTS
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Physio-Control Inc., Redmond, Wash., has been awarded a maximum $46,011,356 modification (P00012) exercising the third one-year option period on a five-year base contract (SPM200-07-D-8261) with five one-year option periods for defibrillators, related components, and accessories. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Washington with a Dec. 7, 2014 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.
NAVY
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $35,019,637 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-5432) to exercise an option to accomplish fiscal 2014 design agent engineering services for the MK-31 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Guided-Missile Weapon System (GMWS) improvement program support, guided-missile round pack support, and guided-missile launching system support. The RAM MK-31 GMWS is a cooperative development and production program conducted jointly by the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany under Memoranda of Understanding. The support is required to maintain current weapon system capability, as well as resolve issues through design, systems, software maintenance, reliability, maintainability, quality assurance and logistics engineering services. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by September 2014. Fiscal 2014 weapons procurement Navy; fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy and German funding in the amount of $8,246,505 will be obligated at the time of contract award. Contract funds in the amount of $733,035 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-10-C-5432).
Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Sudbury, Mass., is being awarded a $29,521,981 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-13-C-5115) to exercise options for the production of the AN/SPY-1D(V) radar transmitter group, missile fire control system MK 99 and site support for DDG 119. Raytheon will also be responsible for related technical services to facilitate system testing, shipyard installation, and other requirements. Work will be performed in Andover, Mass. (78.3 percent); Sudbury, Mass. (19.3 percent); Moorestown, N.J. (0.9 percent); Norfolk, Va. (0.5 percent); and Canada (1 percent) and is expected to be completed by June 2017. Fiscal 2013 ship conversion, Navy contract funds in the amount of $29,521,981 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
Sechan Electronics Inc.*, Lititz, Pa., is being awarded a $17,212,201 firm-fixed-priced, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of the Target Detecting Device (TDD) MK 71 Mod 1 to support the Quickstrike Mine Improvement program. This contract will require the fabrication, assembly, integration, testing and delivering of the hardware components which constitute TDD MK 71 Mod 1. TDD MK 71 Mod 1 has been developed and fielded for use in the air-delivered Quickstrike mine shape MK 65, and is also planned for use in two additional mines: Mine MK 62 and Mine MK 63. Work will be performed in Lititz, Pa., and is expected to be completed by December 2018. Fiscal 2013 weapons procurement, Navy contract funds in the amount of $3,071,600 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online and the Federal Business Opportunities websites, with one offer received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division, Panama City, Fla., is the contracting activity (N61331-14-D-0001).
Air Cruisers Co., LLC, Township, N.J., is being awarded a five year $16,970,294 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the long term repair of four different sized life rafts that comprise the Multi-Place Life Raft (MPLR) Program. The MPLR is a critical safety/critical application item designed to save and sustain the lives of Navy and Marine Corps air crewmen in the event of ejection or aircraft abandonment at sea. Work will be performed in Liberty, Miss., and work is expected to be completed December 2018. Fiscal 2013 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $2,252,626 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was not competitively procured in accordance FAR 6.302-1. The NAVSUP Weapons System Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (N00383-14-D-002P).
AIR FORCE
Diversitech Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, has been awarded a $7,499,501 modification (P00011) for an existing indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (FA8601-11-D-0001) for civil engineering facility and equipment support (FA8601-11-D-0001) extending the ordering period for one year. This requirement provides routine maintenance and repair work for 7,352 pieces of equipment that support the mission of the Air Force Institute of Technology, Air Force Research Laboratory, National Air and Space Intelligence Center, and others. Work will be performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance and eesearch and development funds will be obligated on individual task orders. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/PZIO, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
ARMY
Luhr Bros., Inc., Columbia, Ill., was awarded a $7,000,000 contract modification (P00001) to exercise option year one on contract W912QR-13-D-0032 for the leasing of a dredge, plant attendant, and on-shore disposal equipment for channel maintenance dredging on the Ohio River and Ohio River pooled tributaries and the upper Mississippi River 0.0-185.00. Funding and the work performance site will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is Dec. 31, 2014. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Ky., is the contracting activity.
*Small Business
U.S. TO PROVIDE MILITARY AIRLIFT SUPPORT IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT FRENCH REQUEST
U.S. Responds to French Request for Airlift Support
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2013 – In response to a request from France, the U.S. military will provide airlift support to enable African forces to deploy promptly to prevent the further spread of sectarian violence in the Central African Republic, Assistant Pentagon Press Secretary Carl Woog said in a statement released today.
Woog’s statement reads as follows:
Last evening in Kabul, Secretary Hagel spoke with French Minister of Defense Yves Le Drian about the security situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), where, under the authority of a UN Security Council Resolution, French forces are assisting the African Union-led international support mission to provide humanitarian assistance and establish an environment that supports a political transition to a democratically elected government.
Minister Le Drian requested limited assistance from the United States military to support this international effort. In the near term, France has requested airlift support to enable African forces to deploy promptly to prevent the further spread of sectarian violence in the Central African Republic.
In response to this request, Secretary Hagel has directed U.S. AFRICOM to begin transporting forces from Burundi to the Central African Republic, in coordination with France.
The United States is joining the international community in this effort because of our belief that immediate action is required to avert a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe in the Central African Republic, and because of our interest in peace and security in the region. We continue to work to identify additional resources that might be available to help address further requests for assistance to support the international community’s efforts in CAR.
U.S. Responds to French Request for Airlift Support
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2013 – In response to a request from France, the U.S. military will provide airlift support to enable African forces to deploy promptly to prevent the further spread of sectarian violence in the Central African Republic, Assistant Pentagon Press Secretary Carl Woog said in a statement released today.
Woog’s statement reads as follows:
Last evening in Kabul, Secretary Hagel spoke with French Minister of Defense Yves Le Drian about the security situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), where, under the authority of a UN Security Council Resolution, French forces are assisting the African Union-led international support mission to provide humanitarian assistance and establish an environment that supports a political transition to a democratically elected government.
Minister Le Drian requested limited assistance from the United States military to support this international effort. In the near term, France has requested airlift support to enable African forces to deploy promptly to prevent the further spread of sectarian violence in the Central African Republic.
In response to this request, Secretary Hagel has directed U.S. AFRICOM to begin transporting forces from Burundi to the Central African Republic, in coordination with France.
The United States is joining the international community in this effort because of our belief that immediate action is required to avert a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe in the Central African Republic, and because of our interest in peace and security in the region. We continue to work to identify additional resources that might be available to help address further requests for assistance to support the international community’s efforts in CAR.
LABOR SECRETARY PEREZ MAKES COMMENTS ON NOVEMBER EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Statement of Labor Secretary Perez on November employment numbers
WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the November 2013 Employment Situation report released today:
"The American economy continues its broad and steady job growth heading into the New Year, adding 203,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.0 percent, and American manufacturing remained strong with the addition of 27,000 new jobs.
"The November employment report continues the 45-month trend of private-sector job growth, with 8.1 million new jobs created over that time. In the last 12 months alone, American businesses have added 2.3 million new private-sector jobs. This puts the American economy in a strong position heading into the December holiday season.
"But despite broad-based job growth, the November report reminds us that far too many American families are still struggling to get by. The rate of unemployment for the long-term unemployed remains higher than at any point prior to the Great Recession. As the president underscored earlier this week, growing inequality and a lack of upward mobility has jeopardized middle-class America's basic bargain — that if you work hard, you have a chance to get ahead. This point was underscored by a report released this week highlighting that if Congress fails to act, 1.3 million workers and their families will lose Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits immediately.
"The progress made since the depths of the recession in 2010 is a testament to the resilience of the American economy and the American people. But we can and should be doing more. We must invest in infrastructure, pass comprehensive immigration reform, extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program and raise the minimum wage. Current job growth is happening in spite of Congress, not because of it. It's time Congress does its part to accelerate job growth and give more Americans the chance to climb ladders of opportunity."
Statement of Labor Secretary Perez on November employment numbers
WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the November 2013 Employment Situation report released today:
"The American economy continues its broad and steady job growth heading into the New Year, adding 203,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.0 percent, and American manufacturing remained strong with the addition of 27,000 new jobs.
"The November employment report continues the 45-month trend of private-sector job growth, with 8.1 million new jobs created over that time. In the last 12 months alone, American businesses have added 2.3 million new private-sector jobs. This puts the American economy in a strong position heading into the December holiday season.
"But despite broad-based job growth, the November report reminds us that far too many American families are still struggling to get by. The rate of unemployment for the long-term unemployed remains higher than at any point prior to the Great Recession. As the president underscored earlier this week, growing inequality and a lack of upward mobility has jeopardized middle-class America's basic bargain — that if you work hard, you have a chance to get ahead. This point was underscored by a report released this week highlighting that if Congress fails to act, 1.3 million workers and their families will lose Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits immediately.
"The progress made since the depths of the recession in 2010 is a testament to the resilience of the American economy and the American people. But we can and should be doing more. We must invest in infrastructure, pass comprehensive immigration reform, extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program and raise the minimum wage. Current job growth is happening in spite of Congress, not because of it. It's time Congress does its part to accelerate job growth and give more Americans the chance to climb ladders of opportunity."
45TH SPACE WING SUPPORTED SPACEX SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH
The 45th Space Wing supported Space Exploration Technologies to complete a successful launch of the SES-8 communications satellite Dec. 3, 2013, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The satellite will be released in a super synchronous transfer orbit stretching above its 22,300-mile-high operating post. (Courtesy Photo)
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. (AFNS) --
The 45th Space Wing supported Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, to complete a successful launch of the SES-8 communications satellite here Dec. 3.
Airmen, Air Force civilians and contractors from the 45th Space Wing provided weather forecasts, launch and range operations, security, safety, medical and public affairs support. The wing also provided its vast network of radar, telemetry, optical and communications instrumentation to facilitate a safe launch.
"For the second time in a little more than two weeks, the 45th Space Wing and our mission partners have worked together to ensure another successful launch here on the Eastern Range," said Brig. Gen. Nina Armagno, the commander of the 45th Space Wing, who also served as the launch decision authority for this mission. "It's gratifying to see a varied, high-performing team like this come together time and time-again. We are truly grateful for the outstanding space team we have here on the space coast,"
Launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the payload flew on the Falcon 9 v1.1 configuration with upgraded Merlin 1D engines, stretched fuel tanks, and a payload fairing.
According to SES website, the launch of SES-8, which will be released in a super synchronous transfer orbit stretching above its 22,300-mile-high operating post, requires two burns of the Falcon 9 second stage. The first firing will place SES-8 in a low-altitude parking orbit, then the second burn is designed to inject the 7,055-pound craft in an oval-shaped orbit. The SES-8 will maneuver itself into a circular orbit 22,300 miles over the equator, sliding into position in the geostationary arc at 95 degrees east longitude.
The satellite features up to 33 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz equivalent). SES-8 will be co-located with NSS-6 at the orbital location of 95 degrees east to provide growth capacity over Asia-Pacific. The spacecraft's high performance beams will support the rapidly growing markets in South Asia and Indo-China, as well as provide expansion capacity for Direct to Home, Very small aperture satellite terminal and government applications.
NSF DISCUSSES THE FUTURE OF TRANSDERMAL ULTRASOUND DELIVERY OF MEDICATIONS
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
'Smuggling' drugs at the cellular level
Drexel researchers use ultrasound to deliver customized medication through the skin
December 5, 2013
Medicated adhesive patches have become a preferred method of delivery for everything from nicotine to hormones to motion sickness medication.
Drexel University researchers are trying to expand the possibilities of this system--called transdermal delivery--with the help of a cleverly designed delivery vehicle and an ultrasonic "push," or pressure from sound waves.
The advantage of transdermal drug delivery is the ability to regulate the release of medication into the bloodstream and promote a more direct interaction of the treatment with the affected area. But the challenge of this method is that the skin is very good at protecting the body from invaders--even the helpful kind.
Molecules of nicotine and medication currently delivered via adhesive patch are small enough to pass through the pores. To sneak a slightly larger package--say, insulin or arthritis medication--past the body's epidermal defenses requires a bit more biological trickery.
Steven P. Wrenn, of Drexel's College of Engineering, and Peter A. Lewin, from Drexel's School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, are driving forces behind this research. Their team is investigating the molecular architecture of human skin and certain promising drugs and compounds, as well as the mechanics of an ultrasound interface necessary to broaden the capabilities of transdermal drug delivery.
Their work is part of a larger trend: More and more, researchers are exploring advanced materials and manufacturing techniques for biomedical applications. New, high-precision technologies and more rapid, personalized fabrication methods allow engineers to design on smaller scales, such as those required to traverse the human body.
The package
The Drexel team is looking at a drug called Methotrexate (MTX) as an example of the cargo that could one day be transported into the body using an ultrasound "Band-Aid." MTX is used to treat arthritis and various types of cancer. It is typically taken orally, but after prolonged use it can become toxic to the liver. This side effect could be avoided if the drug were delivered transdermally, as afflicted cells would use up much of the medication before it could reach the liver.
It's not an ideal candidate for topical application, however, because its molecules are too large to easily pass through the pores of the skin. It is also easily dissolved in water, which means that, to be effective, it must be contained and protected until it reaches its destination.
The carrier
Wrenn's group is designing a vessel that can transport the medicine and penetrate the skin's first line of defense: the stratum corneum. This barrier is the body's equivalent of a brick wall built with dead skin cell bricks and a lipid mortar.
The group selected the liposome, a fabricated lipid sac filled with water, as the carrier. Liposomes are prime candidates for the job because they are made of the same lipid substrate as the stratum corneum's "mortar," so they can pass through the skin virtually unnoticed.
The team is also engineering the sacs so they're hearty enough to survive a transdermal push, but capable of being opened to release the medicine once inside the body.
The push and the pop
After coaxing the liposomes through the epidermis, the tunable ultrasound patch would "pop" them open to deliver the medicine.
But this interaction is where the real problem lies. The liposome, while a perfect craft for making a stealthy, transdermal entry is not rugged enough to withstand the intensity of ultrasound required to push it through the skin.
Wrenn's group devised a creative solution to this quandary by adding a bit of ballast to the liposome vessel, in the form of tiny gas-filled sacs called microbubbles.
Microbubbles respond to ultrasound in two ways that are key to making the liposome's transdermal voyage a success. First, they can be pushed by ultrasound at an intensity gentle enough to keep the liposome intact. So, nesting the microbubbles inside a liposome is analogous to raising the sail on a boat to catch the wind.
Secondly, when the intensity of the ultrasound is turned up a bit, it causes microbubbles to wobble like a spring and--if the intensity is high enough--pop. Wrenn's group has shown that these gas implosions in the vicinity of the liposome can rip it open, thus allowing disbursal of its contents.
A significant advantage of their approach over current transdermal delivery methods is that it could easily be customized to work for a broad array of drugs and other biological products.
The future
By combining these findings, the team suggests that a liposome laden with a payload of medicine and using microbubbles to sail an ultrasonic "wind" should be able to traverse the epidermis and enter the body. An adjustment to the ultrasound frequency could then pop the microbubbles and split open the liposome to release the medicine.
With a hefty amount of research on liposome architecture underway, the next step for the group will be to fine-tune the ultrasound patch delivery system and work toward a successful transdermal push.
Editor's Note: This Behind the Scenes article was first provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
-- Britt Faulstick, Drexel University
'Smuggling' drugs at the cellular level
Drexel researchers use ultrasound to deliver customized medication through the skin
December 5, 2013
Medicated adhesive patches have become a preferred method of delivery for everything from nicotine to hormones to motion sickness medication.
Drexel University researchers are trying to expand the possibilities of this system--called transdermal delivery--with the help of a cleverly designed delivery vehicle and an ultrasonic "push," or pressure from sound waves.
The advantage of transdermal drug delivery is the ability to regulate the release of medication into the bloodstream and promote a more direct interaction of the treatment with the affected area. But the challenge of this method is that the skin is very good at protecting the body from invaders--even the helpful kind.
Molecules of nicotine and medication currently delivered via adhesive patch are small enough to pass through the pores. To sneak a slightly larger package--say, insulin or arthritis medication--past the body's epidermal defenses requires a bit more biological trickery.
Steven P. Wrenn, of Drexel's College of Engineering, and Peter A. Lewin, from Drexel's School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, are driving forces behind this research. Their team is investigating the molecular architecture of human skin and certain promising drugs and compounds, as well as the mechanics of an ultrasound interface necessary to broaden the capabilities of transdermal drug delivery.
Their work is part of a larger trend: More and more, researchers are exploring advanced materials and manufacturing techniques for biomedical applications. New, high-precision technologies and more rapid, personalized fabrication methods allow engineers to design on smaller scales, such as those required to traverse the human body.
The package
The Drexel team is looking at a drug called Methotrexate (MTX) as an example of the cargo that could one day be transported into the body using an ultrasound "Band-Aid." MTX is used to treat arthritis and various types of cancer. It is typically taken orally, but after prolonged use it can become toxic to the liver. This side effect could be avoided if the drug were delivered transdermally, as afflicted cells would use up much of the medication before it could reach the liver.
It's not an ideal candidate for topical application, however, because its molecules are too large to easily pass through the pores of the skin. It is also easily dissolved in water, which means that, to be effective, it must be contained and protected until it reaches its destination.
The carrier
Wrenn's group is designing a vessel that can transport the medicine and penetrate the skin's first line of defense: the stratum corneum. This barrier is the body's equivalent of a brick wall built with dead skin cell bricks and a lipid mortar.
The group selected the liposome, a fabricated lipid sac filled with water, as the carrier. Liposomes are prime candidates for the job because they are made of the same lipid substrate as the stratum corneum's "mortar," so they can pass through the skin virtually unnoticed.
The team is also engineering the sacs so they're hearty enough to survive a transdermal push, but capable of being opened to release the medicine once inside the body.
The push and the pop
After coaxing the liposomes through the epidermis, the tunable ultrasound patch would "pop" them open to deliver the medicine.
But this interaction is where the real problem lies. The liposome, while a perfect craft for making a stealthy, transdermal entry is not rugged enough to withstand the intensity of ultrasound required to push it through the skin.
Wrenn's group devised a creative solution to this quandary by adding a bit of ballast to the liposome vessel, in the form of tiny gas-filled sacs called microbubbles.
Microbubbles respond to ultrasound in two ways that are key to making the liposome's transdermal voyage a success. First, they can be pushed by ultrasound at an intensity gentle enough to keep the liposome intact. So, nesting the microbubbles inside a liposome is analogous to raising the sail on a boat to catch the wind.
Secondly, when the intensity of the ultrasound is turned up a bit, it causes microbubbles to wobble like a spring and--if the intensity is high enough--pop. Wrenn's group has shown that these gas implosions in the vicinity of the liposome can rip it open, thus allowing disbursal of its contents.
A significant advantage of their approach over current transdermal delivery methods is that it could easily be customized to work for a broad array of drugs and other biological products.
The future
By combining these findings, the team suggests that a liposome laden with a payload of medicine and using microbubbles to sail an ultrasonic "wind" should be able to traverse the epidermis and enter the body. An adjustment to the ultrasound frequency could then pop the microbubbles and split open the liposome to release the medicine.
With a hefty amount of research on liposome architecture underway, the next step for the group will be to fine-tune the ultrasound patch delivery system and work toward a successful transdermal push.
Editor's Note: This Behind the Scenes article was first provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
-- Britt Faulstick, Drexel University
APP DEVELOPER CHARGED BY FTC WITH DECEIVING CONSUMERS REGARDING SHARING OF INFO
FROM: FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Android Flashlight App Developer Settles FTC Charges It Deceived Consumers
'Brightest Flashlight' App Shared Users' Location, Device ID Without Consumers' Knowledge.
The creator of one of the most popular apps for Android mobile devices has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the free app, which allows a device to be used as a flashlight, deceived consumers about how their geolocation information would be shared with advertising networks and other third parties.
Goldenshores Technologies, LLC, managed by Erik M. Geidl, is the company behind the “Brightest Flashlight Free” app, which has been downloaded tens of millions of times by users of the Android operating system. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company’s privacy policy deceptively failed to disclose that the app transmitted users’ precise location and unique device identifier to third parties, including advertising networks. In addition, the complaint alleges that the company deceived consumers by presenting them with an option to not share their information, even though it was shared automatically rendering the option meaningless.
“When consumers are given a real, informed choice, they can decide for themselves whether the benefit of a service is worth the information they must share to use it,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But this flashlight app left them in the dark about how their information was going to be used.”
In its complaint, the FTC alleges that Goldenshores’ privacy policy told consumers that any information collected by the Brightest Flashlight app would be used by the company, and listed some categories of information that it might collect. The policy, however, did not mention that the information would also be sent to third parties, such as advertising networks.
Consumers also were presented with a false choice when they downloaded the app, according to the complaint. Upon first opening the app, they were shown the company’s End User License Agreement, which included information on data collection. At the bottom of the license agreement, consumers could click to “Accept” or “Refuse” the terms of the agreement. Even before a consumer had a chance to accept those terms, though, the application was already collecting and sending information to third parties – including location and the unique device identifier.
The settlement with the FTC prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting how consumers’ information is collected and shared and how much control consumers have over the way their information is used. The settlement also requires the defendants to provide a just-in-time disclosure that fully informs consumers when, how, and why their geolocation information is being collected, used and shared, and requires defendants to obtain consumers’ affirmative express consent before doing so.
The defendants also will be required to delete any personal information collected from consumers through the Brightest Flashlight app.
The Commission vote to accept the consent agreement package containing the proposed consent order for public comment was 4-0.
The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through Jan. 6, 2014, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Interested parties can submit written comments electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in the “Invitation To Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section. Comments can be submitted electronically via the Commission’s comment submission page. Comments in paper form should be mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in paper form near the end of the public comment period be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions.
NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative 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. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.
Android Flashlight App Developer Settles FTC Charges It Deceived Consumers
'Brightest Flashlight' App Shared Users' Location, Device ID Without Consumers' Knowledge.
The creator of one of the most popular apps for Android mobile devices has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the free app, which allows a device to be used as a flashlight, deceived consumers about how their geolocation information would be shared with advertising networks and other third parties.
Goldenshores Technologies, LLC, managed by Erik M. Geidl, is the company behind the “Brightest Flashlight Free” app, which has been downloaded tens of millions of times by users of the Android operating system. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company’s privacy policy deceptively failed to disclose that the app transmitted users’ precise location and unique device identifier to third parties, including advertising networks. In addition, the complaint alleges that the company deceived consumers by presenting them with an option to not share their information, even though it was shared automatically rendering the option meaningless.
“When consumers are given a real, informed choice, they can decide for themselves whether the benefit of a service is worth the information they must share to use it,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But this flashlight app left them in the dark about how their information was going to be used.”
In its complaint, the FTC alleges that Goldenshores’ privacy policy told consumers that any information collected by the Brightest Flashlight app would be used by the company, and listed some categories of information that it might collect. The policy, however, did not mention that the information would also be sent to third parties, such as advertising networks.
Consumers also were presented with a false choice when they downloaded the app, according to the complaint. Upon first opening the app, they were shown the company’s End User License Agreement, which included information on data collection. At the bottom of the license agreement, consumers could click to “Accept” or “Refuse” the terms of the agreement. Even before a consumer had a chance to accept those terms, though, the application was already collecting and sending information to third parties – including location and the unique device identifier.
The settlement with the FTC prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting how consumers’ information is collected and shared and how much control consumers have over the way their information is used. The settlement also requires the defendants to provide a just-in-time disclosure that fully informs consumers when, how, and why their geolocation information is being collected, used and shared, and requires defendants to obtain consumers’ affirmative express consent before doing so.
The defendants also will be required to delete any personal information collected from consumers through the Brightest Flashlight app.
The Commission vote to accept the consent agreement package containing the proposed consent order for public comment was 4-0.
The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through Jan. 6, 2014, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Interested parties can submit written comments electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in the “Invitation To Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section. Comments can be submitted electronically via the Commission’s comment submission page. Comments in paper form should be mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in paper form near the end of the public comment period be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions.
NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative 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. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.
ANTIQUES DEALER SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR SMUGGLING ARTIFACTS MADE FROM RHINOCEROS HORNS
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, December 5, 2013
New York Antiques Dealer Sentenced to 37 Months in Prison for Wildlife Smuggling
Wang Smuggled Artifacts Carved from Rhinoceros Horns from New York to China.
Qiang Wang, aka Jeffrey Wang, a New York antiques dealer, was sentenced in federal court in Manhattan today to 37 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to smuggle Asian artifacts made from rhinoceros horns and ivory and violate wildlife trafficking laws, announced Robert G. Dreher, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Dan Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Wang was arrested in February 2013 as part of “Operation Crash,” a nation-wide crackdown in the illegal trafficking in rhinoceros horns, for his role in smuggling “libation cups” carved from rhinoceros horns from New York to China. Wang was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the Southern District of New York.
“Smuggling wildlife artifacts made from rhino horn and elephant ivory undermines the international conservation protections put in place to save these species from extinction ,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Dreher. “This is an active and ongoing investigation that is designed to send a clear message to buyers and sellers that we will vigorousl y investigate and prosecute those who are involved in this devastating trade.”
“With his sentence today, Qiang Wang is held accountable for his role in feeding the flourishing black market for artifacts made from endangered species,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “This Office will continue its work to prosecute those who contribute to the illegal wildlife trade, and to uphold the rules designed to protect wildlife.”
“ We’re reaching a tipping point, where the unprecedented slaughter of rhinos and elephants happening now threatens the viability of these iconic species’ wild populations in Africa,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “.This slaughter is fueled by illegal trade, including that exposed by Operation Crash. We will continue to work relentlessly across the United States government and with our international partners to crack down on poaching and wildlife trafficking.”
According to the information, plea agreement and statements made during court proceedings:
In China, there is a tradition dating back centuries of intricately carving rhinoceros horn cups. Drinking from such a cup was believed by some to bring good health, and antique carvings are highly prized by collectors. Libation cups and other ornamental carvings are particularly sought after in China and in other Asian countries, as well as in the United States. The escalating value of such items has resulted in an increased demand for rhinoceros horn that has helped fuel a thriving black market, including fake antiques made from more recently hunted rhinoceros.
In pleading guilty, Wang admitted to participating in a conspiracy to smuggle objects carved from rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory out of the United States knowing that it was illegal to export such items without required permits. Due to their dwindling populations, all rhinoceros and elephant species are protected under international trade agreements. Wang falsely labeled the packages in order to conceal the true contents and did not declare them as required. Special Agents with the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service executed a search of Wang’s apartment in Flushing, New York, and found documents showing Wang was involved in buying rhino horn and ivory artifacts and smuggling them to China. Agents seized two ivory carvings, including one found hidden behind Wang’s bed that were forfeited as part of the sentence. Numerous photographs of raw and carved rhinoceros horn, including approximately 10 different raw rhinoceros horns, were found on Wang’s computer and telephone consistent with a common practice of emailing or texting photographs of items for sale in order to receive instructions on whether to purchase the items and how much to pay. According to prosecutors, Wang had told other dealers that he was seeking raw rhino horns to send to China.
In sentencing Wang , Judge Forrest said that his behavior helped “create and sustain a marketplace for goods made from endangered wildlife.” Judge Forrest also said that Wang’s conduct was “illegal and extremely troubling.”
In addition to the prison term, Judge Forrest ordered Wang, 34, of Flushing, N.Y., to forfeit certain ivory goods in his possession, and banned him from all future trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn. Wang was also sentenced to serve a term of three years of supervised release.
Rhinoceros are an herbivore species of prehistoric origin and one of the largest remaining mega-fauna on earth. They have no known predators other than humans. All species of rhinoceros are protected under United States and international law. Since 1976, trade in rhinoceros horn has been regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by over 170 countries around the world to protect fish, wildlife and plants that are or may become imperiled due to the demands of international markets.
Operation Crash is a continuing investigation being conducted by the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in coordination with other federal and local law enforcement agencies including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. A “crash” is the term for a herd of rhinoceros. Operation Crash is an ongoing effort to detect, deter and prosecute those engaged in the illegal killing of rhinoceros and the unlawful trafficking of rhinoceros horns.
The investigation by was handled by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Attorney’s Office Complex Frauds Unit and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, with assistance from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation . Assistant U.S. Attorney Janis M. Echenberg and Senior Counsel Richard A. Udell of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section are in charge of the prosecution.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
New York Antiques Dealer Sentenced to 37 Months in Prison for Wildlife Smuggling
Wang Smuggled Artifacts Carved from Rhinoceros Horns from New York to China.
Qiang Wang, aka Jeffrey Wang, a New York antiques dealer, was sentenced in federal court in Manhattan today to 37 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to smuggle Asian artifacts made from rhinoceros horns and ivory and violate wildlife trafficking laws, announced Robert G. Dreher, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Dan Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Wang was arrested in February 2013 as part of “Operation Crash,” a nation-wide crackdown in the illegal trafficking in rhinoceros horns, for his role in smuggling “libation cups” carved from rhinoceros horns from New York to China. Wang was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the Southern District of New York.
“Smuggling wildlife artifacts made from rhino horn and elephant ivory undermines the international conservation protections put in place to save these species from extinction ,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Dreher. “This is an active and ongoing investigation that is designed to send a clear message to buyers and sellers that we will vigorousl y investigate and prosecute those who are involved in this devastating trade.”
“With his sentence today, Qiang Wang is held accountable for his role in feeding the flourishing black market for artifacts made from endangered species,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “This Office will continue its work to prosecute those who contribute to the illegal wildlife trade, and to uphold the rules designed to protect wildlife.”
“ We’re reaching a tipping point, where the unprecedented slaughter of rhinos and elephants happening now threatens the viability of these iconic species’ wild populations in Africa,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “.This slaughter is fueled by illegal trade, including that exposed by Operation Crash. We will continue to work relentlessly across the United States government and with our international partners to crack down on poaching and wildlife trafficking.”
According to the information, plea agreement and statements made during court proceedings:
In China, there is a tradition dating back centuries of intricately carving rhinoceros horn cups. Drinking from such a cup was believed by some to bring good health, and antique carvings are highly prized by collectors. Libation cups and other ornamental carvings are particularly sought after in China and in other Asian countries, as well as in the United States. The escalating value of such items has resulted in an increased demand for rhinoceros horn that has helped fuel a thriving black market, including fake antiques made from more recently hunted rhinoceros.
In pleading guilty, Wang admitted to participating in a conspiracy to smuggle objects carved from rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory out of the United States knowing that it was illegal to export such items without required permits. Due to their dwindling populations, all rhinoceros and elephant species are protected under international trade agreements. Wang falsely labeled the packages in order to conceal the true contents and did not declare them as required. Special Agents with the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service executed a search of Wang’s apartment in Flushing, New York, and found documents showing Wang was involved in buying rhino horn and ivory artifacts and smuggling them to China. Agents seized two ivory carvings, including one found hidden behind Wang’s bed that were forfeited as part of the sentence. Numerous photographs of raw and carved rhinoceros horn, including approximately 10 different raw rhinoceros horns, were found on Wang’s computer and telephone consistent with a common practice of emailing or texting photographs of items for sale in order to receive instructions on whether to purchase the items and how much to pay. According to prosecutors, Wang had told other dealers that he was seeking raw rhino horns to send to China.
In sentencing Wang , Judge Forrest said that his behavior helped “create and sustain a marketplace for goods made from endangered wildlife.” Judge Forrest also said that Wang’s conduct was “illegal and extremely troubling.”
In addition to the prison term, Judge Forrest ordered Wang, 34, of Flushing, N.Y., to forfeit certain ivory goods in his possession, and banned him from all future trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn. Wang was also sentenced to serve a term of three years of supervised release.
Rhinoceros are an herbivore species of prehistoric origin and one of the largest remaining mega-fauna on earth. They have no known predators other than humans. All species of rhinoceros are protected under United States and international law. Since 1976, trade in rhinoceros horn has been regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by over 170 countries around the world to protect fish, wildlife and plants that are or may become imperiled due to the demands of international markets.
Operation Crash is a continuing investigation being conducted by the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in coordination with other federal and local law enforcement agencies including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. A “crash” is the term for a herd of rhinoceros. Operation Crash is an ongoing effort to detect, deter and prosecute those engaged in the illegal killing of rhinoceros and the unlawful trafficking of rhinoceros horns.
The investigation by was handled by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Attorney’s Office Complex Frauds Unit and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, with assistance from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation . Assistant U.S. Attorney Janis M. Echenberg and Senior Counsel Richard A. Udell of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section are in charge of the prosecution.
NSF EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO STEALING FROM GOVERNMENT
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Friday, December 6, 2013
Information Technology Specialist at National Science Foundation Pleads Guilty to Stealing $90,000 from Government
An information technology specialist working for the National Science Foundation (NSF) pleaded guilty late yesterday to theft of government property totaling more than $90,000, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia.
According to court records, James Troy Clark, 51, of Fredericksburg, Va., was responsible for purchasing information technology supplies and services for his office at NSF using government-issued purchase cards. From 2010 through July 2013, Clark used these purchase cards to purchase items for his personal use and the personal use of others, including cellular telephones and the attendant monthly service charges for those phones; multiple laptop computers and tablets; thousands of dollars in movies, music, and other content from the Apple iTunes store; and numerous other electronic devices and accessories.
The total amount of purchases made by Clark for his and others’ personal use was approximately $94,493. Clark faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 21, 2014.
The case was investigated by National Science Foundation’s Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Kevin Driscoll and Menaka Kalaskar of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Mark D. Lytle of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Information Technology Specialist at National Science Foundation Pleads Guilty to Stealing $90,000 from Government
An information technology specialist working for the National Science Foundation (NSF) pleaded guilty late yesterday to theft of government property totaling more than $90,000, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia.
According to court records, James Troy Clark, 51, of Fredericksburg, Va., was responsible for purchasing information technology supplies and services for his office at NSF using government-issued purchase cards. From 2010 through July 2013, Clark used these purchase cards to purchase items for his personal use and the personal use of others, including cellular telephones and the attendant monthly service charges for those phones; multiple laptop computers and tablets; thousands of dollars in movies, music, and other content from the Apple iTunes store; and numerous other electronic devices and accessories.
The total amount of purchases made by Clark for his and others’ personal use was approximately $94,493. Clark faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 21, 2014.
The case was investigated by National Science Foundation’s Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Kevin Driscoll and Menaka Kalaskar of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Mark D. Lytle of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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