FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Daily Briefing by the Press Secretary, 1/22/14
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
12:55 P.M. EST
MR. CARNEY: Kind of feels like Monday, weirdly. My kids still haven't gone to school this week.
Good afternoon. I hope you're holding up in the wintry weather, today’s cold. Before I take your questions I'd like to tell you that this morning the President and Vice President held a meeting in the Oval Office with Attorney General Holder, Secretaries Hagel, Sebelius and Duncan, and senior administration officials to discuss their commitment to combating rape and sexual assault in all settings. During the meeting the President and Vice President reiterated their deep, personal interest in doing everything possible to root out these types of abuse and build on the steps their administration has taken to protect Americans from it.
They discussed the findings of a report issued by the White House Council on Women and Girls that was issued earlier today and identifies key areas to focus on as part of these continued efforts, including working to change social norms, improving criminal justice response, and protecting students from sexual assault. Each of the Cabinet members briefed the President and Vice President on various actions their respective agencies are taking to lead a coordinated, comprehensive effort to combat sexual assault from the military to college campuses and beyond.
And later today, the President and Vice President and these Cabinet officials will join additional representatives of the Council on Women and Girls for a meeting in the East Room -- which I think you know -- where the President will sign a new presidential memorandum to establish the White House Task Force on Protecting Students from Sexual Assault. In his meeting this morning, the President said that he looks forward to seeing recommendations from the task force within 90 days.
Working to combat rape and sexual assault in all settings has been a priority for the President and Vice President throughout their time in office, and these new efforts build on steps that this administration has taken to combat these crimes, including last year’s reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which the Vice President himself authored, and the series of executive actions that Secretary Hagel recently announced to address sexual assault in the military.
With that, I take your questions. Julie.
Q Thanks, Jay. I have a couple questions about Iran and Syria. I know the State Department has talked about this over the weekend, but what is the White House’s understanding of what happened with the Ban Ki-moon invitation to Iran to the Syria talks and then having to pull that invitation back?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I would refer you to the U.N. Secretary General for more detail about this. I think he’s spoken to it and explained. Our position never changed and remains today what it has always been, which in order to participate in the Geneva conference you need to endorse the Geneva Communiqué. And the purpose of the Geneva II conference is the full implementation of that communique, including the establishment by mutual consent of a transitional governing body with full executive authorities.
So I would refer you to what Secretary General Ban has said on this issue. Our position is clear. And we're certainly following events in Montreux now as that conference has gotten underway.
Q Is there any concern that any tension that was created through this invitation and pulling back the invitation might bleed over into the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran?
MR. CARNEY: No. I think that we have made clear and the P5-plus-1 in general have made clear that the focus of the implementation of the Joint Plan of Action and of the next step, the six-month process of trying to reach a comprehensive resolution of this matter, is on how we can persuade Iran to abide by its international commitments, how we can ensure that Iran will not obtain and cannot obtain a nuclear weapon. There are other issues, very serious ones, in the Iran account that we have and that includes our profound differences over Syria and the fact that Iran has clearly played a negative role there and a violent role there.
Q And on those talks, they’re off to a bit of a rocky start. Does the administration see this round, Geneva II, as sort of the last, best chance to get Assad out? And if this round of talks ends without a positive conclusion, where does the discussion on Syria go from here?
MR. CARNEY: Well, first of all, I’d note that this is the beginning of what will be a tough and complicated negotiation to end the war in Syria. The meetings in Montreux are ongoing and the start of the Syria-Syria negotiations will begin on Friday in Geneva. That is where the two parties themselves are negotiating.
The international community is focused on the full implementation of the Geneva Communiqué, including the establishment, based on mutual consent, of a transitional governing body exercising full executive powers, as I just said, including over military and security entities. It’s important to be clear: Mutual consent for a transitional governing body means that that government cannot be formed with someone who is objected to by one side or the other. In other words, that means that Bashar al-Assad will not and cannot be part of that transition government.
Now, the most important work will be done in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead with the regime and the opposition sitting down together to negotiate the implementation of the Geneva Communiqué and the formation of that transitional governing body, and that will be hard work. But today is the beginning of an important process that will hopefully lead to an end to that terrible war.
Q Given how hard it’s been to get these parties to even come to the table, do you see this as really the last, best chance to have a political solution?
MR. CARNEY: There is no alternative to a political solution, a negotiated political settlement. And I wouldn't, as these talks are just starting, move ahead to an assumption that they’ll fail -- although I will recognize, as we all will and the President will, that this is going to be tough and complicated work. But there is no alternative. There is no other way forward for Syria absent a negotiated political settlement; absent a settlement based on the principles of the Geneva Communiqué, which calls very clearly for a transitional governing body that is reached to by mutual consent. That’s going to be hard work, but it’s important that it’s gotten started.
Jeff.
Q Thanks, Jay. The President spoke yesterday with President Putin of Russia and your readout said that they discussed the Olympics and security. What more would the White House like to see Russia doing on security there? And what more would the United States like to do or to be involved in to address the mounting concerns about security in Sochi?
MR. CARNEY: Well, let me say that starting with the call yesterday that the United States has offered its full support and any assistance to the Russian government in its security preparations for the Sochi Games. Russian authorities will be responsible for overall security at the Olympics, and the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security has the security lead for United States. We will send diplomatic security and FBI agents to liaise with host nation security and law enforcement officials. And that’s standard operating procedure for large events like this, where thousands of U.S. citizens -- athletes from Team USA, American corporate sponsors and members of the U.S. media are present for an extended period of time.
Now, the United States and Russia have had discussions on counterterrorism cooperation in a number of venues, as we’ve noted in the past, including in working groups of the Bilateral Presidential Commission. The United States has also been working with the Russian government through the International Security Events Group on Sochi preparation, specifically as we do with any host country. Now, U.S. citizens planning to attend the games in Sochi should be contact with the State Department. Potential threats to safety and security can be found on the embassy’s website and the Department of State’s travel website.
I’ll also note that we have seen an uptick in threat reporting prior to the Olympics, which is, of course, of concern, although it is also not unusual for a major international event. And we have offered, as I said, assistance to the Russians -- any assistance that they might need to counter that threat.
Q Is Russia accepting any of that assistance that’s been offered?
MR. CARNEY: I would, first of all, refer you to the Department of Defense for details on assistance that’s been offered. I would also say that we’re having ongoing conversations with the Russians about this and have offered any assistance that we can provide. They obviously have lead for security at the Olympics -- they are the host nation.
Q But did that offer come out of a concern that they’re not doing enough?
MR. CARNEY: No, I think that this is an international event; there will be a large U.S. citizen presence there for an extended period of time, and we take the necessary precautions as you would expect. I think the Pentagon said on Monday of this week that the United States has offered its full support to the Russian government, and that includes the two U.S. ships that have been sent to the Black Sea as part of the prudent planning and preparations that are required for an event like this.
Q All right. And then one other issue -- The Washington Post today had a story quoting U.S. officials expressing concern that they would not be able to make good on the President’s promise regarding the telephone records and the NSA proposals. How confident is the White House that a deadline can be met? Was it realistic?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I would say the relevant agencies are already at work on implementing the directions in the President’s speech that he gave. As the President said, these are complicated issues, but they are not new to us. We’ve already been working on them over the past six months and doing everything in our power, already we are, to meet those timelines. So it’s complicated, but the word has already gone out, some of the work has already been done, and the President looks forward to progress being made and completed.
Jon.
Q On Russia, the call with Putin, who called who? Did the President call or did Putin? Who initiated the call?
MR. CARNEY: I don't know the answer to that, Jon. They speak with some frequency, but I can find out if there is an initiator.
Q And get back to us?
MR. CARNEY: Sure.
Q And on this question of security at the Olympics, what is your assessment, what is the White House assessment? How are the Russians doing on security? Are they doing enough?
MR. CARNEY: Well, again, what I can tell you is there has been an uptick in some of the reporting, but that is not unusual. It’s of concern, but not unusual for an event like this. The State Department has handled and is handling the issue of travel advisories for U.S. citizens, and we are offering the Russians any assistance that they might require or request in a situation like this.
But I wouldn’t be qualified -- I wouldn’t want to venture to assess overall except that these kinds of major events around the world obviously present security challenges; this one is not unique. And we take matters like this seriously because of the presence of U.S. citizens. That's why we’re working with the Russian government. That's why we’re offering the assistance that we’re offering, as well as encouraging U.S. citizens planning to travel to Sochi to be in contact with the State Department to make sure they're aware of the advisories that are out there.
Q Can you characterize our level of confidence in the steps they have taken? You’ve heard -- obviously Putin has talked a “ring of steel” around the Sochi Olympics. Do we have a great deal of confidence that they have done enough on this?
MR. CARNEY: All I can tell you, Jon, is that we have had conversations with the Russian government about security in Sochi. The President spoke with President Putin about this. We have offered any assistance that they might want to avail themselves of, and we’re taking, I think, prudent precautions on this matter, as evidenced by some of the steps the Department of Defense and the State Department have taken.
I wouldn’t want to assess from here because this is a complicated piece of business, obviously -- an international event like this, Olympics in general -- because they, unlike already complicated events like a single day of a sporting event, the Olympics last over a significant period of time.
Q And can I ask a question on the Iran -- on the negotiations with Iran on the nuclear issue? Is it the White House’s belief that if you can reach an agreement with the Iranians that those sanctions can be lifted without congressional approval? Can further sanctions be lifted? Obviously there are some steps which you’re able to do without congressional approval, but can you strike a deal with Iran and lift sanctions without Congress okaying it?
MR. CARNEY: I haven’t seen that assessment made because it presupposes what is the only acceptable outcome to these negotiations, which is a verifiable, transparent agreement by Iran to forsake its nuclear weapons ambitions. And the promise of that for Iran is that by coming into compliance with its international obligation, by offering in a way that is 100 percent reassuring to the P5-plus-1 and our international partners and allies that they will not pursue and cannot pursue a nuclear weapon, there will be an opportunity for Iran to end its isolated state that its violation of its international obligations has brought upon it.
But how that process would work, I think it’s a little early to discuss that because the six-month period that we’ve been talking about for the negotiations over a comprehensive solution is only just beginning.
Q Okay. And then just one last thing. The First Lady had her 50th birthday party and I believe you said that the President picks up the cost for that party.
MR. CARNEY: I think we put out information. I don’t have it here. I would refer you to the East Wing.
Q And I was just wondering if you had an estimate on what the cost was.
MR. CARNEY: I don’t, but I would refer you to the East Wing.
Q On that uptick in threat reporting, you said that it’s something you should expect with events like this. But really going beyond that, part of that uptick is because of recent events in the area because of the region we’re talking about. Is that correct?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I mean, you’re asking me to assess the region. I think that international events like this always represent -- or present, rather, security challenges, and that’s broadly speaking. Obviously each event presents unique challenges. But I’m not going to get into a detailed analysis of how this one might be different from another one. The approach that the U.S. government takes and the administration takes is one of prudent preparation because of any risks that might be out there.
So as I said, as you might expect in the run-up to an event like this, there has been an uptick in some of the threat reporting, and we’re taking precautions accordingly. But that is not unusual.
Q And does President Putin seem welcoming of U.S. offers for assistance?
MR. CARNEY: I think that we have communicated at a variety of levels including between the two Presidents that we are absolutely willing to assist the Russian government where we can, and those conversations are being engaged. And I wouldn’t characterize them -- I can point you to the Defense Department in terms of some of the conversations they’ve had and some of the steps they’ve taken. But we’re going to continue to work with the Russian government and have those conversations moving forward.
Q And on The New Yorker piece, the President said a couple of things about marijuana. He said that legalization experiments in Washington State and Colorado should “go forward.” He also mentioned that he didn’t think marijuana was any more dangerous than alcohol. In 2010, this White House put out a policy paper on national drug policy stating that marijuana should not be legalized. Was the President setting new drug policy?
MR. CARNEY: No, the President’s position on these matters hasn’t changed. I think he was making a couple of points -- one, that we ought to use discretion appropriately in our prosecution prioritization -- A. B, when it comes to marijuana use, he made clear that he sees it as a bad habit and a vice and not something that he would encourage -- and this is a quote: “It’s not something I encourage, and I told my daughters I think it’s a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy.”
But there’s no question that we’ve applied our drug laws in a way that has been counterproductive and that there are issues there that need to be addressed. I think that it’s important to -- because he’s quoted quite extensively in that article -- to look at the full context of some of these quotes that have been taken out in phrases when, at least in this instance, there’s an opportunity to see him speak at length.
Q But he does want to see those experiments to go forward in Washington State and Colorado. What does he hope to find out --
MR. CARNEY: I think the point he was -- well, see, I think again that you’re probably not aware of the entire sentence. “It’s important for the experiment” -- which is bracketed -- “to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law, and only a select few get punished.” In other words, he’s talking about the issue of the disparities in our prosecution of our drug laws that an experiment like this may be addressing. He’s not endorsing any specific move by a state; he’s simply making an observation. His position on these matters has not changed.
Q And, Jay, on Syria, getting back to Syria, there has been a huge cache of photos that have been released showing what appears to be widespread killings, mass killings, mass torture in Syria. Has the White House examined these photos? Does it have an opinion on what should happen with respect to those photos?
MR. CARNEY: We stand with the rest of the world in horror at these images that have come to light, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms the actions of the Assad regime and call on it to adhere to international obligations with respect to the treatment of prisoners. While we cannot independently confirm or affirm the information that was presented recently, these photos cannot be ignored or dismissed. They suggest widespread and apparently systematic violations of international human law and demonstrate just how far the regime is willing to go in harming its own people. They’re very disturbing images.
Let me move around a little bit. Christie.
Q Thanks, Jay. Back on the metadata program. Can you say when the DOJ and the ODNI began working on the storage -- the new storage place for this database? Was it 10 minutes after the President speech or --
MR. CARNEY: I would refer you to them. I don’t know when they --
Q Well, your answer to Jeff made it sound like --
MR. CARNEY: I’m saying that on -- the examination of these issues was part of the review process. So moving forward, participants in that effort are not starting from scratch. And that was the point I’m making -- not that the President had issued specifically this directive prior to his speech, but that there’s a knowledge base there that was built in part by the review the President asked for and got, and that will certainly be of assistance as the work moves forward to make some determinations about storage.
Q And do you know if the Attorney General has assured the President that he can make the deadline that he has set?
MR. CARNEY: Again, I think I would point you to what I said earlier. There’s work that’s been done on this issue broadly speaking so people aren’t starting from scratch. It’s a complicated piece of business, but the President expects that action can be taken in the timeline he set.
Q Well, you also have the component of needing congressional help on this. What would happen if Congress did not act to set something up by the deadline the President is talking about? Is the President willing to stop -- he said in his speech that the government will no longer maintain this database. Would he stop doing that --
MR. CARNEY: Well, we’re going to work with Congress because we think that this is the kind of thing that can enjoy bipartisan support. There’s a shared interest in moving forward on this so I think that we hope and expect congressional cooperation moving forward.
Q On income inequality, the President has repeatedly made it clear recently that this is going to be a big part of the next three years. But with so little appetite in Congress to do anything about it, how much effort is he going to put behind measures that can actually reduce the trend?
MR. CARNEY: Well, there’s no question, as you heard the President say in Anacostia late last year, and as you’ve heard him say over the years, including in Osawatomie and earlier this year, that the challenge we face when it comes to economic mobility in this country and the ability of Americans from all stations in life to achieve the American Dream is something he considers his number-one priority. And addressing that challenge, addressing that problem, making sure that there’s opportunity for everyone, is something that we can do together with Congress and it’s also something that he can tackle using all of the tools in his toolbox as President of the United States.
And you have seen him do that -- or rather you have seen examples of how he can do that just recently with the Promise Zones that he talked about, and the manufacturing hub in North Carolina, where we can continue to work on the renaissance of manufacturing in this country and focus on advanced manufacturing and the kind of industries that create well-paying jobs for middle-class families to live on here in the United States. You've seen it in the initiative last week with a hundred representatives from colleges and universities and elsewhere interested in improving education for Americans, and that, in turn, helps address the issue, because it’s not something that a single piece of legislation will resolve.
You've seen it in efforts across the states to raise the minimum wage, state by state. The President strongly supports action by Congress, strongly supports action here in Washington to raise the minimum wage, because as a basic principle in this country you ought to be able to earn a living, i.e. not live in poverty, if you put in a hard day's work. That's certainly the President's view. And that's something that has enjoyed across the country and through the years bipartisan support. So there's an opportunity for action with Congress on that specific issue -- and others.
So the President is fiercely committed to this agenda that goes right at the heart of what he believes America has always been about, which is the foundational belief that no matter what the circumstances of your birth that you have endless opportunity in this country to advance yourself and your family if you're willing to work hard, if you're willing to take responsibility, and if you're willing to educate yourself and help your family move forward. So this is obviously something the President has spoken about before. I think you can expect that it will be something he'll speak about in the coming days and weeks, and throughout his presidency.
Q How would he measure success?
MR. CARNEY: I think he would measure success by evidence that we have improved economic opportunity in this country for everyone; that the mobility that we've seen declining in this country is on the rise again, where you don't have I think surprising statistics that suggest that countries in Europe have greater economic mobility than the United States, which sort of goes at the heart of who we believe we are in this country and what our history has been about when it comes to opportunity for people who have been willing to work hard and take responsibility. So that's an agenda that could not have more presidential force behind it.
Major.
Q There was a report last night that the Pentagon sent to the President a report or a recommendation that there would be 10,000 U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan after 2014 provided the BSA is signed, but that those forces would be removed by 2016. A, can you confirm if that's true? And if so, does it reflect a presidential desire to wind down the war completely by the end of his term, even if the bilateral security agreement is signed by the Afghan government?
MR. CARNEY: What I can tell you, Major, is that the President has not made any decisions about final troop numbers and I'm not going to discuss ongoing deliberations. We will be weighing inputs from our military commanders, as well as the intelligence community, our diplomats and development experts as we make decisions about our post-2014 presence in Afghanistan.
As you mentioned, in addition, our position continues to be that if we cannot conclude a bilateral security agreement promptly then we will initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no U.S. or NATO troop presence in Afghanistan. That's not the future we're seeking; it’s not the policy we think is best, and we don't believe it’s in Afghanistan’s best interest. But the further this slips into 2014, the more likely such an outcome is.
Meanwhile, as the interagency convenes to continue considering options to present to the President for a post-2014 presence, we will have to increasingly take into account the lack of a signed BSA in that planning. We'll have to frame decisions based on our clear position that we can't pursue a post-2014 mission without a BSA. And that mission, if I could just reiterate, would be one tailored to focus on counterterrorism operations and on the training and support of Afghan security forces.
So no decisions have been made. We're not going to get into ongoing deliberations. And it’s important to note in the context of all of these discussions that we are still waiting for the Afghan government to sign the bilateral security agreement.
Q Does the difficulty in obtaining that signature on the BSA inject into these deliberations a new question about the utility of keeping forces for a long period after 2014 because it appears the Afghan -- we may not be welcome there and therefore the utility of us staying might be in question now?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I think, in fact, the loya jirga strongly endorsed the bilateral security agreement, and as a body that represents the will and opinion of the Afghan people, we think that is significant and it reflects the fact that the BSA was negotiated in good faith with the Afghan government. And we consider that another strong reason why it ought to be signed.
Q But you know as well as I do that part of this is the succession of Karzai and this being a live issue, so that if it’s not overshadowed, certainly presents itself within the succession of the Karzai government and it certainly is a factor being weighed by not just the loya jirga but whoever may succeed Karzai.
MR. CARNEY: Well, I think that's probably the case, but we're not basing the need for the BSA to be signed on that timeline in Afghan politics. We're basing it on the fact that we have to make decisions -- we and our NATO allies have to make decisions and make plans for 2014 that need to take into account whether or not there is a BSA that's been signed, because there cannot be a further troop presence beyond 2014 absent a signed BSA. So the further we slip into this year, the more we have to take that into account as we make plans.
Q It was suggested on a couple of Sunday talk shows that there is evidence in possession of the U.S. government that Edward Snowden may well have received assistance from the Russian government in transit on his way to Russia and that he may be cooperating in ways that is harmful to the U.S. government on an ongoing basis. Does the administration agree with those assessments?
MR. CARNEY: I would say that this is an ongoing criminal investigation; there have been charges brought. And I don't have anything to add from here on that matter.
Q Would the administration cast any doubts on those suspicions?
MR. CARNEY: Again, I just don't have anything to add. There is a case that has been presented against Mr. Snowden, charges have been brought. It is our firm position that he ought to return to the United States and face the charges against him here where he will be afforded all of the protections of due process that our judicial system provides.
Q In The New Yorker piece, the President said he was haunted by Syria. You read a statement about the images that the administration had a chance to look at. You also said there’s no alternative to Assad staying in power. Why isn't there any alternative to Assad staying in power? He’s been there for almost two and a half years, a wide-running bloody civil war. The military does not appear to be any less aggressive in its defense of the Assad regime than it has been from the start. The opposition is splintered. The Geneva II peace process or conversations are off to, at best, a rocky start. Why isn't it possible that Assad stays and the President remains haunted by this for the remainder of his administration?
MR. CARNEY: Because there’s no future that the Syrian people will endorse for their country that includes Assad in the government or as President. He has forsaken in bloody fashion any claim he might have to lead that country into the future by massacring his own people --
Q But with respect, that may undermine his moral authority, but the practical reality is he’s there, his military is there and fights aggressively to keep him there.
MR. CARNEY: And there’s an ongoing civil war there, and there is no solution, there is no end to that war absent a negotiated political settlement. And that settlement has to be based on the Geneva Communiqué, which calls for a transitional governing authority based on mutual consent. And there’s no achieving mutual consent in Syria of the members of that governing authority that could include Bashar al-Assad in the government. It won’t happen. It can't happen.
So our view that Assad can't be part of Syria’s future is not one that we make on our own; it’s one we observe in the fulfillment of the Geneva Communiqué, because there’s no way the opposition would agree to -- nor should -- a governing transitional authority that would include Assad among those participants.
Q Jay, on that point, is a U.S. military strike against Syria -- a potential U.S. military strike still on the table?
MR. CARNEY: Well, Ed, I don't think that we would ever rule out options when dealing with matters like this. But what I can tell you is that we foresee no U.S. troops in Syria and that there is -- the only resolution here -- I think that suggesting the use of force somehow answers the mail when we said there’s no resolution here that doesn't include a negotiated political settlement --
Q The President very publicly considered U.S. force, was right up to the line of it, and then went to Congress. All that only played out a few months ago. My question is two summers ago, the President from that podium had a news conference and drew the red line and that was on chemical weapons specifically.
MR. CARNEY: As was the threat of the use of force.
Q The threat of force. And the President, though, then when he drew that red line in August of 2012, said that if they crossed the line there would be enormous consequences. Now, in addition to the mass killings that were just talked about a moment ago, chemical weapons were used in mass fashion, and as result, in a positive step, Syria started turning over some of those chemical weapons. But my question is, Assad is still in power, as Major suggested. He’s still killing his own people. What is -- what can the U.S. do about it?
MR. CARNEY: Well, Ed, if I could briefly clarify the history that you recounted, the President made clear that it was a red line for Syria to use chemical weapons. And he then very clearly and forcefully threatened force when the evidence demonstrated that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons. It was because of that credible use of force -- threat of force, rather, that something happened that I don't think anybody would have predicted, which is that a government that had long denied that it even possessed chemical weapons agreed to give them all up. And that process is underway.
What remains the case is that there’s an ongoing civil war. What the President has said is that we will do everything we can through provision of humanitarian assistance, through pushing the Geneva process forward, including the meetings underway now, including help and assistance to the opposition, to help bring about an end to the war and a negotiated political --
Q But all of that has been going on for a couple of years now is my question, I guess. And if the President is haunted by it, does he feel paralyzed? Does he feel --
MR. CARNEY: Well, I guess, Ed, I would point you to the words of the President when he’s made clear that we cannot intervene in every -- militarily into every civil war, but we can do what we have done in this case, which is work with international partners to help try to bring about a negotiated political settlement.
And we can, as we did, working with our international partners, help bring about the commitment by Syria to give up one of the largest collections of chemical weapons in the world. And that is obviously something that’s very positive and that work is ongoing.
Q Last thing on health care. The Hill newspaper reported a couple of days ago that a procurement document from late December says that federal officials decided to bring on Accenture for the healthcare.gov contract. And they did it quickly; they did it without open bid because they justified it, administration officials, by saying they had to move quickly because they said the health insurance industry was at risk if the site was not fixed. They also went on to say, ”The entire health care reform program is jeopardized if these fixes are not made by mid-March.”
MR. CARNEY: Who said that?
Q Federal officials who were quoted in --
MR. CARNEY: Which officials?
Q From CMS, I would expect. Not from the White House.
MR. CARNEY: I didn’t see the article. I’m not aware of those statements --
Q But you’ve been saying the website is turning the corner. Does this document suggest that there are still concerns here in the administration?
MR. CARNEY: Again, I’m not aware of the document. What I can you tell you is there has been an enormous effort expended and an enormous effort that continues to be expended in making sure that the website functions effectively for the millions of Americans who have so clearly demonstrated that they desire the product on offer here. And I certainly hope that as those improvements have resulted in significantly increased numbers of Americans enrolling in and purchasing insurance through the exchanges, that that story is getting the full coverage that it merits.
Margaret.
Q Thanks. I wanted to go back to Sochi for a second. Just to clarify, there were some reports beginning yesterday that the U.S. was using counterterrorism operatives to help the Russians look for potential suicide bombers inside the security zone. Can you confirm that? And even if you can’t, is the U.S. concerned that there may be suicide bombers inside the security zone?
MR. CARNEY: Margaret, I just don’t have more. I don’t have -- I have not seen that report. What I can tell you is that we are having conversations with the Russians. We have made clear that we are prepared to provide any assistance that we can if Russia asks for it. And we’re going to continue to work with them and take steps as we’ve been taking out of prudence, given that this is the kind of event where security is an issue.
Q On the President’s call with Mr. Putin, the one thing in the readout that I didn’t notice was any mention of Edward Snowden. Can you tell us explicitly, did they -- is this like in the agree-to-disagree category and they just don’t talk about it? Or they talked about it and it’s just not going in the readout because there’s nothing you could possibly tell us about what they said?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I don’t have more detail on the phone call. What I can tell you is that our position on Mr. Snowden I think is abundantly clear to everyone, including the Russians, and our view that he ought to be returned to the United States where he will be afforded all the rights and protections in our system. That hasn't changed. So I don't think there's any doubt in Moscow or elsewhere of our position on that matter.
Q Can I do one more?
MR. CARNEY: Sure.
Q There's an ally of Angela Merkel's who is like the foreign policy spokesman for her party in the Parliament, and what he had said is that it's their view that what the President has promised or offered in terms of the foreign leader aspect of the NSA role last week isn't quite enough and that -- he said, "Transatlantic relations are in the deepest crisis now since the Iraq war." I'm just wondering if the President is concerned about the sort of ongoing steps to repair the relationship with Germany specifically and what he is doing in the wake of the NSA remarks?
MR. CARNEY: Well, we have had direct country-to-country and, in some cases, leader-to-leader consultations on these matters as they have arisen. And we've certainly been clear about that when it comes to the United States and Germany and President Obama and Chancellor Merkel. And I would say that at Chancellor Merkel and President Obama's direction, we have undertaken extensive, close consultations on our intelligence cooperation in recent months, which has resulted -- those consultations, rather, have resulted in a better understanding of the requirements and concerns that exist on both sides. And those consultations will continue among our intelligence services. And I think they reflect the very close relationship we have across the board, including on issues of and matters of intelligence.
Peter.
Q Jay, clearly, there was a greater degree of sharing in past Olympics -- in London, in Vancouver, and even Beijing before that. What specifically would you like to see with Russia that would give this administration more confidence in the safety of Americans not just in Sochi, but throughout Russia?
MR. CARNEY: Again, Peter, I just don't have more on this beyond what I've said, which is that we are in conversations with the Russians, we've made clear that we are prepared to offer any assistance that they might require. Russian authorities are, of course, responsible for overall security at the Olympics -- they are the host nation -- and the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security has the security lead for the United States. As part of that responsibility, we will send diplomatic security and FBI agents to liaise with host nation security and law enforcement officials.
I think that reflects the actions that we take in situations like this; they're fairly standard. But these are obviously events that present security challenges, so we work with host nations and we take actions that we think are necessary to make sure that the precautions we can take are taken.
Q So at this time, is the White House satisfied that Russia is prepared to host a safe games?
MR. CARNEY: I think that Russia has responsibility for overall security in terms of the steps that they've taken, and assurances that they can make are ones that they have to make. Our view is that we partner with host nations and liaise with them. We also, in this case, are offering security assistance and we'll continue to work with the Russians as the event approaches and begins.
Q Senator Angus King said a couple of days ago, "I would not go and I don't think I'd send my family." Americans are making those decisions right now. Should Americans go? Should they feel safe sending their family?
MR. CARNEY: Sure. I think there will be, as I understand it, a lot of Americans in Sochi, which is why, of course, we pay close attention to an event like this. There will be Team USA members there, as well as corporate sponsors. And our advice to Americans who might travel to the games is to avail themselves of the information provided by the State Department in the form of travel advisories related to this and to take the standard precautions that those advisories recommend. And beyond that, we're just going to continue to work with -- to take the necessary precautions and to work with the Russian government.
Q As for Chairman Rogers, who this weekend discussed his suspicion or belief that Edward Snowden received some help -- this is going to a question that was asked earlier -- but he made these -- you could call them allegations or accusations -- at least it was his belief system that there was help provided to Edward Snowden. A senior FBI official told us on Sunday that it’s still the Bureau’s conclusion that Mr. Snowden acted alone. So I guess I’m curious right now if Chairman Rogers and others using language like that somehow hinders the relationship the U.S. is trying to develop right now with Russia by making those suggestions when it appears the administration has no evidence of that.
MR. CARNEY: I think the disagreement we have with Russia over Edward Snowden I think has been publicly expressed with some frequency. I don’t think that --
Q Is he helping or hurting by saying that if there’s no evidence?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I don’t think that that’s really an issue because we have -- the President spoke with President Putin directly and does so with some frequency, as Presidents of Russia and the President --
Q Wait, about -- I’m sorry, about Edward Snowden?
MR. CARNEY: No, I’m just saying in general that we don’t -- that the President can talk to President Putin, and does. And in our relations with Russia, we have areas of significant cooperation where our interests are aligned and we have areas of significant disagreement, including but not limited to the matter of Edward Snowden. But I don’t think we’re anything but transparent about that. And we have expressed that very clearly both on that matter and other matters. That’s been the approach the President has taken in our relations with Russia because he thinks that best serves the interests of the United States, which is a very clear-eyed approach to U.S.-Russian relations that allows for cooperation on matters that are vital to U.S. national security and U.S. interests, and can also allow for the clear expression of disagreements -- and that happens.
We are still able to move forward and cooperate with the Russians on a host of areas. That includes the P5-plus-1. It includes counterterrorism cooperation in general. And it includes obviously the ability to discuss security around the Sochi games.
Q Finally, very quickly, we’re under the impression you’ll get back to us on who delivered -- who placed the phone call, whether it was President Putin or President Obama yesterday. But we’re under the -- we’ve been told that the conversation was apparently several days or even weeks in the making. Did the two of them agree to have other conversations and have other conversations been set before the games where further decisions will be made in terms of cooperation?
MR. CARNEY: I don’t have any previews of additional phone calls that may or may not happen. As I said, the President speaks with President Putin with some frequency, as you might expect, but I don’t know when the next call might be.
Yes, Jess.
Q On the U.S.-Africa summit that you announced earlier this week, can you talk about what prompted that, and also why Egypt is not among those that are invited, especially given what’s going on there right now?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I can tell you that what prompted it is the hope that the summit will build on the progress made since the President’s trip to Africa last summer that it will advance the administration’s focus on trade and investment in Africa and highlight America’s commitment to Africa’s security, its democratic development and its people.
I think that on matters of the invitation list, on Egypt -- I know I have this here somewhere. Hold on. I can give you -- Egypt has not been invited because it is suspended from the African Union, and that’s the reason why Egypt was not invited. I can read you the entire list of the invitees, but I think you’ve probably seen it. But that’s why Egypt was not invited.
Q Is there any concern that that is a missed opportunity to have discussions that you’d like to be having with Egypt?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I think we have regular discussions with Egyptian leaders and authorities focused on the bilateral relationship, on security matters, but also on developments in Egypt and our belief that Egypt needs to transition to a civilian-led government in a process that is inclusive where Egyptians from all walks of life get to express their views and be heard.
Reid.
Q Jay, yesterday after he was indicted, former Virginia Governor McDonnell and his attorneys both described his actions while he was governor as similar to things that President Obama has done in the White House. They said in the legal brief the President routinely participates in corporate events which lend credibility to his major benefactors, invites benefactors to events in the White House, allows his photo to be taken with benefactors, and includes benefactors in policy discussions with senior administration officials, in describing or explaining Governor McDonnell’s actions with Jonnnie Williams. I’m sure you're going to refer questions about the prosecution to the Justice Department. But does the President sort of concede the point that a lot of the people who are involved in some of these policy discussions are people who have contributed to his campaign?
MR. CARNEY: Reid, I have no comment on what is obviously an ongoing matter of prosecution, and I’ll leave it at that.
Q Thanks, Jay.
MR. CARNEY: Mark.
Q Jay, how will foreign leaders know if they are among the friends and allies whose phone calls the United States will not conduct surveillance on?
MR. CARNEY: Mark, what I would say is that we have direct conversations through diplomatic channels on these issues and will continue to do so. I think you can address those questions, that question elsewhere, but I think that we -- as has been the case since these revelations began, where they have affected our relations with a specific country, there have been direct and substantive conversations between the two countries using diplomatic channels, which is the tradition.
Q So you’re saying you’ll tell them, you’re okay, your phone calls won’t be surveilled?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I’m not sure what other method you might suggest, Mark. (Laughter.) I can simply tell you that we have close relationships with our friends and allies -- our close friends and allies, and these kinds of discussions take place through normal diplomatic channels.
Q And have you responded to the ad yesterday in the paper from Europe 1 Radio requesting an interview with the President? And would you suggest that's a way for many of us to request interviews from now on? (Laughter.)
MR. CARNEY: No, I think CBS has requested interviews through more traditional means successfully, as have many of the news organizations here. But I wouldn’t rule out that as a means to request. I think it’s an expensive way to do it. But keep those invitations coming.
Thanks very much.
END
1:48 P.M. EST
Thursday, January 23, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY'S PRESS STATEMENT ON DEPARTURE OF FARAH PANDITH
FROM: STATE DEPARTMENT
Statement by Secretary John Kerry on the Departure of Special Representative Farah Pandith
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 23, 2014
Farah always places people above politics, and she has performed groundbreaking work since her appointment in June 2009 as the first-ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities by my predecessor, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Farah’s legacy is an extraordinary record of thoughtfulness, balance, and sheer guts and determination. Anyone who’s work with Farah will note her uncommon ability to bring people of different backgrounds together. I’ve seen that commitment firsthand in her pioneering work to reach out to countries with both Muslim majorities and minorities.
For Farah, this isn’t just a career. It’s her life’s passion. It’s in her DNA as a first-generation immigrant who achieved historic firsts for America, from changing the way our Embassies engage with Muslim communities in Europe to getting a Quran placed in the White House Library.
On so many issues, Farah Pandith has been a trailblazer and a visionary. She traveled to more than 80 countries and launched critically important youth programs, including Generation Change, Viral Peace, and the Hours Against Hate campaign.
Farah’s career in public service has taken her from Chief of Staff of the Bureau for Asia and the Near East at USAID to Director for Middle East Regional Initiatives at the National Security Council to Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Throughout her time in government, and in every position she’s held, Farah has left an indelible mark on the issues that mattered most to her.
I am deeply grateful for Farah’s invaluable contributions as our Special Representative to Muslim Communities and wish her and her family well as she pursues an exciting new opportunity at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics. After Farah’s departure, her deputy, Adnan Kifayat, will serve as the acting Special Representative until a permanent replacement is named.
Statement by Secretary John Kerry on the Departure of Special Representative Farah Pandith
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 23, 2014
Farah always places people above politics, and she has performed groundbreaking work since her appointment in June 2009 as the first-ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities by my predecessor, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Farah’s legacy is an extraordinary record of thoughtfulness, balance, and sheer guts and determination. Anyone who’s work with Farah will note her uncommon ability to bring people of different backgrounds together. I’ve seen that commitment firsthand in her pioneering work to reach out to countries with both Muslim majorities and minorities.
For Farah, this isn’t just a career. It’s her life’s passion. It’s in her DNA as a first-generation immigrant who achieved historic firsts for America, from changing the way our Embassies engage with Muslim communities in Europe to getting a Quran placed in the White House Library.
On so many issues, Farah Pandith has been a trailblazer and a visionary. She traveled to more than 80 countries and launched critically important youth programs, including Generation Change, Viral Peace, and the Hours Against Hate campaign.
Farah’s career in public service has taken her from Chief of Staff of the Bureau for Asia and the Near East at USAID to Director for Middle East Regional Initiatives at the National Security Council to Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Throughout her time in government, and in every position she’s held, Farah has left an indelible mark on the issues that mattered most to her.
I am deeply grateful for Farah’s invaluable contributions as our Special Representative to Muslim Communities and wish her and her family well as she pursues an exciting new opportunity at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics. After Farah’s departure, her deputy, Adnan Kifayat, will serve as the acting Special Representative until a permanent replacement is named.
CARGILL SETTLES FEDERAL CONTRACT COMPLIANCE PROGRAM DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS
FROM: LABOR DEPARTMENT
Cargill agrees to pay more than $2.2M to settle charges of
hiring discrimination brought by US Labor Department
Company will pay back wages and interest to nearly 3,000 applicants rejected for jobs
WASHINGTON — Cargill Meat Solutions, headquartered in Wichita, Kan., has agreed to settle charges of hiring discrimination based on race and sex with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Under the agreement, Cargill will pay $2,236,218 in back wages and interest to 2,959 applicants who were rejected for production jobs at facilities in Springdale, Ark.; Fort Morgan, Colo.; and Beardstown, Ill., between 2005 and 2009. The affected workers include: female applicants at Springdale and Fort Morgan, Caucasian and Hispanic applicants at Fort Morgan, and African American and Caucasian applicants at Beardstown.
"This settlement will benefit thousands of workers who were subjected to unfair discrimination," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "And it demonstrates the Department of Labor's commitment to ensuring that everybody has a fair and equal shot at competing for good jobs."
During a series of scheduled reviews, OFCCP compliance officers found evidence that Cargill's hiring processes and selection procedures at facilities in Arkansas, Colorado and Illinois violated Executive Order 11246 by discriminating on the bases of sex, race and/or ethnicity. The reviews also uncovered violations of the Executive Order's record-keeping requirements. The Department of Labor filed a lawsuit regarding violations at the Springdale facility in November 2011 and this settlement resolves the issues in that complaint as well as the two other reviews.
"Discrimination should never be used to justify favoring one group of workers over others," said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. "I am pleased that Cargill has agreed to put a proactive strategy in place to address this issue through new hiring procedures and in-depth training on combating stereotypes."
In addition to paying more than $2.2 million in back wages and interest to the affected applicants, Cargill has agreed to extend 354 job offers to the affected workers as positions become available. Additionally, the company has agreed to undertake extensive self-monitoring measures to ensure that all hiring practices fully comply with the law, including record-keeping requirements.
Cargill Meat Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc., distributes beef, pork and turkey products. Since 2005, Cargill has held federal contracts worth more than $1.4 billion.
Cargill agrees to pay more than $2.2M to settle charges of
hiring discrimination brought by US Labor Department
Company will pay back wages and interest to nearly 3,000 applicants rejected for jobs
WASHINGTON — Cargill Meat Solutions, headquartered in Wichita, Kan., has agreed to settle charges of hiring discrimination based on race and sex with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Under the agreement, Cargill will pay $2,236,218 in back wages and interest to 2,959 applicants who were rejected for production jobs at facilities in Springdale, Ark.; Fort Morgan, Colo.; and Beardstown, Ill., between 2005 and 2009. The affected workers include: female applicants at Springdale and Fort Morgan, Caucasian and Hispanic applicants at Fort Morgan, and African American and Caucasian applicants at Beardstown.
"This settlement will benefit thousands of workers who were subjected to unfair discrimination," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "And it demonstrates the Department of Labor's commitment to ensuring that everybody has a fair and equal shot at competing for good jobs."
During a series of scheduled reviews, OFCCP compliance officers found evidence that Cargill's hiring processes and selection procedures at facilities in Arkansas, Colorado and Illinois violated Executive Order 11246 by discriminating on the bases of sex, race and/or ethnicity. The reviews also uncovered violations of the Executive Order's record-keeping requirements. The Department of Labor filed a lawsuit regarding violations at the Springdale facility in November 2011 and this settlement resolves the issues in that complaint as well as the two other reviews.
"Discrimination should never be used to justify favoring one group of workers over others," said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. "I am pleased that Cargill has agreed to put a proactive strategy in place to address this issue through new hiring procedures and in-depth training on combating stereotypes."
In addition to paying more than $2.2 million in back wages and interest to the affected applicants, Cargill has agreed to extend 354 job offers to the affected workers as positions become available. Additionally, the company has agreed to undertake extensive self-monitoring measures to ensure that all hiring practices fully comply with the law, including record-keeping requirements.
Cargill Meat Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc., distributes beef, pork and turkey products. Since 2005, Cargill has held federal contracts worth more than $1.4 billion.
U.S. TRANSPORTS RWANDAN SOLDIERS IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
FROM: DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Rwandan soldiers form up after a C-17 Globemaster III dropped them off in the Central African Republic, Jan. 19, 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane -
Refugees of the fighting in the Central African Republic observe Rwandan soldiers arriving to fight militants, Jan. 19, 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane -
A Rwandan soldier exits a C-17 Globemaster III in the Central African Republic, Jan. 19, 2014. A refugee camp 100 yards away shows displaced residents due to fighting. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane -
PRESIDENT OBAMA SPEAKS ON ELECTION ADMINISTRATION REFORM
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by the President Before Meeting with the Presidential Commission on Election Administration
Roosevelt Room
January 22, 2014
10:53 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Glad you guys made it to work.
I just want to say thank you publicly to all the wonderful people here who served on the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. I think all of us recall that in the last election in 2012, we had reports around the country of tremendously long lines for people when they tried to vote, and in some cases for hours they were stuck. The day of the election I said that we're going to need to do something about it.
I think all of us share the belief that, regardless of party affiliation, that our democracy demands that our citizens can participate in a smooth and effective way. And I called on Congress to work with us, but I also thought that it was important for us to have a bipartisan, independent panel that could actually dig into the facts and try to determine what can we do to improve this situation.
And unlike a lot of countries, we've got a pretty complex system. We vote a lot. We have local jurisdictions that run these elections and it makes things a little bit more complicated. But I was confident that if we put some good minds to work, they could come up with some recommendations. As a consequence, we set up this commission.
I asked my top attorney during my election campaign, Bob Bauer, to join with Mitt Romney's top attorney in 2012, Ben Ginsberg, to co-chair this commission. I think it's fair to say that they may have voted for different candidates in 2012 -- (laughter) -- but what they shared was a reputation for integrity, for smarts, and a commitment to making sure that our democracy works the way it's supposed to.
And they have now, working with the rest of this commission, put together an outstanding series of recommendations with an important goal, which is that no American should have to wait more than half an hour to vote. And they should know they should be confident that their vote is being properly counted and is secure. A lot of the recommendations they've made are common sense; they are ones that can be embraced by all of us. Importantly, my understanding is a lot of the commission recommendations are directed not simply to Congress or the federal government, but rather to the state and local jurisdictions who are largely responsible for our elections.
And so we intend to publicize this and to then reach out to stakeholders all across the country to make sure that we can implement this, in part because one of the troubling aspects of the work that they did was hearing from local officials indicating that we could have even more problems in the future if we don’t act now. The good news is, is that the recommendations that are contained in this commission report are eminently glittering.
So I just want to publicly, again, thank both Bob and Ben for taking on this largely thankless job. And I want to thank all of you for being so diligent and maintaining a sense of urgency, producing an outstanding report in a relatively short period of time.
So thank you very much, everybody.
END
Remarks by the President Before Meeting with the Presidential Commission on Election Administration
Roosevelt Room
January 22, 2014
10:53 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Glad you guys made it to work.
I just want to say thank you publicly to all the wonderful people here who served on the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. I think all of us recall that in the last election in 2012, we had reports around the country of tremendously long lines for people when they tried to vote, and in some cases for hours they were stuck. The day of the election I said that we're going to need to do something about it.
I think all of us share the belief that, regardless of party affiliation, that our democracy demands that our citizens can participate in a smooth and effective way. And I called on Congress to work with us, but I also thought that it was important for us to have a bipartisan, independent panel that could actually dig into the facts and try to determine what can we do to improve this situation.
And unlike a lot of countries, we've got a pretty complex system. We vote a lot. We have local jurisdictions that run these elections and it makes things a little bit more complicated. But I was confident that if we put some good minds to work, they could come up with some recommendations. As a consequence, we set up this commission.
I asked my top attorney during my election campaign, Bob Bauer, to join with Mitt Romney's top attorney in 2012, Ben Ginsberg, to co-chair this commission. I think it's fair to say that they may have voted for different candidates in 2012 -- (laughter) -- but what they shared was a reputation for integrity, for smarts, and a commitment to making sure that our democracy works the way it's supposed to.
And they have now, working with the rest of this commission, put together an outstanding series of recommendations with an important goal, which is that no American should have to wait more than half an hour to vote. And they should know they should be confident that their vote is being properly counted and is secure. A lot of the recommendations they've made are common sense; they are ones that can be embraced by all of us. Importantly, my understanding is a lot of the commission recommendations are directed not simply to Congress or the federal government, but rather to the state and local jurisdictions who are largely responsible for our elections.
And so we intend to publicize this and to then reach out to stakeholders all across the country to make sure that we can implement this, in part because one of the troubling aspects of the work that they did was hearing from local officials indicating that we could have even more problems in the future if we don’t act now. The good news is, is that the recommendations that are contained in this commission report are eminently glittering.
So I just want to publicly, again, thank both Bob and Ben for taking on this largely thankless job. And I want to thank all of you for being so diligent and maintaining a sense of urgency, producing an outstanding report in a relatively short period of time.
So thank you very much, everybody.
END
3 INDICTED IN CORRUPTION SCHEME INVOLVING MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE
FROM: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Three Georgia Men Charged in Alleged Widespread Corruption Schemes at Local Military Base
Three Georgia men have been charged in a 51-count indictment for their alleged participation in fraud and corruption schemes at the Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) in Albany, Ga., resulting in the loss of millions of dollars to the United States government.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore for the Middle District of Georgia made the announcement after the indictment was unsealed in the Middle District of Georgia today.
Christopher Whitman, 48, co-owner of United Industrial of Georgia Inc. (also known as ULOC), an Albany-based trucking company and freight transportation broker , was indicted on 43 counts of money, property and honest services wire fraud, five counts of bribery and one count of theft of government property. Shawn McCarty, 36, of Albany, a former employee at the MCLB-Albany, was charged with 30 counts of money, property and honest services wire fraud and one count of bribery; and Bradford Newell, 43, of Sylvester, Ga., also a former employee at the MCLB-Albany, was charged with 13 counts of money, property and honest services wire fraud, one count of bribery, and one count of theft of government property.
The three men were arrested earlier today and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Q. Langstaff. Judge Langstaff ordered the three men detained pending further hearings next week.
According to the indictment, Whitman paid nearly $1 million in bribes to Mitchell Potts, the former traffic office supervisor for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) at MCLB-Albany, Jeff Philpot, the former lead transportation assistant in the traffic office, and Shawn McCarty, another transportation assistant in the traffic office, to obtain commercial trucking business from the DLA. The indictment alleges that Potts, Philpot and McCarty used their official positions to defraud the government and benefit ULOC by helping ULOC obtain transportation contracts loaded with unnecessary premium-priced requirements – including expedited service; removable gooseneck trailers, which do not require a loading dock and are therefore more expensive than standard trailers; and exclusive use, which requires that freight be shipped separately from other equipment – even if that results in a truck not being filled to capacity. The indictment alleges that Whitman and ULOC brokered these shipments for service without the premium specifications and on fewer trucks than requisitioned by DLA, but they billed the government at rates approved by the corrupt officials. These actions are alleged to have resulted in ULOC profits grossing more than $20 million over less than four years.
Whitman is accused of orchestrating a scheme to steal and sell surplus equipment from MCLB-Albany worth more than $1 million. Whitman allegedly paid approximately $200,000 in total bribes to Shelby Janes, the former inventory control manager of the Distribution Management Center (DMC) at MCLB-Albany, and Newell, an assistant to Janes, who used their official positions to help Whitman steal surplus equipment from the base, including bulldozers, cranes and front-end loaders. The indictment alleges that Whitman improved and painted the stolen equipment.
An indictment is merely a charge and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count and 15 years in prison for each bribery count. The theft count carries a maximum prison term of 10 years. Each charged count carries a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain.
Prior to this indictment, one former ULOC employee and three DLA officials pleaded guilty in connection with the fraud and corruption schemes alleged in the indictment. On Oct. 10, 2013, Kelli Durham, ULOC’s former manager, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, admitting to intentionally overbilling the United States for services ULOC did not perform, resulting in losses ranging from $7 million to $20 million, and for receiving $905,685 for her role. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. In May 2013, Potts and Philpot pleaded guilty to bribery for collectively accepting more than $700,000 in bribes; and in February 2013, Janes pleaded guilty to bribery for receiving nearly $100,000 in bribes. The three former officials each face up to 15 years in prison.
The case is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance from the Dougherty County District Attorney’s Office Economic Crime Unit, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, DLA Office of the Inspector General, and the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Richard B. Evans and J.P. Cooney of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Alan Dasher of the Middle District of Georgia.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Three Georgia Men Charged in Alleged Widespread Corruption Schemes at Local Military Base
Three Georgia men have been charged in a 51-count indictment for their alleged participation in fraud and corruption schemes at the Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) in Albany, Ga., resulting in the loss of millions of dollars to the United States government.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore for the Middle District of Georgia made the announcement after the indictment was unsealed in the Middle District of Georgia today.
Christopher Whitman, 48, co-owner of United Industrial of Georgia Inc. (also known as ULOC), an Albany-based trucking company and freight transportation broker , was indicted on 43 counts of money, property and honest services wire fraud, five counts of bribery and one count of theft of government property. Shawn McCarty, 36, of Albany, a former employee at the MCLB-Albany, was charged with 30 counts of money, property and honest services wire fraud and one count of bribery; and Bradford Newell, 43, of Sylvester, Ga., also a former employee at the MCLB-Albany, was charged with 13 counts of money, property and honest services wire fraud, one count of bribery, and one count of theft of government property.
The three men were arrested earlier today and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Q. Langstaff. Judge Langstaff ordered the three men detained pending further hearings next week.
According to the indictment, Whitman paid nearly $1 million in bribes to Mitchell Potts, the former traffic office supervisor for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) at MCLB-Albany, Jeff Philpot, the former lead transportation assistant in the traffic office, and Shawn McCarty, another transportation assistant in the traffic office, to obtain commercial trucking business from the DLA. The indictment alleges that Potts, Philpot and McCarty used their official positions to defraud the government and benefit ULOC by helping ULOC obtain transportation contracts loaded with unnecessary premium-priced requirements – including expedited service; removable gooseneck trailers, which do not require a loading dock and are therefore more expensive than standard trailers; and exclusive use, which requires that freight be shipped separately from other equipment – even if that results in a truck not being filled to capacity. The indictment alleges that Whitman and ULOC brokered these shipments for service without the premium specifications and on fewer trucks than requisitioned by DLA, but they billed the government at rates approved by the corrupt officials. These actions are alleged to have resulted in ULOC profits grossing more than $20 million over less than four years.
Whitman is accused of orchestrating a scheme to steal and sell surplus equipment from MCLB-Albany worth more than $1 million. Whitman allegedly paid approximately $200,000 in total bribes to Shelby Janes, the former inventory control manager of the Distribution Management Center (DMC) at MCLB-Albany, and Newell, an assistant to Janes, who used their official positions to help Whitman steal surplus equipment from the base, including bulldozers, cranes and front-end loaders. The indictment alleges that Whitman improved and painted the stolen equipment.
An indictment is merely a charge and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count and 15 years in prison for each bribery count. The theft count carries a maximum prison term of 10 years. Each charged count carries a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain.
Prior to this indictment, one former ULOC employee and three DLA officials pleaded guilty in connection with the fraud and corruption schemes alleged in the indictment. On Oct. 10, 2013, Kelli Durham, ULOC’s former manager, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, admitting to intentionally overbilling the United States for services ULOC did not perform, resulting in losses ranging from $7 million to $20 million, and for receiving $905,685 for her role. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. In May 2013, Potts and Philpot pleaded guilty to bribery for collectively accepting more than $700,000 in bribes; and in February 2013, Janes pleaded guilty to bribery for receiving nearly $100,000 in bribes. The three former officials each face up to 15 years in prison.
The case is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance from the Dougherty County District Attorney’s Office Economic Crime Unit, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, DLA Office of the Inspector General, and the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Richard B. Evans and J.P. Cooney of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Alan Dasher of the Middle District of Georgia.
PEOPLE CARE HOLDINGS INC., REACHES $10 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH LABOR DEPT. IN EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP CASE
FROM: DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
$10M settlement reached with People Care and US Labor Department
Agreement includes more than $9M to employee stock ownership plan
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $10 million settlement agreement with People Care Holdings Inc. and former owners Bruce Jacobson and Jerry Lewkowitz, who sold the company to their employees through creation of an employee stock ownership plan. The department contended that they violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by permitting the ESOP to purchase People Care stock from them for more than its fair market value.
An investigation by the Employee Benefits Security Administration's New York Regional Office found Jacobson, Lewkowitz and People Care breached their fiduciary duties by failing to correct unrealistically optimistic projections of People Care's future earnings and profitability, even after People Care lost a key municipal contract. The investigation also found that the stock purchase agreement's indemnification provision was invalid because it would require People Care, which is entirely owned by the ESOP, to pay any costs incurred by Jacobson and Lewkowitz in connection with an investigation or litigation.
"Owners who sell their companies to their employees and benefit from ESOP tax treatments are responsible for ensuring that the terms are fair to the plan and its participants," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security Phyllis C. Borzi. "They have a duty to monitor the independent trustees that they appoint to oversee the transaction."
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Jacobson and Lewkowitz will pay $9,090,910 to the ESOP and a civil penalty of $909,090.
People Care is a home-care agency, based in Manhattan, that provides caregiving services, such as meal preparation, laundry, shopping, housekeeping, companionship and medication assistance. Its ESOP has approximately 4,655 ERISA-covered plan participants. It has facilities in New York and New Jersey.
$10M settlement reached with People Care and US Labor Department
Agreement includes more than $9M to employee stock ownership plan
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $10 million settlement agreement with People Care Holdings Inc. and former owners Bruce Jacobson and Jerry Lewkowitz, who sold the company to their employees through creation of an employee stock ownership plan. The department contended that they violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by permitting the ESOP to purchase People Care stock from them for more than its fair market value.
An investigation by the Employee Benefits Security Administration's New York Regional Office found Jacobson, Lewkowitz and People Care breached their fiduciary duties by failing to correct unrealistically optimistic projections of People Care's future earnings and profitability, even after People Care lost a key municipal contract. The investigation also found that the stock purchase agreement's indemnification provision was invalid because it would require People Care, which is entirely owned by the ESOP, to pay any costs incurred by Jacobson and Lewkowitz in connection with an investigation or litigation.
"Owners who sell their companies to their employees and benefit from ESOP tax treatments are responsible for ensuring that the terms are fair to the plan and its participants," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security Phyllis C. Borzi. "They have a duty to monitor the independent trustees that they appoint to oversee the transaction."
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Jacobson and Lewkowitz will pay $9,090,910 to the ESOP and a civil penalty of $909,090.
People Care is a home-care agency, based in Manhattan, that provides caregiving services, such as meal preparation, laundry, shopping, housekeeping, companionship and medication assistance. Its ESOP has approximately 4,655 ERISA-covered plan participants. It has facilities in New York and New Jersey.
VOG OVER THE PACIFIC
Volcanic Smog and Sunglint in the Vanuatu Archipelago
The Vanuatu Archipelago is a collection of volcanic islands about 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) northeast of Australia. Two of the islands, Gaua and Ambrym, frequently vent sulfurous gases.
On Jan. 7, 2014 NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Vanuatu, allowing the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard to capture this true-color image. A broad plume of volcanic vog and ash rises from Ambrym and spreads across the South Pacific. Vog is a combination of “volcanic” and “smog”, and is formed when gases from a volcano react with sunlight, oxygen and moisture.
The vog appears as a light blue-gray plume which arcs from the volcanic island both to the northwest and to the northeast. In the northeast, the vog crosses a mirror-like swath of silver-gray which runs from north to south. That swath is not volcanic in origin, but is an artifact called “sunglint” – the reflection of the sun off the ocean in a satellite image. Image Credit-NASA-Jeff Schmaltz-MODIS Rapid Response Team
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY TAKES QUESTIONS AT GENEVA II
FROM: STATE DEPARTMENT
Solo Press Availability at the Geneva II International Conference on Syria
Press Availability
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Montreux, Switzerland
January 22, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good evening, everybody, and thank you for your patience. We appreciate the opportunity to be able to share a few thoughts with you after the events of the day.
Obviously, for three years now the world has been witnessing civilians and refugees by increasing numbers who are enduring unspeakable suffering and continued violence. Today, both sides sat in the same room for the first time since the war began. And as all of you know, this has not been an easy road to bring people together; the hurdles have been enormous; government resistance, opposition resistance, different factions, different groups; a real tug-of-war, so to speak, within the war. But finally, the global community, through the force of the Geneva I communique, and through the force of the diplomacy and insistence on the political solution being the only viable long term solution, finally people came together.
No one should doubt, no one’s trying to gloss this over, that this is the beginning of a tough and complicated process. But the truth is that today, I think what leapt out from more than 40 countries and organizations in articulate, well- thought-out presentations, from more ministers than I have seen assembled in one room at any time other than at the United Nations itself, a very significant gathering of ministers who took the time to come – and all suggest together how this must end: that it has to have an inclusive Syria where every citizen can live in dignity, led by a government that the people of Syria empower with their consent.
So the fact that 40 countries and organizations came here from near and far – from Asia, from South Central Asia, from Europe, from America, from the North American continent, from Latin America, from Africa, north and south – all came united in support of the Syrian people, in support of their hopes for the future of Syria, and in support of the Geneva communique which does one thing that is of great significance: It recognizes that a political transition is the only way to go and that the political transition required under Geneva I is a transition government with full executive authority by mutual consent. Every entity here today with one exception talked about that and embraced the Geneva I communique.
It is significant that all of the other countries but that one came here to endorse the Geneva I communique understanding from the outset that the invitation sent by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made it clear that was the purpose of gathering here today, and that is the purpose of the negotiations that will begin day after tomorrow in Geneva.
Now, I believe that this gathering today, which we all know is only a beginning and we have said so from the start, actually created a moment of special focus on the nature of this tragic conflict. Today, people can more clearly understand how alone Assad is in standing up for himself, not for Syria. And the resolution to this crisis cannot be about one man’s insistence or one family’s insistence about clinging to power. This needs to be about empowering all of the Syrian people.
The international community expressed a united vision for Syria that respects its citizens and that protects the rights of every group, every sect, every faith – pluralism: where all people are represented without discrimination; a nation in which all Syrians can peacefully confront their government without fear of retribution, without fear of imprisonment, without fear of death; a Syria that works closely with its neighbors, but also can exist peacefully as a sovereign, independent, and democratic state. These are the Syrian people’s hopes for the future of their country, and we support them.
Now let me emphasize, as I said earlier in my comments today, what happened in Syria began in the wake of a transformation that began to break out throughout the Middle East, throughout the Maghreb and the Middle East. And everybody knows the events that began in Libya and in Tunisia and Egypt. Eventually, young people in Syria stood up for change and some young kids with graffiti cans were arrested. When their parents came out to protest the arrest of their young children, 120 of them were killed.
That’s the beginning of this. Not a religious revolution, not terrorists. No terrorists were there then. This was people looking for change peacefully in their country, and they were met by bullets and violence and death.
It’s no secret that getting to where we are now has, as I said, been difficult, and peace and stability will not arrive overnight. But it’s important that this process is now in place. It is important that the government and the opposition will sit down over these next days. And we don’t expect a sudden breakthrough. What we do expect is a crystalizing of the difference: who stands for what, who’s really fighting for what, whose arguments are based on truth, whose arguments are based on facts. And this is what all of you will have an opportunity to be able to measure and to judge in the days to come.
Let me reiterate what the United States, the Syrian opposition, and many others said this morning: No one should think for a moment that in the future of Syria there can be a place for a man who has turned on his own people, permitted the death of 130,000 through many of them by his choice of weapons and others by his choice of their mission, because some of those deaths are obviously soldiers.
But the fact is that innocent students and doctors have been killed by Scud missiles. Those aren’t terrorists. Those are the people of Syria trying to serve the people of Syria, or trying to have a future by going to school in Syria. And they’ve been killed by those Scud missiles, children in a schoolyard, death by napalm. You’ve all reported on it. You’ve seen it. Gassed not once but many times, but once so egregious and so provable that it was sufficient to bring to the international community and to actually get a regime that one day earlier denied they even had the weapons, the next day they were ready to move the weapons out of Syria. What kind of credibility is there left in that?
This is a regime backed by Iran and by a terrorist organization that has crossed over from Lebanon into Syria into order to fight. There is no one who has done more to make Syria a magnet for terrorists than Bashar al-Assad. He is the single greatest magnet for terrorism that there is in the region. And he has long since, because of his choice of weapons, because of what he has done, lost any legitimacy. Who can imagine that tomorrow or in a week or in a month you could suddenly say oh okay, it’s all right, you can lead Syria? I think everybody here understands, as we have come to understand, that people in the region who support the opposition will never stop because of what he has done and how he has done it. You cannot have peace, you cannot have stability, you cannot restore Syria, you cannot save Syria from disintegration as long as Bashar al-Assad remains in power.
So this is what is at stake here. And as we continue to pursue, we know that the latest charges are charges with photographs and documentation of mass torture with bodies with numbers on them and designations written on them. And the questions raised by this require an answer. I can’t tell you exactly what all of it is except that I know that they are people who have suffered egregious torture and death. The opposition today called for the United Nations to investigate these allegations, and we join with them in demanding that there be a thorough investigation of these charges.
Now, as we continue to pursue a political solution that will enable the Syrian people to realize the better future that they seek, we cannot over these next days turn a blind eye to the crisis that Syrians live with every single day. And that’s why the United States is proud to have contributed more than any other country to support refugees within Syria and the housing and shelter and education and safety of refugees in Lebanon, in Jordan, and elsewhere. The United States will continue to press for local ceasefires and we will work with the international community to press for increased humanitarian access to the hardest-hit areas. This is what human dignity at its most basic demands, and it is what security in the region and the fight against extremism requires.
We will keep pushing for improved humanitarian access and for the return of journalists and aid workers who are held hostage. And as we proceed toward a political transition, we will continue to demand an end to the regime’s Scud missiles, barrel bombs, and horrific weapons that have been used against civilians, including the weapon of starvation.
We are joined by the international community in calling for Assad to stop using these tactics, and today you heard a universal condemnation of Assad’s violent assaults and his use of starvation as a weapon of war, which is, by the way, a war crime. In the coming days, our team, including Ambassador Ford and his team, will travel to Geneva to support the more intensive discussions that will follow. And led by the UN, these talks will continue between the regime and the opposition. We all know the process ahead will be difficult, but what I would like on behalf of President Obama and the American people for the Syrian people to know is that we will continue to support the people of Syria, broadly spoken, every step of the way as they fight for freedom and for the dignity and stability and security and the future that they deserve.
I’d be happy to take a few questions. I think Jen will call on the questions.
MS. PSAKI: One at a time, please. The first question will be from Margaret Brennan of CBS News.
QUESTION: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Diplomacy typically works when there’s a parallel pressure track. Should increased support to the armed opposition be a consequence if this round of diplomacy fails? And what assurances do you have that the Syrian opposition will still participate in this diplomacy given that today, the Syrian foreign minister blasted them and questioned the very premise of this conference and explicitly said that Assad’s exit is not an option? Does that surprise you?
SECRETARY KERRY: No. That was fully what we, frankly, expected. And opening positions are opening positions. Who knows where they decide to go as this goes on? But the bottom line is that the support for the opposition is already augmenting, it is growing, it is continuing from many different sources of support that exist for it, and I am confident that that will continue in the days ahead.
Now, there are still other possibilities of ways to be able to bring pressure and to try to work a solution to this. Foreign Minister Lavrov and I have talked. Our presidents talked yesterday. President Obama and President Putin talked, and they talked at some length about this. And they both instructed Foreign Minister Lavrov and me to continue our efforts, which we will do. We will continue to talk, and there are a number of things that we believe we can engage in that may or may not be able to have an impact; I can’t predict with certainty.
But I can tell you this: What you see in the direct talks between the opposition and the Assad regime will not be the full measure of effort being expended in order to try to find a solution here. And so without going into any further detail, I will just say to you that lots of different avenues will be pursued, including continued support to the opposition and augmented support to the opposition.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will be from Hayvi Bouzo of Orient TV.
QUESTION: Thank you, Secretary Kerry. My question is: There’s some fears that – from Secretary Lavrov, today’s speech, and the Assad regime in general – that they’re going to try to use the Geneva talks to use more time and to spend more time. Is there going to be any timeframe or time table that’s going to be set for the Geneva talks to deliver results? And what is after Geneva? What is the alternative solution if the Geneva talks don’t work? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, we’re not going to talk about after Geneva on the first day that Geneva starts. Geneva, today, is the opening statements and the beginning of the negotiation is on Friday. I expect that there’ll be a first round, maybe second round.
Look, negotiations to end wars, particularly complicated, difficult confrontations and conflicts like this, sometimes take a long time. You can go back and look at Bosnia, Kosovo, you can look at other open conflicts, you can look at the – go back as far as Vietnam and think of all the hours spent just deciding the shape of the table – I think a whole year before they even began to talk.
So talk takes a while. None of us are satisfied with leaving Syria to the kind of horrendous acts that have been engaged in, which is why I said there will be parallel efforts being made, even while the talks are going on in order to try to find different pressure points and different ways of finding a solution. But my sense is that – I mean, this is already one of the worst catastrophes of humanitarian crises in the world today. You have upwards of 9 million people displaced and in refugee status. The burden on Jordan is growing and significant. The burden on Lebanon is growing and significant. The increase of the number of terrorists and terrorist groups is unacceptable to any nation that cares about stability and the long-term safety and security of our people.
So this crisis is growing, not diminishing. And I believe the impact is going to be continued to be felt in ways that’s going to compel others to think in many different ways about what the options may be as we go down the road. I’m not going to go into those now, but clearly the importance of today cannot be underestimated in terms of focusing people’s attention on the nature of the crisis and the ways in which it is actually getting worse, not better.
So it’s up to all of us to do our best to try to make sure that Geneva and/or one of the parallel tracks works, and I’m not going to talk about the possibilities of it not finding some road forward.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will be from Kim Ghattas of BBC News.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for taking our questions. Iran was disinvited from this conference because Tehran did not endorse the Geneva communique. But then clearly, as we saw today, neither does the Syrian Government. Iran is almost as much a party to the conflict as the Syrian Government. Can you really expect to make progress in the negotiations without finding a way to involve Iran in the conversation at some point?
And as a follow-up, I’ve just spent a month in the region, and everybody I spoke to said that there is simply no way that things will get better, whether in Syria or in the region, if you don’t get Iran and Saudi Arabia to talk to each other. How can you help facilitate that?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I’m not going to go into the details of it, but obviously, we’re very aware of the need for a number of specific countries to be able to contribute to a solution rather than to be part of the problem.
With respect to Iran’s participation formally in the conference, it was very clear what the standard was for participation. We never ever minced our words about that. We always said countries that want to support Geneva I, which since 2012 has been the framework – since June of 2012, that has been the framework for trying to resolve the problem of Syria. And country after country after country has signed up to Geneva I communique. So what you all need to do is ask yourselves why Iran won’t sign up to it, not why they’re not here. Why didn’t they sign up to it? Why won’t they agree as every other nation has that this is the method that even – I mean, the Russian Federation signed up to it and was here, and Russia has been a critical partner in helping to bring us this far.
So I believe that with Russia and other efforts – Saudi Arabia was here. Saudi Arabia wasn’t going to be here, but they decided that it was important and they came. So I think that we have a critical mass building, and yes, Iran certainly does have an ability to be able to help make a difference. We hope that they would decide to be constructive and to make a decision to operate in a way going forward that can allow them to do so. There are plenty of ways that that door can be opened in the next weeks and months, and my hope is that they will want to join in a constructive solution.
MS. PSAKI: We have time for one more question. Michel Ghandour from Al Hurra TV.
QUESTION: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, is the military option still on the table in dealing with Syria?
SECRETARY KERRY: President Obama has never taken any option off the table in dealing with Syria. I think he made that very clear. When he made a decision to use military force, he used – he made the decision in the context of the chemical weapons. The chemical weapons problem got solved, but he left that issue on the table, as he did leave it on the table for the full compliance of Syria with that agreement. So the President has fully left that option on the table with respect to the compliance issue of the chemical weapons, and depending on what happens in the future, the President never takes any option off the table.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.
QUESTION: Please stay.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all.
QUESTION: I had a question (inaudible).
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. I know, but everybody else does too. (Laughter.)
Solo Press Availability at the Geneva II International Conference on Syria
Press Availability
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Montreux, Switzerland
January 22, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good evening, everybody, and thank you for your patience. We appreciate the opportunity to be able to share a few thoughts with you after the events of the day.
Obviously, for three years now the world has been witnessing civilians and refugees by increasing numbers who are enduring unspeakable suffering and continued violence. Today, both sides sat in the same room for the first time since the war began. And as all of you know, this has not been an easy road to bring people together; the hurdles have been enormous; government resistance, opposition resistance, different factions, different groups; a real tug-of-war, so to speak, within the war. But finally, the global community, through the force of the Geneva I communique, and through the force of the diplomacy and insistence on the political solution being the only viable long term solution, finally people came together.
No one should doubt, no one’s trying to gloss this over, that this is the beginning of a tough and complicated process. But the truth is that today, I think what leapt out from more than 40 countries and organizations in articulate, well- thought-out presentations, from more ministers than I have seen assembled in one room at any time other than at the United Nations itself, a very significant gathering of ministers who took the time to come – and all suggest together how this must end: that it has to have an inclusive Syria where every citizen can live in dignity, led by a government that the people of Syria empower with their consent.
So the fact that 40 countries and organizations came here from near and far – from Asia, from South Central Asia, from Europe, from America, from the North American continent, from Latin America, from Africa, north and south – all came united in support of the Syrian people, in support of their hopes for the future of Syria, and in support of the Geneva communique which does one thing that is of great significance: It recognizes that a political transition is the only way to go and that the political transition required under Geneva I is a transition government with full executive authority by mutual consent. Every entity here today with one exception talked about that and embraced the Geneva I communique.
It is significant that all of the other countries but that one came here to endorse the Geneva I communique understanding from the outset that the invitation sent by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made it clear that was the purpose of gathering here today, and that is the purpose of the negotiations that will begin day after tomorrow in Geneva.
Now, I believe that this gathering today, which we all know is only a beginning and we have said so from the start, actually created a moment of special focus on the nature of this tragic conflict. Today, people can more clearly understand how alone Assad is in standing up for himself, not for Syria. And the resolution to this crisis cannot be about one man’s insistence or one family’s insistence about clinging to power. This needs to be about empowering all of the Syrian people.
The international community expressed a united vision for Syria that respects its citizens and that protects the rights of every group, every sect, every faith – pluralism: where all people are represented without discrimination; a nation in which all Syrians can peacefully confront their government without fear of retribution, without fear of imprisonment, without fear of death; a Syria that works closely with its neighbors, but also can exist peacefully as a sovereign, independent, and democratic state. These are the Syrian people’s hopes for the future of their country, and we support them.
Now let me emphasize, as I said earlier in my comments today, what happened in Syria began in the wake of a transformation that began to break out throughout the Middle East, throughout the Maghreb and the Middle East. And everybody knows the events that began in Libya and in Tunisia and Egypt. Eventually, young people in Syria stood up for change and some young kids with graffiti cans were arrested. When their parents came out to protest the arrest of their young children, 120 of them were killed.
That’s the beginning of this. Not a religious revolution, not terrorists. No terrorists were there then. This was people looking for change peacefully in their country, and they were met by bullets and violence and death.
It’s no secret that getting to where we are now has, as I said, been difficult, and peace and stability will not arrive overnight. But it’s important that this process is now in place. It is important that the government and the opposition will sit down over these next days. And we don’t expect a sudden breakthrough. What we do expect is a crystalizing of the difference: who stands for what, who’s really fighting for what, whose arguments are based on truth, whose arguments are based on facts. And this is what all of you will have an opportunity to be able to measure and to judge in the days to come.
Let me reiterate what the United States, the Syrian opposition, and many others said this morning: No one should think for a moment that in the future of Syria there can be a place for a man who has turned on his own people, permitted the death of 130,000 through many of them by his choice of weapons and others by his choice of their mission, because some of those deaths are obviously soldiers.
But the fact is that innocent students and doctors have been killed by Scud missiles. Those aren’t terrorists. Those are the people of Syria trying to serve the people of Syria, or trying to have a future by going to school in Syria. And they’ve been killed by those Scud missiles, children in a schoolyard, death by napalm. You’ve all reported on it. You’ve seen it. Gassed not once but many times, but once so egregious and so provable that it was sufficient to bring to the international community and to actually get a regime that one day earlier denied they even had the weapons, the next day they were ready to move the weapons out of Syria. What kind of credibility is there left in that?
This is a regime backed by Iran and by a terrorist organization that has crossed over from Lebanon into Syria into order to fight. There is no one who has done more to make Syria a magnet for terrorists than Bashar al-Assad. He is the single greatest magnet for terrorism that there is in the region. And he has long since, because of his choice of weapons, because of what he has done, lost any legitimacy. Who can imagine that tomorrow or in a week or in a month you could suddenly say oh okay, it’s all right, you can lead Syria? I think everybody here understands, as we have come to understand, that people in the region who support the opposition will never stop because of what he has done and how he has done it. You cannot have peace, you cannot have stability, you cannot restore Syria, you cannot save Syria from disintegration as long as Bashar al-Assad remains in power.
So this is what is at stake here. And as we continue to pursue, we know that the latest charges are charges with photographs and documentation of mass torture with bodies with numbers on them and designations written on them. And the questions raised by this require an answer. I can’t tell you exactly what all of it is except that I know that they are people who have suffered egregious torture and death. The opposition today called for the United Nations to investigate these allegations, and we join with them in demanding that there be a thorough investigation of these charges.
Now, as we continue to pursue a political solution that will enable the Syrian people to realize the better future that they seek, we cannot over these next days turn a blind eye to the crisis that Syrians live with every single day. And that’s why the United States is proud to have contributed more than any other country to support refugees within Syria and the housing and shelter and education and safety of refugees in Lebanon, in Jordan, and elsewhere. The United States will continue to press for local ceasefires and we will work with the international community to press for increased humanitarian access to the hardest-hit areas. This is what human dignity at its most basic demands, and it is what security in the region and the fight against extremism requires.
We will keep pushing for improved humanitarian access and for the return of journalists and aid workers who are held hostage. And as we proceed toward a political transition, we will continue to demand an end to the regime’s Scud missiles, barrel bombs, and horrific weapons that have been used against civilians, including the weapon of starvation.
We are joined by the international community in calling for Assad to stop using these tactics, and today you heard a universal condemnation of Assad’s violent assaults and his use of starvation as a weapon of war, which is, by the way, a war crime. In the coming days, our team, including Ambassador Ford and his team, will travel to Geneva to support the more intensive discussions that will follow. And led by the UN, these talks will continue between the regime and the opposition. We all know the process ahead will be difficult, but what I would like on behalf of President Obama and the American people for the Syrian people to know is that we will continue to support the people of Syria, broadly spoken, every step of the way as they fight for freedom and for the dignity and stability and security and the future that they deserve.
I’d be happy to take a few questions. I think Jen will call on the questions.
MS. PSAKI: One at a time, please. The first question will be from Margaret Brennan of CBS News.
QUESTION: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Diplomacy typically works when there’s a parallel pressure track. Should increased support to the armed opposition be a consequence if this round of diplomacy fails? And what assurances do you have that the Syrian opposition will still participate in this diplomacy given that today, the Syrian foreign minister blasted them and questioned the very premise of this conference and explicitly said that Assad’s exit is not an option? Does that surprise you?
SECRETARY KERRY: No. That was fully what we, frankly, expected. And opening positions are opening positions. Who knows where they decide to go as this goes on? But the bottom line is that the support for the opposition is already augmenting, it is growing, it is continuing from many different sources of support that exist for it, and I am confident that that will continue in the days ahead.
Now, there are still other possibilities of ways to be able to bring pressure and to try to work a solution to this. Foreign Minister Lavrov and I have talked. Our presidents talked yesterday. President Obama and President Putin talked, and they talked at some length about this. And they both instructed Foreign Minister Lavrov and me to continue our efforts, which we will do. We will continue to talk, and there are a number of things that we believe we can engage in that may or may not be able to have an impact; I can’t predict with certainty.
But I can tell you this: What you see in the direct talks between the opposition and the Assad regime will not be the full measure of effort being expended in order to try to find a solution here. And so without going into any further detail, I will just say to you that lots of different avenues will be pursued, including continued support to the opposition and augmented support to the opposition.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will be from Hayvi Bouzo of Orient TV.
QUESTION: Thank you, Secretary Kerry. My question is: There’s some fears that – from Secretary Lavrov, today’s speech, and the Assad regime in general – that they’re going to try to use the Geneva talks to use more time and to spend more time. Is there going to be any timeframe or time table that’s going to be set for the Geneva talks to deliver results? And what is after Geneva? What is the alternative solution if the Geneva talks don’t work? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, we’re not going to talk about after Geneva on the first day that Geneva starts. Geneva, today, is the opening statements and the beginning of the negotiation is on Friday. I expect that there’ll be a first round, maybe second round.
Look, negotiations to end wars, particularly complicated, difficult confrontations and conflicts like this, sometimes take a long time. You can go back and look at Bosnia, Kosovo, you can look at other open conflicts, you can look at the – go back as far as Vietnam and think of all the hours spent just deciding the shape of the table – I think a whole year before they even began to talk.
So talk takes a while. None of us are satisfied with leaving Syria to the kind of horrendous acts that have been engaged in, which is why I said there will be parallel efforts being made, even while the talks are going on in order to try to find different pressure points and different ways of finding a solution. But my sense is that – I mean, this is already one of the worst catastrophes of humanitarian crises in the world today. You have upwards of 9 million people displaced and in refugee status. The burden on Jordan is growing and significant. The burden on Lebanon is growing and significant. The increase of the number of terrorists and terrorist groups is unacceptable to any nation that cares about stability and the long-term safety and security of our people.
So this crisis is growing, not diminishing. And I believe the impact is going to be continued to be felt in ways that’s going to compel others to think in many different ways about what the options may be as we go down the road. I’m not going to go into those now, but clearly the importance of today cannot be underestimated in terms of focusing people’s attention on the nature of the crisis and the ways in which it is actually getting worse, not better.
So it’s up to all of us to do our best to try to make sure that Geneva and/or one of the parallel tracks works, and I’m not going to talk about the possibilities of it not finding some road forward.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will be from Kim Ghattas of BBC News.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for taking our questions. Iran was disinvited from this conference because Tehran did not endorse the Geneva communique. But then clearly, as we saw today, neither does the Syrian Government. Iran is almost as much a party to the conflict as the Syrian Government. Can you really expect to make progress in the negotiations without finding a way to involve Iran in the conversation at some point?
And as a follow-up, I’ve just spent a month in the region, and everybody I spoke to said that there is simply no way that things will get better, whether in Syria or in the region, if you don’t get Iran and Saudi Arabia to talk to each other. How can you help facilitate that?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I’m not going to go into the details of it, but obviously, we’re very aware of the need for a number of specific countries to be able to contribute to a solution rather than to be part of the problem.
With respect to Iran’s participation formally in the conference, it was very clear what the standard was for participation. We never ever minced our words about that. We always said countries that want to support Geneva I, which since 2012 has been the framework – since June of 2012, that has been the framework for trying to resolve the problem of Syria. And country after country after country has signed up to Geneva I communique. So what you all need to do is ask yourselves why Iran won’t sign up to it, not why they’re not here. Why didn’t they sign up to it? Why won’t they agree as every other nation has that this is the method that even – I mean, the Russian Federation signed up to it and was here, and Russia has been a critical partner in helping to bring us this far.
So I believe that with Russia and other efforts – Saudi Arabia was here. Saudi Arabia wasn’t going to be here, but they decided that it was important and they came. So I think that we have a critical mass building, and yes, Iran certainly does have an ability to be able to help make a difference. We hope that they would decide to be constructive and to make a decision to operate in a way going forward that can allow them to do so. There are plenty of ways that that door can be opened in the next weeks and months, and my hope is that they will want to join in a constructive solution.
MS. PSAKI: We have time for one more question. Michel Ghandour from Al Hurra TV.
QUESTION: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, is the military option still on the table in dealing with Syria?
SECRETARY KERRY: President Obama has never taken any option off the table in dealing with Syria. I think he made that very clear. When he made a decision to use military force, he used – he made the decision in the context of the chemical weapons. The chemical weapons problem got solved, but he left that issue on the table, as he did leave it on the table for the full compliance of Syria with that agreement. So the President has fully left that option on the table with respect to the compliance issue of the chemical weapons, and depending on what happens in the future, the President never takes any option off the table.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.
QUESTION: Please stay.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all.
QUESTION: I had a question (inaudible).
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. I know, but everybody else does too. (Laughter.)
U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTS FOR JANUARY 22, 2014
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
CONTRACTS
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Thomas Instrument,* Brookshire, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $48,702,626 firm-fixed-price contract for aircraft winches. This contract is a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is Texas with a May 2016 performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 Air Force working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., (SPRWA1-14-D-0002).
Coast Citrus Distributors,* San Diego, Calif., has been awarded a maximum $35,158,808 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruit and vegetable support. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and four offers were received. This is an eighteen-month base contract with two eighteen-month option periods. Location of performance is California with a Jul. 20, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPE300-14-D-P244).
Freeman Holdings of California, LLC, doing business as Million Air Victorville,* Victorville, Calif., has been awarded a maximum $28,455,164 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for into-plane jet fuel. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and one offer was received. Location of performance is California with a Mar. 31, 2018 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2018 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-14-D-0007).
Valley Fruit and Produce,* Los Angeles, Calif., has been awarded a maximum $14,691,191 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruit and vegetable support. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and five offers were received. This is an eighteen-month base contract with two eighteen-month option periods. Location of performance is California with a Jul. 20, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are non-Department of Defense schools and reservations. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPE300-14-D-S606).
Rockwell Collins-ESA Vision Systems (formerly Vision Systems International LLC), Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $14,666,736 firm-fixed-price contract for replenishment spare parts in support of the A/24A-56 joint helmet mounted cueing system. This contract is a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is Texas, Oregon and Israel with a July 31, 2015 completion date. Using military services are Navy, Air Force, and Air National Guard. A portion of this contract is in support of foreign military sales for Canada, Chile, Pakistan, Portugal, Thailand and Iraq. Type of appropriation is Air Force fiscal 2013 investment funds, Air Force and Air National Guard fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds, Navy fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement funds and FMS funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., (SPRWA1-11-D-0007-0009).
AIR FORCE
General PAE Applied Technologies, LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $28,070,424 modification (P00027) on an existing contract (FA3010-13-C-0007) exercising the option for Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., base operations support services. Work will be performed at Keesler AFB, and is expected to be completed on Jan. 31, 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds will be obligated incrementally upon availability. The 81st Contracting Squadron, Keesler AFB, Miss., is the contracting activity.
Isometrics, Inc., Reidsville, N.C., has been awarded a $7,100,835 indefinite-delivery, requirements contract for the design and production of A/S32 R-11 aircraft refueling/defueling/hydrant servicing trucks. Work will be performed at Reidsville, N.C., and is expected to be completed by Sep. 30, 2015. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, small business set-aside, and three offers were received. No funds are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WNKBBB, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8533-14-D-0001).
NAVY
The Boeing Co., Jacksonville, Fla., is being awarded a $17,820,844 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity delivery order contract for remanufacturing activities and associated maintenance and sustainment capabilities in support of the F/A-18 A-F Depot Level Service Life Extension Program. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Fla. (92 percent) and St. Louis, Mo. (8 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2014. Fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $249,399 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity (N00019-14-D-0001).
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Hurst, Texas, is being awarded $13,495,182 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order 0001 under a previously awarded contract (N00383-14-D-015N) for repair/overhaul work of five high priority items for the UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters. Work will be performed in Hurst, Texas, and is expected to be completed by January 2017. Fiscal 2014 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $6,747,591 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.
EFW, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded an $11,666,579 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-13-C-0037) to exercise an option for the installation and procurement of helmet display tracker system (HDTS) kits for AH-1W aircraft, including nine HTDS P-kits, 29 AH-1W Helmet kits, and installation of 54 HDTS. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (42 percent); Camp Pendleton, Calif. (30 percent); and Cherry Point, N.C. (28 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2014. Fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $11,666,579 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.
Rockwell Collins, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded an $8,022,845 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-priced contract (N00019-09-C-0069) to exercise an option for the procurement of AN/ARC-210(V) Electronic Radios and ancillary equipment for a variety of aircraft. Equipment being procured includes 15 C-12561A/ARC; 65 MT-6567/ARC; 15 MT-7006/ARC; 15 AM-7526/ARC; 15 MX-11641/ARC; 50 AS-3972/A; 50 CV-4092/A, and 65 RT-1939(C)/ARC. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed in November 2014. Fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $8,022,845 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Cortana Corp.,* Falls Church, Va., is being awarded a $7,760,214 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-09-C-0028) to exercise an option for the research and development of sensors and systems in support of the Advanced Sensor Application Program and the Remote Environmental Sensor Program. Sensors and systems support a variety of naval aviation missions, including air-under-sea warfare, defense suppression, electronic attack, naval warfare and amphibious, strike and anti-surface warfare. Work will be performed in Falls Church, Va., and is expected to be completed in September 2014. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test, and evaluation, Navy funds in the amount of $525,000 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity
ARMY
L-3 Communications Corp, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $129,000,000 modification (P00106) to contract W58RGZ-10-C-0107 for maintenance and modification of the Army C-12/RC-12/UC-35 fixed wing aircraft fleet. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $88,076,758 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Jan. 31, 2015. Work will be performed in Madison, Miss. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. is the contracting activity.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, LLC, Oak Brook, Ill., was awarded a $14,177,652 firm-fixed-price contract for deepening the Delaware River main channel. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $14,177,652 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Nov. 30, 2014. Bids were solicited via the Internet with four received. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pa. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (W912BU-14-C-0008).
Zyscovich, Inc., Miami, Fla., (W91236-14-D-0012); Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., (W91236-13-D-0044); and Schenkel & Shultz, Inc. Orlando, Fla., (W91236-13-D-0043) were awarded a $10,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery contract for architectural and engineering services to support DoD elementary and secondary schools within the continental United States and overseas trust territories, and in Europe, Cuba, Japan, and Korea. Funding and work performance location will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is June 26, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Internet with forty-five received. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity.
American International Contractors, Inc., Arlington, Va., was awarded a $9,788,000 firm-fixed-price, foreign military sales contract for construction of the United Kingdom Maritime Component Command (UKMCC) including constructing a forward support unit warehouse and headquarters facility at Mina Salman Port, NSA II, Kingdom of Bahrain. Funds in the amount of $9,788,000 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is April 7, 2015. Bids were solicited via the Internet, with eight received. Work will be performed in Bahrain. Army Corps of Engineers, Winchester, Va., is the contracting activity (W912ER-14-C-0002).
EADS-NA, Herndon, Va., was awarded a $9,454,370 modification (00757) to contract W58RGZ-06-C-0194 for Lakota helicopter logistics support. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $9,454,370 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Dec. 31, 2014. Work will be performed in Herndon, Va. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND
NEK Services, Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded an $8,232,079, firm-fixed-price task order in support of the Joint Exploitation Training Center (JETC), C. Company, 6th Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C. The contractor shall provide instructors and role players to support the JETC advanced skills training. The work will be performed in Fort Bragg, N.C, and is expected to be completed by January 2019. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Fiscal 14 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,646,415 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was awarded utilizing procedures at FAR 8.405-6. A best value determination was made based on evaluation of qualifying criteria, technical, past performance and price. The requirement was posted via GSA E-buy seeking full and open competition under GSA Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS) Federal Supply Schedule. Two offers were received. United States Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C., is the contracting activity
(H92239-14-F-0001).
MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., (LMSSC) Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a $33,018,000 modification (P00004) to firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract HQ0147-14-C-0004 to provide essential, highly specialized services to support Ballistic Missile Defense System flight test activities using LMSSC developed target hardware. The work will be performed at several LMSSC facilities, and government test sites and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2014. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $7,000,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity.
*Small Business
CONTRACTS
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Thomas Instrument,* Brookshire, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $48,702,626 firm-fixed-price contract for aircraft winches. This contract is a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is Texas with a May 2016 performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 Air Force working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., (SPRWA1-14-D-0002).
Coast Citrus Distributors,* San Diego, Calif., has been awarded a maximum $35,158,808 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruit and vegetable support. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and four offers were received. This is an eighteen-month base contract with two eighteen-month option periods. Location of performance is California with a Jul. 20, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPE300-14-D-P244).
Freeman Holdings of California, LLC, doing business as Million Air Victorville,* Victorville, Calif., has been awarded a maximum $28,455,164 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for into-plane jet fuel. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and one offer was received. Location of performance is California with a Mar. 31, 2018 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2018 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-14-D-0007).
Valley Fruit and Produce,* Los Angeles, Calif., has been awarded a maximum $14,691,191 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruit and vegetable support. This contract is a competitive acquisition, and five offers were received. This is an eighteen-month base contract with two eighteen-month option periods. Location of performance is California with a Jul. 20, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are non-Department of Defense schools and reservations. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPE300-14-D-S606).
Rockwell Collins-ESA Vision Systems (formerly Vision Systems International LLC), Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $14,666,736 firm-fixed-price contract for replenishment spare parts in support of the A/24A-56 joint helmet mounted cueing system. This contract is a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is Texas, Oregon and Israel with a July 31, 2015 completion date. Using military services are Navy, Air Force, and Air National Guard. A portion of this contract is in support of foreign military sales for Canada, Chile, Pakistan, Portugal, Thailand and Iraq. Type of appropriation is Air Force fiscal 2013 investment funds, Air Force and Air National Guard fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds, Navy fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement funds and FMS funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., (SPRWA1-11-D-0007-0009).
AIR FORCE
General PAE Applied Technologies, LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $28,070,424 modification (P00027) on an existing contract (FA3010-13-C-0007) exercising the option for Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., base operations support services. Work will be performed at Keesler AFB, and is expected to be completed on Jan. 31, 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds will be obligated incrementally upon availability. The 81st Contracting Squadron, Keesler AFB, Miss., is the contracting activity.
Isometrics, Inc., Reidsville, N.C., has been awarded a $7,100,835 indefinite-delivery, requirements contract for the design and production of A/S32 R-11 aircraft refueling/defueling/hydrant servicing trucks. Work will be performed at Reidsville, N.C., and is expected to be completed by Sep. 30, 2015. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, small business set-aside, and three offers were received. No funds are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WNKBBB, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8533-14-D-0001).
NAVY
The Boeing Co., Jacksonville, Fla., is being awarded a $17,820,844 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity delivery order contract for remanufacturing activities and associated maintenance and sustainment capabilities in support of the F/A-18 A-F Depot Level Service Life Extension Program. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Fla. (92 percent) and St. Louis, Mo. (8 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2014. Fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $249,399 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity (N00019-14-D-0001).
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Hurst, Texas, is being awarded $13,495,182 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order 0001 under a previously awarded contract (N00383-14-D-015N) for repair/overhaul work of five high priority items for the UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters. Work will be performed in Hurst, Texas, and is expected to be completed by January 2017. Fiscal 2014 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $6,747,591 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.
EFW, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded an $11,666,579 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-13-C-0037) to exercise an option for the installation and procurement of helmet display tracker system (HDTS) kits for AH-1W aircraft, including nine HTDS P-kits, 29 AH-1W Helmet kits, and installation of 54 HDTS. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (42 percent); Camp Pendleton, Calif. (30 percent); and Cherry Point, N.C. (28 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2014. Fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $11,666,579 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.
Rockwell Collins, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded an $8,022,845 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-priced contract (N00019-09-C-0069) to exercise an option for the procurement of AN/ARC-210(V) Electronic Radios and ancillary equipment for a variety of aircraft. Equipment being procured includes 15 C-12561A/ARC; 65 MT-6567/ARC; 15 MT-7006/ARC; 15 AM-7526/ARC; 15 MX-11641/ARC; 50 AS-3972/A; 50 CV-4092/A, and 65 RT-1939(C)/ARC. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed in November 2014. Fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $8,022,845 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Cortana Corp.,* Falls Church, Va., is being awarded a $7,760,214 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-09-C-0028) to exercise an option for the research and development of sensors and systems in support of the Advanced Sensor Application Program and the Remote Environmental Sensor Program. Sensors and systems support a variety of naval aviation missions, including air-under-sea warfare, defense suppression, electronic attack, naval warfare and amphibious, strike and anti-surface warfare. Work will be performed in Falls Church, Va., and is expected to be completed in September 2014. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test, and evaluation, Navy funds in the amount of $525,000 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity
ARMY
L-3 Communications Corp, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $129,000,000 modification (P00106) to contract W58RGZ-10-C-0107 for maintenance and modification of the Army C-12/RC-12/UC-35 fixed wing aircraft fleet. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $88,076,758 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Jan. 31, 2015. Work will be performed in Madison, Miss. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. is the contracting activity.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, LLC, Oak Brook, Ill., was awarded a $14,177,652 firm-fixed-price contract for deepening the Delaware River main channel. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $14,177,652 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Nov. 30, 2014. Bids were solicited via the Internet with four received. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pa. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (W912BU-14-C-0008).
Zyscovich, Inc., Miami, Fla., (W91236-14-D-0012); Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., (W91236-13-D-0044); and Schenkel & Shultz, Inc. Orlando, Fla., (W91236-13-D-0043) were awarded a $10,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery contract for architectural and engineering services to support DoD elementary and secondary schools within the continental United States and overseas trust territories, and in Europe, Cuba, Japan, and Korea. Funding and work performance location will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is June 26, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Internet with forty-five received. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity.
American International Contractors, Inc., Arlington, Va., was awarded a $9,788,000 firm-fixed-price, foreign military sales contract for construction of the United Kingdom Maritime Component Command (UKMCC) including constructing a forward support unit warehouse and headquarters facility at Mina Salman Port, NSA II, Kingdom of Bahrain. Funds in the amount of $9,788,000 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is April 7, 2015. Bids were solicited via the Internet, with eight received. Work will be performed in Bahrain. Army Corps of Engineers, Winchester, Va., is the contracting activity (W912ER-14-C-0002).
EADS-NA, Herndon, Va., was awarded a $9,454,370 modification (00757) to contract W58RGZ-06-C-0194 for Lakota helicopter logistics support. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $9,454,370 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Dec. 31, 2014. Work will be performed in Herndon, Va. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND
NEK Services, Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded an $8,232,079, firm-fixed-price task order in support of the Joint Exploitation Training Center (JETC), C. Company, 6th Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C. The contractor shall provide instructors and role players to support the JETC advanced skills training. The work will be performed in Fort Bragg, N.C, and is expected to be completed by January 2019. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Fiscal 14 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,646,415 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was awarded utilizing procedures at FAR 8.405-6. A best value determination was made based on evaluation of qualifying criteria, technical, past performance and price. The requirement was posted via GSA E-buy seeking full and open competition under GSA Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS) Federal Supply Schedule. Two offers were received. United States Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C., is the contracting activity
(H92239-14-F-0001).
MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., (LMSSC) Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a $33,018,000 modification (P00004) to firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract HQ0147-14-C-0004 to provide essential, highly specialized services to support Ballistic Missile Defense System flight test activities using LMSSC developed target hardware. The work will be performed at several LMSSC facilities, and government test sites and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2014. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $7,000,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity.
*Small Business
SATURN'S RINGS STUDIED WITH SPECIAL LIGHT FILTER
Although it may look to our eyes like other images of the rings, this infrared image of Saturn's rings was taken with a special filter that will only admit light polarized in one direction. Scientists can use these images to learn more about the nature of the particles that make up Saturn's rings. The bright spot in the rings is the "opposition surge" where the Sun-Ring-Spacecraft angle passes through zero degrees. Ring scientists can also use the size and magnitude of this bright spot to learn more about the surface properties of the ring particles. This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 19 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Aug. 18, 2013 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 705 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 712,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) from Saturn and at a Sun-rings-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 7 degrees. Image scale is 43 miles (68 kilometers) per pixel. Image Credit-NASA-JPL-Caltech-Space Science Institute.
GENEVA II CONFERENCE ON SYRIA: SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS
FROM: STATE DEPARTMENT
Intervention at the Geneva ll International Conference on Syria
Intervention
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Montreux, Switzerland
January 22, 2014
Thank you very much, Secretary Ban, and thank you, Ambassador Brahimi, for your commitment to helping the Syrian people find a new future. And I join with Foreign Minister Lavrov in thanking all of the countries around the table, all of the groups around the table. I thank President Burkhalter and the people of Switzerland for making this important meeting possible. And I thank the Russian Federation and Foreign Minister Lavrov for his cooperation and efforts together with us, working to try to initiate this process. I also want to welcome the leaders of the Syrian opposition, and I thank them for the courageous decision they’ve made. Everybody here knows the pressures that have existed.
Today is a beginning. It’s a beginning of what will obviously be a tough and complicated negotiation; peace talks to end a war and to end a struggle like this always are tough. Frankly, this is a test for all of us who support the Syrian people in their effort to end the extraordinary suffering that the world has witnessed, and which continues. And it is a test of the global community’s ability to come together and ultimately secure a Syria where people can live in dignity and not in fear.
I want to start by saying that I think it is impressive, I think it is significant in and of itself, that so many countries have come together, even though we know it’s for one day that all the countries will be here in this forum. But all of them have come together because everybody understands how critical it is for the world to prove that we have the ability to make a difference in this kind of a conflict.
Now, lost in the daily reports of violence is the fact that this revolution did not begin as an armed resistance. This started peacefully. It was started by schoolboys in Daraa who are armed only with graffiti cans, citizens who were peacefully and legitimately calling for change. And they were met almost immediately with violence. When their parents came out to protest the arrest of the children, 120 people died. That was the beginning.
And tragically, the Assad regime answered peaceful demonstration after peaceful demonstration with ever-increasing force. In the three years since then, this conflict has now left more than 130,000 dead, and it’s hard to count accurately. We all know that. The fact is that these people have been killed by guns, by tanks, by artillery, by gas, by barrel bombs, by Scud missiles. They’ve been killed by weapons almost exclusively of the magnitude not possessed by the opposition. Starvation has been used as a weapon of war. And most recently, we have seen horrific reports of systematic torture and execution of thousands of prisoners. This is an appalling assault, not only on human lives, but on human dignity and on every standard by which the international community tries to organize itself, recognizing the horrors of the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded, the destabilization of neighboring countries, and the endless exile of refugees.
As a result, the international community came together 18 months ago to support the Syrian people as they sought to change course. Now, this has taken a lot longer than many of us wanted to bring everyone together. But we have come here determined as ever to implement the Geneva communique. Sergey Lavrov just mentioned the Geneva communique; I reiterate the Geneva communique. And the Geneva communique can only be implemented through the concerted efforts of everybody in this room. Millions of people are relying on the international community’s ability to help find a solution that can save their lives and their country. And we see only one option: a negotiated transition government formed by mutual consent.
Now, we need to deal with reality here. We really need to deal with reality. Mutual consent, which is what has brought us here, for a transition government means that that government cannot be formed with someone that is objected to by one side or the other. That means that Bashar Assad will not be part of that transition government. There is no way – no way possible in the imagination – that the man who has led the brutal response to his own people could regain the legitimacy to govern. One man and those who have supported him can no longer hold an entire nation and a region hostage. The right to lead a country does not come from torture, nor barrel bombs, nor Scud missiles. It comes from the consent of the people. And it’s hard to imagine how that consent could be forthcoming at this point in time.
So just as there could be no place for the perpetrator of this violence, there could also be no place for the thousands of violent extremists who spread their hateful ideology and worsen the suffering of the Syrian people. And as we hear talk about terrorism today, make no mistake: It is the presence of the current intransigence within the existing government that makes this problem worse. That is creating a magnet for terrorists. And until a transition takes place, there is no prayer of reducing the increase of terrorism.
There is another way forward. We all know it. It is what this conference is organized around. It is the Geneva communique, which has the support of the international community as a peaceful roadmap for transition. And the only thing standing in its way is the stubborn clinging to power of one man, one family. I believe the alternative vision of the Syrian people is one that can gather the respect and support of people all around the world. It is a place that doesn’t force people to flee or live in fear, a Syria that protects the rights of every group. We have not only an opportunity, but we have an obligation to find a way forward so that the people of Syria can choose their leadership, know peace, and for 9 million refugees, finally be able to return home in dignity.
My final comment is this: There are, in this room, all of the players who have the ability, with the exception of one or two, to have an impact on the choices that are made here. People who are supporting different groups are here. These people have the ability to affect the outcome. And if we put our common energies together, we can forge a resolution that can provide peace to the region and peace to the people of Syria. And I hope we will succeed.
Intervention at the Geneva ll International Conference on Syria
Intervention
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Montreux, Switzerland
January 22, 2014
Thank you very much, Secretary Ban, and thank you, Ambassador Brahimi, for your commitment to helping the Syrian people find a new future. And I join with Foreign Minister Lavrov in thanking all of the countries around the table, all of the groups around the table. I thank President Burkhalter and the people of Switzerland for making this important meeting possible. And I thank the Russian Federation and Foreign Minister Lavrov for his cooperation and efforts together with us, working to try to initiate this process. I also want to welcome the leaders of the Syrian opposition, and I thank them for the courageous decision they’ve made. Everybody here knows the pressures that have existed.
Today is a beginning. It’s a beginning of what will obviously be a tough and complicated negotiation; peace talks to end a war and to end a struggle like this always are tough. Frankly, this is a test for all of us who support the Syrian people in their effort to end the extraordinary suffering that the world has witnessed, and which continues. And it is a test of the global community’s ability to come together and ultimately secure a Syria where people can live in dignity and not in fear.
I want to start by saying that I think it is impressive, I think it is significant in and of itself, that so many countries have come together, even though we know it’s for one day that all the countries will be here in this forum. But all of them have come together because everybody understands how critical it is for the world to prove that we have the ability to make a difference in this kind of a conflict.
Now, lost in the daily reports of violence is the fact that this revolution did not begin as an armed resistance. This started peacefully. It was started by schoolboys in Daraa who are armed only with graffiti cans, citizens who were peacefully and legitimately calling for change. And they were met almost immediately with violence. When their parents came out to protest the arrest of the children, 120 people died. That was the beginning.
And tragically, the Assad regime answered peaceful demonstration after peaceful demonstration with ever-increasing force. In the three years since then, this conflict has now left more than 130,000 dead, and it’s hard to count accurately. We all know that. The fact is that these people have been killed by guns, by tanks, by artillery, by gas, by barrel bombs, by Scud missiles. They’ve been killed by weapons almost exclusively of the magnitude not possessed by the opposition. Starvation has been used as a weapon of war. And most recently, we have seen horrific reports of systematic torture and execution of thousands of prisoners. This is an appalling assault, not only on human lives, but on human dignity and on every standard by which the international community tries to organize itself, recognizing the horrors of the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded, the destabilization of neighboring countries, and the endless exile of refugees.
As a result, the international community came together 18 months ago to support the Syrian people as they sought to change course. Now, this has taken a lot longer than many of us wanted to bring everyone together. But we have come here determined as ever to implement the Geneva communique. Sergey Lavrov just mentioned the Geneva communique; I reiterate the Geneva communique. And the Geneva communique can only be implemented through the concerted efforts of everybody in this room. Millions of people are relying on the international community’s ability to help find a solution that can save their lives and their country. And we see only one option: a negotiated transition government formed by mutual consent.
Now, we need to deal with reality here. We really need to deal with reality. Mutual consent, which is what has brought us here, for a transition government means that that government cannot be formed with someone that is objected to by one side or the other. That means that Bashar Assad will not be part of that transition government. There is no way – no way possible in the imagination – that the man who has led the brutal response to his own people could regain the legitimacy to govern. One man and those who have supported him can no longer hold an entire nation and a region hostage. The right to lead a country does not come from torture, nor barrel bombs, nor Scud missiles. It comes from the consent of the people. And it’s hard to imagine how that consent could be forthcoming at this point in time.
So just as there could be no place for the perpetrator of this violence, there could also be no place for the thousands of violent extremists who spread their hateful ideology and worsen the suffering of the Syrian people. And as we hear talk about terrorism today, make no mistake: It is the presence of the current intransigence within the existing government that makes this problem worse. That is creating a magnet for terrorists. And until a transition takes place, there is no prayer of reducing the increase of terrorism.
There is another way forward. We all know it. It is what this conference is organized around. It is the Geneva communique, which has the support of the international community as a peaceful roadmap for transition. And the only thing standing in its way is the stubborn clinging to power of one man, one family. I believe the alternative vision of the Syrian people is one that can gather the respect and support of people all around the world. It is a place that doesn’t force people to flee or live in fear, a Syria that protects the rights of every group. We have not only an opportunity, but we have an obligation to find a way forward so that the people of Syria can choose their leadership, know peace, and for 9 million refugees, finally be able to return home in dignity.
My final comment is this: There are, in this room, all of the players who have the ability, with the exception of one or two, to have an impact on the choices that are made here. People who are supporting different groups are here. These people have the ability to affect the outcome. And if we put our common energies together, we can forge a resolution that can provide peace to the region and peace to the people of Syria. And I hope we will succeed.
PATROLLING AFGHANISTAN
FROM: DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
As seen through a night-vision device, U.S. and Afghan special forces soldiers patrol up a mountain during an operation in the Ghorband district of Afghanistan's Parwan province, Jan. 15, 2014. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Connor Mendez.
As seen through a night-vision device, an Afghan commando machine gunner prepares to return fire during a firefight from an insurgent’s high ground position during an operation in the Ghorband district of Afghanistan's Parwan province, Jan. 15, 2014. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Connor Mendez.
HAGEL LAUDS OUTREACH TO SUNNI TRIBAL LEADERS BY IRAQI GOVERNMENT
FROM: DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Hagel Lauds Efforts Urging Iraqis to Evict Terrorists
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2014 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today lauded the Iraqi government’s continued outreach to local Sunni tribal leaders and officials to evict terrorist fighters from Fallujah and other parts of western Iraq, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said.
Hagel delivered the praise during a Pentagon meeting with Osama al-Nujaifi, speaker of Iraq’s Council of Representatives, Kirby said.
In a statement summarizing the meeting, the press secretary said Hagel provided an update on U.S. efforts to accelerate delivery of critical defense equipment to resupply the Iraqi security forces conducting missions in Anbar province. “The secretary also underscored the importance of proceeding with federal Iraqi elections as scheduled, and encouraged the government of Iraq's efforts to implement local and national political initiatives,” he added.
Hagel concluded the meeting by reaffirming the steadfastness of the U.S-Iraq bilateral relationship and the U.S. commitment to helping the Iraqi government ensure the safety and security of all Iraqi people, Kirby said.
Hagel Lauds Efforts Urging Iraqis to Evict Terrorists
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2014 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today lauded the Iraqi government’s continued outreach to local Sunni tribal leaders and officials to evict terrorist fighters from Fallujah and other parts of western Iraq, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said.
Hagel delivered the praise during a Pentagon meeting with Osama al-Nujaifi, speaker of Iraq’s Council of Representatives, Kirby said.
In a statement summarizing the meeting, the press secretary said Hagel provided an update on U.S. efforts to accelerate delivery of critical defense equipment to resupply the Iraqi security forces conducting missions in Anbar province. “The secretary also underscored the importance of proceeding with federal Iraqi elections as scheduled, and encouraged the government of Iraq's efforts to implement local and national political initiatives,” he added.
Hagel concluded the meeting by reaffirming the steadfastness of the U.S-Iraq bilateral relationship and the U.S. commitment to helping the Iraqi government ensure the safety and security of all Iraqi people, Kirby said.
GSA ANNOUNCES LARGE INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS
FROM: GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
GSA Announces Major Investments in the Nation’s Public Buildings
Washington, DC--- Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Dan Tangherlini announced major investments in our nation’s infrastructure as part of the Fiscal Year 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The legislation will provide important funding to repair and maintain our country's public infrastructure, pay rent for our leased buildings, consolidate offices to save money, and upgrade land ports of entry to secure the nation's borders and facilitate trade and economic growth. The more than $9.3 billion investment in the nation’s public buildings enables GSA to properly maintain and improve the real estate assets owned and paid for by the American people.
“By investing in our public buildings, a smaller federal footprint and improved border crossing stations, GSA will not only create savings for the American people, but also assist in providing them with the most efficient and effective government possible,” said GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini. “These infrastructure projects will ensure that federal agencies can support economic and job growth in communities across this country.”
Investing in the Nation’s Public Buildings
As a result of consecutive years of reduced funding, GSA’s portfolio of facilities have had to forgo over $4 billion worth of capital improvements including major repairs and maintenance as well as critical additions to the inventory. The legislation is an important step in restoring GSA’s ability to meet the urgent needs of its real estate portfolio by investing more than $1 billion in repair and maintenance of more than 9,000 federal buildings across the country. These are critical investments in infrastructure that will create significant savings by preventing costly emergency repairs in the future.
Construction and Border Modernization Projects
The legislation funds several construction projects that will allow agencies to continue to provide critical services to the American people. One of those projects includes the consolidation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at the St. Elizabeth’s campus in Washington, DC. With $155 million investment in the St. Elizabeth’s campus, GSA will continue to work to bring DHS into a single campus, which will save on leased space and enhance staff collaboration.
With the passage of the legislation, GSA’s request for a number of Land Port of Entry projects is fully funded. GSA will invest $295 million in critical border crossing and inspection modernization projects that will help expand trade and enhance border security. This includes:
$226 million to work on the next phase of the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Southern California, the busiest border crossing in the world.
$61.6 million to expand and modernize the U.S. Land Port of Entry facilities at the Port of Laredo in Laredo, Texas.
$7.4 million in the project design phase to expand and modernize the border crossing in Columbus, New Mexico.
These projects will increase efficiency, create economic growth, and improve safety and security for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Making Federal Real Estate Smaller and More Efficient
The legislation includes $70 million to further GSA’s efforts to consolidate agencies within existing federally owned space. GSA’s consolidation program will save taxpayer dollars by reducing agency dependence on leased space, increase energy and water conservation, and reduce the total amount of space occupied by the government.
GSA Announces Major Investments in the Nation’s Public Buildings
Washington, DC--- Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Dan Tangherlini announced major investments in our nation’s infrastructure as part of the Fiscal Year 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The legislation will provide important funding to repair and maintain our country's public infrastructure, pay rent for our leased buildings, consolidate offices to save money, and upgrade land ports of entry to secure the nation's borders and facilitate trade and economic growth. The more than $9.3 billion investment in the nation’s public buildings enables GSA to properly maintain and improve the real estate assets owned and paid for by the American people.
“By investing in our public buildings, a smaller federal footprint and improved border crossing stations, GSA will not only create savings for the American people, but also assist in providing them with the most efficient and effective government possible,” said GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini. “These infrastructure projects will ensure that federal agencies can support economic and job growth in communities across this country.”
Investing in the Nation’s Public Buildings
As a result of consecutive years of reduced funding, GSA’s portfolio of facilities have had to forgo over $4 billion worth of capital improvements including major repairs and maintenance as well as critical additions to the inventory. The legislation is an important step in restoring GSA’s ability to meet the urgent needs of its real estate portfolio by investing more than $1 billion in repair and maintenance of more than 9,000 federal buildings across the country. These are critical investments in infrastructure that will create significant savings by preventing costly emergency repairs in the future.
Construction and Border Modernization Projects
The legislation funds several construction projects that will allow agencies to continue to provide critical services to the American people. One of those projects includes the consolidation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at the St. Elizabeth’s campus in Washington, DC. With $155 million investment in the St. Elizabeth’s campus, GSA will continue to work to bring DHS into a single campus, which will save on leased space and enhance staff collaboration.
With the passage of the legislation, GSA’s request for a number of Land Port of Entry projects is fully funded. GSA will invest $295 million in critical border crossing and inspection modernization projects that will help expand trade and enhance border security. This includes:
$226 million to work on the next phase of the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Southern California, the busiest border crossing in the world.
$61.6 million to expand and modernize the U.S. Land Port of Entry facilities at the Port of Laredo in Laredo, Texas.
$7.4 million in the project design phase to expand and modernize the border crossing in Columbus, New Mexico.
These projects will increase efficiency, create economic growth, and improve safety and security for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Making Federal Real Estate Smaller and More Efficient
The legislation includes $70 million to further GSA’s efforts to consolidate agencies within existing federally owned space. GSA’s consolidation program will save taxpayer dollars by reducing agency dependence on leased space, increase energy and water conservation, and reduce the total amount of space occupied by the government.
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