U.S. SENDS BEST WISHES TO PEOPLE OF CHILE ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Chile's Independence Day

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 17, 2014

Chile’s Independence Day

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I wish the people of Chile a Feliz Dieciocho as you celebrate your Independence Day on September 18.

As Presidents Obama and Bachelet reaffirmed during their recent meeting, our countries will continue to work together to tackle global challenges and strengthen cooperation on everything from science and energy, to the environment and education.

We will continue working together to promote entrepreneurship and inclusive small business growth, especially within the hemisphere.  I have been particularly pleased to work so closely with Chile’s Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz on an issue that’s personal to both of us as ministers representing coastal countries, and that is the health of the ocean. We had a terrific inaugural conference earlier this year in Washington where Foreign Minister Munoz spoke for Chile, and I look forward to working with Chile as you prepare to host your own “Our Ocean” conference set for Valparaiso in 2015.

As you celebrate this day, the United States is committed to working together to build a more safe, peaceful and prosperous world.

DOD VIDEO: OBAMA: NO SAFE HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS TO SENATE COMMITTEE ON DEFEATING ISIL

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Secretary's Remarks: Opening Remarks on the United States Strategy to Defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant

09/17/2014 04:42 PM EDT

Opening Remarks on the United States Strategy to Defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant

Testimony

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Washington, DC

September 17, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Corker, and members of the committee, my friends and former colleagues, I really thank you for holding this hearing on an issue that is obviously fraught with all the high stakes that both the chairman and the ranking member have just described and all of the members of the committee understand deeply. And I really look forward to this opportunity to both define the threat that ISIL does pose, the ways in which it does, and of course, our strategy for defeating it. And all of that could not be more critical for the country.

During the years that I had the privilege of serving here and working with different administrations, it always struck me that American foreign policy works best and is strongest when there is a genuine discussion, a dialogue, a vetting of ideas back and forth, really a serious discussion – much more than an articulation of one set of ideas and then another, and they just oppose it each other and they sit out there and there’s no real effort to have a meeting of the minds. So I want to make sure that by the time we’re done here today I’ve heard from you, I know what you’re thinking; and you’ve heard from me and you know what we’re thinking, what the Administration is thinking; and that you have a clear understanding of what it is that we have done so far, of how we see this and how, hopefully, we can come to see it together, what we’re doing now and of where we go next.

And I state unequivocally, and it’s not a passing sentence, that I welcome the input, need the input of this committee because it is together that we’re going to be much stronger and much more effective in guaranteeing the success of this effort. And it’s a big effort in a lot of ways. It’s about ISIL in the immediacy; but as we will, I think, discuss today, it’s about a lot more than that.

So I want to underscore at the start – you know there’s some debates of the past 30 years, 29 of which I was privileged to serve in the Senate, that will undoubtedly fill up books and documentaries for a long time, and Iraq is certainly one of them. Iraq has caused some of the most heated debates and deepest divisions of the past decade, a series of difficult issues and difficult choices about which people can honestly disagree. But I didn’t come here today in the hope we don’t have to rehash those debates. The issue that confronts us today is one in which we all ought to be able to agree: ISIL must be defeated, period, end of story. And collectively, we are all going to be measured by how we carry out this mission.

As I came in here, obviously, we had some folks who spoke out, and I would start by saying that I understand dissent; I’ve lived it. That’s how I first testified in front of this country in 1971. And I spent two years protesting a policy, so I respect the right of Code Pink to protest and to use that right.

But you know what? I also know something about Code Pink. Code Pink was started by a woman and women who were opposed to war but who also thought that the government’s job was to take care of people and to give them healthcare and education and good jobs. And if that’s what you believe in – and I believe it is – then you ought to care about fighting ISIL, because ISIL is killing and raping and mutilating women, and they believe women shouldn’t have an education. They sell off girls to be sex slaves to jihadists. There is no negotiation with ISIL; there is nothing to negotiate. And they’re not offering anyone health care of any kind. They’re not offering education of any kind, for a whole philosophy or idea or cult, whatever you want to call it, that frankly comes out of the Stone Age. They’re cold-blooded killers marauding across the Middle East making a mockery of a peaceful religion.

And that’s precisely why we are building a coalition to try to stop them from denying the women and the girls and the people of Iraq the very future that they yearn for. And frankly, Code Pink and a lot of other people need to stop to think about how you stop them and deal with that.

So I --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: More invasions will not protect the homeland.

SECRETARY KERRY: I will --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: More invasions will not protect the homeland.

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me make a --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: More invasions will not protect the homeland.

SECRETARY KERRY: So it’s important for people to understand --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: More invasions will not protect the homeland.

SECRETARY KERRY: -- important for people to understand --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: More invasions will not protect the homeland.

SECRETARY KERRY: -- there’s no invasion. The invasion was ISIL into Iraq. The invasion is foreign fighters into Syria. That’s the invasion, and it is destructive to every possibility of building a state in that region. So even in a region that is virtually defined by division – and every member of this committee understands the degree to which these divisions are deep in that region – leaders who have viewed the last 11 years very differently have all come together for this cause. They may agree on very little in general, but they are more unified on this subject than anything that I’ve seen them unified on in my career.

So as President Obama described last week when he spoke directly to the American people, we do have a clear strategy to degrade, defeat, and destroy ISIL. And it’s not in its infancy. It has been well thought through and carefully articulated and now is being built in these coalition efforts that began with the meeting in Jeddah and moved to Paris and will move to the United Nations this week when I chair a UN Security Council meeting on Friday. The United States will not go it alone. That has been a fundamental principle on which President Obama has sought to organize this effort. And that is why we are building a coalition, a global coalition. There are more than 50 countries that already have agreed or are now doing something. Not every country will decide that their role is to have some kind of military engagement, but every country can do something. And we’ll show exactly what that means.

And as I traveled around the region and Europe in the last days, the question that foreign leaders were asking me was not whether they should join the coalition but how they can help. We’re also – and I emphasize this – we’re not starting from scratch. This is an effort that we have been building over time, both on our own and with the help of our international partners. Even before President Obama delivered his speech last week nearly 40 countries had joined in, contributing to the effort to strengthen the capacity of Iraq to be able to strengthen its military to train, to provide humanitarian assistance. We’ve been focused on ISIL since its inception as the successor to al-Qaida of Iraq in 2013. And back in January, realizing that, we ramped up our assistance to the Iraqi Security Forces, increasing our intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, or ISR, the flights that get a better picture of the battlefield. We expedited weapons like the Hellfire missiles for the Iraqis in order to bring their capacity to bear in this fight.

Early this summer the ISIL threat accelerated when it effectively erased the Iraq-Syria border and the Mosul Dam fell. The President acted immediately. Deliberately and decisively, we further surged the ISR missions immediately. We set up joint operations centers in Baghdad and Erbil immediately, and our special forces conducted a very detailed, in-depth assessment of Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish forces. We did that purposefully, without jumping, as some people wanted us to, because we wanted to understand what is the capacity of the Iraqi army to fight? How many brigades, having seen what happened in Mosul, are still prepared to engage? Are we getting into something that, in fact, we don’t have the answers to with respect to who can do what?

And to date, we have launched – we have supported those Iraqi security forces that, by the way, helped in the liberating of Amirli, helped in the freedom of Sinjar Mountain. helped in taking back the Mosul Dam. And now we have launched more than 150 airstrikes, and it is because of the platforms that we put in place last January and even before that those strikes had been among the most precise strikes that we have ever taken. The percentage – I won’t go into it here, but I will tell you you’d be astonished if you heard openly now the accuracy of those efforts.

Those were put in place back in June, and those strikes have been extremely effective in breaking the sieges that I described and beginning to move confidence back into the Iraqi military. The judgment and assessments of our military that went over there to look at the Iraqi military came back with a judgment of a sufficient number of brigades capable of and ready to fight. And with the reconstitution of the military in a way that can bring the country together and not be divided along sectarian lines or viewed to be the army of one individual, it is entirely likely that there’ll be much greater and more rapid progress.

So that has given us time to put in place the two pillars of a comprehensive strategy against ISIL: an inclusive Iraqi Government, which was essential – there would be no capacity for success here if we had not been able to see the Iraqi Government come together; and secondly, the broad international coalition so the U.S. is not alone. We redoubled our efforts, frankly, to help move the Iraqi political process forward, and we were very clear-eyed about the fact that the strategy of ISIL would only succeed if we had a strong, inclusive government. And frankly, that required transformation in the government which the Iraqis themselves effected. With our support and several weeks of very complex negotiations, President Massoum nominated Haider al-Abadi to serve as prime minister. And shortly thereafter, Prime Minister al-Abadi – again, with our support and others’ – was able to form his cabinet and present it to the parliament, and last week that government was approved.

I have to tell you, it was quite astonishing to be in Jeddah the other day with the Saudis, Emiratis; the Bahrainis, the Jordanians, the Qataris, the Turks, the Lebanese, and Iraqis – Iraqis in Saudi Arabia. And everybody here in this committee knows what that relationship’s been like for the last years. And to hear the foreign minister of Iraq, who chaired the meeting, Saud al-Faisal say that they were prepared to open an immediate embassy in Baghdad – that’s transformative. The result is something also for Iraq that it’s never seen before in its history: an election deemed credible by the United Nations followed by a peaceful transition of power without any U.S. troops on the ground. I must say, I was sort of struck yesterday. The Wall Street Journal had an article talking about Arab divide, but above the Arab divide language is the Shia foreign minister of Iraq, the Kurd president of Iraq, and the Sunni foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, all in communication and jointly working as never before.

So I think people need to focus on what has been accomplished here. As you know, I went to Iraq last week. I traveled; I met with the leaders of Iraq. And throughout the entire process, we’ve been in touch with regional leaders to ensure that the new and inclusive government is going to receive support from the region. With this inclusive government in place, it is time for a defensive strategy that we and our international partners have pursued to get things together – get the inclusive government, know exactly where we’re going – to now transition to an offensive strategy, one that harnesses the capabilities of the entire world to eliminate the ISIL threat once and for all. President Obama outlined this strategy in detail. I’m not going to go through it in that detail, but I’ll just quickly say – I’ll be quick in walking through it.

At its core, our strategy is centered on a global coalition that will collaborate closely across a number of specific areas, including direct and indirect military support. Military assistance can come in a range of forms, from training and equipping to logistics and airlift, and countries from inside and outside of our region are already right now providing that support in these venues.

I’ve also no doubt whatsoever that we will have the capabilities and the resources we need to succeed militarily. And President Obama made clear that we will be expanding the military campaign to take on ISIL in Iraq, in Syria, wherever it is found. But this is not the Gulf war in 1991; it is not the Iraq war in 2003; and that’s true for a number of reasons.

Number one, U.S. ground troops will not be sent into combat in this conflict. From the last decade we know that a sustainable strategy is not U.S. ground forces; it is enabling local forces to do what they have to do for themselves and for their country. I want to be clear: The U.S. troops that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission. Instead, they will support Iraq forces on the ground as they fight for their country against these terrorists. And in Syria, the on-the-ground combat will be done by the moderate opposition, which serves as the current best counterweight in Syria to extremists like ISIL. We know that ISIL – as it gets weaker, the moderate opposition will get stronger. And that will be critical in our efforts to bring about the political solution necessary to address the crisis in Syria once and for all. That is one of the reasons why it is so critical that Congress authorize the opposition train-and-equip mission when it comes to the floor. But it’s also critical that the opposition makes the most of the additional support, the kind of support that they’ve been requesting now for years. And they need to take this opportunity to prove to the world that they can become a viable alternative to the current regime.

Number two, this is more than just a military coalition, and I want to emphasize that. In some ways, some of the most important aspects of what we will be doing are not military. This mission isn’t just about taking out an enemy on the battlefield; it’s about taking out a network, decimating and discrediting a militant cult masquerading as a religious movement. It’s similar to what we’ve been doing to al-Qaida these last years. The bottom line is we will not be successful with a military campaign alone, and we know it. Nor are we asking every country to play a military role. We don’t need every country to engage in that kind of military action, and frankly, we’re not asking them and we don’t want every country to do that. Only a holistic campaign will accomplish our objectives.

In addition to the military campaign, it will be equally important for the global coalition to dry up ISIL’s illicit funding. And by the way, the Bahrainis at the meeting in Jeddah have offered to host a meeting – because they’ve been already engaged in this – that brings people together to focus on precisely the steps we can all take to do this. And that can positively have an impact not just on ISIL but on other flows of terrorism support.

We have to stop the foreign fighters who carry passports from countries around the world, including the United States, to continue to deliver. And we also need, obviously, to continue to deliver urgently needed humanitarian assistance

And finally, and this is really – you can’t overstate this. We must continue to repudiate the gross distortion of Islam that ISIL is spreading, put an end to the sermons by extremists that brainwash young men to join these movements and commit mass atrocities in the name of God. I was very encouraged to hear that Saudi Arabia’s top clerics came out and declared terrorism a heinous crime under Sharia law and that the perpetrators should be made an example of. And I think – I might just mention – I’ll wait till we get in the Q&A. I’ll come back to this, but a very important statement was made today by the top clerics in the region, and I want to come back to that because I think it’s critical.

But let me just emphasize that when we say global coalition, we mean it. And this is not – and Australia, other countries, the Far East, countries in Europe have all taken on already initial responsibilities.

So, my colleagues, we are committed to working with countries in every corner of the globe to match the campaign with the capabilities that we need to fight it. And I can tell you today that every single person I spoke to in Wales at the Wales summit, in Jeddah, in Paris – where we had more than 30 countries and entities – they all expressed strong support for our mission and a willingness to help in some way.

We had excellent meetings and our meetings in Baghdad and in Cairo and in Ankara also advanced the process. At the conference in Paris, we took another step towards the UNGA meetings this week. And the UNGA meetings, unlike the meetings we’ve had thus far, which have all been behind closed doors, the UNGA meetings – these countries will be speaking out publicly at the United Nations Security Council and the world will begin to see what each of these countries are prepared to do.

So we have a plan. We know the players. Our focus now is in determining what each country’s role will be and how to coordinate those activities for success. Later this week, we’re going to have more to say about our partners and the contributions, and we still fully expect this coalition to grow through UNGA and beyond. One of the things that I’m most pleased about is we’ve asked one of our most respected and experienced military leaders, General John Allen, to come to the State Department and oversee this effort. He came within 24 hours of being asked, was at his desk at seven in the morning, and is now already laying out the campaign from a diplomatic point of view for how we coordinate, what will be needed, for all of these other aspects beyond the military piece. And had a long meeting with him yesterday, again today, and I am confident that together with Ambassador Brett McGurk, who will serve as his deputy; and Assistant Secretary Anne Patterson, who was so much a part of our effort against al-Qaida when she was our ambassador to Pakistan, we have a very experienced group of people engaged in this effort.

The fact is if we do this right, then this effort could actually become a model for what we can do with respect to the individual terrorist groups in other places that continue to wreak havoc on the efforts of governments to build their states and provide for their people. And I’m confident that with our strategy in place and our international partners by our side we will have all that we need, and with the help of the Congress, we will be able to succeed in degrading and ultimately destroying this monstrous organization wherever it exists.

I know that was a little long, Mr. Chairman, but I wanted to lay it out, and I appreciate your patience.

NASA VIDEO: SCIENCECASTS: DARK LIGHTNING

U.S. STAKEOUT REMARKS AFTER UN SECURITY COUNCIL CONSULTATIONS ON MIDDLE EAST

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

U.S. Mission to the United Nations: Remarks at a Stakeout Following Security Council Consultations on the Middle East

09/16/2014 05:03 PM EDT

AS DELIVERED

Hi everyone. I just want to briefly summarize this morning’s consultations. Robert Serry, the Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace, briefed the Council on the UN’s work to support the ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the UN’s work in Syria. Our discussion also covered Iraq, and Council members raised a number of questions on all these matters.

On Gaza, Council members discussed the ceasefire, which continues to hold, as well as ongoing humanitarian aid delivery and reconstruction efforts through a newly agreed mechanism.

On Syria, Council members expressed broad support for Special Envoy de Mistura and his mission. Council members continue to believe that the only solution to the conflict is a political one.

In my national capacity, let me quickly discuss a few points regarding the situation in Gaza and Iraq. Let me actually, just – these remarks – anyway, I’m sure in our questions we’ll discuss Gaza, but my remarks are going to center on Iraq.

Over the last month, we’ve all seen the international community increasingly cooperate with Iraqi forces, including Iraqi security forces and Kurdish forces, on a range of counter-terrorist and humanitarian actions – from blocking ISIL’s advance on Erbil to breaking the siege of the Yezidis on Mount Sinjar. Next Wednesday, President Obama will lead a Council session designed to address the specific challenge of foreign terrorist fighters as they impact the conflict in Syria, in Iraq, and in several other conflicts across the globe.

Let me conclude with a comment on the High-Level Ministerial on Iraq scheduled for 2:00 p.m. this Friday, September 19th. Secretary Kerry will chair the session and Special Representative for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov will travel from Baghdad to brief the Council.

The session will be held in debate format so that non-Council members whose interests are especially affected by the Iraq situation, as well as countries making significant security, economic, or humanitarian contributions to assist Iraq, will be able to speak under rule 37. We expect more than 40 countries to participate, many at the ministerial level. It will provide an opportunity for these countries to unite in support of the newly formed government in Iraq led by Prime Minister Abadi and the Iraqi people as they work with the international community in their fight against ISIL and cope with the humanitarian crisis resulting from the conflict with ISIL.

Thank you. And with that, I’m happy to take a few questions.

Reporter: Ambassador, on Syria, do you think the UN Security Council has to authorize a resolution for any use of force if there is a coalition to be interested in any kind of intervention?

Ambassador Power: Let me say a few things. First, I addressed this issue yesterday – the very, very same question. President Obama has made very clear that ISIL represents a threat to U.S. core national security interests, to U.S. personnel, to U.S. facilities, and to U.S. citizens, as we’ve seen. With respect to international law, the specific basis will depend on the particular facts and the particular circumstances of any military action, but we believe that we have a basis for action.

In terms of the Security Council’s role, again, you’re seeing – you will see the Security Council active on a very important ISIL-related issue on Friday, when Secretary Kerry convenes the Council in support of the Iraqi government and in support of the anti-ISIL effort. It’s certainly premature for me to speculate on what the Council might do on other matters.

Reporter: (inaudible) Mr. Serry?

Ambassador Power: Mr. Serry did not raise issues related to authorities.

Reporter: Ambassador, what are some of the legal bases for action, specifically on –

Ambassador Power: Again, I’m not – as I said very clearly, it depends on the particular facts and circumstances of any action. We’re talking now about a hypothetical action that hasn’t been taken up to this point. In the event that action is taken, believe me, we will have plenty of time to engage on that. But please, if you have another question –

Reporter: May I ask on Gaza?

Ambassador Power: Of course.

Reporter: Can you tell us a little bit on, give us your assessment on, the progress made on the Gaza resolution that has been on the Council’s plate for many weeks?

Ambassador Power: I don’t have an update of the kind that you’re seeking. I think we continue to believe that a resolution could play a positive role in, you know, enhancing the durability of a ceasefire, but we are still in consultations. It is a topic that came up over the course of the briefing, but I don’t have an update for you on the likely outcome of consultations.

Reporter: Ambassador, you mentioned yesterday how unusual it is for the Council to address a public health crisis like Ebola. Now that you’ve circulated a draft resolution to the Council and you’re holding the meeting on Thursday, have any Council members raised any concerns that this maybe isn’t in the purview of the Council and shouldn’t be addressed by the Council?

Ambassador Power: I would say the response, not only to the emergency session, not only to the draft resolution that, as you say, we’ve just circulated, but also to CDC’s leadership, to the briefing we had yesterday at the U.S. mission – where more than 115 permanent representatives and deputy permanent representatives attended – so the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I do want to underscore your point that this is an extremely unusual occurrence for an infectious disease outbreak to come before the Council. I think one of the things that has ensured that this effort has received such broad-based support is the outspoken leadership on the part of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Nigeria. I think they have made it very clear to Council members how urgent they think this session is, how important it is to work in parallel in the General Assembly and in the Security Council, and how severe the threat to national security for each of these countries is, to regional security, and to broader international peace and security. So we’ve had, again, overwhelming support up to this point, but again the negotiations on the resolution are ongoing.

Reporter: Ambassador, Madame President – in your national capacity, next week the General Assembly. Without mentioning all of these different meetings, what can you tell an average public citizen about – is there an opportunity for the U.S. on all of these fronts or is it just too hectic, or as they have described it as “diplomatic speed-dating,” to make any dent in this wide variety of crises? And please don’t use the words “next week” if possible in your answer, thank you.

Ambassador Power: Don’t use the words…

Reporter: “Next week.”

Ambassador Power: I see. (Laughter)

Reporter: You’re print, but –

Ambassador Power: My print heritage. Okay. Two of the issues that are most on peoples’ mind right now in the United States and all around the world are ISIL and the monstrous threat that they pose, really, to any civilian whose path they cross, and Ebola, which is unfolding and spreading at a scope that demands an urgent and much more substantial response than the international community has mobilized so far. Both of those efforts require broad coalitions, require transnational solutions, require cooperation among countries near and far, require burden sharing – again, a division of labor. Both of these threats, I think, illustrate the founding purpose of the United Nations and the purpose of bringing the heads of state of the United Nations together every season, which is: how do we pool our resources to cooperate, not only to deal with common threats, but to deal with threats that we simply – no single nation can deal with alone? So, I think the timing of the General Assembly session this year is especially good, certainly for the United States, as we are attempting to spearhead coalition-building, really, in both areas. And we have high expectations on the basis of the last several weeks that you will see countries stepping up to an extent they haven’t up to this point.

Thank you.

HHS VIDEO: TOBACCO USE EPIDEMIC IN THE U.S.: IS 50 YEARS OF PROGRESS ENOUGH?

RECENT U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTOS

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE 

A C-130 Hercules performs aerial spraying of mosquitos Sept. 6, 2014, over Joint Base Charleston, S.C. The insecticide the unit uses is mixed with water to dilute the product. The C-130 and Air Force Reserve aircrew are assigned to the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Dennis Sloan)

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor flies over clouds during RED FLAG-Alaska 14-3 Aug. 20, 2014, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The F-22, assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, possesses a sophisticated sensor suite allowing the pilot to track, identify, shoot and kill air-to-air threats before being detected. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jim Araos)

$12 MILLION IN NEW RESEARCH GRANTS AWARDED TO HELP FIGHT DISEASE OUTBREAKS LIKE EBOLA, MERS

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Racing ahead of disease outbreaks: $12 million in new research grants

NSF, NIH, partners support studies of how diseases spread among humans, other animals and the environment

Ebola, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), malaria, antibiotic-resistant infections: Is our interaction with the environment somehow responsible for their increased incidence?

The joint National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) program is providing answers.

The EEID program supports efforts to understand the ecological and biological mechanisms behind human-induced environmental changes and the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases.

Now NSF, NIH and USDA--in collaboration with the U.K.'s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)--have awarded more than $12 million in new EEID grants.

"Recent outbreaks such as the Ebola and MERS viruses, as well as growing threats such as Lyme disease, demonstrate the need for fundamental understanding of pathogen movement and evolution," says Sam Scheiner, NSF program director for EEID.

"This year's EEID awards will contribute to the broader understanding of these threats the program has provided. Because of this increasing body of knowledge, we're able to respond to these new threats more efficiently and effectively."

Now in its 14th year as an interagency partnership, the program has supported 124 research projects.

Projects funded through the EEID program allow scientists to study how large-scale environmental events--such as habitat destruction, invasions of non-native species and pollution--alter the risks of emergence of viral, parasitic and bacterial diseases in humans and other animals.

"The EEID program allows us to access predictive power to more effectively respond to infectious disease," says Daniel Janes, an EEID program director at NIH. "EEID's lines of research seek to identify common dynamics of pathogens that can lead to better prevention of future threats to human health."

Researchers supported by the EEID program are advancing basic theory related to infectious diseases and improving understanding of how pathogens spread through populations.

The benefits of research on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases include development of theories about how diseases are transmitted, improved understanding of unintended health effects of building projects, increased capacity to forecast disease outbreaks, and knowledge of how infectious diseases emerge and re-emerge.

"Agriculture is inextricably linked to the health of the people of the United States and the world--a fact that is made clear as we fight animal and plant diseases," says Sonny Ramaswamy, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture director.

"Research on the evolution and spread of infectious diseases will have a profound effect on our understanding of how to develop solutions that ensure safe and secure food and health for the American people."

This year's EEID awardees will conduct research on such topics as: the effects of landscape structure on disease dynamics; the risk of animal and plant infectious diseases through trade; ants as a model system to study processes influencing the transmission of infectious diseases; mycobacterial transmission in agricultural systems; and the effect of host vaccinations and genetic disease resistance on pathogen transmission, ecology and epidemiology.

"In addition to human health, the health of our livestock and crops is dependent on fundamental research on infectious diseases," says Jackie Hunter, BBSRC chief executive.

"As new threats emerge, this knowledge will enable us to respond more rapidly and effectively to safeguard health and food security."

HHS VIDEO: SECRETARY BURWELL: LEADING & MAMAGING FOR IMPACT

U.S. CONGRATULATE PEOPLE OF MEXICO ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY

 FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Mexico's Independence Day

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 16, 2014

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Mexico on the 204th anniversary of your country’s independence.
I saw our partnership in action earlier this year in Mexico City. I met with innovative entrepreneurs and inspirational students. I visited the Zócalo for the Feria de las Culturas Amigas, where Mexico's leadership was on display for the whole world. I was honored to tour the Palacio Nacionaland its famous Diego Rivera murals depicting Mexico’s proud history – from the Aztec temples of the moon and the sun, to the birth of modern Mexico.

As friends and neighbors, we embrace a shared vision for the future based on freedom and democracy. That’s why we work together to keep our shared border safe, address regional and global challenges, and ensure a better future for both Mexicans and Americans.

As you gather at the Zócalo today to hear the bells ring the Grito de Dolores or celebrate with family and friends, I wish you a happy independence day.
!Viva Mexico!

WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET ON U.S. RESPONSE TO EBOLA IN WEST AFRICA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

FACT SHEET: U.S. Response to the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

As the President has stated, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and the humanitarian crisis there is a top national security priority for the United States.  In order to contain and combat it, we are partnering with the United Nations and other international partners to help the Governments of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal respond just as we fortify our defenses at home. Every outbreak of Ebola over the past 40 years has been contained, and we are confident that this one can—and will be—as well.

Our strategy is predicated on four key goals:

Controlling the epidemic at its source in West Africa;
Mitigating second-order impacts, including blunting the economic, social, and political tolls in the region;
Engaging and coordinating with a broader global audience; and,
Fortifying global health security infrastructure in the region and beyond.
The United States has applied a whole-of-government response to the epidemic, which we launched shortly after the first cases were reported in March. As part of this, we have dedicated additional resources across the federal government to address the crisis, committing more than $175 million to date. We continue to work with Congress to provide additional resources through appropriations and reprogramming efforts in order to be responsive to evolving resource needs on the ground.  Just as the outbreak has worsened, our response will be commensurate with the challenge.

New Resources to Confront a Growing Challenge

The United States will leverage the unique capabilities of the U.S. military and broader uniformed services to help bring the epidemic under control. These efforts will entail command and control, logistics expertise, training, and engineering support.

U.S. Africa Command will set up a Joint Force Command headquartered in Monrovia, Liberia, to provide regional command and control support to U.S. military activities and facilitate coordination with U.S. government and international relief efforts. A general from U.S. Army Africa, the Army component of U.S. Africa Command, will lead this effort, which will involve an estimated 3,000 U.S. forces.


 U.S. Africa Command will establish a regional intermediate staging base (ISB) to facilitate and expedite the transportation of equipment, supplies and personnel. Of the U.S. forces taking part in this response, many will be stationed at the ISB.


Command engineers will build additional Ebola Treatment Units in affected areas, and the U.S. Government will help recruit and organize medical personnel to staff them.


Additionally, the Command will establish a site to train up to 500 health care providers per week, enabling healthcare workers to safely provide direct medical care to patients.


The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is preparing to deploy 65 Commissioned Corps officers to Liberia to manage and staff a previously announced Department of Defense (DoD) hospital to care for healthcare workers who become ill. The deployment roster will consist of administrators, clinicians, and support staff.


Simple and scalable strategies that complement the use of Ebola Treatment Units are urgently required to disrupt the disease’s transmission. A community- and home-based strategy that supports household and communities is a critical step to moving forward:

USAID is supporting a Community Care Campaign, which will provide communities and households with protection kits, appropriate information and training on how to protect themselves and their loved ones. In partnership with the United Nations Children Fund, the Paul Allen Family Foundation, and other key partners, we will immediately target the 400,000 most vulnerable households in Liberia. The package will subsequently be scaled to cover the country and the broader region.


As part of this effort, this week, USAID will airlift 50,000 home health care kits from Denmark to Liberia to be hand-delivered to distant communities by trained youth volunteers.


A Complement to Efforts To-Date

Applying this whole-of-government approach, we have been engaged on this outbreak since March when the first cases were reported in West Africa. We currently have in the affected countries more than 100 specialists from multiple U.S. departments and agencies, including the Departments of State and Health and Human Services (HHS), the CDC, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and DoD. We also are working intensively on this effort with the United Nations, including the World Health Organization, the governments of the affected countries, and other partners, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, the Africa Union, and European Union.

To date we have spent more than $100 million to address this challenge, including the purchase of personal protective equipment, mobile labs, logistics and relief commodities, and support for community health workers. USAID also has announced plans to make available up to $75 million in additional funding to increase the number of Ebola treatment units, provide more personal protective equipment, airlift additional medical and emergency supplies, and support other Ebola response activities in collaboration with the UN, including the World Health Organization, and international partners.


CDC has provided on the ground expertise in the largest international response in its history. More than 100 CDC personnel are on the ground in West Africa, and hundreds of personnel at their Emergency Operations Center in Atlanta have provided around the clock logistics, staffing, communication, analytics, management, and other support functions. The Administration has asked Congress for an additional $30 million to send additional response workers from the CDC as well as lab supplies and equipment.


In August, USAID deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to West Africa to coordinate and prioritize the U.S. government’s response to the outbreak. The DART assesses and identifies priority needs and coordinates key areas of the response, such as planning, operations, and logistics. The 28-member DART team is comprised of staff from USAID, CDC, DoD, and the U.S. Forest Service. The DART will be airlifting 130,000 sets of personal protective equipment to ensure that health care workers have the resources needed to safely do their jobs. The DART is also in the process of procuring generators that will provide electricity to Ebola treatment units and other response facilities.


The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is developing an investigational Ebola vaccine, including recently starting phase 1 clinical trials, as well as supporting efforts to develop additional Ebola antivirals and therapeutics candidates. The Administration has asked Congress for an additional $58 million to support the development and manufacturing of Ebola therapeutic and vaccine candidates through Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.


In addition to the measures announced today, DoD plans to send a field-deployable hospital to Liberia and has provided more than 10,000 Ebola test kits to the Liberian Institute of Biological Research and to Sierra Leone's Kenema Government Hospital. DoD also has provided personal protective equipment and training to local medical professionals in affected regions.


DoD also has requested to reprogram $500 million in Fiscal Year 2014 Overseas Contingency Operations funds for humanitarian assistance, a portion of which will be used to fulfill requirements identified by CDC, USAID, the Joint Staff, and U.S. Africa Command to provide military air transportation of DoD and non-DoD personnel and supplies; medical treatment facilities (e.g. isolation units), personnel protective equipment, and medical supplies; logistics and engineering support, and; subject matter experts in support of sanitation and mortuary affairs.


DoD’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program is redirecting $25 million to provide personal protective equipment and laboratory reagents, support for technical advisors, and other requests as validated by the DART. DoD has also requested to reprogram an additional $60 million to enable the CTR program to address urgent biosafety, biosecurity, and biosurveillance needs in the three countries most affected by the Ebola outbreak, as well as bolster the capabilities of neighboring countries and other partners in Africa.


Last month, USAID airlifted more than 16 tons of medical supplies and emergency equipment to Liberia, including: 10,000 sets of personal protective equipment, two water treatment units and two portable water tanks capable of storing 10,000 liters each, and 100 rolls of plastic sheeting which can be used in the construction of Ebola treatment units. Additionally, in late August the DART airlifted 5,000 body bags to step up support for the safe removal and transport of the bodies of Ebola victims and 500 infrared thermometers to bolster Ebola screening efforts. These supplies will be distributed and used by the WHO and Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.


USAID and the State Department are providing up to $10 million to support the deployment of an African Union mission sending more than 100 health care workers to the region. The State Department also has encouraged other governments to increase assistance; coordinate delivery of critical resources, including personnel, equipment, and medical supplies; and encourage airlines operating in the region to maintain or reinstate service while ensuring appropriate precautions.


Additionally, the State Department has supported public education efforts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea regarding prevention and treatment of the disease.  The effort has included radio and television messages in local languages, the production of nearly 100 billboards and thousands of posters, program support to local non-governmental organizations and a special song commissioned by a popular local musician.


Earlier this month, President Obama released a message to the people of West Africa to reinforce the facts and dispel myths surrounding Ebola. The video was transcribed into French, Portuguese, and other local languages and was distributed to television and radio stations across the region. Tens of thousands of West Africans viewed or listened to the message.
Screening Efforts Overseas

In addition to our efforts to help the affected West African countries bring this outbreak under control, we have taken steps to fortify against the introduction of Ebola cases into the United States. It is important to note that Ebola is not highly contagious like the flu; to the contrary, the virus is spread through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a symptomatic individual.

CDC is working closely with Customs and Border Protection and other partners at ports of entry—primarily international airports—to use routine processes to identify travelers who show signs of infectious disease. In response to the outbreak, these processes have been enhanced through guidance and training. If a sick traveler is identified during or after a flight, the traveler will be immediately isolated, and CDC will conduct an investigation of exposed travelers and work with the airline, federal partners, and state and local health departments to notify them and take any necessary public health action.


CDC is assisting with exit screening and communication efforts in West Africa to prevent sick travelers from boarding planes. It also has issued interim guidance about Ebola virus infection for airline flight crews, cleaning personnel, and cargo personnel.


CDC also has issued advice for colleges, universities, and students about study abroad, foreign exchange, and other education-related travel, as well as advice for students who have recently traveled from a country in which an Ebola outbreak is occurring. Similarly, CDC has developed recommendations for humanitarian aid workers traveling to Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreaks in these countries. The recommendations include steps to take before departure, during travel, and upon return to the United States.
Preparedness at Home

Despite the tragic epidemic in West Africa, U.S. health professionals agree it is highly unlikely that we would experience an Ebola outbreak here in the United States, given our robust health care infrastructure and rapid response capabilities. Nevertheless, we have taken extra measures to prevent the unintentional importation of cases into the United States, and if a patient does make it here, our national health system has the capacity and expertise to quickly detect and contain this disease.

CDC has worked to enhance surveillance and laboratory testing capacity in states to detect cases and improve case finding. CDC is developing guidance and tools for health departments to conduct public health investigations and improve health communication and continues to update recommendations for healthcare infection control and other measures to prevent the disease from spreading. Similarly, HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and CDC are providing guidance documents to hospitals and other health care partners to support preparedness for a possible Ebola case.


CDC also has prepared U.S. healthcare facilities and emergency medical service systems to safely manage a patient with suspected Ebola virus disease. CDC communicates with healthcare workers on an ongoing basis through the Health Alert Network, the Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity, and a variety of other existing tools and mechanisms.  CDC developed Interim Guidance for Monitoring and Movement of Persons with Ebola Virus Disease Exposure to provide public health authorities and other partners with a framework for evaluating people’s level of exposure to Ebola and initiating appropriate public health actions on the basis of exposure level and clinical assessment.


The Food and Drug Administration is monitoring for fraudulent products and false product claims related to the Ebola virus and is prepared to take enforcement actions, as warranted, to protect the public health.
Securing the Future

The Ebola epidemic reminds us that our global efforts to build the capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to infectious disease threats like Ebola have never been more vital.  In February, we came together with nations around the world to launch the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) as a five year effort to accelerate action.

CDC is contributing to the GHSA by partnering with nations around the world to help them establish measurable global health security capacity. This includes core CDC partnership programs like the Global Disease Detection Centers and Field Epidemiology Training Program, which enable the laboratory systems, disease surveillance workforce, emergency operations center capacity, and biosafety and biosecurity best practices required to counter Ebola and other biological threats.


Over the next five years the United States has committed to working with at least 30 partner countries to invest in model systems to advance the Global Health Security agenda. CDC and DoD will work with other U.S. agencies and partner countries to establish emergency operations centers, build information systems, and strengthen laboratory security to mitigate biological threats and build partner capacity.  

9/15/14: WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING

NSF VIDEO: DRIVER-LESS CAR TAKES A SPIN AROUND WASHINGTON D.C.

HHS PREPARING TO DEPLOY HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO COMBAT EBOLA IN WEST AFRICA

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 16, 2014

U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps to help treat Ebola patients in Liberia

A team of specialized officers from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is being prepared to deploy to manage and staff a previously announced U.S. Department of Defense hospital in Liberia to care for health care workers who become ill from Ebola.

The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Commissioned Corps is an elite uniformed service with more than 6,800 full-time, highly qualified public health professionals, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations domestically and abroad.

Sixty-five Commissioned Corps officers, with diverse clinical and public health backgrounds, will travel to Liberia to provide direct patient care to health care workers. In addition to their professional expertise, these officers will undergo further intensive training in Ebola response and advanced infection control.

“The Commissioned Corps are trained and ready to respond to public health crises and humanitarian missions,” said Acting Surgeon General Rear Admiral Boris Lushniak, M.D., M.P.H, who provides operational command of the Commissioned Corps. “The dedicated officers have the skills to make a significant impact in one of the international community’s most devastating public health emergencies.”

HHS is working with the Obama administration, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Health Organization and other domestic and international partners to more rapidly address the expanding West African Ebola outbreak.

The additional officers will join other Commissioned Corps officers deployed in West Africa with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Members of the service have been co-leading disaster response teams and supporting outbreak investigation and control activities of the CDC.

With an approximately 50 percent death rate in the outbreak, there is concern about the stress on the health care workforce and health care system, including the loss of health care workers caring for the sick. There is an increasing need for extra resources, and the Commissioned Corps is playing a critical role in the response to that need.

The added Commissioned Corps officers will treat ill health care workers and continue efforts to build capacity for additional care.

The Commissioned Corps is one of the seven uniformed services and is the only service solely committed to protecting, promoting and advancing the health and safety of the nation.  Members often served on the front lines in public health emergency and crisis situations, including 9/11, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Superstorm Sandy and the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

15 NATION TROOP EXERCISE BEGINS IN UKRAINE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Right:  Moldovan Soldiers stand in formation during Exercise Rapid Trident’s opening ceremony in Yavoriv, Ukraine, Sept. 15, 2014. Rapid Trident is an annual U.S. Army Europe-conducted, Ukrainian-led multinational exercise designed to enhance interoperability with allied and partner nations while promoting regional stability and security. It was planned before the current situation in Ukraine arose. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joshua Leonard.  
Troops From 15 Nations Begin Exercise in Ukraine
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2014 – Troops from 15 nations kicked off the annual Rapid Trident field training exercise today in northwestern Ukraine.
Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, director of communication and engagement for U.S. European Command, emphasized in a statement that the exercise is annual, and that it was planned well before the current situation in Ukraine.

About 1,300 military personnel from Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain and the United States, as well as representatives from NATO, will participate.

The exercise will take place near Yavoriv at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center, which is designed to support multinational training and exercises with regional and bilateral partners, Hicks said.

In preparation, units underwent a week of situational training that focused on key exercise tasks such as countering improvised explosive devices, convoy operations and patrolling.

No live-fire exercises are scheduled for Rapid Trident, Hicks said. The exercise will conclude Sept. 26.

SEC CHARGES HEDGE FUND MANAGER AND FIRM WITH CHARGING EXCESS RESEARCH EXPENSES AND FEES

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 

SEC Charges Minneapolis-Based Hedge Fund Manager with Bilking Investors and Portfolio Pumping

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Minneapolis-based hedge fund manager, his investment advisory firm, and an accomplice with bilking investors in two hedge funds out of more than $1 million under the guise of research expenses and fees.

The SEC alleges that as the management fees earned by Archer Advisors LLC were shrinking due to the funds' worsening performance, the firm's owner Steven R. Markusen and an employee Jay C. Cope implemented a scheme to enrich themselves at the expense of investors in the funds. Markusen routinely caused the funds to reimburse Archer for fake research expenses, and he eventually routed much of that money to his personal checking account and spent it on country club dues, boarding school tuition, and a Lexus among other luxury items. Furthermore, Markusen devised a way to essentially charge fund investors twice for the same fake research expenses. First, he billed the funds directly by falsely claiming that Archer had paid Cope to conduct "research" for the funds. Second, he and Cope improperly diverted soft dollars from the funds to Cope for the same purported "research" and under the additional pretense that Cope was an independent consultant. Soft dollars were supposed to be used to buy third-party investment research that benefited the funds. Cope conducted no third-party research as an Archer officer whose main duties were placing trades and helping Markusen find new investors.

The SEC's complaint filed in federal court in Minneapolis also charges Markusen and Cope with conducting a separate scheme to manipulate the stock price of the funds' largest holding in order to inflate the monthly returns reported to investors and conceal the true extent of the funds' mounting investment losses.

According to the SEC's complaint, the scheme enabled Markusen to secretly pay Cope's salary with fund soft dollars rather than out of Archer's coffers. Markusen and Cope disguised Cope's $10,000 monthly salary payments as research fees because under the governing documents of the hedge funds they managed and SEC rules, Archer employees could not draw a salary from fund assets or receive fund soft dollars for non-research assistance. The SEC alleges that Markusen and Cope traded excessively in the funds' brokerage accounts in order to generate enough soft dollars to pay Cope's monthly salary at Archer. They misrepresented Cope's relationship with Archer to the brokerage firms that administered the funds' soft dollars, and created false and misleading monthly "research" invoices for the amount of Cope's salary. Markusen and Cope sent the invoices each month to the funds' brokerage firms, who in turn paid fund soft dollars directly to Cope for the purported research expenses. Markusen would then receive a $1,000 monthly kickback from Cope.

According to the SEC's complaint, Markusen and Cope carried out their portfolio pumping scheme by manipulating the price of the thinly-traded stock of CyberOptics Corp. (CYBE), which comprised over 75 percent of the funds' portfolios and was by far the largest holding. Knowing that Archer's trading as CYBE's largest shareholder could materially impact the market price, Markusen and Cope "marked the close" in CYBE on the last trading day of the month at least 28 times. In doing so, they sought to improperly drive up CYBE's closing price by placing multiple buy orders often seconds before the market closed to artificially pump up the value of the funds' portfolios, which were valued as of the close of trading on the month's last trading day. Those valuations were used to calculate the funds' monthly returns that Archer reported to investors as well as Archer's monthly management fee, which was a fixed percentage of each portfolio's value. The higher CYBE closing price at the end of each month enabled Markusen to inflate the funds' performance and extract more lucrative management fees.

The SEC's complaint charges Archer, Markusen, and Cope with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and certain reporting provisions.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Nicholas Eichenseer, Luz Aguilar, and Paul Montoya of the Chicago Regional Office, with assistance from Kevin Vincent and Lorraine Ricci of the Office's examination program. The SEC's litigation will be led by John Birkenheier. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

COMPANY TOUTING WEIGHT-LOSS STUDY SETTLES FTC CHARGES OF MAKING BASELESS CLAIMS

FROM:  U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

Green Coffee Bean Manufacturer Settles FTC Charges of Pushing its Product Based on Results of “Seriously Flawed” Weight-Loss Study

A Texas-based company, Applied Food Sciences, Inc. (AFS), has settled Federal Trade Commission charges that it used the results of a flawed study to make baseless weight-loss claims about its green coffee extract to retailers, who repeated those claims in marketing finished products to consumers.

The FTC complaint alleges the study was so hopelessly flawed that no reliable conclusions could be drawn from it. The flawed study, which purported to show that the product causes “substantial weight and fat loss,” was later touted on The Dr. Oz Show.

The FTC’s settlement with Applied Food Sciences, Inc. (AFS), which sells a green coffee ingredient used in dietary supplements and foods, requires the company to pay $3.5 million, and to have scientific substantiation for any future weight-loss claims it makes, including at least two adequate and well-controlled human clinical tests.

“Applied Food Sciences knew or should have known that this botched study didn’t prove anything,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “In publicizing the results, it helped fuel the green coffee phenomenon.”

According to the FTC’s complaint, in 2010, Austin, Texas-based AFS paid researchers in India to conduct a clinical trial on overweight adults to test whether Green Coffee Antioxidant (GCA), a dietary supplement containing green coffee extract, reduced body weight and body fat.

The FTC charges that the study’s lead investigator repeatedly altered the weights and other key measurements of the subjects, changed the length of the trial, and misstated which subjects were taking the placebo or GCA during the trial. When the lead investigator was unable to get the study published, the FTC says that AFS hired researchers Joe Vinson and Bryan Burnham at the University of Scranton to rewrite it. Despite receiving conflicting data, Vinson, Burnham, and AFS never verified the authenticity of the information used in the study, according to the complaint.

Despite the study’s flaws, AFS used it to falsely claim that GCA caused consumers to lose 17.7 pounds, 10.5 percent of body weight, and 16 percent of body fat with or without diet and exercise, in 22 weeks, the complaint alleges.

Although AFS played no part in featuring its study on The Dr. Oz Show, it took advantage of the publicity afterwards by issuing a press release highlighting the show. The release claimed that study subjects lost weight “without diet or exercise,” even though subjects in the study were instructed to restrict their diet and increase their exercise, the FTC contends.

The proposed order settling the FTC’s charges bars AFS from misrepresenting any aspect of a test or study related to the products it sells, and prohibits the company from providing anyone else with the means of falsely advertising, labeling, promoting, or using purported substantiation material in marketing their own products.

The order further requires AFS to notify trade customers of the FTC’s conclusion that the company lacked reasonable scientific support for the weight-loss and fat-loss claims it made. Finally, the proposed order requires AFS to pay $3.5 million.

Information for Consumers

The FTC advises consumers to carefully evaluate advertising claims for weight-loss products. For more information, see the FTC’s guidance for consumers of products and services advertised for Weight Loss & Fitness.

The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint and proposed stipulated final order was 5-0. The complaint and order were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. The proposed order is subject to court approval.

The FTC is a member of the National Prevention Council, which provides coordination and leadership at the federal level regarding prevention, wellness, and health promotion practices.  The National Prevention Strategy, released June 16, 2011, aims to guide our nation in the most effective and achievable means for improving health and well-being. This case advances the National Prevention Strategy’s goal of increasing the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life.

NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. Stipulated orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.

DOJ OUTLINES HOW TO BEST USE BODY-WORN CAMERAS WORN BY POLICE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Friday, September 12, 2014

Community Oriented Policing Services Outlines Best Practices for Use of Body-Worn Cameras for Police Officers

Today the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) released Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned.   The report analyzes some of the costs and benefits of law enforcement using body-worn video technology.

“Law enforcement agencies across the nation are contemplating how best to use body-worn cameras and these guidelines will help them weight the costs and benefits,” said COPS Office Director Ronald L. Davis.   “There are many considerations when implementing a body-worn camera and this report will help chiefs and sheriffs make the best decision for their jurisdiction.”

The publication was developed jointly by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and COPS through a cooperative agreement under the FY 2013 Community Policing Development Program.   PERF conducted research on the use of body-worn cameras, identified promising practices and lessons learned from the field, and produced a set of guidelines for agencies interested in implement a body-worn camera program.   Included in this effort was a one-day executive session with more than 200 police chiefs, sheriffs, scholars, representatives from federal criminal justice agencies, and other experts present to share experiences and lessons learned about body-worn cameras, to identify promising practices from the field, and to engage in a dialogue about the issues surrounding cameras.

The publication reviews the perceived benefits of body-worn cameras and considerations surrounding body-worn cameras before proposing a set of comprehensive policy recommendations that reflect the promising practices and lessons that emerged from PERF’s conference and its extensive discussions with police executives and other experts following the conference.

The policy recommendations cover all aspects of what a police department should consider when deciding to use body cameras including:

·          Basic camera usage, such as who will be assigned to wear the cameras and where on the body the cameras are authorized to be placed;
·          Recording protocols, including when to activate the camera, when to turn it off, and the types of circumstances in which recording is required, allowed or prohibited;
·          The process for downloading recorded data from the camera, including who is responsible for downloading, when data must be downloaded, where data will be stored, and how to safeguard against data tampering or deletion;
·          The length of time recorded data will be retained by the agency in various circumstances;
·          The process and policies for accessing and reviewing recorded data, including the persons authorized to access data and the circumstances in which recorded data can be reviewed; and
·          Policies for releasing recorded data to the public, including protocols regarding redactions and responding to public disclosure requests.

HHS ANNOUNCES $60 MILLION IN NAVIGATOR GRANT AWARDS TO HELP CONSUMERS EXAMINE HEALTH CARE OPTIONS

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

HHS announces $60 million to help consumers navigate their health care coverage options in the Health Insurance Marketplace

The Affordable Care Act is working for millions of Americans who are able to access quality health coverage at a price they can afford, in large part because of the efforts of in-person assisters in local communities across the nation.  People shopping for and enrolling in coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace can get local help in a number of ways, including through Navigators.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell today announced $60 million in Navigator grant awards to 90 organizations in states with federally-facilitated and state partnership Marketplaces.  These awards support preparation and outreach activities in year two of Marketplace enrollment and build on lessons learned from last year.

“In-person assisters have an impact on the lives of so many Americans, helping individuals and families across the country access quality, affordable health coverage,” said Secretary Burwell.  “We are committed to helping Americans get covered and stay covered with in-person assistance in their own communities.”

According to a recent outside survey, a variety of assisters, including Navigators, in both state-based and federally-facilitated Marketplaces were responsible for helping an estimated 10.6 million consumers apply for coverage in Marketplace plans, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) during the first Open Enrollment period.  Assisters tend to help those consumers in communities with the most challenging or complicated enrollments, and according to another poll, Latinos in particular valued the assistance of in-person help.  Navigators provide unbiased information to consumers about the Marketplace and other public programs in a way that recognizes the cultures of the communities they serve. Navigators were selected to receive these awards through a competitive grant process based on their ties with the communities they will be serving and other standards such as effectiveness and program integrity.

In addition to helping eligible individuals and their families enroll in coverage, Navigators help consumers compare their health coverage options including helping them determine whether they are eligible for public programs such as Medicaid and CHIP and guide consumers- many of whom have never had insurance before- on accessing and using their new coverage, among other important functions.

These awards build on lessons learned from the first year of Marketplace operations.

Navigator grantees must maintain a physical presence in the Marketplace service-area, so that consumers can easily access face-to-face assistance.
Navigator grantees are required to be trained on and comply with strict security and privacy standards to ensure that consumers’ personally identifiable information (PII) is protected, as was the case last year. In no case will Navigators obtain a consumer’s PII without the consumer’s consent.
In addition to quarterly and annual reporting, Navigators will also be required to submit to HHS weekly progress reports detailing their progress and activities in the communities they serve.
Based on feedback from the assister community, HHS is incorporating new elements into this year’s required training, such as a course on advanced Marketplace issues with detailed information on topics such as how to help college-age students enroll in coverage and re-enrollment.  HHS is committed to providing Navigators with on-going technical assistance and training opportunities throughout the year.
In addition to Navigators, Marketplaces make other resources available to consumers to help them access Marketplace coverage, such as certified application counselors, non-navigator assistance personnel (also known as in-person assisters), and agents and brokers. Consumers in federally-facilitated and state partnership Marketplaces can visit Find Local Help to find assistance in their area.

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