Friday, November 21, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS IN PARIS, FRANCE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Secretary of State John Kerry At a Solo Press Availability
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Paris, France
November 20, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good afternoon, everybody. As you know, I’ve spent the last couple of days in Europe, in London, and now in Paris. And during the course of that time, I’ve had very worthwhile meetings with Foreign Secretary Hammond of Great Britain, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal here in Paris today, and of course, with Foreign Minister Fabius, and other meetings that I have had during that time.
During these meetings, we’ve discussed a range of the challenges that we face together as partners – obviously, Syria, ISIL, Iraq, Libya, Ukraine, others, but particularly, as you can imagine, the focus has been on the nuclear negotiations with Iran. As all of us know, we are now a little less than a week away from the November 24th deadline for these negotiations. And none of us came to this process, I assure you, with anything except serious purpose and realism. We knew the stakes in getting into this, and we also knew the challenges.
But we’ve also – I want to make it clear – come a long way in a short period of time. After all, it was only last year when our nations first resumed high-level contact after decades of stalled relations, I think more than 35 years since we had even talked. It was only last year that President Obama spoke with President Rouhani by phone, and it was only last year when I sat down for the first time with Foreign Minister Zarif in New York at the United Nations.
Work also had to be done during that time with our European partners and the P5+1 partners and with the Iranians in order to be able to test seriously what might be possible at the negotiating table. These steps all together created an opening that we hadn’t seen or been able to possibly experience since the time or the advent of the Iranian nuclear program. As a result, last November we did conclude a Joint Plan of Action with Iran in which they agreed to freeze – effectively freeze their nuclear program while the P5+1 provided limited sanctions relief. And together, we set a frame for these negotiations on a comprehensive agreement.
And despite the skepticism that many expressed when we first reached the JPOA, as it was known – the Joint Plan of Action – the world is already safer because of it. And all sides have stuck to their commitments made under that agreement. Consequently, we are today closer to resolving the international concerns around Iran’s nuclear program through diplomatic means.
Now, we have the chance – and I underscore the word chance – to complete an agreement that would meet our strategic objectives, that would guarantee that Iran’s four pathways to fissile material for a nuclear weapon cannot be used, and thereby to be able to give the world the needed confidence that the Iranian program is exclusively and conclusively peaceful as Iran has said it is. And then at the same time, enable the Iranian people to be able to have the economic opportunities that they seek.
Clearly one can envision an agreement that is fair and possible. But it still will require difficult choices. Now, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – Iran has continued to state it has no interest in obtaining a nuclear weapon. Ultimately, if you want to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that your program is a peaceful one, that is not, from a technical perspective, very hard to do. We and our European and P5+1 partners are working to secure an agreement that accomplishes that goal. And in the days ahead, we’re going to try to work very, very hard to see if we can close the gaps and get to where we need to be.
I would emphasize both sides are taking this process seriously and both sides are trying to find the common ground. That doesn’t mean that we agree on everything. Obviously, there are gaps. We don’t yet. But it does mean that we have discussed in detail the full range of relevant issues that have to be part of a durable and comprehensive agreement, including infrastructure, stockpiles, research, equipment, timing, and sequencing.
And I would also emphasize that we all know our principles in this process, and our principles as a group are rock solid. As we have said every single step of this process, an agreement like the one we are seeking is not built on trust, as much as anybody might like it to be. It is built on verification. And no member of the P5+1 is prepared to or can accept any arrangements that we cannot verify or make any promises that cannot be kept.
In a few hours, I will head to Vienna. And now more than ever we believe that it’s critical that we not negotiate in public and that the ideas discussed among the negotiations remain among the negotiators so that misunderstandings are prevented and the integrity of the discussions is preserved. So you’re going to hear, I’m sure, a lot of rumors. There’ll be conflicting reports. The bottom line is nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and it’s the negotiators who have to speak for these negotiations. We intend to keep working hard to resolve the differences, to define the finish line, and do everything in our power to try to get across that line.
I thank you very much, and I’d be happy to take a couple questions.
MS. PSAKI: The first question will be from Nicolas Revise from AFP.
QUESTION: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. You just said at the (inaudible) that the P5+1 is united. But don’t you see some divisions, even minor divisions between the United States and France about how to get to an agreement on the nuclear program? And if so, did you manage to solve these disagreements with your French counterpart? Did you agree on everything, especially on the enrichment capacity? And don’t you fear, Mr. Secretary, that the French could repeat what they did in November 2013 when they spoiled the whole thing?
And speaking about divisions, if I may, did you raise with Laurent Fabius the issue of the warship Mistral? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, first, I just – I don’t agree with the assumptions that you’ve made in the course of that question, in many of them. And I think Laurent Fabius just spoke for France and said nous sommes en commun, we are in common. We are. He gave me a piece of paper – which we’ve had for some period of time – in which he lays out France’s four ideas about what they believe are important. I’m not going to go into them because I said we’re going to negotiate this privately. But we agree with every single one of them. We may have a minor difference here or there on a number of something or whatever, but not on the fundamental principles. We are in agreement that you have to be able to verify this, that there are limits. There has to be an acceptable level, and we’re confident about our unity as P5+1.
So I’m – we’ve had a terrific partner in France in this effort. France made a very courageous decision with respect to the Mistral, for example, which is not directly related to Iran, but it’s a courageous decision with respect to its impact, its economics, and other things. We have admiration for that kind of decision of principle. And believe me, I know people will try to find a division or create a division, but when we say the P5+1 is united, we mean it. And we’re going to work together as colleagues closely. I’ll be in close communication with Foreign Minister Fabius even today and into tomorrow and for the next few days. And we’re going to work as a team. It’s that simple.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will be from Jonathan Allen of Reuters.
QUESTION: Thank you, sir. I wanted to just ask you about Mr. Hammond’s remarks. He doesn’t seem very optimistic that you will make the deadline. So – and he thinks an extension will probably be necessary. So I wondered if you would talk a bit about what sort of extension might be palatable to you, how long this might drag out for.
SECRETARY KERRY: No. We’re not talking about an extension, not among ourselves. We have not talked about the ingredients of an extension or – we’re talking about getting an agreement. Now, I know that Secretary Hammond is concerned about the gaps. We all are. And I think he’s expressing his personal concerns about how to close those gaps over the next few days, and it’s very fair for him to have those concerns. But we are not discussing extension; we are negotiating to try to get an agreement. It’s that simple.
And look, if you get to the final hour and you’re in need of having to look at alternatives or something, we’ll look at them. I’m not telling you we’re not going to look at something. But we’re not looking at them, not now. This is – we’re driving towards what we believe is the outline of an agreement that we think we can have. And a lot of work has been done, including on annexes and other things, over the course of these last months by some very effective technical and expert people in the field of nuclear power and so forth. And we’re quite confident about the groundwork that’s been laid.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.
SECRETARY KERRY: That’s it?
MS. PSAKI: Yes.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, everyone. (Laughter.)
Secretary of State John Kerry At a Solo Press Availability
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Paris, France
November 20, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good afternoon, everybody. As you know, I’ve spent the last couple of days in Europe, in London, and now in Paris. And during the course of that time, I’ve had very worthwhile meetings with Foreign Secretary Hammond of Great Britain, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal here in Paris today, and of course, with Foreign Minister Fabius, and other meetings that I have had during that time.
During these meetings, we’ve discussed a range of the challenges that we face together as partners – obviously, Syria, ISIL, Iraq, Libya, Ukraine, others, but particularly, as you can imagine, the focus has been on the nuclear negotiations with Iran. As all of us know, we are now a little less than a week away from the November 24th deadline for these negotiations. And none of us came to this process, I assure you, with anything except serious purpose and realism. We knew the stakes in getting into this, and we also knew the challenges.
But we’ve also – I want to make it clear – come a long way in a short period of time. After all, it was only last year when our nations first resumed high-level contact after decades of stalled relations, I think more than 35 years since we had even talked. It was only last year that President Obama spoke with President Rouhani by phone, and it was only last year when I sat down for the first time with Foreign Minister Zarif in New York at the United Nations.
Work also had to be done during that time with our European partners and the P5+1 partners and with the Iranians in order to be able to test seriously what might be possible at the negotiating table. These steps all together created an opening that we hadn’t seen or been able to possibly experience since the time or the advent of the Iranian nuclear program. As a result, last November we did conclude a Joint Plan of Action with Iran in which they agreed to freeze – effectively freeze their nuclear program while the P5+1 provided limited sanctions relief. And together, we set a frame for these negotiations on a comprehensive agreement.
And despite the skepticism that many expressed when we first reached the JPOA, as it was known – the Joint Plan of Action – the world is already safer because of it. And all sides have stuck to their commitments made under that agreement. Consequently, we are today closer to resolving the international concerns around Iran’s nuclear program through diplomatic means.
Now, we have the chance – and I underscore the word chance – to complete an agreement that would meet our strategic objectives, that would guarantee that Iran’s four pathways to fissile material for a nuclear weapon cannot be used, and thereby to be able to give the world the needed confidence that the Iranian program is exclusively and conclusively peaceful as Iran has said it is. And then at the same time, enable the Iranian people to be able to have the economic opportunities that they seek.
Clearly one can envision an agreement that is fair and possible. But it still will require difficult choices. Now, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – Iran has continued to state it has no interest in obtaining a nuclear weapon. Ultimately, if you want to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that your program is a peaceful one, that is not, from a technical perspective, very hard to do. We and our European and P5+1 partners are working to secure an agreement that accomplishes that goal. And in the days ahead, we’re going to try to work very, very hard to see if we can close the gaps and get to where we need to be.
I would emphasize both sides are taking this process seriously and both sides are trying to find the common ground. That doesn’t mean that we agree on everything. Obviously, there are gaps. We don’t yet. But it does mean that we have discussed in detail the full range of relevant issues that have to be part of a durable and comprehensive agreement, including infrastructure, stockpiles, research, equipment, timing, and sequencing.
And I would also emphasize that we all know our principles in this process, and our principles as a group are rock solid. As we have said every single step of this process, an agreement like the one we are seeking is not built on trust, as much as anybody might like it to be. It is built on verification. And no member of the P5+1 is prepared to or can accept any arrangements that we cannot verify or make any promises that cannot be kept.
In a few hours, I will head to Vienna. And now more than ever we believe that it’s critical that we not negotiate in public and that the ideas discussed among the negotiations remain among the negotiators so that misunderstandings are prevented and the integrity of the discussions is preserved. So you’re going to hear, I’m sure, a lot of rumors. There’ll be conflicting reports. The bottom line is nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and it’s the negotiators who have to speak for these negotiations. We intend to keep working hard to resolve the differences, to define the finish line, and do everything in our power to try to get across that line.
I thank you very much, and I’d be happy to take a couple questions.
MS. PSAKI: The first question will be from Nicolas Revise from AFP.
QUESTION: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. You just said at the (inaudible) that the P5+1 is united. But don’t you see some divisions, even minor divisions between the United States and France about how to get to an agreement on the nuclear program? And if so, did you manage to solve these disagreements with your French counterpart? Did you agree on everything, especially on the enrichment capacity? And don’t you fear, Mr. Secretary, that the French could repeat what they did in November 2013 when they spoiled the whole thing?
And speaking about divisions, if I may, did you raise with Laurent Fabius the issue of the warship Mistral? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, first, I just – I don’t agree with the assumptions that you’ve made in the course of that question, in many of them. And I think Laurent Fabius just spoke for France and said nous sommes en commun, we are in common. We are. He gave me a piece of paper – which we’ve had for some period of time – in which he lays out France’s four ideas about what they believe are important. I’m not going to go into them because I said we’re going to negotiate this privately. But we agree with every single one of them. We may have a minor difference here or there on a number of something or whatever, but not on the fundamental principles. We are in agreement that you have to be able to verify this, that there are limits. There has to be an acceptable level, and we’re confident about our unity as P5+1.
So I’m – we’ve had a terrific partner in France in this effort. France made a very courageous decision with respect to the Mistral, for example, which is not directly related to Iran, but it’s a courageous decision with respect to its impact, its economics, and other things. We have admiration for that kind of decision of principle. And believe me, I know people will try to find a division or create a division, but when we say the P5+1 is united, we mean it. And we’re going to work together as colleagues closely. I’ll be in close communication with Foreign Minister Fabius even today and into tomorrow and for the next few days. And we’re going to work as a team. It’s that simple.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will be from Jonathan Allen of Reuters.
QUESTION: Thank you, sir. I wanted to just ask you about Mr. Hammond’s remarks. He doesn’t seem very optimistic that you will make the deadline. So – and he thinks an extension will probably be necessary. So I wondered if you would talk a bit about what sort of extension might be palatable to you, how long this might drag out for.
SECRETARY KERRY: No. We’re not talking about an extension, not among ourselves. We have not talked about the ingredients of an extension or – we’re talking about getting an agreement. Now, I know that Secretary Hammond is concerned about the gaps. We all are. And I think he’s expressing his personal concerns about how to close those gaps over the next few days, and it’s very fair for him to have those concerns. But we are not discussing extension; we are negotiating to try to get an agreement. It’s that simple.
And look, if you get to the final hour and you’re in need of having to look at alternatives or something, we’ll look at them. I’m not telling you we’re not going to look at something. But we’re not looking at them, not now. This is – we’re driving towards what we believe is the outline of an agreement that we think we can have. And a lot of work has been done, including on annexes and other things, over the course of these last months by some very effective technical and expert people in the field of nuclear power and so forth. And we’re quite confident about the groundwork that’s been laid.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.
SECRETARY KERRY: That’s it?
MS. PSAKI: Yes.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, everyone. (Laughter.)
FOUNDER OF HAPPY'S PIZZA CONVICTED BY JURY OF TAX FRAUD
FROM: U.S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Happy's Pizza Founder Convicted of Multi-Million Dollar Tax Fraud Scheme
On November 19, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, a federal jury after deliberating 4.5 hours convicted the president and founder of Happy’s Pizza of conspiracy to defraud the United States and 32 counts of tax crimes, the Justice Department announced today.
Happy Asker’s convictions include three counts of filing false federal individual tax returns for the years 2006 through 2008, 28 counts of aiding and assisting the filing of false federal income and payroll tax returns for several Happy’s Pizza Franchises restaurants for the years 2006 through 2009, and one count of engaging in a corrupt endeavor to obstruct and impede the administration of the Internal Revenue Code.
During trial, the evidence established that Asker was the president, founder and public face of the Farmington Hills, Michigan, based Happy’s Pizza franchise. He also had ownership interests in several Happy’s Pizza franchises located in Michigan, Ohio and Chicago. From June 2004 through April 2011, Asker, along with certain franchise owners and employees, executed a systematic and pervasive tax fraud scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Gross sales and payroll amounts were substantially underreported to the IRS on numerous individual corporate income tax returns and payroll tax returns submitted for nearly all 60 Happy’s Pizza franchise restaurants located in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Evidence admitted at trial established that from 2008 to 2010, more than $6.1 million in cash gross receipts were diverted from approximately 35 different Happy’s Pizza stores in the Detroit area, Illinois and Ohio. In total, the evidence at trial established that Asker and certain employees and franchise owners failed to report to the IRS approximately $3.84 million of gross income from the various Happy’s Pizza franchises and approximately $2.39 million in payroll. The evidence at trial further established that a portion of this unreported income was shared among most of the franchise owners, including Asker, in a weekly cash “profit split.” The cash was distributed among the investors and managers of the relevant franchises. The IRS is owed more than $6.2 million in taxes as a result of this fraud scheme.
The evidence at the two-week trial also established that Asker purposely misled IRS-Criminal Investigation special agents during voluntary interviews conducted on Nov. 5, 2010, and Dec. 1, 2010. Asker denied knowing co-defendant Arkan Summa, a convicted felon, and did not disclose Summa’s association with a number of Happy’s Pizza franchise restaurants. Documents admitted during trial indicate Summa shared in diverted gross receipts from at least one Happy’s Pizza franchise in Toledo, Ohio.
Four other defendants in the case pleaded guilty prior to Asker’s trial. On October 23, Maher Bashi, who served as Happy’s Pizza’s corporate chief operating officer, and Tom Yaldo, an owner of numerous Happy’s Pizza franchises, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. According to the indictment, their conduct included, among other things, creating and maintaining fraudulent accounting records and falsely reporting income taxes and payroll taxes. On July 15, Summa pleaded guilty to engaging in a corrupt endeavor to obstruct and impede the due administration of the IRS, and Tagrid Summa, who is identified as a Happy’s Pizza franchise owner in documents admitted during trial, pleaded guilty to providing false documents to the IRS.
At sentencing, Happy Asker faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to defraud the government. The charges of filing a false income tax return and aiding or assisting in filing a false return carry a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count. The obstruction charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Asker’s sentencing is scheduled for March 5, 2015, in the Eastern District of Michigan.
The case was investigated by special agents from IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency. Senior Litigation Counsel Corey Smith and Trial Attorney Mark McDonald for the Justice Department’s Tax Division prosecuted the case.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Happy's Pizza Founder Convicted of Multi-Million Dollar Tax Fraud Scheme
On November 19, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, a federal jury after deliberating 4.5 hours convicted the president and founder of Happy’s Pizza of conspiracy to defraud the United States and 32 counts of tax crimes, the Justice Department announced today.
Happy Asker’s convictions include three counts of filing false federal individual tax returns for the years 2006 through 2008, 28 counts of aiding and assisting the filing of false federal income and payroll tax returns for several Happy’s Pizza Franchises restaurants for the years 2006 through 2009, and one count of engaging in a corrupt endeavor to obstruct and impede the administration of the Internal Revenue Code.
During trial, the evidence established that Asker was the president, founder and public face of the Farmington Hills, Michigan, based Happy’s Pizza franchise. He also had ownership interests in several Happy’s Pizza franchises located in Michigan, Ohio and Chicago. From June 2004 through April 2011, Asker, along with certain franchise owners and employees, executed a systematic and pervasive tax fraud scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Gross sales and payroll amounts were substantially underreported to the IRS on numerous individual corporate income tax returns and payroll tax returns submitted for nearly all 60 Happy’s Pizza franchise restaurants located in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Evidence admitted at trial established that from 2008 to 2010, more than $6.1 million in cash gross receipts were diverted from approximately 35 different Happy’s Pizza stores in the Detroit area, Illinois and Ohio. In total, the evidence at trial established that Asker and certain employees and franchise owners failed to report to the IRS approximately $3.84 million of gross income from the various Happy’s Pizza franchises and approximately $2.39 million in payroll. The evidence at trial further established that a portion of this unreported income was shared among most of the franchise owners, including Asker, in a weekly cash “profit split.” The cash was distributed among the investors and managers of the relevant franchises. The IRS is owed more than $6.2 million in taxes as a result of this fraud scheme.
The evidence at the two-week trial also established that Asker purposely misled IRS-Criminal Investigation special agents during voluntary interviews conducted on Nov. 5, 2010, and Dec. 1, 2010. Asker denied knowing co-defendant Arkan Summa, a convicted felon, and did not disclose Summa’s association with a number of Happy’s Pizza franchise restaurants. Documents admitted during trial indicate Summa shared in diverted gross receipts from at least one Happy’s Pizza franchise in Toledo, Ohio.
Four other defendants in the case pleaded guilty prior to Asker’s trial. On October 23, Maher Bashi, who served as Happy’s Pizza’s corporate chief operating officer, and Tom Yaldo, an owner of numerous Happy’s Pizza franchises, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. According to the indictment, their conduct included, among other things, creating and maintaining fraudulent accounting records and falsely reporting income taxes and payroll taxes. On July 15, Summa pleaded guilty to engaging in a corrupt endeavor to obstruct and impede the due administration of the IRS, and Tagrid Summa, who is identified as a Happy’s Pizza franchise owner in documents admitted during trial, pleaded guilty to providing false documents to the IRS.
At sentencing, Happy Asker faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to defraud the government. The charges of filing a false income tax return and aiding or assisting in filing a false return carry a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count. The obstruction charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Asker’s sentencing is scheduled for March 5, 2015, in the Eastern District of Michigan.
The case was investigated by special agents from IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency. Senior Litigation Counsel Corey Smith and Trial Attorney Mark McDonald for the Justice Department’s Tax Division prosecuted the case.
REMARKS AT CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: 2014 POLICY CONFERENCE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
U.S. Mission to the United Nations: Remarks at the Center for American Progress' Making Progress: 2014 Policy Conference
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Washington, DC
November 19, 2014
AS DELIVERED
Senator Tom Daschle, Moderator: Let me begin the conversation, if I could, by talking about America’s role. There’s a growing debate across the political spectrum, within really both political parties, about what America’s role in the world should be in this day and age; what sort of leadership we should play in foreign affairs. Over the years, especially in the last two decades in particular, we’ve experienced everything from unilateralism to coalitions of the willing to a reliance on our core alliance structure of leading from behind. But there are little consensus about the role of America today and how we should play it, and how best to advance American interests. U.S. leaders face – many U.S. leaders have called for retrenchment, and some have even called for isolation on both the right and the left. So, Ambassador Power, I’d like to start by asking you the question: is it up to America to be the lead actor in the world today? How should we look at that role? Is there a correct model as we look at the circumstances we’re facing worldwide?
Ambassador Power: Thank you, Tom. And thank you everybody for being here, and to CAP for putting on this conference and doing such important work. I mean, you put your finger on a key question for our times. I think that what we see today in the fall of 2014 is American leadership being used on key issues, whether climate, Ebola, ISIL, but whereby we don’t take simple ownership of the issue and decide that we’re going to bear the entire burden alone. We invest our resources, we lead the world, and we bring other coalitions to our side.
So, in the effort against ISIL, in Iraq, in order to support the Iraqi government forces as they try to fend off this monstrous movement, our use of airstrikes. And then we went around the world and said, “Okay, who wants to join on airstrikes? Who wants to join in providing training and equipment to these forces as they reconstitute? Who is going to take care of the humanitarian burden of all the millions of people who’ve been displaced as a result of ISIL’s explosive move across that region?” And now we have a coalition of 60 countries.
Ebola, equally dramatically; President Obama goes before the United Nations in September and says, “Look, here’s what I’m going to do. But if I do this,” and it’s a lot, “it’s not going to suffice.” And if we tackle the problem only in Liberia where the U.S. is deploying more than 2,000 troops and hundreds of CDC and USAID personnel, and aid workers and partnering with Doctors without Borders – but if we just do Liberia, and other countries don’t take the lead in Sierra Leone and Guinea, then our efforts in Liberia are going to be pyrrhic, because people can just cross the border and so forth.
So, you lead by articulating to the American people in the first instance, and to the world why it’s in your interest, and in the collective interest, to act. And then you mobilize other countries to make sure that you’re not bearing these huge burdens alone. And it’s not just even about burden-sharing and resources, which are major issues, but also just the very nature of these kinds of transnational threats, as you all know, are ones where, even if we had all the resources in the world and could bear every burden, you just, you can’t. You know, the foreign fighters in Syria, unless you get other countries to tighten their controls on their borders and prevent people from traveling, the United States, even if it wanted to, couldn’t deal with the foreign terrorist fighter problem alone. And so I think the mobilization of the world around what President Obama said way back when he was a candidate, are common security, common humanity.
Senator Daschle: This conference, as you know, is about making progress, and that applies both domestically as well as in our international efforts in our agenda. We talk at a lot at conferences like this about core progressive values. How would you say core progressive values align with American interests internationally today?
Ambassador Power: Well, I think probably people would define core progressive values in different ways. For me, it would start with regard for human dignity; the dignity of work, the dignity of a fair wage, the dignity to be treated with respect by your neighbors or respect for your own preferences in the way you live your life. And I think President Obama has really urged us to inject concern for human dignity in our policymaking, whether that’s being hugely generous in the face of ethnic violence in South Sudan, or in the face of the horrible displacement out of Syria, or wanting to close Guantanamo, recognizing again that that is – remains even – a recruitment tool and something that terrorist movements use a way of mobilizing their base and so forth.
But I think dignity is one piece of it. And then I think not only looking to make sure that you have domestic legal authority, but also being very conscientious and very dedicated to international norms and international law, while of course always pursuing U.S. interests. So, I think that those: dignity and recognizing that we live in a broad – we live on a planet where our interests also depend on having other people play by the rules, so we are stronger when we lead ourselves by playing by the rules of the road.
Senator Daschle: One of the important roles for the United States historically, and I think especially today, is bringing other countries together in multilateral forums. And there could be no one more sensitized to the need to do that and the importance of doing that, than you at the UN. But whether at the UN or as we saw with the ASEAN and G-20 forums last week, there are multilateral settings that offer opportunities for progress, but can also get bogged down, in part because –
Ambassador Power: I’ve noticed.
Senator Daschle: – of conflicting agendas, in part because you get into just a lot of talkathons that come with the very nature of groups wanting to make points. So how can America balance the importance of working with partners around the world, and the efficiency of our ability to pursue core interests on our own?
Ambassador Power: Well, I get to live a daily talkathon up in New York, so I feel I have a privileged positioned on which to talk. You know, there are a lot of inefficiencies in the international system. Just as within governments, we need to constantly try to streamline and simplify and enhance the interface that citizens have with governments as they regulate, you know, so too in the international system. If you imagine aggregating government habits across 193 governments, imagine what you end up with, right? I mean, that is not ideal. It’s not – if you were starting from scratch in 2014, you’d build a different, a different airplane, probably.
Having said that, if the United Nations didn’t exist, you would definitely build it, because you want a venue to come together. And even those countries with whom we are estranged or not cooperating in visible ways, it’s a channel for communication so you don’t have misunderstanding. It’s a way of pooling resources. You know, it is very, very obvious on the one hand, but also striking to live it where you see that the things that matter most to us, you know, may be very low on the mattering map for other countries. And so too the things that matter the most for them may not be in the top five for us. And so finding – but yet we need them to cooperate with us, let’s say on foreign terrorist fighters, where they think maybe that’s a distant problem compared to, you know, economic development or even climate change, and they need us of course to invest in their economic development and in their dignity, particularly in developing countries.
So we've tried to – I’ve certainly tried to mix it up in New York. And my impatience is the stuff of legend now, insofar as, “How are we still talking about this? I mean, what are you doing?” So, I think you’ve got to inject that spirit. You can’t accept that these institutions need to just be talkathons. We’re trying to do much more brainstorming, you know, much more – trying to bring countries together sort of staring out at a common problem and defining it as such, and then being in a position of, what could we do about it, rather than this sort of positional form of diplomacy that we’ve done, and where there’s certainly a place for that.
The one thing I’d just add finally is it’s tempting to sort of see bilateral dealings as somehow separate from or juxtaposed with the multilateral framework. But the fact of the matter is the way multilateralism works at its best is you start small, and then you expand the circle of consensus and the circle of problem-solving. But ultimately, successful multilateralism will turn also on the extent to which we have maintained, you know, stable and healthy partnerships with different countries around the world. Aggregating those friendships is what allows us to come together. And aggregating the sense of shared destiny and shared interest is what allows us to get a lot of countries to the table around shared threats.
Senator Daschle: So, how does our approach to multilateralism compare or contrast to other great powers, like China or Russia, or even allies like Britain or Japan? Similar or a lot different?
Ambassador Power: That’s an interesting question. I think that – we have embassies in just about every country in the world. And every minute of every day, we have a foreign policy of some kind with that country. And I think we view the multilateral system as a place to advance, whether human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country, or economic prosperity or trade relationships, etc. So, we’re constantly looking to advance our very particular foreign policy objectives in particular countries.
So, for instance yesterday we had very important General Assembly votes on resolutions on the human rights horrors in Syria, those in the DPRK, and those in Iran. And these votes – you know, we treat each of those votes as if it’s a huge priority for the United States. We have our embassies fanning out around the world trying to make sure that countries in the Caribbean or countries in the Middle East are voting a certain way vis-à-vis DPRK, in order to send the strongest possible signal to the regime there that they’re going to be held accountable, particularly in light of the recent commission of inquiry, the horrible commission of inquiry report on the camps and the human rights conditions in DPRK.
That ambition, you know, that range, that ability to draw on those resources, I think, is distinct about the United States. And that belief that it is in our interest to go all out on the DPRK at the same time we go out on Iran at the same time. Most of the time with other countries you’ll see some subset of the larger global agenda prioritized and that kind of effort perhaps being brought to bear, although without the resources and the reach that we have. So, and even countries like China that are taking more and more assertive leadership roles within the UN system, including by increasing in a very helpful development, increasing their contributions to UN peacekeeping in a substantial way, sending doctors and other medical professionals to deal with Ebola. So, you’re seeing them begin to step up. But, still, that – what I just described in terms of campaigning around a discrete issue, whether on economic development, on climate, on human rights in any particular country – you wouldn’t see, again, that same kind of ground game or yet that prioritization of that set of issues, certainly with human rights issues, needless to say.
Senator Daschle: So, as I look at our options, is there a downside to bilateralism, like what we’ve just recently seen with our announcement on climate with China, versus taking the traditional multilateral approach?
Ambassador Power: You know, I think that when we do strike big deals and deepen partnerships in very visible ways, it’s a lot – the relations between countries are a lot like that between individuals. Like there’ll be someone over there saying, “What about me?” Like, “Why wasn't I a part of that?” And I think you see that a little bit here and there in the margins, but compared to the good it does – for instance, if you take the historic agreement, the CAP alone – that past and present CAP leader John Podesta, his leadership in helping negotiate that on the president’s behalf; hugely important agreement. And with China and the United States leading together and early, and constituting the two biggest economies and the two biggest emitters, that puts us in a position to lead the world. And the leverage associated with us doing that together, I think, vastly outweighs any momentary kind of sense of, “Oh, I wish that would’ve been a bigger multilateral framework.” And as I said earlier, that is the way you do multilateralism. You start and get key stakeholders to make agreements, and then you broaden out the circle. And that’s of course what our hope is to do on the climate.
Senator Daschle: So let me ask one more question on multilateral institutional infrastructure before I – I want to give to couple of other issues before we run out of time. A lot of the institutions created from multilateral cooperation were created after World War II. We had a big role to fill. Those institutions really haven’t changed much, whether it’s the UN Security Council, the IMF. To what extent do they reflect today and the world as we see it globally? And to what extent, if it’s not as reflective as they should be, is there a potential for reform as we look at making these institutions perhaps more reflective of the current lay of the land?
Ambassador Power: Well, let me separate a couple of different planes on which one can look at that question. I mean, I think you’ve seen over the life of the Obama administration a real emphasis on the G-20 as a hugely important global forum, not only to deal with economic issues, but as we just saw, the G-20 issued a very strong statement on Ebola. And we would view that group of countries as in the first instance the most likely group of countries to contribute health professionals, money, building materials, etc. in the context of Ebola. So, it’s a convenient proxy for those who should have resources that they’re prepared to invest in dealing with common threats and common challenges.
So, that, I think, shift and that emphasis has occurred over the life of the Obama administration. With the crisis in the Ukraine, of course, the G-7, now, has taken on new importance, particularly with regard again to that set of issues. That’s a very useful forum for that, and for a host of other things. So, again, that venue remains important, but the G-20 is of a different order than it would’ve been back even in 2008. And this was happening with the Bush administration toward the end, as well.
In the United Nations, Security Council reform has been something that many have aspired to, for many, many years, for the obvious reason which you state, which is surely 69 years after the founding of the UN, the dynamics, the power dynamics, the economic dynamics, and so forth in the world, the demographics, everything has changed and surely there should be some modernization. The challenge is that one of the reasons that we would, that one would wish to see an updated set of international institutions is to enhance legitimacy and effectiveness, and to enhance a sense of shared ownership over the entire United Nations, because there’s a sense of alienation by some of the powerful countries that have been doing more than their fair share, like Germany and Japan – you know, tremendous contributors to the UN over many years, but were not part of the regular decision-making body.
But having said that, and with that alienation, and with that aspiration to render it more effective, there is no more divisive issue in the UN membership. And so there just hasn’t been a proposal that has attracted a kind of plurality or a majority because everybody wants – at a moment when things are being revisited, everybody wants in. And so, just as I was describing earlier in the context of bilateral deals, so too this is something where people want UN Security Council reform, but they, again, have very different views as to how you would bring it about.
So, we remain open, you know, and as these debates play themselves out – they’re heating up now because it’s the 70th anniversary approaching. And the question it poses of course rightly being asked. But it’s not clear that there’s a pathway that could gather a critical mass. And, of course, we would remain very attached to our veto, which is a hugely important feature of our leadership within the UN system. So that’s not something we’d be prepared to give up. But on the membership, we certainly see the case.
Senator Daschle: Let me turn to a couple of very specific challenges that you’re very involved with. The first is Ebola. You just came back from Africa a couple of weeks ago.
Ambassador Power: I did. Thank you for giving me a hug earlier.
[Laughter]
Senator Daschle: Yeah, and I’d do it anytime. But I’m curious, as you explored the challenges we face, as you saw firsthand what we’re up against, and the progress or in some cases maybe the lack thereof, how would you characterize our biggest challenge today?
Ambassador Power: Well, we just still don’t have enough. There’s not enough that has been committed. Progress in – whether it’s funds, health workers, beds, as in beds in isolation units, ambulances, fuel. I mean, since again, President Obama went to the UN and stood with the Secretary General and made this appeal and we waged a full-court press around the world to get people to contribute, we have closed, we have narrowed, we say, a very large number of gaps.
But, again, particularly as you get out into the rural areas in the three countries, I mean you still have people who have never heard of Ebola. Our ambassador in Guinea was just out hiking in the countryside away from Conakry, the capital, and just went up to a group of women and said have you heard of Ebola, speaking to them in the local dialect and everything – we have a wonderful ambassador in Guinea. And so, just, social mobilization, basic, again things that money can buy: SIM cards for cellphones, cellphone coverage in parts of the country that doesn’t exist, and how that – and these are the kinds of things you can’t turn on a dime.
So, what is so gratifying is in my own experience in dealing with crises and foreign policy challenges, there’s something very unique about the anti-Ebola effort, in that you can really measure progress. You can – on my trip a couple of weeks ago, four days before I arrived, the rate of safe burial within 24 hours in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, was only 30 percent. The British had come in, they revamped the command of control working with the Sierra Leone military and civilian authorities, and that safe burial rate, just in a four-day period, had gone up to 98 percent within 24 hours, which stands to play a really important role in infection control, because unsafe burial is a huge source of infection. Same in Monrovia, because of the U.S. effort.
The U.S. has deployed these mobile labs around Liberia. We visited one about an hour flight away from Monrovia, about an eight-hour drive in Bong Country, and there are these three Navy microbiologists who had just set up this lab two weeks before we arrived. One of them had decided to become a microbiologist 20 years ago because he read Hot Zone, the Preston book about Ebola. So he can’t believe his fortune that he’s sitting here looking at Ebola under a microscope to test local samples. Before this little three-person unit of microbiologists, contributed by the U.S. Navy, arrived, the testing in that area was taking as much as a week. The samples were being driven on motorcycle, and sometimes getting lost en route to Monrovia. There was only one lab in Monrovia, and everyone in the country had to wait in order to get their test results.
So, just by showing up, that one-week time has now been cut to between three and five hours. Now what does that mean? Tangibly, it means that before, people who were Ebola-positive and Ebola-negative but didn’t know it were cohabitating within Ebola treatment units for a week. That’s not good. That’s not isolation; that’s not what one would seek. Moreover, the beds were full. And now the testing results are coming back, and 70 percent don’t have Ebola; they may have malaria, they may have a cold. If you’re lucky, if there has been social mobilization, people will be coming forward. So, now those beds are being freed up, and you’re starting to see efficiencies.
But back to your original question, I am personally, I think we’ve done a very good job on the hardware, which is the Ebola treatment units, building the facilities where people can be isolated. The software, now, is what is needed: more healthcare workers in the here and now, but also if you look out four weeks or six weeks, that next tranche, who’s going to replace the people in-country today? And this is where us making clear as the American people just how much we value the work that American doctors and nurses are doing as they go over there. So, health workers and the social mobilization, getting the locals to do away with the stigma and the fear that pervades, so that the next time our ambassador goes hiking in the countryside, everyone you meet is telling you about Ebola, rather than again, it being perceived to be foisted upon the countryside by the center, which is a bit of a risk right now.
Senator Daschle: So let me ask you – it may be too early to be able to answer this with any clarity – but to what to what extent are there already lessons learned for the next Ebola, the next H1N1, the next SARS? What can we take from this experience that might help us prepare more proactively for the next one?
Ambassador Power: I think if you look at the funding request, the resource request that President Obama sent up a week or two ago to the Hill and that we are working very constructively with both parties now to refine, I think you see some of those lessons already put in place: making sure that every state has the capability to deal with infectious disease or viruses like this that may be foreign in the first instance, but where you have training protocols that are put in place very quickly. Research into vaccines, you know, investing more in the prevention side of things. In the countries in question, part also of our funding request is to make sure that we don’t invest billions of dollars here in dealing with Ebola, get to the back end of the crisis, and then the Ebola treatment units get dismantled because they’re just tents and bricks, and they’re not themselves sustainable structures, the white vehicles belonging to the international community all get put back on cargo ships. And then what’s left of the health infrastructure of these countries?
The reason that it spread so quickly, in addition to some of the issues related to where the outbreak first occurred, being in a border region and with travel and so forth, but is that the systems were too weak to deal with it – unlike Nigeria, which was able to draw on the expertise acquired in an anti-polio – a polio eradication campaign – a generation ago. That expertise was tapped to deal with the challenge in Nigeria. Nothing like that existed in these three countries. So in addition to the U.S. preparedness, which is very, very important in making sure it’s done at the relevant, with relevant health officials at the state level, really investing not only in these countries’ health infrastructure, by bringing the World Bank and others into that effort, but also looking across the continent. And this is what the President’s global health security agenda, which predated the Ebola crisis, is now, but now has new adherents in the international community because of what’s happened. Hopefully, that’ll be the venue in which some of these changes will take place.
Senator Daschle: We didn’t get to ISIS, we didn't get to Syria, we didn’t get to Iran. There is a whole list of things we didn’t get –
Ambassador Power: Sorry about that.
Senator Daschle: But your answers were terrific, and I just can’t thank you enough for taking time out of what I know is an incredibly busy schedule to be here.
Ambassador Power: My pleasure.
Senator Daschle: And I know I speak for every person in this room in thanking you for the incredible leadership you give us every day. Thank you.
Ambassador Power: Thank you. Thank you so much.
U.S. Mission to the United Nations: Remarks at the Center for American Progress' Making Progress: 2014 Policy Conference
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Washington, DC
November 19, 2014
AS DELIVERED
Senator Tom Daschle, Moderator: Let me begin the conversation, if I could, by talking about America’s role. There’s a growing debate across the political spectrum, within really both political parties, about what America’s role in the world should be in this day and age; what sort of leadership we should play in foreign affairs. Over the years, especially in the last two decades in particular, we’ve experienced everything from unilateralism to coalitions of the willing to a reliance on our core alliance structure of leading from behind. But there are little consensus about the role of America today and how we should play it, and how best to advance American interests. U.S. leaders face – many U.S. leaders have called for retrenchment, and some have even called for isolation on both the right and the left. So, Ambassador Power, I’d like to start by asking you the question: is it up to America to be the lead actor in the world today? How should we look at that role? Is there a correct model as we look at the circumstances we’re facing worldwide?
Ambassador Power: Thank you, Tom. And thank you everybody for being here, and to CAP for putting on this conference and doing such important work. I mean, you put your finger on a key question for our times. I think that what we see today in the fall of 2014 is American leadership being used on key issues, whether climate, Ebola, ISIL, but whereby we don’t take simple ownership of the issue and decide that we’re going to bear the entire burden alone. We invest our resources, we lead the world, and we bring other coalitions to our side.
So, in the effort against ISIL, in Iraq, in order to support the Iraqi government forces as they try to fend off this monstrous movement, our use of airstrikes. And then we went around the world and said, “Okay, who wants to join on airstrikes? Who wants to join in providing training and equipment to these forces as they reconstitute? Who is going to take care of the humanitarian burden of all the millions of people who’ve been displaced as a result of ISIL’s explosive move across that region?” And now we have a coalition of 60 countries.
Ebola, equally dramatically; President Obama goes before the United Nations in September and says, “Look, here’s what I’m going to do. But if I do this,” and it’s a lot, “it’s not going to suffice.” And if we tackle the problem only in Liberia where the U.S. is deploying more than 2,000 troops and hundreds of CDC and USAID personnel, and aid workers and partnering with Doctors without Borders – but if we just do Liberia, and other countries don’t take the lead in Sierra Leone and Guinea, then our efforts in Liberia are going to be pyrrhic, because people can just cross the border and so forth.
So, you lead by articulating to the American people in the first instance, and to the world why it’s in your interest, and in the collective interest, to act. And then you mobilize other countries to make sure that you’re not bearing these huge burdens alone. And it’s not just even about burden-sharing and resources, which are major issues, but also just the very nature of these kinds of transnational threats, as you all know, are ones where, even if we had all the resources in the world and could bear every burden, you just, you can’t. You know, the foreign fighters in Syria, unless you get other countries to tighten their controls on their borders and prevent people from traveling, the United States, even if it wanted to, couldn’t deal with the foreign terrorist fighter problem alone. And so I think the mobilization of the world around what President Obama said way back when he was a candidate, are common security, common humanity.
Senator Daschle: This conference, as you know, is about making progress, and that applies both domestically as well as in our international efforts in our agenda. We talk at a lot at conferences like this about core progressive values. How would you say core progressive values align with American interests internationally today?
Ambassador Power: Well, I think probably people would define core progressive values in different ways. For me, it would start with regard for human dignity; the dignity of work, the dignity of a fair wage, the dignity to be treated with respect by your neighbors or respect for your own preferences in the way you live your life. And I think President Obama has really urged us to inject concern for human dignity in our policymaking, whether that’s being hugely generous in the face of ethnic violence in South Sudan, or in the face of the horrible displacement out of Syria, or wanting to close Guantanamo, recognizing again that that is – remains even – a recruitment tool and something that terrorist movements use a way of mobilizing their base and so forth.
But I think dignity is one piece of it. And then I think not only looking to make sure that you have domestic legal authority, but also being very conscientious and very dedicated to international norms and international law, while of course always pursuing U.S. interests. So, I think that those: dignity and recognizing that we live in a broad – we live on a planet where our interests also depend on having other people play by the rules, so we are stronger when we lead ourselves by playing by the rules of the road.
Senator Daschle: One of the important roles for the United States historically, and I think especially today, is bringing other countries together in multilateral forums. And there could be no one more sensitized to the need to do that and the importance of doing that, than you at the UN. But whether at the UN or as we saw with the ASEAN and G-20 forums last week, there are multilateral settings that offer opportunities for progress, but can also get bogged down, in part because –
Ambassador Power: I’ve noticed.
Senator Daschle: – of conflicting agendas, in part because you get into just a lot of talkathons that come with the very nature of groups wanting to make points. So how can America balance the importance of working with partners around the world, and the efficiency of our ability to pursue core interests on our own?
Ambassador Power: Well, I get to live a daily talkathon up in New York, so I feel I have a privileged positioned on which to talk. You know, there are a lot of inefficiencies in the international system. Just as within governments, we need to constantly try to streamline and simplify and enhance the interface that citizens have with governments as they regulate, you know, so too in the international system. If you imagine aggregating government habits across 193 governments, imagine what you end up with, right? I mean, that is not ideal. It’s not – if you were starting from scratch in 2014, you’d build a different, a different airplane, probably.
Having said that, if the United Nations didn’t exist, you would definitely build it, because you want a venue to come together. And even those countries with whom we are estranged or not cooperating in visible ways, it’s a channel for communication so you don’t have misunderstanding. It’s a way of pooling resources. You know, it is very, very obvious on the one hand, but also striking to live it where you see that the things that matter most to us, you know, may be very low on the mattering map for other countries. And so too the things that matter the most for them may not be in the top five for us. And so finding – but yet we need them to cooperate with us, let’s say on foreign terrorist fighters, where they think maybe that’s a distant problem compared to, you know, economic development or even climate change, and they need us of course to invest in their economic development and in their dignity, particularly in developing countries.
So we've tried to – I’ve certainly tried to mix it up in New York. And my impatience is the stuff of legend now, insofar as, “How are we still talking about this? I mean, what are you doing?” So, I think you’ve got to inject that spirit. You can’t accept that these institutions need to just be talkathons. We’re trying to do much more brainstorming, you know, much more – trying to bring countries together sort of staring out at a common problem and defining it as such, and then being in a position of, what could we do about it, rather than this sort of positional form of diplomacy that we’ve done, and where there’s certainly a place for that.
The one thing I’d just add finally is it’s tempting to sort of see bilateral dealings as somehow separate from or juxtaposed with the multilateral framework. But the fact of the matter is the way multilateralism works at its best is you start small, and then you expand the circle of consensus and the circle of problem-solving. But ultimately, successful multilateralism will turn also on the extent to which we have maintained, you know, stable and healthy partnerships with different countries around the world. Aggregating those friendships is what allows us to come together. And aggregating the sense of shared destiny and shared interest is what allows us to get a lot of countries to the table around shared threats.
Senator Daschle: So, how does our approach to multilateralism compare or contrast to other great powers, like China or Russia, or even allies like Britain or Japan? Similar or a lot different?
Ambassador Power: That’s an interesting question. I think that – we have embassies in just about every country in the world. And every minute of every day, we have a foreign policy of some kind with that country. And I think we view the multilateral system as a place to advance, whether human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country, or economic prosperity or trade relationships, etc. So, we’re constantly looking to advance our very particular foreign policy objectives in particular countries.
So, for instance yesterday we had very important General Assembly votes on resolutions on the human rights horrors in Syria, those in the DPRK, and those in Iran. And these votes – you know, we treat each of those votes as if it’s a huge priority for the United States. We have our embassies fanning out around the world trying to make sure that countries in the Caribbean or countries in the Middle East are voting a certain way vis-à-vis DPRK, in order to send the strongest possible signal to the regime there that they’re going to be held accountable, particularly in light of the recent commission of inquiry, the horrible commission of inquiry report on the camps and the human rights conditions in DPRK.
That ambition, you know, that range, that ability to draw on those resources, I think, is distinct about the United States. And that belief that it is in our interest to go all out on the DPRK at the same time we go out on Iran at the same time. Most of the time with other countries you’ll see some subset of the larger global agenda prioritized and that kind of effort perhaps being brought to bear, although without the resources and the reach that we have. So, and even countries like China that are taking more and more assertive leadership roles within the UN system, including by increasing in a very helpful development, increasing their contributions to UN peacekeeping in a substantial way, sending doctors and other medical professionals to deal with Ebola. So, you’re seeing them begin to step up. But, still, that – what I just described in terms of campaigning around a discrete issue, whether on economic development, on climate, on human rights in any particular country – you wouldn’t see, again, that same kind of ground game or yet that prioritization of that set of issues, certainly with human rights issues, needless to say.
Senator Daschle: So, as I look at our options, is there a downside to bilateralism, like what we’ve just recently seen with our announcement on climate with China, versus taking the traditional multilateral approach?
Ambassador Power: You know, I think that when we do strike big deals and deepen partnerships in very visible ways, it’s a lot – the relations between countries are a lot like that between individuals. Like there’ll be someone over there saying, “What about me?” Like, “Why wasn't I a part of that?” And I think you see that a little bit here and there in the margins, but compared to the good it does – for instance, if you take the historic agreement, the CAP alone – that past and present CAP leader John Podesta, his leadership in helping negotiate that on the president’s behalf; hugely important agreement. And with China and the United States leading together and early, and constituting the two biggest economies and the two biggest emitters, that puts us in a position to lead the world. And the leverage associated with us doing that together, I think, vastly outweighs any momentary kind of sense of, “Oh, I wish that would’ve been a bigger multilateral framework.” And as I said earlier, that is the way you do multilateralism. You start and get key stakeholders to make agreements, and then you broaden out the circle. And that’s of course what our hope is to do on the climate.
Senator Daschle: So let me ask one more question on multilateral institutional infrastructure before I – I want to give to couple of other issues before we run out of time. A lot of the institutions created from multilateral cooperation were created after World War II. We had a big role to fill. Those institutions really haven’t changed much, whether it’s the UN Security Council, the IMF. To what extent do they reflect today and the world as we see it globally? And to what extent, if it’s not as reflective as they should be, is there a potential for reform as we look at making these institutions perhaps more reflective of the current lay of the land?
Ambassador Power: Well, let me separate a couple of different planes on which one can look at that question. I mean, I think you’ve seen over the life of the Obama administration a real emphasis on the G-20 as a hugely important global forum, not only to deal with economic issues, but as we just saw, the G-20 issued a very strong statement on Ebola. And we would view that group of countries as in the first instance the most likely group of countries to contribute health professionals, money, building materials, etc. in the context of Ebola. So, it’s a convenient proxy for those who should have resources that they’re prepared to invest in dealing with common threats and common challenges.
So, that, I think, shift and that emphasis has occurred over the life of the Obama administration. With the crisis in the Ukraine, of course, the G-7, now, has taken on new importance, particularly with regard again to that set of issues. That’s a very useful forum for that, and for a host of other things. So, again, that venue remains important, but the G-20 is of a different order than it would’ve been back even in 2008. And this was happening with the Bush administration toward the end, as well.
In the United Nations, Security Council reform has been something that many have aspired to, for many, many years, for the obvious reason which you state, which is surely 69 years after the founding of the UN, the dynamics, the power dynamics, the economic dynamics, and so forth in the world, the demographics, everything has changed and surely there should be some modernization. The challenge is that one of the reasons that we would, that one would wish to see an updated set of international institutions is to enhance legitimacy and effectiveness, and to enhance a sense of shared ownership over the entire United Nations, because there’s a sense of alienation by some of the powerful countries that have been doing more than their fair share, like Germany and Japan – you know, tremendous contributors to the UN over many years, but were not part of the regular decision-making body.
But having said that, and with that alienation, and with that aspiration to render it more effective, there is no more divisive issue in the UN membership. And so there just hasn’t been a proposal that has attracted a kind of plurality or a majority because everybody wants – at a moment when things are being revisited, everybody wants in. And so, just as I was describing earlier in the context of bilateral deals, so too this is something where people want UN Security Council reform, but they, again, have very different views as to how you would bring it about.
So, we remain open, you know, and as these debates play themselves out – they’re heating up now because it’s the 70th anniversary approaching. And the question it poses of course rightly being asked. But it’s not clear that there’s a pathway that could gather a critical mass. And, of course, we would remain very attached to our veto, which is a hugely important feature of our leadership within the UN system. So that’s not something we’d be prepared to give up. But on the membership, we certainly see the case.
Senator Daschle: Let me turn to a couple of very specific challenges that you’re very involved with. The first is Ebola. You just came back from Africa a couple of weeks ago.
Ambassador Power: I did. Thank you for giving me a hug earlier.
[Laughter]
Senator Daschle: Yeah, and I’d do it anytime. But I’m curious, as you explored the challenges we face, as you saw firsthand what we’re up against, and the progress or in some cases maybe the lack thereof, how would you characterize our biggest challenge today?
Ambassador Power: Well, we just still don’t have enough. There’s not enough that has been committed. Progress in – whether it’s funds, health workers, beds, as in beds in isolation units, ambulances, fuel. I mean, since again, President Obama went to the UN and stood with the Secretary General and made this appeal and we waged a full-court press around the world to get people to contribute, we have closed, we have narrowed, we say, a very large number of gaps.
But, again, particularly as you get out into the rural areas in the three countries, I mean you still have people who have never heard of Ebola. Our ambassador in Guinea was just out hiking in the countryside away from Conakry, the capital, and just went up to a group of women and said have you heard of Ebola, speaking to them in the local dialect and everything – we have a wonderful ambassador in Guinea. And so, just, social mobilization, basic, again things that money can buy: SIM cards for cellphones, cellphone coverage in parts of the country that doesn’t exist, and how that – and these are the kinds of things you can’t turn on a dime.
So, what is so gratifying is in my own experience in dealing with crises and foreign policy challenges, there’s something very unique about the anti-Ebola effort, in that you can really measure progress. You can – on my trip a couple of weeks ago, four days before I arrived, the rate of safe burial within 24 hours in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, was only 30 percent. The British had come in, they revamped the command of control working with the Sierra Leone military and civilian authorities, and that safe burial rate, just in a four-day period, had gone up to 98 percent within 24 hours, which stands to play a really important role in infection control, because unsafe burial is a huge source of infection. Same in Monrovia, because of the U.S. effort.
The U.S. has deployed these mobile labs around Liberia. We visited one about an hour flight away from Monrovia, about an eight-hour drive in Bong Country, and there are these three Navy microbiologists who had just set up this lab two weeks before we arrived. One of them had decided to become a microbiologist 20 years ago because he read Hot Zone, the Preston book about Ebola. So he can’t believe his fortune that he’s sitting here looking at Ebola under a microscope to test local samples. Before this little three-person unit of microbiologists, contributed by the U.S. Navy, arrived, the testing in that area was taking as much as a week. The samples were being driven on motorcycle, and sometimes getting lost en route to Monrovia. There was only one lab in Monrovia, and everyone in the country had to wait in order to get their test results.
So, just by showing up, that one-week time has now been cut to between three and five hours. Now what does that mean? Tangibly, it means that before, people who were Ebola-positive and Ebola-negative but didn’t know it were cohabitating within Ebola treatment units for a week. That’s not good. That’s not isolation; that’s not what one would seek. Moreover, the beds were full. And now the testing results are coming back, and 70 percent don’t have Ebola; they may have malaria, they may have a cold. If you’re lucky, if there has been social mobilization, people will be coming forward. So, now those beds are being freed up, and you’re starting to see efficiencies.
But back to your original question, I am personally, I think we’ve done a very good job on the hardware, which is the Ebola treatment units, building the facilities where people can be isolated. The software, now, is what is needed: more healthcare workers in the here and now, but also if you look out four weeks or six weeks, that next tranche, who’s going to replace the people in-country today? And this is where us making clear as the American people just how much we value the work that American doctors and nurses are doing as they go over there. So, health workers and the social mobilization, getting the locals to do away with the stigma and the fear that pervades, so that the next time our ambassador goes hiking in the countryside, everyone you meet is telling you about Ebola, rather than again, it being perceived to be foisted upon the countryside by the center, which is a bit of a risk right now.
Senator Daschle: So let me ask you – it may be too early to be able to answer this with any clarity – but to what to what extent are there already lessons learned for the next Ebola, the next H1N1, the next SARS? What can we take from this experience that might help us prepare more proactively for the next one?
Ambassador Power: I think if you look at the funding request, the resource request that President Obama sent up a week or two ago to the Hill and that we are working very constructively with both parties now to refine, I think you see some of those lessons already put in place: making sure that every state has the capability to deal with infectious disease or viruses like this that may be foreign in the first instance, but where you have training protocols that are put in place very quickly. Research into vaccines, you know, investing more in the prevention side of things. In the countries in question, part also of our funding request is to make sure that we don’t invest billions of dollars here in dealing with Ebola, get to the back end of the crisis, and then the Ebola treatment units get dismantled because they’re just tents and bricks, and they’re not themselves sustainable structures, the white vehicles belonging to the international community all get put back on cargo ships. And then what’s left of the health infrastructure of these countries?
The reason that it spread so quickly, in addition to some of the issues related to where the outbreak first occurred, being in a border region and with travel and so forth, but is that the systems were too weak to deal with it – unlike Nigeria, which was able to draw on the expertise acquired in an anti-polio – a polio eradication campaign – a generation ago. That expertise was tapped to deal with the challenge in Nigeria. Nothing like that existed in these three countries. So in addition to the U.S. preparedness, which is very, very important in making sure it’s done at the relevant, with relevant health officials at the state level, really investing not only in these countries’ health infrastructure, by bringing the World Bank and others into that effort, but also looking across the continent. And this is what the President’s global health security agenda, which predated the Ebola crisis, is now, but now has new adherents in the international community because of what’s happened. Hopefully, that’ll be the venue in which some of these changes will take place.
Senator Daschle: We didn’t get to ISIS, we didn't get to Syria, we didn’t get to Iran. There is a whole list of things we didn’t get –
Ambassador Power: Sorry about that.
Senator Daschle: But your answers were terrific, and I just can’t thank you enough for taking time out of what I know is an incredibly busy schedule to be here.
Ambassador Power: My pleasure.
Senator Daschle: And I know I speak for every person in this room in thanking you for the incredible leadership you give us every day. Thank you.
Ambassador Power: Thank you. Thank you so much.
NSF FUNDS SCIENTIST'S RESEARCH ON BLENDING CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WITH MATERIALS STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
New technology uses natural wood fibers to reinforce plastic materials
Research offers sustainable solutions that may have strong benefits to building, construction, automobile and aircraft industries
Joshua Otaigbe's research blends chemical engineering with materials structure and properties, most recently in trying to develop new and stronger composites that are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
The longtime National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist, a professor in the University of Southern Mississippi's school of polymers and high performance materials, is collaborating with researchers at Oregon State University on a new technology that uses natural wood fibers to reinforce plastic materials.
If successful, "it could revolutionize the composite industry," especially manufacturing sectors that rely on these materials, such as building, construction, automobiles, and aircraft, he says.
Moreover, "wood fiber is renewable and based on agricultural products, and the composite materials we come up with would biodegrade after their service life without harming the environment," he adds.
Greater use of wood fibers in producing composites also could be a boost to the paper industry by providing an important new use for wood pulp, since "paper is a raw material for our products," he says. "We can extract wood fibers out of paper."
NSF is funding the work through its structural materials and mechanics program of the division of civil, mechanical, and manufacturing innovation. Otaigbe is collaborating with John Nairn, the Richardson Chair in wood science and engineering at Oregon State University; the two researchers are sharing the grant.
Currently, the composite industry combines wood particles--not fibers--with its polymers, "which saves money, but is a less than optimum way of doing it," Otaigbe says. "What we are doing is extracting fibers, which are different from particles. The fiber is a lot stiffer and stronger than the wood particles, and provides the reinforcing capability for the plastic."
Using wood fibers instead of particles in the direct conversion of the polymer building blocks called monomers also allows manufacturers to eliminate the melting stage, which is when the materials are shaped, then later solidified into various products. With fibers in the polymer matrix, "we can shape it without having to melt it," Otaigbe says.
The process under development involves taking the wood fibers, usually within paper, and placing them in a mold, then injecting a "reaction" mixture used to make the polymers.
Scientists then raise the temperature to 150 degrees Celsius--relatively low when compared to traditional melting methods--and the mixture forms a composite "in a matter of minutes," he says. The lower temperatures are important, since wood fibers tend to degrade at temperatures above 190 degrees Celsius.
Otaigbe has long worked on NSF-funded projects that combine polymer materials structure with chemical engineering, and also has been actively involved in university and industry research partnerships to try to solve complicated and multi-disciplinary problems.
"What I'm doing, with industry, is using my background and experience to solve relevant technical problems," he says.
For example, NSF and the Arnold Engineering Co., a U.S. manufacturer of magnets, jointly funded his research into advanced polymer bonded magnets with enhanced magnetic properties for high temperature and aggressive environments.
"Permanent bonded magnets are a $500-million market and are used in consumer products from cars to computers," he says. "But they are made from rare earth metal alloys, which are heavy and difficult to process into shapes. A need exists to develop bonded magnets with higher energy products that can withstand operating temperatures of at least 180 degrees Celsius and higher. One key issue is the identification of suitable magnetic powders and polymer matrices which can perform satisfactorily at the desired higher temperatures."
Otaigbe is the rare researcher who has simultaneously received grants from numerous NSF programs--metals, ceramics, polymers, and also from its engineering section.
He has, for example, conducted research into the feasibility of incorporating functional nanoscale fillers into waterborne polyurethanes to yield new hybrid films with improved performance properties, such as enhanced bioactivity and non-thrombogenicity (non-clot producing in the blood), thermal stability, flame resistance, environmental durability in atomic oxygen, and improved mechanical properties.
"The targeted hybrids, which are different from conventional polymers, polymer nanocomposites and microcomposites, would be useful because many of the intrinsic properties of the [new hybrids] are complementary, and hold great promise for future high-end uses, such as in biomedical devices, especially at cardiovascular interfaces, where other polymers are not useable," he says.
He also has studied ways to generate nano-structured hybrid glass/organic polymer materials via molecular level mixing of the components in the liquid state, creating novel hybrids impossible to produce using conventional methods.
"The self-organized structures, ranging from nanometer to micrometer length scales, are thermodynamically stable because the inorganic phases are mixed at the molecular level, that is, from a single phase, during processing," he says.
"The plastics industry expects a lot from advanced materials, but the relatively few that are commercially available cannot satisfy all applications and expectations," he adds. "In this context, nano-structured hybrid organic-inorganic glass thermoplastic materials potentially demonstrate all the benefits of traditional filled plastic composites, and avoid their disadvantages."
These products could translate into improved energy efficiency for such applications as high-powered laser fusion systems, biomaterials, storage materials for nuclear wastes, and as a component in load-bearing organic-inorganic hybrid composites, he says.
Also, he has worked to create new soy protein plastics derived from renewable agricultural products, designed to biodegrade safely. "One major problem with soy protein plastics is that they dissolve too quickly in water, limiting their potential uses," he says. "The new formulation makes the material more moisture resistant, providing greater control over the biodegradation process."
The research could lead to several new uses for soy protein plastics, for example, in packaging, medical sutures and sporting goods, he says.
Recently, he received an appointment naming him the Distinguished Chair in Polymer Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Lyon, the largest science and engineering university in France, as a recipient of the Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair in France, and taught there during the spring semester.
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Joshua Otaigbe
John Nairn
Related Institutions/Organizations
University of Southern Mississippi
Iowa State University
Oregon State University
New technology uses natural wood fibers to reinforce plastic materials
Research offers sustainable solutions that may have strong benefits to building, construction, automobile and aircraft industries
Joshua Otaigbe's research blends chemical engineering with materials structure and properties, most recently in trying to develop new and stronger composites that are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
The longtime National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist, a professor in the University of Southern Mississippi's school of polymers and high performance materials, is collaborating with researchers at Oregon State University on a new technology that uses natural wood fibers to reinforce plastic materials.
If successful, "it could revolutionize the composite industry," especially manufacturing sectors that rely on these materials, such as building, construction, automobiles, and aircraft, he says.
Moreover, "wood fiber is renewable and based on agricultural products, and the composite materials we come up with would biodegrade after their service life without harming the environment," he adds.
Greater use of wood fibers in producing composites also could be a boost to the paper industry by providing an important new use for wood pulp, since "paper is a raw material for our products," he says. "We can extract wood fibers out of paper."
NSF is funding the work through its structural materials and mechanics program of the division of civil, mechanical, and manufacturing innovation. Otaigbe is collaborating with John Nairn, the Richardson Chair in wood science and engineering at Oregon State University; the two researchers are sharing the grant.
Currently, the composite industry combines wood particles--not fibers--with its polymers, "which saves money, but is a less than optimum way of doing it," Otaigbe says. "What we are doing is extracting fibers, which are different from particles. The fiber is a lot stiffer and stronger than the wood particles, and provides the reinforcing capability for the plastic."
Using wood fibers instead of particles in the direct conversion of the polymer building blocks called monomers also allows manufacturers to eliminate the melting stage, which is when the materials are shaped, then later solidified into various products. With fibers in the polymer matrix, "we can shape it without having to melt it," Otaigbe says.
The process under development involves taking the wood fibers, usually within paper, and placing them in a mold, then injecting a "reaction" mixture used to make the polymers.
Scientists then raise the temperature to 150 degrees Celsius--relatively low when compared to traditional melting methods--and the mixture forms a composite "in a matter of minutes," he says. The lower temperatures are important, since wood fibers tend to degrade at temperatures above 190 degrees Celsius.
Otaigbe has long worked on NSF-funded projects that combine polymer materials structure with chemical engineering, and also has been actively involved in university and industry research partnerships to try to solve complicated and multi-disciplinary problems.
"What I'm doing, with industry, is using my background and experience to solve relevant technical problems," he says.
For example, NSF and the Arnold Engineering Co., a U.S. manufacturer of magnets, jointly funded his research into advanced polymer bonded magnets with enhanced magnetic properties for high temperature and aggressive environments.
"Permanent bonded magnets are a $500-million market and are used in consumer products from cars to computers," he says. "But they are made from rare earth metal alloys, which are heavy and difficult to process into shapes. A need exists to develop bonded magnets with higher energy products that can withstand operating temperatures of at least 180 degrees Celsius and higher. One key issue is the identification of suitable magnetic powders and polymer matrices which can perform satisfactorily at the desired higher temperatures."
Otaigbe is the rare researcher who has simultaneously received grants from numerous NSF programs--metals, ceramics, polymers, and also from its engineering section.
He has, for example, conducted research into the feasibility of incorporating functional nanoscale fillers into waterborne polyurethanes to yield new hybrid films with improved performance properties, such as enhanced bioactivity and non-thrombogenicity (non-clot producing in the blood), thermal stability, flame resistance, environmental durability in atomic oxygen, and improved mechanical properties.
"The targeted hybrids, which are different from conventional polymers, polymer nanocomposites and microcomposites, would be useful because many of the intrinsic properties of the [new hybrids] are complementary, and hold great promise for future high-end uses, such as in biomedical devices, especially at cardiovascular interfaces, where other polymers are not useable," he says.
He also has studied ways to generate nano-structured hybrid glass/organic polymer materials via molecular level mixing of the components in the liquid state, creating novel hybrids impossible to produce using conventional methods.
"The self-organized structures, ranging from nanometer to micrometer length scales, are thermodynamically stable because the inorganic phases are mixed at the molecular level, that is, from a single phase, during processing," he says.
"The plastics industry expects a lot from advanced materials, but the relatively few that are commercially available cannot satisfy all applications and expectations," he adds. "In this context, nano-structured hybrid organic-inorganic glass thermoplastic materials potentially demonstrate all the benefits of traditional filled plastic composites, and avoid their disadvantages."
These products could translate into improved energy efficiency for such applications as high-powered laser fusion systems, biomaterials, storage materials for nuclear wastes, and as a component in load-bearing organic-inorganic hybrid composites, he says.
Also, he has worked to create new soy protein plastics derived from renewable agricultural products, designed to biodegrade safely. "One major problem with soy protein plastics is that they dissolve too quickly in water, limiting their potential uses," he says. "The new formulation makes the material more moisture resistant, providing greater control over the biodegradation process."
The research could lead to several new uses for soy protein plastics, for example, in packaging, medical sutures and sporting goods, he says.
Recently, he received an appointment naming him the Distinguished Chair in Polymer Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Lyon, the largest science and engineering university in France, as a recipient of the Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair in France, and taught there during the spring semester.
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Joshua Otaigbe
John Nairn
Related Institutions/Organizations
University of Southern Mississippi
Iowa State University
Oregon State University
A U.S. MARSHALS MOST WANTED MAN'S SKULL FOUND MILES FROM FACILITY HE ESCAPED
FROM: U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE
November 17, 2014 Hector Gomez, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal
Western District of Texas ;
USMS Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted Fugitive’s Skull Found by Family Dog
Fugitive was serving time for multiple counts of child sexual assault
Washington – One of the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted fugitives is no longer being sought after his skull was discovered only a few miles from the Texas facility from which he escaped in October 2013.
On Wednesday, after DNA confirmation and next-of-kin notification, U.S. Marshals confirmed that the human skull found in Del Valle, Texas, belonged to fugitive Kevin Patrick Stoeser, who had escaped from the Austin Transitional Center where he was serving the remainder of a 156-month sentence for four counts of child sexual assault and one count of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to these charges in 2003.
On Sept. 8, a Del Valle resident contacted the Austin Police Department and reported that his golden retriever had found a human skull. Authorities and the medical examiner responded, and they determined that the skull was that of a Caucasian man with “short blond, military cut hair and a partial ear.” Local media quickly reported on the discovery.
“The physical description of the human skull and where it was found sparked U.S. Marshals interest in the case, because it was very similar to key facts concerning our fugitive investigation for Kevin Stoeser,” said Deputy U.S. John Clifton, the lead criminal investigator on the case.
That interest paid off. The U.S. Marshals worked with local authorities to have the skull sent to the Department of Forensic and Investigative Genetics at the University of North Texas for DNA testing. On Nov. 5, based on the university’s results, the Travis County medical examiner concluded the skull was Stoeser’s.
“With the untimely death of Stoeser, we can now bring closure to this case,” said Robert Almonte, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas. “On behalf of the United States Marshals Service, we appreciate the assistance of our law enforcement partners throughout the nation who contributed a great deal of time and energy to see this investigation through.”
The Austin Police Department continues to investigate what caused Stoeser’s death.
November 17, 2014 Hector Gomez, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal
Western District of Texas ;
USMS Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted Fugitive’s Skull Found by Family Dog
Fugitive was serving time for multiple counts of child sexual assault
Washington – One of the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted fugitives is no longer being sought after his skull was discovered only a few miles from the Texas facility from which he escaped in October 2013.
On Wednesday, after DNA confirmation and next-of-kin notification, U.S. Marshals confirmed that the human skull found in Del Valle, Texas, belonged to fugitive Kevin Patrick Stoeser, who had escaped from the Austin Transitional Center where he was serving the remainder of a 156-month sentence for four counts of child sexual assault and one count of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to these charges in 2003.
On Sept. 8, a Del Valle resident contacted the Austin Police Department and reported that his golden retriever had found a human skull. Authorities and the medical examiner responded, and they determined that the skull was that of a Caucasian man with “short blond, military cut hair and a partial ear.” Local media quickly reported on the discovery.
“The physical description of the human skull and where it was found sparked U.S. Marshals interest in the case, because it was very similar to key facts concerning our fugitive investigation for Kevin Stoeser,” said Deputy U.S. John Clifton, the lead criminal investigator on the case.
That interest paid off. The U.S. Marshals worked with local authorities to have the skull sent to the Department of Forensic and Investigative Genetics at the University of North Texas for DNA testing. On Nov. 5, based on the university’s results, the Travis County medical examiner concluded the skull was Stoeser’s.
“With the untimely death of Stoeser, we can now bring closure to this case,” said Robert Almonte, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas. “On behalf of the United States Marshals Service, we appreciate the assistance of our law enforcement partners throughout the nation who contributed a great deal of time and energy to see this investigation through.”
The Austin Police Department continues to investigate what caused Stoeser’s death.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
ROBERT O. WORK STRESSES ENGAGING BUSINESS FOR CONTINUED U.S. TECHNOLOGICAL EDGE
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Work Looks to Industry to Maintain Technology Edge
By Amaani Lyle
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2014 – In remarks at the Defense One Summit here today, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert O. Work stressed the importance of engaging industry, services and the Defense Business Board in maintaining the United States’ technological edge in coming years.
Work noted the challenge of balancing resources and requirements against the landscape of what he called an “especially chaotic” drawdown and a persistent continuing resolution over the past five years.
“The temporal aspects of this strategy are going to be much more challenging than in the past,” Work said. “And we’re going to have to do rapid prototyping … or we will continually lose ground.”
Budget Uncertainty Threatens Advances
Speaking on acquisition and technological advances, Work described the Defense Department’s focus across the decades, from the 1950’s nuclear weapons, 1960’s space, 1970’s stealth and microelectronics, 1980’s large-scale systems of systems into current systems that can face asymmetric challenges.
But efforts to increase base-level demonstrations, exercises and prototyping, Work said, can by stymied by budget uncertainties.
Work said that in response to those uncertainties, the department will seek to enhance its effectiveness through the Defense Business Board, which includes former chief executive officers, chief financial officers, chief operating officers and captains of industries.
“They’re now an operational arm directly associated with my deputy chief management officer and they’re going to help us benchmark against civilian business practices,” Work said.
So far, the DoD has been able to annually identify some $26 million in savings from duplication of contracts, administrative costs and other expenses over five years through these internal analyses, he said.
“That gave us great confidence that as we look at the broader defense agencies we were going to find significant savings,” Work said.
Work Looks to Industry to Maintain Technology Edge
By Amaani Lyle
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2014 – In remarks at the Defense One Summit here today, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert O. Work stressed the importance of engaging industry, services and the Defense Business Board in maintaining the United States’ technological edge in coming years.
Work noted the challenge of balancing resources and requirements against the landscape of what he called an “especially chaotic” drawdown and a persistent continuing resolution over the past five years.
“The temporal aspects of this strategy are going to be much more challenging than in the past,” Work said. “And we’re going to have to do rapid prototyping … or we will continually lose ground.”
Budget Uncertainty Threatens Advances
Speaking on acquisition and technological advances, Work described the Defense Department’s focus across the decades, from the 1950’s nuclear weapons, 1960’s space, 1970’s stealth and microelectronics, 1980’s large-scale systems of systems into current systems that can face asymmetric challenges.
But efforts to increase base-level demonstrations, exercises and prototyping, Work said, can by stymied by budget uncertainties.
Work said that in response to those uncertainties, the department will seek to enhance its effectiveness through the Defense Business Board, which includes former chief executive officers, chief financial officers, chief operating officers and captains of industries.
“They’re now an operational arm directly associated with my deputy chief management officer and they’re going to help us benchmark against civilian business practices,” Work said.
So far, the DoD has been able to annually identify some $26 million in savings from duplication of contracts, administrative costs and other expenses over five years through these internal analyses, he said.
“That gave us great confidence that as we look at the broader defense agencies we were going to find significant savings,” Work said.
SEC SUSPENDS TRADING IN EBOLA RELATED COMPANIES
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
11/20/2014 10:30 AM EST
The Securities and Exchange Commission today suspended trading in four companies that claim to be developing products or services in response to the Ebola outbreak, citing a lack of publicly available information about the companies’ operations.
The SEC simultaneously issued an investor alert warning about the potential for fraud in microcap companies purportedly involved in Ebola prevention, testing, or treatment, noting that scam artists often exploit the latest crisis in the news cycle to lure investors into supposedly promising investment opportunities.
The SEC Enforcement Division and its Microcap Fraud Task Force work to proactively identify microcap companies that are publicly disseminating information that appears inadequate or potentially inaccurate. The SEC has authority to issue trading suspensions against such companies. The companies whose trading was suspended today are Patchogue, N.Y.-based Bravo Enterprises Ltd., Monrovia, Calif.-based Immunotech Laboratories Inc., Toronto-based Myriad Interactive Media Inc., and Anaheim, Calif.-based Wholehealth Products Inc.
“We move quickly to protect investors when we see thinly-traded stocks being promoted with questionable information that make them ripe for pump-and-dump schemes,” said Elisha Frank, Co-Chair of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Microcap Fraud Task Force. “Fraudsters are constantly exploiting issues of public concern to tout a penny stock company supposedly in the business of addressing the latest crisis.”
Under the federal securities laws, the SEC can suspend trading in a stock for 10 days and generally prohibit a broker-dealer from soliciting investors to buy or sell the stock again until certain reporting requirements are met. More information about the trading suspension process is available in an SEC investor bulletin on the topic.
According to the SEC’s investor alert, similar to how natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy have given rise to investment schemes for companies purportedly involved in cleanup efforts, con artists may perpetrate investment scams related to Ebola prevention or treatment efforts. The alert suggests that investors be wary about promises or guarantees of high investment returns with little or no risk, avoid solicitations with pressure to “buy RIGHT NOW,” and beware of unsolicited investment offers through social media.
11/20/2014 10:30 AM EST
The Securities and Exchange Commission today suspended trading in four companies that claim to be developing products or services in response to the Ebola outbreak, citing a lack of publicly available information about the companies’ operations.
The SEC simultaneously issued an investor alert warning about the potential for fraud in microcap companies purportedly involved in Ebola prevention, testing, or treatment, noting that scam artists often exploit the latest crisis in the news cycle to lure investors into supposedly promising investment opportunities.
The SEC Enforcement Division and its Microcap Fraud Task Force work to proactively identify microcap companies that are publicly disseminating information that appears inadequate or potentially inaccurate. The SEC has authority to issue trading suspensions against such companies. The companies whose trading was suspended today are Patchogue, N.Y.-based Bravo Enterprises Ltd., Monrovia, Calif.-based Immunotech Laboratories Inc., Toronto-based Myriad Interactive Media Inc., and Anaheim, Calif.-based Wholehealth Products Inc.
“We move quickly to protect investors when we see thinly-traded stocks being promoted with questionable information that make them ripe for pump-and-dump schemes,” said Elisha Frank, Co-Chair of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Microcap Fraud Task Force. “Fraudsters are constantly exploiting issues of public concern to tout a penny stock company supposedly in the business of addressing the latest crisis.”
Under the federal securities laws, the SEC can suspend trading in a stock for 10 days and generally prohibit a broker-dealer from soliciting investors to buy or sell the stock again until certain reporting requirements are met. More information about the trading suspension process is available in an SEC investor bulletin on the topic.
According to the SEC’s investor alert, similar to how natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy have given rise to investment schemes for companies purportedly involved in cleanup efforts, con artists may perpetrate investment scams related to Ebola prevention or treatment efforts. The alert suggests that investors be wary about promises or guarantees of high investment returns with little or no risk, avoid solicitations with pressure to “buy RIGHT NOW,” and beware of unsolicited investment offers through social media.
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS REGARDING REAUTHORIZATION OF CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
November 19, 2014
Remarks by the President at Bill Signing
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT SIGNING OF REAUTHORIZATION OF
THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
Oval Office
11:58 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as many of you know, one of my top priorities is making sure that we’ve got affordable, high-quality child care and early childhood education for our young people across the country. Today, I am pleased to sign a bill into law which is going to bring us closer to that goal -- that’s the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant program. I want to thank bipartisan members of Congress who are here today.
This law is going to do several important things. It’s going to improve the quality of child care by requiring more training for caregivers and more enrichment for children. It’s going to improve child safety by instituting background checks for staff and better inspection of facilities. It’s going to give working parents a little more peace of mind -- if you receive subsidies to pay for your child care, you know that if you get a raise on your job or you find a job, your kids aren’t automatically losing their care because your status has changed midstream.
I first proposed legislation that accomplished some of these goals back in 2010. When we couldn’t get it through Congress, we began a rulemaking process to try to do this through executive efforts -- and Sylvia Burwell, the HHS Secretary, is here. Because the legislation has now passed, we are actually ending the rulemaking process because we’ve now got a law, and we’re going to be able to focus on implementing the law.
And I want to thank all the legislators here. It’s a good step forward. It shows that Democrats and Republicans, when it comes to making sure our kids are getting the best possible education, are united. And that’s good for our kids and that’s good for our country.
So with that, I’m going to make sure that I sign this properly, using all these pens.
(The bill is signed.)
END
November 19, 2014
Remarks by the President at Bill Signing
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT SIGNING OF REAUTHORIZATION OF
THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
Oval Office
11:58 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as many of you know, one of my top priorities is making sure that we’ve got affordable, high-quality child care and early childhood education for our young people across the country. Today, I am pleased to sign a bill into law which is going to bring us closer to that goal -- that’s the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant program. I want to thank bipartisan members of Congress who are here today.
This law is going to do several important things. It’s going to improve the quality of child care by requiring more training for caregivers and more enrichment for children. It’s going to improve child safety by instituting background checks for staff and better inspection of facilities. It’s going to give working parents a little more peace of mind -- if you receive subsidies to pay for your child care, you know that if you get a raise on your job or you find a job, your kids aren’t automatically losing their care because your status has changed midstream.
I first proposed legislation that accomplished some of these goals back in 2010. When we couldn’t get it through Congress, we began a rulemaking process to try to do this through executive efforts -- and Sylvia Burwell, the HHS Secretary, is here. Because the legislation has now passed, we are actually ending the rulemaking process because we’ve now got a law, and we’re going to be able to focus on implementing the law.
And I want to thank all the legislators here. It’s a good step forward. It shows that Democrats and Republicans, when it comes to making sure our kids are getting the best possible education, are united. And that’s good for our kids and that’s good for our country.
So with that, I’m going to make sure that I sign this properly, using all these pens.
(The bill is signed.)
END
FLORIDA HOSPITAL CEO PLEADS GUILTY FOR ROLE IN $67 MILLION MENTAL HEALTH CARE FRAUD CASE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Miami-Area Hospital Chief Operating Officer Pleads Guilty in $67 Million Mental Health Care Fraud Scheme
The former chief operating officer of a Miami-area hospital pleaded guilty today for his role in a mental health care fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $67 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare by a state-licensed psychiatric hospital located in Hollywood, Florida, that purported to offer both inpatient and outpatient mental health services.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Derrick Jackson of the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Florida region made the announcement.
Christopher Gabel, 61, of Davie, Florida, the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Hollywood Pavilion LLC (HP), pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks. Gabel was charged in an indictment returned on May 8, 2014.
According to Gabel’s admissions in connection with his guilty plea, between April 2003 and September 2012, HP submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for treatment that was not medically necessary or not provided to patients. As COO during that time, Gabel supervised HP’s staff at both its inpatient and outpatient facilities, where Medicare beneficiaries were admitted to HP regardless of whether they qualified for mental health treatment, and were often admitted before seeing a doctor.
Gabel admitted that HP obtained Medicare beneficiaries from across the country by paying bribes and kickbacks to various patient brokers. Gabel instructed the patient brokers to falsify invoices and marketing reports in an effort to hide, and cover up the true nature of the bribes and kickbacks they were receiving from HP. From 2003 through August 2012, HP billed Medicare approximately $67 million for services that were not properly rendered, for patients that did not qualify for the services being billed, and for claims for patients who were procured through bribes and kickbacks. Medicare reimbursed HP nearly $40 million for those claims.
Karen Kallen-Zury, Daisy Miller, Michele Petrie and Christian Coloma were convicted at trial in June 2013 for their roles in this scheme. Kallen-Zury, HP’s former chief executive officer, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Miller, the clinical director of HP’s inpatient facility, was sentenced to 15 years in prison; and Petrie, the head of HP’s intensive outpatient program, was sentenced to six years in prison. Coloma, the director of physical therapy for an entity associated with HP, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Kallen-Zury, Miller and Petrie were ordered to pay nearly $40 million in restitution, and Coloma was ordered to pay more than $20 million in restitution.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Nicholas E. Surmacz, Andrew H. Warren and L. Rush Atkinson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Miami-Area Hospital Chief Operating Officer Pleads Guilty in $67 Million Mental Health Care Fraud Scheme
The former chief operating officer of a Miami-area hospital pleaded guilty today for his role in a mental health care fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $67 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare by a state-licensed psychiatric hospital located in Hollywood, Florida, that purported to offer both inpatient and outpatient mental health services.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Derrick Jackson of the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Florida region made the announcement.
Christopher Gabel, 61, of Davie, Florida, the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Hollywood Pavilion LLC (HP), pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks. Gabel was charged in an indictment returned on May 8, 2014.
According to Gabel’s admissions in connection with his guilty plea, between April 2003 and September 2012, HP submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for treatment that was not medically necessary or not provided to patients. As COO during that time, Gabel supervised HP’s staff at both its inpatient and outpatient facilities, where Medicare beneficiaries were admitted to HP regardless of whether they qualified for mental health treatment, and were often admitted before seeing a doctor.
Gabel admitted that HP obtained Medicare beneficiaries from across the country by paying bribes and kickbacks to various patient brokers. Gabel instructed the patient brokers to falsify invoices and marketing reports in an effort to hide, and cover up the true nature of the bribes and kickbacks they were receiving from HP. From 2003 through August 2012, HP billed Medicare approximately $67 million for services that were not properly rendered, for patients that did not qualify for the services being billed, and for claims for patients who were procured through bribes and kickbacks. Medicare reimbursed HP nearly $40 million for those claims.
Karen Kallen-Zury, Daisy Miller, Michele Petrie and Christian Coloma were convicted at trial in June 2013 for their roles in this scheme. Kallen-Zury, HP’s former chief executive officer, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Miller, the clinical director of HP’s inpatient facility, was sentenced to 15 years in prison; and Petrie, the head of HP’s intensive outpatient program, was sentenced to six years in prison. Coloma, the director of physical therapy for an entity associated with HP, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Kallen-Zury, Miller and Petrie were ordered to pay nearly $40 million in restitution, and Coloma was ordered to pay more than $20 million in restitution.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Nicholas E. Surmacz, Andrew H. Warren and L. Rush Atkinson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $6 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
CHAIRMAN EXP-IM BANK SIGNS $1 BILLION MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING SUPPORTING CLEAN ENERGY EXPORTS TO INDIA
FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Ex-Im Bank Chairman Hochberg Signs $1 Billion Memorandum of Understanding to Support U.S. Clean Energy Exports to India
Announces the MOU at the India-US Technology Summit in Noida
Washington, D.C. – Today, Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) Chairman Fred P. Hochberg signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chairman K.S. Popli of the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) that will explore options for utilizing up to $1 billion to finance the sale of U.S. clean energy exports to India.
Chairman Hochberg is visiting India this week to promote made-in-America exports in support of U.S. jobs.
The availability of Ex-Im Bank financing could translate into support for skilled jobs in the U.S. renewable energy sector while contributing to the Indian government’s recently-announced goal of providing 24-hour electricity to India’s 1.3 billion citizens by 2019, much of it set to come from renewable sources. In fact, Ex-Im Bank has authorized $353.4 million for U.S. renewable energy exports to India since 2009, and Ex-Im Bank was one of the top financiers of projects under the National Solar Mission Phase 1.
“When quality, reliable U.S. goods and services are brought to bear in high-demand markets like India, the benefits are felt in both of our countries,” said Chairman Hochberg. “This Memorandum of Understanding will reinforce the strong ties that America and India already share, create good-paying jobs on both of our shores, and further invigorate America’s clean energy industry while equipping India to meet its own ambitious energy goals.”
After signing the Memorandum, Chairman Hochberg travelled to Noida, India to attend and give remarks at the India-US Technology Summit. During his remarks, Chairman Hochberg highlighted the renewable energy MOU as evidence of the mutual benefits that can be realized by choosing quality U.S. goods.
India ranks as the second-largest destination for U.S. exports supported by Ex-Im Bank financing, and claims more than $7.2 billion of the Bank’s credit exposure through FY 2014. Over the last five years, Ex-Im Bank has authorized an average of $1.4 billion per year to finance U.S. exports to India.
Ex-Im Bank Chairman Hochberg Signs $1 Billion Memorandum of Understanding to Support U.S. Clean Energy Exports to India
Announces the MOU at the India-US Technology Summit in Noida
Washington, D.C. – Today, Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) Chairman Fred P. Hochberg signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chairman K.S. Popli of the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) that will explore options for utilizing up to $1 billion to finance the sale of U.S. clean energy exports to India.
Chairman Hochberg is visiting India this week to promote made-in-America exports in support of U.S. jobs.
The availability of Ex-Im Bank financing could translate into support for skilled jobs in the U.S. renewable energy sector while contributing to the Indian government’s recently-announced goal of providing 24-hour electricity to India’s 1.3 billion citizens by 2019, much of it set to come from renewable sources. In fact, Ex-Im Bank has authorized $353.4 million for U.S. renewable energy exports to India since 2009, and Ex-Im Bank was one of the top financiers of projects under the National Solar Mission Phase 1.
“When quality, reliable U.S. goods and services are brought to bear in high-demand markets like India, the benefits are felt in both of our countries,” said Chairman Hochberg. “This Memorandum of Understanding will reinforce the strong ties that America and India already share, create good-paying jobs on both of our shores, and further invigorate America’s clean energy industry while equipping India to meet its own ambitious energy goals.”
After signing the Memorandum, Chairman Hochberg travelled to Noida, India to attend and give remarks at the India-US Technology Summit. During his remarks, Chairman Hochberg highlighted the renewable energy MOU as evidence of the mutual benefits that can be realized by choosing quality U.S. goods.
India ranks as the second-largest destination for U.S. exports supported by Ex-Im Bank financing, and claims more than $7.2 billion of the Bank’s credit exposure through FY 2014. Over the last five years, Ex-Im Bank has authorized an average of $1.4 billion per year to finance U.S. exports to India.
COMMITTEE STUDYING VIOLENCE EXPOSURE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AND ALASKA NATIVE CHILDREN MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Committee Studying American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence Makes Recommendations to Justice Department
The Advisory Committee of the Attorney General’s Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence released policy recommendations to the Justice Department today.
The report recommends a significant rebuilding of the current services provided to Indian Country, through increased partnering and coordination with tribes, and increased funding for programs to support American Indian and Alaska Native children. Each of the five chapters discusses the Advisory Committee’s findings and recommendations. The report provides the Advisory Committee’s vision for the development of effective, trauma informed, and culturally appropriate programs and services to protect American Indian and Alaska Native children exposed to violence.
“American Indian and Alaska Native children represent the future, and they face unprecedented challenges, including an unacceptable level of exposure to violence, which we know can have lasting and traumatic effects on body and mind,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “We must understand these impacts well so we can pursue policies that bring meaningful change. That’s why I am deeply grateful for the work of this advisory committee and the continuing mission of this task force.”
Attorney General Eric Holder created the task force in 2013. It is composed of a federal working group that includes U.S. Attorneys and officials from the Interior and Justice Departments and a federal advisory committee of experts on American Indian studies, child health and trauma, victim services and child welfare. Former U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan and Iroquois composer, singer and child advocate Joanne Shenandoah co-chaired the 13-member committee.
These recommendations are a culmination of the research and information gathered through four public hearings held between December 2013 and June 2014 in Bismarck, North Dakota; Scottsdale, Arizona; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Anchorage, Alaska, and five listening sessions in Arizona, Minneapolis and Alaska where over 600 people participated from over 62 Tribes and 15 States from across the nation. More than 70 experts and 60 community members testified at the hearings, addressing domestic and community violence in Indian Country; the pathway from victimization to the juvenile justice system; the roles of juvenile courts, detention facilities and the child welfare system; gang violence; and child sex trafficking.
The Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence is part of the Attorney General’s Defending Childhood initiative. The task force is also a component of the Justice Department’s ongoing collaboration with leaders in American Indian and Alaska Native communities to improve public safety.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Committee Studying American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence Makes Recommendations to Justice Department
The Advisory Committee of the Attorney General’s Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence released policy recommendations to the Justice Department today.
The report recommends a significant rebuilding of the current services provided to Indian Country, through increased partnering and coordination with tribes, and increased funding for programs to support American Indian and Alaska Native children. Each of the five chapters discusses the Advisory Committee’s findings and recommendations. The report provides the Advisory Committee’s vision for the development of effective, trauma informed, and culturally appropriate programs and services to protect American Indian and Alaska Native children exposed to violence.
“American Indian and Alaska Native children represent the future, and they face unprecedented challenges, including an unacceptable level of exposure to violence, which we know can have lasting and traumatic effects on body and mind,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “We must understand these impacts well so we can pursue policies that bring meaningful change. That’s why I am deeply grateful for the work of this advisory committee and the continuing mission of this task force.”
Attorney General Eric Holder created the task force in 2013. It is composed of a federal working group that includes U.S. Attorneys and officials from the Interior and Justice Departments and a federal advisory committee of experts on American Indian studies, child health and trauma, victim services and child welfare. Former U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan and Iroquois composer, singer and child advocate Joanne Shenandoah co-chaired the 13-member committee.
These recommendations are a culmination of the research and information gathered through four public hearings held between December 2013 and June 2014 in Bismarck, North Dakota; Scottsdale, Arizona; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Anchorage, Alaska, and five listening sessions in Arizona, Minneapolis and Alaska where over 600 people participated from over 62 Tribes and 15 States from across the nation. More than 70 experts and 60 community members testified at the hearings, addressing domestic and community violence in Indian Country; the pathway from victimization to the juvenile justice system; the roles of juvenile courts, detention facilities and the child welfare system; gang violence; and child sex trafficking.
The Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence is part of the Attorney General’s Defending Childhood initiative. The task force is also a component of the Justice Department’s ongoing collaboration with leaders in American Indian and Alaska Native communities to improve public safety.
SEC CHARGES 3 STOCK PROMOTERS IN ALLEGED PUMP-AND-DUMP SCHEME
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged three penny stock promoters with conducting pump-and-dump schemes involving stocks they were touting in their supposedly independent newsletters.
The SEC alleges that Anthony Thompson, Jay Fung, and Eric Van Nguyen worked in coordinated fashion to gain control of a large portion of shares in the stock of microcap companies and then hyped those stocks in newsletters they distributed to prospective investors. After creating demand for the stock and increasing the value, they sold their holdings at the higher prices and earned significant profits. Once they stopped their promotional efforts, the demand for the stocks subsided and the prices dropped, leaving investors who had purchased the promoters’ shares with significant losses.
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the newsletters published by Thompson, Fung, and Van Nguyen misleadingly stated that they “may” or “might” sell shares they owned when in reality their intentions always were to sell the stocks they were promoting. In fact, in some instances they already were selling the stocks to which they were saying “may” or “might” sell. They also failed to fully disclose in their newsletters the amounts of compensation they were receiving for promoting the stocks, cloaking the fact that they were coordinating their promotion of the penny stocks to deliberately increase the prices and dump their own shares.
“Investors should be very wary of penny stock promotions like these, which promise quick and vast riches to those who are purportedly lucky enough to invest,” said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “In this case, the promoters violated a specific legal requirement that they accurately disclose all compensation they were receiving for promoting the stock and the fact that they were simultaneously selling the stock while urging the investing public to buy it.”
According to the SEC’s complaint, the three promoters conducted five separate schemes that resulted in more than $10 million in ill-gotten gains. The penny stocks they manipulated were Blast Applications Inc., Smart Holdings Inc., Blue Gem Enterprise Inc., Lyric Jeans Inc., and Mass Hysteria Entertainment Company Inc. Thompson, who lives in Bethesda, Md., distributed several electronic penny stock promotion newsletters with such names as FreeInvestmentReport.com and OxofWallStreet.com. Fung, who resides in Delray Beach, Fla., distributed his newsletters at such websites as PennyPic.com, and Van Nguyen was typically based in Canada and distributed electronic penny stock promotion newsletters on such websites as UnrealStocks.com and InsanePicks.com.
“Thompson, Fung, and Van Nguyen repeatedly staged coordinated promotional campaigns to manipulate stock prices and score their own paydays while defrauding investors,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, Senior Associate Director for Enforcement in the SEC’s New York Regional Office.
The SEC’s complaint names two relief defendants for the purposes of recovering money in their possession that resulted from the schemes. Thompson’s wife Kendall Thompson received $200,000 in proceeds from one of the stock manipulation schemes. John Babikian, who operated a penny stock promotion business primarily from a website named AwesomePennyStocks.com, received $1 million as a result of one of the schemes. In a separate SEC case involving a different scheme, a court ordered $3.73 million in sanctions against Babikian.
The SEC’s complaint charges Thompson, Fung, and Van Nguyen with violating the antifraud and anti-touting provisions of the federal securities laws and related rules. The SEC is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains from the schemes plus prejudgment interest and penalties as well as permanent injunctions against further violations of the securities laws.
Thompson and Fung also were named in a separate SEC case for their roles in a Florida-based scheme in which they promoted a penny stock in their newsletters without adequately disclosing they were selling their shares in the same stock and receiving compensation for their promotional efforts. A court issued a final judgment requiring them to pay more than $1 million combined.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Peter Pizzani, Timothy Nealon, Michael Osnato, and Thomas P. Smith Jr. of the SEC’s New York Regional Office, and the case was supervised by Mr. Wadhwa. The SEC’s litigation will be led by Howard A. Fischer. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged three penny stock promoters with conducting pump-and-dump schemes involving stocks they were touting in their supposedly independent newsletters.
The SEC alleges that Anthony Thompson, Jay Fung, and Eric Van Nguyen worked in coordinated fashion to gain control of a large portion of shares in the stock of microcap companies and then hyped those stocks in newsletters they distributed to prospective investors. After creating demand for the stock and increasing the value, they sold their holdings at the higher prices and earned significant profits. Once they stopped their promotional efforts, the demand for the stocks subsided and the prices dropped, leaving investors who had purchased the promoters’ shares with significant losses.
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the newsletters published by Thompson, Fung, and Van Nguyen misleadingly stated that they “may” or “might” sell shares they owned when in reality their intentions always were to sell the stocks they were promoting. In fact, in some instances they already were selling the stocks to which they were saying “may” or “might” sell. They also failed to fully disclose in their newsletters the amounts of compensation they were receiving for promoting the stocks, cloaking the fact that they were coordinating their promotion of the penny stocks to deliberately increase the prices and dump their own shares.
“Investors should be very wary of penny stock promotions like these, which promise quick and vast riches to those who are purportedly lucky enough to invest,” said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “In this case, the promoters violated a specific legal requirement that they accurately disclose all compensation they were receiving for promoting the stock and the fact that they were simultaneously selling the stock while urging the investing public to buy it.”
According to the SEC’s complaint, the three promoters conducted five separate schemes that resulted in more than $10 million in ill-gotten gains. The penny stocks they manipulated were Blast Applications Inc., Smart Holdings Inc., Blue Gem Enterprise Inc., Lyric Jeans Inc., and Mass Hysteria Entertainment Company Inc. Thompson, who lives in Bethesda, Md., distributed several electronic penny stock promotion newsletters with such names as FreeInvestmentReport.com and OxofWallStreet.com. Fung, who resides in Delray Beach, Fla., distributed his newsletters at such websites as PennyPic.com, and Van Nguyen was typically based in Canada and distributed electronic penny stock promotion newsletters on such websites as UnrealStocks.com and InsanePicks.com.
“Thompson, Fung, and Van Nguyen repeatedly staged coordinated promotional campaigns to manipulate stock prices and score their own paydays while defrauding investors,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, Senior Associate Director for Enforcement in the SEC’s New York Regional Office.
The SEC’s complaint names two relief defendants for the purposes of recovering money in their possession that resulted from the schemes. Thompson’s wife Kendall Thompson received $200,000 in proceeds from one of the stock manipulation schemes. John Babikian, who operated a penny stock promotion business primarily from a website named AwesomePennyStocks.com, received $1 million as a result of one of the schemes. In a separate SEC case involving a different scheme, a court ordered $3.73 million in sanctions against Babikian.
The SEC’s complaint charges Thompson, Fung, and Van Nguyen with violating the antifraud and anti-touting provisions of the federal securities laws and related rules. The SEC is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains from the schemes plus prejudgment interest and penalties as well as permanent injunctions against further violations of the securities laws.
Thompson and Fung also were named in a separate SEC case for their roles in a Florida-based scheme in which they promoted a penny stock in their newsletters without adequately disclosing they were selling their shares in the same stock and receiving compensation for their promotional efforts. A court issued a final judgment requiring them to pay more than $1 million combined.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Peter Pizzani, Timothy Nealon, Michael Osnato, and Thomas P. Smith Jr. of the SEC’s New York Regional Office, and the case was supervised by Mr. Wadhwa. The SEC’s litigation will be led by Howard A. Fischer. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
U.S. CONGRATULATES PEOPLE OF MONACO ON THEIR NATIONAL DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Statement on the Occasion of Monaco's National Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 18, 2014
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Monaco as you celebrate your 158th National Day, la Fête du Prince, on November 19.
The United States and Monaco have enjoyed a long and productive relationship, made possible by the person-to-person bonds that unite the American and Monégasque people.
I am particularly grateful for Monaco’s participation in the “Our Ocean Conference” on June 16, and for His Serene Highness Prince Albert II’s keynote remarks. Prince Albert is a leading voice in the global effort to protect our environment and stop the march of climate change. I commend all of Monaco for your unwavering commitment to environmental issues.
We also look forward to continuing to work with you on other vital issues such as marine pollution, women and children’s rights, and education.
On this special occasion, I send best wishes for peace and prosperity in the year ahead.
Statement on the Occasion of Monaco's National Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 18, 2014
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Monaco as you celebrate your 158th National Day, la Fête du Prince, on November 19.
The United States and Monaco have enjoyed a long and productive relationship, made possible by the person-to-person bonds that unite the American and Monégasque people.
I am particularly grateful for Monaco’s participation in the “Our Ocean Conference” on June 16, and for His Serene Highness Prince Albert II’s keynote remarks. Prince Albert is a leading voice in the global effort to protect our environment and stop the march of climate change. I commend all of Monaco for your unwavering commitment to environmental issues.
We also look forward to continuing to work with you on other vital issues such as marine pollution, women and children’s rights, and education.
On this special occasion, I send best wishes for peace and prosperity in the year ahead.
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