REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY AND PANAMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER NUNEZ FABREGA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks With Panamanian Foreign Minister Nunez Fabrega Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
November 13, 2013

SECRETARY KERRY: Good morning, everybody. My great pleasure to welcome the Foreign Minister of Panama to the State Department and to the United States. He’s been having meetings for the last couple of days, and I’m happy to be able to meet with him, actually, for the first time. We are both looking forward to the visit of Vice President Biden to Panama in a few days – next week – and we are particularly grateful to Panama for its work with us on a number of important issues.

First of all, I want to thank Panama for recently establishing diplomatic relations with Kosovo, a very important step. We are particularly grateful to Panama for its cooperation on Syria chemical weapons. They’ve been important and supportive of that. We have also worked together closely on the issue of how to destroy some old World War II chemical weapons munitions that are on San Jose Island, and we’re working on that issue as well as cooperating on counter-narcotics initiatives.

So we have a lot of cooperative efforts with Panama, obviously a critical nation in terms of both its interests, its values, our work we do together, as well as its location – their very important interdiction of a North Korean ship with illicit cargo. Panama has been working hard to do the job, get the job done, and to be a cooperative partner, and we’re very grateful for that.

And as we look towards 2014, there are elections coming up in Panama. We obviously support their efforts to have a democratic process that people will know is accountable and transparent, and we are appreciative for all of their efforts. They’re a great partner and we’re happy to have them here to talk through some of these issues.

Welcome.

FOREIGN MINISTER FABREGA: Thank you very much. Well, I’m glad to be here. We’ve had a longstanding relationship with the United States. It has evolved after the transfer of the canal into a mutually rewarding relationship where we have the same goals and we have the same ideas on how to get and meet those goals. I think it’s important that we have a very good bilateral agenda that we have to run through, and of course, one of the major things is the visit of Vice President Biden, which will be arriving in Panama on the 18th at night, and we expect to show him the new locks of the new canal. And we continue to support all of the initiatives that jointly we have developed throughout these years, and I’m glad to be here.

SECRETARY KERRY: We’re happy to have you.

FOREIGN MINISTER FABREGA: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Welcome. Thank you. We’re going to go have a conversation. Thank you. Thank you very much.

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S STATEMENT ON REWARD OFFER FOR TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME INFORMATION

FROM:  U.S STATE DEPARTMENT 
First Reward Offer for Transnational Organized Crime Information
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 13, 2013

I am proud to announce the State Department’s first-ever reward for information leading to the dismantling of a transnational criminal organization, as part of our new Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program.

The involvement of sophisticated transnational criminal organizations in wildlife trafficking perpetuates corruption, threatens the rule of law and border security in fragile regions, and destabilizes communities that depend on wildlife for biodiversity and eco-tourism. Profits from wildlife trafficking, estimated at $8–10 billion per year, fund other illicit activities such as narcotics, arms, and human trafficking.

That is why the Department of State is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the dismantling of the Xaysavang Network.

Based in Laos—with affiliates in South Africa, Mozambique, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and China—the Xaysavang Network facilitates the killing of endangered elephants, rhinos, and other species for products such as ivory.

Several major seizures of illegal wildlife products have been linked to the Xaysavang Network.

CARL SAGAN, ANN DRUYAN ARCHIVE OFFICIALLY OPENS AT LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

FROM:  U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
November 12, 2013
News from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Officially Opens The Seth MacFarlane Collection of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington was joined by Emmy Award-winner Seth MacFarlane and Ann Druyan, the longtime collaborator and widow of astrobiologist Carl Sagan, to celebrate the official opening of The Seth MacFarlane Collection of the Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive to the public at the Library of Congress.

Carl Sagan (1934-1996), a celebrated American astronomer, pioneering space scientist, astrobiologist, educator, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, was a consummate communicator who bridged the gap between academe and popular culture. The processed collection comprises 1,705 archival boxes of materials and came to the Library through the generosity of Emmy Award-winner MacFarlane. It includes Sagan’s earliest notebooks and report cards, extensive correspondence with scientists and other major figures of the 20th century, drafts of scientific papers, books, articles, historical documents of the first 40 years of the space age and his laboratory research at Cornell University on subjects as varied as the origin of life, global warming and nuclear winter.

"It is exciting that the Sagan-Druyan Archive is joining other great collections of scientific knowledge from various time periods that are here at the national library," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "Now, the information it contains will be available for the inspiration of the next generation of scientific thinkers and will represent an ongoing memorial to the great ‘science exciter,’ Carl Sagan."

Sagan and Druyan co-wrote several books and the Cosmos television series and were co-creators of the motion picture, "Contact." Druyan was the creative director of NASA’s Voyager Interstellar Record Project, complex messages affixed to the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977, to convey earth images and sounds to beings elsewhere in the galaxy (voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec.html). Druyan is an executive producer and writer of the new series, "COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey," a 13-part successor to the legendary original. The new program is being produced by her Ithaca, N.Y.-based Cosmos Studios in conjunction with FOX and the National Geographic Channel. Two asteroids named for Sagan and Druyan are in perpetual "wedding-ring orbit" around the sun.

MacFarlane has created some of the most popular content on television and film today while also expanding his career in the worlds of music, literature and philanthropy. He is the creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, voicing many characters on both shows. MacFarlane made his feature film directorial debut in 2012 with the highest-grossing original R-rated film of all time, "Ted." MacFarlane, like Druyan, is an executive producer of "COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey." The new series will explore how human beings began to comprehend the laws of nature and find their place in space and time. By exposing never-before-told stories of the heroic quest for knowledge, the series aims to take viewers to other worlds and travel across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest scale. It will premiere on FOX on March 9, 2014. In 2009, MacFarlane created The Seth MacFarlane Foundation to focus his charitable efforts.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world, holds more than 155 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats.

FTC WARNS PUBLIC OF TYPHOON HAIYAN CHARITY SCAMS

FROM:  FEDERAL TRACE COMMISSION 
FTC Warns Consumers: Beware of Typhoon Haiyan Charity Scams

Tips are also available in Tagalog language
In the wake of the devastating typhoon that struck the Philippines, the Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, reminds consumers that scams often follow disasters. If you’re asked to make a charitable donation to help people in disaster-affected areas, before you give, be sure your donations are going to a reputable organization that will use the money as promised.

Unfortunately, legitimate charities face competition from scammers who either collect for a charity that doesn’t exist or aren't honest about how their “charity” will use the money you give. Like legitimate charities, they might appeal for donations in person, by phone or mail, by e-mail, on websites, or on social networking sites. For more on the questions to ask and for a list of groups that can help you research a charity, go to Charity Scams.

If you’re asked to make a charitable donation to support victims of the typhoon, remember:

Donate to charities you know and trust. Be alert for charities that seem to have sprung up overnight in connection with current events, like a natural disaster.
Ask if a caller is a paid fundraiser, who they work for, and what percentage of your donation goes to the charity and to the fundraiser. If you don’t get a clear answer — or if you don’t like the answer you get — consider donating to a different organization.
Read the FTC’s How to Help Victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, also available in Tagalog, Paano Matutulungan ang mga Biktima ng Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) sa Pilipinas.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

JUSTICE SAYS ALLEGED LEADER OF INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION EXTRADITED TO U.S.

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Alleged Leader of Mexican Narcotics Trafficking Organization Extradited to U.S.
Organization Allegedly Transported Multi-Ton Quantities of Cocaine from Central America to Mexico for Mexican Cartels to Import into the U.S.

The alleged leader of a Mexican narcotics trafficking organization responsible for trafficking multi-ton quantities of cocaine, Juan Juarez Orosco, aka “El Abuelo,” was extradited to the United States from Panama on Nov. 8, 2013, and arraigned on Nov. 10, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom in the Eastern District of New York.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch of the Eastern District of New York, Special Agent in Charge James T. Hayes Jr. of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) and Special Agent in Charge Brian R. Crowell of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New York Division made the announcement.

According to court documents, from the early 1990s until his arrest by Panamanian law enforcement in March 2012, Juarez allegedly led a large-scale maritime and land transportation operation that was responsible for trafficking multi-ton quantities of cocaine from Central America via ship to the coast of Mexico.  Once the cocaine arrived in Mexico, Juarez and his co-conspirators would transport the cocaine from the coast to Mexico City, where it was then destined for the United States.  Throughout the 2000s, Juarez allegedly worked with major narcotics traffickers based in Colombia and Mexico, including the Norte Valle Cartel, the Beltran-Leyva Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel.  Through the mid-2000s, Juarez’s organization allegedly transported at least 35,000 kilograms of cocaine for the Beltran-Leyva organization alone.  At the height of its activity, Juarez’s organization allegedly transported approximately eight tons a month in conjunction with the Sinaloa Cartel.

“As alleged in the indictment, Juarez’s trafficking organization was responsible for the importation of massive quantities of cocaine, across oceans and continents, into the United States,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.  “Juarez’s arrest and extradition are a testament to the tenacity of law enforcement officers across the world, and show what we can accomplish when we work together with our partners around the globe to capture major drug traffickers and bring them to justice.”

“There is no escape from the reach of the law, no matter where drug kingpins operate their poisonous trade,” said U.S. Attorney Lynch.  “Juan Juarez Orosco may have operated an international drug trafficking network that stretched across the Western Hemisphere, but today he faces justice in a courtroom in Brooklyn.  Thanks to our law enforcement partners in Panama, today’s extradition also shows that there is no safe haven for drug traffickers on the run.”

Juarez was indicted on March 15, 2012, and charged with international narcotics importation and distribution conspiracy.  If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by ICE HIS and DEA.  This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Adrian Rosales of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drugs Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gina M. Parlovecchio and Tiana Demas of the Eastern District of New York, with the assistance of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.

U.S. DEFENSE CONTRACTS FOR NOVEMBER 13, 2013

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
CONTRACTS

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Cardinal Health 200 Inc., McGaw Park, Ill., has been awarded a maximum $1,019,313,488 modification (P00036) exercising the first 20-month option period on a 20-month base contract (SPM2DV-11-D-0001) with two 20-month option periods for prime vendor medical and surgical supplies.  This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.  Locations of performance are Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Louisiana, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Washington, Arkansas, and Texas with an Aug. 15, 2015, performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

Owens & Minor Distribution Inc., Mechanicsville, Va., has been awarded a maximum $240,332,793 modification (P00032) exercising the first 20-month option period on a 20-month base contract (SPM2DV-11-D-0002) with two 20-month option periods for prime vendor medical and surgical supplies.  This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.  Locations of performance are Virginia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, California, Minnesota, Louisiana, Nebraska, Arizona, Oregon, North Carolina, Utah, Washington, Oklahoma, and New Jersey with an Aug. 15, 2015 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

Tyco Healthcare Group LP, doing business as Covidien, Mansfield, Mass., has been awarded a maximum $42,239,073 modification (P00007) exercising the second one-year option period on a one-year base contract (SPM2D0-11-D-0012) with seven one-year option periods for various medical and surgical products.  This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.  Location of performance is Massachusetts with a Nov. 16, 2014, performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 warstopper funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

CareFusion 203 Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., has been awarded a maximum $23,409,878 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for various ventilators and accessories.  This contract is a competitive acquisition and 24 offers were received.  Location of performance is Minnesota with a Nov. 12, 2014, performance completion date.  This contract is a five-year base with no option year periods.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.; (SPM2D1-14-D-8202).

Allan Baker, Inc.*, Louisville, Ky., has been awarded a maximum $20,269,744 modification (P00006) exercising the third one-year option period on a one-year base contract (SPM2DE-11-D-7546) with four one-year option periods for optical lenses.  This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract.  Location of performance is Kentucky with a Nov. 30, 2014, performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

NAVY

ManTech Systems Engineering Corp., Fairfax, Va., is being awarded a $24,248,855 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00421-13-D-0002) to exercise an option for the procurement of warfare analysis and assessments, modeling and simulation, advanced concept development and acquisition analysis support for the Naval Air Systems Command’s Warfare Analysis and Integration Department.  Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md., and is expected to be completed in November 2014.  Funds are not being obligated at time of award.  Funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued.  The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

AIR FORCE

Honeywell International Inc., Aerospace-Clearwater (Space), Clearwater, Fla., has been awarded a $7,279,938 modification (P00048) to an existing cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (FA9453-08-C-0263) for the Strategic Systems and Launch Technologies (SSLT) program.  The contract modification is for an in-scope add work to Option III for additional work required to identify, test, and modify the design to develop a radiation hardened loop closure Application Specific Integration Circuit for the Strategic Fiber Optic Gyro.  Work will be performed at Clearwater, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 17, 2016.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013 through 2016 procurement funds.  Funds to be obligated at time of award are fiscal 2013 in the amount of $2,966,100.  Detachment 8, Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Contracting Division, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is the contracting activity.

*Small Business

HHS ANNOUNCES OVER 100,000 AMERICANS SELECTED HEALTH PLANS IN FIRST REPORTING PERIOD

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 
106,185 Americans selected health plans in first reporting period of open enrollment
975,407 customers through the process but have not yet selected a plan; an additional 396,261 
assessed or determined eligible for Medicaid or CHIP

Detailing results of the first reporting period (Oct. 1-Nov. 2, 2013) of the Health Insurance Marketplace’s Open Enrollment, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that 106,185 individuals have selected plans from the Marketplace, and another 975,407 have made it through the process by applying and receiving an eligibility determination, but have not yet selected a plan.  An additional 396,261 have been determined or assessed eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

“The promise of quality affordable coverage is increasingly becoming reality for this first wave of applicants to the Health Insurance Marketplaces,” Secretary Sebelius said. “There is no doubt the level of interest is strong. We expect enrollment will grow substantially throughout the next five months, mirroring the pattern that Massachusetts experienced. We also expect that the numbers will grow as the website, HealthCare.gov, continues to make steady improvements.”

The following key findings are among many newly available data reported today in an issue brief from HHS that highlights national and state-level enrollment-related information:

502,466 Americans, in just the first month of implementation, are positioned to have health coverage in 2014;
Of those, 106,185 Americans have selected plans from the state and federal Marketplaces; and
396,261 Americans have been determined or assessed eligible for Medicaid or CHIP;
975,407 have made it through the process by applying and receiving an eligibility determination and have not yet selected a plan.
Today’s report includes breakouts of enrollment-related data by state, including each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report groups the states into the Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM) (defined as those states where HHS is running the Marketplace or states where HHS is doing so in partnership), and state-based Marketplaces (SBMs). In some cases only a partial SBM dataset was available.

In total, 106,185 Americans selected a Qualified Health Plan (QHP) through the Marketplace during the first reporting period of Open Enrollment. Enrollment figures include those who have selected a plan and have or have not yet paid the first month’s premium. Of the people who have selected a plan, 79,391 (74.8 percent) enrolled though a SBM, while the other 26,794 people (25.2 percent) enrolled through the FFM.  Additionally, 396,261 Americans have been assessed or determined eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. SBMs that provided data for the report accounted for 212,865 (53.7 percent) of those determinations, while the FFM accounted for 183,396 (46.3 percent) of them.  Forthcoming data will enumerate those who applied directly to a state Medicaid/CHIP office.

The report characterizes past experiences in health insurance enrollment patterns, noting typical low initial enrollment in, for example, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Medicare Part D, Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Care, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan created under the Affordable Care Act.

The report also addresses Marketplace customer service, outreach and web traffic.  It found that there have been an estimated 26,876,527 visitors on the SBM and FFM websites. There have also been an estimated 3,158,436 calls to the SBM and FFM call centers.

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS AT RECEPTION HONORING AMBASSADOR CAROLINE KENNEDY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks at Reception in Honor of U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Japanese Ambassador's Residence
Washington, DC
November 12, 2013


SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. For all those of you who don’t speak Japanese, she said, “See you in Japan.” (Laughter.) And since I don’t speak Japanese, I got a quick interpretation like she did. (Laughter.) Anyway, those young ladies were absolutely spectacular. Thank you very, very much. (Applause.) Wow, what a beautiful, beautiful job, and I think it’s – this is really fun.
This is a special, special evening. I reminded Caroline earlier this afternoon that the first time I met her was when she was four and a half years old, and I was visiting, having – I was working for Teddy Kennedy in his campaign back then, 1962, and was visiting, and she was about to go riding on Macaroni – I remember the pony, and all of us do – and I managed to back into her and step on her foot sufficiently that she broke into wild tears. And I thought I would never be welcome again near her. (Laughter.) So somehow, she forgave me, and we are here on a very, very special occasion.

Ambassador Sasae, thank you, and I notice – I don’t know how many of you noticed – I knew she had invited the whole Kennedy family when I saw the traffic jam out there, guys. (Laughter.) I said, “This could be a big do.” But this is special.

Ambassador Sasae, thank you for all your help and work on our relationship. We’re so grateful to you. I’ve been now already to Japan twice in the last months, and most recently with Secretary Hagel. We had what we call in the vernacular a 2+2 meeting – Defense and State – and we re-signaled the importance of our relationship with Japan. And we could not be more excited or more pleased with the incredible efforts of Prime Minister Abe and the way in which they are taking hold of a new and stronger role in the region. And Ambassador Kennedy is going to contribute to that, we know, in so many significant ways.

I think it is true – and I think everybody here knows this – that because of her family and because of the road she has traveled – it’s hardly the road less traveled – but she has done so with special grace and with the captured imaginations of all Americans who, from the time she was ye high, have watched her. And in many ways, she’s been an ambassador all her life. She has worked so brilliantly in New York City – the work that she did with the New York schools, bringing people together, a convener, not content to simply be who she was by birth, but be who she was going to be by definition of her own choice. And so she’s always done that – written the books, went to law school, but – not a practicer – but used the experience to apply to everything else that she does. Her work with the Kennedy Library, which I got to know so well, is beyond special.

And I think that everybody here would agree that she has superbly carried into public life and her life the ethos of her family, which her father so expressed, which is sort of reach out beyond yourself, live beyond your own persona in an effort to try to make a difference. And I know how proud Uncle Teddy would be if he were here. I joked with her earlier this afternoon about those “forced march” camping trips during the summer where they’d all be piled into a van and they’d go to Mount Vernon or they go to the Civil War battlefields and Teddy would arrange for somebody to take them around and tell them about the history and make sure everybody had a sense of history. And now, Ambassador Kennedy will join a remarkable period of history by leading our relationship to still a stronger place.

It’s pretty remarkable – the daughter of a heroic lieutenant in World War II will be the first woman in the next generation after the war to represent our country in a relationship that symbolizes so much more than just a normal diplomatic relationship. This is a symbol of reconciliation, a symbol of possibilities, a symbol of people who know how to put the past behind them and look to the future and build a future together. That is, in today’s world, both remarkable and beautiful

And so I am really excited, as the President is, that Caroline’s going to be heading over there to represent this relationship at a critical time – the rebalanced Asia, the global marketplace and competition therein, the efforts to deal with North Korea to try to reconcile even more so with the Republic of Korea, the challenges of the South China Sea, the challenges of climate change and of communications. These are huge, huge issues, and I know from my own experience with Caroline her ability to step up and undertake this great challenge.

I’m blessed to have had her campaign for me in Massachusetts way back when she was in high school, and many times since. President Obama could not be more grateful for her support and her efforts and leadership as chair of his campaign, the work that she has done. So Japan, Mr. Ambassador, knows that it is getting an envoy who has the ear of the President, the respect of the President, the affection of the President. And that, as we all know, is a vital thing in the conduct of foreign policy.

Caroline joins Jean Kennedy Smith and her grandfather in serving as Ambassador by an ironic twist of history. I’m proud to say that my grandfather’s cousin was Ambassador to Japan, and today, I have a cousin who is working in the Embassy in Japan, will be working for you, who is working for the Tomodachi youth program, while her husband is serving in the United States Navy as a pilot defending the region. So I’m going to look out for you over there. (Laughter.)

Let me just say to all of you that this historic occasion does send a powerful message, I think, to countries. When Caroline was 20, Teddy took her over there – I think it was Teddy who took her over there – and laid a wreath at Hiroshima. And at that young age, Caroline, I think, forged a bond with Japan and the Japanese, and I want you to know it will not be an accident, Caroline, that when you get there, all the baseball teams will sing Sweet Caroline, so – (laughter) – in honor of the Red Sox, of course. (Laughter.)

So tonight, folks, we celebrate a lot. We celebrate the march of history and the march of time. We celebrate a superb new Ambassador. And we most of all, I want you to – you don’t have glasses, do you? We’re supposed to raise our glasses. We’ll fake it. And we’ll – Mr. Ambassador, would you come up here with Caroline, and we will drink a toast, if we may, and celebrate our new Ambassador, to celebrate our history – Ed – and Mr. Ambassador, we drink to the strength of the relationship between the United States and Japan, and to continue history we will write together. Thank you so much. (Applause.)