Pentagon Official Explains Asia-Pacific Focus
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2012 - The entire U.S. government has made a concerted effort to improve U.S.-China relations while implementing the tenets in the defense strategic guidance, a senior Pentagon official said here today.
Speaking to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Kathleen Hicks, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy explained the U.S. military's strategic shift in focus toward the Asia-Pacific region.
"The investment of time and resources that the entire U.S. government is making in our relationships in this region includes a strong emphasis on improving relations with China," she said. But as President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter have emphasized, the rebalance is not just about China, she added.
"It is not just about the U.S. goal in the region, and it's not an attempt by the U.S. to contain China," she said.
Hicks said the need for rebalancing became apparent in 2011 as the Defense Department's senior leaders, along with the president's staff, engaged in a strategic review of how to achieve the objectives of the national defense strategy amid changes to the geo-strategic and resource environments.
"The end of the war in Iraq and the onset of our transition to Afghan leadership for security in Operation Enduring Freedom were among the dynamics we felt necessitated a re-look prior to the next [Quadrennial Defense Review]," she said.
Hicks noted Clinton, Panetta and Carter all have visited Asia in recent months.
"These travels provide our leaders venue to describe the United States vision for a prosperous and peaceful Asia-Pacific," she said. "[It will be] supported by a shared commitment to the values of free and open commerce, unimpeded access to the global commons and a system based on a rule of law.
"This vision scans the spectrum of our diplomatic, economic and defense policies," she continued. "Our whole-of-government efforts include strengthening our alliances and partnerships, deepening working relationships with emerging powers, engaging in and strengthening multilateral institutions, expanding trade and investment and advancing principles of democracy and human rights."
Hicks said the rebalancing reflects the larger picture of the entire region "including U.S. engagement with China, including military-to-military relations."
"The stability and prosperity in this region will be shaped by our ability to work together," she said.
Hicks explained some of the changes to come during the course of the rebalancing to the region.
"As U.S. forces return from Afghanistan and reset globally, one of our priorities is having forces present and positioned in the Pacific to assure regional allies and partners, deter threats to regional stability and prevail in conflicts if necessary," she said.
"This includes the Army aligning specific forces to U.S. Pacific Command, as well as the return of Marine Corps units to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force," Hicks said. "We're also shifting our overall naval presence to the Pacific region."
She noted that Panetta has said the United States intends to have 60 percent of its naval assets based in the Pacific by 2020.
"The department continues to work with our allies and partners in the region to increase the number and size of bilateral and multilateral exercises," Hicks said. "For example, just a few weeks ago, and for the first time, Indonesian [forces] participated alongside Thai, U.S., and Australian fighters in the biannual exercise 'Pitch Black' in Australia's northern territory."
Hicks said these exercises and training with allied and partner militaries are essential to the United States remaining the "security partner of choice" in the region, while encouraging others to share the burden.
"Our forward presence and engagement play an essential role in strengthening the capabilities of Pacific nations to defend and secure themselves," she said. "Building strong partnership in the Asia-Pacific region requires us to sustain and enhance American military strength there."
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2012
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| Photo: U.S. Air Force |
Combined Force Kills Taliban Weapons Dealer
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 25, 2012 - An Afghan and coalition security force killed a Taliban weapons dealer and destroyed his cache of illegal weapons during an operation in the Omnah district of Afghanistan's Paktika province today, military officials reported.
Hizbullah, the weapons dealer, and another armed insurgent maneuvered on the Afghan and coalition troops as the security force approached Hizbullah's compound, officials said. The security force engaged both armed insurgents, killing them. No civilians were harmed.
Hizbullah acquired and provided firearms, ammunition and explosives to Taliban insurgents under his command, enabling them to conduct attacks against security forces throughout the region, officials said. He also was believed to have been attempting to acquire a heavy machine gun and additional equipment for future insurgent attacks.
A number of suspected insurgents were detained in the operation, officials said. The security force also found and destroyed assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, an RPG launcher, fragmentation grenades and ammunition.
Also today, a combined force arrested the leader of a Taliban cell and several other suspects in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province. The arrested leader's insurgent cell is suspected of conducting small-arms fire and improvised explosive device attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He also allegedly is linked to attempts to acquire weapons -- including mortar rounds -- for future attacks. The Taliban leader also was believed to be involved in a plot to kidnap Afghan security officers.
In a Sept. 23 operation, an International Security Assistance Force patrol seized 1,150 pounds of opium during a drug interdiction operation in the Reg-e Khan Neshin district of Helmand province. The ISAF patrol discovered the drugs after stopping and searching a vehicle traveling along a known narcotics smuggling route. ISAF troops detained the driver and destroyed the opium.
U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON MEETS WITH LIBYAN PRESIDENT MOHAMED MAGARIAF
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENTRemarks With Libyan President Mohamed Magariaf Before Their Meeting
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Waldorf-Astoria
New York City
September 24, 2012
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it’s wonderful to welcome the President of Libya and his distinguished delegation here to New York.
As we all know, the United States lost a great ambassador and the Libyan people lost a true friend when Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the terrorist assault on our consulate in Benghazi.
Through everything, the President and the Libyan Government have been staunch partners to the United States. I want to thank them in person, as we already have through communications and through your Ambassador, for the important efforts that they are taking to help find and bring to justice all those responsible for the attacks. I’d also like to thank the Libyan people for the outpouring of support they have shown to not only Ambassador Stevens, but on behalf of the United States.
This summer, the Libyan people had the chance to choose their own leaders, and we have a President who has been freely chosen by the Libyan people. Courage has been the defining characteristic of the Libyan people over these last two years – courage to rise up and overthrow a dictator; courage to choose the hard path of democracy; courage to stand against violence and division in their country and the world. And Mr. President, that kind of courage deserves our support.
The United States was proud to stand with you and the Libyan people as you fought for your country last year. And we will continue to stand with you as you now write Libya’s new future as a democracy that will give all of your people a chance to have a better future.
Thank you.
PRESIDENT MAGARIAF: (Via interpreter.) Madam Secretary, at the outset, I would like to thank you, Secretary of State Clinton, for these kind words that you have expressed towards our Libyan people, towards the Libyan revolution, and toward the General National Congress of Libya that is today the legitimate and – the legitimacy and the legitimate authority in Libya.
Madam Secretary, I wouldn’t wish to speak for long, but however, before we continue, I would like to express – again reiterate the expression of my sincerest condolences, the condolences of the Libyan National Congress, the Libyan Government, the Libyan people, to you, to President Obama, and to the American people and to the families of the victims that fell during this painful, tragic tragedy. And they were the victims Ambassador Chris Stevens and his three comrades.
Madam Secretary, that was a very painful, huge tragedy, not only to the American people and the families of the victims but also for the Libyan people. The Libyan people lost a friend, lost someone who was very supportive of them, someone who was very supportive of their revolution, and someone who was always there for them.
Madam Secretary, undoubtedly, the understanding that was expressed by President Obama, by you as Secretary of State, towards these tragic events and your positive expression to continue to support Libya has led to mitigating the repercussions of this regrettable tragedy and incident on our close relationship.
Madam Secretary, their support, of course, mitigated the repercussions and the consequences. However, on the other hand, that support also furthered the responsibility on our shoulders towards taking responsibility – a great responsibility – for this tragedy and also let us look at the necessity to expedite the investigation in the incident and to pursue – to bring to justice those perpetrators. Of course, we are – we express our great readiness to cooperate with the U.S. Government in order to cooperate in the investigation and bring those perpetrators to justice.
Madam Secretary, I also will seize this opportunity to reaffirm that what happened on the 11th of September towards these U.S. citizens does not express in any way the conscience of the Libyan people, their aspirations, their hopes, or their sentiments towards the American people.
Madam Secretary, and I am confident that the protest that happened last Friday in Benghazi and the other protests that took place across the Libyan cities in protest to what happened are a very clear message to how we feel toward the United States. These protests embodied the conscience of the Libyan people. The Libyan people have spoken through these protests last Friday and expressed their true sentiments, how they feel towards the U.S. Administration and American people. You have mentioned the courage of the Libyan people, and we truly appreciate those words.
Madam Secretary, there is no doubt that the Libyan people have shown to the world and perhaps to across the world with their true courage and their love for their country and for the love for the freedom.
Madam Secretary, their courage would not have been possible for them also to win over a tyrant if it were not for the unlimited U.S. support, the political and military support of the United States, and the United States support in – at all levels that was given to the Libyan revolution, that the U.S. Administration gave to the Libyan revolution as well as your support, President Obama’s support, the American people’s support, and the support of the entire international community to this revolution.
This not only makes it our duty to thank you, thank the United States as well as the international community for that support, but that also makes it our duty to rise up to the level of the confidence and the trust that you, the United States, and the international community have put in us.
Madam Secretary, of course, despite all the challenges, the perils, the difficulties, and the – all the obstacles that we faced, the Libyan people were able – humbly as well as with pride – to show to the world the degree of their keenness to safeguard this revolution and to make it a success in order to bring about the goals – the noble and great goals of this revolution, mainly to establish a constitutional, democratic, civil state that would be based on pluralism and a peaceful transfer of authority.
Undoubtedly, these elections that happened over the past summer and brought about the General National Congress in Libya and also demonstrated the transparent elections that brought to power a new prime minister, all these events show and send a message of the new road that Libya is determined to take.
I am confident that the General National Congress and this new government – the new government are keen on undertaking their duties and fulfilling their responsibilities with integrity and sincerity as well as responsibility towards the world.
U.S. AIR FORCE NATIONAL GUARD HISTORICAL PHOTO
FROM: U.S. AIR FROCE NATIONAL GUARD
A C-130 of the 130th Tactical Airlift Group, West Virginia Air National Guard, flies over the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, 1981.
EPA PRESENTS 2012 GREEN POWER LEADERSHIP AWARDS
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| Photo: Solar Panels. Credit: U.S. Navy. |
EPA Honors Organizations for Supporting Green Power
WASHINGTON – Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented its 12th annual Green Power Leadership Awards to 24 Green Power Partners and three suppliers for their achievements in advancing the nation’s renewable electricity market. For most municipalities, electricity usage is the single-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. By using green power, communities and businesses can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create local jobs, and improve public health.
"Our 2012 Green Power Leadership Award winners have not only demonstrated commendable civic leadership in their efforts to use renewable energy sources, they’ve also helped to reduce our carbon footprint and cut back on pollution – all while supporting America's growing renewable energy industry," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Thanks to their commitment -- and the commitment of all of our Green Power Partners -- our country is one step closer to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future."
"Green power" is electricity generated from renewable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas and low-impact hydro, and produces no net increase of greenhouse gas emissions. From purchasing 100-percent green power to installing large-scale solar panel arrays, the award winners help demonstrate that green power makes sense not only for Americans' health and environment but for business' bottom lines.
The 2012 Green Power Leadership Award winners are listed below in the following categories:
First-ever Sustained Excellence in Green Power: Intel Corporation, Kohl’s Department Stores, Staples, and Whole Foods Market
Green Power Partner of the Year: City of Austin, Texas; Hilton Worldwide; Microsoft Corporation; and the University of Oklahoma
Green Power Community of the Year: Beaverton, Ore. and Oak Park, Ill.
Green Power Purchasing: American University; Bloomberg L.P.; City of Philadelphia, Pa.; Hobart and William Smith Colleges; Kettle Foods; Lockheed Martin; McDonald’s USA, LLC; MOM’s Organic Market; NYSE Euronext; Quinnipiac University; TD Bank; and The North Face
On-site Generation: Coca-Cola Refreshments and Zotos International, Inc.
Green Power Supplier of the Year: Renewable Choice Energy and Sterling Planet
Innovative Green Power Program of the Year: Wellesley Municipal Light Plant
The 24 award-winning partners were chosen from more than 1,300 partner organizations. Utilities, renewable energy project developers and other green power suppliers were eligible to apply for the Supplier of the Year and Program of the Year awards.
EPA also announced the winners of the second annual Green Power Community Challenge, a national competition between communities to use renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the Green Power Community of the Year award, Oak Park, Ill. also won the community challenge for achieving the highest green power percentage of total electricity use at 92 percent. Washington, D.C. also won the challenge for a second year in a row for using the most green power annually with more than one billion kilowatt-hours (kWh).
EPA, through the Green Power Partnership, works with partner organizations, over half of which are small businesses and nonprofit organizations, to reduce the environmental impacts of conventional electricity use. Partners are voluntarily using more than 23 billion kWh of green power annually. Through their use of green power, these organizations are avoiding carbon pollution equal to that created by the electricity use of more than two million average American homes each year.
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PANETTA ADDRESSES SUICIDE PREVENTION
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSEPanetta Discusses Efforts to Tackle Suicide
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2012 - In an interview with a North Carolina newspaper, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta voiced concern over suicide rates throughout the military and acknowledged the complexity of the issue.
The tragedy of suicide eludes "quick fixes," the secretary told Greg Barnes of the Fayetteville Observer.
"It's a real human loss," he said. "This situation, people who take their lives, it just strikes me as such a terrible waste of humanity when that happens."
Panetta described suicide as "very much a human problem" in which society as a whole grapples for answers.
"We've got to deal with it as best we can, because we are a family," Panetta said. "In the military, we have to take care of our family members, and they deserve the best treatment and support we can give them."
The secretary outlined the Defense Department's efforts in combatting suicide, specifically through joint funding with the Department of Veterans Affairs to allot $100 million toward advancing diagnosis and treatment.
"We've really been pushing on trying to open up access to quality mental and behavioral health care, trying to expand access, so we've got some 9,000 new psychiatrists and psychologists, social workers and nurses," Panetta said. In addition to increasing the roster of mental health professionals by 35 percent, the DOD has made efforts to elevate ongoing mental fitness and must not stop there, he added.
"I know the commanders themselves have gone out to their troops and basically said that we have got to make people at every level aware and sensitive to this problem to make sure we can spot the signs of stress," Panetta explained. "But it's going to take all of that and a hell of a lot more to try to be able to get a handle on this terrible problem."
The secretary said he believes that addressing the stigma of post-traumatic stress disorder and similar mental health issues must start at the top, with an understanding of the illness's intricacies.
"Just like sexual assault, when it comes to suicides, we have got to make our leadership in the military aware of what this problem is about," he said.
Leadership must therefore forge avenues for friends and family members to seek help for someone they suspect may be struggling, the secretary said.
"We've got to make family members feel that there's a way to approach this within the family network, that can respond to that individual with compassion, with caring. ... We have got to work on the ability of family members to feel comfortable that they have a place to go when they're worried about someone committing suicide," the secretary said.
Noting that suicide is an issue in society at large, not just in the military, the secretary said community support may be available to help the military address its suicide problem.
Panetta said he discussed the suicide issue with the military's combatant commanders recently.
"They're aware of it," he said. "They're concerned by it. As I told them, it's important that we have to continue to kick ass on this issue. We can't just assume that it's going to be dealt with."
The issue has to be at the top of all leaders' agendas, he said, and should be one of the things he and other leaders talk about when they meet with troops.
"We owe it to the people who serve in our military -- people who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect our country," Panetta added. "Surely, we owe it to them to do everything we can to protect them."
U.S. PRESS ISSUES NEGATIVE PRESS STATEMENT ON BELARUSIAN ELECTION
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| Map Credit: CIA World Factbook. |
Belarusian Election
Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
September 24, 2012
The September 23 parliamentary elections in Belarus fell short of international standards and their conduct cannot be considered free or fair. The preliminary assessment of the OSCE election observation mission found that the elections were "not competitive from the start." The observer mission cited the limitation of choice for voters, the lack of impartiality on the part of the election commission, and the lack of proper counting procedures.
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| Map Credit: CIA World Factbook. |
CIA BACKGROUND OF BELARUS
After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.
ECONOMY
As part of the former Soviet Union, Belarus had a relatively well-developed industrial base; it retained this industrial base - which is now outdated, energy inefficient, and dependent on subsidized Russian energy and preferential access to Russian markets - following the breakup of the USSR. The country also has a broad agricultural base which is inefficient and dependent on government subsidies. After an initial burst of capitalist reform from 1991-94, including privatization of state enterprises, creation of institutions of private property, and development of entrepreneurship, Belarus' economic development greatly slowed. About 80% of all industry remains in state hands, and foreign investment has been hindered by a climate hostile to business. A few banks, which had been privatized after independence, were renationalized. State banks account for 75% of the banking sector. Economic output, which had declined for several years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, revived in the mid-2000s thanks to the boom in oil prices. Belarus has only small reserves of crude oil, though it imports most of its crude oil and natural gas from Russia at prices substantially below the world market. Belarus exported refined oil products at market prices produced from Russian crude oil purchased at a steep discount. In late 2006, Russia began a process of rolling back its subsidies on oil and gas to Belarus. Tensions over Russian energy reached a peak in 2010, when Russia stopped the export of all subsidized oil to Belarus save for domestic needs. In December 2010, Russia and Belarus reached a deal to restart the export of discounted oil to Belarus. In November 2011, Belarus and Russia reached an agreement to drastically reduce the price of natural gas in exchange for selling to Russia the remaining share of Beltransgaz, the Belarusian natural gas pipeline operator. Little new foreign investment has occurred in recent years. In 2011, a financial crisis began, triggered by government directed salary hikes unsupported by commensurate productivity increases. The crisis was compounded by an increased cost in Russian energy inputs and an overvalued Belarusian ruble, and eventually led to a near three-fold devaluation of the Belarusian ruble in 2011. The situation has stabilized short-term due to a $3 billion loan from the Russian-dominated Eurasian Economic Community Bail-out Fund, a $1 billion loan from the Russian state-owned bank Sberbank, and the $2.5 billion sale of Beltranzgas to Russian state-owned Gazprom.
STATE DEPARTMENT STATEMENT ON MURDER OF ANTONIO TREJO CABRERA
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| From: CIA World Factbook. |
Honduras: Murder of Antonio Trejo CabreraPress Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
September 24, 2012
The United States is saddened and outraged by the murder of Honduran attorney and human rights defender Antonio Trejo Cabrera, and urges the Honduran government to conduct a full and transparent investigation of his death immediately.
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| From: CIA World Factbook |
To strengthen measures meant to protect human rights defenders such as Mr. Trejo Cabrera, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Maria Otero led a U.S. delegation to the first Bilateral Human Rights Working Group with the Government of Honduras on September 13, 2012. During the working group meetings, the United States and Honduras committed to work together to combat impunity, reform the Honduran security and justice sectors, and enhance the capacity of Honduran human rights institutions to operate effectively.
The United States is dedicated to working with the Government of Honduras to ensure that those responsible for this reprehensible act are brought to justice, and through the Special Victims Task Force, is assisting the Honduran investigation.
Mr. Trejo Cabrera worked tirelessly to resolve the tragic and complex land conflict in Honduras’s Bajo Aguan, relying on legal challenges and negotiations in a region where disputes are too often settled through violence. We urge all parties to continue his efforts to bring peace to the Bajo Aguan.
TWO MARINES FACE TRIAL IN DESECRATION INCIDENT
Marines Charged in Desecration Incident Face TrialFrom a Marine Corps Combat Development Command News Release
QUANTICO, Va., Sept. 24, 2012 - Charges against two Marines were referred to trial by courts-martial Sept. 21 for their alleged involvement in urinating on deceased Taliban fighters and for posing for unofficial photographs with human casualties in Afghanistan.
Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development command, referred the charges.
The incident allegedly took place during a counterinsurgency operation near Sandala in the Musa Qala district of Afghanistan's Helmand province on or about July 27, 2011. The charges were referred to courts-martial by Lieutenant General Richard P. Mills, the Commanding General of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
Marine Corps Staff Sgts. Joseph W. Chamblin and Edward W. Deptola also were charged for other misconduct that allegedly took place during the same operation, including being derelict in their duties by failing to properly supervise junior Marines, failing to require junior Marines to wear their personal protective equipment, failing to stop and report the misconduct of junior Marines, failing to report the negligent discharge of a grenade launcher, and failing to stop the indiscriminate firing of weapons.
Deptola also is charged with failing to stop the unnecessary damaging of Afghan compounds and wrongfully and indiscriminately firing a recovered enemy machine gun.
Both Marines are assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Last month, three Marines received nonjudicial punishment for misconduct that came to light during several investigations into the desecration incident, shown in a video that became public and circulated widely on the Internet in January. Disciplinary actions regarding other Marines will be announced at a later date, officials said.
The charges are accusations against the individual Marines, officials emphasized, and the accused are presumed innocent and are guaranteed the right to due process under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
"There are other pending cases related to this incident. In order to preserve the integrity of the investigations and to ensure fair and impartial legal proceedings in the future, we will not discuss evidence or specific findings of the investigations," the command said in a written statement. "We will be as forthright as possible while preserving the rights of the accused and the fairness and integrity of the military justice process."
TYCO INTERNATIONAL LTD. CHARGED BY SEC WITH MAKING ILLICIT PAYMENTS TO FOREIGN OFFICIALS
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| Credit: U.S. Marshals Service |
Washington, D.C., Sept. 24, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Tyco International Ltd. with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when subsidiaries arranged illicit payments to foreign officials in more than a dozen countries.
The SEC alleges that subsidiaries of the Swiss-based global manufacturer perpetuated schemes that typically involved payments of fake "commissions" or the use of third-party agents to funnel money improperly to obtain lucrative contracts. Overall, Tyco reaped illicit benefits amounting to more than $10.5 million as a result of the paid to win business.
Tyco, whose securities are publicly traded in the U.S., agreed to pay more than $26 million to settle the SEC’s charges and resolve a criminal matter announced today by the U.S. Department of Justice.
"Tyco’s subsidiaries operating in Asia and the Middle East saw illicit payment schemes as a typical way of doing business in some countries, and the company illicitly reaped substantial financial benefits as a result," said Scott W. Friestad, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
The SEC alleges that Tyco subsidiaries operated 12 different illicit payment schemes around the world starting before 2006 and continuing until 2009. The most profitable scheme occurred in Germany, where agents of a Tyco subsidiary paid third parties to secure contracts or avoid penalties or fines in several countries. These payments were falsely recorded as "commissions" in Tyco’s books and records when they were in fact bribes to pay off government customers. Tyco’s benefit as a result of these illicit payments was more than $4.6 million.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Tyco’s subsidiary in China signed a contract with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security for $770,000 but reportedly paid approximately $3,700 to the "site project team" of a state-owned corporation to be able to obtain the contract. This amount was improperly recorded as a commission. Tyco’s subsidiary in France recorded payments to individuals from 2005 to 2009 for "business introduction services." However, one of the individuals receiving payments was a security officer at a government-owned mining company in Mauritania, and many of the earlier payments were deposited in the official’s personal bank account in France. In Thailand, Tyco’s subsidiary had a contract to install a CCTV system in the Thai Parliament House in 2006, and paid more than $50,000 to a Thai entity that acted as a consultant. The invoice for the payment refers to "renovation work," but Tyco is unable to ascertain what, if any, work was actually done.
The SEC alleges that another scheme occurred in Turkey, where Tyco’s subsidiary retained a New York City-based sales agent who made illicit payments involving the sale of microwave equipment in September 2006 to an entity controlled by the Turkish government. Employees at Tyco’s subsidiary were well aware that the agent was paying foreign government customers to obtain orders. One internal e-mail stated, "Hell, everyone knows you have to bribe somebody to do business in Turkey. Nevertheless, I’ll play it dumb if [the sales agent] should call." The benefit obtained by Tyco as a result of the September 2006 deal was $44,513.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that Tyco’s books and records were misstated as a result of the misconduct, and Tyco failed to devise and maintain internal controls sufficient to detect the violations. The complaint also alleges that the payments by the sales agent to Turkish government officials violated the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.
In arriving at the settlement, the Commission considered Tyco’s extensive efforts to identify and remediate its wrongdoing. Tyco conducted a global review and internal investigation for potential FCPA violations and voluntarily disclosed its findings to the SEC while implementing significant, broad-spectrum remedial measures. Tyco consented to a proposed final judgment that orders the company to pay $10,564,992 in disgorgement and $2,566,517 in prejudgment interest. Tyco also agreed to be permanently enjoined from violating Section 13(b)(2)(A), Section 13(b)(2)(B), and Section 30A(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
In the parallel criminal proceedings, the Justice Department entered into a Non-Prosecution Agreement with Tyco in which the company will pay a penalty of approximately $13.68 million.
The SEC’s case was investigated by David Frohlich, Stephen E. Jones, Matthew B. Greiner, and Brent S. Mitchell. The Commission acknowledges the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Fraud Section in this matter.
GUINEA-BISSAU INDEPENDENCE DAY
Guinea-Bissau National Day Message
Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
September 24, 2012
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Guinea-Bissau as you celebrate your Independence Day this September 24. We share the desires of the people of Guinea-Bissau for reforms that will lead to democracy, good governance and economic development, including free and fair elections early next year. As you celebrate your independence, I wish all Bissau-Guineans a year of peace, reconciliation and prosperity.
CIA WORLD FACTBOOK BACKGROUND ON BUINEA-BISSAU
Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In 1980, a military coup established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA as president. Despite setting a path to a market economy and multiparty system, VIEIRA's regime was characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 VIEIRA was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000, a transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba YALA after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003, after only three years in office, YALA was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup, and businessman HenriqueVIEIRA was re-elected president pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation; he was assassinated in March 2009. Malam Bacai SANHA was elected in an emergency election held in June 2009, but he passed away abruptly in January 2012. A military coup on 12 April 2012 prevented Guinea-Bissau's second-round presidential election - to determine SANHA's successor - from taking place.
U.S. AIR FORCE NATIONAL GUARD HISTORICAL PHOTOS
FROM: U.S. AIR NATIONAL GUARD
An F-106 Delta Dart of the 144th Fighter Interceptor Wing fires a Genie air-to-air missile at the William Tell aerial gunnery competition at Tyndall AFB, Florida, 1980.
An Air National Guard F-86D/L interceptor fires its 2.75-inch "Mighty Mouse" rockets. Jet fighters closing with jet bombers at over 1,000 miles per hour at night or in bad weather could not count on hitting their target with machine guns, even with the aid of radar and early computers. Before the advent of guided air-to-air missiles, many U.S. interceptor types were armed with unguided rockets fired in large salvos in an effort to increase the probability of a hit.
Monday, September 24, 2012
RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS
FROM: U.S. NAVY
120922-N-KF309-027 BAY OF BENGAL (Sept. 22, 2012) Sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron 2 (RIVRON) 2 and Bangladesh navy sailors assigned to Special Warfare Diving and Salvage Command (SWADS) ride in a rigid-hull inflatable boat during a non-compliant boarding exercise. SWADS and RIVRON 2 are participating in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2012. CARAT is a series of bilateral military exercises between the U.S. Navy and the armed forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor Leste. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Clay Doss/Released)
120922-N-KF309-015 BAY OF BENGAL (Sept. 22, 2012) A Bangladesh navy sailor from Special Warfare Diving and Salvage Command (SWADS) sweeps the deck during a non-compliant boarding exercise aboard the Bangladesh navy shore patrol vessel BNS Sangu (P-713) along with Sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron (RIVRON) 2 and Marines assigned to Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Pacific (FASTPAC). SWADS, RIVRON 2, FASTAC and BNS Sangu are participating in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2012. CARAT is a series of bilateral military exercises between the U.S. Navy and the armed forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor Leste. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Clay Doss/Released)
COMMANDER OF NATO FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN PRAISES SURGE
Allen: Surge Bought Time for Afghan Forces to Grow, Mature
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2012 - The goal of the just-completed U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan was not to defeat the Taliban, but to provide Afghan security forces the time needed to develop, the commander of NATO forces in the country said today.
And, Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen added, it succeeded.
Allen spoke to NBC's Lester Holt this morning and stressed the coalition campaign in Afghanistan has allowed Afghan soldiers and police to develop their capabilities.
The sacrifices made by coalition service members have given Afghan national security forces, "the wherewithal, ultimately, to create security in this country so that governance can take root, the rule of law can be embraced and economic opportunity and development can move forward," Allen said.
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced Sept. 21 that the drawdown of the 30,000 additional U.S. forces deployed as part of the surge was complete. From January 2010 to today, officials said, the Afghan government has added 85,000 more soldiers to the ranks and 50,000 police. Seventy-seven percent of Afghan army units are rated in the top three levels of capability, up from 52 percent in 2010, officials added. The gains for police -- a boost from 47 percent to 59 percent – are not as dramatic, they acknowledged, but they noted that the police had farther to go to reach that capability level.
But the threat of insider attacks remains in Afghanistan, Allen said, and it has his full attention.
"We're going to work as ... hard as we possibly can, around the clock, to understand the problem," he told Holt. "And I think we've got a good grip on it now."
Eliminating the threat will require close cooperation with Afghan government partners, he said. "See, the Taliban, in infiltrating the ranks of the [Afghan security forces], recognize that this is an opportunity for them to try to split us apart," the general said. "We're going to work very hard to prevent that from happening."
Allen said he probably will recommend bringing more American troops home from Afghanistan, and that he expects to make his recommendation to U.S. leaders before the end of the year once his evaluations of the situation are complete.
"I'll evaluate the nature of the insurgency," he said. "I'll evaluate the progress that we have made with the Afghan national security forces. We'll look at the operational environment we think we'll face in 2013. And the combination of all of those will permit me to make a recommendation."
A DEDICATED SOLDIER: OVERCOMING INJUREIES TO CONTINUE TO SERVE
Army Sgt. Matthew Maddox reviews operational reports with another soldier in eastern Afghanistan, Sept. 21, 2012. Maddox is on his second deployment with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Alisha Gredzlik
Face of Defense: Soldier Overcomes Injuries to Continue Serving
By Army Spc. Alisha Gredzlik
115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Sept. 24, 2012 - For Army Sgt. Matthew Maddox, 9/11 brings memories of his fifth-grade music class, where he first heard the news that would begin his path toward the Army.
Eleven years after those attacks, Maddox is serving his second tour in Afghanistan. But his journey has not been easy.
Maddox joined the Army when he was 17, and left for training just a month after graduating from high school.
"I had my mind made up," he said. "This was what I had wanted to do since the fifth grade -- since 9/11."
After basic training, Maddox was assigned to Vicenza, Italy, at the headquarters of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. In late 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan. After six months, he headed home to California on mid-tour leave, never suspecting that he would not return to finish his tour. On May 26, 2010, at his home in Wallace, Calif., Maddox was run over by a grading tractor.
"I broke my left tibia, left femur, pelvis, tailbone, right orbital eye socket and suffered nerve damage to my right leg," Maddox said. "I couldn't walk for three months."
He spent the next 18 months recuperating in California on "hospital status," still in the Army, but at home working on a full recovery. Yet it was nowhere near the end of his military career.
On Jan. 3, 2011, Maddox reported back to Italy for a medical evaluation board. Instead of leaving the Army, he fought to extend his service and deploy again with the unit. After 18 months of rehabilitation and fighting for a spot in the fires platoon, Maddox finds himself on his second deployment to Afghanistan with the 173rd to settle what he calls unfinished business.
"I wanted to come back and finish a whole deployment. That was my personal goal. I wanted to finish what I started," he said.
Now serving as a fire support specialist in Afghanistan, Maddox tracks the status of the 173rd's artillery and mortar systems and their fire missions across two provinces. As a newly promoted sergeant with four soldiers working for him, he has to ensure their success as well as his own.
His enlistment will come to a close at the end of this deployment, but Maddox said he still sees a future with the military and plans to retire with the Army.
"When I get home I am joining the California National Guard, and I am going to apply for the California Highway Patrol to follow in my father's footsteps," he said.
Having rebuilt himself from the ground up, Maddox retains a positive attitude that he passes along to other soldiers.
"If you take pride in what you do and feel like there is more for you to accomplish, then it is worth it," he said. "It is an experience everyone should endure. I have no regrets."
SENATOR CARL LEVIN'S STATEMENT ON OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS
Opening Statement at PSI Hearing: Offshore Profit Shifting and the U.S. Tax Code
Thursday, September 20, 2012
America stands on the edge of a fiscal cliff. This challenge lends new urgency to a topic this subcommittee has long investigated: how U.S. citizens and corporations have used loopholes and gimmicks to avoid paying taxes. This subcommittee has demonstrated in hearings and comprehensive reports how various schemes have helped shift income to offshore tax havens and avoid U.S. taxes. The resulting loss of revenue is one significant cause of the budget deficit, and adds to the tax burden that ordinary Americans bear.
U.S. multinational corporations benefit from the security and stability of the U.S. economy, the productivity and expertise of U.S. workers and the strength of U.S. infrastructure to develop enormously profitable products here in the United States. But, too often, too many of these corporations use complex structures, dubious transactions and legal fictions to shift the profits from those products overseas, avoiding the taxes that help support our security, stability and productivity.
The share of federal tax revenue contributed by corporations has plummeted in recent decades. That places an additional burden on other taxpayers. The massive offshore profit shifting that is taking place today is doubly problematic in an era of dire fiscal crisis. Budget experts across the ideological spectrum are unified in their belief than any serious attempt to address the deficit must include additional federal revenue. Federal revenue, as a share of our economy, has plummeted to historic lows – about 15 percent of GDP, compared to a historic average of roughly 19 percent. The Simpson-Bowles report sets a goal for federal revenue at 21 percent of GDP.
The fact that we are today so far short of that goal is, in part, due to multinational corporations avoiding U.S. taxes by shifting their profits offshore.
More than 50 years ago, President Kennedy warned that "more and more enterprises organized abroad by American firms have arranged their corporate structures aided by artificial arrangements … which maximize the accumulation of profits in the tax haven … in order to reduce sharply or eliminate completely their tax liabilities." So this problem is not new.
But it has gotten worse, far worse. What is the result? Today, U.S. multinational corporations have stockpiled $1.7 trillion in earnings offshore.
It is not a pretty picture. It’s unacceptable. Today we will try to shine a light on some of the transactions and gimmicks that multinationals use to shift income overseas, exploiting tax loopholes and an ineffective regulatory framework.
We will examine the actions of two U.S. companies – Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard – as case studies of how U.S. multinational corporations, first, exploit the weaknesses in tax and accounting rules and lax enforcement; second, effectively bring those profits to the United States while avoiding taxes; and third, artificially improve the appearance of their balance sheets.
The first step in shifting profits offshore takes place when a U.S. company games the transfer pricing process to sell or license valuable assets that it developed in the United States to its subsidiary in a low tax jurisdiction for a price that is lower than fair market value. Under U.S. tax rules, a subsidiary must pay "arm’s length" prices for these assets, but valuing assets such as intellectual property is complex, so it’s hard to know what an unrelated third party would pay. These transactions transfer valuable intellectual property to wholly owned subsidiaries. Multinational companies and the legions of economists and tax lawyers advising them take full advantage of this situation to set an artificially low sale price to minimize the U.S. parent company’s taxable income. The result is that the profits from assets developed in the United States are shifted to subsidiaries in tax havens and other low tax jurisdictions.
It is generally accepted that the transfer pricing process is widely abused and has resulted in significant revenue loss to the U.S. government. In a 2010 report, the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation wrote that a "principal tax policy concern is that profits may be artificially inflated in low-tax countries and depressed in high-tax countries through aggressive transfer pricing that does not reflect an arms-length result from a related-party transaction."
Here is a chart depicting Microsoft’s transfer pricing agreements with two of its main offshore groups. As we can see from the chart, in 2011 these two offshore groups paid Microsoft $4 billion for certain intellectual property rights; Microsoft Singapore paid $1.2 billion, and Microsoft Ireland $2.8 billion. But look what those offshore subsidiaries received in revenue for those same rights: Microsoft Singapore group received $3 billion; and Microsoft Ireland, $9 billion. So Microsoft USA sold the rights for $4 billion and these offshore subsidiaries collected $12 billion. This means Microsoft shifted $8 billion in income offshore. Yet, over 85% of Microsoft’s research and development is conducted in the United States.
Another maneuver by Microsoft deserves attention: its transfer pricing agreement with a subsidiary in Puerto Rico. Generally, transfer pricing agreements involve the rights of offshore subsidiaries to sell the assets in foreign countries. The U.S. parent generally continues to own the economic rights for the United States, sell the related products here, collect the income here, and pay taxes here. However, in the case of Microsoft, it has devised a way to avoid U.S. taxes even on a large portion of the profit it makes from sales here in the United States.
Microsoft sells the rights to market its intellectual property in the Americas (which includes the U.S.) to Microsoft Puerto Rico. Microsoft in the U.S. then buys back from Microsoft Puerto Rico the distribution rights for the United States. The U.S. parent buys back a portion of the rights it just sold.
Why did Microsoft do this? Because under the distribution agreement, Microsoft U.S. agrees to pay Microsoft Puerto Rico a certain percentage of the sales revenues it receives from distributing Microsoft products in the United States. Last year, 47% of Microsoft’s sales proceeds in the U.S. were shifted to Puerto Rico under this arrangement. The result? Microsoft U.S. avoids U.S. taxes on 47 cents of each dollar of sales revenue it receives from selling its own products right here in this country. The product is developed here. It is sold here, to customers here. And yet Microsoft pays no taxes here on nearly half the income. By routing its activity through Puerto Rico in this way, Microsoft saved over $4.5 billion in taxes on goods sold in the United States during the three years surveyed by the Subcommittee. That’s $4 million a day in taxes Microsoft isn’t paying.
It’s also important to note that Microsoft’s U.S. parent paid significantly more for just the U.S. rights to this property than it received from the Microsoft Puerto Rico for a much broader package of rights.
That’s the first step: shifting assets and profits out of the U.S. to a low tax jurisdiction. Next, we move to a second realm of tax alchemy, featuring structures and transactions that require a suspension of disbelief to be accepted.
Once again, the basic rule is pretty straightforward. If a company earns income from an active business activity offshore, it owes no U.S. tax until the income is returned to the United States. This is known as deferral. However, as established under Subpart F of the tax code, deferral is not permitted for passive, inherently mobile income such as royalty, interest, or dividend income. Subpart F should result in a significant tax bill for a U.S. parent company’s offshore income. Once the offshore subsidiaries acquire the rights to the assets, they sublicense those rights and collect license fees or royalties from their lower tier related entities – exactly the kind of passive income that is subject to U.S. tax under the anti-deferral provision of Subpart F. But this straightforward principle has been defeated by regulations, exclusions, temporary statutory changes and gimmicks by multinational corporations, and by weak enforcement by the IRS.
On January 1, 1997, the Treasury Department implemented the so-called "check-the-box" regulations, which allow a business enterprise to declare what type of legal entity it wanted to be considered for federal tax purposes by simply checking a box. This opened the floodgates for the U.S. multinational corporations trying to get around the taxation of passive income under Subpart F. They could set up their offshore operations so that an offshore subsidiary which holds the company’s valuable assets could receive passive income such as royalty payments and dividends from other subsidiaries and still defer the U.S. taxes owed on them.
The loss to the U.S. Treasury is enormous. During its current investigation, the Subcommittee has learned that for Fiscal Years 2009, 2010 and 2011, Apple has been able to defer taxes on over $35.4 billion in offshore passive income covered by Subpart F. Google has deferred over $24.2 billion in the same period. For Microsoft, the number is $21 billion.
In March 1998, a little over a year after it issued the check the box regulations, the Treasury Department issued a proposed regulation to end the check the box option. The proposal was met with such opposition from Congress and industry groups that it was never adopted. In 2006, in response to corporate pressure to protect this lucrative tax gimmick, Congress enacted the "Look through Rule for Related CFCs," which excludes certain passive income, including interest, rents and royalties, from Subpart F. This provision is currently up for extension.
Now we come to a third level of tax gimmickry. After multinational corporations transfer their assets and profits offshore and place them in a complex network of offshore structures to shelter them from U.S. taxes, some still want to bring those earnings back to the United States without paying taxes.
A U.S. parent is supposed to be taxed on any profits that its offshore subsidiaries send to it. If a foreign subsidiary loans money to a related U.S. entity, that money also is subject to U.S. taxes.
But once again, that simple concept is subverted in practice. The tax code includes a number of exclusions and limitations in the rule governing loans. Short term loans are excluded if they are repaid within 30 days, as are all loans made over the course of a year if they are outstanding for less than 60 days in total. This exclusion allows offshore profits to be used for short term lending – no matter how large the amount – without being subject to U.S. tax.
What’s more, if a CFC makes a loan to a related U.S. entity that is initiated and concluded before the end of the CFC’s quarter, the loan is not subject to the 30 day limit, and doesn’t count against the aggregate 60 day limit for the fiscal year. In addition, the IRS declared that the limitations on the length of loans apply separately to each CFC of a company. So when aggregated, all loans for all CFCs could be outstanding for more than 60 days in total.
Companies have used these loopholes to orchestrate a constant stream of loans from their own CFCs without ever exceeding the 30 and 60 day limits or extending over the end of a CFC’s quarter. Instead of being a mechanism to ensure taxes are paid for offshore profits returned to the U.S., the rule has become a blueprint on how to get billions of dollars back into the U.S. tax free.
Take a look at Hewlett-Packard. It has used a loan program to return offshore profits back to the United States since as early as 2003-2004. In 2008, Hewlett-Packard started a new loan program called the "staggered" or "alternating" loan program. Funding for the loans came mainly from two H-P sources, or pools: the Belgian Coordination Center ("BCC") and the Compaq Cayman Holding Corp ("CCHC"). The loans from these two offshore entities helped fund HP’s general operations in the U.S, including payroll and repurchases of HP stock.
HP documents indicate that the lending by these two entities was essential for funding U.S. operations, because HP did not have adequate cash in the U.S. to run its operations. In 2009, HP held $12.5 billion in foreign cash and only $0.8 billion in U.S. cash and projected that in the following year that it would hold $17.4 billion in foreign cash and only $0.4 billion in U.S. cash.
The loan program was designed to enable Hewlett-Packard to orchestrate a series of back to back to back to back loans to the U.S. and provide a continuous stream of offshore profits to the United States without paying U.S. taxes. In fact, Hewlett-Packard even changed the fiscal year and quarter ends of one of the lending entities. That way, there could be a continuous flow of loans through the whole year without extending over the quarter end of either of the lending entities.
Just look at the loan schedule that was outlined in a Hewlett-Packard document. Every single day is covered by a loan from a CFC. In FY 2010, for example, HP’s U.S. operations borrowed between $6 and $9 billion, primarily from BCC and CCHC, without interruption throughout the first three quarters. There does not appear to be a gap of even a single day during that period where the loaned funds of either BCC or CCHC were not present in the U.S. A similar pattern of continuous lending appears for most of the period between 2008 through 2011.
And what were the loans used for? One Hewlett-Packard power point characterized the loan program as "the most important source of liquidity for repurchases and acquisitions." That doesn’t sound like a short term loan program. It was closely coordinated by the Hewlett-Packard Treasury and Tax Departments to systematically and continually fund Hewlett-Packard’s U.S. operations with billions of dollars each year since 2008, and likely before that. This loan program is the ultimate example of form over substance. In fact, this is so blatant that internal Hewlett-Packard documents openly referred to this program as part of its "repatriation history" and a "repatriation strategy" – contrary to the notion that this was a short-term loan program.
This scheme mocks the notion that profits of U.S. multinationals are "locked up" or "trapped" offshore. Rather, some of them have effectively and systematically been bringing those offshore profits back by the billions for years through loan schemes like the one described here, and doing so without paying taxes.
The IRS has stated that the substance – not just the form - of offshore loans should be reviewed. So it will also be interesting to hear from the IRS about this loan scheme, and from H-P’s auditors at Ernst & Young who approved it.
The subcommittee has examined a fourth level of offshore shenanigans. It involves an accounting standard known as APB 23, which among other things addresses how U.S. multinationals should account for taxes they will have to pay when they repatriate the profits currently held by their offshore subsidiaries.
Under APB 23, when corporations hold profits offshore, they are required to account on their financial statements for the future tax bill they would face if they repatriate those funds. Doing so would result in a big hit to earnings. But companies can avoid this requirement and claim an exemption if they assert that the offshore earnings are permanently or indefinitely reinvested offshore. Multinationals routinely make such an assertion to investors and the Securities and Exchange Commission on their financial reports.
And yet, many multinationals have at the same time launched a massive lobbying effort, promising to bring these billions of offshore dollars back to the United States if they are granted a "repatriation holiday," a large tax break for bringing offshore funds to the United States. On the one hand, these companies assert they intend to indefinitely or permanently invest this money offshore. Yet they promise, on the other hand, to bring it home as soon as Congress grants them a tax holiday. That’s not any definition of "permanent" that I understand.
While this may seem like an obscure matter, it is a major issue for U.S. multinational corporations. A 2010 survey of nearly 600 tax executives reported that "60 percent of the respondents indicate that they would consider bringing more cash back to the U.S. even if it meant incurring the U.S. cash taxes upon repatriation, if their company had to record financial accounting tax expense on those earnings regardless of whether they repatriate."
In 2011, more than 1,000 U.S. multinationals claimed this exemption in their SEC filings, reporting more than $1.5 trillion in money that they say is or is intended to be reinvested offshore.
This build up has started to create some problems for many companies. With such a large percentage of their earnings offshore – and a lot of those designated as indefinitely reinvested - they need to figure out ways to finance operations here in the United States without drawing on those earnings. But as the amount of earnings stashed overseas has reached $1.5 trillion, and the need for financing grows back home, there is a real question whether companies can continue to defend their assertions that they have legitimate plans and the intent to continue to indefinitely reinvest those funds, and billions and billions more, overseas.
This situation is also creating a dilemma for their auditors, who sign off on those assertions and plans. In one document, an auditor at Ernst & Young wrote to a colleague:
"Under the APB 23 exception, clients are presumed to repatriate foreign earnings but do not need to provide deferred taxes on those foreign earnings that are ‘indefinitely or permanently reinvested.’ … If Congress enacts a similar law and companies repatriate earnings that it previously had needed to be permanently reinvested in foreign operations, what effect does that second repatriation have on a future assertion that any remaining earnings are indefinitely or permanently reinvested. An assertion of indefinite or permanent investment until Congress changes the law allowing cheaper repatriation again doesn't sound permanent."
The issue he raises isn’t theoretical. Another chart provided by one of the expert witnesses we will hear from today shows what happened to the indefinitely re-invested earnings of the S&P 500 companies after the repatriation holiday was passed in 2004. It shows that the total amount of permanently re-invested earnings declined by $84 billion after the repatriation bill passed. Then, as soon as the repatriation period ended, the total amount of offshore earnings these companies claimed as permanently or indefinitely reinvested skyrocketed again – increasing by 20 % or more in almost every year since 2005.
What does that say about the true intent of those companies? To me, it says this money isn’t held offshore for permanent reinvestment. It’s there to avoid taxes.
Yet, the auditors who must pass off on the validity of a company’s assertion, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board have appeared to go along.
This is an issue we will discuss with them today.
The bottom line of our investigation is that some multinationals use our current tax system to engage in shams and gimmicks to avoid paying the taxes they owe. It is a system that multinationals have used to shift billions of dollars of profit offshore, and avoid billions of dollars in U.S. taxes, to their enormous benefit. Who are the losers in this shell game? There are many:
Other citizens and business who must shoulder a greater tax burden;
domestic industries that do not exploit the tax code to shift profits offshore and avoid U.S. taxes;
the integrity and viability of our tax system.
So today we will take a detailed look at how this system works, the legal contortions on which it is based, its gimmicks and charades, and hopefully, we'll generate some enthusiasm to fix it.
BIG GAME OUTFITTER CONVICTED OF BAITING FOR ELK AND DEER WITH SALT
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Colorado Big Game Outfitter Convicted of Six Lacey Act Violations
WASHINGTON – Big game hunting outfitter Dennis Eugene Rodebaugh, 72, of Meeker, Colo., was convicted by a federal jury in Denver today of six charges of violating the Lacey Act, announced the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
According to the indictment, Rodebaugh operated a Colorado big game outfitting business called "D&S Guide and Outfitter" beginning in 1988, offering multi-day elk and deer hunts to many non-resident clients in the White River National Forest for between $1,200 and $1,600. The indictment alleged that each summer between 2002 and 2007, the defendant outfitted numerous clients, on hunts in which deer and elk were shot from tree stands near which Rodebaugh placed hundreds of pounds of salt each spring and summer as bait. The placement and use of bait to aid in the taking of big game is unlawful in Colorado. The interstate sale of big game outfitting and guiding services for the unlawful taking of big game with the aid of bait constitutes a felony violation of the Lacey Act.
Each of the six felony counts on which the defendant was convicted carries a maximum punishment of five years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine. Rodebaugh also agreed to forfeit two all terrain vehicles and a utility trailer used in the commission of the six Lacey Act crimes.
This case was investigated by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney J. Ronald Sutcliffe and Trial Attorney Mark Romley, of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
16 CONVICTED OF COMMITTING FEDERAL HATE CRIMES PEPETRATED ON AMISH PERSONS
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Jury Convicts 16 Defendants on Federal Hate Crimes Charges for Religiously-Motivated Assaults on Members of Amish Community
A jury in Cleveland today convicted 16 people, all residents of Ohio, of federal hate crimes arising out of a series of religiously-motivated assaults on practitioners of the Amish religion, the Justice Department announced.
The convictions stem from a series of separate hate-crime assaults that occurred in four Ohio counties between September and November 2011. In each assault, defendants forcibly removed beard and head hair from practitioners of the Amish faith with whom they had ongoing religious disputes. In three of these hate-crime assaults, defendants invaded the homes of these practitioners and restrained their movements while shearing their hair, causing pain and other physical injuries. The manner in which Amish men wear their beards and Amish women wear their hair are symbols of their faith, according to trial testimony.
Samuel Mullet Sr., 66; Johnny S. Mullet, 39; Daniel S. Mullet, 38; Levi F. Miller, 54; Eli M. Miller, 32; Emanuel Shrock, age unknown; Lester Miller, 37; Anna Miller, age unknown; Linda Shrock, age unknown; Emma J. Miller, age unknown; Kathryn Miller, age unknown; and Lovina Miller, age 32, all of Bergholz, Ohio; Raymond Miller, 27; Freeman Burkholder, 31; Elizabeth A. Miller, age unknown; and Kathryn Miller, age unknown, all from Irondale, Ohio; and Lester Mullet, 27, of Hammondsville, Ohio, were found guilty of conspiring to violate the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which prohibits any person from willfully causing bodily injury to any person, or attempting to do so by use of a dangerous weapon, because of the actual or perceived religion of that person.
The jury also convicted various groups of defendants with four hate crime counts against eight specific victims, and found that such hate crimes involved kidnapping. The jury also convicted Samuel Mullet Sr., Lester Mullet and Eli Miller with concealing or attempting to conceal various items of tangible evidence. Finally, the jury also convicted Sam Mullet of making false statements to the FBI.
Judge Dan Aaron Polster scheduled a sentencing hearing on Jan. 24, 2013. The defendants face terms of up to life in prison.
"The violent and offensive actions of these defendants, which were aimed at beliefs and symbols held sacred by this country's Amish citizens, are an affront to religious freedom and tolerance, which are core values protected by our Constitution and our civil rights laws," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "Those laws prohibit the use of violence to settle religious differences and the Department of Justice and the Civil Rights Division will vigorously enforce those laws."
Samuel Mullet Sr., is the Bishop of the Amish community in Bergholz, Ohio, while the remaining defendants are all members of that community. Mullet Sr., exerted control over the Bergholz community by taking the wives of other men into his home, and by overseeing various means of disciplining community members, including corporal punishment, according to trial testimony.
As a result of religious disputes with other members of the Ohio Amish community, the defendants planned and carried out a series of assaults on their perceived religious enemies. The assaults involved the use of hired drivers, either by the defendants or the alleged victims, because practitioners of the Amish religion do not operate motor vehicles. The assaults all entailed using scissors and battery-powered clippers to forcibly cut or shave the beard hair of the male victims and the head hair of the female victims, according to the indictment.
During each assault, the defendants restrained and held down the victims. During some of the assaults, the defendants injured individuals who attempted to intervene to protect or rescue the victims. Following the attacks, some of the defendants participated in discussions about concealing photographs and other evidence of the assaults, according to evidence presented at trial.
"From day one, this case has been about the rule of law and defending the right of people to worship in peace," said Steven Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. "Our nation was founded on the bedrock principle that everyone is free to worship how they see fit. Violent attempts to attack this most basic freedom have no place in our country."
"This case is an excellent example of cooperation between the many law enforcement agencies that investigated these crimes, along with the prosecution team from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice," said Stephen Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI – Cleveland Field Office. "The FBI is committed to investigating hate crimes, including those perpetrated against people motivated by bias toward religion as in this case, or other areas protected by our civil rights statutes."
This case was investigated by the Cleveland Division of the FBI and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Getz and Bridget M. Brennan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio and Deputy Chief Kristy Parker of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. The prosecutor’s and sheriff’s offices from Holmes, Carroll and Jefferson counties also provided significant assistance in the investigation and prosecution of this case.
UNITAS ATLANTIC 2012
FROM: U.S. NAVY
120921-N-QG393-186 PEARL HARBOR (Sept. 21, 2012) The guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a 10-month deployment to the western Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tiarra Fulgham/Released)
120921-N-ZE938-060 CARIBBEAN SEA (Sept. 21, 2012) The Mexican patrol ship ARM Independencia (PO-163), foreground, at sea with the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107) and the British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dauntless (D-33) during a drone exercise for UNITAS Atlantic 2012. UNITAS Atlantic 2012 is an annual naval exercise hosted by Fourth Fleet and consists of naval forces from 13 different partner nations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Frank J. Pikul/Released)
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