PRESIDENT OBAMA'S WEEKLY ADRESS

WEEKLY ADDRESS: Working to Implement the Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama said we are on the way to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act and helping millions of Americans.  Unfortunately, a group of Republicans in Congress are working to confuse people and are even suggesting they will shut down the government if they cannot shut down the health care law.  Health insurance isn’t something to play politics with, and the President will keep working to make sure the law works as it’s supposed to, and he encourages everyone to visit HealthCare.gov to find out more about the law and how to sign up.


Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
August 17, 2013

Hi, everybody.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been visiting with Americans across the country to talk about what we need to do to secure a better bargain for the middle class.

We need to rebuild an economy that rewards hard work and responsibility; an economy built firmly on the cornerstones of middle-class life.  Good jobs.  A good education.  A home of your own.  A secure retirement.  And quality, affordable health care that’s there when you need it.

Right now, we’re well on our way to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act.  And in the next few months, we’ll reach a couple milestones with real meaning for millions of Americans.

If you’re one of the 85% of Americans who already have insurance, you’ve already got new benefits and protections under this law that you didn’t before.  Free checkups, mammograms, and contraceptive care.  Discounted prescription medicine on Medicare.  The fact you can stay on your parents’ plan until you turn 26.  And much, much more.  And it’s okay if you’re not a fan of the Affordable Care Act – you can take advantage of these things anyway.

If you don’t have insurance, beginning on October 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business.  You can comparison shop in an online marketplace, just like you would for cell phone plans or plane tickets.  You may be eligible for new tax credits to help you afford the plan that’s right for you.  And if you’re in the up to half of all Americans who’ve been sick or have a preexisting condition, this law means that beginning January 1st, insurance companies have to cover you – and they can’t use your medical history to charge you more than anybody else.

You can find out more about the law, and how to sign up to buy your own coverage right now at HealthCare.gov.  Tell your friends and neighbors without insurance about it, too.  And tell your kids that there’s a new, easy way to buy affordable plans specifically tailored to young people.

Many Members of Congress, in both parties, are working hard to inform their constituents about these benefits, protections, and affordable plans.  But there’s also a group of Republicans in Congress working hard to confuse people, and making empty promises that they’ll either shut down the health care law, or, if they don’t get their way, they’ll shut down the government.

Think about that.  They’re actually having a debate between hurting Americans who will no longer be denied affordable care just because they’ve been sick – and harming the economy and millions of Americans in the process.  And many Republicans are more concerned with how badly this debate will hurt them politically than they are with how badly it’ll hurt the country.

A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they’ll somehow be sticking it to me.  But they’d just be sticking it to you.

Some even say that if you call their office with questions about the law, they’ll refuse to help.  Call me old-fashioned – but that’s lousy constituent service.  And it’s not what you deserve.

Your health insurance isn’t something to play politics with.  Our economy isn’t something to play politics with.  This isn’t a game.  This is about the economic security of millions of families.

See, in the states where governors and legislatures and insurers are working together to implement this law properly – states like California, New York, Colorado and Maryland – competition and consumer choice are actually making insurance affordable.

So I’m going to keep doing everything in my power to make sure this law works as it’s supposed to.  Because in the United States of America, health insurance isn’t a privilege – it is your right.  And we’re going to keep it that way.

Thanks.  And have a great weekend.

MT. EVEREST ICE

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81823&src=eoa-iotd

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS ON VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED IN EGYPT

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
Remarks by Secretary of State John Kerry on Egypt
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Press Briefing Room
Washington, DC
August 14, 2013

Sorry to keep you waiting, folks. I’ll make a statement and then Jen Psaki will stay and take questions and brief everybody.

The United States strongly condemns today’s violence and bloodshed across Egypt. It’s a serious blow to reconciliation and the Egyptian’s people’s hopes for a transition towards democracy and inclusion. In the past week, at every occasion, perhaps even more than the past week, we and others have urged the government to respect the rights of free assembly and of free expression, and we have also urged all parties to resolve this impasse peacefully and underscored that demonstrators should avoid violence and incitement.

Today’s events are deplorable and they run counter to Egyptian aspirations for peace, inclusion, and genuine democracy. Egyptians inside and outside of the government need to take a step back. They need to calm the situation and avoid further loss of life. We also strongly oppose a return to a state of emergency law and we call on the government to respect basic human rights including freedom of peaceful assembly and due process under the law. And we believe that the state of emergency should end as soon as possible.

Violence is simply not a solution in Egypt or anywhere else. Violence will not create a roadmap for Egypt’s future. Violence only impedes the transition to an inclusive civilian government, a government chosen in free and fair elections that governs democratically, consistent with the goals of the Egyptian revolution. And violence and continued political polarization will only further tear the Egyptian economy apart and prevent it from growing and providing the jobs and the future that the people of Egypt want so badly.

The United States strongly supports the Egyptian people’s hope for a prompt and sustainable transition to an inclusive, tolerant, civilian-led democracy. Deputy Secretary of State Burns, together with our EU colleagues, provided constructive ideas and left them on the table during our talks in Cairo last week. From my many phone calls with many Egyptians, I believe they know full well what a constructive process would look like. The interim government and the military, which together possess the preponderance of power in this confrontation, have a unique responsibility to prevent further violence and to offer constructive options for an inclusive, peaceful process across the entire political spectrum. This includes amending the constitution, holding parliamentary and presidential elections, which the interim government itself has called for.

All of the other parties – all of the opposition, all of civil society, all parties – also share a responsibility to avoid violence and to participate in a productive path towards a political solution. There will not be a solution through further polarization. There can only be a political solution by bringing people together with a political solution.

So this is a pivotal moment for all Egyptians. The path towards violence leads only to greater instability, economic disaster, and suffering. The only sustainable path for either side is one towards a political solution. I am convinced from my conversations today with a number of foreign ministers, including the Foreign Minister of Egypt, I am convinced that that path is, in fact, still open and it is possible, though it has been made much, much harder, much more complicated, by the events of today.

The promise of the 2011 revolution has simply never been fully realized, and the final outcome of that revolution is not yet decided. It will be shaped in the hours ahead, in the days ahead. It will be shaped by the decisions which all of Egypt’s political leaders make now and in these days ahead. The world is closely watching Egypt and is deeply concerned about the events that we have witnessed today. The United States remains at the ready to work with all of the parties and with our partners and with others around the world in order to help achieve a peaceful, democratic way forward.

Now Jen will be happy to answer any questions. Thanks.

USDA RELEASES REPORT ON THE ILLEGAL SALE OF SNAP BENEFITS FOR CASH OR INELIGIBLE ITEMS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

USDA Releases New Report on Trafficking and Announces Additional Measures to Improve Integrity in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

WASHINGTON, August 15, 2013 – Agriculture Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon today released a report that examines the trafficking rate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and better pinpoints where the vast majority of SNAP trafficking occurs—smaller stores that typically offer minimal access to the healthier foods encouraged by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin gathering public input on establishing stricter “depth of stock” requirements for SNAP retailers in order to discourage bad actors from entering and abusing the program. This move also supports USDA’s continuing efforts to improve SNAP recipients’ access to healthy foods.

The report indicates that the vast majority of trafficking – the illegal sale of SNAP benefits for cash or other ineligible items – occurs in smaller-sized retailers that typically stock fewer healthy foods. Over the last five fiscal years, the number of retailers authorized to participate in SNAP has grown by over 40 percent; small- and medium-sized retailers account for the vast majority of that growth. The rate of trafficking in larger grocery stores and supermarkets—where 82 percent of all benefits were redeemed—remained low at less than 0.5 percent.

While the overall trafficking rate has remained relatively steady at approximately one cent on the dollar, the report attributes the change in the rate to 1.3 percent primarily to the growth in small- and medium-sized retailers authorized to accept SNAP that may not provide sufficient healthful offerings to recipients. These retailers accounted for 85 percent of all trafficking redemptions. This finding echoes a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that suggested minimal stocking requirements in SNAP may contribute to corrupt retailers entering the program.

“USDA has a zero tolerance policy on fraud, and we continue to strengthen our anti-fraud tactics to identify and exclude bad actors. More than any other factor, we know that the change in the trafficking rate is being driven by the growth in the number of smaller retailers where trafficking occurs at ten times the rate of larger grocery stores and supermarkets,” said Concannon. “And while the vast majority of retailers and participants are honest, exploring enhanced retailer requirements reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that everyone plays by the rules.”

In order to begin the process of establishing stricter retailer stocking requirements, USDA will be publishing a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register to solicit feedback from stakeholders and the public.

USDA today also finalized a rule that will provide states the option to require SNAP recipients to make contact with the state when there have been an excessive number of requests for EBT card replacements in a year. Requesting excessive replacement cards can indicate that a client is exchanging SNAP cards for cash or other ineligible items. The rule will provide states the opportunity to determine whether the request is legitimate, or requires further investigation.

“Eliminating waste, fraud and abuse is a shared responsibility between the federal government and the states that administer SNAP,” said Concannon. “This new rule better safeguards the taxpayer investment in this critical nutrition program by providing states with additional tools to investigate potentially fraudulent behavior.”

SNAP continues to have one of the lowest fraud rates for Federal programs. Over the past several years, USDA has taken steps to improve SNAP oversight through its SNAP Stewardship Solutions Project. USDA has seen declines in the rate of trafficking from four percent down to about one percent of benefits over the last 15 years. While fraud is rare in SNAP, no amount is acceptable, and it will not be tolerated. USDA continues to crack down on individuals who violate the program and misuse taxpayer dollars by:

Supporting a Robust Investigation Process that, so far this fiscal year, has led to sanctioning of 549 stores and permanent disqualification of 826 stores for trafficking in SNAP benefits or falsifying an application. In 2012, USDA reviewed more than 15,000 stores and permanently disqualified almost 1,400 for program violations, a 14 percent increase over the 1,215 disqualified permanently in FY 2011. The Administration has requested additional resources for program integrity in the fiscal year 2014 budget request.

Cracking Down on New Forms of Fraud by requiring more frequent reviews of higher risk retailers, and expanding the definition of fraud to include so-called “water dumping” and online schemes to illegally sell benefits through social media sites like Facebook, Craigslist and Twitter.

Establishing Stiffer Penalties including a proposed rule that allows USDA to not only permanently disqualify a retailer who traffics, but to assess a monetary penalty in addition to the disqualification, and a separate proposal that would authorize USDA to immediately suspend payments to retailers suspected of flagrant trafficking violations while the retailer is under investigation.
Strengthening State Partnerships through data-sharing agreements to help states more aggressively target suspicious recipient activity and State Law Enforcement Bureau agreements, including a recently announced partnership with Massachusetts, that expands the power of states to investigate retailer fraud.
Improving Program Administration including ensuring that only eligible individuals participate and that recipients receive the correct amount of benefits with a record-high payment accuracy rate of 96.58 percent.

The SNAP Stewardship Solutions Project is part of the Obama Administration's ongoing Campaign to Cut Waste designed to fight fraud, abuse and misuse in federal programs. For more information about USDA efforts to combat fraud, visit the Stop SNAP fraud website at www.fns.usda.gov/snap/fraud.htm.

SNAP is the nation's first line of defense against hunger and is a vital supplement to the monthly food budget of millions low-income individuals. Nearly half of SNAP participants are children and more than 40 percent of recipients live in households with earnings.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) oversees the administration of 15 nutrition assistance programs, including the Summer Food Service Program and other child nutrition programs, that touch the lives of one in four Americans over the course of a year. These programs work in concert to form a national safety net against hunger. Visit www.fns.usda.gov for information about FNS and nutrition assistance programs.

COMPANY AND FORMER CFO CHARGED BY SEC WITH FRAUD

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 
Commission Charges Anchor Bancorp Wisconsin and Former CFO with Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it filed a settled civil action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against Anchor Bancorp Wisconsin, Inc. (Anchor) and Dale C. Ringgenberg, Anchor's former Chief Financial Officer. The Commission's complaint alleged, among other things, that Anchor and Ringgenberg intentionally or recklessly made material misstatements in Anchor's quarterly Report on Form 10 Q for the period ended June 30, 2009.

The Commission's complaint alleges that Ringgenberg took, or failed to take, actions to keep from having to correct earnings that Anchor had already released to its shareholders. Ringgenberg manipulated an estimate to offset an accounting adjustment required by Anchor's external auditors, and he refused or failed to properly account for real estate appraisals and related information that was available after the quarter closed but before Anchor filed its quarterly report.

Without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission's complaint, Anchor agreed to settle the action against it by consenting to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining it from violating Sections 10(b), 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and Rules 10b-5 and 13a-13 thereunder. Ringgenberg agreed to consent, without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission's complaint, to the entry of a final judgment: (1) permanently enjoining him from violating Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Exchange Act Rules 10b-5, 13a 14, 13b2 1, and 13b2-2(a) and from aiding and abetting violations of Exchange Act Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) and Rule 13a-13 thereunder; (2) imposing a civil penalty of $75,000; and (3) barring him from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years. The settlement is subject to the approval of the district court.

The Commission acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, and the Madison, Wisconsin Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

MICROBIAL ASTRONAUTS

FROM:  NASA 
Spaceflight Alters Bacterial Social Networks

When astronauts launch into space, a microbial entourage follows. And the sheer number of these followers would give celebrities on Twitter a run for their money. The estimate is that normal, healthy adults have ten times as many microbial cells as human cells within their bodies; countless more populate the environment around us. Although invisible to the naked eye, microorganisms – some friend, some foe – are found practically everywhere.

Microorganisms like bacteria often are found attached to surfaces living in communities known as biofilms. Bacteria within biofilms are protected by a slimy matrix that they secrete. Skip brushing your teeth tomorrow morning and you may personally experience what a biofilm feels like.

One of NASA’s goals is to minimize the health risks associated with extended spaceflight, so it is critical that methods for preventing and treating spaceflight-induced illnesses be developed before astronauts embark upon long-duration space missions. It is important for NASA to learn how bacterial communities that play roles in human health and disease are affected by spaceflight.
In two NASA-funded studies – Micro-2 and Micro-2A – biofilms made by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa were cultured on Earth and aboard space shuttle Atlantis in 2010 and 2011 to determine the impact of microgravity on their behavior. P. aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen that is commonly used for biofilm studies. The research team compared the biofilms grown aboard the International Space Station bound space shuttle with those grown on the ground. The study results show for the first time that spaceflight changes the behavior of bacterial communities.

Although most bacterial biofilms are harmless, some threaten human health and safety. Biofilms can exhibit increased resistance to the immune system’s defenses or treatment with antibiotics. They also can damage vital equipment aboard spacecraft by corroding surfaces or clogging air and water purification systems that provide life support for astronauts. Biofilms cause similar problems on Earth.
“Biofilms were rampant on the Mir space station and continue to be a challenge on the International Space Station, but we still don’t really know what role gravity plays in their growth and development,” said Cynthia Collins, Ph.D., principal investigator for the study and assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. “Before we start sending astronauts to Mars or embarking on other long-term spaceflight missions, we need to be as certain as possible that we have eliminated or significantly reduced the risk that biofilms pose to the human crew and their equipment.”
In 2010 and 2011, during the STS-132 and STS-135 missions aboard space shuttle Atlantis, astronauts in space and scientists on Earth performed nearly simultaneous parallel experiments; both teams cultured samples of P. aeruginosa bacteria using conditions that encouraged biofilm formation.

Identical hardware designed for growing cells during spaceflight were used for both the flight and ground studies. According to Collins, “artificial urine was chosen as a growth medium because it is a physiologically relevant environment for the study of biofilms formed both inside and outside the human body.”
Biofilms were cultured inside specialized fluid processing apparatus composed of glass tubes divided into chambers. The researchers loaded each tube with a membrane that provided a surface on which the bacteria could grow; the artificial urine was used for the bacteria’s nourishment. Samples of P. aeruginosa were loaded into separate chambers within each tube.

The prepared tubes were placed in groups of eight inside another specialized device called a group activation pack (GAP) – designed to activate all of the bacterial cultures at once. The research team prepared identical sets of GAPs for the concurrent spaceflight and ground experiments.

Astronauts aboard the shuttle initiated the flight experiments by operating the GAPs and introducing the bacteria to the artificial urine medium. Scientists on Earth performed the same operations with the control group of GAPs at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After activation, the GAPs were housed in incubators on Earth and aboard the shuttle to maintain temperatures appropriate for bacterial growth.

After the microgravity samples returned to Earth, the researchers determined the thickness of the biofilms, the number of living cells and the volume of biofilm per area on the membranes. Additionally, they used a microscopy technique that allowed them to capture high-resolution images at different depths within the biofilms, revealing details of their three-dimensional structures.

What the scientists found was that the P. aeruginosa biofilms grown in space contained more cells, more mass and were thicker than the control biofilms grown on Earth. When they viewed the microscopy images of the space-grown biofilms, the researchers saw a unique, previously unobserved structure consisting of a dense mat-like “canopy” structure supported above the membrane by “columns.” The Earth grown biofilms were uniformly dense, flat structures. These results provide the first evidence that spaceflight affects community-level behavior of bacteria.

Microbes experience “low shear” conditions in microgravity that resemble conditions inside the human body, but are difficult to study. According to Collins, “Beyond its importance for astronauts and future space explorers, this research also could lead to novel methods for preventing and treating human disease on Earth. Examining the effects of spaceflight on biofilm formation can provide new insights into how different factors, such as gravity, fluid dynamics and nutrient availability affect biofilm formation on Earth. Additionally, the research findings one day could help inform new, innovative approaches for curbing the spread of infections in hospitals.”

NASA’s Space Biology Program funded the Micro-2 and Micro-2A investigations. Related space biology research continues aboard the space station, including recently selected studies that are planned for future launch to the orbiting laboratory.

Wherever we go, microbial communities will faithfully follow, making this evidence of the effects of spaceflight on bacterial physiology relevant to human health. That bacterial biofilms exhibit different behavior in space versus on Earth is critical information as NASA strives to keep astronauts healthy and safe during future long-duration space missions.
by Gianine M. Figliozzi

STRAIT OF TIRAN, RED SEA AND GULF OF AQABA

Strait of Tiran, Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba

VA HAS IDENTIFIED RESPIRATORY CANCERS ASSOCIATED WITH AGENT ORANGE

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

Veterans' Diseases Associated with Agent Orange » Respiratory Cancers

Veterans who develop respiratory cancer (lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea) and
were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during military service do not have to prove a connection between their disease and service to be eligible to receive VA health care and disability compensation.

About respiratory cancers

Respiratory cancers are cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus.
Symptoms vary, depending on the location of the cancer:

Lung cancer—a new cough or cough that doesn't go away, coughing up blood, shortness of breath, chest pain, hoarseness

Cancer of the trachea—dry cough, hoarseness, breathlessness, difficulty swallowing

Cancer of the larynx (at the top of the trachea)—hoarseness, voice changes, sore throat or earache, feeling of a lump in the throat
Cancer of the bronchus—cough, chest pain, coughing blood
Visit Medline Plus to learn more about treatment of cancer and the latest research from the National Institutes of Health.

Guard against lung cancer
Number one rule: Don’t smoke and avoid second-hand smoke. VA can help you every step of the way to quit smoking.

VA benefits for respiratory cancers
Veterans with respiratory cancers (lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea) who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during service may be eligible for disability compensation and health care.

Veterans who served in Vietnam, the Korean demilitarized zone or another area where Agent Orange was sprayed may be eligible for an Agent Orange Registry health exam, a free, comprehensive examination.

Surviving spouses, dependent children and dependent parents of Veterans who were exposed to herbicides during military service and died as the result of respiratory cancers may be eligible for survivors' benefits.

Research on respiratory cancers and herbicides used in Vietnam
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences concluded in its 1994 report "Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam" and in future updates that there is limited/suggestive evidence of an association between exposure to herbicides (2,4-D; 2,4,5-T and its contaminant TCDD; cacodylic acid; and picloram) and respiratory cancers.

In updates to this report, IOM noted that associations linking development of respiratory cancers and exposure to dioxin were found consistently only when herbicide exposures appeared to be high and prolonged.

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS AT DIPLOMATIC AND POLITICAL JOINT COORDINATING COMMITTEE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks at the Diplomatic and Political Joint Coordinating Committee Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
Deputy Secretary Conference Room
Washington, DC
August 15, 2013

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome. We’re very, very happy to welcome Foreign Minister Zebari and Ambassador Faily from Iraq, and the rest of the Iraqi delegation who we just met with and will be coming in here for a meeting following our opening comments. We’ve just had a very good bilateral meeting in which we discussed the challenges that Iraq faces, the importance of Iraq and its relationship with the United States, and we are going to continue those discussions this morning in the Joint Coordination Committee.
I want to start just by noting that since the time that this committee met last September, Iraq has taken a number of noteworthy diplomatic strides. I visited Iraq last March, and at that time, there was great division. Parties within Iraq were not talking to each other; there’d been a two-year hiatus in meetings. Since then, a host of progress has been made. First of all, Iraq has settled a number of difficult issues with Kuwait stemming from the 1991 Gulf War. Iraq has dramatically improved relations with Jordan. It has improved its relations with Turkey. In addition, it has also begun to stabilize broader relationships in the region, and we welcome Foreign Minister Zebari’s plan to meet with Foreign Minister Davutoglu of Turkey in the very near future in order to discuss issues of mutual interest.

We also welcome the fact that they have renewed relations with Kuwait and are currently paying very serious amounts of money as a matter of settling the claims from 1991. So there are significant things that are being achieved. We also welcome the internal political process that Iraq has made over the last months. But they – nobody should make any mistake, and we haven’t this morning. We know there are very significant challenges that still remain, and we must face them together.

Iraq sits at the intersection of regional currents of increasingly turbulent, violent, and unpredictable actions. Sunni and Shia extremists on both sides of the sectarian divide throughout the region have an ability to be able to threaten Iraq’s stability if they’re not checked. And al-Qaida, as we have seen, has launched a horrific series of assaults on innocent Iraqis, even taking credit for the deplorable bombings this past weekend that targeted families that were celebrating the Eid holiday. And this al-Qaida network, we know, stretches well beyond Iraq’s borders. With many al-Qaida leaders now operating in Syria, we all need to accelerate our work in order to set the conditions for a diplomatic settlement to the Syrian crisis. Iraq was in Geneva at the first meeting of Geneva, and the Foreign Minister himself made significant contributions to that process. I know that Iraqis support the vision of a stable and peaceful Syria, and we look forward to discussing how we can work to make that a reality.

We hope also to discuss this morning the issue of weapons flowing from the Syrian conflict into Iraq for use against Iraqis or weapons flowing through Iraq and going into Syria. It’s a two-way street and it’s a dangerous street. There has been some progress in this area since my visit to Iraq in March, but Foreign Minister Zardari – Zebari agrees there is very significant progress yet to be made.

So this morning, we will discuss the ongoing efforts of Iran and Hezbollah that are trying to fuel the dangerous conflict in the region from the other side. And we agreed that we cannot allow them to play on the sectarian divides that recruit young Iraqis to go fight in a foreign war, the same way that we cannot allow al-Qaida and other extremists to recruit young men from Iraq and elsewhere to join into their twisted version of jihad. So we are committed to helping Iraq to withstand these pressures and to bolster the moderate forces throughout the region.

Finally, I want to reiterate: Everyone at this table and all of the people who will share in this discussion this morning share a determination to succeed in overcoming the challenges that we face today despite their seriousness. The United States remains very committed to working together with the Iraqi Government to address regional challenges, and we welcome the steps that have been taken by the Iraqis to build a strong, democratic, and inclusive state. The Foreign Minister agrees with me that there is much that yet can be done internally in Iraq in order to meet some of those internal political challenges, and that progress cannot be made on security issues alone. There needs to be progress within Iraq on political issues, on economic issues, as well as on the larger constitutional issues that have been outstanding for too long. The Foreign Minister agrees that these are challenges we need to beat together.

Our common roadmap in this endeavor is the Strategic Framework Agreement, and that is what has brought us here today. So with this said, I again welcome the Iraqi delegation. We look forward to having a very constructive and successful conversation over the course of the morning and the day.

Thank you, Mr. Foreign Minister, and welcome.

FOREIGN MINISTER ZEBARI: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I appreciate very much what you have said. And we are here with our delegation, in fact, to reaffirm our commitment to our Strategic Framework Agreement with you, also to start meeting on the Joint Coordination Committee on political and diplomatic relations, which is a subcommittee of this SFA.

We have together endured many challenges together, Mr. Secretary, and our mutual relationship have continued engagement of the United States. We’ve always emphasized the importance, the significance, of continued U.S. engagement, which is critical for the success of Iraq and the Iraqi people on our ongoing transformation to a stable, inclusive, democratic, and prosperous country in the heart of the Middle East.

In recent months, as we have seen – and in recent days, in fact – we have seen the new violence or terrorist attacks by al-Qaida more frequently, and it has cost many, many lives. But despite all these attacks, the Iraqi people have not succumbed, in fact, to these atrocities, and I’m here to inform you and the Administration that Iraq is not heading – is not crashing, and it’s not heading to civil or sectarian war. There is a clear determination by the Iraqi leadership that really we’ve been there before in 2007, 2008, we are not going to go there again, and a great deal of self-respect.

The key message here: We’ve come here to seek your help and support and security cooperation with the Iraqi Government, and in fact, in counterterrorism and to have the capacity building for our security forces to stand up to face to this increasing threat from the nexus of al-Qaida and Al-Nusrah Front, as a spillover coming over from Syria, let’s say, into Iraq. And we’ve worked before on these issues. We look forward to your continued support. Al-Qaida is not a local threat; it’s a global threat, as we’ve seen by the recent closures of so many of your diplomatic missions in the region and in North Africa.

Mr. Secretary, I would like to confirm that really Iraq is having an independent and neutral position vis-a-vis the Syrian crisis, and we have said all along we believe that a political solution is the most viable way forward for Syria. We kept our distance on both sides of the conflict, and Iraq has not provided arms, money, or oil to the Syrian regimes. We have kept equidistant with the opposition and with the regime in order to play a helpful role, but our position is difficult. We’ve taken your positions, your views on the overfly, definitely taken some steps but we will do more to make sure that Iraq is independent of its actions and there’s no influence whatsoever here and there.

No volunteers are going – no Iraqi volunteers are going to Syria with the consent of the Iraqi Government at all. I mean, any volunteers who are going may be encouraged by some militias, by some people who want to fuel the conflict and the violence. But believe me, this is not the government policy as such, and we live in a region that we cannot disassociate from what is going on in Syria.

And we’ve seen the terrible event and atrocities that happened yesterday in Egypt. We have ongoing demonstrations in cities in many parts of Iraq, and really they have been going on for the last eight months, and neither the government or even the demonstrators have reached such a level of violence.

So once again, we look forward to our meeting with you and your teams. And Mr. Secretary, I want to say that Iraq is a reliable and dependable ally and partner to the United States. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Thank you very much, Hoshyar, and we look forward to working with you on this, and we’ll work through these issues this morning --

FOREIGN MINISTER ZEBARI: Thank you, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: -- and obviously for some time to come.

FOREIGN MINISTER ZEBARI: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, sir.