PARDON THE TURKEY

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE

Remarks by the President at Pardoning of the Thanksgiving Turkey

North Portico

1:30 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody, and happy Thanksgiving. 

The office of the presidency -- the most powerful position in the world -- brings with it many awesome and solemn responsibilities.  This is not one of them.  (Laughter.)  But the White House Turkey Pardon is a great tradition.  And I know Malia loves it -- as does Sasha. 

Generally speaking, Thanksgiving is a bad day to be a turkey.  Especially at a house with two dogs.  So I salute our two guests of honor -- Caramel and Popcorn -- for their bravery. They came all the way from outside Badger, Minnesota to be with us.  They, like my Chief of Staff, are Vikings fans.  (Laughter.) I’m not sure that they know -- (turkeys gobble) -- uh-oh.  (Laughter.)  See.  I'm not sure they know that that my Bears are heading to Minnesota on Sunday, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm going to give them a break.  (Laughter.) 

We are also excited to have students from Badger High School here.  (Applause.)  Where are you guys?  There they are, right there.  And finally, let me say thank you to John Burkel,  chairman of the National Turkey Federation.  Give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  

Now, 80 turkeys on John’s farm competed for the chance to make it to the White House, and stay off the Thanksgiving table. It was, quite literally, the hunger games.  (Laughter.)  and then, after weeks of vocal practice and prepping for the cameras, the two tributes, Caramel and Popcorn went head-to-head together for America’s vote as top gobbler. 

The competition was stiff, but we can officially declare that Popcorn is the winner -- (applause) -- proving that even a turkey with a funny name can find a place in politics.  (Laughter.)   As for Caramel, he’s sticking around, and he’s already busy raising money for his next campaign.  (Laughter.)   
On a more serious note, later today, Michelle, Malia, Sasha, and I will bring a couple less fortunate turkeys to a great organization that works to help out our neighbors here in D.C. who need it most.  And I want to thank Jaindl’s Turkey Farm in Orefield, Pennsylvania, for donating those dressed birds for the fifth year in a row.  This is a reminder that this is a season to not only be thankful for the incredible blessings that we have, but also to remember the neediest and generously serve those who are not as fortunate.

This is a quintessentially American holiday, and during this time we give thanks to our friends and our family, for citizens who show compassion to those in need, and for neighbors who help strangers they’ve never met.  We give thanks for the blessings of freedom and opportunity that previous generations worked so hard to secure for.  And we give thanks for the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform who serve our nation around the world. 

For those of you who are watching, you keep us safe.  You make us proud, and you remind us of our own obligations to build on the work of our predecessors and leave something better for our own kids.

So on behalf of the Obama family, I want to wish everybody a very happy Thanksgiving.  Tomorrow, as we gather with our own friends and family, we’ll count ourselves lucky that there’s more to be thankful for than we can ever say, and more to be hopeful for than we can ever imagine.

And now, before these turkeys get away -- with the power vested in me, I want to grant Popcorn a full reprieve.  Come on. (Laughter.)  Popcorn, you have a full reprieve from cranberry sauce and stuffing.  We wish you well.  And we’re going to give Carmel a break as well.

All right?  (Laughter.)  Congratulations, everybody.  (Applause.)   Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.  See you, Popcorn. (Applause.)  Get out of the rain.  (Laughter.)

END

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTS FOR NOVEMBER 27, 2013

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
CONTRACTS
NAVY

Toyon Research Corp.**, Goleta, Calif. (N68936-14-D-0001), and Integrity Applications Inc.**, Chantilly, Va. (N68936-14-D-0002), are each being awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the development and fielding of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting systems to improve warfighter situational awareness and weapon delivery capabilities.  The estimated aggregate ceiling for both contracts is $42,282,088, with the companies having an opportunity to compete for individual delivery orders.  Work will be performed in Goleta, Calif., and Chantilly, Va. and work is expected to be completed in November 2018.  Funds are not being obligated at time of award.  Funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued.  This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals as a 100 percent small business set-aside; seven offers were received.  The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $32,388,530 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-2205) for lifecycle engineering and support services for LPD 17 class integrated shipboard electronic systems.  The following services will be provided:  lifecycle engineering and support services, including post-delivery planning, logistics and engineering, homeport technical support, integrated product data environment, data maintenance, equipment management, systems integration and design engineering, software support, research engineering, obsolescence management (both technical and logistics), material readiness support, emergent repair planning, training and logistics support; Planning Yard support of integrated electronic systems, including fleet modernization planning, ship alteration development and installation, material management, configuration data management, research engineering, logistics documentation, and other logistics and executing activity coordination, and management; performance-based logistics support, including providing sustaining engineering and obsolescence management support for unique LPD 17 class integrated shipboard electronic systems.  Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (98 percent), and Norfolk, Va. (2 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2014.  Fiscal 2005 and 2012 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy; fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy and fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $6,229,134 will be obligated at time of award.  Contract funds in the amount of $1,814,508 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Helix Electric Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $24,788,000 firm-fixed-price contract for Dry Dock 8 electrical distribution upgrade at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.  The work to be performed provides for the upgrade of existing shore power to support the new class of aircraft carriers.  Specifically, this project involves installation of an electrical distribution system, a system capable of providing shore power and industrial power at the dry dock.  The contractor will also be responsible for removal and disposal of the existing power system.  The project includes provisions to support the shore power requirements of the adjacent future pier replacement and provides for all electrical, civil, structural and mechanical work associated with the electrical upgrades.  The contract also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase cumulative contract value to $24,973,000.  Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Va., and is expected to be completed by December 2015.  Fiscal 2013 military construction, Navy contract funds in the amount of $24,788,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with seven proposals received.  The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N40085-14-C-8106).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Aerospace Systems, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $13,857,607 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for logistics services in support of the MQ-8B/C Fire Scout unmanned air vehicle.  This work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md. (70 percent), and Pt. Mugu, Calif. (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2014.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $13,857,607 are being obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10U.S.C. 2304 (c) (1).  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-14-C-0012).

Rockwell Collins Inc., Richardson, Texas, is being awarded a $10,834,820 fixed-firm-price contract for sustaining engineering services in support of the E-6B Mercury aircraft.  This contract includes sustaining engineering services for the Mission Avionics System, the Long Trailing Wire Assembly, the Short Trailing Wire Assembly, the High Power Transmit Set and the Internet Protocol Bandwidth Expansion Phase 4 system.  Work will be performed in Richardson, Texas (60 percent) and Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Okla. (40 percent) and is expected to be completed in November 2014.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $2,033,000 are being obligated on this award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-14-C-0027).

Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $9,720,715 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-09-D-0005) to exercise an option for the procurement of 210 HARM AGM-88B/C Guidance Sections for the U.S. Air Force (190) and the Government of Germany (20); 25 HARM AGM-88BC Control Sections for the U.S. Air Force (20) and the Government of Germany (5), including associated technical data.  Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed in August 2015.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Air Force and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $8,280,290 will be obligated at time of award, $7,222,105 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Air Force ($8,662,530; 89 percent) and the Government of Germany ($1,058,185; 11 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Drew Marine USA, Inc., Whippany, N.J., is being awarded a $9,202,490 modification under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with firm-fixed-price delivery orders (N00033-12-D-8000) to exercise a one-year option for the worldwide supply, delivery and services for shipboard chemical treatment; foam testing, supply and disposal; industrial gases; and refrigerants for all U.S. naval ships of Military Sealift Command (MSC) and any other vessel specifically identified by MSC.  Work will be performed worldwide and is expected to be completed November 2014.  If all options are exercised this effort will continue through November 2016.  Fiscal 2014 working capital contract funds in the amount of $9,202,490 are being obligated, and funds will expire at the end of that fiscal year.  The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00033-12-D-8000).

The Hana Group Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii, is being awarded a $6,803,449 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00178-07-D-5082) to exercise option three for range and business/financial support services.  Work will be performed at Kauai, Hawaii, and work is expected to be completed Dec. 1. 2014.  If all options are exercised, work will be completed by Dec. 1, 2015.  This modification increases the value of the basic task order to a new total value of $27,096,766.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $633,150 will be obligated at the time of award, and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was competitively procured using the Navy Sea Port e-procurement portal, with four offers received in response to this solicitation.  The NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity.

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Defense Contract Services Inc.*, Leander, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $20,790,000 firm-fixed-price contract for non-personal services to perform the operation and maintenance for fuels service center and manage all programs and actions required to support the fuels management flight located on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.  This contract is a competitive acquisition, and 14 offers were received.  Locations of performance are Texas and California with a Dec. 31, 2025 performance completion date.  This is a 12-year base contract with one four-year option period.  Using military service is Air Force.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-14-C-5402).

Dixie Chemical Company Inc.**, Houston, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $15,179,076 firm-fixed-price contract for production, storage, and distribution of various types of high density, synthetic hydrocarbon type propellants.  This contract is a competitive acquisition, and three offers were received.  Location of performance is Texas with a Nov. 30, 2018 performance completion date.  This is a five-year base contract with no option year periods.  Using military services are Navy, Air Force, federal civilian agencies and defense contractors.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, San Antonio, Texas, (SPE601-14-D-1502).

Bethel Industries, Inc.**, Jersey City, N.J., has been awarded a maximum $13,967,796 modification (P00014) exercising the first one-year option period on a one-year base contract (SPM1C1-13-D-1015) with four one-year option periods for combat utility uniform trousers.  This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract.  Locations of performance are New Jersey and Mississippi with a Dec. 4, 2014 performance completion date.  Using military service is Marine Corps.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

Short Bark Industries Inc.***, Vonore, Tenn., has been awarded a maximum $10,835,538 modification (P00009) exercising the first one-year option period on a one-year base contract (SPM1C1-13-D-1005) with four one-year option periods for combat utility uniform blouses.  This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract.  Locations of performance are Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and Mississippi with a Dec. 4, 2014 performance completion date.  Using military service is Marine Corps.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

Refinery Associates of Texas Inc.**, New Braunfels, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $8,435,714 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for fuel.  This contract is a competitive acquisition, and seventeen offers were received.  Locations of performance are Texas and United Arab Emirates with a Jan. 30, 2015 performance completion date.  This is a two-year base contract with no option year periods.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-14-D-0453).

Kandor Manufacturing Inc.****, Arecibo, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $6,690,641 modification (P00009) exercising the first one-year option period on a one-year base contract (SPM1C1-13-D-1014) with four one-year option periods for combat utility uniform blouses.  This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract.  Locations of performance are Puerto Rico and Mississippi with a Dec. 4, 2014 performance completion date.  Using military service is Marine Corps.  Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

AIR FORCE

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., has been awarded a $15,500,000 firm-fixed-price modification (P00021) to firm-fixed-price contract (FA8634-12-C-2651) for the procurement of disorientation recovery function capability on the F-15SA aircraft for the Royal Saudi Air Force.  Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and will be completed by Feb. 2, 2015.  Foreign military sales funds for Saudi Arabia in the amount of $2,365,121 are being obligated at time of award.  The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.

Honeywell International Inc., Clearwater, Fla., has been awarded a $9,997,263 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Pendulous Integrating Gyroscopic Accelerometer (PIGA, a component on the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile).  Honeywell will repair PIGA float assemblies which is an ongoing repair effort.  This effort will produce 96 PIGA floats that will be reinserted within the PIGA float assembly repair line.  The PIGA float is an extremely complex, critical precision sub-assembly that is the heart of the PIGA instrument.  Work will be performed in Clearwater, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2015.  This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,234,569 are being obligated at time of award.  Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center/PZBF, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8204-14-C-0002).

ARMY

General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded a $6,950,520 contract modification (P00025) for contract W56HZV-11-C-C002.  Modification is for an equitable adjustment resulting from the impact of a government stop-work order under the Ground Combat Vehicle Technology Development Phase contract.  Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation funds were obligated at the time of the award.  Estimated completion date is June 4, 2014.  Bids were solicited via the Internet with three received.  Work location is Sterling Heights, Mich.  Army Contracting Command (Tank and Automotive), Warren, Mich., is the contracting agency.

City of Monterey, Monterey, Calif., was awarded a $7,024,196 cost contract with options for base operations support services.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $3,780,100 were obligated at the time of the award.  Estimated completion date is Nov. 30, 2014.  One bid was solicited and one received.  Work location is Monterey, Calif.  Army Contracting Command, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting agency (W9124J-14-D-0001).

TRANSPORTATION COMMAND

American Auto Logistics, Limited Partnership, Park Ridge, N.J., is being awarded a $69,000,000 delivery order modification 04 to previously awarded delivery order DAMT01-03-D-0184-0009 to provide Department of Defense-sponsored shipments of privately owned vehicles belonging to military service members and transportation of DOD-sponsored shipments of POVs for DOD civilian employees.  Work will be performed at multiple locations both within and outside of the continental U.S., through March 21, 2014.  Fiscal year 2014 Transportation Working Capital Funds of $69,000,000 are being obligated at the time of modification execution. The contracting activity is the U.S. Transportation Command Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

AAR Airlift Group, Inc., Palm Bay, Fla., is being awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for dedicated fixed wing services in the Central Africa Region (Uganda, Central Africa Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan).  Performance is from Dec. 28, 2013 to Oct. 27, 2015.  Funds will be obligated on individual task orders and are Army operations & maintenance funds.  This contract was a competitive acquisition, and four proposals were received.  The contracting activity is the U.S. Transportation Command Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., (HTC711-14-D-R026).



*Veteran Owned Small Business
**Small Business
***Small InHubZone, Woman Owned Business
****Small Disadvantaged Business

FORMER HONEYWELL EMPLOYEE DEBARRED BY STATE DEPARTMENT FOR DOCUMENT FABRICATION

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
State Department Debars Former Honeywell International Employee for Export Violations
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
November 27, 2013

The State Department issued an order administratively debarring LeAnne Lesmeister, former compliance officer at Honeywell International, Inc. (Honeywell), from participating in any activities that are subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)(22 C.F.R. parts 120-130) for violations of the Arms Export Controls Act (AECA)(22 U.S.C. § 2778) and the ITAR.

Honeywell voluntarily disclosed to the Department numerous ITAR violations carried out by Ms. Lesmeister, its senior export compliance officer in Clearwater, Florida, between 2008 and 2012. Ms. Lesmeister, who had worked in export compliance at Honeywell for twenty-seven years, used her position to circumvent Honeywell’s export compliance program in the fabrication of various export control documents that Ms. Lesmeister presented as Department of State authorizations. Relying on these falsified authorizations, Honeywell exported defense articles, including technical data, and provided defense services to various foreign persons without Department approval in violation of the AECA and ITAR.

The State Department’s Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs performed an extensive compliance review of the disclosed violations. The results of that review indicated no direct harm to U.S. foreign policy or national security. The nature of the violations, however, prompted the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense Trade Controls in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs to formally charge Ms. Lesmeister with twenty-one violations of the AECA and ITAR in connection with her creation and use of Department authorizations, containing false statements or omitting and misrepresenting material facts for the purpose of exporting, retransferring, or furnishing defense articles, technical data, or defense services, and causing the unauthorized export of technical data and provision of defense services.

This administrative debarment is the result of the Department’s first institution of an administrative proceeding by referral of a charging letter before an Administrative Law Judge for consideration pursuant to ITAR § 128.4. The referral and debarment followed Ms. Lesmeister's failure to answer the formal charges.

Acknowledging the serious nature of the violations, Honeywell cooperated fully with the Department’s review and implemented remedial measures to resolve the conditions that allowed the misconduct of one employee, in a position of authority, to bring about significant export compliance violations.

This administrative proceeding highlights the range of potential penalties that may be imposed by the Department on entities or individuals for ITAR violations. Individuals, if found culpable, may not be shielded by their employers for their independent violations. Those persons tasked with an entity’s export responsibilities, should be vigilant in their compliance with all export control regulations.

Under the terms of the administrative debarment, Ms. Lesmeister will be prevented from participating directly or indirectly in any activities that are subject to ITAR for a period of three years and until an application for reinstatement is submitted and approved by the Department. The Department determined that civil penalties were not appropriate at this time.

U.S. MARSHALS RETRIEVE 2003 DOUBLE HOMICIDE SUSPECT FROM ARGENTINA

FROM:  U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE
2003 Double Homicide Suspect Who Fled to Argentina 
Extradited Back to Miami by U.S. Marshals
Miami, FL – Hugo Ramon Quesada, a man wanted on homicide charges by the Miami Dade Police Department arrived back in the U.S. today after being extradited from Argentina.

Deputy U.S. Marshals flew to Argentina earlier this week and took custody of Quesada and returned him to Miami today at 6:10 a.m. Quesada was turned over to the custody of the Miami Dade Police Department upon arrival at the Miami International Airport. In August 2003, an arrest warrant was issued by the Miami Dade Police Department that charges Quesada with two counts of first degree murder, and one count of attempted murder.

On Sunday, Aug. 10, 2003, Quesada went to the home of his wife, Martiza Quesada in Miami and allegedly murdered her. Quesada is alleged to have also killed his wife’s stepfather Emilio Xiques at the same residence and placed his body in a tool shed in the yard. According to police reports, Quesada then drove to his wife’s mother’s home in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami and told her he had just killed her daughter and her husband. Quesada is accused of then stabbing his wife’s mother in the back and fleeing the residence, leaving her for dead. Quesada’s mother-in-law was critically wounded but survived the attack and was able to provide police with the identity of her attacker. Quesada fled the crime scene in a white vehicle rented by Maritza Quesada and was never seen again.

Miami Dade Police homicide detectives named Quesada as a suspect, but soon realized that Quesada fled the United States and returned to his home country of Argentina. On Aug. 19, 2003, Miami Dade police detectives requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals to track down Quesada in Argentina in hopes of returning the suspect back to Miami to face criminal charges. During the next three years, Deputy U.S. Marshals and ICE/HSI agents assigned to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force began interviewing numerous family members and associates of Quesada in Miami to determine where the fugitive was hiding in Argentina.

Hard work and determination finally paid off when Deputy Marshals and ICE/HSI agents in Miami developed information in July 2006 on a location where Quesada was hiding out in Argentina. Deputy Marshals and HSI agents forwarded this information to Interpol Inspectors in Argentina. Deputy Marshals also requested the State Attorney’s Office in Miami to pursue a Provisional Arrest Warrant through the Department of Justice/Office of International Affairs in Washington, D.C.

On Nov. 2, 2006, Quesada was arrested by the Federal Police of Argentina (Interpol) in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the outstanding Provisional Arrest Warrant from the United States. At the time of his arrest, Quesada was utilizing the identity of his brother-in-law in an attempt to avoid capture. Quesada began fighting the extradition process to avoid being returned to the South Florida to face homicide charges.

On Aug. 21, the Supreme Court of Buenos Aires in Argentina approved the extradition of Quesada to be returned back to the United States. On Oct. 24, the Government of Argentina formally approved the extradition. Quesada arrived this morning escorted by U.S. Marshals and was turned over to Miami Dade Police homicide detectives.

This arrest and successful extradition has been the result of the combined efforts of: the Miami Dade Police Department, the Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office, agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/ ICE Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Police of Argentina assigned to Interpol, Department of Justice Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service.

DOD ARTICLE ON RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Right:  Flooded areas of Boulder County, Colo. are seen from a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter Sept. 18, 2013. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Jecca Geffre.
  
FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
DOD Wraps Climate Change Response into Master Plans
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2013 – The effects of climate change are already evident at Defense Department installations in the United States and overseas, and DOD expects climate change to challenge its ability to fulfill its mission in the future, according to the first DOD Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap.
John Conger, the acting deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment told American Forces Press Service the roadmap was completed in 2012 and published early this year.

The document “had us do a variety of things,” Conger said. “But the piece that I think is the crux of the report is, rather than creating a stovepipe within the DOD organizational structure to deal with climate change, [the document says] we are going to integrate climate change considerations into the normal processes, the day-to-day jobs of everybody.”

Such language is going to be integrated into various guidance documents, he added, “and we’ve already started doing that.”

The department’s action is part of a federal government effort to address the global challenge. In June, President Barack Obama launched a Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution, prepare communities for climate change impacts and lead similar international efforts.

Across the United States, local communities and cities are updating building codes, adjusting the way they manage natural resources, investing in more resilient infrastructure and planning for rapid recovery from damage that could occur due to climate change.

And on Nov. 1, the president issued an executive order on climate preparedness directing federal agencies to modernize programs to support climate-resilient investments, manage lands and waters for climate change preparedness and resilience, and plan for climate-change-related risk, among other things.
The order also forms an interagency council on climate preparedness and resilience, chaired by the White House and composed of more than 25 agencies, including the Defense Department.

The foundation for DOD’s strategic policy on climate change began with the defense secretary’s publication in 2010 of the Quadrennial Defense Review. The QDR, produced every four years, translates the National Defense Strategy into policies and initiatives.

In 2010, the QDR for the first time linked climate change and national security. It said climate change may affect DOD by shaping the department’s operating environments, roles and missions, have significant geopolitical impacts worldwide, and accelerate instability or conflict.

The QDR said DOD also would have to adjust to climate change impacts on its facilities, infrastructure, training and testing activities and military capabilities.
As the acting deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, Conger also is the department’s senior climate official, and his first job is to manage the installations and environment portfolio.

“That includes over 500 bases and 300,000 buildings and 2.2 billion square feet of space,” he said. “The infrastructure has a plant replacement value on the order of $850 billion. There’s a lot of stuff out there that is all going to be impacted by changes in the climate.”

Conger said the department has to plan for the contingencies that climate change poses just as it would plan for any other contingency, driven by any other force in the world.

“As I look at managing the infrastructure, I have to think about risk as well in that context,” he said. “What is climate change likely to do? What are the major changes that will occur that will affect that $850 billion real property portfolio?”
The obvious threats are things like a rise in sea-levels, storm surges and storm intensity, but there’s also drought and thawing permafrost that affects bases in Alaska, the deputy undersecretary added.

“Similarly, on our installations we have over 400 endangered species,” he said. “We manage those species through documents called integrated natural resources management plans and we manage [them] not through some degree of altruism … but the fact is that if we don’t manage those species effectively and they do appear more threatened, then other regulatory agencies will put limits on what we can do on our property and that will impact training.”

Conger added, “We said, ‘Take climate into account. Make sure you have planned for this. Make sure you have thought about it and addressed it in your [installation management] plans.’”

“These are all, in my mind, sensible, reasonable steps that don’t cost very much money today and just require a little bit of forethought in order to reduce our exposure to risk tomorrow.”

The president’s June Climate Action Plan categorized recommendations for action in terms of mitigating or eliminating emissions that cause climate change, adapting to climate change, and working internationally on climate change, Conger said.
DOD has been looking at mitigation, or the energy problem, for a long time, the deputy undersecretary added.

Energy and climate are tied together, Conger said, because energy and emissions are tied together.

“We are working very hard and diligently to reduce our energy usage, to reduce our energy intensity and to increase the use of renewable energy, which doesn’t have emissions,” he said. “And we have done each of these things not because it is good for the climate or because it reduces emissions but because they provide mission and monetary benefits.”

Conger says the department’s $4 billion annual utility bill drives the search for energy-efficiency, renewable-energy development projects and more. All have benefits from a mission perspective first, he said, and also turn out to be good for the environment.

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS ON GENEVA TALKS WITH IRAN

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 26, 2013


SECRETARY KERRY: You'll be hearing a lot about what the United States and our partners just achieved in Geneva so I wanted to take a minute to share with you an inside view of what we really accomplished here and to explain very clearly what it is and what it isn't. First of all, this is a beginning. It's a first step. Over the coming months, we're going to roll up our sleeves and keep working with the parties at the table in order to reach a final, comprehensive agreement that ensures Iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon and that the nuclear program that they do have will be entirely peaceful. And that has to be absolutely verifiable.
So let me lay out the main points of what we've already achieved here in this first step agreement. And the reason I want to do that is, it's significant. This agreement that we've just signed is the first in almost a decade to put any kind of meaningful limits on Iran's nuclear program. And we're not just slowing down its progress; we're actually halting it and even rolling it back in some key areas. That's very important. It means that even as we continue to move forward with negotiations, Iran's nuclear program will not move forward, and in some respects it's going to be moving backwards.

So here's exactly what this agreement does. In order to work, nuclear weapons require either highly enriched uranium or plutonium. Uranium, as I'm sure you know, is found in nature, but it's found in a form, a raw form, that can't be used for a bomb. So to make it useful for nuclear weapons, you need to separate the majority of the uranium that is not useful for nuclear weapons from the small amount that is, and this is a process called enrichment.

Highly enriched uranium, or HEU, can be produced in a number of ways, but an increasingly common way is through the use of centrifuges because they are low power, very cheap to operate, and easy to hide. Uranium for weapons is about 90% enriched. And uranium for reactors, for instance to give you nuclear power for your electricity in your home, is usually at about 5%. So you see the difference here. Plutonium, on the other hand, is not found in nature. It requires putting uranium into a reactor and then you separate out the plutonium from the uranium. Our proposal addresses both of these paths to nuclear weapons.

On enrichment, we are eliminating Iran's stockpile of already enriched - 20% enriched - uranium. We are holding their centrifuge program where it is today, and we are stopping them from using their most advanced centrifuges. These are centrifuges that can separate uranium very quickly and do the enrichment very fast so they are very risky and that's why we keep them away from that process for now.

On plutonium, we're putting on hold the most meaningful parts of their reactor that's currently under construction in a place called Arak, Iran. Now this is their most likely source of plutonium, and that's why it's something we are absolutely determined to stop. On top of this, we're also adding more international inspections so that we know exactly what Iran is doing at these risky places and that is very consistent with our deal and, most importantly, it's so that we can make absolutely certain that they are not using these facilities during the time that we're negotiating the comprehensive deal in order to move towards nuclear weapons. In other words, we're verifying, and for the first time, we will get inspectors into their critical facilities every single day.

Now let me tell you what this first step does not do, because some people are putting out some misinformation on it and I want it to be clear. It does not lift the current architecture of our sanctions. Our sanctions are basically banking and oil sanctions, and those sanctions will stay in place. All the core sanctions on financial services remain firmly in place, and we do this in exchange for Iran keeping its end of the agreement -- that they will get a small amount of additional money which is totally reversible if we need to, if they don't keep their word, but we give them a small amount of relief. Iran will be allowed to repatriate about $4.2 billion or so in oil revenues and will be allowed to export about $2.5 billion in petrochemicals and vehicles. So believe me, when I say this relief is limited and reversible, I mean it.

We all know that if the agreement falls apart, Iran is going to quickly face even tougher sanctions. I want you to know these were not easy negotiations. We drove a very hard bargain to achieve what we needed to in terms of our verification and certainty about where they're going. And we drove a hard bargain because we have one unwavering purpose in our goal. President Obama has been absolutely clear that Iran cannot and will not acquire a nuclear weapon. And today, thanks to this effort, we took an important first step towards guaranteeing that that never happens, and I think we did it in the most effective way. We did it through diplomacy.

So now it's time to get back to work. We are immediately going to work on the final agreement, the comprehensive agreement, and our diplomats and our experts will be at the negotiating table very soon again working to achieve this final comprehensive agreement that addresses all of our concerns and our friends: Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Arab Emirates, others. The whole world has an interest in making sure that this is a peaceful program. We absolutely also have an interest in trying to achieve that through a peaceful, diplomatic means and also to have a total answer to the question that challenges the security of the United States, the Middle East, and the world.

So we're going to get this done, I hope, but we're not cocky about it. We're not overconfident. It's going to take a lot of work, and in the end, it's really up to Iran to make the choice, to prove that its program is indeed peaceful. They can say it, but saying it doesn't make it happen. It has to be proven. And in the end, they have to be the ones to make the choice to do that. So let's work together, all of us, to try and forge a different future that benefits all of us. Thank you.

WEATHERFORD INTERNATIONAL SUBSIDIARIES PLEAD GUILTY TO FCPA AND TRADING WITH THE ENEMY ACT VIOLATIONS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Three Subsidiaries of Weatherford International Limited Agree to Plead Guilty to FCPA and Export Control Violations
Weatherford International and Subsidiaries Agree to Pay $252 Million in Penalties and Fines

Three subsidiaries of Weatherford International Limited (Weatherford International), a Swiss oil services company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange, have agreed to plead guilty to anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and export controls violations under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading With the Enemy Act (TWEA).  Weatherford International and its subsidiaries have also agreed to pay more than $252 million in penalties and fines.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas, and Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.  

Weatherford Services Limited (Weatherford Services), a subsidiary of Weatherford International, today agreed to plead guilty to violating the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.  As part of a coordinated FCPA resolution, the department today also filed a criminal information in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas charging Weatherford International with one count of violating the internal controls provisions of the FCPA.   To resolve the charge, Weatherford International has agreed to pay an $87.2 million criminal penalty as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the department.

“Effective internal accounting controls are not only good policy, they are required by law for publicly traded companies – and for good reason,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.  “This case demonstrates how loose controls and an anemic compliance environment can foster foreign bribery and fraud by a company’s subsidiaries around the globe.  Although Weatherford’s extensive remediation and its efforts to improve its compliance functions are positive signs, the corrupt conduct of Weatherford International’s subsidiaries allowed it to earn millions of dollars in illicit profits, for which it is now paying a significant price.”
“When business executives engage in bribery and pay-offs in order to obtain contracts, an uneven marketplace is created and honest competitor companies are put at a disadvantage,” said Assistant Director in Charge Parlave.  “The FBI is committed to investigating corrupt backroom deals that influence contract procurement and threaten our global commerce.”

In a separate matter, Weatherford International and four of its subsidiaries today agreed to pay a combined $100 million to resolve a criminal and administrative export controls investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.   As part of the resolution of that investigation, Weatherford International has agreed to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement for a term of two years and two of its subsidiaries have agreed to plead guilty to export controls charges.

“The resolution today of these criminal charges represents the seriousness that our office and the Department of Justice puts on enforcing the export control and sanctions laws,” said U.S. Attorney Magidson.

In a related FCPA matter, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC) filed a settlement today in which Weatherford International consented to the entry of a permanent injunction against FCPA violations and agreed to pay $65,612,360 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.   Weatherford International also agreed with the SEC to comply with certain undertakings regarding its FCPA compliance program, including the retention of an independent corporate compliance monitor.

The combined investigations resulted in the conviction of three Weatherford subsidiaries, the entry by Weatherford International into two deferred prosecution agreements and a civil settlement, and the payment of a total of $252,690,606 in penalties and fines.

FCPA Violations

According to court documents filed by the department, prior to 2008, Weatherford International knowingly failed to establish an effective system of internal accounting controls designed to detect and prevent corruption, including FCPA violations.  The company failed to implement these internal controls despite operating in an industry with a substantial corruption risk profile and despite growing its global footprint in large part by purchasing existing companies, often themselves in countries with high corruption risks.   As a result, a permissive and uncontrolled environment existed within which employees of certain of Weatherford International’s wholly owned subsidiaries in Africa and the Middle East were able to engage in corrupt conduct over the course of many years, including both bribery of foreign officials and fraudulent misuse of the United Nations’ Oil for Food Program.

Court documents state that Weatherford Services employees established and operated a joint venture in Africa with two local entities controlled by foreign officials and their relatives from 2004 through at least 2008.   The foreign officials selected the entities with which Weatherford Services would partner, and Weatherford Services and Weatherford International employees knew that the members of the local entities included foreign officials’ relatives and associates.   Notwithstanding the fact that the local entities did not contribute capital, expertise or labor to the joint venture, neither Weatherford Services nor Weatherford International investigated why the local entities were involved in the joint venture.   The sole purpose of those local entities, in fact, was to serve as conduits through which Weatherford Services funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to the foreign officials controlling them.   In exchange for the payments they received from Weatherford Services through the joint venture, the foreign officials awarded the joint venture lucrative contracts, gave Weatherford Services inside information about competitors’ pricing, and took contracts away from Weatherford Services’ competitors and awarded them to the joint venture.

Additionally, Weatherford Services employees in Africa bribed a foreign official so that he would approve the renewal of an oil services contract, according to court documents.   Weatherford Services funneled bribery payments to the foreign official through a freight forwarding agent it retained via a consultancy agreement in July 2006.   Weatherford Services generated sham purchase orders for consulting services the freight forwarding agent never performed, and the freight forwarding agent, in turn, generated sham invoices for those same nonexistent services.   When paid for those invoices, the freight forwarding agent passed at least some of those monies on to the foreign official with the authority to approve Weatherford Services’ contract renewal.   In exchange for these payments, the foreign official awarded the renewal contract to Weatherford Services in 2006.

Further, according to court documents, in a third scheme in the Middle East, from 2005 through 2011, employees of Weatherford Oil Tools Middle East Limited (WOTME), another Weatherford International subsidiary, awarded improper “volume discounts” to a distributor who supplied Weatherford International products to a government-owned national oil company, believing that those discounts were being used to create a slush fund with which to make bribe payments to decision-makers at the national oil company.   Between 2005 and 2011, WOTME paid approximately $15 million in volume discounts to the distributor.  

Weatherford International’s failure to implement effective internal accounting controls also permitted corrupt conduct relating to the United Nations’ Oil for Food Program to occur, according to court documents.   Between in or about February 2002 and in or about July 2002, WOTME paid approximately $1,470,128 in kickbacks to the government of Iraq on nine contracts with Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, as well as other ministries, to provide oil drilling and refining equipment.   WOTME falsely recorded these kickbacks as other, seemingly legitimate, types of costs and fees.   Further, WOTME concealed the kickbacks from the U.N. by inflating contract prices by 10 percent.

According to court documents, these corrupt transactions in Africa and the Middle East earned Weatherford International profits of $54,486,410, which were included in the consolidated financial statements that Weatherford International filed with the SEC .

In addition to the guilty plea by Weatherford Services, the deferred prosecution agreement entered into by Weatherford International and the Department requires the company to cooperate with law enforcement, retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for at least 18 months, and continue to implement an enhanced compliance program and internal controls designed to prevent and detect future FCPA violations.   The agreement acknowledges Weatherford International’s cooperation in this matter, including conducting a thorough internal investigation into bribery and related misconduct, and its extensive remediation and compliance improvement efforts.

Export Control Violations

According to court documents filed today in a separate matter, between 1998 and 2007, Weatherford International and some its subsidiaries engaged in conduct that violated various U.S. export control and sanctions laws by exporting or re-exporting oil and gas drilling equipment to, and conducting Weatherford business operations in, sanctioned countries without the required U.S. Government authorization.   In addition to the involvement of employees of several Weatherford International subsidiaries, some Weatherford International executives, managers, or employees on multiple occasions participated in, directed, approved, and facilitated the transactions and the conduct of its various subsidiaries.

This conduct involved persons within the U.S.-based management structure of Weatherford International participating in conduct by Weatherford International foreign subsidiaries, and the unlicensed export or re-export of U.S.-origin goods to Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria. Weatherford subsidiaries Precision Energy Services Colombia Ltd. (PESC) and Precision Energy Services Ltd. (PESL), both headquartered in Canada, conducted business in the country of Cuba.   Weatherford’s subsidiary Weatherford Oil Tools Middle East (WOTME), headquartered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), conducted business in the countries of Iran, Sudan, and Syria.   Weatherford’s subsidiary Weatherford Production Optimisation f/k/a eProduction Solutions U.K. Ltd. (eProd-U.K.), headquartered in the United Kingdom, conducted business in the country of Iran. Weatherford generated approximately $110 million in revenue from its illegal transactions in Cuba, Iran, Syria and Sudan.    

To resolve these charges, Weatherford and its subsidiaries will pay a total penalty of $100 million, with a $48 million monetary penalty paid pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement, $2 million paid in criminal fines pursuant to the two guilty pleas, and a $50 million civil penalty paid pursuant to a Department of Commerce settlement agreement to resolve 174 violations charged by Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.   Weatherford International and certain of its affiliates are also signing a $91 million settlement agreement with the Department of the Treasury to resolve their civil liability arising out of the same underlying course of conduct, which will be deemed satisfied by the payments above.

The FCPA case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and its team of special agents dedicated to the investigation of foreign bribery cases.   The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jason Linder of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark McIntyre of the Southern District of Texas.  The case was previously investigated by Fraud Section Trial Attorneys Kathleen Hamann and Allan Medina, with assistance from the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section.  The Justice Department also acknowledges and expresses its appreciation for the significant assistance provided by the SEC’s FCPA Unit.

The export case was investigated by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement, and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.   The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Mark McIntyre and was previously investigated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Vaden.

WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT ON HOBBY LOBBY SUPREME COURT CASE

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 
Statement by the Press Secretary Regarding Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

The health care law puts women and families in control of their health care by covering vital preventive care, like cancer screenings and birth control, free of charge.  Earlier this year, the Obama Administration asked the Supreme Court to consider a legal challenge to the health care law’s requirement that for-profit corporations include birth control coverage in insurance available to their employees.  We believe this requirement is lawful and essential to women’s health and are confident the Supreme Court will agree.

We do not comment on specifics of a case pending before the Court.  As a general matter, our policy is designed to ensure that health care decisions are made between a woman and her doctor.  The President believes that no one, including the government or for-profit corporations, should be able to dictate those decisions to women.  The Administration has already acted to ensure no church or similar religious institution will be forced to provide contraception coverage and has made a commonsense accommodation for non-profit religious organizations that object to contraception on religious grounds.  These steps protect both women’s health and religious beliefs, and seek to ensure that women and families--not their bosses or corporate CEOs--can make personal health decisions based on their needs and their budgets.

COMPANY PLEADS GUILTY TO ROLE IN AUTOMOTIVE PARTS PRICE FIXING CONSPIRACY

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. Agrees to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing on Automobile Parts Installed in U.S. Cars
Company Agrees to Pay $120 Million Criminal Fine

Osaka, Japan-based Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $120 million criminal fine for its role in two separate conspiracies to fix the prices of automotive components involving anti-vibration rubber and driveshaft parts installed in cars sold in the United States and elsewhere, the Department of Justice announced today.

According to a two-count felony charge filed today in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Toledo, Toyo engaged in a conspiracy to allocate sales of, to rig bids for, and to fix the prices of automotive anti-vibration rubber parts it sold to Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Corp., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. – more commonly known by its brand name, Subaru – and certain of their subsidiaries, affiliates and suppliers, in the United States and elsewhere.  According to the charge, Toyo and its co-conspirators carried out the anti-vibration rubber parts conspiracy from as early as March 1996 until at least May 2012.

In addition, according to the charge, Toyo engaged in a separate conspiracy to allocate sales of, and to fix, raise and maintain the prices of automotive constant-velocity-joint boots it sold to U.S. subsidiaries of GKN plc, a British automotive parts supplier . According to the charge, Toyo and its co-conspirators carried out the constant-velocity-joint boots conspiracy from as early as January 2006 until as late as September 2010.

Toyo, which has subsidiaries based in Franklin, Ky., and White, Ga., has agreed to cooperate with the department’s ongoing investigation.  The plea agreement is subject to court approval.

“Today’s charge is the latest step in the Antitrust Division’s effort to hold automobile part suppliers accountable for their illegal and collusive conduct,” said Renata B. Hesse, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “The division continues to vigorously prosecute companies and individuals that seek to maximize their profits through illegal and anticompetitive means.”

Automotive anti-vibration rubber parts are comprised primarily of rubber and metal, and include engine mounts and suspension bushings.  They are installed in automobiles for the purpose of reducing road and engine vibration.  Automotive constant-velocity-joint boots are composed of rubber or plastic, and are used to cover the constant-velocity-joints of an automobile to protect the joints from contaminants.

The department said the company and its co-conspirators carried out the conspiracies through meetings and conversations, discussed and agreed upon bids, price quotations and price adjustments, and agreed to allocate among the companies certain sales of the anti-vibration rubber and constant-velocity-joint boots parts sold to automobile and component manufacturers.

Including Toyo, 22 companies and 26 executives have been charged in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the automotive parts industry.  All 22 companies have either pleaded guilty or have agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay more than $1.8 billion in criminal fines.  Of the 26 executives, 20 have been sentenced to serve time in U.S. prisons or have entered into plea agreements calling for significant prison sentences.

Toyo is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of a $100 million criminal fine for corporations.  The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK APPROVES OVER $61 MILLION TO AID EXPORT OF WIND-TURBINE GENERATORS

FROM:  U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK 
Ex-Im Bank Approves $61.1 Million for Export of U.S.-Made Wind-Turbine Generators to Costa Rica 

Washington, D.C. – The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has approved a $61.1 million direct loan to Inversiones Eolicas de Orosi Dos S.A. (Orosi), a subsidiary of the leading Central American wind-generation company Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy, for the purchase of wind-turbine generators manufactured by Gamesa in Fairless Hills, Pa.    

The authorization, which represents Ex-Im Bank’s first wind transaction in Costa Rica and fourth utility-scale wind project overall, will support approximately 200 U.S. jobs, according to bank estimates derived from Departments of Commerce and Labor data and methodology.

“We at Ex-Im Bank continue to support renewable-energy projects that improve our environment and showcase American innovation,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “Our financing will help Gamesa expand their export of renewable energy technology and in the process support U.S. jobs throughout the wind industry.”

Gamesa’s wind-turbine generators are the chosen technology for the 50 megawatt Orosi wind-farm project located in the province of Guanacaste. Costa Rica is currently focusing on different renewable-energy projects.  

Founded in 1976, Gamesa has manufactured wind turbines since 1994. To date, Gamesa has installed and commissioned wind farms in 42 countries with a total capacity exceeding 27,000 megawatts.

“Ex-Im Bank has been at the vanguard of President Obama's national export initiative," said David Flitterman, chairman of Gamesa North America. "The bank has facilitated a number of export projects for Gamesa, including the Orosi project, and continues to work with us to create new opportunities for growth and expansion. With their competitive rates and expertise, Ex-Im Bank is opening up new markets and opportunities for U.S.-manufactured goods, and that's increasing investments at home and sustaining American jobs across the supply chain.”

DOD DEFENSE CONTRACTS FOR NOVEMBER 26, 2013

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
CONTRACTS
NAVY

Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Ind., is being awarded a $57,146,970 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-10-C-0020) to exercise an option for MissionCareTM maintenance services in support of the V-22’s inventory of AE1107C engines. The services being performed will include O-level supply support, Repair of Repairable engine components and whole engines, field service representatives, low power repairs, program management, various site support and delivery of all Contract Data Requirements Lists.  Work will be performed in Oakland, Calif. (70 percent) and Indianapolis, Ind. (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2015.  Fiscal 2013 aircraft procurement, Air Force; fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation, Navy; fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy Reserve; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy overseas contingency operations; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Special Operations Command; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Air Force overseas contingency operations contract funds in the amount of $57,146,970 will be obligated on this award, $55,580,178 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

BAE Systems Electronics, Intelligence & Support/Electronic Solutions, Nashua, N.H., is being awarded a $28,167,428 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-13-C-0010) to exercise an option for the procurement of  procure 262 AN/ALE-55 fiber optic towed decoys (FOTDs) and 70 electronic frequency converters (EFC).  The AN/ALE-55 FOTDs and EFCs are components of the integrated defensive electronic counter measures suite.  The AN/ALE-55 provides the capability to transmit complex electronic countermeasures techniques from an off-board transmitter.  Work will be performed in Nashua, N.H. (80.6 percent); Mountain View, Calif. (12 percent); and Chelmsford Essex, United Kingdom (7.4 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2015.  Fiscal 2013 and 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy and fiscal 2014 procurement of ammunition, Marine Corps contract funds in the amount of $28,167,428, will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Atlantic NICC Joint Venture LLC*, Falls Church, Va., is being awarded a maximum amount $19,500,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity job order contract for construction, alteration and repair of industrial, commercial, and utility projects to government facilities at various Department of Defense activities within Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.  The maximum dollar value, including the base period and four option years, is $97,500,000.  No task orders are being issued at this time.  Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md. (31 percent), Dahlgren, Va. (30 percent), Indian Head, Md. (22 percent), and Annapolis, Md. (17 percent), with an expected completion date of November 2014.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $50,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was originally competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with 20 proposals received.  This contract action is a re-award as a result of corrective action taken due to a Government Accountability Office protest.  The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-14-D-0352).

Atlantic NICC Joint Venture LLC*, Falls Church, Va., is being awarded maximum amount $19,500,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity job order contract for construction, alteration and repair of industrial, commercial, and utility projects to government facilities at various Department of Defense activities within Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.  The maximum dollar value, including the base period and four option years, is $97,500,000.  No task orders are being issued at this time.  Work will be performed in Naval Support Activity Washington, Washington, D.C. (30 percent), Regional Officer in Charge of Construction Quantico, Va. (27 percent), Naval Support Activity Bethesda, Md. (25 percent), and Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C. (18 percent), with an expected completion date of November 2014.  Fiscal 2014 operation and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $50,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was originally competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 21 offers received.  This contract action is a re-award as a result of corrective action taken due to a Government Accountability Office protest.  The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-14-D-0353).

BREMCOR Joint Venture, Arlington, Va., is being awarded an $18,922,837 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N62470-06-D-4611) to exercise option seven for base operation support services at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.  The work to be performed provides for base operation support services to include but not limited to:  port operations, base support vehicles and equipment, elevator maintenance, equipment maintenance, heating ventilation and air conditioning maintenance, environmental, pest control, janitorial services, transportation, fire alarms, and facility management.  Work also provides for service calls consisting of repairs of base facilities, transportation, janitorial, pest control, and fire alarm systems.  The total contract amount after exercise of this option will be $129,287,881.  Work will be performed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and work is expected to be completed November 2014.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy; fiscal 2014 Navy working capital funds; fiscal 2014 defense health fund; and fiscal 2014 Department of Defense schools contract funds in the amount of $7,099,162 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded an $18,064,906 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-09-D-0008) for additional joint performance based logistics support for the Marine Corps (MV-22), Air Force, and Special Forces Operations Command (CV-22) aircraft.  Work will be performed in Amarillo, Texas (50 percent); and Philadelphia, Pa. (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2014.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Air Force; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Special Operations Command; fiscal 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy; fiscal 2013 aircraft procurement, Air Force; and fiscal 2013 Defense-wide procurement, Special Operations Command contract funds in the amount of $18,064,906 will be obligated at time of award, $14,658,487 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Motorola Solutions Inc., U.S. Federal Government Markets Division, Columbia, Md., is being awarded a $17,248,849 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N39430-13-C-1220) to exercise option period one for global sustainment of enterprise land and mobile radio systems at 53 military installations worldwide.  The work to be performed provides for preventive and corrective maintenance to sustain the enterprise land and mobile radio system and associated equipment and Information Assurance Vulnerability Alert compliance/patch management.  This includes fixed, mobile and portable units, dispatching equipment and all associated equipment currently deployed as part of Naval Facilities Engineering Command’s enterprise land and mobile radio systems worldwide.  Responsibility of troubleshooting, removal, and replacing of the equipment for these units is also included as part of this requirement.  The total contract amount after exercise of this option will be $48,429,904.  Work will be performed at 53 military installations worldwide, and work is expected to be completed December 2014.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $17,248,849 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, Calif., is the contracting activity.

US Information Technologies, Chantilly, Va., is being awarded a $12,952,659 modification under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00033-11-D-6505) with firm-fixed-price and/or firm-fixed-price level-of-effort task orders to exercise an option for support services for maintenance and development of Military Sealift Command’s Oracle based information systems.  Work will be performed in Washington, D.C., and is expected to be completed by December 2014.  Fiscal 2014 working capital contract funds in the amount of $12,952,659 are being obligated, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00033-11-D-6505).

Insitu Inc., Bingen, Wash., is being awarded an $8,845,101 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-10-C-0054) to exercise an option for the procurement of one Low Rate Initial Production II RQ-21A Blackjack Unmanned Aircraft System, to include air vehicles, ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, and air vehicle support equipment.  Work will be performed in Bingen, Wash., and is expected to be completed in May 2014.  Fiscal 2013 procurement, Marine Corps contract funds in the amount of $8,845,101 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Ziehm Imaging Inc.*, Orlando, Fla., has been awarded a maximum $22,156,582 modification (P00008) exercising the third one-year option period on a one-year base contract (SPM2D1-11-D-8344) with seven one-year option periods for radiology systems, subsystems, and components.  This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract.  Location of performance is Florida with a Nov. 29, 2014 performance completion date.  Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies.  Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds.  The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

AIR FORCE

Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC, Sterling, Va., has been awarded a $13,267,175 modification (P00023) to an existing firm-fixed-price contract (FA7022-11-C-0010) for radar operations and maintenance services.  This modification provides for the exercise of option year three for a period of performance from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2014.  The contract modification will ensure the availability of the COBRA DANE's radar facility to collect 100 percent of the tasked data that passes through its field of view.  The necessary support shall be provided 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.  Work will performed at Eareckson Air Station, Shemya, Alaska, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2015.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds will be incrementally funded January 2014, in the amount of $3,688,845.  The 21st Contracting Squadron, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contracting activity.

Ahntech Inc., San Diego Calif., has been awarded a $12,435,300 modification (P00008) to an existing firm-fixed-price contract (FA4890-13-C-0005) to continue to provide program support for Air Combat Command’s Primary Training Ranges Operations and Maintenance Services (PTR O&M), currently, but not limited to, PTR O&M support services.  The work under this program provides OM&S of range threat, scoring, and feedback systems.  The program also provides for target, road, grounds, and limited facility maintenance.  The contract modification is for the exercise of option year one services for the period of performance from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2014.  Work will be performed at nine ACC Primary Training Ranges locations at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base , N.C., Shaw AFB, S.C., Moody AFB, Ga., Dyess AFB, Texas, Ellsworth AFB, S.D., Holloman AFB, N.M., Mountain Home AFB, Idaho and the Nevada Test and Training Range, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2014.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,246,780 are being obligated at time of award.  ACC AMIC/PKCB, Newport News, Va., is the contracting activity.

Odyssey Systems Consulting Group Ltd., Wakefield, Mass., was awarded an $8,456,784 modification (P00008) on an existing cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursable contract (FA8721-13-C-0022) for professional acquisition support services.  This contract modification provides for the exercise of an option for an additional six months of professional acquisition support services under the basic contract.  Work will be performed at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., and is expected to be completed by April 17, 2014.  This modification provides professional acquisition support services in support of Space C2 Surveillance Division and the Theater Battle Control Division of classified foreign military sales.  FMS support account for approximately 14 percent of the stated modification.  Fiscal 2013 operations and maintenance, research and development, procurement and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $65,000 were obligated at time of award.  Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Enterprise Acquisition Division/PZM is the contracting activity.   (Awarded Sept. 3, 2013)

Bering Sea Environmental LLC, Anchorage Alaska, will be awarded a $6,762,241 modification (P00039) to an existing firm-fixed-price contract (FA4890-11-C-0004) to continue to provide program support for Air Combat Command’s (ACC), Air Combat Training System Operations and Maintenance Support Services (ACTS O&M), currently, but not limited to, ACTS O&M support services.  The work under ACTS includes all maintenance and repairs on ACTS pods and debriefing stations, transports and loading of pods onto the aircrafts and preparing data cartridges both before and after missions.  The contract modification is for the exercise of option year three services for the period of performance from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2014.  Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Langley AFB, Va., Seymour Johnson, N.C., Shaw AFB, S.C., Barksdale AFB, La., Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, as well as outside of the continental United States funded sites at Lakenheath Air Base, United Kingdom, Spangdahlem AB, Germany, and Aviano AB, Italy, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2014.  This contract includes unclassified foreign military sales (1.8 percent ) for the Royal Singapore Air Force.  Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,144,627 are being obligated at time of award.  ACC AMIC/PKCB, Newport News, Va., is the contracting activity.

*Small Business

FDIC REPORTS INCOME DECLINE IN 3RD QUARTER FOR INSURED COMMERCIAL BANKS, SAVINGS INSTITUTIONS

FROM:  FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION 

Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported aggregate net income of $36.0 billion in the third quarter of 2013, a $1.5 billion (3.9 percent) decline from the $37.5 billion in profits that the industry reported a year earlier. This is the first time in 17 quarters — since the second quarter of 2009 — that earnings registered a year-over-year decline. The earnings decline was mainly attributable to a $4 billion increase in litigation expenses at one institution. Lower revenue from reduced mortgage activity and lower gains on asset sales also contributed to the reduction in earnings. Half of the 6,891 insured institutions reporting had year-over-year growth in earnings, while half reported declines. The proportion of banks that were unprofitable fell to 8.6 percent, from 10.7 percent a year earlier. The FDIC also noted that industry earnings for the second quarter of 2013 had been revised downward, from $42.2 billion to $38.1 billion, as a result of expenses for goodwill impairment at two banks in the same organization.

"Most of the positive trends we have been seeing in industry performance continued in the third quarter," noted FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg. "Fewer institutions reported quarterly losses, lending grew at a modest pace, credit quality continued to improve, more banks came off the 'Problem List,' and fewer banks failed."

The average return on assets (ROA), a basic yardstick of profitability, fell to 0.99 percent from 1.06 percent a year ago. The average return on equity (ROE) fell from 9.35 percent to 8.92 percent.

Third quarter net operating revenue (net interest income plus total noninterest income) totaled $163.3 billion, a decline of $6.1 billion (3.6 percent) from a year earlier, as noninterest income fell by $4.7 billion (7.4 percent) and net interest income declined by $1.3 billion (1.3 percent). The average net interest margin — the difference between the average yield banks earn on loans and other investments and the average cost of funding those investments — was 3.26 percent, unchanged from second quarter, but down from 3.42 percent a year ago. The average margin is at its lowest level since the 3.20 percent reported in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Total noninterest expenses were $2.0 billion (1.9 percent) higher than in the third quarter of 2012, as litigation expenses rose by $4 billion at one large institution. Banks set aside $5.8 billion in provisions for loan losses, a reduction of $8.8 billion (60.4 percent) compared to a year earlier. This is the lowest quarterly loss provision reported by the industry since the third quarter of 1999.

Asset quality indicators continued to improve as insured banks and thrifts charged off $11.7 billion in uncollectible loans during the quarter, down $10.5 billion (47.4 percent) from a year earlier. The amount of noncurrent loans and leases (those 90 days or more past due or in nonaccrual status) fell by $18.3 billion (7.7 percent) during the quarter, and the percentage of loans and leases that were noncurrent declined to 2.83 percent, the lowest level in 5 years (since the 2.35 percent posted at the end of the third quarter of 2008).

Financial results for the third quarter of 2013 are contained in the FDIC's latest Quarterly Banking Profile, which was released today. Also among the findings:

Total loan balances rose. Loan balances increased by $69.7 billion (0.9 percent) in the three months ending September 30, as all major loan categories except 1-4 family residential real estate loans experienced growth during the quarter. Auto loan balances increased by $10.6 billion (3.2 percent), multifamily residential real estate loans rose by $8.1 billion (3.3 percent), loans to states and municipalities increased by $7.5 billion (7.3 percent), and credit card balances rose by $6.8 billion (1.0 percent). Home equity lines of credit fell by $10.9 billion (2.1 percent), while other 1-4 family residential real estate loans declined by $13.7 billion (0.7 percent). For the 12 months through September 30, total loan and lease balances were up by $224.0 billion (3.0 percent).

Higher interest rates caused a sharp drop in mortgage activity. Originations of 1-4 family residential real estate loans were $136.8 billion (30.1 percent) lower than in the second quarter, as interest rate increases in the second quarter reduced the demand for mortgage refinancings. Noninterest income from the sale, securitization and servicing of mortgages was $4.0 billion (45.2 percent) lower than a year ago. Realized gains on available-for-sale securities also were lower than a year ago, as higher medium- and long-term interest rates reduced the market values of fixed-rate securities. Banks reported $540 million in pretax income from realized gains, a decline of $2.2 billion (80.1 percent) from a year ago.

The number of "problem banks" continued to decline. The number of banks on the FDIC's "Problem List" declined from 553 to 515 during the quarter. The number of "problem" banks is down more than 40 percent from the recent high of 888 at the end of the first quarter of 2011. Six FDIC-insured institutions failed in the third quarter of 2013, down from 12 in the third quarter of 2012. Thus far in 2013, there have been 23 failures, compared to 50 during the same period in 2012.

The Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) balance continued to increase. The DIF balance — the net worth of the fund — rose to $40.8 billion as of September 30 from $37.9 billion as of June 30. Assessment income and a reduction in estimated losses from anticipated failures were the primary contributors to growth in the fund balance. Estimated insured deposits were essentially unchanged from the previous quarter, increasing by only 0.1 percent, and the DIF reserve ratio — the fund's balance as a percentage of estimated insured deposits — rose from 0.64 percent as of June 30 to 0.68 percent as of September 30. By law, the DIF must achieve a minimum reserve ratio of 1.35 percent by 2020.

NASA TRACKS TROPICAL CYCLONE LEHAR

FROM:  NASA 

Right:  NASA Satellite Tracks Tropical Cyclone Lehar Moving Toward India
On November 25, 2013 at 04:25 UTC/Nov. 24 11:25 p.m. EST, NASA's Terra took a picture of the tropical cyclone as the eastern side of the storm covered the island.  Image Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS. 

Tropical cyclone Lehar, located in the Bay of Bengal, continues to gain intensity while heading toward the same area of India where a much weaker tropical cyclone Helen recently came ashore. NASA's TRMM satellite passed over Lehar and measured rainfall and cloud heights to give scientists an understanding of how the storm is behaving.

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite called TRMM flew above tropical cyclone Lehar on November 26, 2013 at 0307 UTC/Nov. 25 at 10:07 p.m. EST and captured rainfall data. Rainfall rates occurring in the storm were derived from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments. That data was taken and overlaid on an enhanced visible/infrared image from TRMM's Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. to create a total picture of rainfall within the tropical cyclone. The TRMM instruments found that rain was falling at a rate greater than 64 mm/~2.5 inches per hour in Lehar's center and in a band of intense rain wrapping around Lehar's northwestern side. Some strong thunderstorms within Lehar were reaching heights above 15.25 km/~9.5 miles.

Warnings are already in effect in India. Northern Andhra Pradesh and southern Odisha are expected to feel Lehar's effects on Wednesday, November 27, when winds are expected to reach up to 91.7 knots/105.6 mph/170 kph.

At 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EST on November 26, Tropical Cyclone Lehar's maximum sustained winds were near 75 knots/86.1 mph/138.9 kph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 100 nautical miles/115.1 miles/185.2 km from the center of the storm or 200 miles/230.2 miles/370.5 km in diameter. Lehar's center was located about 471 nautical miles southeast of Visakhapatnam, India, near 12.9 north and 88.6 east. Lehar was moving to the west-northwest at 9 knots/10.3 mph/16.6 km.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC predicts that Lehar's sustained wind speeds will reach 95 knots/~109 mph on November 27, 2013 and then decrease to about 85 knots/~98 mph before hitting India's east-central coast.
Text credit:  Harold F. Pierce

SSAI/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The Andaman Islands received an unwelcome visitor on November 25 in the form of Tropical Cyclone Lehar. NASA's Terra satellite captured a picture of the visitor as it was making its exit from the islands and into the Bay of Bengal.
Tropical Depression 05B formed off the west coast of the Malay Peninsula on November 23 and strengthened into Tropical Cyclone Lehar as it moved from the Andaman Sea over the Andaman Islands and is now working its way into the Bay of Bengal and toward India. The Andaman Islands are located in the eastern Bay of Bengal. Burma lies north and east of the island group and India lies to the west.
Tropical Cyclone Lehar was over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at the time NASA's Terra satellite flew overhead and captured a visible image of the storm. On November 25, 2013 at 04:25 UTC/Nov. 24 11:25 p.m. EST, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard Terra took a picture of the tropical cyclone as the eastern side of the storm covered the island. Most of Cyclone Lehar was west of the island in the Bay of Bengal, although the northeastern edge of the storm extended over west-central Burma, bringing clouds to Yangon, capital city of the Yangon region. By November 26, Lehar was bringing rainfall and gusty winds to the region.
At 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EST on November 25, Tropical Cyclone Lehar had maximum sustained winds near 65 knots/74.8 mph/120.4 kph, achieving hurricane-force. It was centered near 12.6 north and 90.6 east, about 550 nautical miles/633 miles/1,019 km southeast of Visakhapatnam, India. Lehar is moving away from Burma and toward the west-northwest at 7 knots/8 mph/12.9 kph. Lehar is generating 20-foot/6.0 meter high seas

Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center expect that warm water temperatures and low wind shear will assist Lehar in intensifying as it moves in a west-northwesterly direction across the Bay of Bengal. Forecasters expect maximum sustained winds to peak near 100 knots/115.1 mph/185.2 kph before making landfall in eastern India.

As a result warnings are already in effect for India. Lehar's winds area expected to affect Northern Andhra Pradesh and southern Odisha by Wednesday, November 27.

SEC ANNOUNCES COURT ORDER AGAINST INDIVIDUAL AND COMPANY TO PAY OVER $9.8 MILLION

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 
Court Orders Massachusetts-Based Viking Financial Group, Inc. and Steven Palladino to Pay Over $9.8 Million

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that, on November 18, 2013, a Massachusetts federal court entered orders against Steven Palladino of West Roxbury, Massachusetts and his Massachusetts-based company, Viking Financial Group, Inc. requiring them to pay more than $9.8 million in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest and permanently enjoining them from future violations of the antifraud provisions of the securities laws. The Court also ordered that an asset freeze imposed in April 2013 remain in effect.

The Commission initially filed this action on April 30, 2013, as an emergency enforcement action against the Defendants seeking a temporary restraining order, asset freeze and other emergency relief, which the Court granted. In its Complaint, the Commission alleged that, since April 2011, Palladino and Viking falsely promised at least 33 investors that their money would be used to conduct the business of Viking - which was purportedly to make to short-term, high interest loans to those unable to obtain traditional financing. The Commission also alleged that the Defendants misrepresented to investors that the loans made by Viking would be secured by first interest liens on non-primary residence properties and that investors would be paid back their principal, plus monthly interest at rates generally ranging from 7-15%, from payments made by borrowers on the loans. The Complaint alleges that, in truth, the Defendants made very few real loans to borrowers, and instead used investors' funds largely to make payments to earlier investors and to pay for the Palladino family's substantial personal expenses, including cash withdrawals and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on gambling excursions, vacations, luxury vehicles and tuition.

After the parties had an opportunity to brief the issues, on July 15, 2013, the Court held that the Commission had established that the Defendants' conduct violated the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The orders of disgorgement and injunction against the Defendants were entered by the Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The Court has delayed a determination as to civil penalties until a later date. The Commission acknowledges the assistance of Suffolk County (Massachusetts) District Attorney Daniel F. Conley's Office, which filed related criminal charges against Palladino and Viking in March 2013.

RECENT U.S. MARINE CORPS PHOTOS FROM TACLOBAN, PHILIPPINES

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
A sign displays thanks to all agencies involved in relief and recovery efforts in Tacloban, Philippines, Nov. 23, 2013. U.S. troops, multiple government agencies, international aid groups and militaries assisted in providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to affected areas throughout the island nation following Typhoon Haiyan. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Master Sgt. Antoine Robinson.

A van is abandoned in the middle of a swamp outside of Tacloban, Philippines, Nov. 23, 2013. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Master Sgt. Antoine Robinson.

TROUBLE FOR FINANCIER AND FIRMS FOR SELLING BILLIONS OF UNREGISTERED SHARES OF STOCK

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York-based penny stock financier and his firms with violating the federal securities laws when they purchased billions of shares in a pair of microcap companies and failed to register them before they were re-sold to investors for sizeable profits.

Curt Kramer and his firms Mazuma Corporation, Mazuma Funding Corporation, and Mazuma Holding Corporation agreed to disgorge those profits in paying a total of $1.4 million to settle the SEC’s charges.

An SEC investigation found that Kramer and his firms obtained unregistered shares in penny stock issuers Laidlaw Energy Group and Bederra Corporation.  For the Laidlaw transactions, they claimed to rely on an exemption in Rule 504 of Regulation D that permits certain companies to offer and sell up to $1 million in unregistered shares.  However, the Mazuma firms’ purchases of Laidlaw shares exceeded Rule 504’s $1 million limit, so the shares were restricted and not exempt from the registration requirements of the securities laws when they were re-sold.  Mazuma Holding Corporation’s acquisition and sale of more than one billion unregistered shares of Bederra that had been misappropriated from the issuer by its transfer agent also were not exempt from registration.

“Unless there is a valid exemption, shares can’t be sold publicly without a registration statement that provides investors with the level of detail they deserve about the investment opportunity being offered,” said Michael Paley, co-chair of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Microcap Fraud Task Force that was created earlier this year to target abusive trading and fraudulent conduct in securities issued by microcap companies that often don’t regularly report their financial results publicly.

“Billions of shares were not vetted through the registration process yet became publicly traded as a result of the violations by Kramer and his Mazuma firms, and the SEC will continue to punish non-compliance with the registration provisions of the securities laws to ensure the investing public is protected in these types of transactions,” Mr. Paley added.

According to the SEC’s order instituting settled administrative proceedings, Kramer and his firms purchased two billion Laidlaw shares, which amounted to 80 percent of Laidlaw’s outstanding shares at the time.  They purchased these shares at a significant discount from prevailing market prices, making it highly likely they could immediately re-sell them publicly for a short-term profit.  Kramer and his firms purchased the shares in 35 tranches with no six-month gaps, thus quantifying the transactions as a single, integrated offering through which Laidlaw exceeded the $1 million limit under Rule 504 by raising a total of $1,259,550.  No registration statement was filed for any shares that Laidlaw offered and sold to Kramer and his firms, nor was any registration statement filed for any shares that Kramer and his firms subsequently re-sold into the public market.  Despite exceeding the $1 million limit, Kramer and his firms continued to acquire and sell additional Laidlaw shares and profited by $126,963 from these transactions.

According to the SEC’s order, Kramer and Mazuma Holding Corporation acquired more than one billion shares of Bederra in 2009 and 2010 through 21 separate transactions from the principal of Bederra’s transfer agent, who had misappropriated the Bederra share certificates.  Again they purchased the shares at a significant discount from prevailing market prices.  Kramer and Mazuma Holding Corporation re-sold the misappropriated Bederra shares to the public without any registration statement for a profit of $934,404.

In the settlement, Kramer and his Great Neck, N.Y.-based Mazuma firms agreed to pay disgorgement totaling $1,061,367 plus prejudgment interest of $128,611 and penalties totaling $273,000.  Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Kramer and Mazuma consented to the entry of an order finding that they violated Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933.  The order requires them to cease and desist from committing violations of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) and not participate in any Rule 504 offerings.  Entry of the order will constitute a disqualifying event for Kramer and the Mazuma firms under the recently-enacted bad actor disqualification provisions of Rule 506.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by staff in the New York and Denver offices, including Ian Karpel, Kim Greer, Haimavathi Marlier, Laura Yeu, Christopher Ferrante, and Elzbieta Wraga with assistance from examiners Terrence Bohan and Denis Koval.