FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Putting quarks on a virtual scale
MILC Collaboration team uses supercomputer simulations to predict characteristics of subatomic particles
For the last several years, much of the attention in particle physics has focused on the Higgs Boson, so one could be forgiven thinking that the rest of the subatomic particle world has been figured out. In reality, however, many open questions remain.
The precise masses, decay rates and relationships among other particles--including mesons, quarks and gluons, which make up the protons, neutrons and electrons with which we're familiar--are a few of the topics that need further study.
For four decades, a group of researchers called the MIMD Lattice Computation (MILC) Collaboration have been doing just that. MILC has been using many of the nation's most powerful supercomputers to simulate the conditions inside the nucleus of atoms and to quantify the masses and decay properties of still-mysterious particles.
Specifically, they investigate a theory called quantum chromodynamics, or QCD, which describes the strong interactions of subatomic physics. First theorized by David Politzer, Frank Wilczek and David Gross in the early 1970s (for which they won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), QCD is the fundamental theory that governs the interactions of quarks and gluons inside the nucleus of atoms.
The MILC Collaboration uses large scale numerical simulations to study QCD. The most well established approach to solving the problems of the strong force is called lattice QCD, a numerical method that treats space and time as points on a grid or "lattice" and then models QCD on this grid.
Simulating physical systems on a grid is employed in many disciplines, but unlike most, QCD requires that the theory obey a special symmetry, called gauge symmetry, which means that the force fields can be changed in certain ways at every point in space and time without changing the physics--a quality that gives rise to the perpetually-bound nature of quarks. These "lattice-gauge" theories, as they are called, have been incredibly effective at determining many important aspects of particle physics.
As effective as lattice-gauge theories have been, solving QCD calculations efficiently and accurately has been a challenge.
"There are two big problems," explained Robert Sugar, a member of the MILC Collaboration at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "You perform the calculations on a lattice or a grid, but the real physics is when the grid spacing goes down to zero." This is because the universe appears to be continuous and not discrete. "That's the bad news. The good news is, you actually know how various quantities behave as the lattice spacing goes to zero."
This allows QCD theorists to extrapolate solutions. But to do so, requires major computing muscle.
The second problem involves the quarks themselves. Quarks are not only almost impossible to perceive as individual components, the lightest ones--the ones that make up the protons and neutrons--are very light compared to all other mass scales of strongly interacting matter.
"Until the last year or two, we couldn't perform simulations at the physical masses of the lightest quarks, we had to perform them at higher masses," Sugar said. "The great thing that's happened in the last couple of years is that as computers and the algorithms have gotten better, we can now do the simulations at the physical masses of the quarks. This was a major advance for the field."
At the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the spotlight has mainly focused on experiments run on two big detectors: Atlas and CMS. But there is also a smaller experiment called LHCb that is doing physics with charm and bottom quarks, which are an important component of the MILC Collaboration's work.
"We have less data on particles containing charm and the bottom quarks than on those made up solely of lighter quarks. Learning more about the properties of this quarks is particularly important," he explained. "That's also the place where there's the most room for problems or contradictions with the Standard Model. The LHC and other accelerators are providing data on those reactions to compare with simulations."
Using petascale supercomputers, Sugar and his colleagues have been performing very precise calculations to compare with experiments and also to determine some of the underlying parameters of the Standard Model, such as how quarks interact with the weak force. (The Standard Model is the reigning theory that encompasses current understanding of the fundamental interactions of sub-atomic physics.)
In a recent paper submitted to Arxiv, Sugar and his colleagues calculated the decay of kaons (or K mesons, a type of unstable particle composed of a strange quark and an up or down quark) using lattice QCD and working, for the first time, at the physical light-quark masses. The calculations served to check the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix that underpins all quark flavor-changing interactions. The researchers were able to reduce the theoretical uncertainty in the first row of the CKM matrix in a way that sharpens the test of CKM unitarity--a restriction on the allowed evolution of quantum systems that ensures the sum of probabilities of all possible outcomes of any event is always one.
"We're just beginning to get the first results from the simulations at the physical masses of the quarks," he said. "These simulations will enable us to determine decay properties of at least some of the strongly interacting particles to a precision which is beginning to rival that of experiment. We even have some cases where we performed calculations before the experimentalists, which is always good. Then the experimenters came in and showed we were right."
"Lattice gauge theory is remarkably interdisciplinary," said Marc Sher, program director for Theoretical High-Energy Physics and Cosmology at the National Science Foundation. "It's critical for high energy collider physics, since high energy collider beams are composed of protons and antiprotons, and understanding proton structure is critical in extracting the results of these experiments. It's fundamental for nuclear physics, since all of nuclear structure depends on the strong interactions, whose study is the raison d'etre of lattice gauge theory. And it's important for computational physics, since large massively-parallel computation is needed."
The results of the QCD simulations help to refine the parameters that go into the Standard Model, which, according to Sugar is "maddeningly successful." But they have another more revolutionary purpose.
"One of the things we most want to do is make very accurate theoretical calculations and compare these with very accurate experiments to see if you can find places where new physics ideas are needed," Sugar said. "That's the holy grail because nobody believes that our present ideas are the last word."
What might lie beyond the Standard Model is an open question. But most in the scientific community agree that the answer will only emerge from the careful, incremental investigations of particle interactions, both through experiments and numerical simulations.
"Now is a really exciting time in QCD," Sugar said. "We believe that we are on the verge of making a lot of progress."
Monday, January 20, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
ROBOSIMIAN
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's official entry, RoboSimian, as it awaited the first event at the DARPA Robotics Challenge in December 2013, created to develop ground robots that can work in dangerous, degraded, human-engineered environments. Also known as "Clyde," the robot is four-footed but can also stand on two feet. It has four general-purpose limbs and hands capable of mobility and manipulation.
Multiple points of contact increase stability during operations that range from climbing stairs to turning a valve. The design also allows RoboSimian to reverse direction without reorienting itself.
The RoboSimian team is led by JPL. Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., collaborated on the development of the robot's unique hands.
The California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages JPL for NASA.
FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER RENAMED AFTER NEIL A. ARMSTRONG
President Barack Obama has signed HR 667, the congressional resolution that redesignates NASA's Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center, into law. The resolution also names Dryden's Western Aeronautical Test Range as the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range. Both Hugh Dryden and Neil Armstrong are aerospace pioneers whose contributions are historic to NASA and the nation as a whole. NASA is developing a timeline to implement the name change.
Neil A. Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He earned an aeronautical engineering degree from Purdue University and a master's in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. He was a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952. During the Korean War he flew 78 combat missions. In 1955 he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA's predecessor, as a research pilot at Lewis Laboratory in Cleveland. Armstrong later transferred to NACA's High Speed Flight Research Station at Edwards AFB, Calif., later named NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. As a research project test pilot over the course of seven years at the center from 1955 through 1962, he was in the forefront of the development of many high-speed aircraft. This photograph shows Neil Armstrong next to the X-15 rocket-powered aircraft after a research flight. He was one of only 12 pilots to fly the hypersonic X-15 as well as the first of 12 men to later walk on the moon. In all, he flew more than 200 different types of aircraft. Image Credit: NASA
DETROIT AUTO SHOW VISITED BY GOVERNMENT DIGNITARIES
FROM: LABOR DEPARTMENT
Ingenuity, Training Make American Goods Shine in Detroit
American ingenuity, jobs and workers were the focus of a whirlwind tour of Detroit by U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez on Jan. 13. Perez began his day at the North American International Auto Show, where he was joined by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy and members of the Michigan congressional delegation. He assessed the new lineup of automobiles and talked to industry leaders about growth in the auto industry. Later that day, the group of dignitaries met with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and William F. Jones Jr., director of Focus: HOPE Family Learning Center for Advanced Technologies, where they participated in a roundtable discussion on opportunities to strengthen transportation career pathways, and enhance skills training, industry and community partnerships. Perez then met students and staff while touring the training facility. "I look at the Department of Labor as the Department of Opportunity," he said. "We try to match the right worker with the right employer. We do that by supporting strong community programs like Focus: HOPE." Perez also meet with staff and students at the UAW-Ford Technical Training Center and visited Shinola, a company that manufactures watches, bicycles and leather goods. The visit was part of the Obama administration's efforts to enhance local economic revitalization and ensure that existing resources effectively support local priorities.
Ingenuity, Training Make American Goods Shine in Detroit
American ingenuity, jobs and workers were the focus of a whirlwind tour of Detroit by U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez on Jan. 13. Perez began his day at the North American International Auto Show, where he was joined by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy and members of the Michigan congressional delegation. He assessed the new lineup of automobiles and talked to industry leaders about growth in the auto industry. Later that day, the group of dignitaries met with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and William F. Jones Jr., director of Focus: HOPE Family Learning Center for Advanced Technologies, where they participated in a roundtable discussion on opportunities to strengthen transportation career pathways, and enhance skills training, industry and community partnerships. Perez then met students and staff while touring the training facility. "I look at the Department of Labor as the Department of Opportunity," he said. "We try to match the right worker with the right employer. We do that by supporting strong community programs like Focus: HOPE." Perez also meet with staff and students at the UAW-Ford Technical Training Center and visited Shinola, a company that manufactures watches, bicycles and leather goods. The visit was part of the Obama administration's efforts to enhance local economic revitalization and ensure that existing resources effectively support local priorities.
RECENT PHOTOS FROM AFGHANISTAN
FROM: DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
U.S. soldiers remove snow from a UH-60 Black Hawk medevac helicopter before departing on a mission from Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Jan. 8, 2014. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Andrew Cochran -
U.S. Army Spcs. Jimmy Rop, top, and James Verlander prepare to remove ice from a UH-60 Black Hawk medevac helicopter after a snowfall on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Jan. 8, 2014. Rop and Verlander are crew chiefs assigned to Company C, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Andrew Cochran -
ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS DIAPER COMPANY SETTLES FTC DECEPTIVE CLAIMS CHARGES
FROM: FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Down to Earth Designs, Inc. Settles FTC Charges That Its Environmental Claims for Diapers and Related Products Were Deceptive
Order Requires Company to Substantiate a Range of “Green” Claims for its gDiapers Products
Portland, Oregon-based Down to Earth Designs, Inc., which does business as gDiapers, has settled Federal Trade Commission charges that it made deceptive claims about its products’ biodegradability, compostability, and other environmentally friendly attributes. The proposed settlement order bars gDiapers from making claims alleged in the complaint, unless they are true and not misleading, are adequately substantiated, and meet specific requirements in the FTC’s recently revised Green Guides.
gDiapers markets and sells the gDiapers diaper system, which includes a reusable outer shell (gPants) and disposable pad inner liners (gRefills), as well as baby wipes (gWipes). According to the FTC’s complaint, the company advertised both gRefills and gWipes as biodegradable and compostable. The company also claimed that gDiapers diapers were plastic-free, and that disposing of gRefills by flushing them down the toilet was environmentally beneficial.
“Whether they’re buying diapers or dishwashers, consumers base their purchasing decisions on claims about a product’s attributes,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “And the claims for these diapers just didn’t pass our smell test. Consumers can count on the FTC to make sure claims made by marketers are meeting the standards for truthfulness, accuracy, and substantiation.”
The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company made false or misleading representations in marketing gRefills and gWipes as biodegradable. These representations include claims that: the products are “100% biodegradable” and “certified” biodegradable; gRefills and gWipes will biodegrade when tossed in the trash; gRefills will biodegrade when flushed; and gRefills offer an environmental benefit because they can be flushed. In fact, the complaint alleges, gRefills and gWipes are not biodegradable because they do no completely break down and decompose into elements found in nature within one year after customary disposal, which is in the trash.
Down to Earth Designs, Inc. Settles FTC Charges That Its Environmental Claims for Diapers and Related Products Were Deceptive
Order Requires Company to Substantiate a Range of “Green” Claims for its gDiapers Products
Portland, Oregon-based Down to Earth Designs, Inc., which does business as gDiapers, has settled Federal Trade Commission charges that it made deceptive claims about its products’ biodegradability, compostability, and other environmentally friendly attributes. The proposed settlement order bars gDiapers from making claims alleged in the complaint, unless they are true and not misleading, are adequately substantiated, and meet specific requirements in the FTC’s recently revised Green Guides.
gDiapers markets and sells the gDiapers diaper system, which includes a reusable outer shell (gPants) and disposable pad inner liners (gRefills), as well as baby wipes (gWipes). According to the FTC’s complaint, the company advertised both gRefills and gWipes as biodegradable and compostable. The company also claimed that gDiapers diapers were plastic-free, and that disposing of gRefills by flushing them down the toilet was environmentally beneficial.
“Whether they’re buying diapers or dishwashers, consumers base their purchasing decisions on claims about a product’s attributes,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “And the claims for these diapers just didn’t pass our smell test. Consumers can count on the FTC to make sure claims made by marketers are meeting the standards for truthfulness, accuracy, and substantiation.”
The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company made false or misleading representations in marketing gRefills and gWipes as biodegradable. These representations include claims that: the products are “100% biodegradable” and “certified” biodegradable; gRefills and gWipes will biodegrade when tossed in the trash; gRefills will biodegrade when flushed; and gRefills offer an environmental benefit because they can be flushed. In fact, the complaint alleges, gRefills and gWipes are not biodegradable because they do no completely break down and decompose into elements found in nature within one year after customary disposal, which is in the trash.
AG HOLDER DELIVERS REMARKS AT "SAFE STREETS, STRONG COMMUNITIES" CONFERENCE
FROM: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the “Safe Streets, Strong Communities” Conference
~ Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Thank you, Michael [Rubinger] for those kind words; for your leadership as President of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation; and for your commitment, over the course of a career spanning more than four decades, to the kind of community action that’s making a profound difference in so many cities and towns across this country.
I also want to thank our gracious hosts from the Ford Foundation and the Police Foundation for making today’s forum possible – and for welcoming me back home to New York City. It’s great to be with you this afternoon. And I’m particularly proud to share the podium with my good friend, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan.
We’ll have the chance to hear from Shaun in just a few moments. But I know I speak for both of us when I say it’s an honor to be with such a distinguished group of leaders – many of whom have traveled here from across the country. And it’s a privilege to be joined by so many dedicated law enforcement officials, passionate housing and community development professionals – and committed business leaders and other private sector partners – as we celebrate the achievements that LISC and its allies have made possible over the years; as we reaffirm our determination to build on efforts that are currently underway; and as we recommit ourselves to the considerable work ahead, and the long but promising road that stretches before us.
More than 30 years ago, LISC was launched in a moment of great challenge – at a time when distressed neighborhoods across the country faced uncertain futures. After decades of rising crime and deteriorating fortunes in parts of America’s most vibrant cities, the Ford Foundation and its allies stepped forward. And they established the Local Initiatives Support Corporation to take what was – at the time – a novel approach to addressing community challenges.
LISC immediately began bringing together a wide variety of stakeholders in areas of need across America – rallying neighborhood residents, police officers, housing authorities, community service providers, investors, and business owners to confront local challenges in a targeted and highly collaborative manner. At a time when many organizations and interest groups were laser-focused on their own individual “silos” of responsibility, this group reminded us of the power of broader thinking and the value of working together – to build mutual trust and respect, to foster engagement, and to work in common cause as we empower neighborhoods not merely to bring themselves back, but to lead the way forward.
Today, LISC and its partners continue to stand on the front lines of this ongoing fight. In dozens of urban areas and rural communities, you’re helping to match needs with resources. And you’re proving that a holistic approach to public safety challenges is not only effective – but essential – when it comes to advancing these critical efforts.
I know just how valuable this kind of work can be – because I’ve seen it firsthand, throughout my career. During the 1990s, when I had the honor of serving as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, I worked to foster a collaborative approach to fighting crime – and established the first community prosecution initiative in our nation’s capital. I’m pleased to note that a similar approach – founded on engagement and broad-based partnerships – continues to guide our work at the national level – not just within the Department of Justice, but throughout the Obama Administration. And this past August, I announced the Department’s new “Smart on Crime” initiative – predicated on comprehensive, evidence-based strategies that are proven to ensure public safety, and dedicated to the work we must do together to forge a more just society.
As it stands – in far too many places – a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration traps individuals, devastates families, and weakens communities. Already, the “Smart on Crime” approach is helping us to target badly-needed law enforcement resources to crime “hotspots” where they can make the greatest difference. It’s enabling us to reform sentencing policies so that individuals charged with certain low-level federal drug crimes will face sentences appropriate to their conduct, rather than excessive mandatory minimums. And it’s increasing our emphasis on innovative diversion and re-entry programs – like the ones in place in many of the cities you represent – that can strengthen communities, improve public safety, help to keep people on the right path, and make criminal justice expenditures smarter and more effective.
As we move forward, I’m confident that these programs and policy changes will help us to bring about meaningful improvements – and leverage federal support in the places where it’s needed most. And I’m certain that they will complement existing efforts – like the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program, or BCJI, for which LISC serves as the training and technical assistance provider, and through which we awarded more than $12 million to 14 neighborhoods during the last year alone.
Fortunately, this Administration’s commitment to developing place-based, community-oriented strategies for addressing local challenges extends beyond the Department of Justice. In cities like Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, where LISC is also hard at work, our National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention is rallying community members to address the challenges facing our youngest citizens. In places like Detroit, the Forum’s network of partners is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with LISC professionals and leaders from the Administration’s Strong Cities, Strong Communities Initiative to confront crime and spark economic development.
In 2010, we launched the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative to further align federal efforts to confront concentrated poverty. Last Wednesday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and I traveled to Baltimore to unveil a new set of guidelines for schools that are designed to reduce our overreliance on zero-tolerance discipline policies that can transform educational institutions from doorways of opportunity into gateways to the criminal justice system. And as you’ll hear from Secretary Donovan, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing local assistance – in the form of Choice Neighborhood grants – to help transform distressed communities.
Last Thursday, President Obama took this comprehensive work to a new level when he announced America’s first five “Promise Zones,” three of which – Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Antonio – are also operating with BCJI grants. These communities are among the first of many that will receive targeted assistance and support under the Promise Zones initiative. And each has put forward a plan to bring community and business leaders together to revitalize high-poverty areas – by attracting private investment; by improving affordable housing; by strengthening educational opportunities; by offering tax incentives to spur hiring and business growth; by reducing violent crime; and by helping local leaders navigate federal programs.
After all, as LISC has consistently shown us, it’s imperative that we bring together federal partners, local authorities, and community leaders – and move forward with policies that effectively allocate limited resources – to facilitate long-term success in badly afflicted communities.
You have demonstrated the strength of this approach. As a result of your work, all across the country, more and more cities and towns are relying on data-driven reform strategies to reduce crime, reverse blight, and create better outcomes. Here in New York, we’ve seen how decades of cooperation, shared responsibility, and community engagement can yield significant results. We know that, as we strive to bring neighborhoods back, to strengthen the foundations of our progress, and to allow once-neglected communities not just to succeed, but to thrive – we must continue to do everything in our power to ensure that improvement in one area is not undermined by problems or inattention in another.
There’s no question that we can be proud of the assistance you’re providing, and the important federal resources that you are shepherding into affected neighborhoods each and every day. But we cannot yet be satisfied – and this is no time to become complacent.
You know as well as anyone that our work is far from over. Throughout the United States, our ongoing community development efforts are not just important; they go to the very heart of who we are as a country. Organizations like this one, and the groups and individuals taking part in today’s event, speak to the principle that built this nation: that we are strongest when we stand united. While each of us must be responsible for our own individual advancement and success, we will always share certain essential obligations to one another. And – especially when it comes to core questions like public safety and fair housing – at a basic level, we must act on the recognition that all of us are in this together.
The success of the grant programs that LISC helps to administer – and the signs of progress you’ve gathered to discuss and build upon – stand as testament to the strength of this enduring notion. And that’s why, although we have a long and difficult road ahead of us – as I look around this crowd today – I cannot help but feel optimistic about everything we’ll be able to achieve together. My colleagues and I look forward to helping our “Promise Zones” to take hold, our neighborhoods to improve, and our criminal justice system to become stronger and smarter than ever. And I hope, and expect, that we will always be able to count on leaders like you – both in and far beyond this room – to keep working, out of devotion and resolve, to make a real and lasting difference on behalf of the communities, and the country, that we love.
I thank you, once again, for the chance to be here today – and I thank you for all that you do.
Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks at the “Safe Streets, Strong Communities” Conference
~ Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Thank you, Michael [Rubinger] for those kind words; for your leadership as President of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation; and for your commitment, over the course of a career spanning more than four decades, to the kind of community action that’s making a profound difference in so many cities and towns across this country.
I also want to thank our gracious hosts from the Ford Foundation and the Police Foundation for making today’s forum possible – and for welcoming me back home to New York City. It’s great to be with you this afternoon. And I’m particularly proud to share the podium with my good friend, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan.
We’ll have the chance to hear from Shaun in just a few moments. But I know I speak for both of us when I say it’s an honor to be with such a distinguished group of leaders – many of whom have traveled here from across the country. And it’s a privilege to be joined by so many dedicated law enforcement officials, passionate housing and community development professionals – and committed business leaders and other private sector partners – as we celebrate the achievements that LISC and its allies have made possible over the years; as we reaffirm our determination to build on efforts that are currently underway; and as we recommit ourselves to the considerable work ahead, and the long but promising road that stretches before us.
More than 30 years ago, LISC was launched in a moment of great challenge – at a time when distressed neighborhoods across the country faced uncertain futures. After decades of rising crime and deteriorating fortunes in parts of America’s most vibrant cities, the Ford Foundation and its allies stepped forward. And they established the Local Initiatives Support Corporation to take what was – at the time – a novel approach to addressing community challenges.
LISC immediately began bringing together a wide variety of stakeholders in areas of need across America – rallying neighborhood residents, police officers, housing authorities, community service providers, investors, and business owners to confront local challenges in a targeted and highly collaborative manner. At a time when many organizations and interest groups were laser-focused on their own individual “silos” of responsibility, this group reminded us of the power of broader thinking and the value of working together – to build mutual trust and respect, to foster engagement, and to work in common cause as we empower neighborhoods not merely to bring themselves back, but to lead the way forward.
Today, LISC and its partners continue to stand on the front lines of this ongoing fight. In dozens of urban areas and rural communities, you’re helping to match needs with resources. And you’re proving that a holistic approach to public safety challenges is not only effective – but essential – when it comes to advancing these critical efforts.
I know just how valuable this kind of work can be – because I’ve seen it firsthand, throughout my career. During the 1990s, when I had the honor of serving as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, I worked to foster a collaborative approach to fighting crime – and established the first community prosecution initiative in our nation’s capital. I’m pleased to note that a similar approach – founded on engagement and broad-based partnerships – continues to guide our work at the national level – not just within the Department of Justice, but throughout the Obama Administration. And this past August, I announced the Department’s new “Smart on Crime” initiative – predicated on comprehensive, evidence-based strategies that are proven to ensure public safety, and dedicated to the work we must do together to forge a more just society.
As it stands – in far too many places – a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration traps individuals, devastates families, and weakens communities. Already, the “Smart on Crime” approach is helping us to target badly-needed law enforcement resources to crime “hotspots” where they can make the greatest difference. It’s enabling us to reform sentencing policies so that individuals charged with certain low-level federal drug crimes will face sentences appropriate to their conduct, rather than excessive mandatory minimums. And it’s increasing our emphasis on innovative diversion and re-entry programs – like the ones in place in many of the cities you represent – that can strengthen communities, improve public safety, help to keep people on the right path, and make criminal justice expenditures smarter and more effective.
As we move forward, I’m confident that these programs and policy changes will help us to bring about meaningful improvements – and leverage federal support in the places where it’s needed most. And I’m certain that they will complement existing efforts – like the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program, or BCJI, for which LISC serves as the training and technical assistance provider, and through which we awarded more than $12 million to 14 neighborhoods during the last year alone.
Fortunately, this Administration’s commitment to developing place-based, community-oriented strategies for addressing local challenges extends beyond the Department of Justice. In cities like Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, where LISC is also hard at work, our National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention is rallying community members to address the challenges facing our youngest citizens. In places like Detroit, the Forum’s network of partners is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with LISC professionals and leaders from the Administration’s Strong Cities, Strong Communities Initiative to confront crime and spark economic development.
In 2010, we launched the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative to further align federal efforts to confront concentrated poverty. Last Wednesday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and I traveled to Baltimore to unveil a new set of guidelines for schools that are designed to reduce our overreliance on zero-tolerance discipline policies that can transform educational institutions from doorways of opportunity into gateways to the criminal justice system. And as you’ll hear from Secretary Donovan, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing local assistance – in the form of Choice Neighborhood grants – to help transform distressed communities.
Last Thursday, President Obama took this comprehensive work to a new level when he announced America’s first five “Promise Zones,” three of which – Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Antonio – are also operating with BCJI grants. These communities are among the first of many that will receive targeted assistance and support under the Promise Zones initiative. And each has put forward a plan to bring community and business leaders together to revitalize high-poverty areas – by attracting private investment; by improving affordable housing; by strengthening educational opportunities; by offering tax incentives to spur hiring and business growth; by reducing violent crime; and by helping local leaders navigate federal programs.
After all, as LISC has consistently shown us, it’s imperative that we bring together federal partners, local authorities, and community leaders – and move forward with policies that effectively allocate limited resources – to facilitate long-term success in badly afflicted communities.
You have demonstrated the strength of this approach. As a result of your work, all across the country, more and more cities and towns are relying on data-driven reform strategies to reduce crime, reverse blight, and create better outcomes. Here in New York, we’ve seen how decades of cooperation, shared responsibility, and community engagement can yield significant results. We know that, as we strive to bring neighborhoods back, to strengthen the foundations of our progress, and to allow once-neglected communities not just to succeed, but to thrive – we must continue to do everything in our power to ensure that improvement in one area is not undermined by problems or inattention in another.
There’s no question that we can be proud of the assistance you’re providing, and the important federal resources that you are shepherding into affected neighborhoods each and every day. But we cannot yet be satisfied – and this is no time to become complacent.
You know as well as anyone that our work is far from over. Throughout the United States, our ongoing community development efforts are not just important; they go to the very heart of who we are as a country. Organizations like this one, and the groups and individuals taking part in today’s event, speak to the principle that built this nation: that we are strongest when we stand united. While each of us must be responsible for our own individual advancement and success, we will always share certain essential obligations to one another. And – especially when it comes to core questions like public safety and fair housing – at a basic level, we must act on the recognition that all of us are in this together.
The success of the grant programs that LISC helps to administer – and the signs of progress you’ve gathered to discuss and build upon – stand as testament to the strength of this enduring notion. And that’s why, although we have a long and difficult road ahead of us – as I look around this crowd today – I cannot help but feel optimistic about everything we’ll be able to achieve together. My colleagues and I look forward to helping our “Promise Zones” to take hold, our neighborhoods to improve, and our criminal justice system to become stronger and smarter than ever. And I hope, and expect, that we will always be able to count on leaders like you – both in and far beyond this room – to keep working, out of devotion and resolve, to make a real and lasting difference on behalf of the communities, and the country, that we love.
I thank you, once again, for the chance to be here today – and I thank you for all that you do.
COMMENTS ON EGYPT'S CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM
FROM: STATE DEPARTMENT
Egypt's Constitutional Referendum
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014
Egypt's turbulent experiment in participatory democracy the last three years has reminded us all that it's not one vote that determines a democracy, it's all the steps that follow. It's a challenging transition that demands compromise, vigilance, and constant tending. The draft Egyptian constitution passed a public referendum this week, but it's what comes next that will shape Egypt’s political, economic and social framework for generations.
As Egypt’s transition proceeds, the United States urges the interim Egyptian government to fully implement those rights and freedoms that are guaranteed in the new constitution for the benefit of the Egyptian people, and to take steps towards reconciliation.
The brave Egyptians who stood vigil in Tahrir Square did not risk their lives in a revolution to see its historic potential squandered in the transition. They've weathered ups and downs, disappointment and setbacks in the years that followed, and they're still searching for the promise of that revolution. They still know that the path forward to an inclusive, tolerant, and civilian-led democracy will require Egypt’s political leaders to make difficult compromises and seek a broad consensus on many divisive issues.
Democracy is more than any one referendum or election. It is about equal rights and protections under the law for all Egyptians, regardless of their gender, faith, ethnicity, or political affiliation.
We have consistently expressed our serious concern about the limits on freedom of peaceful assembly and expression in Egypt, including leading up to the referendum, just as we expressed our concerns about the dangerous path Egypt's elected government had chosen in the year that lead to 2013's turbulence. The United States again urges all sides to condemn and prevent violence and to move towards an inclusive political process based on the rule of law and respect for the fundamental freedoms of all Egyptians.
As we have said from the beginning, we strongly believe that permitting international observers to monitor and report freely on electoral events is important in building confidence in Egypt’s political transition.
The preliminary assessments of Democracy International and the Carter Center underscore the challenges ahead, including Egypt’s polarized political environment, the absence of a fully inclusive process in drafting and debating the constitution ahead of the referendum, arrests of those campaigning against the constitution, and procedural violations during the referendum, such as campaigning in proximity to and inside polling stations and lack of ballot secrecy.
We strongly encourage the interim Egyptian government to take these concerns into account as preparations are made for presidential and parliamentary elections.
The work that began in Tahrir Square must not end there. The interim government has committed repeatedly to a transition process that expands democratic rights and leads to a civilian-led, inclusive government through free and fair elections. Now is the time to make that commitment a reality and to ensure respect for the universal human rights of all Egyptians.
Egypt's Constitutional Referendum
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014
Egypt's turbulent experiment in participatory democracy the last three years has reminded us all that it's not one vote that determines a democracy, it's all the steps that follow. It's a challenging transition that demands compromise, vigilance, and constant tending. The draft Egyptian constitution passed a public referendum this week, but it's what comes next that will shape Egypt’s political, economic and social framework for generations.
As Egypt’s transition proceeds, the United States urges the interim Egyptian government to fully implement those rights and freedoms that are guaranteed in the new constitution for the benefit of the Egyptian people, and to take steps towards reconciliation.
The brave Egyptians who stood vigil in Tahrir Square did not risk their lives in a revolution to see its historic potential squandered in the transition. They've weathered ups and downs, disappointment and setbacks in the years that followed, and they're still searching for the promise of that revolution. They still know that the path forward to an inclusive, tolerant, and civilian-led democracy will require Egypt’s political leaders to make difficult compromises and seek a broad consensus on many divisive issues.
Democracy is more than any one referendum or election. It is about equal rights and protections under the law for all Egyptians, regardless of their gender, faith, ethnicity, or political affiliation.
We have consistently expressed our serious concern about the limits on freedom of peaceful assembly and expression in Egypt, including leading up to the referendum, just as we expressed our concerns about the dangerous path Egypt's elected government had chosen in the year that lead to 2013's turbulence. The United States again urges all sides to condemn and prevent violence and to move towards an inclusive political process based on the rule of law and respect for the fundamental freedoms of all Egyptians.
As we have said from the beginning, we strongly believe that permitting international observers to monitor and report freely on electoral events is important in building confidence in Egypt’s political transition.
The preliminary assessments of Democracy International and the Carter Center underscore the challenges ahead, including Egypt’s polarized political environment, the absence of a fully inclusive process in drafting and debating the constitution ahead of the referendum, arrests of those campaigning against the constitution, and procedural violations during the referendum, such as campaigning in proximity to and inside polling stations and lack of ballot secrecy.
We strongly encourage the interim Egyptian government to take these concerns into account as preparations are made for presidential and parliamentary elections.
The work that began in Tahrir Square must not end there. The interim government has committed repeatedly to a transition process that expands democratic rights and leads to a civilian-led, inclusive government through free and fair elections. Now is the time to make that commitment a reality and to ensure respect for the universal human rights of all Egyptians.
TruPS CDOs RULE APPROVED BY AGENCIES
FROM: FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
January 14, 2014
Agencies Approve Interim Final Rule Authorizing Retention of Interests in and Sponsorship of Collateralized Debt Obligations Backed Primarily by Bank-Issued Trust Preferred Securities
Five federal agencies on Tuesday approved an interim final rule to permit banking entities to retain interests in certain collateralized debt obligations backed primarily by trust preferred securities (TruPS CDOs) from the investment prohibitions of section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, known as the Volcker rule.
Under the interim final rule, the agencies permit the retention of an interest in or sponsorship of covered funds by banking entities if the following qualifications are met:
the TruPS CDO was established, and the interest was issued, before May 19, 2010;
the banking entity reasonably believes that the offering proceeds received by the TruPS CDO were invested primarily in Qualifying TruPS Collateral; and
the banking entity’s interest in the TruPS CDO was acquired on or before December 10, 2013, the date the agencies issued final rules implementing section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
The federal banking agencies on Tuesday also released a non-exclusive list of issuers that meet the requirements of the interim final rule.
The interim final rule defines Qualifying TruPS Collateral as any trust preferred security or subordinated debt instrument that was:
issued prior to May 19, 2010, by a depository institution holding company that as of the end of any reporting period within 12 months immediately preceding the issuance of such trust preferred security or subordinated debt instrument had total consolidated assets of less than $15 billion; or
issued prior to May 19, 2010, by a mutual holding company.
Section 171 of the Dodd-Frank Act provides for the grandfathering of trust preferred securities issued before May 19, 2010, by certain depository institution holding companies with total assets of less than $15 billion as of December 31, 2009, and by mutual holding companies established as of May 19, 2010. The TruPS CDO structure was the vehicle that gave effect to the use of trust preferred securities as a regulatory capital instrument prior to May 19, 2010, and was part of the status quo that Congress preserved with the grandfathering provision of section 171.
The interim final rule also provides clarification that the relief relating to these TruPS CDOs extends to activities of the banking entity as a sponsor or trustee for these securitizations and that banking entities may continue to act as market makers in TruPS CDOs.
The interim final rule was approved by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the same agencies that issued final rules to implement section 619. The agencies will accept comment on the interim final rule for 30 days following publication of the interim final rule in the Federal Register.
January 14, 2014
Agencies Approve Interim Final Rule Authorizing Retention of Interests in and Sponsorship of Collateralized Debt Obligations Backed Primarily by Bank-Issued Trust Preferred Securities
Five federal agencies on Tuesday approved an interim final rule to permit banking entities to retain interests in certain collateralized debt obligations backed primarily by trust preferred securities (TruPS CDOs) from the investment prohibitions of section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, known as the Volcker rule.
Under the interim final rule, the agencies permit the retention of an interest in or sponsorship of covered funds by banking entities if the following qualifications are met:
the TruPS CDO was established, and the interest was issued, before May 19, 2010;
the banking entity reasonably believes that the offering proceeds received by the TruPS CDO were invested primarily in Qualifying TruPS Collateral; and
the banking entity’s interest in the TruPS CDO was acquired on or before December 10, 2013, the date the agencies issued final rules implementing section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
The federal banking agencies on Tuesday also released a non-exclusive list of issuers that meet the requirements of the interim final rule.
The interim final rule defines Qualifying TruPS Collateral as any trust preferred security or subordinated debt instrument that was:
issued prior to May 19, 2010, by a depository institution holding company that as of the end of any reporting period within 12 months immediately preceding the issuance of such trust preferred security or subordinated debt instrument had total consolidated assets of less than $15 billion; or
issued prior to May 19, 2010, by a mutual holding company.
Section 171 of the Dodd-Frank Act provides for the grandfathering of trust preferred securities issued before May 19, 2010, by certain depository institution holding companies with total assets of less than $15 billion as of December 31, 2009, and by mutual holding companies established as of May 19, 2010. The TruPS CDO structure was the vehicle that gave effect to the use of trust preferred securities as a regulatory capital instrument prior to May 19, 2010, and was part of the status quo that Congress preserved with the grandfathering provision of section 171.
The interim final rule also provides clarification that the relief relating to these TruPS CDOs extends to activities of the banking entity as a sponsor or trustee for these securitizations and that banking entities may continue to act as market makers in TruPS CDOs.
The interim final rule was approved by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the same agencies that issued final rules to implement section 619. The agencies will accept comment on the interim final rule for 30 days following publication of the interim final rule in the Federal Register.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
U.S. CONDEMNS TALIBAN ATTACK ON RESTAURANT IN AFGHANISTAN
FROM: DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Obama Administration Condemns Taliban Attack on Kabul Restaurant
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2014 – The Obama administration has condemned Friday's deadly Taliban attack on a restaurant in the Afghan capital, Kabul but has commended the Afghan security forces' quick response.
A statement issued by the White House said the United States joins the international community in condemning the attack, which killed 21 civilians and injured others. "We send condolences to all the victims of the attack and their families, and pray for a speedy recovery for those injured," a statement issued by Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
"There is no possible justification for this attack, which has killed innocent civilians, including Americans, working every day to help the Afghan people achieve a better future with higher education and economic assistance at the American University, United Nations, International Monetary Fund and other organizations," the statement added.
The United States commends the quick and skillful response of the Afghan security services in the aftermath of the attack. "We call again on the Taliban to put down their arms and begin peace talks, which is the surest way to end the conflict in a peaceful manner," the statement concludes.
Obama Administration Condemns Taliban Attack on Kabul Restaurant
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2014 – The Obama administration has condemned Friday's deadly Taliban attack on a restaurant in the Afghan capital, Kabul but has commended the Afghan security forces' quick response.
A statement issued by the White House said the United States joins the international community in condemning the attack, which killed 21 civilians and injured others. "We send condolences to all the victims of the attack and their families, and pray for a speedy recovery for those injured," a statement issued by Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
"There is no possible justification for this attack, which has killed innocent civilians, including Americans, working every day to help the Afghan people achieve a better future with higher education and economic assistance at the American University, United Nations, International Monetary Fund and other organizations," the statement added.
The United States commends the quick and skillful response of the Afghan security services in the aftermath of the attack. "We call again on the Taliban to put down their arms and begin peace talks, which is the surest way to end the conflict in a peaceful manner," the statement concludes.
IMF REPRESENTATIVE KILLED IN KABUL BOMB ATTACK
FROM: STATE DEPARTMENT
Attack on Restaurant in Kabul
Press Statement
Jen Psaki
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 18, 2014
The United States joins leaders from around the world in condemning the terrorist attack in Kabul on January 17 against Afghans and those who are there to help them. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this senseless violence. We wish those who were injured a full and speedy recovery.
Among those murdered in this shameful act were Wabel Abdallah, the International Monetary Fund's Resident Representative, personnel from the United Nations, and civilians from around the world, including U.S. citizens, who had come to help build a peaceful, prosperous future for Afghanistan and its people. Several Afghan citizens were also tragically killed.
With this despicable, targeted attack on innocent civilians, terrorists continue to demonstrate blatant disregard for life and for the peaceful, prosperous future Afghans want and are working so hard to achieve.
The United States and our international partners remain steadfast in our commitment to the people of Afghanistan and support their efforts toward peace, reconciliation, and a secure, stable, and prosperous nation.
Attack on Restaurant in Kabul
Press Statement
Jen Psaki
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 18, 2014
The United States joins leaders from around the world in condemning the terrorist attack in Kabul on January 17 against Afghans and those who are there to help them. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this senseless violence. We wish those who were injured a full and speedy recovery.
Among those murdered in this shameful act were Wabel Abdallah, the International Monetary Fund's Resident Representative, personnel from the United Nations, and civilians from around the world, including U.S. citizens, who had come to help build a peaceful, prosperous future for Afghanistan and its people. Several Afghan citizens were also tragically killed.
With this despicable, targeted attack on innocent civilians, terrorists continue to demonstrate blatant disregard for life and for the peaceful, prosperous future Afghans want and are working so hard to achieve.
The United States and our international partners remain steadfast in our commitment to the people of Afghanistan and support their efforts toward peace, reconciliation, and a secure, stable, and prosperous nation.
READOUTS: DEFENSE SECRETARY HAGELS FRIDAY MEETINGS WITH JAPAN, MALAYSIAN OFFICIALS
FROM: DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Readout of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's Meeting with Japan National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby provided the following readout:
Today, Secretary Hagel met with Japan National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi to welcome the establishment of Japan's National Security Council and discuss ways to deepen and enhance bilateral cooperation.
Secretary Hagel expressed appreciation for the Government of Japan's efforts in securing approval of the landfill permit request to construct the Futenma Replacement Facility at Camp Schwab-Henoko Bay, and endorsed a forward-looking revision of the U.S.-Japan Defense Guidelines that would enable Japan to play a more active role in promoting regional peace and stability.
Secretary Hagel said the United States would continue to cooperate closely with Japan on strengthening the alliance to meet the security challenges of the 21st century.
Readout of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's Meeting with Malaysian Minister of Defense Dato' Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein
Assistant Press Secretary Carl Woog provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met with Malaysian Minister of Defense Dato' Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein today at the Pentagon.
Secretary Hagel underscored the U.S. commitment to deepening ties to Malaysia. The two leaders discussed a range of international security issues, including Afghanistan, North Korea, and the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in addressing regional security challenges.
Malaysia is an important partner in Southeast Asia that is making valuable contributions to international security both on its own and in partnership with ASEAN. Secretary Hagel praised Malaysia's leadership in Southeast Asia.
The secretary and the minister also talked about ways to enhance the defense relationship between the United States and Malaysia, including by enhancing bilateral exercise and training opportunities and exploring expanded defense trade cooperation.
The two leaders looked forward to meeting again at the upcoming U.S.-ASEAN informal meeting in Hawaii in April.
Readout of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's Meeting with Japan National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby provided the following readout:
Today, Secretary Hagel met with Japan National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi to welcome the establishment of Japan's National Security Council and discuss ways to deepen and enhance bilateral cooperation.
Secretary Hagel expressed appreciation for the Government of Japan's efforts in securing approval of the landfill permit request to construct the Futenma Replacement Facility at Camp Schwab-Henoko Bay, and endorsed a forward-looking revision of the U.S.-Japan Defense Guidelines that would enable Japan to play a more active role in promoting regional peace and stability.
Secretary Hagel said the United States would continue to cooperate closely with Japan on strengthening the alliance to meet the security challenges of the 21st century.
Readout of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's Meeting with Malaysian Minister of Defense Dato' Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein
Assistant Press Secretary Carl Woog provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met with Malaysian Minister of Defense Dato' Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein today at the Pentagon.
Secretary Hagel underscored the U.S. commitment to deepening ties to Malaysia. The two leaders discussed a range of international security issues, including Afghanistan, North Korea, and the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in addressing regional security challenges.
Malaysia is an important partner in Southeast Asia that is making valuable contributions to international security both on its own and in partnership with ASEAN. Secretary Hagel praised Malaysia's leadership in Southeast Asia.
The secretary and the minister also talked about ways to enhance the defense relationship between the United States and Malaysia, including by enhancing bilateral exercise and training opportunities and exploring expanded defense trade cooperation.
The two leaders looked forward to meeting again at the upcoming U.S.-ASEAN informal meeting in Hawaii in April.
$2 MILLION IN BENEFITS RESTORED AFTER LABOR'S INVESTIGATION
FROM: LABOR DEPARTMENT
California company restores nearly $2M in pension benefits
to 515 employees following US Labor Department investigation
Company debarred from federal contracts for three years
OAKLAND, Calif. — An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division resulted in the restoration of $1,979,779 in 401(k) pension benefits to 515 drivers working on U.S. Postal Service contracts for Lange Trucking Inc. because of violations of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act. The company, along with its President, William A. Langenhuizen; Vice President, William H. Langenhuizen; Secretary Treasurer, Antoinette Langenhuizen; Vice President, Robert Langehuizen; and Vice President of Finance, Lisa Kulak, have been debarred from eligibility for further service contracts with any U.S. government agency for three years for their failure to pay drivers required fringe benefits.
"Contractors that do business with the federal government have an obligation to abide by the law and pay their employees the required contractual rates and benefits," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "Restoring the pension benefits of these workers and debarring this employer illustrate the department's commitment to vigorous enforcement of government contracting laws and helps level the playing field for law-abiding employers."
Wage and Hour investigators found that Lange Trucking failed to fully fund the drivers' 401(k) plan, resulting in a violation of the SCA. Wage and Hour has investigated the company several times in the past. Lange Trucking paid $500,000 of the unpaid benefits while Hoovestol Inc., which is based in Eagan, Minn., acquired the company subsequent to the violations and voluntarily agreed to fund the remaining $1.48 million in benefits. Hoovestol, which cooperated fully with the Wage and Hour Division during its investigation, has also: corrected record-keeping procedures, overhauled the plan to ensure timely payments into the plan going forward, posted wage determinations at the work site and made information about the contracts accessible to employees.
The SCA applies to every contract entered into by the United States or the District of Columbia, the principal purpose of which is to furnish services in the United States through the use of service employees. The SCA requires that contractors and subcontractors performing services on covered federal contracts in excess of $2,500 must pay their service workers no less than the wages and fringe benefits prevailing in the locality.
California company restores nearly $2M in pension benefits
to 515 employees following US Labor Department investigation
Company debarred from federal contracts for three years
OAKLAND, Calif. — An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division resulted in the restoration of $1,979,779 in 401(k) pension benefits to 515 drivers working on U.S. Postal Service contracts for Lange Trucking Inc. because of violations of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act. The company, along with its President, William A. Langenhuizen; Vice President, William H. Langenhuizen; Secretary Treasurer, Antoinette Langenhuizen; Vice President, Robert Langehuizen; and Vice President of Finance, Lisa Kulak, have been debarred from eligibility for further service contracts with any U.S. government agency for three years for their failure to pay drivers required fringe benefits.
"Contractors that do business with the federal government have an obligation to abide by the law and pay their employees the required contractual rates and benefits," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "Restoring the pension benefits of these workers and debarring this employer illustrate the department's commitment to vigorous enforcement of government contracting laws and helps level the playing field for law-abiding employers."
Wage and Hour investigators found that Lange Trucking failed to fully fund the drivers' 401(k) plan, resulting in a violation of the SCA. Wage and Hour has investigated the company several times in the past. Lange Trucking paid $500,000 of the unpaid benefits while Hoovestol Inc., which is based in Eagan, Minn., acquired the company subsequent to the violations and voluntarily agreed to fund the remaining $1.48 million in benefits. Hoovestol, which cooperated fully with the Wage and Hour Division during its investigation, has also: corrected record-keeping procedures, overhauled the plan to ensure timely payments into the plan going forward, posted wage determinations at the work site and made information about the contracts accessible to employees.
The SCA applies to every contract entered into by the United States or the District of Columbia, the principal purpose of which is to furnish services in the United States through the use of service employees. The SCA requires that contractors and subcontractors performing services on covered federal contracts in excess of $2,500 must pay their service workers no less than the wages and fringe benefits prevailing in the locality.
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY EXPANDS RURAL POVERTY INITIATIVE
FROM: AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT
Secretary Vilsack Expands StrikeForce Initiative to Address Rural Poverty in Four Additional State
Targeted efforts now operational in persistent poverty areas in 20 states, including Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia
PINEVILLE, Kentucky, January 17, 2014—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and Congressman Hal Rogers today to announce the expansion of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's StrikeForce Initiative into four additional states: Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia.
"The StrikeForce strategy of partnering public resources with local expertise is helping to grow rural economies and create jobs in persistent poverty communities," said Vilsack. "This is a strategy that is working in rural America and I am pleased that we continue to build on these efforts to bring assistance to areas that need it the most."
Vilsack also noted that the StrikeForce strategy is having concrete results in communities across the country.
Since 2010, through StrikeForce, USDA has partnered with over 400 community organizations, businesses, foundations, universities and other groups to support 80,300 projects and ushered more than $9.7 billion in investments into rural America, including:
The Farm Service Agency saw a 14 percent increase in the total direct farm loan applications received in StrikeForce areas since the beginning of the initiative.
In fiscal year (FY) 2013, the Farm Service Agency provided nearly $9.3 million to fund microloans in StrikeForce areas. Approximately 84 percent of the loans were provided to socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers.
Last year, the number of landowners applying for Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs in StrikeForce areas increased by 82 percent over the previous year.
In FY 2013, the Rural Housing Community Facilities Program obligated a total of $68 million to fund hospitals, libraries and other projects in StrikeForce areas—a 4.5 percent increase over 2012.
Between 2012 and 2013, the Food and Nutrition Service doubled the redemption of SNAP benefits at farmers markets from $2 million to over $4 million in StrikeForce states—a more than 100 percent increase.
In 2012, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service increased the number of children in StrikeForce states receiving free or reduced price school breakfasts by 7.4 percent.
"Through StrikeForce, we are able to reach people in new ways and bring resources to them directly," said Vilsack. "We are learning better ways to help communities leverage their assets and bring opportunity to their residents."
Today's expansion brings StrikeForce attention to more than 700 rural counties, parishes, boroughs, tribal reservations, and Colonias in 20 states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
USDA identifies census tracts with over 20 percent poverty (according to American Community Survey data) to identify sub-county pockets of poverty. As areas of persistent poverty are identified, USDA staff work with state, local and community officials to increase awareness of USDA programs and help build program participation through intensive community outreach.
StrikeForce is part of the Administration's commitment to addressing persistent poverty across America. Last week, President Obama announced the first five of twenty Promise Zones, including one in southeastern Kentucky, that target federal resources to cities, rural areas and Tribal communities suffering the worst poverty.
Secretary Vilsack Expands StrikeForce Initiative to Address Rural Poverty in Four Additional State
Targeted efforts now operational in persistent poverty areas in 20 states, including Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia
PINEVILLE, Kentucky, January 17, 2014—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and Congressman Hal Rogers today to announce the expansion of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's StrikeForce Initiative into four additional states: Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia.
"The StrikeForce strategy of partnering public resources with local expertise is helping to grow rural economies and create jobs in persistent poverty communities," said Vilsack. "This is a strategy that is working in rural America and I am pleased that we continue to build on these efforts to bring assistance to areas that need it the most."
Vilsack also noted that the StrikeForce strategy is having concrete results in communities across the country.
Since 2010, through StrikeForce, USDA has partnered with over 400 community organizations, businesses, foundations, universities and other groups to support 80,300 projects and ushered more than $9.7 billion in investments into rural America, including:
The Farm Service Agency saw a 14 percent increase in the total direct farm loan applications received in StrikeForce areas since the beginning of the initiative.
In fiscal year (FY) 2013, the Farm Service Agency provided nearly $9.3 million to fund microloans in StrikeForce areas. Approximately 84 percent of the loans were provided to socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers.
Last year, the number of landowners applying for Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs in StrikeForce areas increased by 82 percent over the previous year.
In FY 2013, the Rural Housing Community Facilities Program obligated a total of $68 million to fund hospitals, libraries and other projects in StrikeForce areas—a 4.5 percent increase over 2012.
Between 2012 and 2013, the Food and Nutrition Service doubled the redemption of SNAP benefits at farmers markets from $2 million to over $4 million in StrikeForce states—a more than 100 percent increase.
In 2012, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service increased the number of children in StrikeForce states receiving free or reduced price school breakfasts by 7.4 percent.
"Through StrikeForce, we are able to reach people in new ways and bring resources to them directly," said Vilsack. "We are learning better ways to help communities leverage their assets and bring opportunity to their residents."
Today's expansion brings StrikeForce attention to more than 700 rural counties, parishes, boroughs, tribal reservations, and Colonias in 20 states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
USDA identifies census tracts with over 20 percent poverty (according to American Community Survey data) to identify sub-county pockets of poverty. As areas of persistent poverty are identified, USDA staff work with state, local and community officials to increase awareness of USDA programs and help build program participation through intensive community outreach.
StrikeForce is part of the Administration's commitment to addressing persistent poverty across America. Last week, President Obama announced the first five of twenty Promise Zones, including one in southeastern Kentucky, that target federal resources to cities, rural areas and Tribal communities suffering the worst poverty.
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S WEEKLY ADDRESS
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Weekly Address: Making 2014 a Year of Action to Expand Opportunities for the Middle Class
WASHINGTON, DC—In this week’s address, President Obama said 2014 will be a year of action, and called on both parties to help make this a breakthrough year for the United States by bringing back more good jobs and expanding opportunities for the middle class.
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
January 18, 2014
Hi, everybody. This week, I visited a company in Raleigh, North Carolina that helps make electric motors that save businesses money on energy costs and cut harmful carbon pollution.
And I stopped by N.C. State University, where engineers are set to develop the new technology that will make those motors even better.
It’s part of my push not only to make America home to more high-tech manufacturing – but to make America more attractive for the good jobs that a growing middle class requires.
And increasingly, we are. Thanks in part to our all-of-the-above strategy for American energy, for the first time in nearly two decades, we produce more oil here at home than we buy from the rest of the world. We generate more renewable energy than ever, and more natural gas than anybody. Health care costs are growing at their slowest rate in 50 years – due in part to the Affordable Care Act. And since I took office, we’ve cut our deficits by more than half.
So we are primed to bring back more of the good jobs claimed by the recession, and lost to overseas competition in recent decades. But that requires a year of action. And I want to work with Congress this year on proven ways to create jobs, like building infrastructure and fixing our broken immigration system.
Where Congress isn’t acting, I’ll act on my own to put opportunity within reach for anyone who’s willing to work for it. That’s what I did in Raleigh by launching America’s second “manufacturing innovation institute.” It’s a partnership between companies, colleges, and the federal government focused on making sure American businesses and American workers win the race for high-tech manufacturing and the jobs that come with it – jobs that can help people and communities willing to work hard punch their ticket into the middle class.
I firmly believe that this can be a breakthrough year for America. But to make that happen, we’re gonna have to act – to create good jobs that pay good wages, and to offer more Americans a fair shot to get ahead. That’s what I’m focused on every day that I have the privilege of serving as your president. That’s what I’m going to be focused on every single day of this year.
Thanks, and have a great weekend.
Weekly Address: Making 2014 a Year of Action to Expand Opportunities for the Middle Class
WASHINGTON, DC—In this week’s address, President Obama said 2014 will be a year of action, and called on both parties to help make this a breakthrough year for the United States by bringing back more good jobs and expanding opportunities for the middle class.
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
January 18, 2014
Hi, everybody. This week, I visited a company in Raleigh, North Carolina that helps make electric motors that save businesses money on energy costs and cut harmful carbon pollution.
And I stopped by N.C. State University, where engineers are set to develop the new technology that will make those motors even better.
It’s part of my push not only to make America home to more high-tech manufacturing – but to make America more attractive for the good jobs that a growing middle class requires.
And increasingly, we are. Thanks in part to our all-of-the-above strategy for American energy, for the first time in nearly two decades, we produce more oil here at home than we buy from the rest of the world. We generate more renewable energy than ever, and more natural gas than anybody. Health care costs are growing at their slowest rate in 50 years – due in part to the Affordable Care Act. And since I took office, we’ve cut our deficits by more than half.
So we are primed to bring back more of the good jobs claimed by the recession, and lost to overseas competition in recent decades. But that requires a year of action. And I want to work with Congress this year on proven ways to create jobs, like building infrastructure and fixing our broken immigration system.
Where Congress isn’t acting, I’ll act on my own to put opportunity within reach for anyone who’s willing to work for it. That’s what I did in Raleigh by launching America’s second “manufacturing innovation institute.” It’s a partnership between companies, colleges, and the federal government focused on making sure American businesses and American workers win the race for high-tech manufacturing and the jobs that come with it – jobs that can help people and communities willing to work hard punch their ticket into the middle class.
I firmly believe that this can be a breakthrough year for America. But to make that happen, we’re gonna have to act – to create good jobs that pay good wages, and to offer more Americans a fair shot to get ahead. That’s what I’m focused on every day that I have the privilege of serving as your president. That’s what I’m going to be focused on every single day of this year.
Thanks, and have a great weekend.
SECRETARY KERRY TOUTS LOWERING U.S. TRADE BARRIERS
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the Launch of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Partnership
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Loy Henderson Auditorium
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Ben, thank you very, very much. Thanks for your incredible collaboration and leadership on all of this. Mr. Vice President, thank you for being here with us today. And Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, old pal, thank you for being here and being part of this. And Roberta Jacobson, I just – her ears should be burning because I just swore in a new class of civil servants here, and I just called her “the best of the best” and a whole bunch of things, and so – look at her, she’s – (laughter). But she is doing a spectacular job. And Evan Ryan, who’s not up here, shares efforts on this, and we have a great team. And it’s really exciting to be able to be engaged in this kind of an initiative.
I know Roberta from her time as an OAS fellow in Argentina. Really found her worldview shaped through that experience. And so she comes to this with a very personal kind of early commitment that really helps us to translate this into the program that it’s becoming and going to become. And Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, likewise. I’ve watched her for years and years and years as she and I –
MS. TOWNSEND: A hundred years. (Laughter.)
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, you know. You and I – I actually knew Kathleen when she was – that puts me in a different category, and I think Senator Biden, too. So whatever happens, I’m – (laughter) – I’m way the hell ahead of you, so relax. (Laughter.)
I’m really pleased to see that Steve Vetter is here. He leads the Partners of the Americas, and that’s created opportunities across the hemisphere for more than five decades, no small accomplishment. And I’m also happy that Steve Ferst is here from NAFSA, another organization which has done so much to promote these kinds of global exchanges.
And most of all, I want to thank the fellow to my left, the Vice President of the United States, for being with us because his presence here really underscores the Administration’s priority of creating shared prosperity across the hemisphere. On official visits to Panama, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and throughout his five years in the White House and well before that in the 30 years or so that he was on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Vice President has helped to make this priority a reality. And because of his pragmatic and personal commitment to this kind of diplomacy, connecting young people to the future, to opportunity – which is really getting people in touch with our values and their interests, and that marriage is critical. And the Vice President is a key asset for the President of the United States in helping us to engage and reach out in this kind of a program.
He and I both believe – as does President Obama. I think if there’s any topic that the President has put sort of first among equals, if you will, it’s education. And I – we share the belief, all of us here on this podium, education is the great equalizer of the 21st century, because of the dramatic changes that have taken place in the workplace and the challenges of globalization. And the success of many of the leaders in this room is, frankly, a testament to that reality. The Costa Rican ambassador, Muni Figueres, received her BA at City College in New York. Nester Mendez, the ambassador from Belize, did graduate work right down the street at George Washington. And Jose Antonio Meade, who I met with this morning in a trilateral with our friends from Canada, he is Mexico’s foreign secretary and he received his PhD at my alma mater, Yale University.
You have no idea how many people you meet – when I go around the world representing the country and meet a foreign minister, environment minister, finance minister, prime minister, president – who with pride talk about their time in the United States at one college or another or graduate school and what it has meant to shaping their views.
All of the people I just mentioned are distinguished diplomats who come from three different nations, and they pursued very different programs of study. But for each one of them, studying abroad in the United States helped them succeed in a much more internationalized world. As President Obama said last year in Mexico, “When we study together, we learn together, we work together, and we prosper together.” And that’s why the President launched this initiative of 100,000 Strong. It’s an ambitious goal: double the two-way traffic of young people studying in our respective universities.
So I’m proud to announce today that the State Department, with our partners in the private sector, have already raised – and we’ve just begun – have already raised a total of 3.65 million to promote study abroad and cross-cultural learning across the Americas. And as I said, that’s the beginning. We’re going to continue this effort.
These investments are going to help universities develop greater capacity to support study abroad, and they will challenge and reward institutions to find innovative ways to spur greater exchanges and to encourage schools and students who haven’t traditionally participated in this to come to see its value.
I am genuinely proud that the State Department is doing this, and I want to thank Santander Bank and ExxonMobil for their contribution as members of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Founding Circle. I want to applaud Coca-Cola, Freeport McMoRan, and the Ford Foundation for being the initiative’s first contributing partners.
It’s also fitting that we host this event on that same day that Foreign Secretary Meade and I celebrated the 20th anniversary of NAFTA. And through two decades, the vast majority of North Americans have seen incredible benefits as we’ve lowered the barriers to trade, brought talent together and investments across the lines. We now trade about $1.2 trillion a year, compared to $77 billion with Brazil a year, and about $59 billion with India. So we massively, as North America, dwarf, and we haven’t paid enough attention, frankly, to building the longer-term future by creating this kind of relationship.
So I can tell you this: No matter where we’re from, every one of us shares the same basic aspiration – opportunity, security. And we all know that that better future is within reach if you have the chance to reach for the brass ring which comes from education. We are living in a world where countless countries, including this hemisphere, have vast populations under the age of 30 – 65 percent in some, 60 percent; 50 percent under the age of 21, 40 percent under the age of 18. And if those young people who are able to be wired and see what the rest of the world is getting and doing don’t have an opportunity to reach out and touch that, we’re all going to inherit the consequences of our lack of focus and inattention.
So it’s my honor now to introduce someone who has done so much in promoting these partnerships and this prosperity across our two continents, the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden. (Applause.)
Remarks at the Launch of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Partnership
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Loy Henderson Auditorium
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Ben, thank you very, very much. Thanks for your incredible collaboration and leadership on all of this. Mr. Vice President, thank you for being here with us today. And Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, old pal, thank you for being here and being part of this. And Roberta Jacobson, I just – her ears should be burning because I just swore in a new class of civil servants here, and I just called her “the best of the best” and a whole bunch of things, and so – look at her, she’s – (laughter). But she is doing a spectacular job. And Evan Ryan, who’s not up here, shares efforts on this, and we have a great team. And it’s really exciting to be able to be engaged in this kind of an initiative.
I know Roberta from her time as an OAS fellow in Argentina. Really found her worldview shaped through that experience. And so she comes to this with a very personal kind of early commitment that really helps us to translate this into the program that it’s becoming and going to become. And Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, likewise. I’ve watched her for years and years and years as she and I –
MS. TOWNSEND: A hundred years. (Laughter.)
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, you know. You and I – I actually knew Kathleen when she was – that puts me in a different category, and I think Senator Biden, too. So whatever happens, I’m – (laughter) – I’m way the hell ahead of you, so relax. (Laughter.)
I’m really pleased to see that Steve Vetter is here. He leads the Partners of the Americas, and that’s created opportunities across the hemisphere for more than five decades, no small accomplishment. And I’m also happy that Steve Ferst is here from NAFSA, another organization which has done so much to promote these kinds of global exchanges.
And most of all, I want to thank the fellow to my left, the Vice President of the United States, for being with us because his presence here really underscores the Administration’s priority of creating shared prosperity across the hemisphere. On official visits to Panama, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and throughout his five years in the White House and well before that in the 30 years or so that he was on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Vice President has helped to make this priority a reality. And because of his pragmatic and personal commitment to this kind of diplomacy, connecting young people to the future, to opportunity – which is really getting people in touch with our values and their interests, and that marriage is critical. And the Vice President is a key asset for the President of the United States in helping us to engage and reach out in this kind of a program.
He and I both believe – as does President Obama. I think if there’s any topic that the President has put sort of first among equals, if you will, it’s education. And I – we share the belief, all of us here on this podium, education is the great equalizer of the 21st century, because of the dramatic changes that have taken place in the workplace and the challenges of globalization. And the success of many of the leaders in this room is, frankly, a testament to that reality. The Costa Rican ambassador, Muni Figueres, received her BA at City College in New York. Nester Mendez, the ambassador from Belize, did graduate work right down the street at George Washington. And Jose Antonio Meade, who I met with this morning in a trilateral with our friends from Canada, he is Mexico’s foreign secretary and he received his PhD at my alma mater, Yale University.
You have no idea how many people you meet – when I go around the world representing the country and meet a foreign minister, environment minister, finance minister, prime minister, president – who with pride talk about their time in the United States at one college or another or graduate school and what it has meant to shaping their views.
All of the people I just mentioned are distinguished diplomats who come from three different nations, and they pursued very different programs of study. But for each one of them, studying abroad in the United States helped them succeed in a much more internationalized world. As President Obama said last year in Mexico, “When we study together, we learn together, we work together, and we prosper together.” And that’s why the President launched this initiative of 100,000 Strong. It’s an ambitious goal: double the two-way traffic of young people studying in our respective universities.
So I’m proud to announce today that the State Department, with our partners in the private sector, have already raised – and we’ve just begun – have already raised a total of 3.65 million to promote study abroad and cross-cultural learning across the Americas. And as I said, that’s the beginning. We’re going to continue this effort.
These investments are going to help universities develop greater capacity to support study abroad, and they will challenge and reward institutions to find innovative ways to spur greater exchanges and to encourage schools and students who haven’t traditionally participated in this to come to see its value.
I am genuinely proud that the State Department is doing this, and I want to thank Santander Bank and ExxonMobil for their contribution as members of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Founding Circle. I want to applaud Coca-Cola, Freeport McMoRan, and the Ford Foundation for being the initiative’s first contributing partners.
It’s also fitting that we host this event on that same day that Foreign Secretary Meade and I celebrated the 20th anniversary of NAFTA. And through two decades, the vast majority of North Americans have seen incredible benefits as we’ve lowered the barriers to trade, brought talent together and investments across the lines. We now trade about $1.2 trillion a year, compared to $77 billion with Brazil a year, and about $59 billion with India. So we massively, as North America, dwarf, and we haven’t paid enough attention, frankly, to building the longer-term future by creating this kind of relationship.
So I can tell you this: No matter where we’re from, every one of us shares the same basic aspiration – opportunity, security. And we all know that that better future is within reach if you have the chance to reach for the brass ring which comes from education. We are living in a world where countless countries, including this hemisphere, have vast populations under the age of 30 – 65 percent in some, 60 percent; 50 percent under the age of 21, 40 percent under the age of 18. And if those young people who are able to be wired and see what the rest of the world is getting and doing don’t have an opportunity to reach out and touch that, we’re all going to inherit the consequences of our lack of focus and inattention.
So it’s my honor now to introduce someone who has done so much in promoting these partnerships and this prosperity across our two continents, the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden. (Applause.)
AN AMERICAN AND AN AUSTRAILIAN CHARGED IN BIOFUELS FRAUD SCHEME
FROM: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Two Men Charged in Las Vegas with Biofuels Fraud Scheme
Two men have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas for offenses involving the federal renewable fuel program that allegedly netted them more than $37 million, announced the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Criminal Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada. The 57-count indictment against James Jariv, 63, of Las Vegas, and Nathan Stoliar, 64, of Australia, includes allegations of conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements under the Clean Air Act, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
The indictment was unsealed late Wednesday following Jariv’s initial appearance in federal court in Las Vegas, which followed his arrest on Tuesday. Stoliar resides in Australia.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 created a number of federally-funded programs that provided monetary incentives for the production of biodiesel and to encourage biodiesel use in the United States. Biodiesel producers and importers could generate and attach credits known as “renewable identification numbers” or RINs to biodiesel they produced or imported. Because certain companies need RINs to comply with regulatory obligations, RINs have significant market value. In addition, in order to create an incentive for biodiesel in the United States to be used in the United States, anyone who exports biodiesel is required to obtain these valuable RINs and provide them to EPA. The market price charged for exported biodiesel therefore includes the value an exporter is required to later spend to acquire these RINs.
The indictment alleges that beginning around June of 2009, the two defendants, James Jariv and Nathan Stoliar, operated and controlled a company -- City Farm Biofuel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada -- that held itself out as a producer of biodiesel from “feedstocks” such as animal fat and vegetable oils. Jariv also operated and controlled a company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, called Global E Marketing. The government alleges that these defendants claimed to produce biodiesel at the City Farm facility, claimed to import and sell biodiesel to Global E Marketing, and then generated and sold RINs based upon this claimed production, sale and importation. In reality, little to no biodiesel produced at City Farm was ever imported and sold to Global E Marketing as claimed. The indictment alleges that the defendants’ scheme allowed them to generate approximately $7 million in RINs that were fraudulent, which were then sold to companies that needed to obtain them.
The indictment also alleges that, beginning around the same time period and continuing through Dec. 31, 2013, the defendants, using their company MJ Biodfuels, bought over 23 million gallons of RIN-less biodiesel that had been blended with small amounts of petroleum diesel, known as B99, from companies in the United States. The defendants sold some of this biodiesel to purchasers in the United States, claiming it was pure biodiesel, known as B100, produced at the City Farm facility and imported into the United States. By claiming this biodiesel was B100 and not RIN-less B99, the defendants were able to claim the fuel was eligible to be used to generate credits and incentives, and were able to sell the fuel for significantly more than they otherwise would have been able. The defendants also exported the RIN-less B99 they bought in the United States to Canada. The defendants then sold the biodiesel in Canada, and conspired not to acquire and provide RINs for these exports to the United States as they were required to do, but instead to keep the money they received from the sales for themselves. The indictment alleges that, in doing so, the defendants failed to give to the United States RINs worth in excess of $30 million, keeping this money for themselves instead.
The indictment alleges that the defendants created false records and made false statements to conceal their fraudulent claims of biodiesel production, importation, sale and fraudulent RIN generation. Finally, the indictment alleges that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to launder the proceeds of their crimes, utilizing foreign banking institutions and complex financial transactions to conceal the illegal nature of the funds they received, and to attempt to protect these funds from government enforcement. Today the United States also seized and restrained the assets contained in a number bank accounts utilized by the defendants, as well as several pieces of real and personal property in Las Vegas, Nevada.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The collaborative investigation that led to today’s arrest and seizures was the result of work by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI, with assistance from the United States Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Wayne D. Hettenbach of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division , Assistant U.S. Attorneys Crane M. Pomerantz and Daniel D. Hollingsworth of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada, and Trial Attorney Darrin L. McCullough of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, with the assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Two Men Charged in Las Vegas with Biofuels Fraud Scheme
Two men have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas for offenses involving the federal renewable fuel program that allegedly netted them more than $37 million, announced the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Criminal Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada. The 57-count indictment against James Jariv, 63, of Las Vegas, and Nathan Stoliar, 64, of Australia, includes allegations of conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements under the Clean Air Act, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
The indictment was unsealed late Wednesday following Jariv’s initial appearance in federal court in Las Vegas, which followed his arrest on Tuesday. Stoliar resides in Australia.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 created a number of federally-funded programs that provided monetary incentives for the production of biodiesel and to encourage biodiesel use in the United States. Biodiesel producers and importers could generate and attach credits known as “renewable identification numbers” or RINs to biodiesel they produced or imported. Because certain companies need RINs to comply with regulatory obligations, RINs have significant market value. In addition, in order to create an incentive for biodiesel in the United States to be used in the United States, anyone who exports biodiesel is required to obtain these valuable RINs and provide them to EPA. The market price charged for exported biodiesel therefore includes the value an exporter is required to later spend to acquire these RINs.
The indictment alleges that beginning around June of 2009, the two defendants, James Jariv and Nathan Stoliar, operated and controlled a company -- City Farm Biofuel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada -- that held itself out as a producer of biodiesel from “feedstocks” such as animal fat and vegetable oils. Jariv also operated and controlled a company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, called Global E Marketing. The government alleges that these defendants claimed to produce biodiesel at the City Farm facility, claimed to import and sell biodiesel to Global E Marketing, and then generated and sold RINs based upon this claimed production, sale and importation. In reality, little to no biodiesel produced at City Farm was ever imported and sold to Global E Marketing as claimed. The indictment alleges that the defendants’ scheme allowed them to generate approximately $7 million in RINs that were fraudulent, which were then sold to companies that needed to obtain them.
The indictment also alleges that, beginning around the same time period and continuing through Dec. 31, 2013, the defendants, using their company MJ Biodfuels, bought over 23 million gallons of RIN-less biodiesel that had been blended with small amounts of petroleum diesel, known as B99, from companies in the United States. The defendants sold some of this biodiesel to purchasers in the United States, claiming it was pure biodiesel, known as B100, produced at the City Farm facility and imported into the United States. By claiming this biodiesel was B100 and not RIN-less B99, the defendants were able to claim the fuel was eligible to be used to generate credits and incentives, and were able to sell the fuel for significantly more than they otherwise would have been able. The defendants also exported the RIN-less B99 they bought in the United States to Canada. The defendants then sold the biodiesel in Canada, and conspired not to acquire and provide RINs for these exports to the United States as they were required to do, but instead to keep the money they received from the sales for themselves. The indictment alleges that, in doing so, the defendants failed to give to the United States RINs worth in excess of $30 million, keeping this money for themselves instead.
The indictment alleges that the defendants created false records and made false statements to conceal their fraudulent claims of biodiesel production, importation, sale and fraudulent RIN generation. Finally, the indictment alleges that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to launder the proceeds of their crimes, utilizing foreign banking institutions and complex financial transactions to conceal the illegal nature of the funds they received, and to attempt to protect these funds from government enforcement. Today the United States also seized and restrained the assets contained in a number bank accounts utilized by the defendants, as well as several pieces of real and personal property in Las Vegas, Nevada.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The collaborative investigation that led to today’s arrest and seizures was the result of work by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI, with assistance from the United States Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Wayne D. Hettenbach of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division , Assistant U.S. Attorneys Crane M. Pomerantz and Daniel D. Hollingsworth of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada, and Trial Attorney Darrin L. McCullough of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, with the assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY, GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER VENIZELOS MAKE REMARKS BEFORE MEETING
FROM: STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: I’m very pleased to welcome Greek Foreign Minister Venizelos here to Washington. We have met but we have not had a chance to be able to get together like this, and it’s my pleasure to welcome him here. I want to congratulate Greece on assuming the EU presidency, and we look forward very much to working with them in that role, but also in continuing the path towards economic recovery. We know that it has been very, very difficult. Tough decisions had to be made. It is never easy politically. Those choices were made, and I think it is improving. And step by step, we want to continue to not only work on that, but on our superb cooperation with respect to counterterrorism, the Balkans, the Middle East. There are a host of issues where we share common interests.
I do want to say one word quickly about the events that took place yesterday in Ukraine. The legislation that was rammed through the Rada without transparency and accountability violates all the norms of the OSCE and the EU. We believe deeply that the people of Ukraine want to affiliate and want to be associated with Europe and they want to turn in that direction. And the steps that were taken yesterday are anti-democratic, they’re wrong, they are taking from the people of Ukraine their choice and their opportunity for the future. So we will continue to stay focused on this issue, but this kind of anti-democratic maneuver is extremely disturbing and should be a concern to every nation that wants to see the people of Ukraine be able to not only express their wish but see it executed through the political process.
Mr. Minister, thank you.
FOREIGN MINISTER VENIZELOS: John, thank you very much for this kind invitation. This is a great opportunity for me to discuss directly with you a few days after the official opening of the rotating presidency of Greece in the European Union, on the Council of the European Union. This presidency, historically speaking, the fifth after the Greek accession to the European family, is a great opportunity for Greece to show the face of an ordinary European country, of a country beyond the crisis. Without doubt, the main Greek national problem is the crisis, and the national reconstruction after this very tough experience of the recession and of the unemployment.
But on the field of the foreign and security policy, Greece is always a factor of stability for our area, for the Western Balkan, for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. And on this basis we serve the same values, the same views, and we have the possibility to organize our further cooperation as friends and allies. Thank you indeed very much for this opportunity.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very, very much. Thank you.
Remarks With Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: I’m very pleased to welcome Greek Foreign Minister Venizelos here to Washington. We have met but we have not had a chance to be able to get together like this, and it’s my pleasure to welcome him here. I want to congratulate Greece on assuming the EU presidency, and we look forward very much to working with them in that role, but also in continuing the path towards economic recovery. We know that it has been very, very difficult. Tough decisions had to be made. It is never easy politically. Those choices were made, and I think it is improving. And step by step, we want to continue to not only work on that, but on our superb cooperation with respect to counterterrorism, the Balkans, the Middle East. There are a host of issues where we share common interests.
I do want to say one word quickly about the events that took place yesterday in Ukraine. The legislation that was rammed through the Rada without transparency and accountability violates all the norms of the OSCE and the EU. We believe deeply that the people of Ukraine want to affiliate and want to be associated with Europe and they want to turn in that direction. And the steps that were taken yesterday are anti-democratic, they’re wrong, they are taking from the people of Ukraine their choice and their opportunity for the future. So we will continue to stay focused on this issue, but this kind of anti-democratic maneuver is extremely disturbing and should be a concern to every nation that wants to see the people of Ukraine be able to not only express their wish but see it executed through the political process.
Mr. Minister, thank you.
FOREIGN MINISTER VENIZELOS: John, thank you very much for this kind invitation. This is a great opportunity for me to discuss directly with you a few days after the official opening of the rotating presidency of Greece in the European Union, on the Council of the European Union. This presidency, historically speaking, the fifth after the Greek accession to the European family, is a great opportunity for Greece to show the face of an ordinary European country, of a country beyond the crisis. Without doubt, the main Greek national problem is the crisis, and the national reconstruction after this very tough experience of the recession and of the unemployment.
But on the field of the foreign and security policy, Greece is always a factor of stability for our area, for the Western Balkan, for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. And on this basis we serve the same values, the same views, and we have the possibility to organize our further cooperation as friends and allies. Thank you indeed very much for this opportunity.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very, very much. Thank you.
EDUCATION SECRETARY DUNCAN'S STATEMENT ON MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY
FROM: EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
"A little over 50 years ago, our nation engaged in a loud, sometimes deadly and tumultuous discussion about civil rights. From coast to coast, Americans of all backgrounds and creeds stood together and demanded more from each other and our country. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was among the leaders of the day who relentlessly fought for equality in the face of monumental adversity and resistance.
"Time and time again, Dr. King led by example and challenged all of us to be our brother's keeper, fighting the loudest for those with the weakest voices. As we recognize Dr. King's birthday and his countless contributions to our world, we must remember that his fight for equality is not over. Too many students don't have equal access to a high quality education, too many families are finding college simply too expensive to pursue, and not enough of our nation's teachers reflect the diversity of this great country.
"We should honor Dr. King's legacy by continuing to fight for equity in our world and in education—along with serving others. His day of remembrance is an opportunity to take part in a meaningful community service project that will have a lasting impact on your community. Despite our varied experiences, we are all in this together and have a shared responsibility to help the most vulnerable among us—just as Dr. King did."ANUARY 17, 2014
Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
"A little over 50 years ago, our nation engaged in a loud, sometimes deadly and tumultuous discussion about civil rights. From coast to coast, Americans of all backgrounds and creeds stood together and demanded more from each other and our country. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was among the leaders of the day who relentlessly fought for equality in the face of monumental adversity and resistance.
"Time and time again, Dr. King led by example and challenged all of us to be our brother's keeper, fighting the loudest for those with the weakest voices. As we recognize Dr. King's birthday and his countless contributions to our world, we must remember that his fight for equality is not over. Too many students don't have equal access to a high quality education, too many families are finding college simply too expensive to pursue, and not enough of our nation's teachers reflect the diversity of this great country.
"We should honor Dr. King's legacy by continuing to fight for equity in our world and in education—along with serving others. His day of remembrance is an opportunity to take part in a meaningful community service project that will have a lasting impact on your community. Despite our varied experiences, we are all in this together and have a shared responsibility to help the most vulnerable among us—just as Dr. King did."ANUARY 17, 2014
$190 MILLION MEDICARE FRAUD LEADS TO GUILTY PLEA FROM PATIENT RECRUITER IN FLORIDA
FROM: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
RELEASE Friday, January 17, 2014
Miami Patient Recruiter Pleads Guilty for Role in $190 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
A patient recruiter for a fraudulent Miami-area mental health company, American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), pleaded guilty today for her participation in a $190 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations Miami Office made the announcement.
Miami resident Mayelin Santoyo, 28, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore in the Southern District of Florida to one count of conspiracy to receive health care kickbacks. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 28, 2014. On Nov. 25, 2013, co-defendant Jose Martin Olivares, 36, also a Miami resident and patient recruiter, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to receive health care kickbacks before U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham for his role in this scheme. Olivares’s sentencing is set for Feb. 4, 2014.
According to court documents, Santoyo was a patient recruiter for the now-defunct ATC. ATC and its management company, Medlink Professional Management Group Inc., were Florida corporations headquartered in Miami. ATC operated purported partial hospitalization programs (PHPs), a form of intensive treatment for severe mental illness, in seven different locations throughout South Florida and Orlando.
Santoyo recruited Medicare beneficiaries to attend ATC’s PHP program in exchange for kickbacks in the form of checks and cash. The amounts of the kickbacks were based on the number of days each recruited patient spent at ATC. Santoyo knew that the patients she recruited for ATC were not qualified to receive PHP treatment.
ATC’s owners and operators paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to the owners and operators of various assisted living facilities and halfway houses, as well as to patient recruiters, like Santoyo, in exchange for delivering ineligible patients to ATC. According to court documents, to obtain the cash required to support the kickbacks to recruiters such as Santoyo, the co-conspirators laundered millions of dollars of payments from Medicare.
In related cases, ATC, Medlink and various owners, managers, doctors, therapists and patient recruiters of ATC and Medlink have already pleaded guilty or have been convicted at trial. In September 2011, ATC’s owner, Lawrence Duran, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in orchestrating and executing the scheme to defraud Medicare.
This case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief Robert A. Zink and Trial Attorney Anne P. McNamara of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
RELEASE Friday, January 17, 2014
Miami Patient Recruiter Pleads Guilty for Role in $190 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
A patient recruiter for a fraudulent Miami-area mental health company, American Therapeutic Corporation (ATC), pleaded guilty today for her participation in a $190 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Steinbach of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Office of Investigations Miami Office made the announcement.
Miami resident Mayelin Santoyo, 28, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore in the Southern District of Florida to one count of conspiracy to receive health care kickbacks. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 28, 2014. On Nov. 25, 2013, co-defendant Jose Martin Olivares, 36, also a Miami resident and patient recruiter, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to receive health care kickbacks before U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham for his role in this scheme. Olivares’s sentencing is set for Feb. 4, 2014.
According to court documents, Santoyo was a patient recruiter for the now-defunct ATC. ATC and its management company, Medlink Professional Management Group Inc., were Florida corporations headquartered in Miami. ATC operated purported partial hospitalization programs (PHPs), a form of intensive treatment for severe mental illness, in seven different locations throughout South Florida and Orlando.
Santoyo recruited Medicare beneficiaries to attend ATC’s PHP program in exchange for kickbacks in the form of checks and cash. The amounts of the kickbacks were based on the number of days each recruited patient spent at ATC. Santoyo knew that the patients she recruited for ATC were not qualified to receive PHP treatment.
ATC’s owners and operators paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to the owners and operators of various assisted living facilities and halfway houses, as well as to patient recruiters, like Santoyo, in exchange for delivering ineligible patients to ATC. According to court documents, to obtain the cash required to support the kickbacks to recruiters such as Santoyo, the co-conspirators laundered millions of dollars of payments from Medicare.
In related cases, ATC, Medlink and various owners, managers, doctors, therapists and patient recruiters of ATC and Medlink have already pleaded guilty or have been convicted at trial. In September 2011, ATC’s owner, Lawrence Duran, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in orchestrating and executing the scheme to defraud Medicare.
This case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief Robert A. Zink and Trial Attorney Anne P. McNamara of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Friday, January 17, 2014
NAFTA TRADE DEAL TOUTED BY U.S., CANADIAN AND MEXICAN GOVERNMENTS
FROM: STATE DEPARTMENT
Joint Press Availability With Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird and Mexican Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Meade
Press Availability
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Ben Franklin Room
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Good morning. Buenos Dias. Bonjour. Nice to be here with everybody, and I’m particularly delighted to welcome my friends and North American counterparts, Secretary Meade and Minister Baird. We’re happy to have them in Washington here today.
I have had a chance to meet bilaterally a number of times with both the secretary and the minister, but this is the first time that we’ve been able to meet all three of us, trilaterally, since I became Secretary of State, and I’m very grateful to both of them for making the trip here. And I hope, as I said to them today, to visit their countries, both of them, very, very soon.
During my years in the Senate and certainly since becoming Secretary, I’ve often found myself in absolute awe about how extraordinary this continent really is. While we often wind up traveling to trouble spots in the world, the truth is that North America is a remarkable, remarkable unity of three very important and powerful countries that share values and interests, and are operating on those values and interests every single day. We are three nations separated by peaceful borders. We are neighbors. We’re partners. And we come together to confront the full range of challenges that we face, and believe me, this is something that is not everyday everywhere in the world today.
Together, our North American nations are promoting democracy and our shared values at home and around the globe. We’re encouraging daily our cooperation on matters of international peace and security. We work together on nonproliferation, on Syria, on Middle East peace, on a host of different challenges to our security. And we’re also collaborating to address all of them more effectively than any of us could do alone. And that’s the power of North America and this relationship.
Through initiatives like the North America-Central America Security Dialogue, we’re also working to improve citizen security throughout the Western Hemisphere and beyond. And we’re reducing the impact of national disasters. We’re providing assistance in the face of health, humanitarian challenges. We’ve launched trilateral initiatives like the North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza, which was critical during the H1N1 outbreak of 2009, and remains intact today in order to help us address similar challenges, should they arise at any moment.
We’re also taking steps to support economic growth that is inclusive, shared. Just a few weeks ago, we marked the 20th anniversary of NAFTA. And I think we have learned a couple of important lessons that can help inform the vision of NAFTA. The first lesson is free trade works. In a world where economic policy is foreign policy, free trade is a key ingredient for shared prosperity, for shared growth, and shared security. Every single day, the United States does more than $3.4 billion of trade in our NAFTA partnership. And that is about a third of all the trading that we do. It is done between this partnership. More than $1 trillion of trade a year, more than $100 billion of trade a month – that is more trade that we engage in with Brazil annually, and each month we do more trade than we engage with with India annually, just to give you a sense of the vitality of this partnership.
Over the past 20 years, we have opened up a new North American marketplace. We have integrated supply chains and re-imagined entire industries, from agriculture to aerospace. Today, North America is far more than the sum of three economies. It’s the collective output of what has become a fully integrated manufacturing center. If you buy a car in Mexico, it may well have been assembled in Canada and contained Made-in-America parts. There are workers in Wichita, Kansas putting the finishing touches on aircraft that contain fuselages assembled in Mexico and engines built in Canada. This kind of economic integration is benefiting all three of our nations economically, and has also improved living standards and working conditions across the board.
I will tell you, because I was involved in the NAFTA debate in the United States Senate, I remember how intense that debate was. It divided America. And we could never really have envisioned, even in the best arguments, what has happened in those 20 years.
The second lesson that we can learn from the past couple of decades is that globalization isn’t slowing down any time soon. And no matter how much there is some dislocation, and we acknowledge there can be, the fact is that no political leader, no country can put that genie back in the bottle. When I joined my fellow senators in supporting and ultimately passing NAFTA, we didn’t do it because it was easy. We did it because we believed it was a risk worth taking, and it has proven true. NAFTA was at the vanguard of the wholly interconnected world that we face today. And as I always say, nobody has any way of transforming the realities of this desire of people everywhere to have better jobs, more jobs, more education, more opportunity that comes with that opening up.
So yes, globalization can be a challenge. But it really has meant that our countries have to be more dynamic. We have to be more competitive. We have to be more innovative. That’s not always easy. But globalization is an enormous opportunity, and if we can take advantage of it as we build on this strong partnership, we believe that it will help all of us to provide better opportunity and more security to our citizens.
If we want to compete, we actually have to make it even easier to trade, easier for people to invest in our countries. We talked about that this morning. We talked about how we can improve the trans-border movement of both goods and of people. We talked about how the Trans-Pacific Partnership could particularly have an impact on the global economy and also be enormously beneficial to each of our economies. And if our nations want to compete, the United States, Canada, and Mexico are best approaching these challenges as partners, not as competitors.
That includes on the subject of energy. I look forward to discussing with my counterparts the opportunities for energy cooperation, and we talked about that today – ways in which we can address the enormous challenge of climate change, which we all agree in our nations must be addressed, but also how we address the question of taking advantage of the vast resources we have on this continent, bring greater energy opportunity to our citizens, but do so in ways that are environmentally sustainable and responsible.
Next month, President Pena Nieto will host President Obama and Prime Minister Harper in Mexico for the North American Leaders meeting. And the lessons of the past will be at the forefront of our minds, but our focus fundamentally needs to be on the future, and that’s where it will be – on the growth of our markets, the strength of our partnership, the health and well-being of our people, and the security of our continent for years to come.
Mr. Secretary.
FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE: Thank you and good morning to all. Thank you, Secretary Kerry. Thank you, Minister Baird. This has been, I think, a very good meeting for Mexico. It has allowed us the opportunity to talk about issues that are very relevant to the region. Just at the outset, I would like to recognize from Mexico the very long hours, the very long days of Secretary Kerry, the risks that he has taken in order to construct a better world. And I think that many of those risks have paid off, and Mexico recognizes that hard work. We had a very good meeting this morning in addressing many regional interests.
I would like to thank the members of the press.
(Via interpreter) I would also like to thank Mexican and Hispanic correspondents for their attendance.
(Inaudible) of common interest to our governments. As Secretary Kerry said, the North American (inaudible) drive the vision of 21st century North America. We will work towards becoming the most competitive and dynamic region in the world. We will be honored to host President Obama and Prime Minister Harper in Toluca in February. Today’s meeting focused on ensuring that we are on track to deliver our commitments. We discussed many topics, on how to make – how to work towards increasing our shared prosperity, our leadership, on the opportunities of international engagement, and the security of citizens in the North American region.
President Pena Nieto has said repeatedly that he believes that a 21st century North America is called on to become the most competitive and dynamic region in the world. We know that this is something that President Obama and Prime Minister Harper also share. We have many things that will support our work to make North America competitive and dynamic. As Secretary Kerry said, and I know Minister Baird believes, we have shared values, we have shared goals, we have a working partnership that has worked to the benefit of our people.
But we also are a region that enjoys an important number of competitive advantages going forward. We have as a region very competitive labor costs, we have huge transportation and logistical advantages, we have qualified and hard-working human capital, we are enjoying a new energy paradigm that people would not have envisioned some years back, we have great economies of scale due to the size and interrelation of our urban areas, and we have had a framework that has worked and that has worked well.
As we mark the NAFTA 20th anniversary, it’s important and interesting to see the size of the results. As this press conference is going on, more than $2 million of good are being traded every minute within our three economies. And behind that trade, there has been job creation and prosperity for the region. Mexico really looks forward to partaking in an effort to advance prosperity in the region that is both shared and inclusive. We know that we must seize new areas of opportunities that lie before us. We need to collaborate more on education, on science, on technology, and innovation. We have the opportunity to work together in addressing regional concerns of better engaging with Central America, the Caribbean, and the Latin American regions. We know that by working together, we can achieve more. We think that we have the regional institutions, the political framework, and the political will now in place to implement the decisions that we have taken.
The North American idea is a very good friend of Mexico and of North America because of what Pastor says – it’s stronger than ever. Mexico, the U.S., and Canada are working together to further our regional community, and that commitment was reaffirmed amongst all of us earlier this morning.
Again, thank you, Secretary Kerry. Thank you, Minister Baird, for your partnership in this endeavor.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Secretary Meade. Minister Baird.
FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: Thank you very much, John.
(Via interpreter) It’s a great pleasure for me to be here today and to celebrate the good partnership and the good relations between our two countries.
(Inaudible) for your hospitality, John. We had great discussions today celebrating 20 years of NAFTA and the huge and significant economic growth in trade that we’ve seen between our three countries. We also have seen the growth of our political relations with the trilateral relationship to look what we can do to work together to see more jobs, more hope, and more opportunity, what we can do to make our economies more competitive, what we can do to boost incomes, boost job creation in all three of our countries. NAFTA has been an unqualified success, and one of the great side effects is the strengthened political relationship between all three countries where, on issue after issue after issue, there is a strengthened partnership where not only are we working together, but rowing together and getting a lot farther a lot faster than any of us could have ever have hoped 20 years ago.
We had an opportunity to discuss security, border management, infrastructure. We had the opportunity to talk about regulatory cooperation, all things that can help boost job creation. And this remains a significant priority for Canada, and we look forward to the continued preparations for a successful summit. We appreciate the significant leadership from President Pena Nieto. The scale and the speed of the reforms which have taken place in his first year in office are remarkable. And we had a strong relationship with the Calderon administration and we’re very pleased with the first year of our relationship with the new administration.
I want to thank you as well, John, for the significant American leadership that we have seen from you, particularly with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I look forward to visiting Israel later today – tomorrow when I will leave, and to doing all we can to support your noble efforts to seek a resolution to one of, if not the most, intractable issue in the world. Obviously, your leadership as well, with respect to trying to bring a political solution and an end to the violence and the war by Assad against his own people, is remarkable and we will be there in Geneva to support you in those common values and efforts that we strongly support. Thank you very much. Merci beaucoup.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, John. I think we’re – Jen will manage the questions.
MS. PSAKI: The first question will be from Michael Gordon of The New York Times.
QUESTION: A question for Secretary Kerry. Sir, after you became Secretary of State, you made the point repeatedly that it was important to change Bashar al-Assad’s calculation in order to achieve a political solution at Geneva II. Now almost a year later, it’s clear that the Assad regime believes its position is stronger than ever. In his letter to the United Nations, the Syria foreign minister, who will be leading the delegation to Geneva II, suggests that the purpose of going to Geneva is to fight terrorism, not discuss a political transition. In fact, he says some point in the invitation the Syrian Government received from the UN are “in conflict with the legal and political position of the state of Syria.”
Sir, my question is: How can you expect to make progress toward a political transition at Geneva II if the Assad government does even accept the purpose of the conference, which is what its own letter suggests. Have you been in contact with the Syrian Government over the past 24 hours to obtain an assurance that it accepts the purpose of the meeting? And doesn’t the Syrian foreign minister’s letter mean that more pressure needs to be brought to bear on the Assad government in order to make political headway? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Michael. Yesterday I addressed directly the revisionism of the Syrian regime in its effort to try to divert the purpose, which will not be successful. More than 30 nations are going to assemble, all of whom, thus far, and if there are more, will be and must be committed to the Geneva I communique. Now, you were with me in Paris the other day when Foreign Minister Lavrov stood up and reiterated that the purpose of this conference is the implementation of the Geneva I communique.
Nobody would have believed that Assad would have given up his chemical weapons. But he did. And the reason he did is that his patrons came to understand that he had to. And I believe, as we begin to get to Geneva, and begin to get into this process, that it will become clear that there is no political solution whatsoever if Assad is not discussing a transition and if he thinks he’s going to be part of that future. It’s not going to happen. The people who are the opponents of this regime will never, ever stop. There will be a low-grade insurgency at least, and worse, potentially even a civil war if it continues, because they will not stop.
Now we also are not out of options with respect to what we may be able to do to increase the pressure and further change the calculation. And I think we’ve made that clear to the Russian foreign minister and others, and nor are other players short of an ability to be able to have an impact here.
So I think they can bluster, they can protest, they can put out distortions. The bottom line is: We are going to Geneva to implement Geneva I. And if Assad doesn’t do that, he will invite greater response in various ways from various people over a period of time. So I’m not particularly surprised that he is trying to divert this. He’s been doing this for months, trying to make himself the protector of Syria against extremists, when he himself has even been funding some of those extremists – even purposely ceding some territory to them in order to make them more of a problem so he can make the argument that he is somehow the protector against them. Nobody is going to be fooled. We’re not going to be fooled by this process.
So Foreign Minister Lavrov has stated: They are supporting the Geneva I communique and the government has to come and negotiate around the communique. And since Russia is one of the primary benefactors of the Assad regime, we believe the Russians have a high stake in helping to make certain that Assad understands exactly what the parameters of this negotiation are.
MODERATOR: Second question is for (inaudible) from (inaudible) de Mexico.
QUESTION: Thank you. Secretary Kerry, you mentioned that you discussed how to improve the transit of goods and people here in North America. Many people here in the U.S. have been asking the three governments to update NAFTA to take into account the new reality, for example, of the recently passed energy reform in Mexico. So I’d like to get a sense of the three of you whether your governments will be willing to update NAFTA or even reopen it formally.
And Secretary Kerry --
SECRETARY KERRY: To open what?
QUESTION: Reopen NAFTA formally to include some new recent issues such as energy reform. And Secretary Kerry, especially for you, what are your response to those who believe that at some point the U.S. should include Canada and Mexico in the TTIP negotiations, if only to avoid future conflicts between the NAFTA rules and whatever you end up agreeing with the Europeans.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me speak first, and I’d like each of our – my guests to address this also. Over the last 20 years, as I mentioned, we’ve developed this incredible network of trade agreements in the Western hemisphere. And we have long-wanted to open up those benefits. I think that stepping up, all of us, to the TPP, is a very critical component of sort of moving to the next tier, post-NAFTA. So I don’t think you have to open up NAFTA, per se, in order to achieve what we’re trying to achieve. There are plenty of ways for us in cooperative, and we discussed a lot of them this morning with respect to borders, with respect to regulations, with respect to energy cooperation, technology, innovation, investment – there are a host of things that we can move forward on that will take us to the next level without having to sort of go back and kind of reopen it. I think we’re well-engaged and looking forward to a much more robust relationship.
And what we did do today was set down a series of specific items that we will follow up on quickly, so that these can be the items that our presidents and prime minister wind up engaging on in the meeting in February. And I think today’s meeting holds out the prospect that that can be a more productive and more specific engagement as a result.
Mr. Baird.
FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: Now listen, we believe that NAFTA’s been an unqualified success, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, which all three of us are in, offer us the opportunity to strengthen the trilateral partnership, and we’re keen to use that opportunity to do so.
FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE: NAFTA has worked well on many levels. In the last 20 years, trade in the region multiplied by three, foreign direct investment in the region multiplied by eight. Mexico is now the third trading partner of both the U.S. and Canada. We’re the second and the fifth market of the U.S. and Canada, respectively. Just to put in perspective, Mexico is the first market for exports of Arizona, California, and Texas. We’re the second largest export market for other 20 states. Again, to put the numbers in perspective, exports to Mexico just from the U.S. were larger than exports to China and Japan together. They were larger than the sum of exports to Germany, France, Holland, and the UK put together. And that is a platform over which we have an opportunity to build.
I agree with what Senator – with what Secretary Kerry and what Minister Baird said. We do not think it is necessary to reopen NAFTA, but we think we have to build on it to construct and revitalize the idea of a dynamic North America. North America is the single most important economic bloc today. The three economies standing here before you today explain about a third of the world economy. We explain – we are the largest exporters of most advanced industries, and we have therefore the obligation to review how the economic process is going in such a way as to remove any obstacles for trade, investment, and economic prosperity to be a reality to the citizens of all three of our countries.
The commitment that we have reached today will allow us to help develop an agenda, to follow it through, to have mechanisms that allow for the commitments that we’ve reached to be fully implemented. In terms of the trade relationship with Europe, at some point we will have three bilateral trade agreements with the European Union. It is in the interest of Mexico that those negotiations are to the benefit of the North American region. We think that that is in the best interest of Canada and the U.S. as well, and we will work to ensure that those negotiations further increase North American competitiveness, with a view, eventually, to having a more integrated perspective from North America and the European Union, rather than just a view of three bilaterals.
MODERATOR: Thank you. A question from Alex Panetta of the Canadian Press.
QUESTION: My question’s on a bilateral matter, a Canada-U.S. issue, the Keystone Pipeline. Last February, Secretary Kerry, you said you were hoping to be in a position to offer a decision on Keystone in the near future. It’s been almost a year. Since then, the Canadian Government has said it wouldn’t take no for an answer on Keystone. This week, your Canadian interlocutor is in Washington, has repeatedly asked for a decision soon because apparently the uncertainty is becoming untenable for the oil industry. So I would ask you to answer your Canadian friend.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I always answer my Canadian friend, but I have to do it according to our administrative process, and the rules and regulations under which I have to operate, and I think he understands that. We are currently engaged in the Environmental Impact Statement analysis. An analysis will be made with respect to the national interests ultimately, and we’re just not at that point yet. I haven’t received it. They haven’t finished it.
There were a lot of questions that were raised in all of the public comment period, and those comments have necessitated appropriate answers. The public has a role in this. We’re all accountable to our publics. The democratic process demands that we do that. So we are doing it, and I can promise our friends in Canada that all the appropriate effort is being put into trying to get this done effectively and rapidly. And my hope is that before long, that analysis will be available, and then my work begins.
FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: If I could as well respond. This is obvious, John and I have had discussions about this in the past, and we’ll be meeting bilaterally later today. Obviously, this is a tremendously important project for the future of prosperity of the Canadian economy. Twenty-six months ago, Hillary Clinton called, explained the concerns that the Administration had, particularly with the aquifer in Nebraska. We’re pleased that the proponent has worked constructively with the state, realigned the pipeline, gone through the process. We hope the final State Department report is out in short order, and that the Administration will be in a position to make a positive decision. This is a great project for the future economic prosperity of Canada. It’s a great project. It’ll create a lot of jobs here in the United States. It’s a great project which will increase the energy security of our closest friend and ally, and we obviously want to see and look forward to a positive decision to energy security, and a positive decision to job creation.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all very much. Appreciate it.
Joint Press Availability With Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird and Mexican Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Meade
Press Availability
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Ben Franklin Room
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Good morning. Buenos Dias. Bonjour. Nice to be here with everybody, and I’m particularly delighted to welcome my friends and North American counterparts, Secretary Meade and Minister Baird. We’re happy to have them in Washington here today.
I have had a chance to meet bilaterally a number of times with both the secretary and the minister, but this is the first time that we’ve been able to meet all three of us, trilaterally, since I became Secretary of State, and I’m very grateful to both of them for making the trip here. And I hope, as I said to them today, to visit their countries, both of them, very, very soon.
During my years in the Senate and certainly since becoming Secretary, I’ve often found myself in absolute awe about how extraordinary this continent really is. While we often wind up traveling to trouble spots in the world, the truth is that North America is a remarkable, remarkable unity of three very important and powerful countries that share values and interests, and are operating on those values and interests every single day. We are three nations separated by peaceful borders. We are neighbors. We’re partners. And we come together to confront the full range of challenges that we face, and believe me, this is something that is not everyday everywhere in the world today.
Together, our North American nations are promoting democracy and our shared values at home and around the globe. We’re encouraging daily our cooperation on matters of international peace and security. We work together on nonproliferation, on Syria, on Middle East peace, on a host of different challenges to our security. And we’re also collaborating to address all of them more effectively than any of us could do alone. And that’s the power of North America and this relationship.
Through initiatives like the North America-Central America Security Dialogue, we’re also working to improve citizen security throughout the Western Hemisphere and beyond. And we’re reducing the impact of national disasters. We’re providing assistance in the face of health, humanitarian challenges. We’ve launched trilateral initiatives like the North American Plan for Animal and Pandemic Influenza, which was critical during the H1N1 outbreak of 2009, and remains intact today in order to help us address similar challenges, should they arise at any moment.
We’re also taking steps to support economic growth that is inclusive, shared. Just a few weeks ago, we marked the 20th anniversary of NAFTA. And I think we have learned a couple of important lessons that can help inform the vision of NAFTA. The first lesson is free trade works. In a world where economic policy is foreign policy, free trade is a key ingredient for shared prosperity, for shared growth, and shared security. Every single day, the United States does more than $3.4 billion of trade in our NAFTA partnership. And that is about a third of all the trading that we do. It is done between this partnership. More than $1 trillion of trade a year, more than $100 billion of trade a month – that is more trade that we engage in with Brazil annually, and each month we do more trade than we engage with with India annually, just to give you a sense of the vitality of this partnership.
Over the past 20 years, we have opened up a new North American marketplace. We have integrated supply chains and re-imagined entire industries, from agriculture to aerospace. Today, North America is far more than the sum of three economies. It’s the collective output of what has become a fully integrated manufacturing center. If you buy a car in Mexico, it may well have been assembled in Canada and contained Made-in-America parts. There are workers in Wichita, Kansas putting the finishing touches on aircraft that contain fuselages assembled in Mexico and engines built in Canada. This kind of economic integration is benefiting all three of our nations economically, and has also improved living standards and working conditions across the board.
I will tell you, because I was involved in the NAFTA debate in the United States Senate, I remember how intense that debate was. It divided America. And we could never really have envisioned, even in the best arguments, what has happened in those 20 years.
The second lesson that we can learn from the past couple of decades is that globalization isn’t slowing down any time soon. And no matter how much there is some dislocation, and we acknowledge there can be, the fact is that no political leader, no country can put that genie back in the bottle. When I joined my fellow senators in supporting and ultimately passing NAFTA, we didn’t do it because it was easy. We did it because we believed it was a risk worth taking, and it has proven true. NAFTA was at the vanguard of the wholly interconnected world that we face today. And as I always say, nobody has any way of transforming the realities of this desire of people everywhere to have better jobs, more jobs, more education, more opportunity that comes with that opening up.
So yes, globalization can be a challenge. But it really has meant that our countries have to be more dynamic. We have to be more competitive. We have to be more innovative. That’s not always easy. But globalization is an enormous opportunity, and if we can take advantage of it as we build on this strong partnership, we believe that it will help all of us to provide better opportunity and more security to our citizens.
If we want to compete, we actually have to make it even easier to trade, easier for people to invest in our countries. We talked about that this morning. We talked about how we can improve the trans-border movement of both goods and of people. We talked about how the Trans-Pacific Partnership could particularly have an impact on the global economy and also be enormously beneficial to each of our economies. And if our nations want to compete, the United States, Canada, and Mexico are best approaching these challenges as partners, not as competitors.
That includes on the subject of energy. I look forward to discussing with my counterparts the opportunities for energy cooperation, and we talked about that today – ways in which we can address the enormous challenge of climate change, which we all agree in our nations must be addressed, but also how we address the question of taking advantage of the vast resources we have on this continent, bring greater energy opportunity to our citizens, but do so in ways that are environmentally sustainable and responsible.
Next month, President Pena Nieto will host President Obama and Prime Minister Harper in Mexico for the North American Leaders meeting. And the lessons of the past will be at the forefront of our minds, but our focus fundamentally needs to be on the future, and that’s where it will be – on the growth of our markets, the strength of our partnership, the health and well-being of our people, and the security of our continent for years to come.
Mr. Secretary.
FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE: Thank you and good morning to all. Thank you, Secretary Kerry. Thank you, Minister Baird. This has been, I think, a very good meeting for Mexico. It has allowed us the opportunity to talk about issues that are very relevant to the region. Just at the outset, I would like to recognize from Mexico the very long hours, the very long days of Secretary Kerry, the risks that he has taken in order to construct a better world. And I think that many of those risks have paid off, and Mexico recognizes that hard work. We had a very good meeting this morning in addressing many regional interests.
I would like to thank the members of the press.
(Via interpreter) I would also like to thank Mexican and Hispanic correspondents for their attendance.
(Inaudible) of common interest to our governments. As Secretary Kerry said, the North American (inaudible) drive the vision of 21st century North America. We will work towards becoming the most competitive and dynamic region in the world. We will be honored to host President Obama and Prime Minister Harper in Toluca in February. Today’s meeting focused on ensuring that we are on track to deliver our commitments. We discussed many topics, on how to make – how to work towards increasing our shared prosperity, our leadership, on the opportunities of international engagement, and the security of citizens in the North American region.
President Pena Nieto has said repeatedly that he believes that a 21st century North America is called on to become the most competitive and dynamic region in the world. We know that this is something that President Obama and Prime Minister Harper also share. We have many things that will support our work to make North America competitive and dynamic. As Secretary Kerry said, and I know Minister Baird believes, we have shared values, we have shared goals, we have a working partnership that has worked to the benefit of our people.
But we also are a region that enjoys an important number of competitive advantages going forward. We have as a region very competitive labor costs, we have huge transportation and logistical advantages, we have qualified and hard-working human capital, we are enjoying a new energy paradigm that people would not have envisioned some years back, we have great economies of scale due to the size and interrelation of our urban areas, and we have had a framework that has worked and that has worked well.
As we mark the NAFTA 20th anniversary, it’s important and interesting to see the size of the results. As this press conference is going on, more than $2 million of good are being traded every minute within our three economies. And behind that trade, there has been job creation and prosperity for the region. Mexico really looks forward to partaking in an effort to advance prosperity in the region that is both shared and inclusive. We know that we must seize new areas of opportunities that lie before us. We need to collaborate more on education, on science, on technology, and innovation. We have the opportunity to work together in addressing regional concerns of better engaging with Central America, the Caribbean, and the Latin American regions. We know that by working together, we can achieve more. We think that we have the regional institutions, the political framework, and the political will now in place to implement the decisions that we have taken.
The North American idea is a very good friend of Mexico and of North America because of what Pastor says – it’s stronger than ever. Mexico, the U.S., and Canada are working together to further our regional community, and that commitment was reaffirmed amongst all of us earlier this morning.
Again, thank you, Secretary Kerry. Thank you, Minister Baird, for your partnership in this endeavor.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Secretary Meade. Minister Baird.
FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: Thank you very much, John.
(Via interpreter) It’s a great pleasure for me to be here today and to celebrate the good partnership and the good relations between our two countries.
(Inaudible) for your hospitality, John. We had great discussions today celebrating 20 years of NAFTA and the huge and significant economic growth in trade that we’ve seen between our three countries. We also have seen the growth of our political relations with the trilateral relationship to look what we can do to work together to see more jobs, more hope, and more opportunity, what we can do to make our economies more competitive, what we can do to boost incomes, boost job creation in all three of our countries. NAFTA has been an unqualified success, and one of the great side effects is the strengthened political relationship between all three countries where, on issue after issue after issue, there is a strengthened partnership where not only are we working together, but rowing together and getting a lot farther a lot faster than any of us could have ever have hoped 20 years ago.
We had an opportunity to discuss security, border management, infrastructure. We had the opportunity to talk about regulatory cooperation, all things that can help boost job creation. And this remains a significant priority for Canada, and we look forward to the continued preparations for a successful summit. We appreciate the significant leadership from President Pena Nieto. The scale and the speed of the reforms which have taken place in his first year in office are remarkable. And we had a strong relationship with the Calderon administration and we’re very pleased with the first year of our relationship with the new administration.
I want to thank you as well, John, for the significant American leadership that we have seen from you, particularly with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I look forward to visiting Israel later today – tomorrow when I will leave, and to doing all we can to support your noble efforts to seek a resolution to one of, if not the most, intractable issue in the world. Obviously, your leadership as well, with respect to trying to bring a political solution and an end to the violence and the war by Assad against his own people, is remarkable and we will be there in Geneva to support you in those common values and efforts that we strongly support. Thank you very much. Merci beaucoup.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, John. I think we’re – Jen will manage the questions.
MS. PSAKI: The first question will be from Michael Gordon of The New York Times.
QUESTION: A question for Secretary Kerry. Sir, after you became Secretary of State, you made the point repeatedly that it was important to change Bashar al-Assad’s calculation in order to achieve a political solution at Geneva II. Now almost a year later, it’s clear that the Assad regime believes its position is stronger than ever. In his letter to the United Nations, the Syria foreign minister, who will be leading the delegation to Geneva II, suggests that the purpose of going to Geneva is to fight terrorism, not discuss a political transition. In fact, he says some point in the invitation the Syrian Government received from the UN are “in conflict with the legal and political position of the state of Syria.”
Sir, my question is: How can you expect to make progress toward a political transition at Geneva II if the Assad government does even accept the purpose of the conference, which is what its own letter suggests. Have you been in contact with the Syrian Government over the past 24 hours to obtain an assurance that it accepts the purpose of the meeting? And doesn’t the Syrian foreign minister’s letter mean that more pressure needs to be brought to bear on the Assad government in order to make political headway? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Michael. Yesterday I addressed directly the revisionism of the Syrian regime in its effort to try to divert the purpose, which will not be successful. More than 30 nations are going to assemble, all of whom, thus far, and if there are more, will be and must be committed to the Geneva I communique. Now, you were with me in Paris the other day when Foreign Minister Lavrov stood up and reiterated that the purpose of this conference is the implementation of the Geneva I communique.
Nobody would have believed that Assad would have given up his chemical weapons. But he did. And the reason he did is that his patrons came to understand that he had to. And I believe, as we begin to get to Geneva, and begin to get into this process, that it will become clear that there is no political solution whatsoever if Assad is not discussing a transition and if he thinks he’s going to be part of that future. It’s not going to happen. The people who are the opponents of this regime will never, ever stop. There will be a low-grade insurgency at least, and worse, potentially even a civil war if it continues, because they will not stop.
Now we also are not out of options with respect to what we may be able to do to increase the pressure and further change the calculation. And I think we’ve made that clear to the Russian foreign minister and others, and nor are other players short of an ability to be able to have an impact here.
So I think they can bluster, they can protest, they can put out distortions. The bottom line is: We are going to Geneva to implement Geneva I. And if Assad doesn’t do that, he will invite greater response in various ways from various people over a period of time. So I’m not particularly surprised that he is trying to divert this. He’s been doing this for months, trying to make himself the protector of Syria against extremists, when he himself has even been funding some of those extremists – even purposely ceding some territory to them in order to make them more of a problem so he can make the argument that he is somehow the protector against them. Nobody is going to be fooled. We’re not going to be fooled by this process.
So Foreign Minister Lavrov has stated: They are supporting the Geneva I communique and the government has to come and negotiate around the communique. And since Russia is one of the primary benefactors of the Assad regime, we believe the Russians have a high stake in helping to make certain that Assad understands exactly what the parameters of this negotiation are.
MODERATOR: Second question is for (inaudible) from (inaudible) de Mexico.
QUESTION: Thank you. Secretary Kerry, you mentioned that you discussed how to improve the transit of goods and people here in North America. Many people here in the U.S. have been asking the three governments to update NAFTA to take into account the new reality, for example, of the recently passed energy reform in Mexico. So I’d like to get a sense of the three of you whether your governments will be willing to update NAFTA or even reopen it formally.
And Secretary Kerry --
SECRETARY KERRY: To open what?
QUESTION: Reopen NAFTA formally to include some new recent issues such as energy reform. And Secretary Kerry, especially for you, what are your response to those who believe that at some point the U.S. should include Canada and Mexico in the TTIP negotiations, if only to avoid future conflicts between the NAFTA rules and whatever you end up agreeing with the Europeans.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me speak first, and I’d like each of our – my guests to address this also. Over the last 20 years, as I mentioned, we’ve developed this incredible network of trade agreements in the Western hemisphere. And we have long-wanted to open up those benefits. I think that stepping up, all of us, to the TPP, is a very critical component of sort of moving to the next tier, post-NAFTA. So I don’t think you have to open up NAFTA, per se, in order to achieve what we’re trying to achieve. There are plenty of ways for us in cooperative, and we discussed a lot of them this morning with respect to borders, with respect to regulations, with respect to energy cooperation, technology, innovation, investment – there are a host of things that we can move forward on that will take us to the next level without having to sort of go back and kind of reopen it. I think we’re well-engaged and looking forward to a much more robust relationship.
And what we did do today was set down a series of specific items that we will follow up on quickly, so that these can be the items that our presidents and prime minister wind up engaging on in the meeting in February. And I think today’s meeting holds out the prospect that that can be a more productive and more specific engagement as a result.
Mr. Baird.
FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: Now listen, we believe that NAFTA’s been an unqualified success, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, which all three of us are in, offer us the opportunity to strengthen the trilateral partnership, and we’re keen to use that opportunity to do so.
FOREIGN SECRETARY MEADE: NAFTA has worked well on many levels. In the last 20 years, trade in the region multiplied by three, foreign direct investment in the region multiplied by eight. Mexico is now the third trading partner of both the U.S. and Canada. We’re the second and the fifth market of the U.S. and Canada, respectively. Just to put in perspective, Mexico is the first market for exports of Arizona, California, and Texas. We’re the second largest export market for other 20 states. Again, to put the numbers in perspective, exports to Mexico just from the U.S. were larger than exports to China and Japan together. They were larger than the sum of exports to Germany, France, Holland, and the UK put together. And that is a platform over which we have an opportunity to build.
I agree with what Senator – with what Secretary Kerry and what Minister Baird said. We do not think it is necessary to reopen NAFTA, but we think we have to build on it to construct and revitalize the idea of a dynamic North America. North America is the single most important economic bloc today. The three economies standing here before you today explain about a third of the world economy. We explain – we are the largest exporters of most advanced industries, and we have therefore the obligation to review how the economic process is going in such a way as to remove any obstacles for trade, investment, and economic prosperity to be a reality to the citizens of all three of our countries.
The commitment that we have reached today will allow us to help develop an agenda, to follow it through, to have mechanisms that allow for the commitments that we’ve reached to be fully implemented. In terms of the trade relationship with Europe, at some point we will have three bilateral trade agreements with the European Union. It is in the interest of Mexico that those negotiations are to the benefit of the North American region. We think that that is in the best interest of Canada and the U.S. as well, and we will work to ensure that those negotiations further increase North American competitiveness, with a view, eventually, to having a more integrated perspective from North America and the European Union, rather than just a view of three bilaterals.
MODERATOR: Thank you. A question from Alex Panetta of the Canadian Press.
QUESTION: My question’s on a bilateral matter, a Canada-U.S. issue, the Keystone Pipeline. Last February, Secretary Kerry, you said you were hoping to be in a position to offer a decision on Keystone in the near future. It’s been almost a year. Since then, the Canadian Government has said it wouldn’t take no for an answer on Keystone. This week, your Canadian interlocutor is in Washington, has repeatedly asked for a decision soon because apparently the uncertainty is becoming untenable for the oil industry. So I would ask you to answer your Canadian friend.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I always answer my Canadian friend, but I have to do it according to our administrative process, and the rules and regulations under which I have to operate, and I think he understands that. We are currently engaged in the Environmental Impact Statement analysis. An analysis will be made with respect to the national interests ultimately, and we’re just not at that point yet. I haven’t received it. They haven’t finished it.
There were a lot of questions that were raised in all of the public comment period, and those comments have necessitated appropriate answers. The public has a role in this. We’re all accountable to our publics. The democratic process demands that we do that. So we are doing it, and I can promise our friends in Canada that all the appropriate effort is being put into trying to get this done effectively and rapidly. And my hope is that before long, that analysis will be available, and then my work begins.
FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: If I could as well respond. This is obvious, John and I have had discussions about this in the past, and we’ll be meeting bilaterally later today. Obviously, this is a tremendously important project for the future of prosperity of the Canadian economy. Twenty-six months ago, Hillary Clinton called, explained the concerns that the Administration had, particularly with the aquifer in Nebraska. We’re pleased that the proponent has worked constructively with the state, realigned the pipeline, gone through the process. We hope the final State Department report is out in short order, and that the Administration will be in a position to make a positive decision. This is a great project for the future economic prosperity of Canada. It’s a great project. It’ll create a lot of jobs here in the United States. It’s a great project which will increase the energy security of our closest friend and ally, and we obviously want to see and look forward to a positive decision to energy security, and a positive decision to job creation.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all very much. Appreciate it.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT'S SPEECH ON SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE
RELEASE
Friday, January 17, 2014
Statement from Justice Department Spokesman Regarding President Obama’s Speech on U.S. Signals Intelligence
The U.S. Justice Department released the following statement by department spokesman Brian Fallon in response to President Obama’s speech on U.S. signals intelligence:
“The Attorney General believes that the President’s reforms will further ensure that the proper balance is struck between the need to keep the nation safe and the need to safeguard our civil liberties. In the weeks ahead, the Justice Department will work closely with the intelligence community and other key administration officials to implement the President’s reforms.”
DEFENSE SECRETARY HAGEL SUPPORTS OBAMA'S NSA SPEECH
FROM: DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Statement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on President Obama's Speech Friday, January 17, 2014
I fully support the reforms to signals intelligence programs that President Obama outlined today - not only as Secretary of Defense, but as former co-chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and a former member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. These programs must always balance the need to defend our national security with the responsibility to preserve America's individual liberties, and the President's decisions and recommendations will do that. They will help restore the confidence of the American people and our allies and partners. They will preserve important capabilities that keep us safe. And they will help the men and women of America's military continue to accomplish their missions all over the world.
Statement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on President Obama's Speech Friday, January 17, 2014
I fully support the reforms to signals intelligence programs that President Obama outlined today - not only as Secretary of Defense, but as former co-chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and a former member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. These programs must always balance the need to defend our national security with the responsibility to preserve America's individual liberties, and the President's decisions and recommendations will do that. They will help restore the confidence of the American people and our allies and partners. They will preserve important capabilities that keep us safe. And they will help the men and women of America's military continue to accomplish their missions all over the world.
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