FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Ex-Im Bank-backed Orosi Project Wins Latin American Wind Deal of the Year 2013
Washington, D.C. – The Inversiones Eolicas de Orosi Dos S.A. (Orosi) Wind Project, a 50-megawatt wind farm in Costa Rica backed by Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) credit, received the Latin American Wind Deal of the Year 2013 from Project Finance Magazine.
“We thank Project Finance Magazine for recognizing Ex-Im Bank’s commitment to the American renewable-energy industry and the jobs it supports here at home,” said Export-Import Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “By financing the export of wind blades manufactured by Gamesa in Pennsylvania, we not only bolstered American job growth, but we also contributed to energy production in Costa Rica. It should be no surprise that we approved $257 million in authorizations for exports in wind, solar, biomass and other renewable-energy industries in FY 2013 to support high-tech American jobs.”
In late 2013, Ex-Im Bank approved a $61.1 million direct loan to Orosi, a subsidiary of the leading Central American wind-generation company Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy, for the purchase of wind-turbine generators manufactured by Gamesa in Fairless Hills, Pa.
The authorization, which represents Ex-Im Bank's first wind transaction in Costa Rica and fourth utility-scale wind project overall, will support approximately 200 U.S. jobs, according to Bank estimates derived from Departments of Commerce and Labor data and methodology.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
DISA DELIVERS 2.0 OF DEPS ON SECRET INTERNET PROTOCOL NETWORK (SIPPRNeT)
DISA RELEASES DOD ENTERPRISE PORTAL SERVICE 2.0 FOR CLASSIFIED NETWORK
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) delivered version 2.0 of the DoD Enterprise Portal Service (DEPS) on the Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNet) Feb. 28.
DEPS 2.0 introduces both dedicated and shared service offerings. The environments allow mission partners the flexibility to select the offering that best supports their mission from a range of capacity and storage options. The 2.0 version for the Sensitive, but Unclassified Internet Protocol Network (NIPRNet) will be available in the third quarter of fiscal year 2014.
DEPS provides a scalable, cloud-based collaboration capability that facilitates information sharing through an independently managed community of mission-focused sites, including:
Shared document libraries, calendars, task lists, blogs, and workflows.
Global, anytime access to shared resources.
Increasing operational efficiency by leveraging highly secure Defense Enterprise Computing Centers (DECCs), which consolidate administrative, hardware, and software resources.
“DEPS 2.0 is another example of how DISA’s enterprise services are evolving to meet the needs of our mission partners. 2.0 will offer the ability to select shared or dedicated operating environments, while adhering to the principles of an enterprise service and delivering operational and budgetary efficiencies for the DoD,” said Alan Lewis, DISA’s program executive officer for enterprise services.
Both dedicated and shared DEPS environments offer the benefits of a DISA-managed common infrastructure, including security and data replication.
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) delivered version 2.0 of the DoD Enterprise Portal Service (DEPS) on the Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNet) Feb. 28.
DEPS 2.0 introduces both dedicated and shared service offerings. The environments allow mission partners the flexibility to select the offering that best supports their mission from a range of capacity and storage options. The 2.0 version for the Sensitive, but Unclassified Internet Protocol Network (NIPRNet) will be available in the third quarter of fiscal year 2014.
DEPS provides a scalable, cloud-based collaboration capability that facilitates information sharing through an independently managed community of mission-focused sites, including:
Shared document libraries, calendars, task lists, blogs, and workflows.
Global, anytime access to shared resources.
Increasing operational efficiency by leveraging highly secure Defense Enterprise Computing Centers (DECCs), which consolidate administrative, hardware, and software resources.
“DEPS 2.0 is another example of how DISA’s enterprise services are evolving to meet the needs of our mission partners. 2.0 will offer the ability to select shared or dedicated operating environments, while adhering to the principles of an enterprise service and delivering operational and budgetary efficiencies for the DoD,” said Alan Lewis, DISA’s program executive officer for enterprise services.
Both dedicated and shared DEPS environments offer the benefits of a DISA-managed common infrastructure, including security and data replication.
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE HAGEL DISCUSSES NAVY YARD SHOOTING
\
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Hagel Details New Security Actions After Navy Yard Shooting
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 18, 2014 – Six months after a disturbed federal contractor shot 12 fellow workers to death at the Washington Navy Yard, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today detailed steps the Defense Department is taking based on reviews of security standards in place at the time.
Hagel joined Navy Secretary Ray Mabus at a Pentagon news conference to discuss actions recommended by DOD reviews, including an internal review led by Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers and an external review led by former Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Stockton and retired Navy Adm. Eric Olson, and Navy reviews of its security standards.
“The reviews identified troubling gaps in DOD’s ability to detect, prevent and respond to instances where someone working for us -– a government employee, a member of our military or a contractor –- decides to inflict harm on this institution and its people,” Hagel said.
To close these gaps, he added, DOD will take four actions recommended by the reviewers:
-- DOD will implement a continuous evaluation program of personnel with access to DOD facilities or classified information, including DOD contractors and military and civilian personnel. “While individuals with security clearances undergo periodic reinvestigations,” the secretary said, “I am directing the department to establish automated reviews of cleared personnel that will continuously pull information from law enforcement and other relevant databases.” Hagel said this will help trigger an alert if derogatory information such as an arrest becomes available for someone holding a security clearance.
-- DOD will establish an Insider Threat Management and Analysis Center that quickly analyzes the results of the automated record checks, helps connect the dots, and determines whether follow-up action is needed. The center also will advise and support Department of Defense components to ensure appropriate action is taken on each case, Hagel noted.
-- DOD will centralize authority and accountability for physical and personal security under a single staff assistant located in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. Today, the secretary said, these responsibilities are fractured among multiple DOD components. “This action will identify one person within DOD who is responsible for leading efforts to counter insider threats,” he said.
-- DOD will accelerate development of the Defense Manpower Data Center’s Identity Management Enterprise Services Architecture, called IMESA, allowing DOD security officers to share access control information and continuously vet individuals against U.S. government databases.
Along with these actions, Hagel said, the department will review how best to move forward on three more recommendations made by the Independent Review Panel:
-- Consider reducing the number of personnel holding Secret security clearances by at least 10 percent, a recommendation in line with October 2013 guidance from the director of national intelligence.
-- Consider reducing DOD’s reliance on background investigations conducted by the Office of Personnel Management and analyze the cost, efficiency and effectiveness of returning the clearance review process to DOD.
-- Consider developing more effective ways to screen recruits, further destigmatize treatment and ensure the quality of mental health care within DOD.
Hagel said he has directed Vickers to develop an implementation plan based on the recommendations and report back on progress in June.
“Everything the Department of Defense is doing [supports] the broader, governmentwide review of the oversight of security and suitability standards of federal employees and contractors,” Hagel said. “That review was approved by President [Barack] Obama earlier this month.”
That review was led by the Office of Management and Budget and the National Security Council in coordination with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Personnel Management, he added.
“I think we all understand that open and free societies are always vulnerable, but together we’re going to do everything possible to provide our people as safe and secure a workplace as possible,” the secretary said, adding, “Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the victims and their families of that terrible day. We will continue to do everything we can to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. We owe them nothing less.”
Mabus said it is with the memory of the three women and nine men who lost their lives at the Washington Navy Yard that the Navy releases the results of its investigation into the shooting.
“In all this, our first concern has been for those lost and those wounded and their families,” the Navy secretary said. “Over the past few days, Navy liaisons who have been with the families all along reached out individually to provide them with this information.”
The Navy already has improved physical security and force protection based on rapid reviews and assessments of bases and policies after the attack, Navy units have completed self-assessments to ensure their own compliance, and departmental leadership has engaged with commanding officers worldwide to stress their role in protecting civilian and military personnel, he said.
“Where we identified issues with the security clearance processes that involve changes to broader governmental policy, we forwarded those recommendations through DOD to the appropriate agency and department,” Mabus said.
The Navy has worked closely with the reviews set up in DOD and with the broader governmentwide review, he added, “and we will implement as quickly as possible the recommendations laid out by Secretary Hagel, including the continuous evaluation program for security clearances.”
Mabus thanked Hagel for his unwavering support for the Navy and the entire Navy family and for ensuring that DOD's internal and external reviews built on the Navy’s efforts.
The Navy secretary appointed Adm. John M. Richardson, director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, to conduct an official investigation in accordance with the Judge Advocate General Manual, called the JAGMAN report, into the circumstances surrounding the Navy Yard shooting.
Mabus said he has accepted the probe’s 11 major findings and 14 recommendations, and they are in the process of being implemented.
“I also directed that additional actions be taken to strengthen the Department of the Navy’s contractor requirements and to provide greater oversight on how a sailor or Marine’s performance is evaluated and reported,” Mabus said, and he thanked Richardson and his staff for their work.
Looking back to the Sept. 16, 2013, incident, the Navy secretary also thanked the first responders, the Navy and federal law enforcement agencies and agents, the Navy Yard employees and their families, as well as the local community and supporters across the nation.
“As Secretary Hagel said, we cannot completely eliminate the threat, but we can and will guard against these kinds of events by addressing these findings, even if doing so would not have prevented this attack, because it may prevent a future one,” Mabus said.
“That is one objective of these reviews and investigations,” he added. “A parallel and equally powerful reason is to provide answers to our Navy family. It is for them that we conducted a clear-eyed and thorough look at how their loved ones, colleagues [and] friends came to face such terrible danger that day. It is for them that, going forward, we will do everything within our power to safeguard their security.”
UPDATE: MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE
FROM: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
Meningococcal Disease Update
On Monday, March 10, a Drexel University student tragically died from serogroup B meningococcal disease. CDC’s laboratory analysis shows that the strain in Princeton University’s serogroup B meningococcal disease outbreak matches the strain in the Drexel University case by “genetic fingerprinting.” This information suggests that the outbreak strain may still be present in the Princeton University community and we need to be vigilant for additional cases.
As with all cases of meningococcal disease, the local health department quickly and thoroughly investigated who has been in close contact with the Drexel University student prior to illness onset. Antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent additional cases of meningococcal disease was recommended and administered to those who had or may have had close contact. To date, no related cases among Drexel University students have been reported.
The public health investigation of the Drexel University student revealed that the student had been in close contact with students from Princeton University about a week before becoming ill. Princeton University has been experiencing a serogroup B meningococcal disease outbreak.
A high percentage of Princeton University undergraduates and eligible graduate students received 2 doses of the investigational serogroup B vaccine as part of a recent vaccination effort at Princeton University. There are currently no serogroup B vaccines licensed (approved) in the United States. Those who have received the investigational vaccine have likely protected themselves from getting sick (there have been no new cases among Princeton University students since the vaccination campaign began on December 9, 2013). Available data show most adolescents that get 2 doses of this vaccine are protected from getting meningococcal disease. However, vaccinated individuals may still be able to carry the bacteria in their throats, which could infect others through close contact.
The local health department and Drexel University are taking all the recommended steps to prevent additional cases. Because Drexel University is not experiencing an outbreak of serogroup B meningococcal disease, members of that community are not considered to be at increased risk. The investigational serogroup B vaccine is not currently available to the Drexel University community.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation and determine next steps while local health authorities remain vigilant to recognizing and promptly treating any new cases. At this time, CDC does not recommend limiting social interactions or canceling travel plans as a preventive measure for meningococcal disease.
We recognize that when cases of meningococcal disease occur, there is increased concern about the potential spread of disease and desire to take appropriate steps to prevent additional cases. There is no evidence that family members and the community are at increased risk of getting meningococcal disease from casual contact with Princeton University students, faculty, or staff. Although transmission is from person-to-person, this organism is not highly contagious and requires sharing respiratory and oral secretions to spread. Those at highest risk for disease are people who have had close, prolonged, or face-to-face contact with someone who has meningococcal disease.
Students at both Universities should be especially vigilant to the signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease and seek urgent treatment if suspected. Symptoms may include sudden onset of a high fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, rapid breathing, or a rash. Handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes are also good practices to follow.
Meningococcal Disease Update
On Monday, March 10, a Drexel University student tragically died from serogroup B meningococcal disease. CDC’s laboratory analysis shows that the strain in Princeton University’s serogroup B meningococcal disease outbreak matches the strain in the Drexel University case by “genetic fingerprinting.” This information suggests that the outbreak strain may still be present in the Princeton University community and we need to be vigilant for additional cases.
As with all cases of meningococcal disease, the local health department quickly and thoroughly investigated who has been in close contact with the Drexel University student prior to illness onset. Antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent additional cases of meningococcal disease was recommended and administered to those who had or may have had close contact. To date, no related cases among Drexel University students have been reported.
The public health investigation of the Drexel University student revealed that the student had been in close contact with students from Princeton University about a week before becoming ill. Princeton University has been experiencing a serogroup B meningococcal disease outbreak.
A high percentage of Princeton University undergraduates and eligible graduate students received 2 doses of the investigational serogroup B vaccine as part of a recent vaccination effort at Princeton University. There are currently no serogroup B vaccines licensed (approved) in the United States. Those who have received the investigational vaccine have likely protected themselves from getting sick (there have been no new cases among Princeton University students since the vaccination campaign began on December 9, 2013). Available data show most adolescents that get 2 doses of this vaccine are protected from getting meningococcal disease. However, vaccinated individuals may still be able to carry the bacteria in their throats, which could infect others through close contact.
The local health department and Drexel University are taking all the recommended steps to prevent additional cases. Because Drexel University is not experiencing an outbreak of serogroup B meningococcal disease, members of that community are not considered to be at increased risk. The investigational serogroup B vaccine is not currently available to the Drexel University community.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation and determine next steps while local health authorities remain vigilant to recognizing and promptly treating any new cases. At this time, CDC does not recommend limiting social interactions or canceling travel plans as a preventive measure for meningococcal disease.
We recognize that when cases of meningococcal disease occur, there is increased concern about the potential spread of disease and desire to take appropriate steps to prevent additional cases. There is no evidence that family members and the community are at increased risk of getting meningococcal disease from casual contact with Princeton University students, faculty, or staff. Although transmission is from person-to-person, this organism is not highly contagious and requires sharing respiratory and oral secretions to spread. Those at highest risk for disease are people who have had close, prolonged, or face-to-face contact with someone who has meningococcal disease.
Students at both Universities should be especially vigilant to the signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease and seek urgent treatment if suspected. Symptoms may include sudden onset of a high fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, rapid breathing, or a rash. Handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes are also good practices to follow.
FLORIDIAN FINED FOR MAKING FALSE AND MISLEADING STATEMENTS DURING CFTC INVESTIGATION
FROM: COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
CFTC Orders Sean R. Stropp to Pay $250,000 Penalty to Settle Charges of Making False and Misleading Statements During a CFTC Investigation
Washington, DC — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and settling charges against Sean R. Stropp (Stropp), formerly of Jupiter, Florida. Stropp is ordered to pay a $250,000 civil monetary penalty for making false and misleading statements of material fact, and omitting material facts, to CFTC staff during a CFTC Division of Enforcement (DOE) investigation. The Order enforces the false statements provision of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), which was added by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
In addition to the $250,000 civil monetary penalty, the Order requires Stropp to cease and desist from violating the relevant provision of the CEA and permanently prohibits him from, directly or indirectly, engaging in trading on or subject to the rules of any registered entity.
According to the Order, Stropp provided DOE staff a signed and notarized financial disclosure statement in connection with the CFTC’s investigation into potentially unlawful sales of off-exchange leveraged metals contracts by Stropp and his company Barclay Metals, Inc. (Barclay). In his statement, Stropp falsely represented that the statement included all his known assets and that the statement was true, correct, and complete, per the Order. Further, the Order finds that Stropp omitted material facts from the statement, including both his control of, and his spouse’s ownership interest in, another entity selling leveraged metals contracts and his ownership and control of two of that other entity's bank accounts.
CFTC DOE Acting Director Gretchen Lowe commented, “Lying or failing to disclose material information during a CFTC investigation is unacceptable, and those who do so must bear the consequences.”
CFTC Previously Settled with Stropp
On January 28, 2013, the Commission issued an Order finding that Stropp, Barclay, and others engaged in illegal, off-exchange metals transactions in violation of the CEA (see CFTC press release 6503-13, January 28, 2013).
Related Criminal Action
On August 20, 2013, the Manhattan (New York) District Attorney’s office announced Stropp’s indictment for operating a fraudulent investment scheme through the undisclosed leveraged metals entity at issue in the Order. According to the indictment, the scheme allegedly resulted in millions of dollars of customer losses. Stropp pleaded guilty to the charges on February 4, 2014 and was sentenced to one to three years in prison in New York, where he is currently incarcerated.
CFTC DOE staff responsible for this action are Jenny Chapin, Jeff Le Riche, Steve Turley, Charles Marvine, Rick Glaser, and Richard Wagner. The CFTC thanks the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for its assistance.
CFTC Orders Sean R. Stropp to Pay $250,000 Penalty to Settle Charges of Making False and Misleading Statements During a CFTC Investigation
Washington, DC — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and settling charges against Sean R. Stropp (Stropp), formerly of Jupiter, Florida. Stropp is ordered to pay a $250,000 civil monetary penalty for making false and misleading statements of material fact, and omitting material facts, to CFTC staff during a CFTC Division of Enforcement (DOE) investigation. The Order enforces the false statements provision of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), which was added by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
In addition to the $250,000 civil monetary penalty, the Order requires Stropp to cease and desist from violating the relevant provision of the CEA and permanently prohibits him from, directly or indirectly, engaging in trading on or subject to the rules of any registered entity.
According to the Order, Stropp provided DOE staff a signed and notarized financial disclosure statement in connection with the CFTC’s investigation into potentially unlawful sales of off-exchange leveraged metals contracts by Stropp and his company Barclay Metals, Inc. (Barclay). In his statement, Stropp falsely represented that the statement included all his known assets and that the statement was true, correct, and complete, per the Order. Further, the Order finds that Stropp omitted material facts from the statement, including both his control of, and his spouse’s ownership interest in, another entity selling leveraged metals contracts and his ownership and control of two of that other entity's bank accounts.
CFTC DOE Acting Director Gretchen Lowe commented, “Lying or failing to disclose material information during a CFTC investigation is unacceptable, and those who do so must bear the consequences.”
CFTC Previously Settled with Stropp
On January 28, 2013, the Commission issued an Order finding that Stropp, Barclay, and others engaged in illegal, off-exchange metals transactions in violation of the CEA (see CFTC press release 6503-13, January 28, 2013).
Related Criminal Action
On August 20, 2013, the Manhattan (New York) District Attorney’s office announced Stropp’s indictment for operating a fraudulent investment scheme through the undisclosed leveraged metals entity at issue in the Order. According to the indictment, the scheme allegedly resulted in millions of dollars of customer losses. Stropp pleaded guilty to the charges on February 4, 2014 and was sentenced to one to three years in prison in New York, where he is currently incarcerated.
CFTC DOE staff responsible for this action are Jenny Chapin, Jeff Le Riche, Steve Turley, Charles Marvine, Rick Glaser, and Richard Wagner. The CFTC thanks the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for its assistance.
CELEBRATING THE 24TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LAUNCH OF HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
In celebration of the 24th anniversary of the launch of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have captured infrared-light images of a churning region of star birth 6,400 light-years away. This colorful Hubble Space Telescope mosaic of a small portion of the Monkey Head Nebula unveils a collection of carved knots of gas and dust silhouetted against glowing gas. The cloud is sculpted by ultraviolet light eating into the cool hydrogen gas. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTS FOR MARCH 18, 2014
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
CONTRACTS
ARMY
Textron Marine Land Systems, New Orleans, La., was awarded a $22,466,146 modification (P00043) to foreign military sales contract W56HZV-11-C-0114 for an additional 10 months of field service representative services, which include deprocessing of the Mobile Strike Force vehicles and training for the Afghan Army. Fiscal 2013 other procurement funds in the amount of $22,466,146 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Dec. 31, 2014. Work will be performed in Afghanistan. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity.
Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Pa., was awarded a $15,800,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee for the design, development, build, and test of a CH-47F Block II Lightweight Fuel System as part of the Airframe Component Improvement Program. Fiscal 2014 other appropriation funds and work will be performed at Ridley Park, Pa. The estimated completion date is March 15, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Web with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-04-G-0023).
Advanced Design Corp.*, Lorton, Va., was awarded an $8,420,987 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for field service technician support to gather data from helmet sensors used to examine mild-traumatic brain injury (concussion). Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $8,420,987 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is May 17, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Internet with ten received. Work will be performed in Afghanistan. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-14-C-0011).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Zimmer US, Inc., Warsaw, Ind., has been awarded a maximum $65,642,304 modification (P00010) exercising the third option period on a one-year base contract (SPM2DE-11-D-7232) with five one-year option periods for orthopedic hip, knee, spine, and extremity trauma implant procedural packages. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Indiana with a Mar. 24, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.
Lion Vallen Ltd., Partnership, Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $45,727,402 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract providing warehousing, distribution, and logistics support to fulfill organizational clothing and individual equipment requirements. This is a two-year base contract with three one-year option periods. This is a competitive acquisition, and 12 offers were received. Locations of performance are Ohio and Georgia with a March 17, 2016 performance completion date. Using military services are federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM1C1-14-C-0010).
NAVY
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded an $118,875,655 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-12-C-0004) for the repair and replenishment of government-owned Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft assets. These JSF aircraft assets include spare parts on JSF jets, training devices, support equipment and Autonomic Logistics Information System equipment. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (35 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (25 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (20 percent); Orlando, Fla. (10 percent); Nashua, N.H. (5 percent); and Baltimore, Md. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in October 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds from the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and international partner funds in the amount of $76,399,406 are being obligated on this award, of which $71,494,560 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Air Force ($51,980,743; 43.7 percent), U.S. Marine Corps ($43,784,064; 36.8 percent), the U.S. Navy ($15,822,614; 13.3 percent); and the governments of the United Kingdom ($5,741,235; 4.9 percent); the Netherlands ($1,546,999; 1.3 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $65,280,712 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00019-02-C-3002) for non-recurring efforts for the development of a Common F-35A Conventional Take-Off and Landing Air System comprised of the Air Vehicle and the Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment System for the governments of Japan and Israel. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (44 percent); San Diego, Calif. (26 percent); Baltimore, Md. (25 percent) and El Segundo, Calif. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2017. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $32,495,254 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the governments of Japan ($32,640,356; 50 percent) and Israel ($32,640,356; 50 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $62,574,394 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00024-08-C-4410) for the USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) fiscal 2014 extended dry-dock phased maintenance availability. An extended dry-dock phased maintenance availability includes the planning and execution of depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications that will update and improve the ship's military and technical capabilities. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy and fiscal 2013 other procurement, Navy funding in the amount of $62,574,394 will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds in the amount of $34,415,917 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $50,737,476 cost-plus-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for non-recurring efforts and integration tasks in support of the development of Japan’s F-35A Conventional Take-Off and Landing Air System, which is comprised of the Air Vehicle and the Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment System. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (61 percent); Orlando, Fla. (17 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (10 percent); San Diego, Calif. (8 percent); Baltimore, Md. (3 percent) and Melbourne, Fla. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2017. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $20,392,580 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-14-C-0040).
BAE Systems, Jacksonville, Fla., is being awarded a $27,370,048 modification to a previously awarded multi-ship, multi-option cost-plus incentive fee contract (N40024-10-C-4406) to provide ship repairs, hull, machinery, electrical, electronics, ship alterations and piping as required. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Fla., and is expected to be completed by October 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funding in the amount of $27,370,048 will be obligated at the time of the award, all of which, will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity.
Alion Science and Technology Corp., Burr Ridge, Ill., was awarded a $24,000,000 ceiling-priced indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of Live Virtual Constructive Modeling and Simulation (LVCMS) Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) Virtual At Sea Training (VAST). The LVCMS and ASW VAST family of training systems are networked, personal computer-based deployable trainers designed to support integrated and coordinated ASW tactical training, Anti-Access Area Denial and Cyber Warfare using Joint Semi Automated Forces Navy Training Baseline simulation. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla., and is expected to be completed in October 2019. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation, Navy funds in the amount of $10,000 was obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured through an electronic request for proposals and one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Fla. is the contracting activity (N61340-14-D-0002).
Indus Technology Inc.*, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a potential $21,797,616 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific’s (SSC Pacific) Radio Frequency and Network Systems Support Division to provide satellite communications, radio frequency and navigation systems support services. This is one of three contracts awarded: each awardee will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes two, one-year options, which if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to an estimated $36,825,493. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and onboard Navy ships, and work is expected to be completed March 17, 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy; shipbuilding and conversion, Navy; other procurement, Navy; and research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via small business set-aside solicitation through publication on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website. Ten proposals were received and three were selected for award. SSC Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-14-D-0034).
Client Solutions Architect*, Mechanicsburg, Pa., is being awarded a potential $21,670,069 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific’s (SSC Pacific) Radio Frequency and Network Systems Support Division to provide satellite communications, radio frequency and navigation systems support services. This is one of three contracts awarded: each awardee will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes two, one-year options, which if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to an estimated $36,555,425. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., onboard Navy ships, and at contractor’s facilities in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and work is expected to be completed March 17, 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy; shipbuilding and conversion, Navy; other procurement, Navy; and research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via small business set-aside solicitation through publication on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website. Ten proposals were received and three were selected for award. SSC Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-14-D-0032).
Watts-Healy Tibbitts a Joint Venture, Honolulu, Hawaii, was awarded $18,608,004 for firm-fixed-price task order KB03 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62478-09-D-4019) for the construction of a drydock waterfront facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The work to be performed provides for the construction of a new low rise waterfront facility, concrete slab-on-grade, and pile supported foundation. The project includes shop spaces, meeting/conference rooms, break rooms, and administrative, engineering, project management and project team spaces. The task order also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase the cumulative task order value to $20,289,031. Work will be performed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by December 2015. Fiscal 2010 and 2014 military construction, Navy contract funds in the amount of $18,608,004 are being obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 17, 2014)
Black and Veatch Special Projects Corp., Overland Park, Kan., is being awarded a maximum amount $9,500,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for professional services for management and maintenance of the Navy’s electrical and mechanical utility systems for various locations under the cognizance of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Atlantic area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed is to conduct research, analysis and provide recommendations to assist in the management and maintenance of the Navy’s electric and mechanical utility systems including electric and steam production; electric and steam distribution; natural gas; and energy. No task orders are being awarded at this time. Work will be performed in the NAVFAC Atlantic AOR. The term of the contract is not to exceed 36 months with an expected completion date of March 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $10,000 are being obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with three proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N62470-14-D-6011).
Huntington Ingalls Inc.-Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va., is being awarded an undefinitized contract action with a not-to-exceed value of $8,624,008 on a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed fee contract (N00024-14-G-2114) for fiscal 2014 propulsion plant engineering activity support for CVN 68 class. This effort will provide engineering services in support of life-cycle management of the systems identified for the CVN 68 class. The contract includes options which have not yet been priced. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to complete by March 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $ 8,624,008 will be obligated at the time of award. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with CVN BOA Class J&A 20,883 (E). The Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair, Newport News, Va., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin, Mission Systems and Training, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded an $8,138,640 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-12-C-4309) to exercise fiscal 2014 options and fund the lifetime sustainment and support services for installed Aegis Weapon Systems (AWS). The contract will provide for support of the critical modernization programs currently in process for the AWS as well as logistics and sustainment support for the in-service Aegis ship fleet in order to prevent delays in the delivery of the AWS upgrades and schedule and operational impacts to the effected ship availabilities. Work will be performed in Moorestown, N.J. (81 percent) and Mt. Laurel, N.J. (19 percent) and is expected to be completed by June 2017. Fiscal 2014 other procurement, Navy; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy and fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation, Missile Defense Agency contract funds in the amount of $8,138,640 will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funding in the amount of $694,829 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity.
AIR FORCE
Computer Science Corp., Falls Church, Va., has been awarded a $7,387,413 cost-plus-fixed-fee task order (RL01) to an existing contract (HC1028-08-D-1027) for Global Decision Support Systems (GDSS) application support services. Contracted support includes GDSS system releases in a non-service-interrupted process that addresses system sustainment, support to fielding and operational maintenance and administrative support to meet financial and programmatic reporting needs. Work will be performed at O'Fallon, Ill., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2014. This is a sole-source bridge task order to bridge period from expiration of current contract (March 15, 2014) to full performance of the follow-on contract which will be competed via full and open competition. Fiscal 2014 transportation working capital and operating funds in the amount of $7,387,413 are being obligated at time of award. 763 Specialized Contracting Squadron/PKC, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $6,882,489 firm-fixed-price modification (P00026) to contract (FA8615-10-C-6051) to develop, deliver and install 20 advanced countermeasure electronics system-system integrity (ACES SI) retrofit kits, modify 24 radar warning receivers and procure three electronic warfare memory loader verifiers for F-16C/D (16 C’s and 4 D’s) Block 52 aircraft. Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 19, 2015. This award is the result of a source-directed/sole-source acquisition and is 100 percent foreign military sales for Egypt. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WWMK, Wright-Patterson, Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES
QUALX Corp., Vienna, Va., is being awarded an $8,878,297 modification to firm-fixed-price contract (HQ0034-12-F-0213) for records management support services, including development of governance strategy and document conversion from paper-based to electronic enterprise content management. Work will be performed in Vienna, Va., Arlington, Va., Alexandria, Va., and College Park, Md. This contract was competitively processed, among Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business through the General Services Administration, with one bid received. The estimated completion date is March 16, 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds are being obligated on award. Washington Headquarters Services, Washington, D.C. is the contracting activity.
*Small Business
CONTRACTS
ARMY
Textron Marine Land Systems, New Orleans, La., was awarded a $22,466,146 modification (P00043) to foreign military sales contract W56HZV-11-C-0114 for an additional 10 months of field service representative services, which include deprocessing of the Mobile Strike Force vehicles and training for the Afghan Army. Fiscal 2013 other procurement funds in the amount of $22,466,146 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Dec. 31, 2014. Work will be performed in Afghanistan. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity.
Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Pa., was awarded a $15,800,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee for the design, development, build, and test of a CH-47F Block II Lightweight Fuel System as part of the Airframe Component Improvement Program. Fiscal 2014 other appropriation funds and work will be performed at Ridley Park, Pa. The estimated completion date is March 15, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Web with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-04-G-0023).
Advanced Design Corp.*, Lorton, Va., was awarded an $8,420,987 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for field service technician support to gather data from helmet sensors used to examine mild-traumatic brain injury (concussion). Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $8,420,987 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is May 17, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Internet with ten received. Work will be performed in Afghanistan. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-14-C-0011).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Zimmer US, Inc., Warsaw, Ind., has been awarded a maximum $65,642,304 modification (P00010) exercising the third option period on a one-year base contract (SPM2DE-11-D-7232) with five one-year option periods for orthopedic hip, knee, spine, and extremity trauma implant procedural packages. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Indiana with a Mar. 24, 2015 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2015 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.
Lion Vallen Ltd., Partnership, Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $45,727,402 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract providing warehousing, distribution, and logistics support to fulfill organizational clothing and individual equipment requirements. This is a two-year base contract with three one-year option periods. This is a competitive acquisition, and 12 offers were received. Locations of performance are Ohio and Georgia with a March 17, 2016 performance completion date. Using military services are federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., (SPM1C1-14-C-0010).
NAVY
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded an $118,875,655 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-12-C-0004) for the repair and replenishment of government-owned Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft assets. These JSF aircraft assets include spare parts on JSF jets, training devices, support equipment and Autonomic Logistics Information System equipment. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (35 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (25 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (20 percent); Orlando, Fla. (10 percent); Nashua, N.H. (5 percent); and Baltimore, Md. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in October 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds from the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and international partner funds in the amount of $76,399,406 are being obligated on this award, of which $71,494,560 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Air Force ($51,980,743; 43.7 percent), U.S. Marine Corps ($43,784,064; 36.8 percent), the U.S. Navy ($15,822,614; 13.3 percent); and the governments of the United Kingdom ($5,741,235; 4.9 percent); the Netherlands ($1,546,999; 1.3 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $65,280,712 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00019-02-C-3002) for non-recurring efforts for the development of a Common F-35A Conventional Take-Off and Landing Air System comprised of the Air Vehicle and the Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment System for the governments of Japan and Israel. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (44 percent); San Diego, Calif. (26 percent); Baltimore, Md. (25 percent) and El Segundo, Calif. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2017. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $32,495,254 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the governments of Japan ($32,640,356; 50 percent) and Israel ($32,640,356; 50 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $62,574,394 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00024-08-C-4410) for the USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) fiscal 2014 extended dry-dock phased maintenance availability. An extended dry-dock phased maintenance availability includes the planning and execution of depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications that will update and improve the ship's military and technical capabilities. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy and fiscal 2013 other procurement, Navy funding in the amount of $62,574,394 will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds in the amount of $34,415,917 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $50,737,476 cost-plus-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for non-recurring efforts and integration tasks in support of the development of Japan’s F-35A Conventional Take-Off and Landing Air System, which is comprised of the Air Vehicle and the Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment System. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (61 percent); Orlando, Fla. (17 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (10 percent); San Diego, Calif. (8 percent); Baltimore, Md. (3 percent) and Melbourne, Fla. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2017. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $20,392,580 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-14-C-0040).
BAE Systems, Jacksonville, Fla., is being awarded a $27,370,048 modification to a previously awarded multi-ship, multi-option cost-plus incentive fee contract (N40024-10-C-4406) to provide ship repairs, hull, machinery, electrical, electronics, ship alterations and piping as required. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Fla., and is expected to be completed by October 2014. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funding in the amount of $27,370,048 will be obligated at the time of the award, all of which, will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity.
Alion Science and Technology Corp., Burr Ridge, Ill., was awarded a $24,000,000 ceiling-priced indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of Live Virtual Constructive Modeling and Simulation (LVCMS) Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) Virtual At Sea Training (VAST). The LVCMS and ASW VAST family of training systems are networked, personal computer-based deployable trainers designed to support integrated and coordinated ASW tactical training, Anti-Access Area Denial and Cyber Warfare using Joint Semi Automated Forces Navy Training Baseline simulation. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla., and is expected to be completed in October 2019. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation, Navy funds in the amount of $10,000 was obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured through an electronic request for proposals and one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Fla. is the contracting activity (N61340-14-D-0002).
Indus Technology Inc.*, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a potential $21,797,616 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific’s (SSC Pacific) Radio Frequency and Network Systems Support Division to provide satellite communications, radio frequency and navigation systems support services. This is one of three contracts awarded: each awardee will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes two, one-year options, which if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to an estimated $36,825,493. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and onboard Navy ships, and work is expected to be completed March 17, 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy; shipbuilding and conversion, Navy; other procurement, Navy; and research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via small business set-aside solicitation through publication on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website. Ten proposals were received and three were selected for award. SSC Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-14-D-0034).
Client Solutions Architect*, Mechanicsburg, Pa., is being awarded a potential $21,670,069 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific’s (SSC Pacific) Radio Frequency and Network Systems Support Division to provide satellite communications, radio frequency and navigation systems support services. This is one of three contracts awarded: each awardee will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes two, one-year options, which if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to an estimated $36,555,425. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., onboard Navy ships, and at contractor’s facilities in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and work is expected to be completed March 17, 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy; shipbuilding and conversion, Navy; other procurement, Navy; and research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via small business set-aside solicitation through publication on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website. Ten proposals were received and three were selected for award. SSC Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-14-D-0032).
Watts-Healy Tibbitts a Joint Venture, Honolulu, Hawaii, was awarded $18,608,004 for firm-fixed-price task order KB03 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62478-09-D-4019) for the construction of a drydock waterfront facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The work to be performed provides for the construction of a new low rise waterfront facility, concrete slab-on-grade, and pile supported foundation. The project includes shop spaces, meeting/conference rooms, break rooms, and administrative, engineering, project management and project team spaces. The task order also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase the cumulative task order value to $20,289,031. Work will be performed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by December 2015. Fiscal 2010 and 2014 military construction, Navy contract funds in the amount of $18,608,004 are being obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 17, 2014)
Black and Veatch Special Projects Corp., Overland Park, Kan., is being awarded a maximum amount $9,500,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for professional services for management and maintenance of the Navy’s electrical and mechanical utility systems for various locations under the cognizance of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Atlantic area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed is to conduct research, analysis and provide recommendations to assist in the management and maintenance of the Navy’s electric and mechanical utility systems including electric and steam production; electric and steam distribution; natural gas; and energy. No task orders are being awarded at this time. Work will be performed in the NAVFAC Atlantic AOR. The term of the contract is not to exceed 36 months with an expected completion date of March 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $10,000 are being obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with three proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N62470-14-D-6011).
Huntington Ingalls Inc.-Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va., is being awarded an undefinitized contract action with a not-to-exceed value of $8,624,008 on a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed fee contract (N00024-14-G-2114) for fiscal 2014 propulsion plant engineering activity support for CVN 68 class. This effort will provide engineering services in support of life-cycle management of the systems identified for the CVN 68 class. The contract includes options which have not yet been priced. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to complete by March 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $ 8,624,008 will be obligated at the time of award. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with CVN BOA Class J&A 20,883 (E). The Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair, Newport News, Va., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin, Mission Systems and Training, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded an $8,138,640 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-12-C-4309) to exercise fiscal 2014 options and fund the lifetime sustainment and support services for installed Aegis Weapon Systems (AWS). The contract will provide for support of the critical modernization programs currently in process for the AWS as well as logistics and sustainment support for the in-service Aegis ship fleet in order to prevent delays in the delivery of the AWS upgrades and schedule and operational impacts to the effected ship availabilities. Work will be performed in Moorestown, N.J. (81 percent) and Mt. Laurel, N.J. (19 percent) and is expected to be completed by June 2017. Fiscal 2014 other procurement, Navy; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy and fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation, Missile Defense Agency contract funds in the amount of $8,138,640 will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy funding in the amount of $694,829 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity.
AIR FORCE
Computer Science Corp., Falls Church, Va., has been awarded a $7,387,413 cost-plus-fixed-fee task order (RL01) to an existing contract (HC1028-08-D-1027) for Global Decision Support Systems (GDSS) application support services. Contracted support includes GDSS system releases in a non-service-interrupted process that addresses system sustainment, support to fielding and operational maintenance and administrative support to meet financial and programmatic reporting needs. Work will be performed at O'Fallon, Ill., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2014. This is a sole-source bridge task order to bridge period from expiration of current contract (March 15, 2014) to full performance of the follow-on contract which will be competed via full and open competition. Fiscal 2014 transportation working capital and operating funds in the amount of $7,387,413 are being obligated at time of award. 763 Specialized Contracting Squadron/PKC, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $6,882,489 firm-fixed-price modification (P00026) to contract (FA8615-10-C-6051) to develop, deliver and install 20 advanced countermeasure electronics system-system integrity (ACES SI) retrofit kits, modify 24 radar warning receivers and procure three electronic warfare memory loader verifiers for F-16C/D (16 C’s and 4 D’s) Block 52 aircraft. Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 19, 2015. This award is the result of a source-directed/sole-source acquisition and is 100 percent foreign military sales for Egypt. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/WWMK, Wright-Patterson, Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES
QUALX Corp., Vienna, Va., is being awarded an $8,878,297 modification to firm-fixed-price contract (HQ0034-12-F-0213) for records management support services, including development of governance strategy and document conversion from paper-based to electronic enterprise content management. Work will be performed in Vienna, Va., Arlington, Va., Alexandria, Va., and College Park, Md. This contract was competitively processed, among Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business through the General Services Administration, with one bid received. The estimated completion date is March 16, 2017. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance funds are being obligated on award. Washington Headquarters Services, Washington, D.C. is the contracting activity.
*Small Business
FARC TERRORIST PLEADS GUILTY TO TAKING U.S. CITIZENS HOSTAGE IN 2003
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Member of FARC Terrorist Organization Pleads Guilty to Hostage-Taking Charges in 2003 Capture of U.S. Citizens
Hostages Were Held in Colombia for More Than Five Years
Alexander Beltran Herrera, 37, a commander of the FARC terrorist organization, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to hostage-taking charges stemming from the 2003 kidnappings of three U.S. citizens in Colombia.
The guilty plea was announced by John P. Carlin, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Division.
Beltran Herrera pleaded guilty to three counts of hostage-taking. He is to be sentenced July 25, 2014, by the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth. The offense of hostage taking carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, although as part of the extradition process from Colombia, the United States agreed not to seek a sentence exceeding 60 years.
According to a statement of facts submitted as part of the plea hearing, t he FARC is an armed, violent organization in Colombia, which since its inception in 1964, has engaged in an armed conflict to overthrow the Republic of Colombia, South America’s longest-standing democracy. The FARC has consistently used hostage taking as a primary technique in extorting demands from the Republic of Colombia, and hostage taking has been endorsed and commanded by FARC senior leadership. The FARC has characterized American citizens as “military targets” and has engaged in violent acts against Americans in Colombia, including murders and hostage taking. The FARC was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State in 1997 and remains so designated.
Beltran Herrera, a commander in the FARC, was involved in the hostage taking of three United States citizens: Marc D. Gonsalves, Thomas R. Howes, and Keith Stansell. These three, along with Thomas Janis, a United States citizen, and Sergeant Luis Alcides Cruz, a Colombian citizen, were seized on Feb. 13, 2003, by the FARC, after their single-engine aircraft made a crash landing in the Colombian jungle.
Members of the FARC murdered Mr. Janis and Sgt. Cruz at the crash site. Mr. Gonsalves, Mr. Howes, and Mr. Stansell were held by the FARC at gunpoint and were advised by FARC leadership that they would be used as hostages to increase pressure on the government of Colombia to agree to the FARC’s demands. At various times, the FARC marched the hostages from one site to another, placing them in the actual custody of various FARC fronts.
At the conclusion of one 40-day long march, in or about November 2004, the hostages were delivered to members of the FARC’s 27th Front, who imprisoned the hostages for nearly two years. During part of this period, Beltran Herrera was responsible for moving the hostages and keeping them imprisoned. Throughout the captivity of these three hostages, FARC jailors and guards used choke harnesses, chains, padlocks and wires to restrain the hostages, and used force and threats to continue their detention and prevent their escape. In July 2008, the Colombian military conducted a daring operation which resulted in the rescue of the hostages.
All told, members of the FARC held the Americans hostage for 1,967 days.
“This case underscores our resolve to hold accountable those who target our citizens with violence anywhere in the world,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “With this guilty plea, Alexander Beltran Herrera has admitted his participation in the hostage taking and captivity of three Americans by the FARC, a Colombian terrorist organization. I want to thank all of the prosecutors, agents, and analysts who made this result possible.”
“Alexander Beltran Herrera was a terrorist and commander in the FARC organization who held three Americans hostage in the Colombian jungle,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “With today's guilty plea, he admitted to his role in terrorizing these Americans, who were held in captivity for more than five years. His extradition and prosecution reflect our determination to bring to justice anyone who sets out to harm our fellow citizens overseas.”
“Alexander Beltran Herrera was a commander within FARC, a foreign terrorist organization based in Colombia that considered U.S. citizens to be targets for murder and hostage taking,” said Special Agent in Charge Piro. “First captured, then extradited to the United States, Herrera has now admitted to his role in moving and keeping hostage three American citizens, Marc D. Gonsalves, Thomas R. Howes and Keith Stansell. Once again, the excellent, longstanding cooperation between the Colombian National Police and U.S. law enforcement has ended another terrorist’s career of violence and thuggery.”
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Miami Division. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Asuncion and Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez from the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney David Cora, from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The case was indicted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Kohl, of the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The FBI’s Miami Division partnered in the investigation with the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Department’s Judicial Attachés in Colombia, and the FBI’s Office of the Legal Attaché in Bogota, Colombia. The Directorate of Intelligence (DIPOL) and the Anti-Kidnapping Unit (GAULA) of the Colombian National Police also provided valuable support during the investigation.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Member of FARC Terrorist Organization Pleads Guilty to Hostage-Taking Charges in 2003 Capture of U.S. Citizens
Hostages Were Held in Colombia for More Than Five Years
Alexander Beltran Herrera, 37, a commander of the FARC terrorist organization, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to hostage-taking charges stemming from the 2003 kidnappings of three U.S. citizens in Colombia.
The guilty plea was announced by John P. Carlin, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Division.
Beltran Herrera pleaded guilty to three counts of hostage-taking. He is to be sentenced July 25, 2014, by the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth. The offense of hostage taking carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, although as part of the extradition process from Colombia, the United States agreed not to seek a sentence exceeding 60 years.
According to a statement of facts submitted as part of the plea hearing, t he FARC is an armed, violent organization in Colombia, which since its inception in 1964, has engaged in an armed conflict to overthrow the Republic of Colombia, South America’s longest-standing democracy. The FARC has consistently used hostage taking as a primary technique in extorting demands from the Republic of Colombia, and hostage taking has been endorsed and commanded by FARC senior leadership. The FARC has characterized American citizens as “military targets” and has engaged in violent acts against Americans in Colombia, including murders and hostage taking. The FARC was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State in 1997 and remains so designated.
Beltran Herrera, a commander in the FARC, was involved in the hostage taking of three United States citizens: Marc D. Gonsalves, Thomas R. Howes, and Keith Stansell. These three, along with Thomas Janis, a United States citizen, and Sergeant Luis Alcides Cruz, a Colombian citizen, were seized on Feb. 13, 2003, by the FARC, after their single-engine aircraft made a crash landing in the Colombian jungle.
Members of the FARC murdered Mr. Janis and Sgt. Cruz at the crash site. Mr. Gonsalves, Mr. Howes, and Mr. Stansell were held by the FARC at gunpoint and were advised by FARC leadership that they would be used as hostages to increase pressure on the government of Colombia to agree to the FARC’s demands. At various times, the FARC marched the hostages from one site to another, placing them in the actual custody of various FARC fronts.
At the conclusion of one 40-day long march, in or about November 2004, the hostages were delivered to members of the FARC’s 27th Front, who imprisoned the hostages for nearly two years. During part of this period, Beltran Herrera was responsible for moving the hostages and keeping them imprisoned. Throughout the captivity of these three hostages, FARC jailors and guards used choke harnesses, chains, padlocks and wires to restrain the hostages, and used force and threats to continue their detention and prevent their escape. In July 2008, the Colombian military conducted a daring operation which resulted in the rescue of the hostages.
All told, members of the FARC held the Americans hostage for 1,967 days.
“This case underscores our resolve to hold accountable those who target our citizens with violence anywhere in the world,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “With this guilty plea, Alexander Beltran Herrera has admitted his participation in the hostage taking and captivity of three Americans by the FARC, a Colombian terrorist organization. I want to thank all of the prosecutors, agents, and analysts who made this result possible.”
“Alexander Beltran Herrera was a terrorist and commander in the FARC organization who held three Americans hostage in the Colombian jungle,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “With today's guilty plea, he admitted to his role in terrorizing these Americans, who were held in captivity for more than five years. His extradition and prosecution reflect our determination to bring to justice anyone who sets out to harm our fellow citizens overseas.”
“Alexander Beltran Herrera was a commander within FARC, a foreign terrorist organization based in Colombia that considered U.S. citizens to be targets for murder and hostage taking,” said Special Agent in Charge Piro. “First captured, then extradited to the United States, Herrera has now admitted to his role in moving and keeping hostage three American citizens, Marc D. Gonsalves, Thomas R. Howes and Keith Stansell. Once again, the excellent, longstanding cooperation between the Colombian National Police and U.S. law enforcement has ended another terrorist’s career of violence and thuggery.”
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Miami Division. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Asuncion and Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez from the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney David Cora, from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The case was indicted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Kohl, of the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The FBI’s Miami Division partnered in the investigation with the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Department’s Judicial Attachés in Colombia, and the FBI’s Office of the Legal Attaché in Bogota, Colombia. The Directorate of Intelligence (DIPOL) and the Anti-Kidnapping Unit (GAULA) of the Colombian National Police also provided valuable support during the investigation.
JUSTICE SETTLES DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT WITH FDNY FOR $98 MILLION
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Justice Department Reaches Agreement in Principle with the New York City Fire Department Over Discriminatory Hiring Practices Resulting in $98 Million in Relief
The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement in principle with the city of New York and intervening plaintiffs to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit involving the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). Under the agreement in principle, the city of New York will pay a total of approximately $98 million to resolve allegations that the FDNY engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against African-American and Hispanic applicants for the entry-level firefighter position by using two discriminatory written tests in 1999 and 2002. The parties’ agreement in principle will be incorporated into a consent decree that is subject to a fairness hearing and must be approved by the district court.
“This resolution will help ensure that those who seek to serve as firefighters in New York City have an equal opportunity to do so, regardless of their race,” said Associate Attorney General Tony West. “The agreement we are announcing today – which is the result of the collective efforts of the Justice Department, the private plaintiffs, and the city of New York – not only will compensate victims of discriminatory hiring practices, it will also put in place an entry-level hiring process that should more accurately identify firefighter candidates who are best qualified to do the job.”
“This agreement in principle to settle will provide significant and long-awaited relief to African-American and Hispanic applicants for employment with the FDNY who were harmed by the FDNY’s discriminatory hiring practices,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division. “We applaud the city of New York and Mayor de Blasio for their efforts to bring this important matter to a resolution. The Department of Justice stands committed to ensuring justice and compensation to those who are victims of unfair employment practices.”
The lawsuit originated in 2007 when the department filed its complaint alleging that the FDNY’s use of two written tests violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by disproportionately screening out African-American and Hispanic applicants for the entry-level firefighter position. The FDNY was unable to show that these screening devices identified the candidates who were best qualified to perform the job of firefighter, as required in order to keep the tests in place.
“We commend the city for its commitment to rectifying past discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic firefighter applicants,” stated U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch for the Eastern District of New York. “We look forward to a new era in which African-American and Hispanic firefighters are full and equal participants in the FDNY’s proud tradition of protecting and serving the people of the city of New York.”
Under the terms of the agreement in principle, the FDNY will pay $98 million to those African-American and Hispanic victims of discrimination who filed claim forms and who have already been found eligible for relief by the court. The method of distribution has not yet been determined and must be approved by the court before any money is distributed. With today’s agreement in principle, the parties have committed to streamline the claims process and to expedite the distribution of monetary relief to eligible claimants.
In addition to today’s agreement in principle, the court has already ordered several changes to take place within the FDNY to remedy the city’s discriminatory hiring practices. In September 2012, the court approved the use of an entry-level firefighter exam which was jointly developed by the United States, the intervening plaintiffs and the city. As a result, for the first time in at least 15 years, the FDNY is using an entry-level firefighter exam that accurately predicts which candidates will perform better on the job and complies with Title VII. In May 2013, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on appeal most of an order outlining changes that must be made to the FDNY’s recruiting, post-examination hiring and Equal Employment Opportunities Office processes, and appointing a court monitor to oversee this reform. In addition, the court has ordered the city to appoint up to 293 eligible claimants as priority hires to the FDNY, provided that they take and pass all of the same tests and other steps in the hiring process as the other candidates for appointment with the FDNY. The first groups of priority hires joined the FDNY in July 2013 and January 2014, and additional priority hires are expected to join in July 2014.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Justice Department Reaches Agreement in Principle with the New York City Fire Department Over Discriminatory Hiring Practices Resulting in $98 Million in Relief
The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement in principle with the city of New York and intervening plaintiffs to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit involving the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). Under the agreement in principle, the city of New York will pay a total of approximately $98 million to resolve allegations that the FDNY engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against African-American and Hispanic applicants for the entry-level firefighter position by using two discriminatory written tests in 1999 and 2002. The parties’ agreement in principle will be incorporated into a consent decree that is subject to a fairness hearing and must be approved by the district court.
“This resolution will help ensure that those who seek to serve as firefighters in New York City have an equal opportunity to do so, regardless of their race,” said Associate Attorney General Tony West. “The agreement we are announcing today – which is the result of the collective efforts of the Justice Department, the private plaintiffs, and the city of New York – not only will compensate victims of discriminatory hiring practices, it will also put in place an entry-level hiring process that should more accurately identify firefighter candidates who are best qualified to do the job.”
“This agreement in principle to settle will provide significant and long-awaited relief to African-American and Hispanic applicants for employment with the FDNY who were harmed by the FDNY’s discriminatory hiring practices,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division. “We applaud the city of New York and Mayor de Blasio for their efforts to bring this important matter to a resolution. The Department of Justice stands committed to ensuring justice and compensation to those who are victims of unfair employment practices.”
The lawsuit originated in 2007 when the department filed its complaint alleging that the FDNY’s use of two written tests violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by disproportionately screening out African-American and Hispanic applicants for the entry-level firefighter position. The FDNY was unable to show that these screening devices identified the candidates who were best qualified to perform the job of firefighter, as required in order to keep the tests in place.
“We commend the city for its commitment to rectifying past discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic firefighter applicants,” stated U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch for the Eastern District of New York. “We look forward to a new era in which African-American and Hispanic firefighters are full and equal participants in the FDNY’s proud tradition of protecting and serving the people of the city of New York.”
Under the terms of the agreement in principle, the FDNY will pay $98 million to those African-American and Hispanic victims of discrimination who filed claim forms and who have already been found eligible for relief by the court. The method of distribution has not yet been determined and must be approved by the court before any money is distributed. With today’s agreement in principle, the parties have committed to streamline the claims process and to expedite the distribution of monetary relief to eligible claimants.
In addition to today’s agreement in principle, the court has already ordered several changes to take place within the FDNY to remedy the city’s discriminatory hiring practices. In September 2012, the court approved the use of an entry-level firefighter exam which was jointly developed by the United States, the intervening plaintiffs and the city. As a result, for the first time in at least 15 years, the FDNY is using an entry-level firefighter exam that accurately predicts which candidates will perform better on the job and complies with Title VII. In May 2013, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on appeal most of an order outlining changes that must be made to the FDNY’s recruiting, post-examination hiring and Equal Employment Opportunities Office processes, and appointing a court monitor to oversee this reform. In addition, the court has ordered the city to appoint up to 293 eligible claimants as priority hires to the FDNY, provided that they take and pass all of the same tests and other steps in the hiring process as the other candidates for appointment with the FDNY. The first groups of priority hires joined the FDNY in July 2013 and January 2014, and additional priority hires are expected to join in July 2014.
HEALTH CLINIC STRAW OWNER SENTENCED TO 30 MONTHS IN PRISON
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Straw Owner of Clinic Sentenced in Medicare Fraud Scheme
A Florida man who had been the straw owner of a physical therapy rehabilitation facility has been sentenced to serve 30 months in prison for his role in a $28.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida A. Lee Bentley III, Special Agent in Charge Paul Wysopal of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office and Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian P. Martens of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Florida region made the announcement.
Roberto Fernandez Gonzalez, 63, formerly of southwest Florida, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew in the Middle District of Florida and was ordered to forfeit $446,738 and pay the same amount in restitution. Fernandez pleaded guilty on June 24, 2013, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
According to court documents, Fernandez and his co-conspirators used various physical therapy clinics and other business entities throughout Florida – including Rehab Dynamics Inc. in Venice, Fla. – to submit approximately $28.3 million in fraudulent reimbursement claims to Medicare from 2005 through 2009. Medicare paid approximately $14.4 million on those claims.
Fernandez’s co-conspirators obtained and controlled Rehab Dynamics. They engaged in a sham sale of Rehab Dynamics to Fernandez, a Cuban immigrant with no background in the health care industry. Fernandez did not have the money to buy Rehab Dynamics. Instead, the co-conspirators paid Fernandez approximately $20,000 to serve as the straw owner of Rehab Dynamics from January 2008 through March 2008. During that time, Rehab Dynamics submitted approximately $1.6 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare seeking reimbursement for rehabilitation therapy services that were not provided. Medicare paid approximately $446,738 on those false claims.
This case is being 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 Middle District of Florida. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Christopher J. Hunter and Andrew H. Warren of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant United States Attorney Simon A. Gaugush of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
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, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Straw Owner of Clinic Sentenced in Medicare Fraud Scheme
A Florida man who had been the straw owner of a physical therapy rehabilitation facility has been sentenced to serve 30 months in prison for his role in a $28.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida A. Lee Bentley III, Special Agent in Charge Paul Wysopal of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office and Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian P. Martens of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Florida region made the announcement.
Roberto Fernandez Gonzalez, 63, formerly of southwest Florida, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew in the Middle District of Florida and was ordered to forfeit $446,738 and pay the same amount in restitution. Fernandez pleaded guilty on June 24, 2013, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
According to court documents, Fernandez and his co-conspirators used various physical therapy clinics and other business entities throughout Florida – including Rehab Dynamics Inc. in Venice, Fla. – to submit approximately $28.3 million in fraudulent reimbursement claims to Medicare from 2005 through 2009. Medicare paid approximately $14.4 million on those claims.
Fernandez’s co-conspirators obtained and controlled Rehab Dynamics. They engaged in a sham sale of Rehab Dynamics to Fernandez, a Cuban immigrant with no background in the health care industry. Fernandez did not have the money to buy Rehab Dynamics. Instead, the co-conspirators paid Fernandez approximately $20,000 to serve as the straw owner of Rehab Dynamics from January 2008 through March 2008. During that time, Rehab Dynamics submitted approximately $1.6 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare seeking reimbursement for rehabilitation therapy services that were not provided. Medicare paid approximately $446,738 on those false claims.
This case is being 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 Middle District of Florida. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Christopher J. Hunter and Andrew H. Warren of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant United States Attorney Simon A. Gaugush of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
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, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
BRIEFING: VP BIDEN TRAVELS TO POLAND AND LITHUANIA
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Background Press Briefing by a Senior Administration Official on the Vice President's Trip to Poland and Lithuania
Aboard Air Force Two
En Route Warsaw, Poland
En Route Warsaw, Poland
11:24 P.M. EST
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: This is on background as a senior administration official, and given the late hour, I’m going to beg your forgiveness for keeping it short.
So the Vice President is making stops in Warsaw and Vilnius first and foremost to reassure our allies who are deeply concerned about Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine and what the broader implications of those actions might be.
Connected to that, to reassure our allies and reaffirm our Article 5 commitments, to highlight some of the tangible steps that we’ve taken in recent days to make that commitment even more real, to discuss further steps that we’ll be taking in the days and weeks ahead, and also to talk about how to strengthen the alliance so that NATO emerges from this crisis even stronger than it went into it.
He’ll also look for the opportunity to consult on how to deal with the evolving situation in Ukraine, especially as these leaders head into the EU leaders meeting on Thursday.
If Russia continues to flout international law, how to continue to impose costs, building on what the EU and the United States did today in terms of sanctions to deepen Russia’s political and economic isolation and sharpen the choice for Russia’s leaders, including Putin; how to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as they try to stabilize their economy and move towards elections and choose their own future, including the institutions that they seek to join; and how to pursue diplomacy that could potentially deescalate the situation if Russia were to choose to pull back and take a different course. So he’ll have the chance to consult with leaders who have deep experience with both Ukraine and Russia and a perspective on both what is happening in Crimea and in Ukraine, and what’s happening Brussels, so that they can compare notes and make sure that we remain as coordinated in the days ahead as we’ve been up until now.
And he’ll also have the opportunity to talk about longer term issues, including energy security in Europe that includes diversification of supply and the creation of conditions where energy can't be a tool or a lever for any kind of political gain or political cost by another country.
Q (Inaudible) energy sanctions, no?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No. I was saying that they’ll discuss energy security and included in that over the medium and long term, diversification in energy supply so that energy can't be used as a political tool to impose costs.
Q Not sanctions?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Not sanctions, no. No, no, that -- obviously, they’ll discuss the issue of ongoing sanctions, but that's not what I’m referring to with energy diversification.
And transatlantic trade. Obviously, we have negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership underway, and they’ll have a chance to compare notes on that.
And then finally, there’s a series of bilateral issues with each of these countries.
Now, I realize that I just walked through all the issues without doing the basic laydown, so returning to that before opening it up for a few questions: Tomorrow in Warsaw, he’ll meet with Prime Minister Tusk first, and then President Komorowski, and have statements after each of those meetings.
And then he’ll meet with President Ilves of Estonia, who is in Poland on a state visit. And then the following day, he’ll meet with the Presidents of Lithuania and Latvia in Vilnius and also have the opportunity to confer with them in a trilateral format as well, and then he’ll do a statement with both of those leaders together in Vilnius.
So with that I’m happy to take a few questions.
Q We’re going to Poland, is there any reconsideration of the U.S. position on missile defense as it pertains to increased antagonism from Russia?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The question is, is there any consideration of a change to U.S. missile defense connected to this crisis I guess would be the synopsis of the question. And the answer is that we’ve made clear from the beginning that the European-phased, adaptive approach to ballistic missile defense has never been about Russia. It’s been about emerging ballistic missile threats from elsewhere. And so the Vice President’s intention tomorrow is to reaffirm that everything about our missile defense plans for Europe remain on track. That's true for Romania and it’s true for Poland.
And he’ll be able to underscore that it’s on schedule and on track by -- he won’t be discussing changes in the missile defense approach tomorrow.
Q Are there some additional steps that NATO is looking at taking or that the Vice President will discuss with these countries separate from missile defense that involve movements towards borders, toward Ukraine that address what’s going on?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So I’ll leave it to the Vice President to discuss some of this tomorrow. He will be talking about further steps that the United States can take and that NATO can take as an alliance to further shore up the security of Poland and the Baltics and other NATO allies, to increase training exercises and other things like that. But I won’t go into further detail at this point.
I would highlight that one of the things he’ll be able to underscore are steps that we’ve just taken in the past few days including augmenting the Baltic air policing mission by adding additional fighter jets in Estonia, and by augmenting the aviation detachment in Poland by adding a complement of fighters there as well.
Q A complement of what?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Fighters.
Q Fighters, thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And he’ll also discuss both of those moves, which have now been completed just in the past few days.
And at the same time that he’s in the region, General Breedlove, in his capacity as EUCOM commander, will be meeting with the chiefs of defense of Central and Eastern Europe in Croatia to discuss a range of security issues.
Q (Inaudible)?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I believe it has.
Q Even as Poland -- even as we’re helping Poland with increased air assets, Tusk has still been very aggressive with his rhetoric in terms of what Poland wants to do unilaterally, so what aspect of this trip will be the Vice President going to talk to Tusk about talking him off the ledge on perhaps some unilateral actions that the Poles or any of the other Baltic nations that he’s speaking with might want to do on their own?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: When you say unilateral actions, what do you mean?
Q Tusk has been talking about bolstering their own missile defense system within the country of Poland, as well as their own military assets, so in terms of what these individual countries might do by themselves is what I mean.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So I think the Vice President is going to focus on both what the specific U.S. commitments have been and will continue to be to Poland’s defense, but chiefly in the context of NATO as a whole because his view -- and I think it’s shared by the Prime Minister and the President -- is that NATO is at its strongest when all 28 allies are pulling together. So the Vice President will want to discuss with both the Prime Minister and the President in Poland how we can strengthen the alliance commitments to Poland, not just the United States, but all the other allies, as well, including Western European allies, and how we can look forward to the summit in Wales later this year to think about strengthening Article 5 commitments, as well as the host of other security issues that the NATO alliance faces.
So I think the Vice President is really going to look at this set of security questions very much in an alliance context.
Q One more thing about natural gas shipments. That's sort of become a bit of a talking point. Will the Vice President have a specific message related to U.S. efforts to accelerate the ability for us to engage in LNG trade with Europe? And how relevant is it to these leaders that we’re going to be meeting? Would that be something that they would welcome and ask for?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So for tonight’s purposes I would just say that he’ll be talking about the range of issues related to energy diversification, which includes alternative forms of energy -- nuclear, shale, alternative sources of supply. And as respects the question of what the United States can do, we’re obviously looking at what the United States can do domestically that serves both U.S. interests and European interests.
But in terms of more specifics, we’ll have an opportunity to talk further in the next couple days.
Q Can you talk a little bit, what will be their assessment of the threat these countries are under for retaliation for sanctions that have already been applied? Like we keep reading that they're nervous -- what’s your assessment of how much risk they face?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think it will be interesting to hear from them how they assess the issue of sanctions. Each of these leaders in the Baltics and in Poland have been strong supporters of ensuring that there are costs for flagrant violations of international law, and they’ll be continued advocates for that we expect at the Europe leaders meeting on Thursday.
But of course, they're close neighbors with Russia, and they have economic relationships with them, so that will obviously be part of the discussion. But we can also talk more about that after we’ve had the chance to consult with them tomorrow.
END
11:36 P.M. EST
11:36 P.M. EST
STELLAR WINDS AND CLOUDS
This esthetic close-up of cosmic clouds and stellar winds features LL Orionis, interacting with the Orion Nebula flow. Adrift in Orion's stellar nursery and still in its formative years, variable star LL Orionis produces a wind more energetic than the wind from our own middle-aged Sun. As the fast stellar wind runs into slow moving gas a shock front is formed, analogous to the bow wave of a boat moving through water or a plane traveling at supersonic speed. The small, arcing, graceful structure just above and left of center is LL Ori's cosmic bow shock, measuring about half a light-year across. The slower gas is flowing away from the Orion Nebula's hot central star cluster, the Trapezium, located off the upper left corner of the picture. In three dimensions, LL Ori's wrap-around shock front is shaped like a bowl that appears brightest when viewed along the "bottom" edge. The beautiful picture is part of a large mosaic view of the complex stellar nursery in Orion, filled with a myriad of fluid shapes associated with star formation. Image Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team.
FTC COVERS SPORTS SAFETY IN CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY
FROM: FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC Testifies Before Congressional Subcommittee on Improving Sports Safety
The Federal Trade Commission testified before Congress on actions it has taken to help ensure that concussion protection claims made for football helmets and other sports equipment are truthful and supported by reliable scientific evidence.
Testifying on behalf of the Commission before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, Richard Cleland, Assistant Director for Advertising Practices in FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, outlined the agency’s enforcement efforts. The testimony notes that as awareness of the danger of concussions has grown, manufacturers have started making concussion-protection claims for an increasing array of sports-related products.
“Given the dangers that concussions pose for young athletes engaged in sports, it is essential that advertising for products claiming to reduce the risk of this injury be truthful and substantiated,” the testimony states.
The testimony points out that in August 2012 the Commission announced a settlement with the marketers of the Brain-Pad mouth guard. The Commission alleged that Brain-Pad, Inc. and its president lacked a reasonable basis for their claims that Brain-Pad mouth guards reduced the risk of concussions, especially those caused by lower jaw impacts, and that they had falsely claimed that scientific studies proved that those mouth guards did so. The order in that case prohibits these and other deceptive claims.
In November 2012, after the order in the Brain-Pad case became final, the Commission staff sent out warning letters to 18 other manufacturers of sports equipment, advising them of the Brain-Pad settlement and warning them that they might be making deceptive concussion protection claims for their products, according to the testimony.
The Commission staff also investigated concussion risk reduction claims made by three major manufacturers of football helmets: Riddell Sports Group, Inc., Schutt Sports Inc., and Xenith, LLC. The staff closed the investigations without taking formal action. All three companies discontinued potentially deceptive claims in their advertising, or had agreed to do so, the testimony stated.
The Commission will continue monitoring the market to ensure that advertisers do not mislead consumers about their products’ concussion-protection capabilities, or the science behind them. The Commission’s approach will be balanced, to avoid inadvertently chilling research or impeding development of new technologies and products that truly do provide concussion protection, the testimony concluded.
The Commission vote approving the testimony and its inclusion in the formal record was 4-0.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.
FTC Testifies Before Congressional Subcommittee on Improving Sports Safety
The Federal Trade Commission testified before Congress on actions it has taken to help ensure that concussion protection claims made for football helmets and other sports equipment are truthful and supported by reliable scientific evidence.
Testifying on behalf of the Commission before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, Richard Cleland, Assistant Director for Advertising Practices in FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, outlined the agency’s enforcement efforts. The testimony notes that as awareness of the danger of concussions has grown, manufacturers have started making concussion-protection claims for an increasing array of sports-related products.
“Given the dangers that concussions pose for young athletes engaged in sports, it is essential that advertising for products claiming to reduce the risk of this injury be truthful and substantiated,” the testimony states.
The testimony points out that in August 2012 the Commission announced a settlement with the marketers of the Brain-Pad mouth guard. The Commission alleged that Brain-Pad, Inc. and its president lacked a reasonable basis for their claims that Brain-Pad mouth guards reduced the risk of concussions, especially those caused by lower jaw impacts, and that they had falsely claimed that scientific studies proved that those mouth guards did so. The order in that case prohibits these and other deceptive claims.
In November 2012, after the order in the Brain-Pad case became final, the Commission staff sent out warning letters to 18 other manufacturers of sports equipment, advising them of the Brain-Pad settlement and warning them that they might be making deceptive concussion protection claims for their products, according to the testimony.
The Commission staff also investigated concussion risk reduction claims made by three major manufacturers of football helmets: Riddell Sports Group, Inc., Schutt Sports Inc., and Xenith, LLC. The staff closed the investigations without taking formal action. All three companies discontinued potentially deceptive claims in their advertising, or had agreed to do so, the testimony stated.
The Commission will continue monitoring the market to ensure that advertisers do not mislead consumers about their products’ concussion-protection capabilities, or the science behind them. The Commission’s approach will be balanced, to avoid inadvertently chilling research or impeding development of new technologies and products that truly do provide concussion protection, the testimony concluded.
The Commission vote approving the testimony and its inclusion in the formal record was 4-0.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.
URBAN ROOF COLOR AND REDUCING HEAT
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Is white--or green--the new black in cities?
How effective are white roofs, green roofs, and other urban heat-reducing technologies?
Punxsutawney Phil's Groundhog Day prediction may have called for six more weeks of winter, but the first day of spring is now around the corner.
After a long season of snow and ice across the U.S. and around the world, warmer weather will likely be greeted with open arms.
In a hotter world, however, the bloom may quickly be off the rose.
Cities: The new deserts?
When we think about the most sizzling locations on the planet, we often picture black-sand deserts. Indeed, research shows that the highest temperatures on Earth are in such dry, treeless and dark-colored places.
The description could fit cities just as well.
With hotter summers perhaps as big a threat as colder winters to the lives of humans and other species, scientists are studying ways of mitigating climate change in urban areas.
They're throwing icy water--metaphorically if not literally--on what's called urban heat islands: Cities with a patchwork of black surfaces. The researchers are starting where the sun first burns: rooftops.
The realities of a changing climate
"Life in a warming world will require human ingenuity to adapt to the new realities," says Matei Georgescu, a sustainability scientist at Arizona State University's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.
"Greenhouse gas-induced warming and the expansion of the megalopolis are significant drivers of our warming planet," says Georgescu. "We need to find adaptation technologies that will help us acclimate."
How well some of these adaptation technologies, including so-called "cool roofs"--white roofs, green (or garden-planted) roofs and hybrids--work, and how they perform in various locations "has been a big unknown," says Georgescu.
Through a National Science Foundation (NSF) Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) grant, he and colleagues are looking at the effectiveness of common adaptation technologies to reduce warming caused by urban expansion.
The WSC program is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability initiative.
"This research underscores that what we build has effects well beyond where we build it," says Tom Torgersen, a program director in NSF's Directorate for Geosciences and lead for the WSC program. "New solutions are clearly needed in a world of warming temperatures and larger cities."
Conversion from natural to urbanized lands "has consequences for regional climate and for the many inhabitants living within what we call 'the built environment,'" Georgescu says.
All cities not alike
Urban expansion in the United States, considered as a stand-alone factor apart from greenhouse gas-induced climate change, can raise temperatures by almost six degrees Fahrenheit.
Results of Georgescu's research, published in a recent paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), show that while urban adaptation technologies like cool roofs can counteract that increase, their effects change with the season--and depend on where they're located.
Georgescu, along with Philip Morefield, Britta Bierwagen and Christopher Weaver of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, studied how these technologies fare in different places across the United States.
"We looked at each adaptation strategy and its effects through the seasons," says Georgescu, "and quantified its consequences for rainfall, climate and energy demand.
"We found that geography matters."
"Cool roofs" in California: The West Coast story
What works in California's Central Valley, such as cool roofs, doesn't necessarily work in other places in the country, like Florida.
"The effects of cool roofs extend beyond surface temperatures to rainfall and energy demand," says Georgescu. "There are trade-offs that are often unaccounted for."
In the search for ways to reflect incoming solar radiation and decrease energy demand during summer months, painting roofs white has been touted as an easy answer.
In fact, these cool roofs are effective in certain areas, says Georgescu. "But in more northern locations, this strategy in winter further cools the environment," he says. "That leads to a need for additional heat to keep buildings warm."
White roofs, therefore, aren't always a panacea.
Is the story any different for green roofs?
"There's an important seasonal contrast between white roofs, which are highly reflective," says Georgescu, "and green roofs."
While green roofs don't cool the environment as much during the summer, they also don't nullify energy savings gained during warm months by creating new demands during colder months.
"Cool roofs" in Florida: The East Coast tale
In Florida, says Georgescu, there's yet another effect. "Our simulations indicate that white roofs in Florida result in a significant reduction in precipitation," he says.
"They lead to a decrease in rainfall by a considerable amount each day--almost 50 percent. That has implications for water availability, stream flow and ecosystems."
In Florida, white roofs, the team found, may not be the best way of overcoming the urban heat island effect. "Floridians may want to choose another technology," says Georgescu.
No one-size-fits-all
The scientists suggest that planning and design choices--and where they will be implemented--should be considered in efforts to mitigate climate change and cities' growth.
Counteracting "urban climate change," Georgescu says, "depends on specific geographic factors that need to be considered.
"There are no one-size-fits-all solutions."
-- Cheryl Dybas, NSF (
Investigators
Alex Mahalov
Netra Chhetri
Matei Georgescu
Michael Hanemann
Related Institutions/Organizations
Arizona State University
Is white--or green--the new black in cities?
How effective are white roofs, green roofs, and other urban heat-reducing technologies?
Punxsutawney Phil's Groundhog Day prediction may have called for six more weeks of winter, but the first day of spring is now around the corner.
After a long season of snow and ice across the U.S. and around the world, warmer weather will likely be greeted with open arms.
In a hotter world, however, the bloom may quickly be off the rose.
Cities: The new deserts?
When we think about the most sizzling locations on the planet, we often picture black-sand deserts. Indeed, research shows that the highest temperatures on Earth are in such dry, treeless and dark-colored places.
The description could fit cities just as well.
With hotter summers perhaps as big a threat as colder winters to the lives of humans and other species, scientists are studying ways of mitigating climate change in urban areas.
They're throwing icy water--metaphorically if not literally--on what's called urban heat islands: Cities with a patchwork of black surfaces. The researchers are starting where the sun first burns: rooftops.
The realities of a changing climate
"Life in a warming world will require human ingenuity to adapt to the new realities," says Matei Georgescu, a sustainability scientist at Arizona State University's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.
"Greenhouse gas-induced warming and the expansion of the megalopolis are significant drivers of our warming planet," says Georgescu. "We need to find adaptation technologies that will help us acclimate."
How well some of these adaptation technologies, including so-called "cool roofs"--white roofs, green (or garden-planted) roofs and hybrids--work, and how they perform in various locations "has been a big unknown," says Georgescu.
Through a National Science Foundation (NSF) Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) grant, he and colleagues are looking at the effectiveness of common adaptation technologies to reduce warming caused by urban expansion.
The WSC program is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability initiative.
"This research underscores that what we build has effects well beyond where we build it," says Tom Torgersen, a program director in NSF's Directorate for Geosciences and lead for the WSC program. "New solutions are clearly needed in a world of warming temperatures and larger cities."
Conversion from natural to urbanized lands "has consequences for regional climate and for the many inhabitants living within what we call 'the built environment,'" Georgescu says.
All cities not alike
Urban expansion in the United States, considered as a stand-alone factor apart from greenhouse gas-induced climate change, can raise temperatures by almost six degrees Fahrenheit.
Results of Georgescu's research, published in a recent paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), show that while urban adaptation technologies like cool roofs can counteract that increase, their effects change with the season--and depend on where they're located.
Georgescu, along with Philip Morefield, Britta Bierwagen and Christopher Weaver of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, studied how these technologies fare in different places across the United States.
"We looked at each adaptation strategy and its effects through the seasons," says Georgescu, "and quantified its consequences for rainfall, climate and energy demand.
"We found that geography matters."
"Cool roofs" in California: The West Coast story
What works in California's Central Valley, such as cool roofs, doesn't necessarily work in other places in the country, like Florida.
"The effects of cool roofs extend beyond surface temperatures to rainfall and energy demand," says Georgescu. "There are trade-offs that are often unaccounted for."
In the search for ways to reflect incoming solar radiation and decrease energy demand during summer months, painting roofs white has been touted as an easy answer.
In fact, these cool roofs are effective in certain areas, says Georgescu. "But in more northern locations, this strategy in winter further cools the environment," he says. "That leads to a need for additional heat to keep buildings warm."
White roofs, therefore, aren't always a panacea.
Is the story any different for green roofs?
"There's an important seasonal contrast between white roofs, which are highly reflective," says Georgescu, "and green roofs."
While green roofs don't cool the environment as much during the summer, they also don't nullify energy savings gained during warm months by creating new demands during colder months.
"Cool roofs" in Florida: The East Coast tale
In Florida, says Georgescu, there's yet another effect. "Our simulations indicate that white roofs in Florida result in a significant reduction in precipitation," he says.
"They lead to a decrease in rainfall by a considerable amount each day--almost 50 percent. That has implications for water availability, stream flow and ecosystems."
In Florida, white roofs, the team found, may not be the best way of overcoming the urban heat island effect. "Floridians may want to choose another technology," says Georgescu.
No one-size-fits-all
The scientists suggest that planning and design choices--and where they will be implemented--should be considered in efforts to mitigate climate change and cities' growth.
Counteracting "urban climate change," Georgescu says, "depends on specific geographic factors that need to be considered.
"There are no one-size-fits-all solutions."
-- Cheryl Dybas, NSF (
Investigators
Alex Mahalov
Netra Chhetri
Matei Georgescu
Michael Hanemann
Related Institutions/Organizations
Arizona State University
Monday, March 17, 2014
SEAL TEAM TAKES CONTROL OF HIJACKED TANKER
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
U.S. Forces Board ‘Morning Glory’ Tanker Ship
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 17, 2014 – American forces yesterday boarded and took control of a commercial tanker ship that was seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a Defense Department news release issued today.
"No one was hurt tonight when U.S. forces, at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments, boarded and took control of the commercial tanker ‘Morning Glory,’ a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans,” Kirby said in the release.
The boarding operation, approved by President Barack Obama and conducted just after 10 p.m. EDT on March 16 in international waters southeast of Cyprus, was executed by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs attached to Special Operations Command Europe, Kirby added.
"The SEAL team embarked and operated from the guided missile destroyer USS Roosevelt,” Kirby said in the release. The USS Roosevelt provided helicopter support and served as a command and control and support platform for the other members of the force assigned to conduct the mission, he said.
"The ‘Morning Glory’ is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company,” Kirby said in the release. “The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained from the Libyan port of As-Sidra.”
The “Morning Glory” will be underway soon to a port in Libya with a team of sailors from the USS Stout embarked, Kirby said. The sailors will be supervising the transit, he added.
The USS Roosevelt is homeported in Mayport, Fla. and is deployed as part of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group, Kirby said, adding that the USS Stout is homeported in Norfolk, Va.
U.S. Forces Board ‘Morning Glory’ Tanker Ship
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 17, 2014 – American forces yesterday boarded and took control of a commercial tanker ship that was seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a Defense Department news release issued today.
"No one was hurt tonight when U.S. forces, at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments, boarded and took control of the commercial tanker ‘Morning Glory,’ a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans,” Kirby said in the release.
The boarding operation, approved by President Barack Obama and conducted just after 10 p.m. EDT on March 16 in international waters southeast of Cyprus, was executed by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs attached to Special Operations Command Europe, Kirby added.
"The SEAL team embarked and operated from the guided missile destroyer USS Roosevelt,” Kirby said in the release. The USS Roosevelt provided helicopter support and served as a command and control and support platform for the other members of the force assigned to conduct the mission, he said.
"The ‘Morning Glory’ is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company,” Kirby said in the release. “The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained from the Libyan port of As-Sidra.”
The “Morning Glory” will be underway soon to a port in Libya with a team of sailors from the USS Stout embarked, Kirby said. The sailors will be supervising the transit, he added.
The USS Roosevelt is homeported in Mayport, Fla. and is deployed as part of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group, Kirby said, adding that the USS Stout is homeported in Norfolk, Va.
WHITE HOUSE BRIEFING ON UKRAINE
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Background Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on Ukraine
Via Conference Call
9:39 A.M. EDT
MS. HAYDEN: Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us on yet another snow day here in Washington. Hopefully, by now you’ve seen that we have put out a new executive order this morning on Ukraine, and we have a number of senior administration officials here to talk to you about that and other measures we’re taking. This call is on background with no embargo. Again, these are senior administration officials. And with that, I’ll turn it over to senior administration official number one.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, everybody, for getting on the call. I’ll just give a brief overview here and then hand it over to my colleague who can speak in greater depth about the sanctions that we’re announcing today.
First of all, President Obama has been very clear since the Russian intervention in Crimea that we, together with our European allies, would be imposing costs on Russia for its violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity even as we have made clear our openness to a diplomatic pathway to de-escalation.
The Russians to date have continued their intervention, continued their violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And notably, yesterday, of course, we had the so-called referendum on the future of Crimea, which took place without the participation and involvement of the government in Kyiv –- a referendum that was in violation of Ukraine’s constitution, that took place in an environment of coercion, with Russia having violated international law through its intervention in Crimea. So today we are taking additional steps to impose costs on Russia for these actions.
Specifically, we are continuing to impose costs for what Russia has been doing in Crimea over the last two weeks by designating individuals for their involvement in the intervention in Crimea. But secondly, and importantly, the President has signed a new executive order that expands a scope of our sanctions to include authorization of sanctions on Russian officials, on entities operating in the arms sector in Russia, and on any individuals who provide material support to senior officials of the Russian government. And my colleague can speak to that.
We’re doing this all in very close coordination with our European allies. The Europeans are meeting today to review their measures. We have been in very regular contact with our European friends over the course of the last two weeks, and we believe that our unity is critical in sending a message to Russia that it will be isolated politically and economically if it continues down this path.
Vice President Biden is leaving tonight for Europe, where he will meet with NATO allies. In Poland, he’ll meet with not just the Polish but also the Estonians. And then, when he travels to Lithuania, he will meet with both the leaders of Lithuania and Latvia, with the message of strong reassurance and support for the security of our NATO allies.
With that, I will turn it over to my colleague.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks. And good morning, everybody. I’d like to briefly discuss the sanctions thus taken today, and I’m happy to go into further detail in the question/answer period.
The executive order signed by the President and issued today expands on the Executive Order 13660, which the President signed about 10 days ago, on March 6th. In some ways, the new executive order that goes into effect today creates three new authorities. It creates the ability to target officials of the Russian government; to target any individuals or entities that operate in the arms or related materials sector in the Russian Federation; an individual or entity that is owned or controlled by, that acts on behalf of or that provides material support to any senior Russian government official. Essentially, this would allow the designation of what are commonly known as Russian government cronies.
In addition, today, the executive order lists seven Russian government officials for sanctions because of their status as Russian government officials, which, as I noted, this is the first of the three new authorities in this executive order. These individuals have also demonstrated support for the illegitimate actions that have recently taken place in Ukraine and have contributed to the crisis there. Any assets these individuals have within U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are prohibited from doing business with them. And we will urge our counterparts in financial institutions and businesses around the world to shun these individuals.
These individuals are Vladislav Surkov, the presidential aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin; Sergey Glazyev, also a presidential advisor to President Putin; Leonid Slutsky, a state Duma deputy; Andrei Klishas, a member of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and Chairman of the Federation Council Committee of Constitutional Law, Judicial, and Legal Affairs, and the Development of Civil Society; Valentina Matviyenko, head of the Federation Council; Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation; and Yelena Mizulina, a state Duma deputy.
So in addition to acting under the new executive order, Treasury today has imposed sanctioned on four other individuals under Executive Order 13660, the executive order that was issued on March 6th, for their actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine, and in undermining the legitimate government of Ukraine.
These individuals are two Crimea-based separatist leaders: Sergey Aksyonov, who claims to be the Prime Minister of Crimea; and Vladimir Konstantinov, who has been acting as the Speaker of the Crimean parliament. In addition, we’re imposing sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, who’s the leader of Ukrainian Choice; and former President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.
The United States seeks to hold accountable individuals who use their resources or influence to support or act on behalf of senior Russian government officials. As I noted, these are the individuals known as the cronies to the Russian government.
I want to be clear that while we will not rule out taking additional steps in the future, our current focus is to identify these cronies of the Russian government and target their personal assets and wealth, rather than the business entities and industries that they may manage or oversee.
In closing, I’d note that President Obama has been crystal-clear that the United States will impose costs on those who undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including their actions supporting the illegal referendum for Crimean separation. These actions are another step in following through on that commitment. In addition, the actions taken today, including the adoption of new sanctions authorities to target Russian officials, the Russian arms industry, and the personal wealth of cronies, should serve as notice to Russia that unless it abides by its international obligations, returns its military forces to their original bases, and respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the United States is prepared to take additional proportional and responsive steps to impose further political and economic costs.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Folks, just a couple of things to bear down a little bit more on why we chose the people that we chose for sanctioning today. On the first conduct-based EO, I think Victor Yanukovych is self-explanatory. Aksyonov and Kontstantinov are the two main leaders of the Crimean entity and the two major figures in Crimea responsible for pushing forward with the referendum. Medvedchuk is the leading Ukrainian connection between the Kremlin and Crimea, and the most vocal and active ideologist on the Ukrainian side for this separatist action.
On the Russian side, we can go through this in more detail if you’d like, but each of the Russian officials sanctioned today played a leading role as an ideologist, a strategist, or an architect of the referendum strategy, and is also a leading proponent of formal annexation of Crimea by Russia and has played an active public role both in Russia and in Crimea in supporting and activating the steps that have already been taken.
Just a few fun facts about the ongoing situation in Crimea and about the vote yesterday. There is broad speculation and some concrete evidence that ballots that arrived in Crimea for the referendum had been pre-marked in many cities. There are massive anomalies in the vote even as its recorded, including the fact that if you believe the figures that have been published, based on the census in Sevastopol City, 123 percent of the Sevastopol population would have had to have voted “yes” for the referendum.
Today, the Crimean Rada took further steps to join Russia. Konstantinov declared himself the head of the interim government with Aksyonov as first minister of the council. They also passed a decree authorizing an international treaty to join with the Russian Federation, and key Crimean leaders headed for Moscow today to begin negotiating their status. We understand that the EU has taken action today to sanction 21 people -- their list will not be public until tomorrow. They overlap our list in some places, but there will be slight differences in some places when they become public tomorrow.
We understand that President Putin will speak to the Russian Federal Assembly -- that’s a joint session of the Duma and the Federation Council -- tomorrow. It is being broadly speculated in Moscow and in Russia that he will use that opportunity to recommend formal annexation of Crimea to Russia.
Meanwhile, as official number one made clear, even as we exact costs on Russia for what it has already done and made clear to them that there will be further costs if there are further steps, whether they be political steps like annexation or more military steps including incursions into the East or South, or further efforts to seize entities outside of Crimea as we saw yesterday in Kherson Oblast with the gas plant, we are also continuing to keep the door open for deescalation, and continuing to have a dialogue with Russian senior officials about what that might look like were they willing to make serious efforts to address any legitimate concerns, politically and diplomatically, and were they willing to pull back forces and return security and stability, sovereignty and unity to Ukraine.
And then, finally, we are moving forward with our political and economic support for the transitional Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people, including continued negotiations on the IMF package, continued support through the OSCE for broad political monitoring missions across the country to provide independent witness to (inaudible) provocation into cities, to assist with demobilization of irregulars and police retraining, and to investigate some of the violent incidents of the past, and finally, to support the election -- the presidential election that is schedule for May 26th. We expect one of the largest OSCE-ODIHR monitoring missions in recent history for those elections.
Let me pause there.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Great. And just to sum up, with these actions I think we’re demonstrating again that we have the ability to escalate our pressure in response to Russian actions. Some of these actions were in response to the initial intervention in Crimea that, the designations made under the first executive order. The new executive order gives us broader authority to respond to this so-called referendum that took place over the weekend. And going forward, we have the ability to ramp up our pressure, or, if the Russians make a separate set of choices, to deescalate based on how events unfold.
And with that, we’ll move to questions.
Q Thank you so much. A question I guess to the Treasury official on the call. There were a lot of reports over the weekend that Russia’s Central Bank and many of the oligarchs were moving their money around to evade sanctions. Can you tell us whether you think that you have any effective control with these sanctions -- certainly not in American banks -- and what coordination do you expect globally with other banking institutions as to how effective these sanctions actually will be? What kind of deterrent is this? Thank you so much.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We expect that these sanctions will be effective, and they’ll be effective I think in a number of different levels. In the first instance, as I noted, the individuals who are designated today both under the new executive order and under the preexisting executive order, all of their assets are frozen. No U.S. person can do business with them. That will have impact on some or all of these individuals. If they want to transact in dollars, for instance, they will be unable to do so, unable to send any money through the United States.
More broadly, as we've seen in other circumstances, the people who we designate tend to find great difficulty in accessing financial services elsewhere in the world, particularly in Europe, particularly in the Gulf. So to the extent any of these individuals have assets outside of Russia, in Europe or in the Gulf, or in Asia, for that matter, I think they’re going to run into difficulties. And as my colleague noted, there’s also some overlap between the list of individuals that we're designating today and what the EU will be announcing tomorrow and we're working very hard to coordinate with our partners in the EU to have our actions as synchronized and consistent as possible.
More broadly, the actions that we're taking today have an impact in making very clear that we are imposing real costs on the Russians, on the Russian economy for the actions that have occurred and setting off very clear deterrents for actions that may be contemplated.
I’d just note that since February 20th, the Russian stock market -- since February 20th through today, the Russian stock market has declined 14.7 percent. The ruble has depreciated almost 3 percent against the dollar. These moves are far in excess of other indices of other economies -- comparable economies. So what is happening here and the response to the actions that we've taken and to what we can do in the future under these new authorities I think is pretty clear and is imposing real costs.
Q Thanks for doing the call. So am I right that you all have sanctioned 11 -- (inaudible.)
MS. HAYDEN: Peter, we lost you. Can you start again?
Actually, I think we can answer what we think Peter’s question was.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Peter’s question was whether we're sanctioning 11 people altogether. That's correct. We're sanctioning seven under the new executive order, the seven Russian government officials that I ran through earlier and that my colleague elaborated on, and then four individuals under the preexisting executive order, all for actions that threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
And we have the ability going forward, of course, as we build evidentiary cases on the first EO and as we calibrate our approach to Russian actions, to further populate both of these EOs with designations. And we, of course, also have the so-called crony capacity under the second EO as well.
Q Hi, a couple of quick ones. First of all, why wasn’t Putin named in this as far as he’s instrumental in this policy? And do we expect that there will be more in place if Russia goes forward to recognize and actually annex Crimea? And just an historic perspective -- is this the first time we've seen sanctions on the Russian government or individuals in the Russian government since the Cold War?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'll take those and then my colleagues may want to add to that. With respect to President Putin, as we said in the past, it is a highly unusual and rather extraordinary case for the United States to sanction a head of state of another country. So we do not begin these types of sanctions efforts with a head of state. However, if you look at the list of the seven government officials, these are clearly people who are very close to President Putin, who provide him, as my State colleague ran through, with a lot of the advice and support and implementation of the policies that we've seen in Crimea. So there’s no question that this hits close to home in that regard.
Secondly, the ability to sanction the cronies who provide support to the Russian government really gets at individuals who have dedicated significant resources in supporting President Putin and the policies of the Russian government in the past. So, again, I think it's a very clear message that we will hold those responsible accountable for the actions of the Russian government.
In terms of your second question, yes, if the Russians continue to move forward with policies that escalate the situation we would continue to be able to designate individuals and pursue the sanctions that we announced today as well as to contemplate additional actions. So we will be calibrating very much our response in terms of sanctions to the actions that Russia takes in the coming days.
I'll leave it to my colleague to get to the historical perspective.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Historically, there was at least one sanction on a Russian entity with respect to Iran issues. But these are by far the most comprehensive sanctions applied to Russia since the end of the Cold War -- far and away so.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And I’d note by comparison, for instance, that there were comparable sanctions after the Georgia intervention.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That's quite true.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Can I add a couple things here -- just to say that if you look at the list of Russians who are being sanctioned here, as I said, they are the key ideologists and implementers and architects of this policy, but they are also key players, politically, in Russia in terms of advocating tightening down of human rights and individual liberties within Russia itself. A large number of the seven are very personally close to the Kremlin and to President Putin and worked directly to implement the more draconian policies inside Russia and beyond.
Let me just add a couple more fun facts that I've just gotten on the ballot yesterday: 96.8 percent of those who cast ballots in Crimea supported succession. The turnout was 83.1. The election commission didn’t receive a single complaint, and 99 percent of Crimean Tatars declined to vote.
And also I would call your attention to a comment just on the wires from Russian Deputy Economic Minister Belyakov that, “The Russian economy shows clear signs of crisis” this morning. Deputy Economic Minister Belyakov.
Q Thank you. A couple quick questions. Is there any concerns that Russia now may retaliate with either reciprocal sanctions or that the response could bleed into its level of cooperation on other issues such as the Iran nuclear talks, Syria chemical weapons, Afghan withdrawal and the like? And on top of that, did the President, during his call with President Putin yesterday, tell him specifically the sanctions that were coming? Did he give him any warning of this?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I’ll take a crack at some of that. First of all, I think on the President’s call to President Putin, he broadly indicated the types of -- the fact that we were going to be moving to impose additional costs -- I wouldn’t get any more specific than that -- again, at the same time, making clear that there’s a pathway to de-escalation. As you’ve heard him say, we could allow international monitors into Ukraine, including Crimea, to assure that the rights of ethnic Russians are being protected.
Given that Ukraine has an election plan for the spring, given that the Ukrainian government has indicated publicly their willingness to look at constitutional reform, including the status of Crimea, that there is, again, a pathway that could be taken to deescalate this crisis, but only if the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is respected.
With respect to other issues, look, clearly we’re willing to indicate that this is going to have costs in our bilateral relationship. We’ve already cancelled trade and commercial discussions, the bilateral military exercises, G8 preparatory meetings. But if you look at the scope of those other issues, on the Syria chemical weapons issue, Russia is deeply invested in that project and, in fact, we’ve seen a picking up of the pace in terms of the removal of the CW from Syria.
Similarly, on Iran, Russia would only be further isolating itself were it to cease cooperation through the P5-plus-1, and Russia has its own interests in avoiding an escalation of events in the Persian Gulf or nuclear proliferation. I’d note, too, for the Iranians, their profound interest is to gain access to European markets and the global economy through sanctions relief, so they have an interest, too, in seeing that the entire P5-plus-1 is invested in a comprehensive resolution that deals with sanctions relief.
So while we expect this to impact our bilateral relationship, in some of those other areas Russia has its own interests for their participation, and we’re going to continue to pursue those objectives.
In terms of retaliation, look, we’ve seen this in the past, for instance on the Magnitsky sanction. We’re confident that we can impose costs on Russia and that it’s necessary to do so, and that, frankly, Russia stands a lot more to lose from political and economic isolation than the United States. And in fact, that’s borne out not just by the economic indicators that my colleague referenced in terms of a plummeting stock market and depreciating currency, but also the fact that the world is with us.
I’d note, just over the weekend, that at the U.N. Security Council, 13 countries voted to declare this referendum illegal. China, a traditional supporter of Russia on the Council, abstained, which is a very unusual action for them to take. So in terms of who’s isolated here, the United States is leading a united international community in condemnation of this action while Russia finds itself alone in insisting upon of the legitimacy of their intervention in Ukraine.
Q Yes, thank you so much for this call. There are already a lot of reactions on Twitter, for instance, from people about what you announced, and people are asking these questions: Do you think it’s going to be enough, and do you have a deadline in mind if it does not work?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So the actions that we’ve taken today are responses to what has transpired thus far. As we’ve said, the executive order that was issued on March 6th and the new executive order issued today is flexible and allows us to impose additional sanctions across a range of different authorities, whether it’s Russian government officials, the Russian arms industry and the cronies who are close to the scene of Russian government officials, as well as those who are continuing to threaten the sovereignty of Ukraine.
So as events develop, we can and will respond through these sanctions tools that the President has ordered.
Q I think you may have just clarified that, so forgive me if I’m asking substantially the same thing. But for now, there are 11 people only sanctioned, and the executive order just broadens the pool of people you can sanction in the future? So when the order says it also blocks the property and interests of those determined below, they are not sanctioned immediately, that’s a possibility in the future, is that correct?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There are seven individuals in the new executive order who have been sanctioned and four under the preexisting executive order who are being sanctioned today. These two executive orders create the authority, the tool for us to take action against others whose conduct fits within any of the criteria listed in the executive order or who are senior Russian government officials.
We’re going to continue to investigate the situation, develop the evidence of those who are involved in the activities that are described in these executive orders. And we have the -- now have the ability to expand the lists of those persons and entities that are involved in the conduct that the executive orders describe and involved in threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine --
Q And the EU has sanctioned -- sorry, pardon me -- the EU has sanctioned 21 individual apparently, just now. Is there a reason why the U.S. has 11 and that they’re not more coordinated in numbers?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We have been discussing the issue of sanctions in this case with the European Union quite closely. They have 28 governments who coordinate and come to a final decision. Our lists overlap; they’re not identical. We will be looking -- as my colleague said, we will be looking at the possibility of additional sanctions as we develop new information and should Russian activities increase in intensity and should they not avail themselves of the off-ramp that is available to them.
We could have chosen additional people. We chose the people we chose now. The European Union, looking at the same set of circumstances, made slightly different choices in some areas, but the lists have overlap both in terms of names and in terms of categories of people, though they are, as I said, not identical.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Can I just one final point on that, which is that in other circumstances where we have overlapping sanctions authorities with the European Union, our list of persons and entities designated are not typically perfectly identical, but nonetheless, the combined efforts of the U.S. and the European Union in applying sanctions and driving in the same direction has a real multiplying impact. And so I think it’s not -- no one should get too hung up on perfect parity between the lists. The fact that both the United States and the European Union are acting together today to make very clear that what has transpired in Ukraine is illegitimate is a critical point.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I would also note that until the EU publishes its list, it’s hard for us to explain the differences in the approaches that we took. There is a considerable amount of overlap, but we have some categories that they don’t have and they have some categories that we don’t have. But there is this opportunity to bring convergence to the list, and as the first speaker made clear, there is impact in Europe on the individuals that we have sanctioned and there’s impact in the United States on the individuals that they have sanctioned.
But just to add to this, that we have made absolutely clear to the Russian Federation at all levels that if there are further steps to formally annex Crimea, to apply more military pressure or to incur further into Ukraine, or if diplomacy is not successful in deescalating this, that we have the authority in the EO that’s published today to do considerably more -- just to underscore again this to, A, that allows the sanctioning of further officials in the Russians; to, B, that allows us to work against the arms and materials sector of the Russian Federation.
Q I wonder if you could comment on this proposal that Russia has been circulating about diplomatic negotiations that would turn Ukraine into a federated republic, as a way of giving autonomy not only to Crimea but to other sections of Ukraine? Is this something that the Ukrainian government or you and your allies would consider even talking about?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I’ll start and then my colleague may want to comment, too. I think the fundamental point here is that the government in Kyiv has to be a part of these discussions. And thus far, the Russian government has not engaged constructively with the government in Kyiv. As we’ve made very clear, the days are long past when world powers meet and make decisions about the future of democratic countries over the heads of the leaders of those countries.
At the same time, the Ukrainian government has made clear that they are open to discussions about constitutional reform, that there is an election coming this spring which provides the basis for the Ukrainian people making these decisions and that as a part of that process of reform, they’re willing to contemplate questions associated with autonomy, for instance, for a region like Crimea.
So there is a space here for a diplomatic discussion on these issues, and that is a key point that we’ve made in our engagement to Russia, that given the fact that you have a government in Kyiv that is willing to address issues associated with constitutional reform, that that should provide the basis for deescalation. However, that should not take place in the context of Russia intervening militarily and violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. So they should pull back to their bases and allow for an environment where you can have a constructive, diplomatic process.
And so that will continue to be our position. And, again, the key principle is that the government of Kyiv has to be at the table here in making any decisions about the future of Ukraine.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Just to say, if you were looking at the March 11th proposal on a support group for Ukraine that the Russian Federation made public yesterday, I would just underscore that the vast majority of the items on that list that the Russians put forward are already underway in Ukraine under the auspices of the transitional government or the Ukrainian parliament.
For example, there is a long section in the Russian document about constitutional reform. On March 4th, the Ukrainian parliament, the Rada, adopted a resolution establishing a temporary special commission to amend the constitution of Ukraine by April 15th. And there is a commission now formed which includes every single party in the Ukrainian system and representatives from across the region who are now working on a set of amendments to the constitution to address everything from minority rights to developed power to the region, to enhanced autonomy for Crimea.
So there is a way proceed with legitimate devolution of power to the region, legitimate autonomy for Crimea, protection of ethnic minorities and languages through a Ukrainian process that has broad national support in Ukraine. The problem with the Russian documents is that if you look at the end, it sets all of its demands in the context of a post-Crimea referendum Ukraine. So the concern here is that this is not a proposal targeted at addressing legitimate concerns inside of Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, but it’s a proposal for Russia to interject itself into Ukraine’s business after having already annexed Crimea.
MS. HAYDEN: Thanks, everyone. A reminder that the call was on background with your speakers as senior administration officials.
Thanks for joining us, and everyone have a great day.
END
10:20 A.M. EDT
10:20 A.M. EDT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)