FROM: SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two friends with insider trading on confidential information from an investment banker about an impending transaction between engineering and construction companies.
The SEC alleges that Walter D. Wagner of Rockville, Md., and Alexander J. Osborn of Alexandria, Va., illicitly profited by nearly $1 million combined by trading on nonpublic information in advance of the acquisition of The Shaw Group by Chicago Bridge & Iron Company. Wagner was tipped by his longtime friend John W. Femenia, who worked at a firm that was considering whether to finance the transaction. Wagner then tipped Osborn with the inside information so they could each trade heavily in Shaw Group securities ahead of the public announcement on July 30, 2012, when the closing stock price jumped approximately 55 percent from the previous day.
Wagner has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by disgorging his ill-gotten gains plus interest. Any additional financial penalty will be decided by the court at a later date. A parallel criminal action against Wagner was announced today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.
The SEC’s litigation continues against Osborn. The SEC already charged Femenia in a related insider trading case. He was subsequently barred from the securities industry.
“Wagner and Osborn had never bought stock or call options in The Shaw Group, yet they suddenly spent significant portions of their available cash resources to make sizeable purchases in the weeks preceding the public announcement of the acquisition,” said William P. Hicks, associate director for enforcement in the SEC’s Atlanta Regional Office. “The SEC is committed to deciphering the stories behind suspicious trades and exposing those who trade on confidential information obtained from corporate insiders.”
According to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Greenbelt, Md., all three attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Wagner and Femenia met in college and remained friends after graduating in 2003. Osborn, who graduated in 2006, became friends with Wagner around 2009 when they worked in the same office building for different government contractors. The SEC alleges that Femenia collected nonpublic details about the acquisition while at work and communicated them to Wagner via text messages and phone calls in violation of the duty he owed his firm to keep the information confidential. Wagner knew Femenia was employed in investment banking at Wells Fargo Securities. Wagner in turn tipped Osborn, who knew that Wagner’s source was employed in the finance industry. Wagner and Osborn used the nonpublic information to obtain illegal trading profits of approximately $517,784 and $439,830 respectively.
The SEC’s complaint charges Wagner and Osborn with violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. In addition to the financial sanction of $528,175 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest, Wagner has consented to the entry of a judgment permanently enjoining him from violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Monifa F. Wright and supervised by Matthew F. McNamara in the Atlanta Regional Office. The SEC’s litigation is being handled by Paul T. Kim. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority.
Friday, April 4, 2014
IRS COMMISSIONER KOSKINEN'S REMARKS TO NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
FROM: INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Prepared Remarks of Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service John Koskinen before the National Press Club
WASHINGTON – Thank you for that warm welcome. It’s an honor for me to be here today at the National Press Club for the first time as IRS Commissioner.
Now that we’ve turned the calendar to April, I know there are usually two things on peoples’ minds. The first is Spring and the second is taxes. Plus watching the Final Four this weekend. As a former Chairman of the Duke Board of Trustees, we had a moment of silence earlier in the tournament. But the loss to Mercer was part of a longer term-strategy to increase the Duke endowment in the hopes of a substantial contribution from an unnamed major investor in the United States, in recognition of the billion dollars we saved him by losing the game.
Moving on, if you came to this luncheon or tuned in expecting to hear about the state of affairs at the Internal Revenue Service, you’ve come to the right place.
I was sworn in as IRS Commissioner a little over three months ago, and I feel exactly the same way I did on Day One: Excited and proud to lead an agency that’s critical to the functioning of our government and one that touches virtually every American. These last three months I’ve traveled to 18 of the 25 largest IRS offices around the country. I have talked with and listened to about 8,000 employees so far and been delighted to see the professionalism, skills and dedication of our employees.
I am on this journey because, throughout my career, I have found that the people who know most about what’s going on in an organization are the front line employees. They have important insights into the opportunities and challenges an organization faces.
In light of all that has happened to Federal employees in the last four years, and IRS employees in particular – no pay raises for four years, government shutdowns, furloughs and the negative publicity about the IRS the last year – you might have expected that I would have heard a lot of grumbling from employees about not being paid enough or having to work too hard. Instead, the consistent response I have heard is a concern that we do not have enough employees to provide the level of taxpayer services our employees want to provide and feel taxpayers deserve.
I also have heard at every stop – even in the 18th city last Friday – interesting observations and suggestions about how we can improve the day-to-day operations of the agency. And I have explained in town halls with front line workers and meetings with managers at each office that one of my goals is to foster an environment where information flows easily from the bottom up in the agency as well as from the top down.
This is critical, not only for us to get the benefit of observations and suggestions from employees, but also to learn as quickly as possible about problems or challenges. I have noted that it is illusory to think that we’ll never have a problem or make a mistake. We have 90,000 employees administering the world’s most complicated tax code and dealing with millions of taxpayers. Instead, my goal is for us to find problems quickly, fix them promptly, make sure they stay fixed, and be transparent about the entire process. I’ve told our employees that if there’s a problem anywhere in the organization, it’s my problem and we’ll fix it together. If an employee makes an honest mistake, it’s my mistake as well, and we’ll work together to remedy the situation. And if there’s a problem that I don’t know about, that’s my fault, because it would mean we haven’t built a culture that encourages information to flow up from the front lines through the organization.
As I tell the employees, my theory is that “bad news is good news,” since the only problem we can’t solve is one we don’t know about. And, as a corollary, employees need to know that we don’t shoot messengers, we thank them.
In moving the IRS forward, one of the most important things we have to do is restore public trust in the agency, which was shaken by the management problems that came to light last year with regard to the determination process used for applicants to become tax exempt social welfare organizations under section 501(c)(4) of the IRS code. Organizations that have 501(c)(4) status can be everything from garden clubs to homeowners associations, but the focus for the last year has been on advocacy groups that spend part of their time and money on political campaigns.
As a result of the inappropriate use of an organization’s name alone as the criterion for setting its application aside for special treatment, doubt has been cast by some on the independence of the IRS. This is an important issue that deserves our attention. But it is also important to put this issue into the proper perspective. The IRS has about 800 employees in its Exempt Organizations Division, and only a small subset of those folks work on processing applications for tax-exempt status for social welfare organizations. Meanwhile, there about 89,000 other IRS employees in offices all across the country who are also doing critical work for our tax system and for the nation in other areas.
Nonetheless, taxpayers need to be confident that the IRS will treat them fairly. It doesn’t make any difference who they are, what organizations they belong to, or whom they voted for in the last election. None of that matters to us at the IRS. We will do about one million audits of individual taxpayers this year. Some who get audited may be Democrats, some may be Republicans, and others may be something else altogether. But they will all have one thing in common: They’re being contacted by us because there was something on their tax returns that needed follow up. Perhaps we just need a clarification. Maybe there was a mathematical error. Or there could be something seriously wrong with the return. But the return alone is the reason for our inquiry. And anyone else with the same issue would receive the same treatment from the IRS.
To make sure that this problem does not recur, we’ve done a number of things. We have accepted all nine of the recommendations from the Inspector General for Tax Administration. It was his report last May that found applications for 501(c)(4) status were being screened using inappropriate criteria in the determinations process.
Since then, for the last several months the IRS has been cooperating with the investigations into this matter that were launched last summer. There are six ongoing investigations, four conducted by Congressional committees, one by the Department of Justice and one by the IG.
We were asked by members of Congress to quantify the work we’ve done and how much it has cost. The answer is that more than 250 IRS employees have spent over 100,000 hours working directly on complying with the investigations. This work has cost more than $14 million, which includes adding capacity for our computer systems to make sure we are protecting taxpayer information while processing and producing these materials.
In letters to Congressional Committees two weeks ago and in my testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week, I was pleased to report that we now have provided all the documents we have identified as being related to the determinations process – which was the focus of the IG’s report last May. We have provided the tax writing committees, our primary oversight committees, with almost 700,000 pages of documents. We are still redacting taxpayer information from the last of those documents before they can be shared with the Committees that do not have authority to see taxpayer information.
As a result, my hope is that at least some of the six pending investigations will be concluded and reports issued in the near future. I have made it clear that we will respond appropriately to the facts and recommendations of those reports and move the agency forward.
Our production of materials has proceeded according to priorities set with all of the investigating committees and, as we have now completed our production of documents related to the determinations process, we are prepared to work with the committees on any new avenues they may want to pursue.
You may have noticed that, during my three-hour hearing last week before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, some members of the Committee expressed unhappiness with the rate at which we are producing redacted information for them. As I tried to make clear, we never indicated that we would not respond to the very broad subpoena for documents we received in mid-February. Indeed, we have produced documents responsive to each of the subpoena’s categories. In the private sector, a court would require these requests to be reduced to those relevant to the inquiry. Unfortunately, the subpoena contains no such limitations, so the volume of materials requested means we could be at this for a long time.
Another recommendation by the IG was that the Treasury Department and the IRS should provide clearer guidance on how to assess the permissibility of 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations’ activities. So last November, Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations that are designed to clarify the extent to which a 501(c)(4) organization can engage in political activity without endangering its tax-exempt status.
While I was not involved in the issuance of this draft proposal, because it happened before I was confirmed as Commissioner, I believe it is extremely important to make this area of regulation as clear as possible. Not only does that help the IRS properly enforce the law, but clearer regulations will also give a better roadmap to applicants, and will help those that already have 501(c)(4) status properly administer their organizations without unnecessary fears of losing their tax-exempt status.
During the comment period, which ended in February, we received more than 150,000 comments. That’s a record for an IRS rulemaking comment period. In fact, if you take all the comments on all Treasury and IRS draft proposals over the last seven years and double that number, you come close to the number of comments we are now beginning to review and analyze. It’s going to take us a while to sort through all those comments, hold a public hearing, possibly repropose a draft regulation and get more public comments. This means that it is unlikely we will be able to complete this process before the end of the year.
Before leaving this topic, I want to note one other thing. Last month, former IRS Commissioner Randolph Thrower passed away at the age of 100. Commissioner Thrower led the IRS from 1969 to 1971, during the early years of the Nixon Administration, which turned out to be a challenging time for the agency. Commissioner Thrower held firm against attempts being made at that time to politicize the agency. The White House eventually fired him for his principled stance.
I’m sure if Commissioner Thrower were here today, he would say he was only doing his job. But he was doing much more. His refusal to let politics compromise the IRS is an important reminder to all IRS Commissioners now and in the future of what our mission is. I intend to follow his example. I want to reassure everyone listening to me today that the IRS is an agency of career civil servants who are dedicated to serving the American taxpayer in a fair and impartial manner. That’s how it’s always been, and that’s how it will stay on my watch.
We have other important challenges to face. One example of this is insuring that the tax filing season goes smoothly. When I started in December, I told our employees that I wanted to help with the filing season and, as the new kid on the block, the best thing I could probably do was to stay out of the way. I’ve been very successful at that and, at least partially as a result, the filing season has gone very well thus far. Through the end of March, we’ve received more than 90 million tax returns and issued more than 73 million refunds, for approximately $207 billion.
As we get closer to the April 15th deadline for filing returns, I think it’s important to realize what a tremendous accomplishment it is for the agency to process 150 million individual taxpayer returns every year. This doesn’t happen by accident and it doesn’t happen automatically. It happens because thousands of dedicated and experienced employees work for months planning for the next filing season and then administering it.
Another top priority of ours: taxpayer service. This filing season, as we do every year, the IRS provides services to taxpayers to help them fulfill their tax obligations.
Taxpayers want and need more online tax information and services, and we’re working to meet that demand by making improvements to our website, IRS.gov. Last year alone, taxpayers viewed IRS.gov web pages more than 450 million times, to get forms and publications, find answers to their tax questions and check the status of their refunds.
One of the most popular features on IRS.gov is the “Where’s My Refund?” electronic tracking tool, which taxpayers used more than 200 million times last year. Now that doesn’t mean, of course, that there are 200 million taxpayers. Some of them just can’t resist checking over and over to see how their refund is doing.
This year we have several new digital applications that will expand what taxpayers can do online. One of these applications is IRS Direct Pay, which provides taxpayers with a secure, free, quick and easy online option for making tax payments. Another innovation, Get Transcript, is a secure online system that allows taxpayers to view and print a record of their IRS account, also known as a transcript, in a matter of minutes. We are also in the final stages of revamping the IRS Online Payment Agreement, which allows taxpayers to apply for an installment agreement online.
To provide better service, the IRS is also expanding the methods it uses to communicate information to taxpayers. We have moved beyond traditional media, like newspapers and TV news to also take advantage of social media, such as YouTube, Twitter and Tumblr.
During my three months on the job, I have been surprised to learn how much time, effort and resources we provide trying to help taxpayers determine the amount they owe and how to pay it. As I have said, it may take me a while to convince the average taxpayer that “we’re from the IRS and we’re here to help you,” but we really do work hard to make it as easy as possible to file your taxes.
Along with taxpayer service, another high priority for the IRS is maintaining a robust tax compliance program and building on the work that’s been done to improve compliance in a number of areas. One of the most important of these is the battle against refund fraud, especially fraud caused by identity theft. I say “battle” because we really do have a fight on our hands against identity thieves who steal peoples’ information outside the tax system and use that information to file a tax return claiming a refund.
We’re doing a much better job of stopping suspicious returns before they can be processed compared to a couple of years ago, and our criminal investigators are making great progress in helping the Justice Department find these criminals and put them behind bars. Last year we protected $17.8 billion from refund fraud, we initiated 1,400 investigations, and we obtained over 1,000 indictments and 400 convictions. We’re also doing a lot better at helping identity theft victims clear up their IRS accounts after they have been victimized. The time for resolving a new case has been reduced from over 300 days to roughly 120 days. But there’s still room for improvement, and we intend to do even better.
Perhaps our most intense challenge is fulfilling the responsibility Congress has given us to implement tax-related provisions of enacted legislation, including the Affordable Care Act. We have a lot of work to complete if we are going to be prepared for major ACA provisions that go into effect this year, including the premium tax credit and the individual shared responsibility provision. As I have told our employees, the significant challenge of implementing the Affordable Care Act provides us with a major opportunity to demonstrate the skill, dedication and competence of the IRS. After the difficulties experienced last fall with the rollout of ACA, if we can have a smooth filing season next year including the appropriate review of the returns of taxpayers who took or were eligible for the advanced premium tax credit, the public and the Congress will have to say, “That’s some organization with an amazing work force.”
Along with the ACA, another important piece of legislation we’re in the process of implementing is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which is more commonly known as FATCA. This law is important because it requires foreign financial institutions to tell us about accounts owned by U.S. citizens. With this information, we can do a much better job of combatting offshore tax evasion. Our goal is to make it more and more difficult for Americans to hide their money in a tax haven to avoid paying taxes.
The importance of FATCA is not just that we’ll be collecting more money. It is also important because the average taxpayer has to be confident that, while they are paying their taxes, the very wealthy, with fancy lawyers and accountants, are no longer able to hide their money in foreign countries and avoid paying their fair share to support the operations of the government.
When I became Deputy Mayor of Washington, the city’s theory of snow removal had been that “the sun will come up tomorrow.” So, when I began, we had a “snow summit” and I told the leadership team that, whatever else we were going to do, we were going to get the snow off the streets. That’s my feeling today at the IRS. Whatever else we are going to do, we are going to implement the non-discretionary legislative mandates we have been given: the Affordable Care Act and FATCA.
This brings me to what I believe is the biggest challenge facing the IRS today, the substantial decline in our funding, which puts significant strain on our ability to provide adequate services to taxpayers and to maintain strong service and enforcement levels to ensure the integrity of our voluntary compliance system.
For the IRS to keep making progress in all the areas I’ve just mentioned, it is critical for us to receive adequate resources. The agency continues to be in a very difficult budget environment since we are the only major agency functioning basically at the
post-sequester level rather than having been moved back toward the pre-sequester level of funding. Since Fiscal 2010, IRS appropriations have been cut by about $900 million and we have 10,000 fewer employees even as our responsibilities continue to expand.
We recognize the need to become more efficient, no matter what happens to our funding level. Since 2010, the IRS has cut annual spending on professional and technical service contracts by $200 million. We generated $60 million in annual printing and postage savings by eliminating the printing and mailing of certain tax packages and publications, and by transitioning to paperless employee pay statements.
Real estate is another area where we have found major savings. In 2012 the IRS began a sweeping space-reduction initiative that is projected to reduce rent costs by more than $40 million and reduce total IRS office space by more than 1.3 million square feet by the end of this fiscal year. Taken together, we’re spending $300 million a year less in these areas.
We will continue our efforts to find savings and efficiencies wherever we can. And we will continue to carry out our core responsibilities and work toward preserving the public’s faith in the essential fairness and integrity of our tax system. But these budgetary constraints will pose serious challenges to our efforts to enforce the tax laws and provide excellent customer service.
Essentially, the federal government is losing billions in revenue collection to achieve budget savings of a few hundred millions dollars, since the IRS estimates that, for every $1 invested in the IRS budget, it produces $4 in revenue.
As I said during my confirmation hearing, I didn’t find a single organization in my 20 years of private-sector experience that said, “Let’s take our revenue operation and starve it for funds and see how it does.”
So far this filing season, we have been fortunate that the volume of phone calls to our toll-free lines is actually down a bit compared to this time last year. One factor is the lack of major tax changes in 2013, which means fewer questions from taxpayers. Our improved website and its applications also have helped provide taxpayers with important support without requiring a phone call.
As a result, for now, we’re maintaining a level of phone service around 72 percent. That’s much better than last year’s overall average of 60.5 percent. But we expect that for the year we will drop well below 70 percent and end up closer to last year’s 60.5 percent. That would mean more than 30 percent of taxpayers trying to reach us on the phone couldn’t get through. It wasn’t that long ago, with proper funding, that our level of service was 88 percent.
Along with phone service, we’re also concerned about the amount of time it takes for people to get help in person when they go to one of our Taxpayer Assistance Centers. We’ve had reports from field staff in offices across the country of taxpayers lining up outside our centers well before the centers open in the morning to make sure they receive service the same day, sometimes waiting up to three hours to be served after they enter the office. Expanding our online offerings can only go so far to ameliorate these problems. As Forbes magazine noted earlier this year, when you punish the IRS you punish taxpayers.
Our information technology operation is still another area that the IRS has always been focused on. Our use of IT helps us do a better job of stopping potentially fraudulent returns before they are processed and allows us to keep making improvements to our operations and our website. Our 2014 budget had $330 million for IT work related to implementing ACA. None of that money was provided. Since we are mandated by statute to implement ACA, that has meant that other vital IT projects have had to be shelved.
The solution to the budget problem that we face starts with the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget proposal, which was released last month. The Administration proposes a funding level of approximately $12.5 billion for the IRS for Fiscal 2015, which would reverse the erosion in our budget over the last several years.
I think it’s fair to ask what value the American taxpayer would get for that extra billion or so dollars that the Administration is proposing. It would help taxpayers get the service they need and strengthen compliance efforts in key areas, especially the two I mentioned earlier – refund fraud and offshore tax evasion. The budget proposal halts the declines in key enforcement personnel we’ve had and allows the IRS to again invest in necessary basic infrastructure.
Ultimately, it’s in everyone’s best interests to have an IRS that can do its job. We don’t believe that any member of Congress wants their constituents – be they taxpayers, tax preparers or financial advisors – to go through the aggravation of not getting the help they need from the IRS. They don’t want their constituents waiting in line for hours at a taxpayer assistance center or having trouble getting through on our toll free lines.
So my hope is that once we get beyond the issues surrounding the 501(c)(4) application process, and once the major tax-related provisions of the Affordable Care Act that I mentioned earlier are up and running, we can have a more normal discussion about our budget. I look forward to working with Congress to solve this budget problem. I hope that one of the legacies of my time as IRS Commissioner will be that we put the agency’s funding on a more solid and sustainable footing.
There’s another way in which Congress can help the IRS improve the work it does to assist taxpayers and ensure compliance with the tax laws, and that is to simplify the tax code. Congressman Dave Camp, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, put it well when he introduced his tax reform proposal a few weeks ago. He said that the tax code is ten times the size of the Bible, without the good news. The IRS Taxpayer Advocate has estimated that individuals and businesses spend about 6.1 billion hours a year complying with the filing requirements of the tax code. All in an effort to determine and pay the right amount of taxes.
We can do better than that. And, while tax policy is the domain of the Treasury Department, the Administration and the Congress, those of us involved in tax administration are anxious to do whatever we can to assist in the process.
Thank you very much for letting me spend this time with you. With that, I’d be happy to take some questions.
Prepared Remarks of Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service John Koskinen before the National Press Club
WASHINGTON – Thank you for that warm welcome. It’s an honor for me to be here today at the National Press Club for the first time as IRS Commissioner.
Now that we’ve turned the calendar to April, I know there are usually two things on peoples’ minds. The first is Spring and the second is taxes. Plus watching the Final Four this weekend. As a former Chairman of the Duke Board of Trustees, we had a moment of silence earlier in the tournament. But the loss to Mercer was part of a longer term-strategy to increase the Duke endowment in the hopes of a substantial contribution from an unnamed major investor in the United States, in recognition of the billion dollars we saved him by losing the game.
Moving on, if you came to this luncheon or tuned in expecting to hear about the state of affairs at the Internal Revenue Service, you’ve come to the right place.
I was sworn in as IRS Commissioner a little over three months ago, and I feel exactly the same way I did on Day One: Excited and proud to lead an agency that’s critical to the functioning of our government and one that touches virtually every American. These last three months I’ve traveled to 18 of the 25 largest IRS offices around the country. I have talked with and listened to about 8,000 employees so far and been delighted to see the professionalism, skills and dedication of our employees.
I am on this journey because, throughout my career, I have found that the people who know most about what’s going on in an organization are the front line employees. They have important insights into the opportunities and challenges an organization faces.
In light of all that has happened to Federal employees in the last four years, and IRS employees in particular – no pay raises for four years, government shutdowns, furloughs and the negative publicity about the IRS the last year – you might have expected that I would have heard a lot of grumbling from employees about not being paid enough or having to work too hard. Instead, the consistent response I have heard is a concern that we do not have enough employees to provide the level of taxpayer services our employees want to provide and feel taxpayers deserve.
I also have heard at every stop – even in the 18th city last Friday – interesting observations and suggestions about how we can improve the day-to-day operations of the agency. And I have explained in town halls with front line workers and meetings with managers at each office that one of my goals is to foster an environment where information flows easily from the bottom up in the agency as well as from the top down.
This is critical, not only for us to get the benefit of observations and suggestions from employees, but also to learn as quickly as possible about problems or challenges. I have noted that it is illusory to think that we’ll never have a problem or make a mistake. We have 90,000 employees administering the world’s most complicated tax code and dealing with millions of taxpayers. Instead, my goal is for us to find problems quickly, fix them promptly, make sure they stay fixed, and be transparent about the entire process. I’ve told our employees that if there’s a problem anywhere in the organization, it’s my problem and we’ll fix it together. If an employee makes an honest mistake, it’s my mistake as well, and we’ll work together to remedy the situation. And if there’s a problem that I don’t know about, that’s my fault, because it would mean we haven’t built a culture that encourages information to flow up from the front lines through the organization.
As I tell the employees, my theory is that “bad news is good news,” since the only problem we can’t solve is one we don’t know about. And, as a corollary, employees need to know that we don’t shoot messengers, we thank them.
In moving the IRS forward, one of the most important things we have to do is restore public trust in the agency, which was shaken by the management problems that came to light last year with regard to the determination process used for applicants to become tax exempt social welfare organizations under section 501(c)(4) of the IRS code. Organizations that have 501(c)(4) status can be everything from garden clubs to homeowners associations, but the focus for the last year has been on advocacy groups that spend part of their time and money on political campaigns.
As a result of the inappropriate use of an organization’s name alone as the criterion for setting its application aside for special treatment, doubt has been cast by some on the independence of the IRS. This is an important issue that deserves our attention. But it is also important to put this issue into the proper perspective. The IRS has about 800 employees in its Exempt Organizations Division, and only a small subset of those folks work on processing applications for tax-exempt status for social welfare organizations. Meanwhile, there about 89,000 other IRS employees in offices all across the country who are also doing critical work for our tax system and for the nation in other areas.
Nonetheless, taxpayers need to be confident that the IRS will treat them fairly. It doesn’t make any difference who they are, what organizations they belong to, or whom they voted for in the last election. None of that matters to us at the IRS. We will do about one million audits of individual taxpayers this year. Some who get audited may be Democrats, some may be Republicans, and others may be something else altogether. But they will all have one thing in common: They’re being contacted by us because there was something on their tax returns that needed follow up. Perhaps we just need a clarification. Maybe there was a mathematical error. Or there could be something seriously wrong with the return. But the return alone is the reason for our inquiry. And anyone else with the same issue would receive the same treatment from the IRS.
To make sure that this problem does not recur, we’ve done a number of things. We have accepted all nine of the recommendations from the Inspector General for Tax Administration. It was his report last May that found applications for 501(c)(4) status were being screened using inappropriate criteria in the determinations process.
Since then, for the last several months the IRS has been cooperating with the investigations into this matter that were launched last summer. There are six ongoing investigations, four conducted by Congressional committees, one by the Department of Justice and one by the IG.
We were asked by members of Congress to quantify the work we’ve done and how much it has cost. The answer is that more than 250 IRS employees have spent over 100,000 hours working directly on complying with the investigations. This work has cost more than $14 million, which includes adding capacity for our computer systems to make sure we are protecting taxpayer information while processing and producing these materials.
In letters to Congressional Committees two weeks ago and in my testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week, I was pleased to report that we now have provided all the documents we have identified as being related to the determinations process – which was the focus of the IG’s report last May. We have provided the tax writing committees, our primary oversight committees, with almost 700,000 pages of documents. We are still redacting taxpayer information from the last of those documents before they can be shared with the Committees that do not have authority to see taxpayer information.
As a result, my hope is that at least some of the six pending investigations will be concluded and reports issued in the near future. I have made it clear that we will respond appropriately to the facts and recommendations of those reports and move the agency forward.
Our production of materials has proceeded according to priorities set with all of the investigating committees and, as we have now completed our production of documents related to the determinations process, we are prepared to work with the committees on any new avenues they may want to pursue.
You may have noticed that, during my three-hour hearing last week before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, some members of the Committee expressed unhappiness with the rate at which we are producing redacted information for them. As I tried to make clear, we never indicated that we would not respond to the very broad subpoena for documents we received in mid-February. Indeed, we have produced documents responsive to each of the subpoena’s categories. In the private sector, a court would require these requests to be reduced to those relevant to the inquiry. Unfortunately, the subpoena contains no such limitations, so the volume of materials requested means we could be at this for a long time.
Another recommendation by the IG was that the Treasury Department and the IRS should provide clearer guidance on how to assess the permissibility of 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations’ activities. So last November, Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations that are designed to clarify the extent to which a 501(c)(4) organization can engage in political activity without endangering its tax-exempt status.
While I was not involved in the issuance of this draft proposal, because it happened before I was confirmed as Commissioner, I believe it is extremely important to make this area of regulation as clear as possible. Not only does that help the IRS properly enforce the law, but clearer regulations will also give a better roadmap to applicants, and will help those that already have 501(c)(4) status properly administer their organizations without unnecessary fears of losing their tax-exempt status.
During the comment period, which ended in February, we received more than 150,000 comments. That’s a record for an IRS rulemaking comment period. In fact, if you take all the comments on all Treasury and IRS draft proposals over the last seven years and double that number, you come close to the number of comments we are now beginning to review and analyze. It’s going to take us a while to sort through all those comments, hold a public hearing, possibly repropose a draft regulation and get more public comments. This means that it is unlikely we will be able to complete this process before the end of the year.
Before leaving this topic, I want to note one other thing. Last month, former IRS Commissioner Randolph Thrower passed away at the age of 100. Commissioner Thrower led the IRS from 1969 to 1971, during the early years of the Nixon Administration, which turned out to be a challenging time for the agency. Commissioner Thrower held firm against attempts being made at that time to politicize the agency. The White House eventually fired him for his principled stance.
I’m sure if Commissioner Thrower were here today, he would say he was only doing his job. But he was doing much more. His refusal to let politics compromise the IRS is an important reminder to all IRS Commissioners now and in the future of what our mission is. I intend to follow his example. I want to reassure everyone listening to me today that the IRS is an agency of career civil servants who are dedicated to serving the American taxpayer in a fair and impartial manner. That’s how it’s always been, and that’s how it will stay on my watch.
We have other important challenges to face. One example of this is insuring that the tax filing season goes smoothly. When I started in December, I told our employees that I wanted to help with the filing season and, as the new kid on the block, the best thing I could probably do was to stay out of the way. I’ve been very successful at that and, at least partially as a result, the filing season has gone very well thus far. Through the end of March, we’ve received more than 90 million tax returns and issued more than 73 million refunds, for approximately $207 billion.
As we get closer to the April 15th deadline for filing returns, I think it’s important to realize what a tremendous accomplishment it is for the agency to process 150 million individual taxpayer returns every year. This doesn’t happen by accident and it doesn’t happen automatically. It happens because thousands of dedicated and experienced employees work for months planning for the next filing season and then administering it.
Another top priority of ours: taxpayer service. This filing season, as we do every year, the IRS provides services to taxpayers to help them fulfill their tax obligations.
Taxpayers want and need more online tax information and services, and we’re working to meet that demand by making improvements to our website, IRS.gov. Last year alone, taxpayers viewed IRS.gov web pages more than 450 million times, to get forms and publications, find answers to their tax questions and check the status of their refunds.
One of the most popular features on IRS.gov is the “Where’s My Refund?” electronic tracking tool, which taxpayers used more than 200 million times last year. Now that doesn’t mean, of course, that there are 200 million taxpayers. Some of them just can’t resist checking over and over to see how their refund is doing.
This year we have several new digital applications that will expand what taxpayers can do online. One of these applications is IRS Direct Pay, which provides taxpayers with a secure, free, quick and easy online option for making tax payments. Another innovation, Get Transcript, is a secure online system that allows taxpayers to view and print a record of their IRS account, also known as a transcript, in a matter of minutes. We are also in the final stages of revamping the IRS Online Payment Agreement, which allows taxpayers to apply for an installment agreement online.
To provide better service, the IRS is also expanding the methods it uses to communicate information to taxpayers. We have moved beyond traditional media, like newspapers and TV news to also take advantage of social media, such as YouTube, Twitter and Tumblr.
During my three months on the job, I have been surprised to learn how much time, effort and resources we provide trying to help taxpayers determine the amount they owe and how to pay it. As I have said, it may take me a while to convince the average taxpayer that “we’re from the IRS and we’re here to help you,” but we really do work hard to make it as easy as possible to file your taxes.
Along with taxpayer service, another high priority for the IRS is maintaining a robust tax compliance program and building on the work that’s been done to improve compliance in a number of areas. One of the most important of these is the battle against refund fraud, especially fraud caused by identity theft. I say “battle” because we really do have a fight on our hands against identity thieves who steal peoples’ information outside the tax system and use that information to file a tax return claiming a refund.
We’re doing a much better job of stopping suspicious returns before they can be processed compared to a couple of years ago, and our criminal investigators are making great progress in helping the Justice Department find these criminals and put them behind bars. Last year we protected $17.8 billion from refund fraud, we initiated 1,400 investigations, and we obtained over 1,000 indictments and 400 convictions. We’re also doing a lot better at helping identity theft victims clear up their IRS accounts after they have been victimized. The time for resolving a new case has been reduced from over 300 days to roughly 120 days. But there’s still room for improvement, and we intend to do even better.
Perhaps our most intense challenge is fulfilling the responsibility Congress has given us to implement tax-related provisions of enacted legislation, including the Affordable Care Act. We have a lot of work to complete if we are going to be prepared for major ACA provisions that go into effect this year, including the premium tax credit and the individual shared responsibility provision. As I have told our employees, the significant challenge of implementing the Affordable Care Act provides us with a major opportunity to demonstrate the skill, dedication and competence of the IRS. After the difficulties experienced last fall with the rollout of ACA, if we can have a smooth filing season next year including the appropriate review of the returns of taxpayers who took or were eligible for the advanced premium tax credit, the public and the Congress will have to say, “That’s some organization with an amazing work force.”
Along with the ACA, another important piece of legislation we’re in the process of implementing is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which is more commonly known as FATCA. This law is important because it requires foreign financial institutions to tell us about accounts owned by U.S. citizens. With this information, we can do a much better job of combatting offshore tax evasion. Our goal is to make it more and more difficult for Americans to hide their money in a tax haven to avoid paying taxes.
The importance of FATCA is not just that we’ll be collecting more money. It is also important because the average taxpayer has to be confident that, while they are paying their taxes, the very wealthy, with fancy lawyers and accountants, are no longer able to hide their money in foreign countries and avoid paying their fair share to support the operations of the government.
When I became Deputy Mayor of Washington, the city’s theory of snow removal had been that “the sun will come up tomorrow.” So, when I began, we had a “snow summit” and I told the leadership team that, whatever else we were going to do, we were going to get the snow off the streets. That’s my feeling today at the IRS. Whatever else we are going to do, we are going to implement the non-discretionary legislative mandates we have been given: the Affordable Care Act and FATCA.
This brings me to what I believe is the biggest challenge facing the IRS today, the substantial decline in our funding, which puts significant strain on our ability to provide adequate services to taxpayers and to maintain strong service and enforcement levels to ensure the integrity of our voluntary compliance system.
For the IRS to keep making progress in all the areas I’ve just mentioned, it is critical for us to receive adequate resources. The agency continues to be in a very difficult budget environment since we are the only major agency functioning basically at the
post-sequester level rather than having been moved back toward the pre-sequester level of funding. Since Fiscal 2010, IRS appropriations have been cut by about $900 million and we have 10,000 fewer employees even as our responsibilities continue to expand.
We recognize the need to become more efficient, no matter what happens to our funding level. Since 2010, the IRS has cut annual spending on professional and technical service contracts by $200 million. We generated $60 million in annual printing and postage savings by eliminating the printing and mailing of certain tax packages and publications, and by transitioning to paperless employee pay statements.
Real estate is another area where we have found major savings. In 2012 the IRS began a sweeping space-reduction initiative that is projected to reduce rent costs by more than $40 million and reduce total IRS office space by more than 1.3 million square feet by the end of this fiscal year. Taken together, we’re spending $300 million a year less in these areas.
We will continue our efforts to find savings and efficiencies wherever we can. And we will continue to carry out our core responsibilities and work toward preserving the public’s faith in the essential fairness and integrity of our tax system. But these budgetary constraints will pose serious challenges to our efforts to enforce the tax laws and provide excellent customer service.
Essentially, the federal government is losing billions in revenue collection to achieve budget savings of a few hundred millions dollars, since the IRS estimates that, for every $1 invested in the IRS budget, it produces $4 in revenue.
As I said during my confirmation hearing, I didn’t find a single organization in my 20 years of private-sector experience that said, “Let’s take our revenue operation and starve it for funds and see how it does.”
So far this filing season, we have been fortunate that the volume of phone calls to our toll-free lines is actually down a bit compared to this time last year. One factor is the lack of major tax changes in 2013, which means fewer questions from taxpayers. Our improved website and its applications also have helped provide taxpayers with important support without requiring a phone call.
As a result, for now, we’re maintaining a level of phone service around 72 percent. That’s much better than last year’s overall average of 60.5 percent. But we expect that for the year we will drop well below 70 percent and end up closer to last year’s 60.5 percent. That would mean more than 30 percent of taxpayers trying to reach us on the phone couldn’t get through. It wasn’t that long ago, with proper funding, that our level of service was 88 percent.
Along with phone service, we’re also concerned about the amount of time it takes for people to get help in person when they go to one of our Taxpayer Assistance Centers. We’ve had reports from field staff in offices across the country of taxpayers lining up outside our centers well before the centers open in the morning to make sure they receive service the same day, sometimes waiting up to three hours to be served after they enter the office. Expanding our online offerings can only go so far to ameliorate these problems. As Forbes magazine noted earlier this year, when you punish the IRS you punish taxpayers.
Our information technology operation is still another area that the IRS has always been focused on. Our use of IT helps us do a better job of stopping potentially fraudulent returns before they are processed and allows us to keep making improvements to our operations and our website. Our 2014 budget had $330 million for IT work related to implementing ACA. None of that money was provided. Since we are mandated by statute to implement ACA, that has meant that other vital IT projects have had to be shelved.
The solution to the budget problem that we face starts with the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget proposal, which was released last month. The Administration proposes a funding level of approximately $12.5 billion for the IRS for Fiscal 2015, which would reverse the erosion in our budget over the last several years.
I think it’s fair to ask what value the American taxpayer would get for that extra billion or so dollars that the Administration is proposing. It would help taxpayers get the service they need and strengthen compliance efforts in key areas, especially the two I mentioned earlier – refund fraud and offshore tax evasion. The budget proposal halts the declines in key enforcement personnel we’ve had and allows the IRS to again invest in necessary basic infrastructure.
Ultimately, it’s in everyone’s best interests to have an IRS that can do its job. We don’t believe that any member of Congress wants their constituents – be they taxpayers, tax preparers or financial advisors – to go through the aggravation of not getting the help they need from the IRS. They don’t want their constituents waiting in line for hours at a taxpayer assistance center or having trouble getting through on our toll free lines.
So my hope is that once we get beyond the issues surrounding the 501(c)(4) application process, and once the major tax-related provisions of the Affordable Care Act that I mentioned earlier are up and running, we can have a more normal discussion about our budget. I look forward to working with Congress to solve this budget problem. I hope that one of the legacies of my time as IRS Commissioner will be that we put the agency’s funding on a more solid and sustainable footing.
There’s another way in which Congress can help the IRS improve the work it does to assist taxpayers and ensure compliance with the tax laws, and that is to simplify the tax code. Congressman Dave Camp, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, put it well when he introduced his tax reform proposal a few weeks ago. He said that the tax code is ten times the size of the Bible, without the good news. The IRS Taxpayer Advocate has estimated that individuals and businesses spend about 6.1 billion hours a year complying with the filing requirements of the tax code. All in an effort to determine and pay the right amount of taxes.
We can do better than that. And, while tax policy is the domain of the Treasury Department, the Administration and the Congress, those of us involved in tax administration are anxious to do whatever we can to assist in the process.
Thank you very much for letting me spend this time with you. With that, I’d be happy to take some questions.
FLORIDA COUPLE, COMPANY ORDERED TO PAY $5.76 MILLION FOR FOREX FRAUD
FROM: COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Federal Court Orders St. Augustine, Florida Couple and Their Company to Pay $5.76 Million for Defrauding Customers in Foreign Currency Scheme
Queen Shoals Consultants, Gary D. Martin, and Brenda K. Martin Charged in March 2011 CFTC Anti-Fraud Action
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained federal court supplemental consent Order requiring Defendants Gary D. Martin and Brenda K. Martin of St. Augustine, Florida, and their company, Queen Shoals Consultants, LLC (QSC) of Charlotte, North Carolina, to jointly pay a total of $5.76 million in civil monetary penalties for defrauding customers through a retail foreign currency (forex) trading scheme (see CFTC Press Release and Complaint 6004-11, March 17, 2011). None of the Defendants has ever been registered with the CFTC.
Specifically, the supplemental Order, entered on May 14, 2013, by Chief Judge Robert Conrad, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, requires QSC and Gary Martin to pay a civil monetary penalty (CMP) of $4,320,000 and Brenda Martin to pay a $1,440,000 CMP. The Defendants’ CMP obligation and post-judgment interest shall be joint and several, according to the supplemental Order.
In 2011, the Court Entered a Consent Order of Permanent Injunction
Earlier, on August 1, 2011, Judge Conrad entered a consent Order of permanent injunction against the Defendants (see CFTC Press Release and Order 6090-11), finding that the Defendants defrauded customers in the forex scheme. The Order requires that the Defendants make full restitution “to all persons who gave funds, either directly or indirectly, to Defendants as a result of the course of the illegal conduct” charged in the CFTC Complaint. The Order also required the Defendants to pay a CMP to be determined at a later date.
According to the Order, a website created by the Martins “lured customers by claiming QSC and the Martins had a ‘vast background in financial services’ with over 20 years of experience in financial services and a staff of experts ready to assist customers.” In reality, however, the Defendants had no expertise or experience in trading forex, and all of the representations concerning trading, guaranteed profits, and profitable accounts were false. Furthermore, Gary Martin admitted under oath that the Defendants never engaged in any forex trading or investing on behalf of customers and that there were no forex accounts, according to the Order.
The CFTC’s Complaint charged, among other things, that the Martins, unknown to customers, turned over all customer funds to Sidney S. Hanson of Charlotte, North Carolina, an undisclosed third party, in return for a referral fee of up to five percent of each customer’s initial and subsequent investment. Hanson allegedly paid the Martins at least $1.44 million in such undisclosed referral fees. On August 4, 2009, the CFTC charged Hanson and other Defendants with operating a Ponzi scheme involving more than $22 million in connection with off-exchange forex trading (see CFTC Press Releases 5689-09, August 7, 2009, and 6133-11, November 1, 2011). Hanson pleaded guilty to securities fraud and mail fraud in the criminal matter (United States v. Sidney Stanton Hanson, Case No. 09-CR-09CR139-RJC (U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina)) for acts arising out of his operation of the Queen Shoals Group, among other entities. Hanson was sentenced on April 1, 2011, to 22 years in prison and ordered to pay $33 million in restitution to victims of the Ponzi scheme.
The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the State of North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, Securities Division.
CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for this case are Timothy J. Mulreany, Michael Amakor, and Paul Hayeck.
Federal Court Orders St. Augustine, Florida Couple and Their Company to Pay $5.76 Million for Defrauding Customers in Foreign Currency Scheme
Queen Shoals Consultants, Gary D. Martin, and Brenda K. Martin Charged in March 2011 CFTC Anti-Fraud Action
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained federal court supplemental consent Order requiring Defendants Gary D. Martin and Brenda K. Martin of St. Augustine, Florida, and their company, Queen Shoals Consultants, LLC (QSC) of Charlotte, North Carolina, to jointly pay a total of $5.76 million in civil monetary penalties for defrauding customers through a retail foreign currency (forex) trading scheme (see CFTC Press Release and Complaint 6004-11, March 17, 2011). None of the Defendants has ever been registered with the CFTC.
Specifically, the supplemental Order, entered on May 14, 2013, by Chief Judge Robert Conrad, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, requires QSC and Gary Martin to pay a civil monetary penalty (CMP) of $4,320,000 and Brenda Martin to pay a $1,440,000 CMP. The Defendants’ CMP obligation and post-judgment interest shall be joint and several, according to the supplemental Order.
In 2011, the Court Entered a Consent Order of Permanent Injunction
Earlier, on August 1, 2011, Judge Conrad entered a consent Order of permanent injunction against the Defendants (see CFTC Press Release and Order 6090-11), finding that the Defendants defrauded customers in the forex scheme. The Order requires that the Defendants make full restitution “to all persons who gave funds, either directly or indirectly, to Defendants as a result of the course of the illegal conduct” charged in the CFTC Complaint. The Order also required the Defendants to pay a CMP to be determined at a later date.
According to the Order, a website created by the Martins “lured customers by claiming QSC and the Martins had a ‘vast background in financial services’ with over 20 years of experience in financial services and a staff of experts ready to assist customers.” In reality, however, the Defendants had no expertise or experience in trading forex, and all of the representations concerning trading, guaranteed profits, and profitable accounts were false. Furthermore, Gary Martin admitted under oath that the Defendants never engaged in any forex trading or investing on behalf of customers and that there were no forex accounts, according to the Order.
The CFTC’s Complaint charged, among other things, that the Martins, unknown to customers, turned over all customer funds to Sidney S. Hanson of Charlotte, North Carolina, an undisclosed third party, in return for a referral fee of up to five percent of each customer’s initial and subsequent investment. Hanson allegedly paid the Martins at least $1.44 million in such undisclosed referral fees. On August 4, 2009, the CFTC charged Hanson and other Defendants with operating a Ponzi scheme involving more than $22 million in connection with off-exchange forex trading (see CFTC Press Releases 5689-09, August 7, 2009, and 6133-11, November 1, 2011). Hanson pleaded guilty to securities fraud and mail fraud in the criminal matter (United States v. Sidney Stanton Hanson, Case No. 09-CR-09CR139-RJC (U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina)) for acts arising out of his operation of the Queen Shoals Group, among other entities. Hanson was sentenced on April 1, 2011, to 22 years in prison and ordered to pay $33 million in restitution to victims of the Ponzi scheme.
The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the State of North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, Securities Division.
CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for this case are Timothy J. Mulreany, Michael Amakor, and Paul Hayeck.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT EMBASSY IN ALGIERS, ALGERIA
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at Embassy Algiers Meet and Greet
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Algiers, Algeria
April 3, 2014
AMBASSADOR ENSHER: Ladies and gentlemen – (applause) – thank you. I’ll just introduce the Secretary of State and let him say as he wishes, so – sir, you’ve been introduced. You may – do you want to speak from here there?
SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, thank you very much. Look what I got. I love it. (Laughter.) What’s her name, what’s her name? Who?
PARTICIPANT: Anna-Lisa (ph).
SECRETARY KERRY: Anna-Lisa (ph), thank you. Anna-Lisa (ph). Thank you very much.
PARTICIPANT: You’re welcome.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Can I give you that to hold?
Well, Wishrakum. I’m happy to be here with all of you. (In French.) I am really sorry that we got delayed. I had a phone call, and it was one of those calls where you can’t get the other person to realize the call’s over. Anyway, I am really happy to see you all. Thank you very, very much for this. I’m very grateful to our ambassador, Henry Ensher, and what a terrific job he does. Twenty-seven years in the service, and he’s still going at it and he brings enormous expertise to this challenge. Mr. Ambassador, we’re very grateful to you. Thank you for all that you do.
AMBASSADOR ENSHER: Team projects, sir.
SECRETARY KERRY: Team what?
AMBASSADOR ENSHER: Team projects, sir.
SECRETARY KERRY: Team projects. All right, well we believe in that.
Listen, let me just – I’m very late and I do apologize for that to all of you, and thank you for waiting patiently so I could have a chance to not just say hello, but most importantly have a chance to be able to say thank you to every single one of you.
We are deeply grateful. How many of you are local employees? Raise your hands. Well, look at that. Wow. I think we have – thank you – (applause). We – there is no way for us to be able to do our job unless you are here to help us, every single one of you. (In French). How many of you are speaking French still? No? Nobody? A couple? (Laughter.) I know it’s going out of vogue.
But I really thank you because you take on a very difficult task of helping another country to represent itself in your country, so sometimes the things that people think about us fall on you. And we appreciate very much your willingness to be part of our efforts.
Also, I obviously want to thank all of the Foreign Service officers, Civil Service, various agencies who are working here in a team effort within the Department, within the Embassy. And I thank the TDY-ers and political appointees and everybody who make up this incredible team that helps us to represent our interests in another country, but also importantly helps us connect to the interests of that country so we’re doing also what is important to the nation that we’re in.
In Algeria, you all are representing really one of the most fascinating and important countries in all of Africa – not just North Africa, but a country that has resources, a civil society, intelligent, experienced people, people who fought for their freedom, people who understand what independence means, people who are deeply committed to counterterrorism and to stability. This is a very important place.
And we are trying in this visit to help build a number of different things. First, try to build our security relationship so that we can do more with Algeria in the field of stability, counterterrorism. We have Mali, Niger, Chad, the issues, obviously, out west in Sahara, the challenge of al-Qaida. There’s an enormous amount on the table, and of course Libya, Tunisia, all of this is critical to us – the Sahel, the Maghreb, moving on into the Levant – there’s just an enormous amount of turmoil and change, transition. And we want that to turn out in a way that provides for the stability of the region and for the ability of people here to live the lives the way they’d like to live them.
Part of doing that is the second part of what we’re talking about here, and that’s the economic and development side. We got to create jobs for unbelievable numbers of young people. And those young people need to find a future in education, in jobs, in opportunity, or it’s hard to build stability.
And the final piece of it is the people-to-people programs that are part of all of that. You have the Let’s Chat program here, and you’re trying to help people be able to learn how – you’re in the Let’s Chat program. There she is, all right. But the point is, as people gain language skills, they gain employability, they gain an ability to enlarge their income and their lives.
And speaking of income, I am proud to come here and tell you today that the pay freeze has ended. You’re going to get your pay raise as of now. That’s starting, all right? (Applause.) There you go. Most important news I could have delivered. (Laughter.) Anyway, I’m really happy to be able to share that with you.
Bottom line is this – you’ve all been standing around a long time, I don’t want to give a long speech – there are about, I think, 100 and some of you here who – or 95 or so or who’ve come – 65, I guess, it is – who’ve come from other – from America and they’re over here. And then a large Embassy, 400 and some people when you add everybody who’s working locally. But you’re all a team. Every single one of you is an ambassador. Everything you do, whether it’s a telephone call or an interview in the consular division or outreach when we got to an event, you’re the face of America. And you’re helping us to reach people and to try to make sure we address the very values that brought you to this kind of service in the first place.
So I really thank you. President Obama is proud of our diplomatic corps. He mentioned it in his last State of the Union. All the people who don’t wear uniforms but are on the front lines, a lot of you make sacrifices to be here, and I just want you to know that as long as I’m Secretary of State I will have your back, and I know I can count on you to cover our back, too.
Thank you all, and God bless. Thank you. (Applause.)
SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, thank you very much. Look what I got. I love it. (Laughter.) What’s her name, what’s her name? Who?
PARTICIPANT: Anna-Lisa (ph).
SECRETARY KERRY: Anna-Lisa (ph), thank you. Anna-Lisa (ph). Thank you very much.
PARTICIPANT: You’re welcome.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Can I give you that to hold?
Well, Wishrakum. I’m happy to be here with all of you. (In French.) I am really sorry that we got delayed. I had a phone call, and it was one of those calls where you can’t get the other person to realize the call’s over. Anyway, I am really happy to see you all. Thank you very, very much for this. I’m very grateful to our ambassador, Henry Ensher, and what a terrific job he does. Twenty-seven years in the service, and he’s still going at it and he brings enormous expertise to this challenge. Mr. Ambassador, we’re very grateful to you. Thank you for all that you do.
AMBASSADOR ENSHER: Team projects, sir.
SECRETARY KERRY: Team what?
AMBASSADOR ENSHER: Team projects, sir.
SECRETARY KERRY: Team projects. All right, well we believe in that.
Listen, let me just – I’m very late and I do apologize for that to all of you, and thank you for waiting patiently so I could have a chance to not just say hello, but most importantly have a chance to be able to say thank you to every single one of you.
We are deeply grateful. How many of you are local employees? Raise your hands. Well, look at that. Wow. I think we have – thank you – (applause). We – there is no way for us to be able to do our job unless you are here to help us, every single one of you. (In French). How many of you are speaking French still? No? Nobody? A couple? (Laughter.) I know it’s going out of vogue.
But I really thank you because you take on a very difficult task of helping another country to represent itself in your country, so sometimes the things that people think about us fall on you. And we appreciate very much your willingness to be part of our efforts.
Also, I obviously want to thank all of the Foreign Service officers, Civil Service, various agencies who are working here in a team effort within the Department, within the Embassy. And I thank the TDY-ers and political appointees and everybody who make up this incredible team that helps us to represent our interests in another country, but also importantly helps us connect to the interests of that country so we’re doing also what is important to the nation that we’re in.
In Algeria, you all are representing really one of the most fascinating and important countries in all of Africa – not just North Africa, but a country that has resources, a civil society, intelligent, experienced people, people who fought for their freedom, people who understand what independence means, people who are deeply committed to counterterrorism and to stability. This is a very important place.
And we are trying in this visit to help build a number of different things. First, try to build our security relationship so that we can do more with Algeria in the field of stability, counterterrorism. We have Mali, Niger, Chad, the issues, obviously, out west in Sahara, the challenge of al-Qaida. There’s an enormous amount on the table, and of course Libya, Tunisia, all of this is critical to us – the Sahel, the Maghreb, moving on into the Levant – there’s just an enormous amount of turmoil and change, transition. And we want that to turn out in a way that provides for the stability of the region and for the ability of people here to live the lives the way they’d like to live them.
Part of doing that is the second part of what we’re talking about here, and that’s the economic and development side. We got to create jobs for unbelievable numbers of young people. And those young people need to find a future in education, in jobs, in opportunity, or it’s hard to build stability.
And the final piece of it is the people-to-people programs that are part of all of that. You have the Let’s Chat program here, and you’re trying to help people be able to learn how – you’re in the Let’s Chat program. There she is, all right. But the point is, as people gain language skills, they gain employability, they gain an ability to enlarge their income and their lives.
And speaking of income, I am proud to come here and tell you today that the pay freeze has ended. You’re going to get your pay raise as of now. That’s starting, all right? (Applause.) There you go. Most important news I could have delivered. (Laughter.) Anyway, I’m really happy to be able to share that with you.
Bottom line is this – you’ve all been standing around a long time, I don’t want to give a long speech – there are about, I think, 100 and some of you here who – or 95 or so or who’ve come – 65, I guess, it is – who’ve come from other – from America and they’re over here. And then a large Embassy, 400 and some people when you add everybody who’s working locally. But you’re all a team. Every single one of you is an ambassador. Everything you do, whether it’s a telephone call or an interview in the consular division or outreach when we got to an event, you’re the face of America. And you’re helping us to reach people and to try to make sure we address the very values that brought you to this kind of service in the first place.
So I really thank you. President Obama is proud of our diplomatic corps. He mentioned it in his last State of the Union. All the people who don’t wear uniforms but are on the front lines, a lot of you make sacrifices to be here, and I just want you to know that as long as I’m Secretary of State I will have your back, and I know I can count on you to cover our back, too.
Thank you all, and God bless. Thank you. (Applause.)
CDC SAYS CALLS TO POISON CENTERS REGARDING E-CIGARETTES HAVE DRAMATICALLY INCREASED
FROM: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
New CDC study finds dramatic increase in e-cigarette-related calls to poison centers
Rapid rise highlights need to monitor nicotine exposure through e-cigarette liquid and prevent future poisonings
The number of calls to poison centers involving e-cigarette liquids containing nicotine rose from one per month in September 2010 to 215 per month in February 2014, according to a CDC study published in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The number of calls per month involving conventional cigarettes did not show a similar increase during the same time period.
More than half (51.1 percent) of the calls to poison centers due to e-cigarettes involved young children under age 5, and about 42 percent of the poison calls involved people age 20 and older.
The analysis compared total monthly poison center calls involving e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes, and found the proportion of e-cigarette calls jumped from 0.3 percent in September 2010 to 41.7 percent in February 2014. Poisoning from conventional cigarettes is generally due to young children eating them. Poisoning related to e-cigarettes involves the liquid containing nicotine used in the devices and can occur in three ways: by ingestion, inhalation or absorption through the skin or eyes.
“This report raises another red flag about e-cigarettes – the liquid nicotine used in e-cigarettes can be hazardous,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Use of these products is skyrocketing and these poisonings will continue. E-cigarette liquids as currently sold are a threat to small children because they are not required to be childproof, and they come in candy and fruit flavors that are appealing to children.”
E-cigarette calls were more likely than cigarette calls to include a report of an adverse health effect following exposure. The most common adverse health effects mentioned in e-cigarette calls were vomiting, nausea and eye irritation.
Data for this study came from the poison centers that serve the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories. The study examined all calls reporting exposure to conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or nicotine liquid used in e-cigarettes. Poison centers reported 2,405 e-cigarette and 16,248 cigarette exposure calls from September 2010 to February 2014. The total number of poisoning cases is likely higher than reflected in this study, because not all exposures might have been reported to poison centers.
“The most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey showed e-cigarette use is growing fast, and now this report shows e-cigarette related poisonings are also increasing rapidly,” said Tim McAfee, M.D., M.P.H., Director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “Health care providers, e-cigarette companies and distributors, and the general public need to be aware of this potential health risk from e-cigarettes.”
Developing strategies to monitor and prevent future poisonings is critical given the rapid increase in e-cigarette related poisonings. The report shows that e-cigarette liquids containing nicotine have the potential to cause immediate adverse health effects and represent an emerging public health concern.
New CDC study finds dramatic increase in e-cigarette-related calls to poison centers
Rapid rise highlights need to monitor nicotine exposure through e-cigarette liquid and prevent future poisonings
The number of calls to poison centers involving e-cigarette liquids containing nicotine rose from one per month in September 2010 to 215 per month in February 2014, according to a CDC study published in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The number of calls per month involving conventional cigarettes did not show a similar increase during the same time period.
More than half (51.1 percent) of the calls to poison centers due to e-cigarettes involved young children under age 5, and about 42 percent of the poison calls involved people age 20 and older.
The analysis compared total monthly poison center calls involving e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes, and found the proportion of e-cigarette calls jumped from 0.3 percent in September 2010 to 41.7 percent in February 2014. Poisoning from conventional cigarettes is generally due to young children eating them. Poisoning related to e-cigarettes involves the liquid containing nicotine used in the devices and can occur in three ways: by ingestion, inhalation or absorption through the skin or eyes.
“This report raises another red flag about e-cigarettes – the liquid nicotine used in e-cigarettes can be hazardous,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Use of these products is skyrocketing and these poisonings will continue. E-cigarette liquids as currently sold are a threat to small children because they are not required to be childproof, and they come in candy and fruit flavors that are appealing to children.”
E-cigarette calls were more likely than cigarette calls to include a report of an adverse health effect following exposure. The most common adverse health effects mentioned in e-cigarette calls were vomiting, nausea and eye irritation.
Data for this study came from the poison centers that serve the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories. The study examined all calls reporting exposure to conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or nicotine liquid used in e-cigarettes. Poison centers reported 2,405 e-cigarette and 16,248 cigarette exposure calls from September 2010 to February 2014. The total number of poisoning cases is likely higher than reflected in this study, because not all exposures might have been reported to poison centers.
“The most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey showed e-cigarette use is growing fast, and now this report shows e-cigarette related poisonings are also increasing rapidly,” said Tim McAfee, M.D., M.P.H., Director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “Health care providers, e-cigarette companies and distributors, and the general public need to be aware of this potential health risk from e-cigarettes.”
Developing strategies to monitor and prevent future poisonings is critical given the rapid increase in e-cigarette related poisonings. The report shows that e-cigarette liquids containing nicotine have the potential to cause immediate adverse health effects and represent an emerging public health concern.
WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT ON FIGHTING IN SOUTH SUDAN
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Statement by the Press Secretary on South Sudan
Four years ago, some four million South Sudanese voted to break with the past and usher in a new period of peace and prosperity. They expected their leaders to act with courage and conviction, to put the interests of the people first, and to be statesmen, not strongmen. Months of fighting between the Government of South Sudan and forces loyal to rebel leader Riek Machar run counter to that vision and threaten to tear the young nation apart. Thousands have been killed. Nearly one million innocent civilians have been driven from their homes. Despite a ceasefire agreement, the cycle of violence and conflict continues.
The United States will not stand by as those entrusted with South Sudan’s future put their own interests above those of their people. The Executive Order signed by President Obama today sends a clear message: those who threaten the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan, obstruct the peace process, target U.N. peacekeepers, or are responsible for human rights abuses and atrocities will not have a friend in the United States and run the risk of sanctions. Both the Government of South Sudan and Riek Machar’s rebels must immediately engage in and follow through on the inclusive peace process led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and resolve this conflict. They must end military actions and hold accountable those responsible for violence against civilians. The people of South Sudan are calling for peace. There is no room for excuses or delay.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK ANNOUNCES U.S. EXPORTS WERE $190.4 BILLION IN FEBRUARY
FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
U.S. Exports Reach $190.4 Billion in February
Ex-Im Bank Continues to Support U.S. Jobs by Financing U.S. Exports
Washington, D.C. – The United States exported $190.4 billion of goods and services in February 2014, according to data released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Commerce Department.
“The world continues to choose products stamped ‘Made in America,’ as February’s trade numbers show,” said Export-Import Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “Ex-Im Bank’s support of U.S. exporters has helped them seal deals abroad and support vital jobs here at home, all the while generating billions of dollars for taxpayers.”
Exports of goods and services over the last twelve months totaled $2.3 trillion, which is 44.5 percent above the level of exports in 2009, and have been growing at an annualized rate of 9.2 percent when compared to 2009.
During the same time period among the major export markets (i.e., markets with at least $6 billion in annual imports of U.S. goods), the countries with the largest annualized increase in U.S. goods purchases, when compared to 2009, were Panama (23.6 percent), Russia (19.6 percent), Peru (19.4 percent), Hong Kong (18.9 percent), Colombia (17.9 percent), United Arab Emirates (17.1 percent), Argentina (16.4 percent), Chile (16.3 percent), Ecuador (15.2 percent), and Indonesia (15.0 percent).
ABOUT EX-IM BANK:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that creates and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working-capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services. In the past fiscal year alone, Ex-Im Bank earned for U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion above the cost of operations.
In FY 2013, Ex-Im Bank approved more than $27 billion in total authorizations to support an estimated $37.4 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 205,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For the year, the Bank approved a record 3,413 transactions-- or 89 percent--for small-businesses.
U.S. Exports Reach $190.4 Billion in February
Ex-Im Bank Continues to Support U.S. Jobs by Financing U.S. Exports
Washington, D.C. – The United States exported $190.4 billion of goods and services in February 2014, according to data released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Commerce Department.
“The world continues to choose products stamped ‘Made in America,’ as February’s trade numbers show,” said Export-Import Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “Ex-Im Bank’s support of U.S. exporters has helped them seal deals abroad and support vital jobs here at home, all the while generating billions of dollars for taxpayers.”
Exports of goods and services over the last twelve months totaled $2.3 trillion, which is 44.5 percent above the level of exports in 2009, and have been growing at an annualized rate of 9.2 percent when compared to 2009.
During the same time period among the major export markets (i.e., markets with at least $6 billion in annual imports of U.S. goods), the countries with the largest annualized increase in U.S. goods purchases, when compared to 2009, were Panama (23.6 percent), Russia (19.6 percent), Peru (19.4 percent), Hong Kong (18.9 percent), Colombia (17.9 percent), United Arab Emirates (17.1 percent), Argentina (16.4 percent), Chile (16.3 percent), Ecuador (15.2 percent), and Indonesia (15.0 percent).
ABOUT EX-IM BANK:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that creates and maintains U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working-capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services. In the past fiscal year alone, Ex-Im Bank earned for U.S. taxpayers more than $1 billion above the cost of operations.
In FY 2013, Ex-Im Bank approved more than $27 billion in total authorizations to support an estimated $37.4 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 205,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For the year, the Bank approved a record 3,413 transactions-- or 89 percent--for small-businesses.
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS AT DNC DINNER HELD ON APRIL 2, 2014
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by the President at DNC Dinner
Private Residence
Chicago, Illinois
7:34 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: So, first of all, Grace and Craig have been just incredible friends and supporters for a really long time. And I just want to say thank you. And thanks, guys, for letting us crash your house. (Laughter.)
I do think that the story Grace told is partly about roots and family, and where do you start off. And I have to tell you, as I look around this room, I’m reminded of all the pieces of myself that are connected to individuals in this room. There are people who have been friends of mine for a couple of decades now. There are folks here who have been with me when nobody gave me a chance to even get to the U.S. Senate, much less the presidency. There are people here who have been to Michelle and my wedding, and have been at Mom N Tots watching our kids waddle around. (Laughter.)
And so to have friends like this, to be home like this, even when the weather is like this -- (laughter) -- is invigorating and it reminds you of why you got into this business in the first place. Because you got a lot of people here who have taught me a lot about community and friendship and family, and for that reason I’m just really grateful and I just want to say thank you to all of you.
I want to acknowledge our outstanding Governor of the great state of Illinois, Pat Quinn. (Applause.) I want to thank Henry Muñoz, who, although stuffed in a corner at the moment -- (laughter) -- actually has been working tirelessly on behalf of Democrats. It is a thankless job, but he does it with good humor and grace, and he is a great friend, so we’re so glad that he came up here.
I was a little bit late. Some of you may have heard there was another shooting at Fort Hood. We don’t know the details, but we’re monitoring the situation carefully. So I’m not going to give a long speech. I want to spend most of the time that I’m here answering questions and hearing from all of you.
Let me just say a couple of general points. First of all, the economy has bounced back in a way that is not only there yet, but, when you compare it to what’s happened in other countries around the world, is pretty significant. We have seen 8.7 million new jobs created since I took office. We have seen a creation -- the recovery of trillions of dollars of wealth because people’s 401(k)s have bounced back, and housing prices have begun to bounce back. The unemployment rate is lower than at any time since 2007. Health care costs are rising at a slower rate. Our energy production is up. Our exports are on pace potentially to double. There’s a lot of good stuff going on. Our manufacturing base has, after a couple of decades of sloughing off jobs, is now actually hiring folks back again. And obviously the auto industry has come roaring back.
So there’s a good story to tell. But, as I said at the State of the Union, there’s some long-term trends in our economy that we have not yet fixed. And what it comes down to is the fact that, in part because of globalization, in part because of technology, but also in part because of some long-term government policies, we have an economy now in which folks at the very top are doing very, very well, but folks in the middle haven’t seen their incomes or wages go up in a very long time. And folks who are fighting to get into the middle class find that there are fewer and fewer ladders of opportunity.
And that is a problem for all us, even if you’re doing well -- because the premise in this country has always been that we grow best when our growth is broad-based, when everybody has got a shot; when Grace’s parents come here and they’re able to, through hard work and responsibility and transmitting values to their kids, they’re able to succeed. And one of the great things about Chicago is, is that although folks usually didn’t come here right first -- they tended to go through one of the coasts typically -- this is a city of immigrants. And the story of Chicago has been starting off with nothing and building something. And when I look throughout this room, it’s filled with people who lived out that story.
And I want to make sure that story is true for the next generation and the generation after that, and the generation after that -- because that is what makes America great. Obviously in the news lately has been the whole situation in Ukraine and Russia. And I’ve had to explain to people, Russia’s moving troops into Ukraine wasn’t a sign of strength; it was a sign of weakness. Because you’ve got a country that isn’t attracting people from the outside; a population that’s shrinking. It feels surrounded, in part because people look at the West and they look at Europe and they look at America and they say this is a place where, if we put in effort, without connections, without being born to the right place, without having to pay a bribe, we might be able to succeed. Whether it’s setting up a cheesecake business -- (laughter) -- or it is going into the helping professions, we can succeed. And we have to make sure that that continues for the next generation.
Now, the good news is we know how to do it. It’s not as if there’s a mystery here. We know that if we invest in early childhood education then every kid can succeed. We know that if we make college affordable then this could be the best-trained workforce in the country. We know that if we rebuild our infrastructure, we can put people to work right now rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our sewer systems, our airports, our ports, setting up smart grids. There are a bunch of folks that right away could get to work and suddenly they’ve got money in their pockets and they’d be spending that money on businesses all across Chicago, all across the country.
We know that we have to invest in research and development. We know that immigration reform isn’t just good for the families but it keeps on bringing dynamic, energized folks to our country. It’s one of our biggest comparative advantages to other countries, including Europe and Asia, is that we’ve got a relatively young population, because folks who are hungry keep on wanting to come here and it keeps our economy vibrant.
And we know that when we pay workers a living wage, when we make sure that women are getting paid the same as men, when they’ve got decent benefits, when they have the financial security of having health insurance so they don’t go bankrupt when they get sick, we know all those things make people more productive and the entire economy grows.
So we know what to do. The problem is right now Congress isn’t willing or capable of doing it. And that’s why you being here tonight is so important and why even though I promised Michelle that 2012 was going to be my last campaign, actually this one is my last campaign. (Laughter.)
We need to hang on to the Senate. We need to pick up seats in the House. We need to make sure that the public knows very clearly what is at stake in this election. And it’s hard during midterms, because Democrats have a tendency to get really excited during presidential years and then during the midterms we go into hibernation.
And that’s why you being here tonight is so important. That’s why what’s Henry is doing is so important. And that’s why we’re so grateful for what Grace and Craig are doing is so important. Because our agenda, our values, the things that we care about -- things, by the way, that the majority of Americans by and large agree with up and down the line -- can only happen if we’ve got a Congress that is prepared to work, to engage constructively in debate and have some differences, but also say there are some things that go beyond politics. That’s what we’re fighting for. And that’s why all of you being here tonight is something I truly, truly appreciate -- in addition to just seeing some old friends.
Thank you, everybody. (Applause.)
END
7:45 P.M. CDT
7:45 P.M. CDT
PRESS AVAILABILITY: SECRETARY KERRY AND ALGERIAN FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Joint Press Availability With Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Algiers, Algeria
April 3, 2014
QUESTION: (Via interpreter, in progress) – makes a lot (inaudible) in the field of counterterrorism. However, we have two unshakable principles. The first one is noninterference in the states first, and the second one is the nonintervention of our army outside our territories. So how could we serve stability in this context and as part of these two principles?
SECRETARY KERRY: Merci. We have great respect for Algeria’s principle of noninterference. At the same time, terrorism doesn’t know any borders. Terrorism moves indiscriminately across borders without regard to international lines or rules of law. And there is only one way to respond between states who are joined together in the principle of fighting against terrorism, and that one way is cooperation.
We have to cooperate. I think Algeria completely understands that and is dedicated and committed to it. Algeria has been a very strong partner bilaterally and multilaterally in countering terrorist threats and in building a regional and international capacity to be able to do that. And Algeria’s one of the original key founders of the Global Counterterrorism Forum. It’s co-chair of the Sahel Region Capacity Working Group. And we really applaud the leadership of Algeria.
What we’re here to talk about today and what we have talked about is: How do we cooperate even further? How do we take this cooperation to be able to be more effective in providing the kind of stability that your question just asked about? So the United States, the UN, the G7 endorse the practices that are now known as the Algiers Memorandum. And we have, I think, very strong exchanges today with Algerian security services, law enforcement, their justice sectors, covering a wide range of questions.
Algeria is also a member of the Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Partnership, which is our primary vehicle – the United States State Department’s primary vehicle to support long-term capabilities of the countries in the West and North Africa to face the AQIM threat. So we’re building that capacity and I believe that Algeria’s noninterference principle that you asked about does not stand in the way at all of our capacity to build additional cooperative initiatives, and particularly to build a full-fledged security cooperative relationship, which is what we came here to talk about today. We’ve made progress on that and we’re very pleased with it.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: (Via interpreter) Thank you, John. As far as these complex issues are concerned, I can simply add to what the Secretary of State has just said. The issues of international terrorism at the level of doctrine and policies, the objective and principles of international cooperation are clear-cut on behalf of the protection of human life and dignity. At the operational level, it is necessary for efficiency purposes not to go into the details as far as international cooperation is concerned.
However, I would like to mention that the – for the countries of the region, can – we are available to support all the neighboring countries in terms of information, the exchange of experiences, equipment, and (inaudible), a stakeholder as totally involved in the field of counterterrorism. We have made huge sacrifices in fighting against terrorism, as you know.
MODERATOR: Another question? Scott from – our guest, the American side, from our – according --
MS. PSAKI: Scott Stearns from VOA.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, on the Middle East, you spoke today – here today and in Brussels about the limits of being a facilitator and about bringing the horse to water, saying today that the leaders need to know that now is the time to drink. Have you had any indication from Prime Minister Netanyahu or President Abbas that they are ready to drink?
And Mr. Minister, could you tell us specifically: What is it that you would like to see from the United States to help with security assistance, especially along the border with Mali? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Scott, let me say that I have been in direct touch this morning with our team on the ground in Israel, and they worked literally until 4:00 in the morning in direct discussions between Israelis and Palestinians, with the United States present, in an effort to try to move the process forward. I think it is a critical moment, obviously. The dialogue remains open. There was progress made in narrowing some of the questions that have arisen as a result of the events of the last few days, but there’s still a gap, and that gap will have to be closed and closed fairly soon.
So I will be in touch this afternoon with both leaders, but again, it’s really their decision that has to be made. They understand what the choices are. They understand what the stakes are. And they understand each of them, their own limits and dynamics. So we are urging them to find the compromise that is critical to being able to move forward.
One of the important things I want to say about this moment: The fight right now, the disagreement between them, is not over the fundamental substance of a final status agreement. It’s over the process that would get you there and what you need to do in order to be able to continue to negotiate. It would be a tragedy for both of them, we would say, for them to lose the opportunity to get to those real issues that are the differences of a final status agreement.
A fight over process, how to get into a negotiation, should not stop you from getting into that negotiation. And so I hope that they will consider that very, very carefully. President Obama believes very strongly that the role of the United States to help the parties come together is a critical role. He is committed to his efforts and my efforts on behalf of him and the United States to play this role without any fear, because we believe that it’s the right thing to do. President Obama believes that it is important for the United States to try to help the parties make peace.
But as he himself would agree, in the end, the leaders have to make the decisions to do so. We will continue to do everything in our power to try to bring them together, to find a place of reasonableness, to encourage them to compromise, show ways in which they might do so. But in the end, they are the ones who have to say yes, and that’s where we are.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: If I may, John, just to make a short comment on the Middle East, I think a week or so ago, we were having our Arab summit in Kuwait. And the ministers of foreign affairs of the group had a chance to be briefed by President Mahmoud Abbas about the status quo of the diplomatic effort at that time. What I want to say is that at that time, the president referred to the fact that he had some 38 interactions with you, John, and he described that as really a clear demonstration of the commitment by the Secretary of State and President Obama to achieve lasting peace for the region and justice for the Palestinian people.
So the whole group were very appreciative of this effort, and we were hoping that it would reach fruition and it will indeed have the desired outcome that we are all hoping for and praying for. President Mahmoud Abbas requested a meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the Arab world to be held on the 9th of April in Cairo. We intend to go and we’ll definitely listen to President Mahmoud Abbas about the nitty-gritty of these discussions, and I’m sure that because it is our longstanding position to favor peace, stability, security, global peace, I believe that the Arab world will again express appreciation and support to your efforts, Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY KERRY: And I --
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: It’s not --
SECRETARY KERRY: I’m sorry, I thought you were finished. I didn’t mean to --
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: No, I thought I would go to the Arab question, but please --
SECRETARY KERRY: No, no, please.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: Please, go, go.
No, regarding what is expected on the part of USA as far as the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region is concerned, I believe that today, the time has come for us to consolidate the achievements of the war against terrorism in northern Mali. I believe that we need to help in the rebuilding state institutions, law enforcement agencies, the national armed forces of Mali, and also in encouraging the regional efforts aiming at putting together regional security arrangements under the African Union initiative.
Eleven countries in the region have launched what we call the Nouakchott Process in order to help to assist each other in monitoring borders, in sharing intelligence, and this is a good occasion for the region to show by itself that indeed, we can do our best to fight and defeat terrorism in the Sahel region with clearly the required assistance on the part of the international community. If we were to ask specifically about what the U.S. can do, because nobody else could do it, it’s, for instance, sharing electronic intelligence with the armed forces and security agencies in the region. One example, but this is a qualitative edge that only the U.S. can provide. Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you for that comment, Ramtane. Let me – just a quick addendum to that. I just want to – maybe I don’t have to say this, but I’ll just say it. If this was an easy thing to do, it would have happened a long time ago. It’s difficult because it is a very difficult conflict with deep-rooted historical levels of mistrust and huge narrative issues on both sides that are deeply emotional and go to the core of both people’s identity and aspirations.
It’s as tough as it gets. And the one thing that stands out to me is this: If it’s tough today, I have not met anybody anywhere who believes it’s going to get easier next week or next year or in the future. And that’s why I think this is so important. Both sides – neither side can achieve what it wants staying away from the negotiating table. There’s only one way to resolve that, and that’s through negotiation. And so my hope, along with the foreign ministers and everybody, I think, in the world, is that the parties will not lose an opportunity to negotiate.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: Thank you, sir.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.
SECRETARY KERRY: Merci. We have great respect for Algeria’s principle of noninterference. At the same time, terrorism doesn’t know any borders. Terrorism moves indiscriminately across borders without regard to international lines or rules of law. And there is only one way to respond between states who are joined together in the principle of fighting against terrorism, and that one way is cooperation.
We have to cooperate. I think Algeria completely understands that and is dedicated and committed to it. Algeria has been a very strong partner bilaterally and multilaterally in countering terrorist threats and in building a regional and international capacity to be able to do that. And Algeria’s one of the original key founders of the Global Counterterrorism Forum. It’s co-chair of the Sahel Region Capacity Working Group. And we really applaud the leadership of Algeria.
What we’re here to talk about today and what we have talked about is: How do we cooperate even further? How do we take this cooperation to be able to be more effective in providing the kind of stability that your question just asked about? So the United States, the UN, the G7 endorse the practices that are now known as the Algiers Memorandum. And we have, I think, very strong exchanges today with Algerian security services, law enforcement, their justice sectors, covering a wide range of questions.
Algeria is also a member of the Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Partnership, which is our primary vehicle – the United States State Department’s primary vehicle to support long-term capabilities of the countries in the West and North Africa to face the AQIM threat. So we’re building that capacity and I believe that Algeria’s noninterference principle that you asked about does not stand in the way at all of our capacity to build additional cooperative initiatives, and particularly to build a full-fledged security cooperative relationship, which is what we came here to talk about today. We’ve made progress on that and we’re very pleased with it.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: (Via interpreter) Thank you, John. As far as these complex issues are concerned, I can simply add to what the Secretary of State has just said. The issues of international terrorism at the level of doctrine and policies, the objective and principles of international cooperation are clear-cut on behalf of the protection of human life and dignity. At the operational level, it is necessary for efficiency purposes not to go into the details as far as international cooperation is concerned.
However, I would like to mention that the – for the countries of the region, can – we are available to support all the neighboring countries in terms of information, the exchange of experiences, equipment, and (inaudible), a stakeholder as totally involved in the field of counterterrorism. We have made huge sacrifices in fighting against terrorism, as you know.
MODERATOR: Another question? Scott from – our guest, the American side, from our – according --
MS. PSAKI: Scott Stearns from VOA.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, on the Middle East, you spoke today – here today and in Brussels about the limits of being a facilitator and about bringing the horse to water, saying today that the leaders need to know that now is the time to drink. Have you had any indication from Prime Minister Netanyahu or President Abbas that they are ready to drink?
And Mr. Minister, could you tell us specifically: What is it that you would like to see from the United States to help with security assistance, especially along the border with Mali? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Scott, let me say that I have been in direct touch this morning with our team on the ground in Israel, and they worked literally until 4:00 in the morning in direct discussions between Israelis and Palestinians, with the United States present, in an effort to try to move the process forward. I think it is a critical moment, obviously. The dialogue remains open. There was progress made in narrowing some of the questions that have arisen as a result of the events of the last few days, but there’s still a gap, and that gap will have to be closed and closed fairly soon.
So I will be in touch this afternoon with both leaders, but again, it’s really their decision that has to be made. They understand what the choices are. They understand what the stakes are. And they understand each of them, their own limits and dynamics. So we are urging them to find the compromise that is critical to being able to move forward.
One of the important things I want to say about this moment: The fight right now, the disagreement between them, is not over the fundamental substance of a final status agreement. It’s over the process that would get you there and what you need to do in order to be able to continue to negotiate. It would be a tragedy for both of them, we would say, for them to lose the opportunity to get to those real issues that are the differences of a final status agreement.
A fight over process, how to get into a negotiation, should not stop you from getting into that negotiation. And so I hope that they will consider that very, very carefully. President Obama believes very strongly that the role of the United States to help the parties come together is a critical role. He is committed to his efforts and my efforts on behalf of him and the United States to play this role without any fear, because we believe that it’s the right thing to do. President Obama believes that it is important for the United States to try to help the parties make peace.
But as he himself would agree, in the end, the leaders have to make the decisions to do so. We will continue to do everything in our power to try to bring them together, to find a place of reasonableness, to encourage them to compromise, show ways in which they might do so. But in the end, they are the ones who have to say yes, and that’s where we are.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: If I may, John, just to make a short comment on the Middle East, I think a week or so ago, we were having our Arab summit in Kuwait. And the ministers of foreign affairs of the group had a chance to be briefed by President Mahmoud Abbas about the status quo of the diplomatic effort at that time. What I want to say is that at that time, the president referred to the fact that he had some 38 interactions with you, John, and he described that as really a clear demonstration of the commitment by the Secretary of State and President Obama to achieve lasting peace for the region and justice for the Palestinian people.
So the whole group were very appreciative of this effort, and we were hoping that it would reach fruition and it will indeed have the desired outcome that we are all hoping for and praying for. President Mahmoud Abbas requested a meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the Arab world to be held on the 9th of April in Cairo. We intend to go and we’ll definitely listen to President Mahmoud Abbas about the nitty-gritty of these discussions, and I’m sure that because it is our longstanding position to favor peace, stability, security, global peace, I believe that the Arab world will again express appreciation and support to your efforts, Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY KERRY: And I --
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: It’s not --
SECRETARY KERRY: I’m sorry, I thought you were finished. I didn’t mean to --
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: No, I thought I would go to the Arab question, but please --
SECRETARY KERRY: No, no, please.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: Please, go, go.
No, regarding what is expected on the part of USA as far as the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region is concerned, I believe that today, the time has come for us to consolidate the achievements of the war against terrorism in northern Mali. I believe that we need to help in the rebuilding state institutions, law enforcement agencies, the national armed forces of Mali, and also in encouraging the regional efforts aiming at putting together regional security arrangements under the African Union initiative.
Eleven countries in the region have launched what we call the Nouakchott Process in order to help to assist each other in monitoring borders, in sharing intelligence, and this is a good occasion for the region to show by itself that indeed, we can do our best to fight and defeat terrorism in the Sahel region with clearly the required assistance on the part of the international community. If we were to ask specifically about what the U.S. can do, because nobody else could do it, it’s, for instance, sharing electronic intelligence with the armed forces and security agencies in the region. One example, but this is a qualitative edge that only the U.S. can provide. Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you for that comment, Ramtane. Let me – just a quick addendum to that. I just want to – maybe I don’t have to say this, but I’ll just say it. If this was an easy thing to do, it would have happened a long time ago. It’s difficult because it is a very difficult conflict with deep-rooted historical levels of mistrust and huge narrative issues on both sides that are deeply emotional and go to the core of both people’s identity and aspirations.
It’s as tough as it gets. And the one thing that stands out to me is this: If it’s tough today, I have not met anybody anywhere who believes it’s going to get easier next week or next year or in the future. And that’s why I think this is so important. Both sides – neither side can achieve what it wants staying away from the negotiating table. There’s only one way to resolve that, and that’s through negotiation. And so my hope, along with the foreign ministers and everybody, I think, in the world, is that the parties will not lose an opportunity to negotiate.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAMAMRA: Thank you, sir.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.
U.S. CONGRATULATES PEOPLE OF SENEGAL ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
On the Occasion of the Republic of Senegal's National Day
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
April 3, 2014
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Senegal on the 54th anniversary of your nation’s independence on April 4.
The legacy of progress in Africa is extraordinary. There are struggles, but there’s also greater freedom and greater development than ever before. It’s more than fair to say that Senegal is at the heart of that transformation.
The friendship between our nations is based on a shared commitment to democratic values, the rule of law, and economic development. Together, we are improving global security through our support for peacekeeping efforts. We also remain steadfast in working closely with Senegal on human rights, trade, and maritime security.
Senegal is a democratic leader in West Africa. Your commitment to human rights, responsive public institutions, economic growth, and regional stability will continue to serve as a model for peace and prosperity in the Casamance.
I wish all Senegalese a healthy, joyful, and festive celebration. The United States looks forward to building on our strong partnership in the years to come.
The legacy of progress in Africa is extraordinary. There are struggles, but there’s also greater freedom and greater development than ever before. It’s more than fair to say that Senegal is at the heart of that transformation.
The friendship between our nations is based on a shared commitment to democratic values, the rule of law, and economic development. Together, we are improving global security through our support for peacekeeping efforts. We also remain steadfast in working closely with Senegal on human rights, trade, and maritime security.
Senegal is a democratic leader in West Africa. Your commitment to human rights, responsive public institutions, economic growth, and regional stability will continue to serve as a model for peace and prosperity in the Casamance.
I wish all Senegalese a healthy, joyful, and festive celebration. The United States looks forward to building on our strong partnership in the years to come.
U.S. DOD PHOTOS OF SEARCH AND RESCUE IN OSO, WASHINGTON
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael Cohan uncovers a tattered American flag and displays it proudly after pulling it from a pile of debris while continuing search efforts for survivors in Oso, Wash., April 1, 2014, following a deadly mudslide. Cohan May is assigned to the Washington Air National Guard's 141st logistical Readiness Squadron. Washington National Guard photo by Air Force Msgt. Kevin Borden.
An American flag flies at half-staff in the rubble as the search continues for survivors in Oso, Wash., March 31, 2014, following a deadly mudslide. Troops and volunteers have assisted in the extensive search and rescue efforts. Washington National Guard photo by Army Spc. Sarah M. Booker.
U.S. DOD RELEASE REGARDING FORT HOOD SHOOTING
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Gunman Kills 3 Fellow Soldiers at Fort Hood, Takes Own Life
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 2, 2014 – A soldier killed three fellow soldiers and wounded 16 more before killing himself at Fort Hood, Texas, officials said tonight.
There is no evidence that the incident is related to terrorism, said Army Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the commander of 3rd Corps and Fort Hood.
“We are not ruling anything out, and the investigation continues,” the general said DURING a late-night news conference. “Our focus now is to focus on the families of the injured, and focus on the families of the killed [to] ensure they have the best care and counseling available.”
The soldier used a recently purchased .45-caliber pistol and first fired on personnel in the 1st Medical Brigade at about 4 p.m. CDT before moving on to the 49th Transportation Battalion.
A military policewoman confronted him in a parking lot, where he drew his pistol and killed himself. Milley called the MP’s actions heroic.
The soldier – whose name is withheld until his next of kin are notified – had some behavioral health and mental health issues and was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress, Milley said.
“When we have these kinds of tragedies on our bases, something is not working,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said during a news conference in Hawaii, where he has been attending a conference of Pacific-nation defense ministers and visiting U.S. forces.
In a written statement issued by the Pentagon, Hagel stressed that nothing is more important to the department than the safety and well-being of service members and their families. “I am grateful to all the first responders who rushed to the scene,” he said. “We will closely monitor the situation at Fort Hood and stay informed by what investigators and law enforcement personnel learn about the shooting.”
President Barack Obama also is following the situation closely. In an appearance in Chicago, the president said DOD, federal and state officials will work together to find out what happened and why.
Obama said the shooting reopens the pain of the shootings at Fort Hood five years ago. “We know these families,” he said. “We know their incredible service to our country and the sacrifices that they make. Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with the entire community.”
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the thoughts and prayers of the greater military community are with those at Fort Hood. “Many questions remain, and our focus is on supporting the victims and their families,” Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said in a statement released at the Pentagon. “This is a community that has faced and overcome crises with resilience and strength.”
Personnel on the base were ordered to shelter in place, and the order was lifted about 10 p.m. EDT.
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS ON FORT HOOD SHOOTING
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by the President on the Shooting at Fort Hood
Chicago Cut Steakhouse Chicago, Illinois
6:46 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. I just got off the phone with Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Sandy Winnefeld to get the latest report on the situation in Fort Hood. Obviously we’re following it closely. The situation is fluid right now. But my national security team is in close contact with not just the Defense Department but the FBI. They are working with folks on the ground to determine exactly what happened to make sure that everybody is secure. And I want to just assure all of us that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.
Any shooting is troubling. Obviously this reopens the pain of what happened at Fort Hood five years ago. We know these families. We know their incredible service to our country and the sacrifices that they make. Obviously our thoughts and prayers were -- are with the entire community. And we are going to do everything we can to make sure that the community at Fort Hood has what it needs to deal with the current situation, but also any potential aftermath.
We're heartbroken that something like this might have happened again. And I don't want to comment on the facts until I know exactly what has happened, but for now, I would just hope that everybody across the country is keeping the families and the community at Fort Hood in our thoughts and in our prayers. The folks there have sacrificed so much on behalf of our freedom. Many of the people there have been on multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. They serve with valor; they serve with distinction. And when they’re at their home base they need to feel safe. We don't yet know what happened tonight, but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again. And we're going to have to find out exactly what happened.
The Pentagon will undoubtedly have further briefings for you as we get more details [about what happened.]
Thanks, everybody.
U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE JOINED IN TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF CESAR CHAVEZ
FROM: U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE
18th Annual Cesar Chavez March for Justice
“¡Si se puede!”
San Antonio, TX – The United States Marshals Service is the oldest federal law enforcement agency in U.S. history. Even after the creation of more than 50 specialized federal law enforcement agencies during the 20th century, the U.S. Marshals Service has retained the broadest jurisdiction and authority. The U.S. Marshals Service has been involved in most of the major historical episodes in America's past. For over 200 years, U.S. Marshals and their Deputies have served as the instruments of civil authority with justice, integrity, and service.
The U.S. Marshals Service proudly joins the city of San Antonio in celebrating the birth and life of Cesar Estrada Chavez. This year marks the 18th Annual Cesar Chavez March for Justice. Cesar Chavez was a Mexican American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association. Chavez became a well-known Latino American civil rights activist, who utilized nonviolent tactics to obtain equal rights for Latino laborers and farm workers.
On behalf of Robert Almonte, United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas, we invite you to join us in a public event commemorating the life and lessons of Cesar Estrada Chavez. The march will take place on Saturday, March 29, 2014, at 10:00 a.m., from the staging area located on the corner of Guadalupe and South Brazos Streets, to the Alamo located in Alamo Plaza. We look forward to your attendance.
“It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.” – Cesar Estrada Chavez
18th Annual Cesar Chavez March for Justice
“¡Si se puede!”
San Antonio, TX – The United States Marshals Service is the oldest federal law enforcement agency in U.S. history. Even after the creation of more than 50 specialized federal law enforcement agencies during the 20th century, the U.S. Marshals Service has retained the broadest jurisdiction and authority. The U.S. Marshals Service has been involved in most of the major historical episodes in America's past. For over 200 years, U.S. Marshals and their Deputies have served as the instruments of civil authority with justice, integrity, and service.
The U.S. Marshals Service proudly joins the city of San Antonio in celebrating the birth and life of Cesar Estrada Chavez. This year marks the 18th Annual Cesar Chavez March for Justice. Cesar Chavez was a Mexican American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association. Chavez became a well-known Latino American civil rights activist, who utilized nonviolent tactics to obtain equal rights for Latino laborers and farm workers.
On behalf of Robert Almonte, United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas, we invite you to join us in a public event commemorating the life and lessons of Cesar Estrada Chavez. The march will take place on Saturday, March 29, 2014, at 10:00 a.m., from the staging area located on the corner of Guadalupe and South Brazos Streets, to the Alamo located in Alamo Plaza. We look forward to your attendance.
“It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.” – Cesar Estrada Chavez
SEC ANNOUNCES TWO CASES OF MEN TRADING ON CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FROM SPOUSES
FROM: SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced two separate cases against men who profited by insider trading on confidential information they learned from their wives about Silicon Valley-based tech companies.
“Spouses and other family members may gain access to highly confidential information about public companies as part of their relationship of trust,” said Jina L. Choi, director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. “In those circumstances, family members have a duty to protect and safeguard that information, not to trade on it.”
The SEC alleges that Tyrone Hawk of Los Gatos, Calif., violated a duty of trust by trading after he overheard work calls made by his wife, a finance manager at Oracle Corp., regarding her company’s plan to acquire Acme Packet Inc. Hawk also had a conversation with his wife in which she informed him that there was a blackout window for trading Oracle securities because it was in the process of acquiring another company. According to the SEC’s complaint, Hawk bought Acme Packet shares before the acquisition was announced in February 2013, and reaped approximately $150,000 by selling after the stock price rose 23 percent on the news. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Hawk agreed to pay more than $300,000 to settle the SEC’s charges.
In an unrelated case, the SEC alleges that Ching Hwa Chen of San Jose, Calif., profited from gleaning confidential information in mid-2012 that his wife’s employer, Informatica Corp., would miss its quarterly earnings target for the first time in 31 consecutive quarters. During a drive to vacation in Reno, Nev., Chen overheard business calls by his wife, who previously advised Chen not to trade in Informatica securities under any circumstances. However, after they returned from Reno, he established securities positions designed to make money if the stock price fell. Informatica’s shares declined more than 27 percent after it announced the earnings miss, and Chen realized nearly $140,000 in profits. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Chen agreed to pay approximately $280,000 to settle the SEC’s charges.
The SEC has brought other insider trading cases involving individuals who traded on material, nonpublic information misappropriated from spouses. For example, last year the SEC charged a Houston man with insider trading ahead of a corporate acquisition based on confidential details that he gleaned from his wife, a partner at a large law firm that was consulted on the deal. In 2011, the SEC charged an Illinois man who bought the stock of an acquisition target of a company where his wife was an executive despite her requests that he keep the merger information confidential. In a different 2011 case, the SEC charged the spouse of a CEO with insider trading on confidential information that he misappropriated from her in advance of company news announcements.
The SEC’s investigations were conducted by Jennifer J. Lee and Kashya K. Shei and supervised by Jina L. Choi, Michael S. Dicke, and Erin E. Schneider in the San Francisco office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced two separate cases against men who profited by insider trading on confidential information they learned from their wives about Silicon Valley-based tech companies.
“Spouses and other family members may gain access to highly confidential information about public companies as part of their relationship of trust,” said Jina L. Choi, director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. “In those circumstances, family members have a duty to protect and safeguard that information, not to trade on it.”
The SEC alleges that Tyrone Hawk of Los Gatos, Calif., violated a duty of trust by trading after he overheard work calls made by his wife, a finance manager at Oracle Corp., regarding her company’s plan to acquire Acme Packet Inc. Hawk also had a conversation with his wife in which she informed him that there was a blackout window for trading Oracle securities because it was in the process of acquiring another company. According to the SEC’s complaint, Hawk bought Acme Packet shares before the acquisition was announced in February 2013, and reaped approximately $150,000 by selling after the stock price rose 23 percent on the news. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Hawk agreed to pay more than $300,000 to settle the SEC’s charges.
In an unrelated case, the SEC alleges that Ching Hwa Chen of San Jose, Calif., profited from gleaning confidential information in mid-2012 that his wife’s employer, Informatica Corp., would miss its quarterly earnings target for the first time in 31 consecutive quarters. During a drive to vacation in Reno, Nev., Chen overheard business calls by his wife, who previously advised Chen not to trade in Informatica securities under any circumstances. However, after they returned from Reno, he established securities positions designed to make money if the stock price fell. Informatica’s shares declined more than 27 percent after it announced the earnings miss, and Chen realized nearly $140,000 in profits. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Chen agreed to pay approximately $280,000 to settle the SEC’s charges.
The SEC has brought other insider trading cases involving individuals who traded on material, nonpublic information misappropriated from spouses. For example, last year the SEC charged a Houston man with insider trading ahead of a corporate acquisition based on confidential details that he gleaned from his wife, a partner at a large law firm that was consulted on the deal. In 2011, the SEC charged an Illinois man who bought the stock of an acquisition target of a company where his wife was an executive despite her requests that he keep the merger information confidential. In a different 2011 case, the SEC charged the spouse of a CEO with insider trading on confidential information that he misappropriated from her in advance of company news announcements.
The SEC’s investigations were conducted by Jennifer J. Lee and Kashya K. Shei and supervised by Jina L. Choi, Michael S. Dicke, and Erin E. Schneider in the San Francisco office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority.
JUSTICE ANNOUNCES INDICTMENTS IN FLORIDA MORTGAGE FRAUD SCHEME
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, March 31, 2014
Seven Indicted in Florida in Mortgage Scheme
Seven individuals have been indicted in the Southern District of Florida for their alleged participation in a mortgage fraud scheme in the Miami area.
The charges were announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Inspector General David A. Montoya of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Acting Inspector General Michael P. Stephens of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of the Inspector General.
A 19-count indictment, returned on March 13, 2014, by a federal grand jury and unsealed today, charges Miami-Dade County residents Luis Mendez, Stavroula Mendez, Luis Michael Mendez, Lazaro Mendez, Marie Mendez, Wilkie Perez and Enrique Angulo with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. Some of those defendants have also been charged with bank fraud and wire fraud. Stavroula Mendez, Luis Michael Mendez, Lazaro Mendez and Marie Mendez were taken into custody today and made their initial appearances before United States Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman in Miami, while the other three defendants remain at large.
As alleged in the indictment, Luis Mendez, Stavroula Mendez, Luis Michael Mendez, Lazaro Mendez and Marie Mendez owned or controlled various real estate properties in the Miami area. They enlisted mortgage brokers and other individuals, including Perez and Angulo, to recruit straw buyers to act as qualifying mortgage applicants to fraudulently purchase condominiums in the properties. The defendants prepared and caused to be prepared loan documents containing false statements and representations relating to the buyers’ income, assets and other information necessary to enable lenders to assess the buyers’ qualifications to borrow money, which induced the lenders to make loans to finance the condominiums. Luis Michael Mendez and Marie Mendez are alleged to have submitted their own fraudulent loan applications for two condominiums, and they, as well as Luis Mendez and Stavroula Mendez, advanced the buyers cash to close the transactions.
After the loans were funded, the defendants allegedly caused fraudulent payments to be made from the loan proceeds to pay kickbacks through shell companies to the brokers, recruiters and straw buyers, as well as to pay the mortgages to conceal the conspiracy. Eventually, the conspirators were unable to make mortgage payments, causing many of the condominium units to go into foreclosure and leading to losses by the lenders.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by HUD-OIG and FHFA-OIG. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Gary A. Winters and Brian Young of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Seven Indicted in Florida in Mortgage Scheme
Seven individuals have been indicted in the Southern District of Florida for their alleged participation in a mortgage fraud scheme in the Miami area.
The charges were announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Inspector General David A. Montoya of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Acting Inspector General Michael P. Stephens of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of the Inspector General.
A 19-count indictment, returned on March 13, 2014, by a federal grand jury and unsealed today, charges Miami-Dade County residents Luis Mendez, Stavroula Mendez, Luis Michael Mendez, Lazaro Mendez, Marie Mendez, Wilkie Perez and Enrique Angulo with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. Some of those defendants have also been charged with bank fraud and wire fraud. Stavroula Mendez, Luis Michael Mendez, Lazaro Mendez and Marie Mendez were taken into custody today and made their initial appearances before United States Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman in Miami, while the other three defendants remain at large.
As alleged in the indictment, Luis Mendez, Stavroula Mendez, Luis Michael Mendez, Lazaro Mendez and Marie Mendez owned or controlled various real estate properties in the Miami area. They enlisted mortgage brokers and other individuals, including Perez and Angulo, to recruit straw buyers to act as qualifying mortgage applicants to fraudulently purchase condominiums in the properties. The defendants prepared and caused to be prepared loan documents containing false statements and representations relating to the buyers’ income, assets and other information necessary to enable lenders to assess the buyers’ qualifications to borrow money, which induced the lenders to make loans to finance the condominiums. Luis Michael Mendez and Marie Mendez are alleged to have submitted their own fraudulent loan applications for two condominiums, and they, as well as Luis Mendez and Stavroula Mendez, advanced the buyers cash to close the transactions.
After the loans were funded, the defendants allegedly caused fraudulent payments to be made from the loan proceeds to pay kickbacks through shell companies to the brokers, recruiters and straw buyers, as well as to pay the mortgages to conceal the conspiracy. Eventually, the conspirators were unable to make mortgage payments, causing many of the condominium units to go into foreclosure and leading to losses by the lenders.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by HUD-OIG and FHFA-OIG. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Gary A. Winters and Brian Young of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
DETROIT AREA PHYSICIAN PLEADS GUILTY FOR ROLE IN $7 MILLION MEDICARE FRAUD
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Physician Pleads Guilty for Role in Detroit-area Medicare Fraud Scheme
A Detroit-area physician pleaded guilty for her role in a $7 million health care fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office made the announcement.
Adelina Herrero, 72, of Ann Arbor, Mich., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
According to court documents, beginning in approximately April 2010 and continuing through approximately April 2013, Herrero and others agreed that she would refer Medicare beneficiaries whom she had never seen or treated to Advance Home Health Care Services Inc. (Advance) and Perfect Home Health Care Services LLP (Perfect), which were both owned by co-conspirators. Herrero signed medical documents, such as home health care certifications and plans of care for these beneficiaries, falsely certifying that they were under her care and that they required home health care. Advance, Perfect and other home health agencies then used Herrero’s false documents to support their claims to Medicare for home health services — including physical therapy services — that were never rendered and/or not medically necessary. Herrero knew the medical documents she signed for her co-conspirators would be used to support false claims to Medicare. Herrero admitted that in exchange for signing the home health care documents, she accepted kickback payments from a co-conspirator.
The false and fraudulent claims to Medicare arising from Herrero’s conduct total approximately $1,382,208 in billings for home health services and physician services, of which Medicare paid $1,321,372.
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 Eastern District of Michigan. This case is being prosecuted by Special Trial Attorney Katie R. Fink and Trial Attorney Patrick J. Hurford of the Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Physician Pleads Guilty for Role in Detroit-area Medicare Fraud Scheme
A Detroit-area physician pleaded guilty for her role in a $7 million health care fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office made the announcement.
Adelina Herrero, 72, of Ann Arbor, Mich., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
According to court documents, beginning in approximately April 2010 and continuing through approximately April 2013, Herrero and others agreed that she would refer Medicare beneficiaries whom she had never seen or treated to Advance Home Health Care Services Inc. (Advance) and Perfect Home Health Care Services LLP (Perfect), which were both owned by co-conspirators. Herrero signed medical documents, such as home health care certifications and plans of care for these beneficiaries, falsely certifying that they were under her care and that they required home health care. Advance, Perfect and other home health agencies then used Herrero’s false documents to support their claims to Medicare for home health services — including physical therapy services — that were never rendered and/or not medically necessary. Herrero knew the medical documents she signed for her co-conspirators would be used to support false claims to Medicare. Herrero admitted that in exchange for signing the home health care documents, she accepted kickback payments from a co-conspirator.
The false and fraudulent claims to Medicare arising from Herrero’s conduct total approximately $1,382,208 in billings for home health services and physician services, of which Medicare paid $1,321,372.
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 Eastern District of Michigan. This case is being prosecuted by Special Trial Attorney Katie R. Fink and Trial Attorney Patrick J. Hurford of the Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,700 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5.5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
PRESIDENT APPLAUDS GOVERNOR CUOMO, MAYOR DE BLASIO FOR NEW PUBLICLY-FUNDED PRESCHOOL
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Statement from the Press Secretary
President Obama applauds Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio for the remarkable work accomplished this week in New York, where lawmakers delivered a major victory on early childhood education for middle class families and those working to get into the middle class. New York’s commitment to invest $1.5 billion over 5 years to begin to phase in publicly-funded preschool across the state will provide opportunity for thousands of children, including 53,000 children who will be able to attend preschool in New York City this fall. President Obama will continue to call on Congress to enact his plan to partner with states and cities to provide high-quality preschool for every child, and encourage states and cities to take action so children have the chance to enter kindergarten ready for success.
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