5/5/15: WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING

PRESIDENT'S REMARKS AT GENERAL DUNFORD'S NOMINATION TO BE CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
May 05, 2015
Remarks by the President at Nomination of General Joe Dunford as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and General Paul Selva as Vice Chairman
Rose Garden
*Please see below for a correction, marked with an asterisk.
11:57 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  As Americans, we are blessed with the strongest military the world has ever known.  Yes, our system of equipment and technology, our logistical capacity is unmatched.  But what makes us the best, the reason no other nation can do what we do, is our people -- patriotic men and women across our country who step forward, raise their hand and take an oath to defend our nation.  It’s our men and women in uniform -- and their leaders -- who make our armed forces the very best.

Among our military leaders, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military advisor to me and my national security team -- including Vice President Biden; my National Security Advisor, Susan Rice; and our Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter.

In recent years, I have been deeply grateful for the service of our Chairman, General Marty Dempsey, and our Vice Chairman, Admiral Sandy Winnefeld.  Marty and Sandy will complete their terms later this year.  I'll have a chance to say nice things about them later.  I can tell you that they have been outstanding, and I could not have asked for a better team.  But today, I’m proud to announce my nominee to be the next Chairman, General Joe Dunford, and the next Vice Chairman, General Paul Selva.

Again, I want to thank General Dempsey and Admiral Winnefeld for being here today.  Marty and Sandy, we are extraordinarily grateful for all that you’ve done.  And we'll have an opportunity to pay tribute to you in the months ahead.  I’ve relied on you both -- your advice, your counsel, your judgment -- as we’ve navigated the urgent challenges of recent years, from ending our combat mission in Afghanistan to leading the international coalition to destroy ISIL; conducting humanitarian operations from typhoon relief in the Philippines to fighting Ebola in West Africa; and strengthening our security alliances from Europe to Asia.  At every step, you have been critical to our processes, and I have valued not only your counsel but your friendships.

At the same time, Marty and Sandy have helped to guide our forces through difficult fiscal times -- especially sequestration.  They’ve stayed focused on readiness, and training and modernization.  Today there are also more opportunities for women in our armed forces.  We’re tackling the outrage of sexual assault, which has no place in our ranks.  We’ve made progress in large part because leaders like Marty and Sandy have made sure we’re recruiting and training, and equipping and retaining the best fighting force on the planet.  I look forward to honoring Marty and Sandy and thanking them more fully for their extraordinary contributions to our nation.

There are other things we’re going to miss.  We’re going to miss Marty’s incomparable singing voice.  (Laughter.)  He will not be singing today.  But I’m going to put my request in early for a final number at your farewell.  But on behalf of myself, our entire national security team and our armed forces, thank you.  And to Deannie and to Mary, we are grateful for your families’ service.  (Applause.)

My choice for the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Joe Dunford, is one of the most admired officers in our military. A native of Boston, Joe is the very definition of “Boston Strong.”  The son of a retired Boston police officer and Marine veteran of Korea, Joe followed in his father’s footsteps and has distinguished himself through nearly 40 years of military service.  He’s commanded Marines in the field, from the platoon level to a Marine Expeditionary Force.  During the invasion of Iraq, he led Marines in the charge to Baghdad.

Given his combat experience, I was proud to nominate Joe as the Commander of American and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan.  I’ve had a chance to work with him.  I have been extraordinarily impressed by Joe -- from the Situation Room, where he helped to shape our enduring commitment to Afghanistan, to my visit last year to Bagram, where I saw his leadership firsthand.

I know Joe.  I trust him.  He’s already proven his ability to give me his unvarnished military advice based on his experience on the ground.  Under his steady hand, we’ve achieved key milestones, including the transition to Afghan responsibility for security, historic Afghan elections, and the drawdown of U.S. forces -- setting the stage for our combat mission there.

So Joe is a proven leader of our joint force, including our troops in Afghanistan, who he served Christmas dinner to.  He’s one of our military’s most highly regarded strategic thinkers.  He’s known and respected by our allies, by members of Congress -- on both sides of the aisle -- and by colleagues across our government.  He’s also tireless.  His staff has been known to carry around a voice recorder to keep up with his commands and new ideas.

He just began his service as Commandant of his beloved Marine Corps.  So, Joe, I appreciate your willingness to take on this new assignment.  I think the only downside in my book is, as a White Sox fan, there is yet another Red Sox fan who I'm going to have to be dealing with.  (Laughter.)  And I want to thank you and your wife, Ellyn, for your continued service.

In General Paul Selva, we have a Vice Chairman with 35 years of military service -- as both a pilot and a commander.  As leader of Air Mobility Command, he earned a reputation as a force for change and innovation.  I understand that when it was time to deliver the final C-17 to the Air Force, Paul went to the cockpit and helped fly it himself.  As head of Transportation Command, he’s been committed to the partnerships that are a core principle of our national security strategy, whether it’s supplying our joint force around the world, in operations large and small, to supporting and keeping safe our diplomats and embassy personnel overseas.

Paul also served as Secretary of State Clinton’s military advisor for the first years of my presidency, so he grasps the strategic environment in which our forces operate.  He understands that our military, as powerful as it is, is one tool that must be used in concert with all the elements of our national power.

I should note that, as a graduate of the Air Force Academy, Paul is especially grateful to the Academy because it’s there that he met his wife, Ricki, who also served in the Air Force.  And, Paul and Ricki, thank you both for taking on this next chapter of your service together.

Joe, Paul -- we continue to call on our armed forces to meet a range of challenges.  We have to keep training Afghan forces and remain relentless against al Qaeda.  We have to push back against ISIL and strengthen forces in *Syria [Iraq], and build moderate opposition in Syria.  We have to stand united with our allies in Europe and keep rebalancing our posture as a Pacific power.  We have to keep investing in new capabilities to meet growing threats, including cyber-attacks.

So, as Commander-in-Chief, I’ll be looking to you for your honest military advice as we meet these challenges.  As we do, we’re also going to keep working with Congress on a more responsible approach to defense spending, including reforms in the department so we can preserve the readiness of our all-volunteer force, keep faith with our troops and our military families, and care for our wounded warriors.  This is work we have to do together, as a nation.

Again, to Joe, to Paul, to your families, on behalf of the American people, thank you for your continued service to our nation.  I urge our friends in the Senate -- and I know I won’t have a problem with Jack Reed, who’s sitting right here -- to confirm these remarkable leaders without delay so we can stay focused on the work that unites us all as Americans -- keeping our military strong, our nation secure, our citizens safe.

Thank you very much.  (Applause.)
 
END
12:07 P.M. EDT

SAFEGUARDING CAPE FEAR RIVER BASIN WATER QUALITY (NSF VIDEO INCLUDED)

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Testing the waters: 1,4-Dioxane in North Carolina's Cape Fear River Basin
Environmental engineers play vital role in determining next steps to safeguard drinking water

It was an email from a colleague that tipped off environmental engineer Detlef Knappe of possible 1,4-dioxane contamination in the Cape Fear River Basin, North Carolina's largest watershed and a source of drinking water for communities across the state.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified 1,4-dioxane as a probable human carcinogen. It is an industrial solvent used in the textile and paper industries and a by-product of manufacturing processes involving ethylene oxide, such as the production of certain plastics and surfactants used in laundry detergents and shampoos.

With support from a National Science Foundation (NSF) RAPID grant, Knappe and his team at North Carolina State University (NCSU) have begun to identify 1,4-dioxane sources and how 1,4-dioxane impacts drinking water quality. (RAPID is short for Grants for Rapid Response Research.) Another research goal is to determine whether home filtration devices effectively remove 1, 4-dioxane from tap water and how long those filters will last.

Knappe is also working with managers at water treatment plants and state policymakers in North Carolina to improve testing and treatment standards for 1,4-dioxane. Knappe says so far, the research team has identified three North Carolina communities as key sources of 1,4-dioxane and those communities are now working with the state and NCSU to identify which facilities are the source of the contamination.

He says the team is also evaluating point-of-use devices, such as pitcher and refrigerator filters, and has identified a new adsorbent that is quite effective for 1,4-dioxane removal.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1449768, RAPID; GOALI: Sources of 1,4-Dioxane in the Cape Fear River Watershed of North Carolina and Treatment Options for 1,4-Dioxane Control. GOALI is NSF's Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry program.

Miles O'Brien, Science Nation Correspondent
Ann Kellan, Science Nation Producer

U.S. AIRCRAFT LANDED IN NEPAL TO HELP AFTER 7.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Right:  U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Ospreys arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 3. The Marines also brought a UH-1Y Huey, tools and equipment in response to the Nepalese government’s request for assistance after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake April 25. The aircraft are with Marine Medium Tiltotor Squadron 262, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Mandaline Hatch.  

U.S. Aircraft Land in Nepal to Assist Earthquake Recovery
By Terri Moon Cronk
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2015 – U.S. military aircraft landed in Kathmandu, Nepal, yesterday to assist in recovery efforts following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck there April 25, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters today.

The Defense Department’s primary contribution to the recovery work involves rotary-wing assets, Warren said.

Five U.S. Marine Corps aircraft -- a UH-1Y Huey helicopter and four MV-22 Ospreys, began arriving in Nepal yesterday morning, he said.

“These aircraft will help emergency responders access [Nepal’s] remote areas, which are home to the earthquake’s poorest and most vulnerable [people],” Warren said.

DoD Authorizes $10 Million

Defense Secretary Ash Carter authorized $10 million in Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster and Civic Assistance Funding in support of the operation, he added.
About 121 U.S. service members are on the ground to assist in recovery efforts in Nepal, Warren said, adding that Joint Task Force 505 was established May 1 to organize military personnel operations.

“The joint task force consists of a forward element in Nepal, a logistics support group in Utapao, Thailand, which is assisting with aircraft throughput and additional support [is coming from] Okinawa, Japan,” he said.

Assessing Damage

DoD aircraft have also partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s disaster assistance response team to view and assess areas of Nepal that have been made inaccessible by landslides and debris, Warren said.
“We’re working closely with host nations to minimize the impact of these activities on local populations,” he said.

The earthquake in Nepal has left more than 7,300 people dead and at least 14,000 injured, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES TOUTS $384 MILLION SAVINGS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
May 4, 2015
Affordable Care Act payment model saves more than $384 million in two years, meets criteria for first-ever expansion

Pioneer ACO Model advances quality and value in health care

Today, an independent evaluation report released by the Department of Health and Human Services showed that an innovative payment model created as a pilot project by the Affordable Care Act generated substantial savings to Medicare in just two years. Additionally, the independent Office of the Actuary in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has certified that this patient care model is the first to meet the stringent criteria for expansion to a larger population of Medicare beneficiaries.

The independent evaluation report for CMS found that the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model generated over $384 million in savings to Medicare over its first two years – an average of approximately $300 per participating beneficiary per year – while continuing to deliver high-quality patient care. The Actuary’s certification that expansion of Pioneer ACOs would reduce net Medicare spending, coupled with Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell’s determination that expansion would maintain or improve patient care without limiting coverage or benefits, means that HHS will consider ways to scale the Pioneer ACO Model into other Medicare programs.

“This is a crucial milestone in our efforts to build a health care system that delivers better care, spends our health care dollars more wisely, and results in healthier people,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. “The Affordable Care Act gave us powerful new tools to test better ways to improve patient care and keep communities healthier. The Pioneer ACO Model has demonstrated that patients can get high quality and coordinated care at the right time, and we can generate savings for Medicare and the health care system at large.”

The Pioneer ACO Model, one of the first payment models launched by CMS, gives experienced health care organizations accountability for quality and cost outcomes for their Medicare patients. Doctors and hospitals who form Pioneer ACOs can share in savings generated for Medicare if they work to coordinate patient care, keep patients healthy and meet certain quality performance standards, or they may be required to pay a share of any losses generated.
Currently, the Pioneer ACO Model is serving more than 600,000 Medicare beneficiaries. According to today’s report, compared to their counterparts in regular fee-for-service or Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare beneficiaries who are in Pioneer ACOs, on average:

Report more timely care and better communication with their providers.
Use inpatient hospital services less and have fewer tests and procedures.
Have more follow-up visits from their providers after hospital discharge.
Pioneer ACOs are part of the innovative framework established by the Affordable Care Act to move our health care system toward one that rewards doctors based on the quality, not quantity, of care they give patients. HHS earlier this year announced the ambitious goal of tying 30 percent of Medicare payments to quality and value through alternative payment models by 2016 and 50 percent of payments by 2018. More than 3,600 payers, providers, employers, patients, states, consumer groups, consumers and other partners have registered to participate in the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, which was launched to help the entire health care system reach these goals.

Pioneer ACOs generated Medicare savings of $279.7 million in 2012 and $104.5 million in 2013. To date, actuarial analyses show that ACOs in the Pioneer ACO Model and the Medicare Shared Savings Program have generated over $417 million in total program savings for Medicare. The primary analyses in the evaluation are also reported in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association today.

“This success demonstrates that CMS can design and test innovative payment and service delivery models that produce better outcomes for the Medicare program and beneficiaries,” added Patrick Conway, MD, the acting principal deputy administrator of CMS. “This gives CMS greater confidence in scaling elements of the model to benefit people across the nation, and we are working to determine the best strategies for embedding the lessons we have already learned from the Pioneer Model into permanent Medicare programs and our nation’s health system.”

DOD REPORTS OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE AIRSTRIKES CONTINUE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Airstrikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Iraq
Compiled from Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Releases

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 4, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest airstrikes in Iraq, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Airstrikes in Iraq

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 22 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:

-- Near Asad, three airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL excavators.

-- Near Huwayjah, two airstrikes struck two ISIL staging areas.

-- Near Qaim, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Beiji, eight airstrikes struck one large and five small ISIL tactical units, destroying five ISIL fighting positions, three ISIL buildings, an ISIL command and control facility, an ISIL mortar system, and an ISIL vehicle-borne

improvised explosive device.

-- Near Fallujah, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying five ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Ramadi, an airstrike destroyed four ISIL caches.

-- Near Sinjar, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying three ISIL buildings and two ISIL fighting positions.

-- Near Tal Afar, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and two ISIL fighting positions, destroying an ISIL excavator.

CJTF-OIR conducted no airstrikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria between 8 a.m., yesterday, and 8 a.m., today, local time, according to officials.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations.

Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S STATEMENT ON JAPAN'S CHILDREN'S DAY

FROM:  THE STATE DEPARTMENT
05/04/2015 05:02 PM EDT
Japan's Children's Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 4, 2015

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Japan on Children’s Day this May 5.

On this special day, Japanese families celebrate the joys of childhood and family life. As the President noted during the recent historic visit by Prime Minister Abe to Washington, our children are delighted by the cultural offerings of both our countries – from pop music and movies to animated films and comic books. Prime Minister Abe, his wife, Akie, my wife, Teresa, and I marveled at a virtuoso violin performance by a 9-year-old during the Abe’s recent visit to our home in Boston.

The children of Japan and the United States represent the future of our bilateral relationship, which is why we are more committed than ever to expanding academic and cultural exchanges between our young people.

As the people of Japan take time to honor the importance of family and youth, I again offer my congratulations on this special day.

TEXAS MAN CONVICTED IN MONEY LAUNDERING CONSPIRACY INVOLVING ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL GAMBLING BUSINESS

FROM:   U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Leader of an Illegal International Gambling Enterprise Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering

A federal jury in Oklahoma City convicted a Texas man today of running an illegal international gambling enterprise and conspiring to commit money laundering, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats of the Western District of Oklahoma.

Bartice Alan King, aka “Luke,” 44, of Spring, Texas, was found guilty of conducting an illegal gambling business and engaging in a conspiracy to commit money laundering.  A sentencing hearing has not yet been set.

According to evidence presented at trial, from 2003 to 2013, King was the owner, CEO and President of Legendz Sports, an Internet and telephone gambling enterprise based in Panama City, Panama.  Over the course of a decade, the international gambling enterprise took more than $1 billon in illegal wagers, almost exclusively from gamblers in the United States on American sporting events.

The evidence demonstrated that after founding Legendz Sports, King directed and supervised a network of bookies located all over the United States, who illegally solicited and accepted sports wagers and settled gambling debts.  The evidence further demonstrated that bookies and runners for Legendz Sports transported millions of dollars of gambling proceeds in cash and checks from the United States to Panama.  The checks were made out to various shell companies created by Legendz Sports throughout Central America to launder gambling proceeds.

The evidence demonstrated that the illegal gambling proceeds were used to further promote the gambling business, including to pay employees, build a new multi-million dollar call center to take bets and build a “bank” of cash to pay future winning bettors.  King used the profits to live a lavish lifestyle, including mansions in Florida and Texas.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Service.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also assisted with this investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John S. Han of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Susan Dickerson Cox and Travis D. Smith of the Western District of Oklahoma.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS AT MY BROTHER'S KEEPER ALLIANCE ROUNDTABLE

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
May 04, 2015
Remarks by the President in Roundtable with My Brother's Keeper Alliance

Lehman College
New York City, New York

2:29 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I just had an opportunity to have a conversation with some outstanding young men -- many of them from here in New York, a few of them who have come as distant as California, Boston.  We got some folks from Jersey.

I want to thank Joe Echevarria, who has been heading up our My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, the private-sector component of what we’re doing.  I’m going to have a lot more to say about that during my formal remarks.  But if you have any doubt about the incredible promise and potential of America, then you need to get to know these young men, because they are examples of intelligence, hard work, empathy and compassion, some street smarts.  And all these young men are going to do incredible things with their lives.  Many of them are already doing incredible things with their lives.

Part of what we wanted to do was to make sure we heard directly from young people who oftentimes are growing up in really tough situations -- single-parent households, low-income communities, crime-infested areas.  We’ve heard stories of some of these young men being stopped and put on the ground by police for no reason.  Domestic abuse inside the household.  Situations where the schools don’t seem to be invested in their success.

And yet, despite all that, these young men are succeeding in some remarkable ways.  And part of what I heard from them was that they’re succeeding because somewhere along the line they’ve received a mentor, somebody who’s just paying attention to them and giving them some sense of direction.  Part of what we’ve heard is that they’ve had the opportunity in some way to participate in community service and to get involved, and had been able to show themselves that they matter and they count, and that they can make amazing things happen in their own communities.

And what all of them suggested is, is that if we’re going to be successful in addressing some of the challenges that young men of color face around the country, that their voices have to be part of how we design programs and how we address these issues.  Because they’ve got a lot to say, and what they say is powerful and makes a big difference.

So I just want to say to all of them how proud I am of you, how grateful I am to you.  I want to thank John Legend to participate.  John has been doing a lot of work on his own time, not just around My Brother’s Keeper, but dealing with issues in the criminal justice system and incarcerations, and how we can steer how we interact with communities of color and low-income communities in a different direction.  So we appreciate his leadership.

I’m very excited about what we can get done, but the main reason I’m excited is because listening to all these young men I know that the future will be in good hands as long as we’re giving them the support and the love that they need.

All right?  Thank you, everybody.  We’ll see you outside.

END
2:33 P.M. EDT

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH COLOMBO EMBASSY STAFF

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks with Embassy Colombo Staff
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Colombo, Sri Lanka
May 3, 2015

SECRETARY KERRY: (Applause.) Can I just -- really, thank you. Thank you. Thank you and good morning. You love it. I’m just getting at it, just (inaudible). It’s really nice to see all of you. Kids, thank you for coming out. How are you? You all look fabulous. You look terrific. No school today, right? (Laughter.) Yay. (Laughter.) That’s really, really good. Anyway.

Well, I’m really happy to see all of you. Thank you. And, Marines, thank you very much. Semper Fi, and we appreciate your service enormously. I didn’t know we had so many Marines out here. I just was with four of them down there. What’s the complement, about 12?

PARTICIPANT: Seven, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: How many?

PARTICIPANT: Seven, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: Seven in all. All right. Well, thank you very much for what you do and your service.

And thank you all very, very much. It’s really nice to be here. I’m enormously excited to be in Sri Lanka for the first time, and I wasn’t aware, actually, when I came out here that it had been so long since there had been an official visit by a Secretary of State. I know Colin Powell came through during the time of the tsunami very briefly for a few hours. But it was a pleasure for me yesterday to be able to spend time with the new leadership and get a sense of the excitement about the future for Sri Lanka and the end of so many years of war, so many years of this island nation being torn apart, and now coming together. And I just met this morning with some of the Tamil leaders, which was really interesting to hear them share their vision for a united, peaceful Sri Lanka even though there are difficult issues still to get over.

I want to thank all of you. I particularly want to thank – we have about 417 local employees. Could you all raise your hands, all the local employees? Well, we can’t do this without you in any way at all, so thank you very, very, very much. (Applause.) And there’s one person in particular. Is ‎Niranjan Fonseka here? ‎Niranjan, come up here for a minute. Come here; I’m going to embarrass you. This guy – (applause ) – he not only (inaudible) different town (inaudible) driving through over here, but he has worked here for more than 30 years, and we want to say thank you to, friend. Thank you so much. Really, really appreciate it. Thank you, Niranjan. (Applause.)

I want to thank Drew for the tremendous job that he’s doing. He’s had more than 30 years of service and he’s been in a lot of different places – Darfur and Tikrit, in Iraq, and Kabul. So I think it’s about time he got an ocean-front view and – (laughter) – (inaudible). It’s not a bad deal, right?

MR. MANN: It’s not so bad.

SECRETARY KERRY: Anyway, let me just say that I want to thank all of you. I really do. There is a reason that we raise(inaudible) flag every single day opposite Temple Trees and that all of you do what you do here, which is because we believe in the future of democracy, of stability, and the opportunity for people in other countries to be able to live better lives free from persecution and free from dictatorship, and most importantly, just able to share in the global community’s aspirations for everybody – for all human kind. And the United States is very proud – I’m really proud as Secretary of State – to touch down in various countries and be able to meet you and get a chance to see the people who – the local appointees, the Foreign Service officers, the civil servants, temporary duty, various agencies – all come together to help promote values and interests of our country, but happily, values and interests that match those of so many people in so many parts of the world.

And I’ve got to tell you, I had the privilege of running for president and running around the country, and I met so many people in so many parts of America who contribute as citizens to the building of our country. And I have to tell you, not everybody could tell me they were as satisfied with the job that they had as the people I meet who get to get up every morning and go to work and make life better for other people, and work to carry their country’s interests, and work to represent their nation. And in many cases, those of you who are American, when you meet somebody, you’re an ambassador and you are perhaps the only face of America somebody will meet at that particular moment or maybe for the rest of their life. How you engage with them, what you say, how you carry yourself, what you do is critical to the opinions that people will form about who we are and what we care about.

So whether it’s the granting of the visa, or it’s working out a problem to reunite somebody with their family, or it’s helping somebody find the medical care that they need, or helping to bring people together to help resolve conflict and war, all of those things contribute to the building of community and to the building of the relationship between Sri Lanka and the United States of America.

So I want to say thank you on behalf of our country. I hope you feel good about what you’re doing, because you should. And it’s – I see our assistant secretary. Let me get our assistant secretary up here, Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal. (Applause.) And she does a great job for all of us. And she’s been passionate about making sure that I got out here at some point, and now that I’ve been here I just want to come back and stay longer and get a chance to see (inaudible). (Applause.)

So how many kids do we have here? Kids, come on up here. Come up here and say hi to me. Come here. We’re going to get everybody up here. Come on up here. How are you? What’s your name?

CHILD: Sidney.

SECRETARY KERRY: Sidney, how old are you?

CHILD: Ten.

SECRETARY KERRY: Good. All right, 10. She’s one year younger than I was when my dad went into the Foreign Service and packed my bags and I went off to school in another country. And I said, “Where am I? I don’t know what’s going on.” You having fun? Come on up, guys. Come on up, everybody. You all look so good, I want to show you off. (Laughter.) How are you? What’s your name?

CHILD: Keenan.

SECRETARY KERRY: Keenan, how you doing? How old are you?

CHILD: Eight.

SECRETARY KERRY: Eight. Come on over here, everybody. So everybody get up here, I want a photograph with all of you. You guys don’t want to come up? No? Okay. I don’t blame you; I’d be shy too. Come on up. Who’s the oldest person here? Anybody 11? Nobody’s 11, so 10 is the oldest. Okay. How do you like living here? Do you like living here?

CHILD: (Inaudible.)

SECRETARY KERRY: What?

CHILD: What’s (inaudible)?

SECRETARY KERRY: Do you like living here? Do you love it here?

CHILD: Yeah.

SECRETARY KERRY: Good. Okay. Right answer. (Laughter.) I’m standing here just – anyway. And how do you – do you like school? Are you learning a language? Good. What can you say? (Laughter.) I don’t want to embarrass. I’m sorry. (Laughter.) Who wants to say something? Anybody want to say something in – ooh, can you speak any of the language?

CHILD: A little bit of Spanish and French. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Good for you. How about you, what are you learning?

CHILD: French.

SECRETARY KERRY: French, all right. Yeah, a lot of French. That’s incredible. Hello. How are you? So come on over here, everybody. All the kids, we’re going to pose for a big photograph.

Here’s our photographer here and he’s going to take a picture. Everybody get in here. Big smile. There you are. Turn around. All right. How about a big hand for these kids, guys? (Applause.) Thank you again.

I want you to know you’re very, very lucky, and whatever you do in the rest of your life, living in somebody else’s country and getting to know another culture and another history is something that will serve you well for the rest of your lives, so you should really enjoy it.

Now, quickly before I have to go. I have to go to the airport because I’ve got to fly to Nairobi and I want to have a chance to shake hands and say hello to everybody. Profoundly, from President Obama, from myself, from our country, to all of you local employees, again: thank you for helping our country be able to tell your country who we are; and thank you to everybody else who serves in our Foreign Service, Civil Service or in any way whatsoever. We’re deeply grateful to you.

I want you to know this is a very, very complicated time in the world, and all of the things that we could expect almost automatically during the Cold War – because we grew accustomed to it and because it was simpler, sort of East-West and the big divide of communism and freedom, democracy – that’s been far more complicated now by sectarian divisions, religious divisions, by many forces we’ve released as a result of the freedom that has come to countries, but also as a result of the remarkable level of communications that takes place today. Look at all these mobile devices that are pointing at me now. (Laughter.) I don’t know how many of you are going to tweet or Instagram or do something, but that didn’t exist 10 years ago. And so people now tune in instantaneously. Everybody is a reporter. You can put something up on YouTube and the rest of the world sees it. So there’s so much information coming at people nowadays, it’s hard to manage. It makes things look a little more disorderly in many ways.

So we have to work even harder to get facts to people, to get real choices to people and begin to be able to build consensus around commonsense decisions about how you make a country stronger and how you bring people together, how you resolve differences. And in many cases, because of these communications today, differences are just magnified so much more that, in fact, they may – some of the same things may have existed 20 or 30 years ago, but you didn’t read about them instantaneously. You didn’t see them on a 24-hour cable television show. And so the intensity with which this comes at people changes people’s views – not all for the better, may I say.

So that’s the struggle: How do we break through with commonsense choices, with the opportunities that we want to give people so they can sense that they have actually some control over their lives and some input to their own governments? That’s the great struggle today, and I am personally very, very grateful to all of you for being a part of it. Thank you and God bless. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT ON REPUBLIC OF KOREA CHILDREN'S DAY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
05/04/2015 05:07 PM EDT
The Republic of Korea Children's Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 4, 2015

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I send my very best wishes to the children and families of the Republic of Korea on Children’s Day this May 5. On this day, Korean families around the world, from Seoul to San Francisco, celebrate the blessing of children. While we spend time with our families, we also take the opportunity on this day to reflect on our responsibility to ensure that future generations are able to grow up in a safe, sustainable, and prosperous world. The United States is proud to work with our Korean allies to guarantee that our children have even more opportunities than we enjoy today.

I again send my heartfelt congratulations to the people of the Republic of Korea, and I wish you and your families a joyous day.

WHITE HOUSE PRESS GAGGLE EN ROUTE NEW YORK CITY

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
May 04, 2015
Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Josh Earnest en route New York, New York, 5/4/2015
Aboard Air Force One
En Route New York, New York

11:36 A.M. EDT

MR. EARNEST:  I'll just do a short thing at the top and then we'll go to questions.  Welcome aboard Air Force One for what promises to be an interesting day in New York today.  The first event will be the unveiling of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. This is the business community responding to the President’s call to action to expand opportunity for all and ensure that we're taking steps to address the unique challenges facing many young men of color across the country.

We've mobilized important federal policy responses including early childhood education, mentoring and job training programs.  But as the President said last week in the Rose Garden, we'll all need to do some soul-searching to meet these challenges, and this alliance from the private sector is a good step in the right direction.  We're pleased to have them engaged and working to mobilize the business community as the Obama administration continues to take important steps and do important work in this area.

After the first event, the President will head over to the Ed Sullivan Theater to do an interview with David Letterman.  Letterman, of course, is nearing retirement.  I understand from the Letterman people -- I think this is the President’s eighth appearance on the Letterman program.  So the President is really looking forward to this conversation.  It's yielded interesting an entertaining conversations in the past, so hopefully they will again.

And then this evening, the President has a couple of events that he’s doing in support of the Democratic National Committee. And my colleagues at the DNC can get you the metrics about the number of participants, the amount of money raised.  And there will be press access for the first event where you’ll hear the President’s opening remarks at that event.  The second event is a a much smaller roundtable discussion where the President will not be making formal remarks.  So we'll get you information about the number of attendees and the amount of money raised, but there will be no press access to that one.

So, with that, let me go to your questions.

Q    Can you say a bit about this alliance and the parameters of how it's being set up, and if there’s any concerns about influence on the President while he’s in office with donations, things like that?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, Nedra, as I mentioned at the top, this is the business community responding to the President’s challenge for all of us to do some soul-searching about what we can do to try to help expand opportunity for all Americans.  It's also important and worthy of some additional time and attention for us to be focusing on the unique challenges that are facing young men of color in this country.  And this is essentially a private sector -- this is a private sector alliance where the business community is getting together.

They’re just forming the organization today, and I think they’ll have their first board meeting in conjunction with today’s announcement.  So I think a lot of the work to set up the alliance is still to be done.  But we're obviously pleased to see the business community mobilizing in this way.

And we talked a lot over the last couple of years about the different way that the President of the United States can wield his authority, and some of that is using his pen to sign executive orders and sign legislation into law.  But the President also has a pretty substantial platform to advocate for the kind of change that he’d like to see in the country.  And this is one example of essentially the President using his phone to mobilize the business community in support of national priorities.

So we're obviously gratified by this robust response and look forward to the alliance supporting in the private sector the important work that we’re doing across the administration on this.

Q    Are there any lessons learned from some of the controversy lately with the Clinton Foundation?  I know you talked about the business community.  Like could foreign governments, for instance, make donations to this work, anything like that?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, the Obama administration will have no role in deciding how donations are screened and what criteria they’ll set at the alliance for donor policies because it’s an entirely separate entity.  But obviously they’re in support of a priority that the President has identified.  And, again, we’re pleased that they’re going to do this important work.

This is not a unique arrangement, though.  There are a range of other ways in which the business community has responded to priorities that the Obama administration has identified.  Whether that’s the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative or some of the other job-training kinds of things that the President is trying to advance, we’ve seen the business community respond in meaningful ways, and we’re certainly pleased by that.

As it relates to the specific policies and guidelines for the fundraising priorities, this is something -- or the fundraising policies of the alliance -- this is something that board members of the alliance will have to determine.  But I’m confident that the members of the board are well aware of the President’s commitment to transparency.

Q    Can you just talk about this being a special time?  Did you mean because of what’s been going on in Baltimore, this work could relate to that?

MR. EARNEST:  This is a timely conversation.  I mean, I’ll make clear that this is an event that’s been on the books for the President for a couple of weeks now and predated the latest news that we’ve seen out of Baltimore over the last couple of weeks.  But I think this is an indication of the President’s ongoing commitment to these kinds of issues, that even when it’s not on the front pages of the country’s newspapers, this has been an issue that has been a priority for the President.

Q    Can I ask you about the shooting in Texas?  Does the White House condemn the contest, and do they hold the organizers responsible for inciting violence?

MR. EARNEST:  Let me start by saying that the President was informed last night of the violence outside Dallas.  There is an ongoing local investigation, so I won’t have a whole lot to say about the specific incident.  I will repeat a principle that you’ve heard from me before, which is specifically that there’s no act of expression, even if it’s offensive, that justifies an act of violence.  And, again, there have been -- we have seen extremists try to use expressions that they consider to be offensive as a way to justify violence, not just in this country but around the world. And in the mind of the President, there’s no form of expression that would justify an act of violence.

Let me also say that based on the initial reports about what happened in Texas last night, we saw a pretty important and notable display of bravery on the part of first responders who responded promptly to the situation.  And because of their courage, the only person that was injured by the two gunmen was a security officer who sustained what I understand to be a relatively minor gunshot wound.  And so I think for that, our gratitude goes out to those first responders who acted so bravely and courageously to prevent further bloodshed.

Q    Did the organizers at the event incite violence by having that event?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, again, there’s no act of expression, even if some people might find it offensive, that could justify an act of violence.

Q    Did the President find it offensive to have a contest drawing the prophet?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, I haven’t spoken to the President about it.  I’ll tell you that I was unaware of the event prior to some of the news breaking about the violence that occurred there last night.

Q    Back to the alliance, Josh.  What do you envision the President’s role to be during the rest of his administration and then potentially afterwards?  And then, you mentioned his commitment to transparency.  What does he want to see as their guidelines and rules are being written in terms of disclosure of donations and limits or parameters on who can give?  Nedra mentioned foreign governments.  I also want to ask about registered lobbyists.

MR. EARNEST:  Well, this is an outside group so that is to say the President will not be involved in the work of the alliance.  This is a private sector organization that is mobilizing leaders in the business community to take action.  And so they will be responsible for determining their fundraising policies and the like.  But we’re obviously gratified that they are seeking to coordinate their efforts in support of the important work that the administration is doing on these issues.

That means that the White House will not be involved in determining what their fundraising policies should be.  And so I don’t have a specific challenge to lay out for you, but many of the people who are participating and taking a leadership role in creating the alliance are well aware of the priority that the President has placed on transparency.

That said, I mean, I guess the other thing I’ll say is I am confident that organizations that are seeking to support the work of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance are going to be proud of that work, and they’re going to be proud of their association with that organization, proud of their association of this broader effort.  But, ultimately, those decisions will be made by the members of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.

Q    The President’s name will be associated with it whether he wants to or not.  My Brother’s Keeper is his initiative.  He’s been working on it for many years.  There will be a link at least somewhere, right?

MR. EARNEST:  That could be used to describe hundreds of different organizations.  So we're pleased about the opportunity that the business community is seizing here to be an active participant in this broader effort.  And we certainly are pleased that they're taking these steps to create this alliance.  There’s important work to be done, and we're pleased to have their support.  And I’m confident that there will be some effort to coordinate their activities in support of the important work that's ongoing in the federal government and by the Obama administration.

Q    Can I go back to Baltimore for a second?

MR. EARNEST:  Sure.

Q    So there was a Wall Street Journal survey out today that found that 96 percent of Americans are worried that there’s going to be a riot over the summer.  I was wondering if the President has any specific policies that he’s going to be promoting that will address the kind of violence that we saw in Baltimore last week, and what kind of role this event or organization today can play in that?  If there are specific policies that you can speak to, that would be great.

MR. EARNEST:  Well, as we discussed at the briefing last week, these are issues that the President has been focused on for quite some time.  Even in those rare situations in which the media hasn’t necessarily been focused on them.  And I cited the experience of the President traveling to Baltimore nearly two years ago to some of these same communities that have been the source of so much news in the last couple of weeks.  And I think the President’s commitment to these issues is a longstanding one.

And so the President has talked about how important it is for our kids to be in good learning environments, whether that's high-quality -- all kids having access to high-quality, early childhood education programs.  Moving through the Congress right now is a compromise proposal to put in place some broader reforms of our public education system.  The President has talked about how important it is for us to ensure that every middle-class family and every family that's trying to get into the middle class can afford a college education -- that never before has a college education been more important to reaching the middle class than it is right now.

So there are a broad range of policies that we know would make a difference to addressing some of the concerns that have been on display over the last couple of weeks.  That also includes the implementation of the 21st century task force on policing.  And there’s important implementation work that needs to be done there.  The federal government is supporting a wide range of local law enforcement organizations and local governments as they seek to implement some of those reforms that could seek to strengthen the bonds of trust between local law enforcement organizations and the communities that they're sworn to serve and protect.

So there’s a lot of important work that needs to get done.  And that's obviously why we're gratified to see the strong support and engagement of the business community when it comes to the My Brother’s Keeper initiative.  But this is going to be a subject of ongoing discussion.

And there’s obviously an important role for the Department of Justice to play.  There are senior Department of Justice officials that have an expertise in this area, so we talked about Ron Davis, who’s a senior official at the Department of Justice, spending significant time in Baltimore.  He previously spent time in Ferguson, Missouri to try to work with law enforcement officials as they seek to strengthen the bonds between them and the communities that they serve.

So there’s a lot of important activity that needs to get done.  But I also think the President is mindful of the fact, as he expressed in the Rose Garden last week, that these are challenges that our society has faced for a long time.  And that's why I think the President has both made clear that this is not just a law enforcement problem, but this is a challenge that we all need to do some soul-searching as we seek to confront it. And this is going to require a sustained commitment, and not just paying attention on those moments when it is the focus of attention of the national media.

Q    On the 21st Century Policing Task Force recommendations, when will see which pieces of that the administration will put forward?  Is that review still ongoing? And can you give us an update on when we might see something roll out?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, we can get you the details.  But we rolled out a couple of months ago the specific recommendations that we were seeking for local law enforcement to implement in their communities.  Are you asking about something different?

Q    Sure.  So those are recommendations that were then going to be reviewed before they were officially rolled out, correct?  Or is there no more -- are they reviewing the recommendations, or have they taken those recommendations as they are?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, what these are, these were recommendations that we were making to local law enforcement agencies.  And we’ve already begun the work of working with law enforcement agencies to help them implement them in their communities.  The other part of this was making sure that federal law enforcement agencies were reviewing the recommendations that were applicable to their work and making sure that they're implemented.  And I can tell you that federal law enforcement agencies have already begun to do that.

Q    Okay.  And actually, I wanted to follow up on Angela’s first question about the extent of the President’s involvement with the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.  After today, what will his involvement look like in this particular part of My Brother’s Keeper?  Is he (inaudible) after the speech, or will he get updated on donations, on board meetings?  What will his involvement look like?

MR. EARNEST:  The President won't be involved with the alliance in that way, so he’s not involved in the day-to-day activities of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.  This is a private sector initiative that's being organized and run by important leaders in the business community.  And we're gratified that they’re engaged so deeply in this effort.

I think what principally the outside organization, the alliance will be seeking to do is to support the ongoing efforts of the administration to implement many of these policies and to mobilize private sector support for these priorities.

Q    And one follow-up.  Does he see it as a vehicle potentially for his post-presidency work?

MR. EARNEST:  I wouldn't make that commitment at this point. The President -- I do think you can expect the President will continue to be involved in these issues, but at this point, I would not commit to any sort of involvement by the former President directly in the day-to-day activities of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.

Q    Also, on Texas, you said that the President was informed last night after the gunmen -- that incident.  Has he also been informed that today they have identified Elton Simpson to be one of the gunmen and that he was actually dismissed by a judge in 2010 for making false statements to the FBI on plans that he traveled -- wanted to travel to Somalia to prepare for jihad.  Is that something that the President is aware of?  And is he in touch with the intelligence community about who this person may have been and any affiliations they may have to overseas organizations?

MR. EARNEST:  Let me just say as a general matter, when the President was informed of this incident last night, the President asked to be kept up to date on the latest details of the investigation.  So I'm not in a position to confirm any of the details that have been reported today, but the President is in touch with his team about the ongoing investigation into this incident.

Q    Can I ask about the Morell book?  There are some reports that he says that the White House embellished some of the CIA talking points on Benghazi.  Can you respond to that?  And also his discussion of al Qaeda and how they underestimated the threat, rebounding after the Arab Spring?

MR. EARNEST:  I've seen some of the reporting of the book; I haven't read it.  I am told by people who have read the book that Mr. Morell is pretty definitive about there being no evidence of any sort of political interference in the Benghazi situation.  And that's what we have said publicly for a long time, and based on what I know of his book, what he reports in there is consistent with what we've said publicly.

I did notice that what got most of the attention was sort of his observation or his view that he probably -- that he certainly would know better than I about the way in which the intelligence community has analyzed and even predicted the fallout of the Arab Spring.  And the President has been very mindful since the first day of coming into office that his top priority as President of the United States is keeping the American people safe, and the President has been very mindful of the threat that is posed by al Qaeda.

And because of steps taken by the administration and because of the good work by our intelligence community, we have made significant progress in decimating core al Qaeda.  But there continues to be a significant and persistent threat from some of the widely distributed al Qaeda networks across the globe, and we have seen evidence that some of those al Qaeda networks have sought to capitalize on the chaotic situation in the Middle East and in some countries in the Middle East to try to gain a foothold.

And we're mindful of that threat and it's one that we watch very closely.  And it's because of the hard and important work of our intelligence professionals that we have been so impactful in mitigating the threat from those al Qaeda networks.  And that's work that continues 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Q    We're about to land, but can you give us a quick outlook on TPA for this week?   The President worked hard last week pushing Democrats on that.  What’s next?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, I would anticipate that the administration, including the President, will continue to be engaged in making the case to members of Congress -- Democrats and Republicans -- about the potential that exists for trade promotion authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership to benefit our broader economy and to benefit middle-class families all across the country.  And he’ll continue to make that case in public later this week.  But I’m confident there will be additional conversations where he’ll make that case in private, as well.

Q    Thank you.

END
11:56 A.M. EDT

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO: Teacher of the Year Finalists Reflect on President Obama's Free Communit...

NSF VIDEO: DISCOVER MADE BENEATH ANTARCTICA'S MCMURDO DRY VALLEYS

NSC STATEMENT ON MEETING WITH UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR YEMEN

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
May 02, 2015
Statement by NSC Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan on Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco's Meeting with United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed

On May 1st, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Lisa Monaco, met with incoming United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, for consultations as he begins his new role.  Ms. Monaco underscored the importance the United States places on rapidly shifting from the military conflict in Yemen to all-party negotiations under UN auspices, and offered strong U.S. support for Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed’s efforts.  She noted that this shift would allow Yemen to resume the inclusive political transition process outlined in the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative, the National Dialogue outcomes, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions and focus on combatting al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula.

The United States strongly believes that all of Yemen's communities have important roles to play in the country's peaceful governance.  They also discussed the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen.  Ms. Monaco expressed U.S. determination to support the unimpeded delivery of badly needed food, medicine, and other supplies to the people of Yemen who are suffering.  She reinforced that the United States is working closely with humanitarian aid organizations, governments, and others to facilitate access and the urgent delivery of assistance to those in need.  Finally, Ms. Monaco and Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed agreed that all Yemenis must come together in a political dialogue to serve the needs of the Yemeni people and counter the shared threat from al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula, which is exploiting the crisis.

COMCAST TO PAY ALMOST $190 MILLION TO RESOLVE RACE AND SEX DISCRIMINATION CASE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Comcast Corporation settles charges of sex and race discrimination
Company will pay nearly $190K in back wages and interest to 96 former and current female employees and 100 minority job applicants; reform hiring practices

SEATTLE — Comcast Corporation has entered into a conciliation agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to resolve allegations of sex and race discrimination.

OFCCP investigators determined that between March 2006 and September 2007 in Everett, Washington, Comcast violated Executive Order 11246 by steering 96 women into lower-paying positions that assisted customers with cable services rather than higher-paid positions providing customer assistance for Internet services because these positions were considered "technical."

Investigators also established that Comcast disproportionately rejected 100 African American, Asian, and Hispanic applicants for call center jobs because its hiring tests were neither uniformly applied nor validated as related to the job. This resulted in systemic hiring discrimination on the basis of race. Comcast Corporation is a federal contractor.

"Sex-based compensation discrimination and race-based hiring discrimination are not only illegal, they also hurt our economy," said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. "We cannot build an economy that works for everyone by depriving women and minorities of opportunities to get ahead."

The notices of violation were issued March 22, 2011. After a lengthy conciliation process, an agreement was reached on April 30, 2015. The agreement requires Comcast to:

Pay a total of $53,633.48 in back pay and interest to 96 current and former female employees;

Pay $133,366.52 in back pay and interest to 100 African-American, Asian and Hispanic applicants; and Hire up to 31 members of the affected class as call center positions become available, to immediately correct any discriminatory practices, and to undertake self-monitoring measures to ensure that all compensation practices fully comply with the law.

The Comcast Corporation is a global media and technology company. It is also the largest provider of video, high-speed Internet, and phone services to residential customers in the United States. The company also provides these services to business customers and in federal facilities and installations.

In addition to Executive Order 11246, OFCCP enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. These three laws require those that do business with the federal government, both contractors and subcontractors, to follow the fair and reasonable standard that they not discriminate in employment on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or status as a protected veteran.

CURRENT AND FORMER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS INDICTED FOR ALLEGED PARTICIPATION IN DRUG TRAFFICKING CONSPIRACY

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Thirteen Current and Former Law Enforcement Officers and Two Others Indicted for their Alleged Participation in a Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

Thirteen current and former law enforcement officers and two other individuals have been indicted and arrested for allegedly protecting narcotics shipments and cash proceeds during transit along the east coast for what they believed was a large-scale drug trafficking organization that was actually an undercover operation by the FBI.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker of the Eastern District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte, North Carolina, Division made the announcement.

“Corruption in local government – especially involving law enforcement – threatens the social compact that binds our communities together,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “When the officer with a gun and a badge is no different from the trafficker peddling drugs in the street, we all suffer.  That is why the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners in North Carolina and throughout the country are determined to root out corruption, wherever and in whatever form it may be found.”

“The actions by these individuals are particularly troubling due to their current and past affiliation with law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Walker.  “Their alleged conduct was reprehensible and my office will not tolerate this kind of corruption in our district.  I am grateful for the outstanding work of the FBI Special Agents who investigated this case.”

“They vowed to protect and serve, but instead these deputies and correctional officers sold their badges and used their law enforcement positions to line their own pockets,” said Special Agent in Charge Strong.  “Public corruption at any level is the number one criminal priority of the FBI and we will work aggressively to protect the public trust.”

All 15 defendants are charged with conspiring to distribute controlled substances and conspiring to use and carry firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking offenses.  Other charges against certain defendants include attempted extortion, attempted possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, money laundering, federal programs bribery and use and carry of firearms during and in relation to crimes of violence and drug trafficking offenses.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations.  The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Charlotte Division, Raleigh Resident Agency and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, with assistance from the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Lauren Bell and Menaka Kalaskar of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian S. Meyers of the Eastern District of North Carolina.

SECRETARY KERRY'S PRESS AVAILABILITY IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Press Availability in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Taj Samudra Hotel
Colombo, Sri Lanka
May 2, 2015

SECRETARY KERRY: Good evening, everybody. Thank you for being patient; I appreciate it. So let me begin by thanking our very gracious host today. I’m very grateful to the president, the foreign minister, the prime minister for their generous welcome. President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, and Foreign Minister Samaraweera – each of them were very optimistic and hopeful about the possibilities of our cooperation going forward. And I was really delighted to be surrounded by their energy and their focus on delivering on the promises they’ve made and the hopes of people that were expressed in the historic election that took place. I’m also very pleased to be here because the – this is an island nation of extraordinary beauty, remarkable culture, extraordinary people. And I wish especially after my brief visit to the temple that I would’ve had more time to enjoy all of that diversity, particularly at this moment of the holiday which is taking place and being celebrated tomorrow.

It’s also the Vesak Poya holiday – I gather the lanterns are all lit and held, and it’s a sight to behold. But maybe tonight we’ll be able to sneak out and catch a few people getting ready for tomorrow.

This is my first visit here and it’s a privilege to be able to come at this critical moment of transition, and it’s the first visit by an American Secretary of State since Colin Powell was here during the tsunami very briefly, and the first official visit in which all of the ministers and everybody have been part of meetings, and not been able to spend time since a Secretary of State 43 years ago. So it’s an especially opportune moment to strengthen the ties between our countries.

Now, before I begin, I want to just say a quick word, if I may, about the situation in Nepal. The devastation caused by the April 25th earthquake remains very much on our minds. I called our ambassador yesterday and had a good conversation with him about the efforts of all of our embassy personnel and local employees, many of whom literally had to shift to the embassy building, which is earthquake resistant, and live there for several days and eat there and work out of there. They’ve been doing a very capable and courageous job of working with the influx of rescuers and others, and we are working now very hard to help get additional assistance there. Obviously, the death toll has kept rising, and everybody has seen on television the horrendous images of children and families torn about, homes absolutely destroyed, the entire community ripped apart. And I think that we all know that rebuilding is going to take quite some period of time and an extraordinary amount of effort.

It is heart-rendering, however – it is really encouraging to see the way in which Sri Lanka and many other countries in the region – India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and others – are all coming together to support Nepal during this crisis. And the United States is intending on doing its part to try to be helpful. I think to date we put in some $22.5 million. USAID has also deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team. An additional urban Search and Rescue Team and accompanying disaster experts are assisting with the assessments of the situation. And we stand ready to provide additional assistance and work with all of the countries in the region.

Tragedies of this magnitude underscore in many ways that in the 21st century, next door is everywhere. And we all have a stake in everybody else’s success. And I want to congratulate the people of Sri Lanka for their steps to that end. Let me come back to Sri Lanka for a moment. The elections that took place on January 8th were really extraordinary. And the election commissioner, the civil servants, the police and security officials all deserve an enormous amount of credit for ensuring a free and fair election. But most of all, I want to congratulate on behalf of the American people the citizens, the people of Sri Lanka who turned out in record numbers from all corners of the country in order to reclaim Sri Lanka’s traditions of critical debate, free press, and an independent civil society.

I’m told there is a Sri Lankan proverb that says “wisdom can be found when traveling.” And it was the quest for knowledge and information that brought me here and a discussion with senior leaders today. And I think I heard some wisdom. The president, the prime minister, the foreign minister and I covered a lot of ground over the course of the day – economic assistance, economic development, the attraction of foreign investment, the reform process, the reconciliation process, regional issues, the situation in the Maldives – many different issues. But we had a particular focus on the government’s reform and reconciliation agenda.

As I outlined in my speech this afternoon, reconciliation is a difficult task with many components. And I urged the foreign minister to work with the ICRC – International Red Cross – and the UN in order to investigate missing person cases and to search for answers wherever they may lead, and however painful in some cases the truth may be. They talked to me about a truth commission and other efforts, developing the process, working the UN. And I know they are really deeply committed to working this through. The foreign minister and I agreed that the voices of civil society are essential to secure a lasting peace. And that also includes particularly the voices of women.

The foreign minister and I also discussed the government’s effort to strengthen Sri Lanka’s judiciary. Now, this is a long-term undertaking that requires high standards for judicial independence, fairness, and due process under the law. And these reforms are also difficult, but they’re also essential. The prime minister summed up the challenge when he said: “The best way to avoid a relapse into conflict and arbitrary rule is to ensure that Sri Lanka’s leaders are held accountable through representative institutions.” And we could not agree more.

That’s why the United States is ready to help asset recovery and the enforcement of anti-corruption rules. It’s why we continue to urge the government to release remaining political prisoners. And it’s why we’re prepared to furnish whatever legal and technical assistance Sri Lanka may need as it moves down this path in the days ahead.

Finally, we also reviewed important regional issues, as I mentioned a moment ago, such as maritime security, the economic integration of the region, clean energy, climate change, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor, which will connect South to Southeast Asia and spur sustainable development in both regions.

So Sri Lanka is at a pivotal point. Peace has come, but true reconciliation will take time. Institutions of governance are gaining strength, but further progress needs to be made. No part of this transition will be easy. But with a clear vision and firm commitment, I am absolutely confident that Sri Lanka will keep moving forward and the United States looks forward to being at its side as it does.

I’d be delighted to take a couple questions.

MS HARF: Is this on? Okay, there we go. The first question is from Ms. Manjula of the Sunday Observer. There’s your mike.

QUESTION: I’m Manjula. I’m with the Sunday Observer. (Inaudible) see your visit as interference --

SECRETARY KERRY: Can you hold it a little closer so it will be clear? Thank you.

QUESTION: Gladly. Question: Anyone see your visit as interference in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs?

SECRETARY KERRY: I’m delighted to answer that question for the simple reason that I came at the invitation of the prime minister, the president, and the foreign minister, who visited me specifically in Washington to lay out many of these challenges and to ask me if I would pay a visit and help – if our government would help Sri Lanka on this journey. The second reason why it is not is that everything that we are talking about, we are offering, not demanding. Everything that we have suggested is exactly that – a suggestion. And I think if you heard my speech today, I spoke with great respect and great sensitivity to the path that Sri Lankans have chosen. This is up to Sri Lankans, not us. And I also, thirdly, reiterated to every minister I met with and the president that the United States is not here to ask Sri Lanka to align with anyone, to refuse to have any other relationship or to involve itself somehow in other kinds of politics.

We welcome the strong relationship of Sri Lanka with any country in the world that Sri Lanka wants to have a relationship with. What we do care about is the democracy, that the people of Sri Lanka have asked for. And we came here to affirm the commonality of our values that tie us together, the commonality of our hopes and aspirations. And I think you would have to ask the foreign minister, the prime minister, and the president whether they viewed anything that was suggested today as interference, and I think they’d tell you no, it was welcome, and they look forward to the next visit; in fact, offered an invitation to President Obama to come as soon as he might be able to.

MS HARF: And the last question is from Rosiland Jordan with Al Jazeera English. The mike is right behind you.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I have one question. Is Yemen on the verge of becoming a failed state? And if not, what reassurances do you and others in the Administration have that it can survive the current crisis?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, we don’t have an assurance yet. But I would not yet say that the verdict is in on what Yemen is going to be, because we are trying very hard, working with the UN, working with our friends in the region, particularly with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – we are working hard to secure a negotiated process through the UN which will bring the parties together, Yemenis, to negotiate the future of Yemen. And if that can happen, then it obviously has the opportunity to hold itself together, to resolve a way in which all of the interests within the country can be represented.

Many other countries have stated that it is their desire to see this political solution take place. Iran has publicly made suggestions that they’d like to see a negotiation, that they think it could be resolved through that, but would like to see it resolved that way. European countries – France, Germany, Britain, others – have all weighed in. The EU has suggested it needs to be resolved that way. So as long as that is yet untested and un-failed, I think all of us have hopes that Yemen can find a path forward.

Now, it’s not going to be easy; many things have to happen. We believe that one of those things is – and the Saudis have suggested that they would be prepared to (inaudible) humanitarian assistance in and want to do so. So hopefully the modality can be found to be able to get humanitarian assistance according to the Saudi thoughts on that in in a way that can alleviate the shortage of food, the shortage of fuel, the shortage of medicine, and then, using that time period to begin to open up the possibilities of a political resolution. That’s our hope. But we’re having discussions over the course of every day right now in order to push towards this. And our hope is that the UN process may be able to actually take hold before too long and we will continue to work on that as hard as we can.

MS HARF: Great. Thank you all very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all very much.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Strengthening the U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership for Human Rights and Lasting Peace
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Taj Samudra Hotel
Colombo, Sri Lanka
May 2, 2015

SECRETARY KERRY: Mangala, thank you very, very much. Thank you for a wonderful introduction, notwithstanding that you reminded me that I disappointed you in 2004. (Laughter.) I disappointed myself and a few other people.

I am really happy to be here (inaudible) and I’m very happy to welcome all of you here. No, you are welcoming me – it’s a mutual welcome, admiration, effort. And I can’t thank Mangala and Sri Lanka enough for the very generous welcome that you gave me this morning when I first came here. I came over to that historic building that is now the foreign ministry. Thank you for that, my friend.

I also want to thank you for your remarkable efforts – yours and the president’s and prime minister’s – on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka. And I thank you for something else. A week ago I was in northern Canada, just below the Arctic Circle, not far from the Arctic Ocean, where I was assuming the chairmanship of the Arctic Council. And I want you to know it is a welcome change to enjoy the warm weather here. (Laughter.) I didn’t see a lot of igloos around, happily.

I also want to say thank you to all of you who have come here – students, educators, civil society activists, religious leaders, and to everyone from the government, the diplomatic community, and the private sector who has committed time to be here to share some thoughts this afternoon.

It is fitting that we gather today under the auspices of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute. Lakshman was, to put it simply, a brave man and a good man. He rejected recrimination in favor of reconciliation. He knew that the future demanded that his country move beyond the more difficult chapters of its past. And he devoted his last years to healing Sri Lanka and to leading it to its rightful place within the community of nations. He said wisely, “We have to live in Sri Lanka as Sri Lankans, tolerating all races and religions.”

So many of you here are the fathers and mothers of this vision. But as any parent will tell you, your obligations don’t end with a child’s birth; they’re just beginning. Sri Lanka’s newfound civil peace has to be nurtured; it must be allowed to grow and become stronger until it is, in fact, fully mature.

If Lakshman Kadirgamar was here and he had lived to see this new era, I know he would be inspired by the people of this country – Sinhalese and Tamil, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, and Muslim. He would see the possibilities of a Sri Lanka reconciled, democratic, and prosperous, with a united and entrepreneurial people dedicated to making their country a shining jewel of the Indian Ocean and of the broader Indo-Pacific. The United States, I am here to tell you, believes in that vision. We believe in the potential of Sri Lanka, the potential of Sri Lanka’s people – and I mean all of its people. And I can assure you that the United States, that America will stand with you by your side as you build a stronger democracy and a future that is marked by peace and prosperity after so many years of suffering and hardship.

Now, I don’t have to tell you that history. You know it; you’ve lived it. You’ve experienced it for 30 years. Terrorism, sectarian violence, suffering, death, anger, disappearances, moments of hope followed by more loss, more hate, and more fear.

Having gone to war myself, as Mangala mentioned, not very far from here, I know the tragic truth that in peacetime, children bury their parents, but in wartime, parents bury their children. Sri Lanka has known too many generations of parents forced to bury children.

Let me be very clear about this: It is sometimes necessary to go to war, despite the pain it brings. For all of my country’s disagreements with the previous government in Sri Lanka over how it fought the LTTE, we clearly understood the necessity of ridding this country of a murderous terrorist group and the fear that it sowed.

I believe that you learned in the final, bloody days of that struggle what my country discovered to our own anguish during our civil war: There were no true victors – only victims. You saw, I trust, that it is obvious the value of ending wars in a way that builds a foundation for the peace to follow.

And I know you recognize today that the true peace is more than the absence of war. True and lasting peace, especially after a civil conflict, requires policies that foster reconciliation, not resentment. It demands that all citizens of the nation be treated with equal respect and equal rights, and that no one be made to feel excluded or subjugated. It calls for a military that projects its power outward to protect its people, not inward to police them.

It necessitates, as America’s great president Abraham Lincoln said, binding up the nation’s wounds, with malice towards none and with charity towards all.

Today, there are young people in this country who are experiencing peace for the first time in their lives. We need to hope, we need to make certain that they will know anything – that they will never know anything except for peace.

And that isn’t easy – recovering from conflict, believe me, never is easy. Under President Sirisena’s leadership, Sri Lanka’s traditions of critical debate, free press, and independent civil society are returning. The armed forces have started to give back land to people in the north. Your citizens have been asked to mourn all the dead – not just those from one part of the country or one ethnicity or one faith. Incidents of violence have decreased.

The government has stood up against hate speech and created a presidential task force on reconciliation led by former President Kumaratunga. And just this week, the parliament passed and the president championed, as Mangala said, a constitutional amendment that actually limits the powers of his office. Promise made; promise kept.

Now, the problems of Sri Lanka are clearly going to be solved by Sri Lankans. That’s the way it ought to be, but it’s also the only way it’s going to work. And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

But if – but we also know that, in today’s world, everyone and everything is connected. And when we are connected unlike any time in history – everybody’s walking around, even in places where they’re poor, with a smartphone and a cellphone; they’re in touch, they’re in touch with the world. So if there are steps the United States can take to help, we will do so. I know you have your own plan and your own notions about what is necessary, and by no means whatsoever do we intend to try to usurp that or evade that or dismiss that. That would be inappropriate and unwise at the same time. But we do have some suggestions, as friends. And let’s offer four possible areas for cooperation.

First – reconciliation. The majority of you voted for a government that is committed to the difficult task of literally healing the wounds of war. But that’s a difficult job with many components.

Years ago, I want you to know that when I was a member of the United States Senate – in the early years in the ‘90s, Mangala– I was put in charge of an investigation to try to determine the fate of American soldiers, sailors, and aviators who were still missing from the Vietnam War during the 1960s and the 1970s. The families of those in America whose loved ones had been lost were desperately trying to get answers from the government and demanding answers, and they had every right to do so. And we knew that it was impossible for us to try to move forward if we didn’t try to provide those answers. So we did everything possible that there was to try to find out what happened to their loved ones. I traveled to Vietnam something like 17 or 20 times in the span of two years, working with the Vietnamese to let us into their history houses, to their museums, to their documents – even to interview with the generals that we had fought against to see if we could provide those answers.

So we experienced the same emotions and the same search for answers that are present in your country today. And that is why it is so critical for your government to work with the ICRC and the UN in order to investigate missing person cases and try wherever you can – I can’t guarantee it; nobody can that you’ll find the answer for sure – but try to find wherever the truth may lead. No matter how painful that truth is. It’s the right and the humane thing to do – and it is, believe it or not, an essential part of the healing process.

Now, reconciliation obviously doesn’t happen all at once; it requires time and concrete actions. And those have to replace the suspicion with mutual trust and mutual fears have to be replaced with mutual confidence. I want you to know that the United States stands ready to be a partner with you in that effort.

We’ll do all we can to support the government as it makes progress in such areas as returning land, limiting the role of the military in civilian life, and trying to provide the answers on disappeared people. None of us wants to live in a country where the military is stopping its own citizens at checkpoints. And Sri Lanka’s military has so much more to contribute in defending this country, protecting vital sea lanes, and taking part in UN peacekeeping missions all over the world. And as your armed forces make that transition, we’re going to be very eager to work with you and to work with them and to help.

That said, the job of bringing Sri Lankans together also cannot be done by the government alone. So it matters what you say, it matters what people say, and that they have the right to say it. It matters what civil society – that many of you here represent – what you have to say. It matters what religious groups are saying and what they’re able to accomplish, and that they have the freedom to be able to move to do so. And it matters what communities are able to do in order to fix the kind of social problems that impact everyone – from promoting health care and a clean environment to countering domestic violence and drug use – and that the central government trusts people to take the lead.

Now in all this – some may think this goes without saying, but in too many parts of the world it doesn’t – the women of Sri Lanka are playing a critical role, and must. They are helping the needy and the displaced. They’re encouraging people to build secure and prosperous neighborhoods. They are supporting ex-combatants and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and they’re providing counseling and other social services. And these efforts are absolutely vital and we should all support them.

But we also have to do more than that. Here, as in every country, it’s crystal clear that for any society to thrive, women have to be in full control – they have to be full participants in the economics and in the political life. There is no excuse in the 21st century for discrimination or violence against women. Not now, and not ever.

Now, that brings me to the second area of possible cooperation on justice and accountability. Restoring your country’s judiciary is a long-term undertaking that requires high standards for judicial independence, fairness, and due process under the law. Those reforms are often difficult to achieve anyway – we’re still working on some things in our system, believe me; you can see some of it on television – not easy, but it is absolutely essential to be open and honest about trying to do it. Every citizen has a right to seek justice, and every citizen has a right to expect justice for victims of war crimes or crimes against humanity. They’re painful issues; I know that. But if you try to compel people to simply forget the past and try to wipe it away, believe me: They will be more likely, not less, to cling to it. And if you tell them to forego justice under the law, they will be more likely to seek it outside of the law. It will be harder, not easier, to move forward as one country at peace.

And that is why we hope your government will continue to cooperate with the United Nations as it explores the best way to mount a credible domestic investigation into allegations of human rights abuses – an investigation that meets international standards and at the same time, and most importantly, is legitimate in your eyes, in the eyes of the people here. The United States is prepared to furnish whatever legal, whatever technical assistance, whatever help we can to support Sri Lanka as it moves down this path.

A third area where we can work together is the advancement of human rights, here and around the world. The new government that you’ve elected is laser focused on establishing a strong reputation for your country on human rights. And the United States could not be more supportive of that goal. Until just recently, our diplomats routinely clashed with yours on these issues at the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the UN in New York. Now, with the new government, with the turning of this critical page, we have an opportunity to work together. But we also continue to urge your government to release remaining political prisoners, and we would be pleased to assist in those efforts by sending a team of legal experts to advise on assessment and release, which is a critical component of the documents that have to be made in that.

And I say this fully mindful of the fact – believe me – no nation, including the United States, has a perfect record on human rights. We all have to do our best in order to improve. And I hope that the momentum that has been created in Sri Lanka will continue to build, and I’m confident that with the government you have and their commitments reiterated to me today, I have no doubt that you will.

Now, a final challenge on which our two governments may be able to work together is the strengthening of democratic institutions. Here, you have a very strong foundation on which to build. Your former president reminded me that they had lunch, that you had the first – the longest serving supreme court in all of Asia, and that you have one of the oldest parliaments. You have this extraordinary foundation on which to build. We simply offer our support to help you in any way that we can on this effort of capacity building and the challenge of restoring the tradition that you have always had with respect to the fullness of your democracy. We want to help support you in the upcoming electoral processes. Timely elections will be yet another sign of the government following through on its commitments.

Now, the people of Sri Lanka deserve great credit for the recent elections. And I want to congratulate all of you. They’re quite remarkable. You turned out in huge numbers to exercise your rights. Every vote was a victory for your country. And you insisted on historic reforms, including a constitutional amendment that was just restoring the independence of the electoral commission. But hard work remains, my friends, including devolving power to the provinces. The United States stands ready to provide technical assistance to make it easier to implement these measures and to strengthen such critical institutions as the ministries and parliament. We’re also ready to help with asset recovery and the enforcement of anti-corruption rules. Our investigators are prepared to work with your investigators. Our prosecutors are prepared to work with your prosecutors. And we commit that any stolen assets in the United States will be returned to their rightful owners.

We’ve seen in recent decades that free countries can learn from one another, and that, to prosper, they have to be prepared to help one another. And that is why I’m pleased to announce that our governments will launch a partnership dialogue to intensify our cooperation across the board. President Obama has nominated a new ambassador, and as a symbol of our renewed commitment to this relationship, I am happy to announce that we are going to build a new embassy compound. And our partnership dialogue and expanded bilateral assistance will help consolidate Sri Lanka’s very impressive gains. We also want to do this in a spirit of friendship and mutual respect. We’re not doing this as part of any global countering or whatever – make your choices. That’s your right as independent people. But we appreciate and respect and admire the steps that have been taken by you to give yourself a government that wants to restore that government. And in any way that we can help, we stand ready to do so.

So to sum up, Sri Lanka is at a pivotal point. Peace has come, but true reconciliation will take time. Your institutions of governance are regaining strength, but further progress will have to be made. The United States will help when and where we can. And no part of this transition, obviously, will be easy, but if Sri Lanka keeps moving forward, I have every confidence it will take its rightful place of respect and of influence on the world stage.

Sri Lankans should take enormous pride – I’m sure you do – in what has been happening within your borders. But every nation also has to look beyond its borders as well.

For Sri Lankans, that’s nothing new. Your country sits at the crossroads of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. And for centuries, it’s served as a gateway for merchant ships. The Indian Ocean is the world’s most important commercial highway. Today, 40 percent of all seaborne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz and half of the world’s merchant fleet capacity sails through the Straits of Malacca. And with its strategic location near deep-water ports in India and Myanmar, Sri Lanka could serve as the fulcrum of a modern and dynamic Indo-Pacific region.

The questions now are: How do we get there and what role can the United States play in that journey? Well, let me answer that question by saying that we see our role partly as a leader, because we have a strong economy and an ability to be able to project, but also we see our role as a convener, and most importantly, as a partner.

The United States is already providing leadership on maritime security in the India Ocean in association with close friends and allies across the region, including India, Australia, Indonesia, and Japan. And that requires, in part, a focus on counter-piracy and counter-trafficking operations. It requires investments in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, so that the next big storm doesn’t inflict catastrophic damage on coastal communities. The United States and Sri Lanka are also working together to oppose the use of intimidation or force to assert a territorial or maritime claim by anyone. And we reject any suggestion that freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea and airspace are somehow privileges granted by big states to small ones. They’re not privileges; they’re rights. And these principles bind all nations equally. And the recent decision by India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh to submit to binding arbitration – that’s an example of how maritime claims can be resolved peacefully and through good-faith negotiations.

Now, I’ve said convene also – is a convener. The United States is also a convener when it comes to promoting economic integration. South Asia is one of the globe’s least economically integrated regions. Trade among its countries amounts to some 5 percent of total trade and the cost of doing business across borders due to non-tariff barriers, import duties, and bottlenecks at border crossings is a huge impediment to growth.

That is why the United States is promoting the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor to connect South Asia to Southeast Asia and to spur sustainable development in both regions. IPEC will strengthen energy, transit, trade, and people-to-people ties – on land and sea. And the challenge is: What’s the pace going to be of this integration? If commerce across South Asia is going to become the economic driver that it ought to be, governments have to act with urgency, not settle for half-measures or wait for the next country to go first. And we look forward to working with the Sri Lankan Government as it increases trade and investment with its neighbors in the Indian Ocean and beyond.

So the United States I’ve described as a leader and convener. Most importantly, though, I want to talk about being a partner. We’re a partner in something like disaster relief, climate change, clean energy. Here in Sri Lanka, you lived through the devastating impact of the 2004 tsunami. I’ll never forget hearing the news. The images are absolutely extraordinary, gut-wrenching –entire towns obliterated; raging waters sweeping away people’s homes; hundreds of thousands killed and many more separated from families.

And after the devastation, the American people moved quickly and generously to provide relief. And I’m proud that the United States Marines were among the first responders in the recovery efforts. And USAID alone provided about $135 million of assistance, with many millions more coming from the American people’s personal donations.

The earthquake that caused the tsunami was unprecedented in its destructive impact. And as searing as images from Kathmandu this week remind us, the nations of this region have to find common cause in enhancing the preparedness for natural disasters. But we also know that because of climate change, we’re actually going to be facing more frequent and intense disasters across the board. I’m not drawing that out of thin air, and I hate to be the bearer of that kind of a warning, but it’s science that’s telling us – the IPCC of the United Nations, the world’s scientists. And we’re seeing the changes already in so many different places, including the Arctic, that I visited the other day. So the United States stands ready to help respond and prevent climate change by leading the world towards a global agreement at the end of this year in Paris.

I can’t tell whether one storm – nobody can – or another storm specifically was caused by climate change, but I can tell you that scientists are telling us unequivocally that there will be more storms of greater intensity unless we stop and reverse course in what we are doing to send greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Now, some people might shrug their shoulders and just say, “Well, there’s nothing that I can do about it.” That’s not true. There’s something everybody can do about it. In fact, all of us know exactly what we have to do. The solution to climate change is a transformed energy policy. Just as climate change presents the United States, Sri Lanka, and the region with a common threat, my friends, the need to develop secure and sustainable energy sources presents us with a remarkable shared opportunity – the greatest market in the history of humankind. It’s an opportunity to make the right choices about conservation, about wind power, or solar power, hydro – which you have, significantly – about fuel and utility standards, about efficiency standards, about building codes, about transportation. And we can – and with all those things – reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and save ourselves, save the planet, literally, from a catastrophe that would be the unrestrained effects of climate change.

Good energy solutions are good climate solutions. And the market represents a multi-trillion dollar opportunity, with 4 to 5 billion users around the world today. Just so you have a little comparison on that, the market of the 1990s that drove our economy to the greatest wealth creation since the early 1900s was a $1 trillion market, not multitrillion. And it had one billion users. And that was the technology, communications market. The energy market is 6, 7 trillion now and rising – maybe 9 by the mid part of the century. By 2040, investment in the energy sector is expected to reach nearly $20 trillion. That’s a lot of money, my friends – that’s a lot of jobs. So we want to see clean, accessible energy be the biggest slice of the economic pie.

Now, of course, Sri Lanka is much more of a marketplace for clean energy. It is much more than simply a market to attract clean energy, and you know that, and I know that. It’s a cultural model; it’s a huge economic mosaic. It could well become, as you march down this road with the effectiveness you have been these days, a model for democracy and the restoration of democracy. It could show unity in remarkable ways to the region. We see even now, regrettably, that there are signs – troubling signs that democracy is under threat in Maldives, where former President Nasheed has been imprisoned without due process. And that is an injustice that must be addressed soon. But Sri Lanka’s story carries the promise that people can hold their government accountable, use peaceful dissent, use the power of the ballot box and change the course of history. And we can already see here the power of that promise.

We see it in the hard work of a Sinhalese mother who struggles to give her child a good education. We see it in the dignity that comes when a young Tamil man secures a job in which he can take pride. We see it in the common desire of all Sri Lankans to live in a safe neighborhood and a secure nation. We see it in the demand that leaders protect the rights of people and be responsive to the basic needs and aspirations. Those are the values that connect all of us across every boundary, no matter our history, no matter our background, no matter our beliefs and our creed. That’s who we are. Now, I want to leave you with just one story of that kind of belief today.

Karthika is from a Tamil Hindu family. When she was 14, the Tigers kidnapped her and sent her north to Jaffna. She was forced to carry a gun and move through the jungle. She was given barely enough food to survive. And in a firefight one day, bullets and shrapnel blinded her in one eye. For 11 years, her family had no idea whether she was alive or dead.

Eventually, Karthika escaped that hell by fleeing through areas of heavy fighting. She returned home, but in many ways, her struggle was only just beginning. She had limited education, limited skills, having spent half her life surrounded by war. She had few friends, and even fewer prospects to find a job or even to start a life.

After several false starts, Karthika found a USAID program in the Eastern Province that offered her a way out. She trained for months and learned the skills she needed to get her a job in a new garment factory. She started earning an income. And she made an effort to befriend women from the Sinhalese community, something that would have been unimaginable for her just a few short years ago. Asked why she was able to find hope when others didn’t, Karthika said very simply, “Now, it has changed.”

My friends, everywhere there is an injustice, there are men and women who are ready to be the Karthikas of their moment. Men and women who survive a war that wrecks families, and then build their own. Men and women who see what the worst of what people can do, and then dedicate their lives to finding the best in others. You have all borne the costs of war. It’s now time for you to experience and hold onto the benefits of peace. “Now, it has changed” is a claim that each and every one of you can make together. And I am certain that you will make it a proud claim – a badge of merit and honor and success that will be heard and seen by your neighbors and friends all across the globe.

So thank you once again for welcoming me here. It’s an honor for me to be here at this point in your history. And I can tell you that we will not walk away from our pledge to work with you, to go together on this road and on this journey. Good luck to all. Godspeed on the road ahead. Thank you. (Applause.)