FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at Visit to a USAID High Impact Microfinance Infrastructure Initiative Site
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Manger Square, Bethlehem
November 6, 2013
MAYOR BABOUN: (Via interpreter) Yes. Your Excellency, Mr. John Kerry, Secretary of the United States; His Excellency, Dr. Mustafa, Deputy Prime Minister and representative of the President; Your Excellencies and eminent attendees and distinguished audience, on behalf of myself and on behalf of the municipality of Bethlehem and the people and residents of the City of the Nativity, I would like to welcome you in the city of peace, the Nativity of Jesus Christ.
Allow me at the beginning to praise the role of the United States and its incessant efforts in making peace in the Holy Land, and also in supporting economical development projects in Palestine on the whole and in the city of Bethlehem in particular. USAID is considered to be our primary and closest partner. It works on developing vital sectors in the city of Bethlehem, especially infrastructure, tourism, public services, and it also assists us through its implementing agencies, including (inaudible). It participates in putting down a smart and effective plan for the future of the city, thus contributing to the restoration of the glory of Bethlehem and making it a bright star in the skies of the world.
Your Excellency, Secretary of State, your visit to the city of Bethlehem carries a very noble message. It comes at a time when the city of peace, the capital of peace, is suffering from a very painful situation. There is a war that is besieging it and there are settlements that are being built on the land of its citizens. And more importantly, it’s under a siege that is separating it from its historic twin, which is the city of Jerusalem. This geographic siege is also a siege and – for the historic city, a message of the city of Bethlehem, the eternal message for peace and love.
Our dear guests in the city of Bethlehem, our hands are extended to peace and they are still extended, both at the level of the leadership and the people. But it is the peace that is based on justice, equality, and international legitimacy. This is the kind of peace that will last and stay, and we believe that your role is very important in achieving this goal. Your family name is an indication to the role and part that you have to play. Your name is Kerry and you are the carrier of peace. (Applause.)
I thank you once again, and I would like to extend to you and your family a visit to – an invitation to visit Bethlehem and take part in the Christmas celebrations that will take place on December 24th.
And now, I call to the podium the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Dr. Mohammad Mustafa.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER MUSTAFA: Thank you, Mayor. This is a great speech, great impression, this very important guest of Palestine, Secretary Kerry. On behalf of the President, President Abbas, the senior government, and our people, people of Palestine, I’d like to welcome the Honorable Secretary of State John Kerry in Bethlehem, in Palestine. Now I’m going to turn (inaudible).
(Via interpreter) We gather here today in Bethlehem to inaugurate one of the many USAID programs that are spread throughout the West Bank and that are aimed to enhance the infrastructure of the future independent Palestinian state. I would also like to thank its representative and Administrator, Mr. Raj Shah, who is here today.
Mr. Secretary, our people are looking forward to their independence, and for that reason, the economic and political efforts that you are exerting are very important, and we very much appreciate them and look forward to (inaudible).
As we launch this project, Mr. Secretary, we remember the difficult economic situation not just in Bethlehem, but in all Palestinian cities that are lacking in jobs and in development and other economic arenas. And these are very fundamental issues that our sovereign independent state would be in need of. And we would also like to mention the efforts of the friendly donor countries and their assistance to us, especially the U.S. and USAID. We would also like to mention the economic initiative that you, Mr. Secretary, launched a while ago in partnership with the Palestinian Government and the Quartet, which are poised to launch this partnership also with the private sector here.
Mr. Secretary, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Palestinian people, I would like to thank you personally and also thank President Obama and the friendly American people for the support that they’re extending not just to the city of peace, but to the rest of Palestinian cities. We would also like to thank you for your courage and commitment to a last and just peace between Israel and the Palestine. For our part, we are committed to do our share in order to attain peace. This peace would enable every man, woman, and child in Palestine to exercise their full rights in an independent and prosperous Palestinian state and also contribute to peace in the entire region.
And now, I am pleased to call on Mr. Kerry to give his speech. (Applause.)
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa. Thank you for your efforts, your friendship. And thank you, Mayor Baboun, for your wonderful welcome to the city of peace, the Church of the Nativity, an historic city and a meaningful one to everybody in the world.
It’s wonderful to be back here, especially on a very beautiful day like today, and I’m delighted to see the ministers here. Thank you for joining us. And I particularly appreciate the efforts that Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa is making to help create transformation economically, to help create opportunity and prosperity for the Palestinian people.
I want to acknowledge Dr. Raj Shah, who is standing behind me, who is our outstanding Administrator of USAID and his team, who have been working very hard throughout the West Bank and the territories to help provide assistance to Palestinian people. Over the last five years, USAID has done extraordinary work here which is not known to many people, but in the West Bank and Gaza, USAID has been involved in rehabilitating over 350 kilometers of roads. That is no small feat.
And there’s very special meaning for me to be back in Bethlehem, especially meaningful to be in Manger Square as we begin to approach the holiday season and Christmas. I’ve been here before. I have always wanted to be here for Christmas, and one of these days, I will.
The last time I was here was a few months ago when President Obama and I had the privilege of visiting the Church of the Nativity with Abu Mazen. And during that same visit, President Obama articulated the long held belief of all of us in the United States – that peace is necessary, peace is just, and peace is possible. Since then, both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership have made courageous decisions, difficult decisions, to come back to the peace talks. As in any negotiation, there will be moments of up and moments of down and it goes back and forth, but I can tell you President Obama and I are determined, and neither of us will stop in our efforts to pursue the possibility. We are determined to try to bring lasting peace to the people of this region. And we are convinced that despite the difficulties, both leaders – President Abbas, Prime Minister Netanyahu – are also determined to work towards this goal.
Even as we work towards this goal, we, the United States, remain deeply committed to a peaceful, prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians. We need to develop the economies to show both peoples that peace has the benefits of economic opportunity and prosperity and a better quality of life. So I want to underscore the two-state solution that we seek is not an end unto itself. Our concern is not just whether or not people can define where the borders fall on the map, but whether or not people are able to map out a better future for themselves and their children.
And that’s what brings us to Bethlehem today – the thriving economies, the shared prosperity that we seek, the dreams of the kids that I just met over here who are part of the youth council who want to see more economic development, more jobs and opportunity in their beloved Bethlehem. These things will require investment, capital, innovation, infrastructure.
So I appreciate Mayor Baboun’s reference to the fact that I am working to be the carrier of peace, but today, I get to be the carrier of some money. (Laughter.) Today, I am proud to announce that on behalf of the American people, we will deliver an additional $75 million from micro-infrastructure projects that will begin within the next six months. (Applause.) Combined with the 25 million that the United States pledged in September just a couple months ago, we have now committed $100 million to support micro-infrastructure initiatives in the West Bank, and they will help bring real improvement to Palestinian communities and lives.
Here’s what these investments will mean. They will mean more health commitments, better transportation networks, new community centers and schools. And while the international community can help, the Palestinian Authority and municipal authorities will always be the key and the key partners in these local endeavors. In fact, the Palestinian Authority has already identified some 200 projects which we are seeking additional funding – an additional 50 million from other donors. I’m pleased to announce today that Germany has committed more than $10 million towards this initiative, and we are absolutely confident that in the days ahead, more countries will be joining up and helping in this initiative.
Now, as you can see from the work that’s going on right here on this street, some of this work that we’re talking about is happening right here in Bethlehem, even as we speak. One of the projects that we’re talking about is improving three kilometers of roads between now and next May so that we can enhance travelers’ safety, reduce travel times, and promote economic development and tourism. By better connecting Manger Square to the city of Bethlehem, we’ll better connect people with jobs and better connect tourists and pilgrims to this holy place.
I want you to imagine the possibilities of peace. Nowhere better represents the untapped potential of the Palestinian economy than where we are standing today. Just imagine the potential tourism – global tourism in unprecedented numbers that can begin to build and grow and develop this region as a whole if peace were able to be achieved.
Now, let me emphasize – and I want to totally emphasize this – I’ve said many times economic support is not a substitute for a negotiated political settlement. The Palestinian economy will not be built on foreign aid alone. It will be built on the hard work and the entrepreneurship of the Palestinian people, and it would be built on the foundation of a politically arrived-at peace. And that’s why this kind of project is just one of the ways that we will be supporting the international – the region’s economy.
Over the longer term, we’re going to need to work on ways to unleash the full potential of the Palestinian private sector, and we’re working very closely with Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa and others in order to develop the private sector-led Palestinian Economic Initiative which can bring even more jobs and transformational growth to the region.
I know that in the days ahead, there will be more announcements of the possibilities of what could be achieved. I emphasize that the challenges on the road to peace are too well known to every single one of us. We’ve seen the disappointments. We know how complicated it could be. But what is clear and must remain clear in everybody’s vision are the benefits that can come with peace. This is a road not just worth building here, but it’s a road worth traveling on, all of us, working to find ways to put the past behind us and build a future for our children and for their children in future generations.
Thank you for the privilege of being with you. Shukran. (Applause.)
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS AT LASK AIRBASE IN POLAND
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at Medal Ceremony at Lask Military Airbase
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Lask Military Airbase
Lask, Poland
November 5, 2013
Well, thank you very much, Mr. Minister of Defense. It is an honor for me to be able to be here. It's an honor to be here at the Lask Airbase, one of the most visible and powerful symbols of the enduring alliance between our nations. I have to tell you that it's particularly exciting for us to see these F-16s in back of me. I am a pilot, though I wasn't an F-16 pilot. But it's pretty tempting, and I can tell you that for a member of my traveling team, Colonel Scott Thompson, United States Air Force, is our own top gun traveling with us, a former F-16 Air Force pilot. And I know he'd love to get out of his uniform and go up now and hit the afterburner.
I'm very proud to share with you that the military partnership that we are living here today and that we are building on here today began only a stone's throw away from my home town of Boston. It was in a famous seaport just to the north of Boston called Marblehead, where Casimir Pulaski, the father of the American Cavalry, arrived from Poland more than 230 years ago. And he wrote to General George Washington, "I came here where freedom is being defended to serve it and live and die for it." Here at last, we actually are continuing the work and the partnership that Pulaski began not just in the defense of freedom, but in our work together to defend and promote freedom and prosperity from so many people across the world.
I will have the honor of awarding a Meritorious Service Medal in a few moments to a soldier who embodies this commitment, Lieutenant Colonel Bagan. As the commanding officer of a Polish special operations task group in Afghanistan, he served with great valor. His bravery is a testament to the courage and the character of the Polish people, and it is a perfect example of why the United States is proud to call you among our closest friends.
Of course, Lieutenant Colonel Bagan is not alone is his incredible service and sacrifice. For more than a decade, thousands of Polish men and women stood shoulder to shoulder with American forces in Afghanistan and with our NATO allies and partners. At this airbase, we see clearly that we are not resting on the strength of our alliance; we are investing in it. The American airmen here are the first in our history to be stationed full-time on Polish soil. As they train alongside their Polish partners, they complete some of the most realistic combat simulation, and they use some of the most modern aircraft in Europe. Even as we speak, U.S. and Polish forces are taking part in Steadfast Jazz, a military exercise that will train and test the NATO Response Force.
In the years to come, our ability to respond rapidly to a changing world and to changing threats will be measured by more than just one test. That is why Poland’s $45 billion investment in modernizing its defense forces is so vital to our partnership and the future of the NATO alliance. With this investment, Poland is showing its steadfast commitment to peace and to the security, and it sending a powerful message to all NATO members. Poland is showing that our shared security and shared prosperity requires sharing responsibility for the future.
And I want you to know that the United States is fully ready to help Poland meet that responsibility, as the Defense Minister can readily attest. We believe deeply in the quality of the equipment that is behind me, the F-16s, and in other equipment that we produce. And we are prepared to make that equipment available to Poland as it makes its choices about the future and the continued interoperability demands of NATO.
So I want to thank the Defense Minister for his hospitality here today. This was an opportunity for us to meet and to talk about our goals. But it’s also an opportunity for us to underscore the importance of this relationship. In the men and women who serve together here at Lask, we see the ties that bind our two nations together and make us stronger. As we make good on our historic commitment to peace and to prosperity, we look forward to closer cooperation and we look forward to greater partnership in the years to come. We thank our friends in Poland for their steadfast efforts with the United States
Remarks at Medal Ceremony at Lask Military Airbase
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Lask Military Airbase
Lask, Poland
November 5, 2013
Well, thank you very much, Mr. Minister of Defense. It is an honor for me to be able to be here. It's an honor to be here at the Lask Airbase, one of the most visible and powerful symbols of the enduring alliance between our nations. I have to tell you that it's particularly exciting for us to see these F-16s in back of me. I am a pilot, though I wasn't an F-16 pilot. But it's pretty tempting, and I can tell you that for a member of my traveling team, Colonel Scott Thompson, United States Air Force, is our own top gun traveling with us, a former F-16 Air Force pilot. And I know he'd love to get out of his uniform and go up now and hit the afterburner.
I'm very proud to share with you that the military partnership that we are living here today and that we are building on here today began only a stone's throw away from my home town of Boston. It was in a famous seaport just to the north of Boston called Marblehead, where Casimir Pulaski, the father of the American Cavalry, arrived from Poland more than 230 years ago. And he wrote to General George Washington, "I came here where freedom is being defended to serve it and live and die for it." Here at last, we actually are continuing the work and the partnership that Pulaski began not just in the defense of freedom, but in our work together to defend and promote freedom and prosperity from so many people across the world.
I will have the honor of awarding a Meritorious Service Medal in a few moments to a soldier who embodies this commitment, Lieutenant Colonel Bagan. As the commanding officer of a Polish special operations task group in Afghanistan, he served with great valor. His bravery is a testament to the courage and the character of the Polish people, and it is a perfect example of why the United States is proud to call you among our closest friends.
Of course, Lieutenant Colonel Bagan is not alone is his incredible service and sacrifice. For more than a decade, thousands of Polish men and women stood shoulder to shoulder with American forces in Afghanistan and with our NATO allies and partners. At this airbase, we see clearly that we are not resting on the strength of our alliance; we are investing in it. The American airmen here are the first in our history to be stationed full-time on Polish soil. As they train alongside their Polish partners, they complete some of the most realistic combat simulation, and they use some of the most modern aircraft in Europe. Even as we speak, U.S. and Polish forces are taking part in Steadfast Jazz, a military exercise that will train and test the NATO Response Force.
In the years to come, our ability to respond rapidly to a changing world and to changing threats will be measured by more than just one test. That is why Poland’s $45 billion investment in modernizing its defense forces is so vital to our partnership and the future of the NATO alliance. With this investment, Poland is showing its steadfast commitment to peace and to the security, and it sending a powerful message to all NATO members. Poland is showing that our shared security and shared prosperity requires sharing responsibility for the future.
And I want you to know that the United States is fully ready to help Poland meet that responsibility, as the Defense Minister can readily attest. We believe deeply in the quality of the equipment that is behind me, the F-16s, and in other equipment that we produce. And we are prepared to make that equipment available to Poland as it makes its choices about the future and the continued interoperability demands of NATO.
So I want to thank the Defense Minister for his hospitality here today. This was an opportunity for us to meet and to talk about our goals. But it’s also an opportunity for us to underscore the importance of this relationship. In the men and women who serve together here at Lask, we see the ties that bind our two nations together and make us stronger. As we make good on our historic commitment to peace and to prosperity, we look forward to closer cooperation and we look forward to greater partnership in the years to come. We thank our friends in Poland for their steadfast efforts with the United States
SEC PUTS A STOP TO A PONZI SCHEME INVOLVING FOREIGN COMPANIES
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
SEC Halts Ponzi Scheme Involving New Zealand Companies
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an emergency asset freeze to halt a Ponzi scheme involving U.S. and New Zealand-based companies peddling sham investment opportunities ranging from a bank trading program to kidney dialysis clinics.
The SEC alleges that Christopher A.T. Pedras, who has residences in Turlock, Calif., and New Zealand, misled his initial investors into believing they were investing in a profitable trading platform in which his company served as an intermediary between global banks. When Pedras and his companies encountered difficulty paying the promised 4 to 8 percent monthly returns, they began steering investors to a different investment program to purportedly increase the value of their investment by 80 percent by funding kidney dialysis clinics in New Zealand. Pedras's business partner Sylvester M. Gray II and lead sales representative Alicia Bryan helped him solicit investors for both programs, and the money was never invested as promised. Earlier investors were paid supposed returns with funds received from newer investors, and Pedras stole more than $2 million and spent another $1.2 million on sales agents.
According to the SEC's complaint unsealed last Friday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Pedras raised more than $5.6 million from at least 50 investors in the U.S. since July 2010 by selling securities in two phases. Pedras, Gray, and Bryan first solicited investors for their Maxum Gold Small Cap Trade Program in which Pedras's company Maxum Gold purportedly serves as the intermediary between banks that can't legally trade with each other directly, so they use Maxum Gold's trade platform to do so indirectly. Maxum Gold purports to share portions of the trading profits with investors.
The SEC alleges that the Ponzi scheme shifted gears earlier this year when Pedras and others began promoting the FMP Renal Program to Maxum Gold investors. They characterized it as an investment in a New Zealand company called FMP Medical Services Limited that would be publicly traded and operate kidney dialysis clinics in New Zealand. Investors were told if they converted their Maxum Gold investments into the FMP Renal Program, they would instantly realize an 80 percent increase in the value of their investment.
According to the SEC's complaint, Pedras and Bryan routinely communicate with investors via email, and also conduct investor conference calls. Pedras has falsely claimed that Maxum Gold has been doing business for 15 to 20 years with more than 6,000 clients and has been making regular payments to investors. Pedras conducted at least one in-person seminar at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. Investments were falsely touted as risk-free, and investor funds were not maintained safely in escrow accounts as described to investors.
The SEC alleges that the Ponzi scheme paid investors more than $2.4 million in "returns" using new investor money. Pedras stole more than $2 million from investors in the form of cash withdrawals, car and retail purchases, and transfers of investor funds to his various companies. Approximately $1.2 million in sales commissions were paid to a small network of sales agents who sold the investments to U.S. investors.
According to the SEC's complaint, during at least one conference call, Pedras advised investors not to respond if contacted by the SEC. He characterized SEC investor questionnaires as "fake" and stated that the SEC's investigation was motivated by a "personal vendetta" against him.
The SEC's complaint charges Pedras, Gray, Bryan, Maxum Gold Bnk Holdings Limited, Maxum Gold Bnk Holdings LLC, FMP Medical Services Limited, and FMP Medical Services LLC with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. Pedras and Bryan also are charged with violations of Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act, and they and Pedras's companies are charged with violations of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act. The complaint also named Comptroller 2013 Limited as a relief defendant. The Honorable Gary Feess granted the SEC's request for a temporary asset freeze against Pedras, Maxum Gold Bnk Holdings Limited, Maxum Gold Bnk Holdings LLC, FMP Medical Services Limited, FMP Medical Services LLC, and Comptroller 2013. Judge Feess's order prohibits the destruction of documents and requires the defendants to provide accountings. A court hearing has been scheduled for November 20.
The SEC's investigation was conducted by J. Cindy Eson, Peter F. Del Greco, and Dora Zaldivar of the Los Angeles office. The SEC's litigation will be led by Amy Longo and Karen Matteson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the New Zealand Financial Markets Authority.
SEC Halts Ponzi Scheme Involving New Zealand Companies
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an emergency asset freeze to halt a Ponzi scheme involving U.S. and New Zealand-based companies peddling sham investment opportunities ranging from a bank trading program to kidney dialysis clinics.
The SEC alleges that Christopher A.T. Pedras, who has residences in Turlock, Calif., and New Zealand, misled his initial investors into believing they were investing in a profitable trading platform in which his company served as an intermediary between global banks. When Pedras and his companies encountered difficulty paying the promised 4 to 8 percent monthly returns, they began steering investors to a different investment program to purportedly increase the value of their investment by 80 percent by funding kidney dialysis clinics in New Zealand. Pedras's business partner Sylvester M. Gray II and lead sales representative Alicia Bryan helped him solicit investors for both programs, and the money was never invested as promised. Earlier investors were paid supposed returns with funds received from newer investors, and Pedras stole more than $2 million and spent another $1.2 million on sales agents.
According to the SEC's complaint unsealed last Friday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Pedras raised more than $5.6 million from at least 50 investors in the U.S. since July 2010 by selling securities in two phases. Pedras, Gray, and Bryan first solicited investors for their Maxum Gold Small Cap Trade Program in which Pedras's company Maxum Gold purportedly serves as the intermediary between banks that can't legally trade with each other directly, so they use Maxum Gold's trade platform to do so indirectly. Maxum Gold purports to share portions of the trading profits with investors.
The SEC alleges that the Ponzi scheme shifted gears earlier this year when Pedras and others began promoting the FMP Renal Program to Maxum Gold investors. They characterized it as an investment in a New Zealand company called FMP Medical Services Limited that would be publicly traded and operate kidney dialysis clinics in New Zealand. Investors were told if they converted their Maxum Gold investments into the FMP Renal Program, they would instantly realize an 80 percent increase in the value of their investment.
According to the SEC's complaint, Pedras and Bryan routinely communicate with investors via email, and also conduct investor conference calls. Pedras has falsely claimed that Maxum Gold has been doing business for 15 to 20 years with more than 6,000 clients and has been making regular payments to investors. Pedras conducted at least one in-person seminar at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. Investments were falsely touted as risk-free, and investor funds were not maintained safely in escrow accounts as described to investors.
The SEC alleges that the Ponzi scheme paid investors more than $2.4 million in "returns" using new investor money. Pedras stole more than $2 million from investors in the form of cash withdrawals, car and retail purchases, and transfers of investor funds to his various companies. Approximately $1.2 million in sales commissions were paid to a small network of sales agents who sold the investments to U.S. investors.
According to the SEC's complaint, during at least one conference call, Pedras advised investors not to respond if contacted by the SEC. He characterized SEC investor questionnaires as "fake" and stated that the SEC's investigation was motivated by a "personal vendetta" against him.
The SEC's complaint charges Pedras, Gray, Bryan, Maxum Gold Bnk Holdings Limited, Maxum Gold Bnk Holdings LLC, FMP Medical Services Limited, and FMP Medical Services LLC with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. Pedras and Bryan also are charged with violations of Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act, and they and Pedras's companies are charged with violations of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act. The complaint also named Comptroller 2013 Limited as a relief defendant. The Honorable Gary Feess granted the SEC's request for a temporary asset freeze against Pedras, Maxum Gold Bnk Holdings Limited, Maxum Gold Bnk Holdings LLC, FMP Medical Services Limited, FMP Medical Services LLC, and Comptroller 2013. Judge Feess's order prohibits the destruction of documents and requires the defendants to provide accountings. A court hearing has been scheduled for November 20.
The SEC's investigation was conducted by J. Cindy Eson, Peter F. Del Greco, and Dora Zaldivar of the Los Angeles office. The SEC's litigation will be led by Amy Longo and Karen Matteson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the New Zealand Financial Markets Authority.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY MAKES REMARKS TO MISSION SAUDI ARABIA STAFF
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Meets with Mission Saudi Arabia Staff
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
November 4, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you very, very much. How are you all? Everybody good? Did anybody here care that the Red Sox won? I saw one hand go up – two, three. (Laughter.) Well, at least somebody is staying in touch. That’s great.
Well, it’s good to be here with everybody. I understand you have a new welcome to the great 120 kids family, and we have Lucas – Louis, Bill, and Claudia. Where are they? Right here. Come on up. Let me – come over. Let me see. How old is he now?
PARTICIPANT: He is four weeks today.
SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, my God. And I’ve really woken him up big time, haven’t I? (Laughter.) He’s sound asleep, folks. He could care less. (Laughter.) That is so fantastic. That’s so cool. How many kids do you have?
PARTICIPANT: This is our first kid.
SECRETARY KERRY: Fabulous. Congratulations. That’s really, really fantastic. That’s great. (Applause.) I’m excited about that. I’m paying really close attention now because I have two daughters, both of whom are pregnant at the same time, right now. So, high expectations – a second for one, and a first for the other. So it was really fun.
So, are you guys having fun? Hi, how are you? You look fabulous. You absolutely look spectacular. Everybody have a good Halloween?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
SECRETARY KERRY: All right. I am proud to announce that the winner of the best door is the financial management bureau. (Applause.) So, what did you do? Tell me what you did. What did you do to the door? I mean, it was so scary. Where are you from? You’re from India. Do you like Halloween? Do you think you could take it back to India? We could make a big deal. (Laughter.) Anyway, that’s very exciting.
Listen, thank you all very much. I just want to say to everybody here, we are enormously appreciative. President Obama, Vice President Biden, myself, really want to say thank you to all of you for the great work that you do. We have the three posts out here as you all know better than anybody – Dhahran and Jeddah and Riyadh. And a lot of work gets done. And I know it’s not the easiest posting, and that’s why I particularly want to thank you. There are always difficulties in any country where we go because everybody has to adjust, but needless to say, here, where there have been tensions and there are different norms and different cultural restraints and different requirements, everybody needs to really be a lot more sensitive to those things. So I thank you for doing that and I thank you for the tremendous work that you’re doing.
I am here now because there’s a lot happening in this region, and obviously with Egypt in transition and facing major economic challenges, with the challenges of Yemen and counterterrorism, and Bahrain going through certain transition and its own tensions, and of course Syria, which is putting pressure on everybody, and needless to say the ever presence of various jihadists of one kind or another – al-Qaida, others, al-Shabaab. I mean, you run the list.
So it’s difficult, but we’re making progress. I really believe that. Slowly but surely, I think people are beginning to realize there’s a better alternative than this incredible nihilism where people think that you get somewhere by blowing other people up without any other purpose. The Saudis particularly are trying to make a transition. The King is investing in diversity, he’s investing in education, he’s investing in health care. And as you know, because you live here, there are things that are changing. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. But there’s a transformation taking place throughout the Middle East. And I think that if we can be successful in Egypt, for instance, and if we can get stability and ultimately hopefully peace in a place like Syria, the possibilities are endless.
The Saudis are very, very important to all of these things. The Saudis are really the sort of senior player, if you will, within the Arab world, together with Egypt. Egypt is in more of a transition, so Saudi Arabia’s role is that much more important. And the Saudis have an ability to be able to influence a lot of the things that we also care about and we work together on. And we’re working together particularly on the Middle East peace process, on Syria, on Egypt, and on Iran. Iran will not get a nuclear weapon. We are determined. President Obama has made that absolutely clear. And we need to work with our Saudi friends in an effort to try to deal with all of these issues.
Now, as all of you know because you’re the people dealing with it on a day-to-day basis, we have a lot going on with the Saudis. We do a lot. We do things in military to military. We do counterintelligence. We do agriculture, education, in health. There are a whole bunch of things that we do. So this Embassy and our consulate efforts here in this country are enormously, enormously important. And I want to thank every single one of you.
I understand there’s a fellow, Ghulam Rasool Khan. He’s not here, I know. But I want to thank all of the local staff. I think there are 30 nationalities working here in this family, and we are very, very grateful to the many local staff who help to make our functions possible here. But it’s really quite amazing. And Ghulam has been here since 1977, which is a pretty long time. He’s got all the bad stories, all the good ones from all that history. But, anyway.
So I just wanted to say to you as I come through here fairly quickly – I don’t usually make such a quick stop, but we have a very intensive schedule this week. But I particularly wanted to have the opportunity to visit with His Majesty the King of Saudi Arabia. And I’m particularly grateful because I know that he is not seeing enormous numbers of people these days. But right now, we have some very important things to talk about to make certain that the Saudi Arabian-U.S. relationship is on track, moving forward, and doing the things that we need to accomplish.
So a profound thank you to every single one of you. We’re proud of you. We’re grateful for all the hard work you do. And I hope that in the days ahead I’ll get back here, and next time I come, I can welcome three or four or five more new children. We’ll see what happens. Thanks very much. Take care. (Applause.)
Well, it’s good to be here with everybody. I understand you have a new welcome to the great 120 kids family, and we have Lucas – Louis, Bill, and Claudia. Where are they? Right here. Come on up. Let me – come over. Let me see. How old is he now?
PARTICIPANT: He is four weeks today.
SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, my God. And I’ve really woken him up big time, haven’t I? (Laughter.) He’s sound asleep, folks. He could care less. (Laughter.) That is so fantastic. That’s so cool. How many kids do you have?
PARTICIPANT: This is our first kid.
SECRETARY KERRY: Fabulous. Congratulations. That’s really, really fantastic. That’s great. (Applause.) I’m excited about that. I’m paying really close attention now because I have two daughters, both of whom are pregnant at the same time, right now. So, high expectations – a second for one, and a first for the other. So it was really fun.
So, are you guys having fun? Hi, how are you? You look fabulous. You absolutely look spectacular. Everybody have a good Halloween?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
SECRETARY KERRY: All right. I am proud to announce that the winner of the best door is the financial management bureau. (Applause.) So, what did you do? Tell me what you did. What did you do to the door? I mean, it was so scary. Where are you from? You’re from India. Do you like Halloween? Do you think you could take it back to India? We could make a big deal. (Laughter.) Anyway, that’s very exciting.
Listen, thank you all very much. I just want to say to everybody here, we are enormously appreciative. President Obama, Vice President Biden, myself, really want to say thank you to all of you for the great work that you do. We have the three posts out here as you all know better than anybody – Dhahran and Jeddah and Riyadh. And a lot of work gets done. And I know it’s not the easiest posting, and that’s why I particularly want to thank you. There are always difficulties in any country where we go because everybody has to adjust, but needless to say, here, where there have been tensions and there are different norms and different cultural restraints and different requirements, everybody needs to really be a lot more sensitive to those things. So I thank you for doing that and I thank you for the tremendous work that you’re doing.
I am here now because there’s a lot happening in this region, and obviously with Egypt in transition and facing major economic challenges, with the challenges of Yemen and counterterrorism, and Bahrain going through certain transition and its own tensions, and of course Syria, which is putting pressure on everybody, and needless to say the ever presence of various jihadists of one kind or another – al-Qaida, others, al-Shabaab. I mean, you run the list.
So it’s difficult, but we’re making progress. I really believe that. Slowly but surely, I think people are beginning to realize there’s a better alternative than this incredible nihilism where people think that you get somewhere by blowing other people up without any other purpose. The Saudis particularly are trying to make a transition. The King is investing in diversity, he’s investing in education, he’s investing in health care. And as you know, because you live here, there are things that are changing. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. But there’s a transformation taking place throughout the Middle East. And I think that if we can be successful in Egypt, for instance, and if we can get stability and ultimately hopefully peace in a place like Syria, the possibilities are endless.
The Saudis are very, very important to all of these things. The Saudis are really the sort of senior player, if you will, within the Arab world, together with Egypt. Egypt is in more of a transition, so Saudi Arabia’s role is that much more important. And the Saudis have an ability to be able to influence a lot of the things that we also care about and we work together on. And we’re working together particularly on the Middle East peace process, on Syria, on Egypt, and on Iran. Iran will not get a nuclear weapon. We are determined. President Obama has made that absolutely clear. And we need to work with our Saudi friends in an effort to try to deal with all of these issues.
Now, as all of you know because you’re the people dealing with it on a day-to-day basis, we have a lot going on with the Saudis. We do a lot. We do things in military to military. We do counterintelligence. We do agriculture, education, in health. There are a whole bunch of things that we do. So this Embassy and our consulate efforts here in this country are enormously, enormously important. And I want to thank every single one of you.
I understand there’s a fellow, Ghulam Rasool Khan. He’s not here, I know. But I want to thank all of the local staff. I think there are 30 nationalities working here in this family, and we are very, very grateful to the many local staff who help to make our functions possible here. But it’s really quite amazing. And Ghulam has been here since 1977, which is a pretty long time. He’s got all the bad stories, all the good ones from all that history. But, anyway.
So I just wanted to say to you as I come through here fairly quickly – I don’t usually make such a quick stop, but we have a very intensive schedule this week. But I particularly wanted to have the opportunity to visit with His Majesty the King of Saudi Arabia. And I’m particularly grateful because I know that he is not seeing enormous numbers of people these days. But right now, we have some very important things to talk about to make certain that the Saudi Arabian-U.S. relationship is on track, moving forward, and doing the things that we need to accomplish.
So a profound thank you to every single one of you. We’re proud of you. We’re grateful for all the hard work you do. And I hope that in the days ahead I’ll get back here, and next time I come, I can welcome three or four or five more new children. We’ll see what happens. Thanks very much. Take care. (Applause.)
HHS LAUNCHES VIDEO CONTEST TO INFORM YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT HEALTH INSURANCE COVEAGE
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
HHS launches partnership and video contest with Young Invincibles
HOUSTON, Texas – Today, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Young Invincibles announced the Healthy Young America video contest in an effort to inform young people about health insurance coverage and new options under the Affordable Care Act. People can submit entries and vote for their favorite videos at www.healthyyoungamerica.org.
“Health insurance is out of reach for millions of young people today—because it costs too much, or isn’t offered through a job,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Soon the Health Insurance Marketplace will give uninsured young people the opportunity to enroll in affordable health insurance, and the Healthy Young America video contest will help them tell their stories to other young people.”
The Affordable Care Act is making health care more affordable and accessible for 19 million uninsured young adults across the country. Three million previously uninsured young adults have joined their parents’ health insurance plan because of the health care law.
“The Millennial generation has always been a creative generation, which is why we are so pleased to partner with HHS in launching the Healthy Young America video contest. “Educating millions of young people about the changes coming this year is vital to helping them achieve economic security,” Aaron Smith, co-founder and executive director of Young Invincibles. “This competition will engage young people by reaching them through a medium that they prefer to use when sharing and receiving content.”
Young Invincibles is in the midst of a nationwide campaign designed to inform young adults about coming changes and new options. “The campaign includes health care “train the trainers” to help community leaders be informed about new changes. A website with frequently-asked questions and a mobile app to help consumers learn about their options, find local health care services, and get information on enrollment events this fall are also included in the campaign.
Young people can access a variety of online tools now, through HealthCare.gov, and count on in-person help to get answers to their questions to help them enroll October 1. Young people can use HealthCare.gov to join web chats or call toll free 1-800-318-2596, to get help from a trained customer service representative.
There will also be people in local communities who can provide direct help with their coverage choices. Last week, HHS awarded $67 million to 105 Navigator grant applicants and recognized more than 100 national organizations and businesses who have volunteered to help Americans learn about the Marketplace. More than 1,200 community health centers across the country are preparing to help enroll uninsured Americans in coverage, and a partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services will help trusted local libraries be a resource for consumers who want information on their options.
HHS launches partnership and video contest with Young Invincibles
HOUSTON, Texas – Today, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Young Invincibles announced the Healthy Young America video contest in an effort to inform young people about health insurance coverage and new options under the Affordable Care Act. People can submit entries and vote for their favorite videos at www.healthyyoungamerica.org.
“Health insurance is out of reach for millions of young people today—because it costs too much, or isn’t offered through a job,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Soon the Health Insurance Marketplace will give uninsured young people the opportunity to enroll in affordable health insurance, and the Healthy Young America video contest will help them tell their stories to other young people.”
The Affordable Care Act is making health care more affordable and accessible for 19 million uninsured young adults across the country. Three million previously uninsured young adults have joined their parents’ health insurance plan because of the health care law.
“The Millennial generation has always been a creative generation, which is why we are so pleased to partner with HHS in launching the Healthy Young America video contest. “Educating millions of young people about the changes coming this year is vital to helping them achieve economic security,” Aaron Smith, co-founder and executive director of Young Invincibles. “This competition will engage young people by reaching them through a medium that they prefer to use when sharing and receiving content.”
Young Invincibles is in the midst of a nationwide campaign designed to inform young adults about coming changes and new options. “The campaign includes health care “train the trainers” to help community leaders be informed about new changes. A website with frequently-asked questions and a mobile app to help consumers learn about their options, find local health care services, and get information on enrollment events this fall are also included in the campaign.
Young people can access a variety of online tools now, through HealthCare.gov, and count on in-person help to get answers to their questions to help them enroll October 1. Young people can use HealthCare.gov to join web chats or call toll free 1-800-318-2596, to get help from a trained customer service representative.
There will also be people in local communities who can provide direct help with their coverage choices. Last week, HHS awarded $67 million to 105 Navigator grant applicants and recognized more than 100 national organizations and businesses who have volunteered to help Americans learn about the Marketplace. More than 1,200 community health centers across the country are preparing to help enroll uninsured Americans in coverage, and a partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services will help trusted local libraries be a resource for consumers who want information on their options.
Monday, November 4, 2013
OWNER AND MARKETER OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SUPPLY COMPANY INDICTED IN MEDICARE FRAUD CASE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Friday, November 1, 2013
Owner and Marketer of Louisiana Medical Equipment Supply Company Indicted for Roles in $3 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
The owner of a Louisiana medical equipment supply company and a marketer who worked for the company have been indicted for allegedly engaging in a $3 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge Michael Anderson of the FBI’s New Orleans Division made the announcement.
Tracy Brown, 43, of New Orleans, and Sandra Parkman Thompson, 62, who is currently incarcerated in Texas, were charged in the Eastern District of Louisiana in an 18-count indictment including charges of health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive health care fraud kickbacks, and illegal remuneration. If convicted, the defendants face 10 years in prison for each health care fraud conspiracy and health care fraud count, and five years in prison for each remaining count.
According to the indictment, Brown owned Psalms 23-DME and is alleged to have billed Medicare more than $3 million for power wheelchairs, wheelchair accessories and orthotic equipment for Medicare beneficiaries who neither wanted nor needed the equipment. Brown also allegedly paid illegal kickbacks to Thompson and other “marketers” to locate doctors who were willing to prescribe the equipment to Medicare beneficiaries who did not want or need these items. Thompson and other marketers were paid for each prescription they obtained for Psalms 23-DME, regardless of whether the items prescribed were wanted or needed.
Thompson and other marketers allegedly obtained falsified prescriptions for medically unnecessary equipment from Drs. Anthony Jase and Michael Hunter. A third physician allegedly provided falsified prescriptions directly to Brown. In exchange, Brown paid this physician approximately $250 per prescription.
The indictment alleges that in some cases, the equipment Psalms 23-DME billed to Medicare was never provided to a Medicare beneficiary. In other cases, Brown would bill for the most expensive types of durable medical equipment allowed by Medicare but would provide Medicare beneficiaries with much less expensive versions of the equipment, which would not have been reimbursed by Medicare.
According to the indictment, Brown allegedly paid Thompson and other marketers approximately $500 for each wheelchair referral submitted and between approximately $200 and $250 for a so-called “arthritis kit” referral, a term used by Psalms 23-DME for a number of braces and other orthotic items that were billed for Medicare beneficiaries regardless of medical need or physician request.
Jase and Hunter pleaded guilty to health care fraud charges on Oct. 31, 2013, and Sept. 26, 2012, respectively, and are awaiting sentencing.
An indictment is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless they are proven guilty.
The case was investigated by HHS-OIG and the FBI and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Arunabha Bhoumik of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrice Sullivan of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Owner and Marketer of Louisiana Medical Equipment Supply Company Indicted for Roles in $3 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
The owner of a Louisiana medical equipment supply company and a marketer who worked for the company have been indicted for allegedly engaging in a $3 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Mike Fields of the Dallas Region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge Michael Anderson of the FBI’s New Orleans Division made the announcement.
Tracy Brown, 43, of New Orleans, and Sandra Parkman Thompson, 62, who is currently incarcerated in Texas, were charged in the Eastern District of Louisiana in an 18-count indictment including charges of health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive health care fraud kickbacks, and illegal remuneration. If convicted, the defendants face 10 years in prison for each health care fraud conspiracy and health care fraud count, and five years in prison for each remaining count.
According to the indictment, Brown owned Psalms 23-DME and is alleged to have billed Medicare more than $3 million for power wheelchairs, wheelchair accessories and orthotic equipment for Medicare beneficiaries who neither wanted nor needed the equipment. Brown also allegedly paid illegal kickbacks to Thompson and other “marketers” to locate doctors who were willing to prescribe the equipment to Medicare beneficiaries who did not want or need these items. Thompson and other marketers were paid for each prescription they obtained for Psalms 23-DME, regardless of whether the items prescribed were wanted or needed.
Thompson and other marketers allegedly obtained falsified prescriptions for medically unnecessary equipment from Drs. Anthony Jase and Michael Hunter. A third physician allegedly provided falsified prescriptions directly to Brown. In exchange, Brown paid this physician approximately $250 per prescription.
The indictment alleges that in some cases, the equipment Psalms 23-DME billed to Medicare was never provided to a Medicare beneficiary. In other cases, Brown would bill for the most expensive types of durable medical equipment allowed by Medicare but would provide Medicare beneficiaries with much less expensive versions of the equipment, which would not have been reimbursed by Medicare.
According to the indictment, Brown allegedly paid Thompson and other marketers approximately $500 for each wheelchair referral submitted and between approximately $200 and $250 for a so-called “arthritis kit” referral, a term used by Psalms 23-DME for a number of braces and other orthotic items that were billed for Medicare beneficiaries regardless of medical need or physician request.
Jase and Hunter pleaded guilty to health care fraud charges on Oct. 31, 2013, and Sept. 26, 2012, respectively, and are awaiting sentencing.
An indictment is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless they are proven guilty.
The case was investigated by HHS-OIG and the FBI and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Arunabha Bhoumik of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrice Sullivan of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,500 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $5 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS AT WORLD AIDS DAY EVENT
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at President Obama's World AIDS Day Event
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
The White House
Washington, DC
December 2, 2013
Gayle, thank you very, very much. Thanks for your tremendous leadership and your collaboration in this effort, and to all of our distinguished colleagues in the Obama Administration and distinguished guests here, all of whom the President – most of whom, many of whom the President named – we’re grateful to you for being here and being part of this. And I thank the President for convening this really rather remarkable group of leaders, of activists, on this challenging and monumental issue.
The President’s commitment and his follow-through and his fundamental belief in the possibility of an AIDS-free generation and the hard work of so many of you have all combined to put that extraordinary goal within our grasp, amazing as that may seem.
I want to thank my colleague, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for her tremendous leadership at HHS and Raj Shah, who is our distinguished leader of AID, who’s on the front lines helping to make sure that this actually gets implemented. And all of you who have been so critical to being able to bring us to where we are, I might remark that the HIV is – really, the work within HHS on HIV has really set the gold standard for the world, and we can be very, very proud of it. I’m also glad that Deborah Von Zinkernagel and Julia Martin and John Monahan from the State Department are all here. They are leading our efforts to implement the President’s blueprint and writing a brand new chapter in the President’s fight against AIDS.
I also want to say a special thank you to Bill Gates. Bill and I are – we share a deep commitment to trying to improve the lives of others. He’s giving away billions of dollars and I’m giving shorter speeches than I used to. (Laughter.) It’s about the match.
There are so many really remarkable AIDS warriors assembled here – scientists and public servants, researchers and advocates, Republicans and Democrats – all of whom have put ideology and partisanship, party, even nation state aside in the interest to try to embrace a much larger and more important vision, a more global vision, a universal vision. And by reaching across disciplines and across different faiths, and by reaching across the aisle and across the world simultaneously, everybody here has really helped to tap into what we like to think are the deepest values of our country but happily are shared by so many other countries and so many other people around the world.
One thing that has stood out on this issue from my point of view – I sat where Barbara Lee – she’s in the House, I was in the Senate, but we were in the same endeavor – and I’ll tell you, whether it was Barbara Lee and Senator Bill Frist, or whether it was Jesse Helms and myself – improbable – Jesse Helms, who came to that table and helped us pass this unanimously in the United States Senate – no matter how deep the political differences were, we all managed to be able to find a way for this issue to unite us. And in our collective refusal to allow AIDS to ravage yet another generation, we showed a deeper determination to meet our global responsibilities.
That’s really what’s happening here. This is not a small deal. I want to compliment Congress, Barbara, for continuing the tradition and passing the PEPFAR Stewardship and Oversight Act, which the President just talked about looking forward to signing.
When you really consider how we bridge those differences and the distance that we have traveled in this, this journey is even that much more remarkable. I can really remember back in 1991 when Bill Frist and I joined together as the chairs of the CSIS Task Force to study HIV/AIDS and very little was known about it. I remember the fear back then, literally, and in politics, it was a tricky thing to talk about publicly. As recently as ten years ago, AIDS was a death sentence for many, and experts warned that in parts of the world, we had reached a point literally of no return.
But what I remember most and what I’ve been privileged to be part of every step of the way is how everybody came together to push back against that pessimism. When the leaders in this room and in entire communities, entire countries which were ravaged by AIDS – when you looked out and saw this challenge, you didn’t see someone else’s crisis. You saw our shared humanity and our shared responsibility.
Now, with this World AIDS Day yesterday and this convening here today and with the conference that will take place tonight and tomorrow, we are really renewing that commitment. And it’s appropriate, obviously, even as we do so to think about all those who have been lost in this battle who were too late – we were too late in order to save them. And we remember a lot of friends – I can remember many members, supporters of mine and others in political life, in the gay community, who were going to funeral after funeral after funeral. And there was a massive pessimism within the community and a sense that this was overwhelming and that there was no way we could win this.
Well, it is clear that we are now turning a very important corner, but it is not won. There is major challenge ahead and it will require major continued commitment in order to complete the task and live up to the memory that we want to honor of all those for whom it was too late.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, new HIV infections are down by nearly 40 percent since 2001. AIDS-related mortality has declined by nearly one-third since its peak in 2005. And globally, new infections among children have been cut in half in a decade. And access to life-saving HIV treatment has increased close to forty-fold.
I’m pleased to note that we have achieved much of this because President Obama was determined to set a higher standard, and he sort of glossed over it in his own comments, but that was a very significant commitment. On World AIDS Day two years ago, the President challenged us to reach six million more people with live-saving treatment, to provide 1.5 million HIV-positive pregnant women with treatment for their own health and to prevent onward transmission to their children, and to reach 4.7 million men with voluntary medical male circumcision services for HIV prevention.
These targets have pushed us to go further, to be more innovative, to forge new partnerships, including with many of you here in this room. And as a result, you all are now reaching more people and more lives are being saved than ever before.
Now to meet the challenge of PEPFAR’s second decade – and Raj will emphasize this, I know – we have to transform America’s role, and we need no clearer example of the transformation that we need to realize than South Africa, Rwanda, and Namibia, which – all you have to do is look at the work that they’re doing with the Country Health Partnerships. These countries provide a model for how PEPFAR is transitioning from providing direct aid to delivering support for locally run and self-sustaining efforts. This is a vital transformation.
And greater commitments from our partners in the Global Fund should give greater confidence to this initiative. I am extremely encouraged by the increased investments from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Canada, as well as from Germany and France. And all of them are extending their high levels of commitment, and as the President just said to you, don’t leave our money on the table. If everybody steps up, we will do even more and meet this challenge.
It’s a great honor to host the Global Fund’s Fourth Replacement[1] Conference in Washington this week. And as I speak to the Conference this evening, it’s safe to say we really are chartering a new writing, a new chapter in this work. When it comes to the Global Fund, there are also lessons to learn beyond our financial leadership. To wit, the way that we have leveraged our commitments inspires greater contributions from other nations, and we have shown, I think, therein, strategic leadership. I might add I think it’s fair to say that that engagement, which the President touched on, is frankly inspiring a truly global effort, and we’re proud that it is doing so.
As we continue to confront the global challenge of AIDS, we are literally in a position to build on a great American legacy. We are, as you all know, proudly the nation that defeated the Axis powers and then turned around and invested billions of dollars in their recovery, and that has made all the difference to a powerhouse like Germany and an ally like Japan and to Europe itself. We are the nation that faced down the Soviet Union with the force of our ideals and our alliances, and without resorting to the force of arms. Now, no exaggeration, in our own time, in this generation, in our fight against AIDS – yes, in a different way, but no less important – we are able to engage in an initiative that can help define our nation and the global spirit.
If we continue to make the right choices, our work will provide for even greater possibilities. Now I want you just to think about this: Today, 11 of our 15 biggest trading partners, as recently as 10, 15, 20 years ago, were receiving aid from the United States of America. And the truth is that one day that permits us to hope that our children and our grandchildren can say the same thing about PEPFAR partners today.
When seven of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world are in Sub-Sahara Africa, the opportunities are obviously enormous. And rather than view our relationship with Africa as defined by the obstacles that we face, we literally are now able to define it by the opportunities that we can seize together.
So in every generation, Americans are called on to do exceptional things against seemingly insurmountable odds. We know that working to achieve an AIDS-free generation will continue to pose an incredible test. But with our continued commitment, I am certain that we can all look forward not only to passing that test, but to working with each other and providing a new definition of the character of our nation and the character of our global spirit.
Thank you. (Applause.)
Remarks at President Obama's World AIDS Day Event
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
The White House
Washington, DC
December 2, 2013
Gayle, thank you very, very much. Thanks for your tremendous leadership and your collaboration in this effort, and to all of our distinguished colleagues in the Obama Administration and distinguished guests here, all of whom the President – most of whom, many of whom the President named – we’re grateful to you for being here and being part of this. And I thank the President for convening this really rather remarkable group of leaders, of activists, on this challenging and monumental issue.
The President’s commitment and his follow-through and his fundamental belief in the possibility of an AIDS-free generation and the hard work of so many of you have all combined to put that extraordinary goal within our grasp, amazing as that may seem.
I want to thank my colleague, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for her tremendous leadership at HHS and Raj Shah, who is our distinguished leader of AID, who’s on the front lines helping to make sure that this actually gets implemented. And all of you who have been so critical to being able to bring us to where we are, I might remark that the HIV is – really, the work within HHS on HIV has really set the gold standard for the world, and we can be very, very proud of it. I’m also glad that Deborah Von Zinkernagel and Julia Martin and John Monahan from the State Department are all here. They are leading our efforts to implement the President’s blueprint and writing a brand new chapter in the President’s fight against AIDS.
I also want to say a special thank you to Bill Gates. Bill and I are – we share a deep commitment to trying to improve the lives of others. He’s giving away billions of dollars and I’m giving shorter speeches than I used to. (Laughter.) It’s about the match.
There are so many really remarkable AIDS warriors assembled here – scientists and public servants, researchers and advocates, Republicans and Democrats – all of whom have put ideology and partisanship, party, even nation state aside in the interest to try to embrace a much larger and more important vision, a more global vision, a universal vision. And by reaching across disciplines and across different faiths, and by reaching across the aisle and across the world simultaneously, everybody here has really helped to tap into what we like to think are the deepest values of our country but happily are shared by so many other countries and so many other people around the world.
One thing that has stood out on this issue from my point of view – I sat where Barbara Lee – she’s in the House, I was in the Senate, but we were in the same endeavor – and I’ll tell you, whether it was Barbara Lee and Senator Bill Frist, or whether it was Jesse Helms and myself – improbable – Jesse Helms, who came to that table and helped us pass this unanimously in the United States Senate – no matter how deep the political differences were, we all managed to be able to find a way for this issue to unite us. And in our collective refusal to allow AIDS to ravage yet another generation, we showed a deeper determination to meet our global responsibilities.
That’s really what’s happening here. This is not a small deal. I want to compliment Congress, Barbara, for continuing the tradition and passing the PEPFAR Stewardship and Oversight Act, which the President just talked about looking forward to signing.
When you really consider how we bridge those differences and the distance that we have traveled in this, this journey is even that much more remarkable. I can really remember back in 1991 when Bill Frist and I joined together as the chairs of the CSIS Task Force to study HIV/AIDS and very little was known about it. I remember the fear back then, literally, and in politics, it was a tricky thing to talk about publicly. As recently as ten years ago, AIDS was a death sentence for many, and experts warned that in parts of the world, we had reached a point literally of no return.
But what I remember most and what I’ve been privileged to be part of every step of the way is how everybody came together to push back against that pessimism. When the leaders in this room and in entire communities, entire countries which were ravaged by AIDS – when you looked out and saw this challenge, you didn’t see someone else’s crisis. You saw our shared humanity and our shared responsibility.
Now, with this World AIDS Day yesterday and this convening here today and with the conference that will take place tonight and tomorrow, we are really renewing that commitment. And it’s appropriate, obviously, even as we do so to think about all those who have been lost in this battle who were too late – we were too late in order to save them. And we remember a lot of friends – I can remember many members, supporters of mine and others in political life, in the gay community, who were going to funeral after funeral after funeral. And there was a massive pessimism within the community and a sense that this was overwhelming and that there was no way we could win this.
Well, it is clear that we are now turning a very important corner, but it is not won. There is major challenge ahead and it will require major continued commitment in order to complete the task and live up to the memory that we want to honor of all those for whom it was too late.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, new HIV infections are down by nearly 40 percent since 2001. AIDS-related mortality has declined by nearly one-third since its peak in 2005. And globally, new infections among children have been cut in half in a decade. And access to life-saving HIV treatment has increased close to forty-fold.
I’m pleased to note that we have achieved much of this because President Obama was determined to set a higher standard, and he sort of glossed over it in his own comments, but that was a very significant commitment. On World AIDS Day two years ago, the President challenged us to reach six million more people with live-saving treatment, to provide 1.5 million HIV-positive pregnant women with treatment for their own health and to prevent onward transmission to their children, and to reach 4.7 million men with voluntary medical male circumcision services for HIV prevention.
These targets have pushed us to go further, to be more innovative, to forge new partnerships, including with many of you here in this room. And as a result, you all are now reaching more people and more lives are being saved than ever before.
Now to meet the challenge of PEPFAR’s second decade – and Raj will emphasize this, I know – we have to transform America’s role, and we need no clearer example of the transformation that we need to realize than South Africa, Rwanda, and Namibia, which – all you have to do is look at the work that they’re doing with the Country Health Partnerships. These countries provide a model for how PEPFAR is transitioning from providing direct aid to delivering support for locally run and self-sustaining efforts. This is a vital transformation.
And greater commitments from our partners in the Global Fund should give greater confidence to this initiative. I am extremely encouraged by the increased investments from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Canada, as well as from Germany and France. And all of them are extending their high levels of commitment, and as the President just said to you, don’t leave our money on the table. If everybody steps up, we will do even more and meet this challenge.
It’s a great honor to host the Global Fund’s Fourth Replacement[1] Conference in Washington this week. And as I speak to the Conference this evening, it’s safe to say we really are chartering a new writing, a new chapter in this work. When it comes to the Global Fund, there are also lessons to learn beyond our financial leadership. To wit, the way that we have leveraged our commitments inspires greater contributions from other nations, and we have shown, I think, therein, strategic leadership. I might add I think it’s fair to say that that engagement, which the President touched on, is frankly inspiring a truly global effort, and we’re proud that it is doing so.
As we continue to confront the global challenge of AIDS, we are literally in a position to build on a great American legacy. We are, as you all know, proudly the nation that defeated the Axis powers and then turned around and invested billions of dollars in their recovery, and that has made all the difference to a powerhouse like Germany and an ally like Japan and to Europe itself. We are the nation that faced down the Soviet Union with the force of our ideals and our alliances, and without resorting to the force of arms. Now, no exaggeration, in our own time, in this generation, in our fight against AIDS – yes, in a different way, but no less important – we are able to engage in an initiative that can help define our nation and the global spirit.
If we continue to make the right choices, our work will provide for even greater possibilities. Now I want you just to think about this: Today, 11 of our 15 biggest trading partners, as recently as 10, 15, 20 years ago, were receiving aid from the United States of America. And the truth is that one day that permits us to hope that our children and our grandchildren can say the same thing about PEPFAR partners today.
When seven of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world are in Sub-Sahara Africa, the opportunities are obviously enormous. And rather than view our relationship with Africa as defined by the obstacles that we face, we literally are now able to define it by the opportunities that we can seize together.
So in every generation, Americans are called on to do exceptional things against seemingly insurmountable odds. We know that working to achieve an AIDS-free generation will continue to pose an incredible test. But with our continued commitment, I am certain that we can all look forward not only to passing that test, but to working with each other and providing a new definition of the character of our nation and the character of our global spirit.
Thank you. (Applause.)
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (MSHA) ANNOUNCES CITATIONS, ORDERS REGARDING MINE IMPACT INSPECTIONS
FROM: U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT
MSHA announces results of September impact inspections
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 130 citations and 13 orders during special impact inspections conducted at nine coal mines and one metal/nonmetal mine last month.
The monthly inspections, which began in force in April 2010 following the explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, involve mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns. These matters include: high numbers of violations or closure orders; frequent hazard complaints or hotline calls; plan compliance issues; inadequate workplace examinations; a high number of accidents, injuries or illnesses; fatalities; adverse conditions, such as increased methane liberation, faulty roof conditions, inadequate ventilation and accumulations of respirable dust.
On Sept. 17, an impact inspection was conducted during the evening shift at Red River Coal Co.'s No. 1 Prep Plant in Wise County, Va. The mine phone and radio communications systems were monitored to prevent the possibility of advance notification to mine personnel. MSHA personnel inspected the preparation plant and loadout facility and issued 25 104(a) citations and 13 104(d)(2) orders. This is the first impact inspection of this mine.
Inspectors cited the operator for failure to conduct adequate on-shift examinations and to record, report and correct hazardous conditions. Inadequate examinations allowed existing hazards to continue, thereby exposing miners to potentially serious accidents. MSHA inspectors cited numerous hazardous conditions that should have been identified, recorded and corrected. The violations pointed to management's inattention to safety precautions and lack of maintenance at the preparation plant and loadout facility.
The area within 25 feet of a utility pole and the area surrounding a 200-gallon bulk diesel storage tank in the raw coal dump area were not kept free of combustible materials, posing a fire risk. Fire extinguishers in the raw coal dump were not examined within the last six months. Guarding on a conveyor was not secured and exposed personnel to moving machine parts that could result in serious bodily injury, amputations or death.
Inspectors found a metal walkway with holes through which a miner could fall into coal stockpile below. The escapeway for the clean coal tunnel was not maintained. A 72-inch section of the escapeway bottom and a 43-inch section on the escapeway floor were rusted through with sharp edges. These conditions created slips, trips and falls hazards. Refuse materials and washed coal were allowed to accumulate up to 3 inches deep and 14 feet wide along the entire width of the walkway behind the transfer belt.
The risk of fire and coal dust explosions caused great concern at the loadout facility. Inspectors found thick coatings of coal dust accumulated all around the inside of the loadout tunnel escapeway and the ventilation pipe connecting the escapeway and the loadout tunnel. The top clean coal loadout reclaim tunnel had coal accumulations up to 3 inches deep underneath and along the backside of the belt and 1 inch deep around the tail drive roller guards and on the belt structure.
Since April 2010, MSHA has conducted 666 impact inspections and issued 11,133 citations, 1,031 orders and 46 safeguards.
MSHA announces results of September impact inspections
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 130 citations and 13 orders during special impact inspections conducted at nine coal mines and one metal/nonmetal mine last month.
The monthly inspections, which began in force in April 2010 following the explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, involve mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns. These matters include: high numbers of violations or closure orders; frequent hazard complaints or hotline calls; plan compliance issues; inadequate workplace examinations; a high number of accidents, injuries or illnesses; fatalities; adverse conditions, such as increased methane liberation, faulty roof conditions, inadequate ventilation and accumulations of respirable dust.
On Sept. 17, an impact inspection was conducted during the evening shift at Red River Coal Co.'s No. 1 Prep Plant in Wise County, Va. The mine phone and radio communications systems were monitored to prevent the possibility of advance notification to mine personnel. MSHA personnel inspected the preparation plant and loadout facility and issued 25 104(a) citations and 13 104(d)(2) orders. This is the first impact inspection of this mine.
Inspectors cited the operator for failure to conduct adequate on-shift examinations and to record, report and correct hazardous conditions. Inadequate examinations allowed existing hazards to continue, thereby exposing miners to potentially serious accidents. MSHA inspectors cited numerous hazardous conditions that should have been identified, recorded and corrected. The violations pointed to management's inattention to safety precautions and lack of maintenance at the preparation plant and loadout facility.
The area within 25 feet of a utility pole and the area surrounding a 200-gallon bulk diesel storage tank in the raw coal dump area were not kept free of combustible materials, posing a fire risk. Fire extinguishers in the raw coal dump were not examined within the last six months. Guarding on a conveyor was not secured and exposed personnel to moving machine parts that could result in serious bodily injury, amputations or death.
Inspectors found a metal walkway with holes through which a miner could fall into coal stockpile below. The escapeway for the clean coal tunnel was not maintained. A 72-inch section of the escapeway bottom and a 43-inch section on the escapeway floor were rusted through with sharp edges. These conditions created slips, trips and falls hazards. Refuse materials and washed coal were allowed to accumulate up to 3 inches deep and 14 feet wide along the entire width of the walkway behind the transfer belt.
The risk of fire and coal dust explosions caused great concern at the loadout facility. Inspectors found thick coatings of coal dust accumulated all around the inside of the loadout tunnel escapeway and the ventilation pipe connecting the escapeway and the loadout tunnel. The top clean coal loadout reclaim tunnel had coal accumulations up to 3 inches deep underneath and along the backside of the belt and 1 inch deep around the tail drive roller guards and on the belt structure.
Since April 2010, MSHA has conducted 666 impact inspections and issued 11,133 citations, 1,031 orders and 46 safeguards.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
FORMER MAIL CARRIER SENT TO PRISON FOR ROLE IN STOLEN IDENTITY FRAUD SCHEME
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Former U.S. Postal Service Mail Carrier Sentenced to Prison for Role in Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Scheme
Vernon Harrison, of Montgomery, Ala., was sentenced to serve 111 months in prison and three years supervised release, along with an order to pay $82,791 restitution, for his role in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme , announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr. Harrison was convicted on July 3, 2013, following a jury trial in the Middle District of Alabama. He was found guilty of conspiracy to file false claims, as well as numerous counts of mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, and embezzlement from the mail.
According to the evidence presented at the trial, Harrison was a corrupt U.S. Postal Service mail carrier who was recruited to join a stolen identity refund fraud conspiracy. Members of the conspiracy used stolen identities to file false tax returns, which claimed fraudulent tax refunds. The returns were filed from various locations, including houses and hotels around Montgomery and Birmingham, Ala. The tax refunds were placed on debit cards that were mailed to addresses along Harrison’s postal route in Montgomery. Harrison stole the debit cards from the mail and provided them to a co-conspirator in exchange for cash. During this period Harrison stole over 100 debit cards from the mail for his co-conspirators.
At trial, federal agents showed that they had uncovered substantial evidence of the conspiracy during the execution of search warrants at locations in Montgomery and near Birmingham. This evidence included over 100 envelopes for debit cards that had been mailed to addresses on Harrison’s postal route, as well as agents’ observation that Harrison failed to deliver Turbo Tax debit cards.
Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Tax Division, commended the efforts of special agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Jason Poole and Michael Boteler, who prosecuted the case.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Former U.S. Postal Service Mail Carrier Sentenced to Prison for Role in Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Scheme
Vernon Harrison, of Montgomery, Ala., was sentenced to serve 111 months in prison and three years supervised release, along with an order to pay $82,791 restitution, for his role in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme , announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama George L. Beck Jr. Harrison was convicted on July 3, 2013, following a jury trial in the Middle District of Alabama. He was found guilty of conspiracy to file false claims, as well as numerous counts of mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, and embezzlement from the mail.
According to the evidence presented at the trial, Harrison was a corrupt U.S. Postal Service mail carrier who was recruited to join a stolen identity refund fraud conspiracy. Members of the conspiracy used stolen identities to file false tax returns, which claimed fraudulent tax refunds. The returns were filed from various locations, including houses and hotels around Montgomery and Birmingham, Ala. The tax refunds were placed on debit cards that were mailed to addresses along Harrison’s postal route in Montgomery. Harrison stole the debit cards from the mail and provided them to a co-conspirator in exchange for cash. During this period Harrison stole over 100 debit cards from the mail for his co-conspirators.
At trial, federal agents showed that they had uncovered substantial evidence of the conspiracy during the execution of search warrants at locations in Montgomery and near Birmingham. This evidence included over 100 envelopes for debit cards that had been mailed to addresses on Harrison’s postal route, as well as agents’ observation that Harrison failed to deliver Turbo Tax debit cards.
Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Tax Division, commended the efforts of special agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Jason Poole and Michael Boteler, who prosecuted the case.
JUDGE ORDER SUNKIST GROWERS INC. TO RESTORE OVER $1.6 MILLION TO RETIREMENT PLANS
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Judge orders restoration of more than $1.6 million to Sunkist Growers Inc. retirement plans
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that Sunkist Growers Inc. and fiduciaries for the company's retirement plans were required to restore $1,620,420 in losses to employee benefit plans under the terms of a consent judgment and order. The decision, entered in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, follows an investigation by the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration that found that the citrus farming cooperative, based in Sherman Oaks, Calif., and the plans' fiduciaries mishandled employee retirement funds in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
"Retirement plan assets represent workers' hard-earned savings, not a source of operating funds that companies can choose to use as they see fit," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security Phyllis C. Borzi. "This is a case of plan fiduciaries failing in their legal and ethical duties to act solely in the interest of plan participants."
The department previously filed a lawsuit alleging that from January 2006 through April 2011, the defendants used retirement plan assets to improperly reimburse the company for expenses including salaries and benefits for employees and managers working in various departments at Sunkist Growers.
EBSA investigators also found that the company was reimbursed by the plans based on projected expenses determined at the beginning of the year rather than on the actual expenses incurred, and that no adjustments were made to repay the plans for the overpayments that were made.
The judgment permanently enjoins the fiduciaries from violating ERISA and requires the appointment of an independent fiduciary to review and approve any future services provided by Sunkist Growers to the plans.
Judge orders restoration of more than $1.6 million to Sunkist Growers Inc. retirement plans
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that Sunkist Growers Inc. and fiduciaries for the company's retirement plans were required to restore $1,620,420 in losses to employee benefit plans under the terms of a consent judgment and order. The decision, entered in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, follows an investigation by the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration that found that the citrus farming cooperative, based in Sherman Oaks, Calif., and the plans' fiduciaries mishandled employee retirement funds in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
"Retirement plan assets represent workers' hard-earned savings, not a source of operating funds that companies can choose to use as they see fit," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security Phyllis C. Borzi. "This is a case of plan fiduciaries failing in their legal and ethical duties to act solely in the interest of plan participants."
The department previously filed a lawsuit alleging that from January 2006 through April 2011, the defendants used retirement plan assets to improperly reimburse the company for expenses including salaries and benefits for employees and managers working in various departments at Sunkist Growers.
EBSA investigators also found that the company was reimbursed by the plans based on projected expenses determined at the beginning of the year rather than on the actual expenses incurred, and that no adjustments were made to repay the plans for the overpayments that were made.
The judgment permanently enjoins the fiduciaries from violating ERISA and requires the appointment of an independent fiduciary to review and approve any future services provided by Sunkist Growers to the plans.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
U.S. SENDS BEST WISHES TO PEOPLE OF PANAMA ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Panama's Independence Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 1, 2013
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I send best wishes to the Panamanian people as you mark the 110th anniversary of your nation’s independence on November 3.
From beautiful pollera skirts to rich biodiversity, Panama offers countless treasures, both natural and cultural, to the region and the world.
For more than 100 years, the Republic of Panama and the United States have worked together to increase opportunities for all people. Our long-standing friendship is rooted in shared values and shared aspirations for a more peaceful and prosperous future. The U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement will ensure that future through expanded economic opportunities for both our nations and the world.
We look forward to the continued efficient and safe flow of goods through the Panama Canal as the expansion project moves forward and we approach its 100th anniversary next year.
As you celebrate this special occasion with family and friends, I wish the people of Panama a safe and joyous Independence Day.
Panama's Independence Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 1, 2013
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I send best wishes to the Panamanian people as you mark the 110th anniversary of your nation’s independence on November 3.
From beautiful pollera skirts to rich biodiversity, Panama offers countless treasures, both natural and cultural, to the region and the world.
For more than 100 years, the Republic of Panama and the United States have worked together to increase opportunities for all people. Our long-standing friendship is rooted in shared values and shared aspirations for a more peaceful and prosperous future. The U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement will ensure that future through expanded economic opportunities for both our nations and the world.
We look forward to the continued efficient and safe flow of goods through the Panama Canal as the expansion project moves forward and we approach its 100th anniversary next year.
As you celebrate this special occasion with family and friends, I wish the people of Panama a safe and joyous Independence Day.
MSHA WARNS OF WINTER HAZARDS IN COAL MINES
FROM: U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT
MSHA issues warning to coal mine operators about winter hazards
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration this week launched its annual "Winter Alert" campaign, which warns coal mine operators and miners of the numerous hazards colder winter weather may cause for working miners. Statistics show that deadly mine explosions historically occur more often during October through March than during warmer periods.
"During winter, everyone in our industry needs to be more alert to changes brought on by cold and icy weather conditions," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "Operators of underground coal mines need to be fully aware of the precautions they can take to avoid tragic accidents at their mine sites, and these include thorough examinations, sufficient ventilation, adequate rock dusting and maintaining escape routes."
MSHA emphasizes these four critical remedies for keeping mining operations safe during winter months. Colder air brings low barometric pressures and low humidity to the mine environment. Coupled with seasonal drying of surfaces on the mine roofs, ribs and bottom, this fosters conditions conducive to propagating an explosion. Colder weather also creates an environment for other potential hazards, such as icy walkways and haulage roads, limited visibility, and freezing and thawing of highwalls, which causes instability.
This winter, during regular inspections, MSHA inspectors will educate mine operators about the importance of thorough mine examinations, sufficient ventilation, and the importance of generous rock dusting to neutralize and stop potential coal dust explosions.
"We can significantly reduce the probability of tragic mining accidents during winter months when all mine operators heed these simple — but important — precautions," said Main.
MSHA issues warning to coal mine operators about winter hazards
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration this week launched its annual "Winter Alert" campaign, which warns coal mine operators and miners of the numerous hazards colder winter weather may cause for working miners. Statistics show that deadly mine explosions historically occur more often during October through March than during warmer periods.
"During winter, everyone in our industry needs to be more alert to changes brought on by cold and icy weather conditions," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "Operators of underground coal mines need to be fully aware of the precautions they can take to avoid tragic accidents at their mine sites, and these include thorough examinations, sufficient ventilation, adequate rock dusting and maintaining escape routes."
MSHA emphasizes these four critical remedies for keeping mining operations safe during winter months. Colder air brings low barometric pressures and low humidity to the mine environment. Coupled with seasonal drying of surfaces on the mine roofs, ribs and bottom, this fosters conditions conducive to propagating an explosion. Colder weather also creates an environment for other potential hazards, such as icy walkways and haulage roads, limited visibility, and freezing and thawing of highwalls, which causes instability.
This winter, during regular inspections, MSHA inspectors will educate mine operators about the importance of thorough mine examinations, sufficient ventilation, and the importance of generous rock dusting to neutralize and stop potential coal dust explosions.
"We can significantly reduce the probability of tragic mining accidents during winter months when all mine operators heed these simple — but important — precautions," said Main.
U.S. CONGRATULATES PEOPLE OF THE FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Federated States of Micronesia Independence Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 1, 2013
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of the Federated States of Micronesia as you commemorate your independence on November 3.
The United States and the Federated States of Micronesia have long enjoyed a close relationship, working together on issues such as the protection of fragile marine habitats, sustainable economic development, and fostering peace and stability in the region.
I especially want to thank the citizens of your country who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces for the sacrifices they and their families make.
I look forward to continuing our joint efforts across a broad range of environmental, social, economic, and security issues in the coming years.
The United States is committed to peace and prosperity for the Federated States of Micronesia and the region our two countries call home, and we join you in the spirit of our continuing friendship and cooperation.
I send all the people of the Federated States of Micronesia my best wishes for a year of continued progress and prosperity.
Federated States of Micronesia Independence Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 1, 2013
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of the Federated States of Micronesia as you commemorate your independence on November 3.
The United States and the Federated States of Micronesia have long enjoyed a close relationship, working together on issues such as the protection of fragile marine habitats, sustainable economic development, and fostering peace and stability in the region.
I especially want to thank the citizens of your country who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces for the sacrifices they and their families make.
I look forward to continuing our joint efforts across a broad range of environmental, social, economic, and security issues in the coming years.
The United States is committed to peace and prosperity for the Federated States of Micronesia and the region our two countries call home, and we join you in the spirit of our continuing friendship and cooperation.
I send all the people of the Federated States of Micronesia my best wishes for a year of continued progress and prosperity.
U.S. CONGRATULATES PEOPLE OF COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Dominica's National Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 1, 2013
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of the Commonwealth of Dominica as you celebrate 35 years of independence on November 3.
The United States and Dominica are united through our shared commitment to democracy, peace, and development. Through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, we work together to enhance the security and prosperity of our nations and the region.
As the citizens of the Nature Isle gather to enjoy the festivities that mark this occasion, I offer best wishes for peace and prosperity in the years to come.
Dominica's National Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 1, 2013
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of the Commonwealth of Dominica as you celebrate 35 years of independence on November 3.
The United States and Dominica are united through our shared commitment to democracy, peace, and development. Through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, we work together to enhance the security and prosperity of our nations and the region.
As the citizens of the Nature Isle gather to enjoy the festivities that mark this occasion, I offer best wishes for peace and prosperity in the years to come.
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS AT SELECTUSE INVESTMENT SUMMIT
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Marriott Wardman Park
Washington, DC
November 1, 2013
Good morning. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. Thanks so much. Thank you, Penny, for an extraordinary introduction. And based on that introduction, I accept the nomination. (Laughter.) I’m totally kidding. I’m out of that now; I’m out of that now.
I’ll tell you, I – about a couple of months – I mean, before I was offered the job of being Secretary of State, I was still, obviously, serving in the United States Senate. And I was walking through an airport one day, and this fellow – you notice when people have that sense of recognition. And he points at me, and he says, “Hey, you, hey you, anybody tell you you look like that Kerry guy who we sent down to Washington?” (Laughter.) And I say, “Oh, they tell me that all the time.” He says, “Kind of makes you mad, don’t it?” (Laughter.) So I’m very happy to be out of the electoral process, folks. (Laughter.) It’s just fine by me.
I’m really happy to be here and I’m very, very honored to be introduced by Penny, who is a good friend. She was very involved with me in 2004 when I ran for President. I’m just so thrilled she is now our Commerce Secretary, and I’m very grateful for the effort and the energy that’s gone into making this first ever summit such a success. No one who knows Penny is going to be surprised by that, because everything that Penny has done – in business, in philanthropy, in public service – has always been a success. And those of you who know her know that she is really a dynamic CEO in her own right, and you can feel the energy and the leadership that she is already bringing to the Commerce Department. She’s a fabulous partner and I’m thrilled by it; very, very happy to have her there.
And I was with her, and she said – I heard her in the introduction talk about being in Kuala Lumpur together, and we had a chance to go out and break bread together. And we were chatting, and she was reminding me of the story of her dad who started the family business with one motel out in Los Angeles. And she kind of lived in the motel, and then she went up to San Francisco, and boom, it grew to six. And now everybody knows what Hyatt Hotels Incorporation are – it’s a great American story. It’s a great story of entrepreneurship, and we’re so proud of Penny and grateful that she’s stepping back from the private sector to share with us that expertise and give us the energy and dynamics we need.
Her leadership of SelectUSA is just one of the reasons that this effort has the potential to grow our country, and to grow all of yours, for those of you who are here visiting from so many other countries. And we welcome you here. The single biggest reason SelectUSA is going to make a difference is, frankly, all of you, a group of very capable business leaders, people who are hungry, who understand the dynamics of the marketplace, who are ambitious in your business goals, and come here with a vision from nearly 60 countries around the world and from all across the United States.
I said in my confirmation hearing, when I was selected to become Secretary of State – I said to the Senators, my former colleagues, that in many ways, foreign policy today is economic policy. And leaders in government need to understand that. There is a synergy and an importance to this relationship that cannot be denied.
I think many of you are here because you understand this new marketplace that we’re all operating in – voracious, huge appetite. And very, very fast-moving. And we wanted you to come here and SelectUSA is the umbrella that is hosting this event because we believe deeply – we’re convinced, based on our dealings in the world, the exposure in the world, without arrogance, without chauvinism – that there is no better place in the world to invest than here in America. And there’s no better time to do it, in many ways, than right now, because some of the growth and development of the last few years has sort of equalized out in some places so that manufacturing – as the Secretary said, the number of manufacturing jobs here now – we’re growing in manufacturing again because it’s competitive again for a lot of different reasons.
So make no mistake: As we look ahead to the major trends that are going to define this new age, the factors that will determine which countries thrive, as well as which businesses thrive in this competitive marketplace, I think it’s crystal clear that the United States is going to continue, because it’s the nature and base of our economy, not because we’re somehow superior and somehow better. We just – the nature of how we have grown and where we’ve come from, from the Industrial Revolution all the way through the 1990s and the tech explosion, and into where we are now. We will continue to lead the world in both innovation and education because of the nature of our universities, the structure, the number, and the openness with which they operate.
And I believe also people will have access here because we will continue to work hard to make sure that we have the most qualified workers and one of the largest consumer markets in the world. Again, I say, I don’t say any of this with one touch of arrogance. I say it because that good news for America is also, in fact, good news for the world. It is good news for you and your businesses. And you know the importance of the American economy in terms of driving China’s economy and other economies in the world, and their importance now to driving other economies in their regions and elsewhere. And it’s a principal reason why I believe you ought to invest here. It’s why President Obama is making attracting job-creating investment a top priority at a level unlike any before.
So you are sitting here this morning, we believe, in the heart of the most open economy in the world. The United States already is the world’s largest recipient of direct foreign investment. In addition, the investment Penny mentioned about manufacturing – we have about 5.6 million total good-paying American jobs, contributing close to a trillion dollars to our economy that comes from foreign direct investment. And that’s why manufacturing, pharmaceutical, IT, energy companies from many of your countries are now setting their shop – setting up shop here in the United States every day.
Our trade agreements are built on the premise of shared prosperity. We have deals that go both ways, and those create good-paying jobs all over the world. They offer American firms unprecedented global access, which we think is critical. But it also opens our doors and our markets to foreign firms. Now, I want you to – and I think, incidentally, I’ll just tell you, I think this is the direction of the world. This is the way the world is going to move. And those who understand it and those who move most rapidly to embrace the higher standards and the openness are those who are going to be able to take advantage of the new marketplace and be leaders in the global economy. Nobody can put this genie back in the bottle. I used to have arguments up in the Senate with my colleagues. We had the great NAFTA debate and all those other struggles, free trade versus the sort of old order, if you will. And the fact is that every single time we’ve moved forward in that openness and every single time we’ve embraced one of those agreements, we’ve done better. We’ve transitioned – not always without some disruption, not always without some dislocation, obviously, but with a massive infusion of new energy and new creativity and new innovation and new jobs that come with the change.
So I want you to measure what we’ve done with our neighbors, Canada and Mexico. We opened up North American through NAFTA, the greatest single step towards shared prosperity in this hemisphere. And we know we don’t have to share a border in order to share business, which is why we have free trade agreements with 20 countries from Chile to Morocco to South Korea – markets that together reach 700 million people and seven trillion in GDP.
But none of that alone would actually make the United States the best place to invest if we didn’t also focus on our workers and make sure that we’re doing as much as we can to try to have the best workers, the most skilled and the most productive that we can, in the world, hopefully. And that’s true in part because we work hard to make sure that we train them in the best schools and universities, and a lot of effort that goes into that. And we reach out to bring the brightest minds and the best talent from all over the world. Many of you know, and many of you were, maybe, educated here in the United States. I can’t tell you how many heads of state, finance ministers, foreign ministers, prime ministers throughout government, heads of state and chief executives, who I meet as I travel the world and have for the last 29 years as a senator, who came to the United States to go to school, or who participated in educational exchanges in the Fulbright Program, for instance, or in other programs.
I meet them everywhere. The Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, who has been Foreign Minister for 30 plus years or more, proudly reminds me of his education at Princeton, for instance. And the Foreign Minister of Vietnam today showed me, when I saw him in New York at the United Nations General Assembly, handed me a photograph and said, “This was you and me 25, 30 years ago when I met you at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy when you were a senator.” It’s incredible. That’s the new world we’re living in. Maybe a lot of you have a cousin or a friend who came to our shores to start their own business. In fact, about half of our small businesses are started by immigrants who know instinctively that the American Dream is not restricted to those born in America.
If you go to Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, or any major city in America, you will find a community that speaks your language, understands your culture, welcomes diversity, and can serve as an anchor for your next venture. And it’s not just the big cities. You’ve heard from President Obama, Secretary Pritzker, Secretary Lew, and so many others at this summit about a lot of the success stories – Indian manufacturers expanding plants in Upstate New York, Singaporean companies extending their supply chains to the heart of Texas, German multinationals creating jobs in small-town Kentucky, Canadian pharmaceutical subsidiaries investing in suburban Ohio, and South African energy firms investing in Southwest Louisiana. That’s not in the future. That’s now. That’s the present.
So there’s no question that the United States is lucky to be able to offer the world’s best investment climate today. And I say lucky; we’re blessed to have it, but we do try to work at it. And President Obama has made it clear we’re going to work at it even harder. No investment is about the past. It’s about the future. So we’re going to refuse to sit still. The world, as we all know, is getting more competitive, but so are we. Capital chases confidence, and I’m confident that we’re going to continue to get stronger and be more effective.
SelectUSA is a big reason why. As you’ve heard yesterday and perhaps during the week, those of you here, we’re working hard now to make it even easier for you to be able invest here, and making that effort is a much bigger part of our mission, especially now at the State Department. At home, we are coordinating at every level, from mayors of small towns all the way up to President Obama.
The State Department family around the world has been instructed, working with the Foreign Commercial Service of the Commerce Department, that we must organize dedicated investment teams, led by our capable ambassadors, drawing on the talent of our dedicated embassy staff, and we’re going to actively encourage job-creating investments in the United States as a core priority.
Our diplomats already play a huge role in helping your businesses succeed in the United States. In Estonia, our ambassador led an intensive outreach effort to encourage tech start-ups to come to the United States. In Canada, embassy officers worked with a local automotive firm in order to invest tens of millions of dollars in Michigan, where the American auto industry is now making a remarkable comeback. All over the world, working hard to help businesses meet their goals, the State Department is engaged in – with a new level of intensity and focus because of the nature of the global marketplace.
And we believe we can do more and we’re going to do more, starting in 32 markets that represent more than 90 percent of all the foreign direct investment that comes here. So what does that mean for business leaders like you? It means that you’ll now have a single point of contact to connect your company with our markets and investors, and the economic development organizations who are here to help you and your businesses grow.
Just the other week I met with a group of CEOs in Indonesia, and they – some of them expressed frustration to me with some of the foreign governments who preach the principle of open markets, but then they actually practice protectionism. These CEOs know, as you do, that freer markets create more opportunity, more growth, more dynamism, and more innovation. The freedom to fail is an important component of succeeding.
So in order to open more doors and in order to continue the best investment climate in the world, we’re going continue to add to our strong portfolio of trade agreements that reaffirm our commitment to open and free markets, and to a level playing field. Now, globalization means that people everywhere now have higher expectations. In many ways, the revolutionary events that are taking place in the Middle East and in some other parts of the world are a reflection of that. The Tunisian revolution that peacefully removed a dictator of some 30 years was not ideological. It was not inspired by religious extremism. It was a fruit vendor who wanted to practice his trade without corruption and without interference. And that fruit vendor sparked that revolution because people wanted to touch the aspirations that they now know the rest of the world is living or sharing in so many places.
Same thing in Tahrir Square. Tahrir Square was not the Muslim Brotherhood. Tahrir Square had nothing to do with that kind of politics or with any kind of religion or any kind of ideology. It was young people texting each other and using their smartphones and the virtues of being able to text and tweet and connect with people that brought about another revolution. And the same thing is what started Syria, though Syria was coopted faster by other interests and other forces.
No leader anywhere in the world can afford to look away from huge populations of young people coming at us in unprecedented numbers, all of them in touch with their aspirations. It’s a different world. It’s going to change politics as well as business. So what we’re going to try to accomplish with two enormous and high – very high-standard trade negotiations that were underway right now is to raise the standards and raise the possibilities for people.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will integrate a region, represents 40 percent of global trade. And if we can lock that in, it will raise the standards around the world. When you link that to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which will bring Europe, which is another 40 percent of the world’s market, you will have – in fact, it’s the largest market in the world that will join with the largest individual economy in the world, and that will create an enormous transformation in the standards that people are practicing by. Those efforts will dramatically expand our market reach and they will strengthen rules-based trading so that we engage in a race to the top, not a race to the bottom. And that helps everyone compete while ensuring strong protections for workers, for consumers, and for the environment.
While we’re talking about markets, we are staring at the biggest market in the world. Some people are trying to grab it. But I want you to measure this. The market that created the great wealth of the United States in which every single quintile of income earners saw their incomes go up in the 1990s and created unprecedented wealth, more wealth than was ever created in the age of no income tax and the Pierponts and Morgans and Rockefellers and so forth – much more wealth created in the 1990s. That was a $1 trillion market with 1 billion users.
The global energy market is a $6 trillion market, and today, it has 4 billion users and it will climb to somewhere around 6 or more, maybe 9 billion users over the next 40 to 50 years, because that’s where the population of the planet is going. This is the most incredible market ever, and it is the solution, incidentally, to climate change. So we’re going to fight to stay at the forefront of this energy market, recognizing that it has the benefits of climate change as well as the marketplace. We’re going to develop the clean technologies that are going to power the world and protect our environment at the same time. Now, we’re on pace right now to be the largest oil producer by 2020 – largest oil producer in the world. Who would have thunk that one a few years ago? And that gives us the promise of alternative fuels, including shale gas, and we will become fully energy self-sufficient by the year 2035.
There’s another kind of energy that also, I think, drives us here in this country. It’s the energy that fuels our private sector, and that is the energy that comes out of an American value called entrepreneurship. The United States does know how to encourage and cultivate startups, because not too long ago, our country was a startup. Innovation isn’t just in our interest; it’s in our DNA. And that’s why we aggressively protect intellectual property rights as part of a strong, transparent, accountable legal system.
Today, we need entrepreneurship more than ever. As more and more young people join the labor market, the world is going to need about a half a billion new jobs by 2030, and many of those jobs I guarantee you have not even been invented yet. Entrepreneurship will help to solve that puzzle, and SelectUSA can help.
A few weeks ago, I met with hundreds of entrepreneurs while I was in Kuala Lumpur. These were innovators who came from all around the world and they couldn’t wait to build the next big thing. And who knows? The best ideas are never limited by borders, but these folks may be the ones already changing the world. It’s that kind of openness that drives the American economy and foreign economies, and it moves all of us forward at the same time.
Now, needless to say, we have our own interests here, for sure. It’s no secret that our President’s number-one priority is creating strong middle class jobs here at home. But he also knows that the best way to do that is to strengthen our international economic ties and foster broad growth around the world.
We know that promoting inclusive growth and strengthening the rule of law in other countries also helps us to create new markets for our businesses and jobs for our workers. And when we help other nations to develop their own ability to govern and to meet the aspirations of that booming youth population I talked about, we foster stable societies, and everybody here knows stability is pretty important with respect to investment decisions and prognosis.
We do what we do because we’ve always known that we’re sort of all in this together. We’re all connected in this. And that’s another reason why the United States, we believe, is the best place to invest, because there’s no other country where you can be so confident that your investment is going to contribute to a shared prosperity.
Now, that idea is really one of the cornerstones of our country. You saw it in the Marshall Plan. Marshall Plan rebuilt a continent after a war, when all economies were just shattered and broken. And we stepped up and invested and loaned so that we could all share in the postwar prosperity. You see it today in the recipients of American assistance who are graduating from that assistance into full-fledged partnership in the trading community. Look at South Korea. In less than a generation, South Korea has been transformed from an aid recipient to one of the major donors in the world today. That’s an incredible story. In fact, that transformation describes 11 of our 15 largest trading partners. And that kind of shared prosperity today is more important than ever before to the reasons I talked about earlier about young people and their aspirations.
We also know in the United States that we are part of something much bigger than just buying and selling, hiring and investing. Before anyone is a CEO or a Secretary of State, we are citizens. And by virtue of the fact that you’re here, I know that you consider yourselves citizens of the world. So remember: Our shared responsibility to ensure shared prosperity is one of the most important ways that we advance shared security.
As Secretary of State, I obviously travel a lot, and I do it for a reason: Because there is no substitute for face-to-face diplomacy. There’s no more reliable way to build trust, to ensure your interests and values are aligned, to close a deal. And that’s why you’ve come here from all over the world to be in Washington this week – to meet each other face-to-face, to build relationships, and to share the ideas that could hopefully, conceivably, change the world.
As you build that confidence in each other, I want you to know there is no market in the world that I believe deserves your confidence more than this one. As investors, as friends, I think you understand the United States, despite momentary political hiccups and despite sometimes the conflict of politics, still marches forward with a private sector that is increasingly empowered to be able to define for itself what the economic future will be.
My message to you is that now is the best time to make that investment, and my pitch to you is pretty direct: Get in on the ground flood of this century of possibilities and transformation. The possibility of a great global century, a century hopefully that will be defined almost exclusively by the shared prosperity that lifts people all over the world and resolves so many of the conflicts and problems that we face today, because individuals who yearn for the opportunity to touch what we have are actually able to do so. You can be part of that transformation. In fact, it won’t happen without you. And I hope the sooner we get around to the business of doing it, the sooner we will solve some of these challenges we face today.
Thank you for letting me be with you. God bless. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)
Remarks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Marriott Wardman Park
Washington, DC
November 1, 2013
Good morning. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. Thanks so much. Thank you, Penny, for an extraordinary introduction. And based on that introduction, I accept the nomination. (Laughter.) I’m totally kidding. I’m out of that now; I’m out of that now.
I’ll tell you, I – about a couple of months – I mean, before I was offered the job of being Secretary of State, I was still, obviously, serving in the United States Senate. And I was walking through an airport one day, and this fellow – you notice when people have that sense of recognition. And he points at me, and he says, “Hey, you, hey you, anybody tell you you look like that Kerry guy who we sent down to Washington?” (Laughter.) And I say, “Oh, they tell me that all the time.” He says, “Kind of makes you mad, don’t it?” (Laughter.) So I’m very happy to be out of the electoral process, folks. (Laughter.) It’s just fine by me.
I’m really happy to be here and I’m very, very honored to be introduced by Penny, who is a good friend. She was very involved with me in 2004 when I ran for President. I’m just so thrilled she is now our Commerce Secretary, and I’m very grateful for the effort and the energy that’s gone into making this first ever summit such a success. No one who knows Penny is going to be surprised by that, because everything that Penny has done – in business, in philanthropy, in public service – has always been a success. And those of you who know her know that she is really a dynamic CEO in her own right, and you can feel the energy and the leadership that she is already bringing to the Commerce Department. She’s a fabulous partner and I’m thrilled by it; very, very happy to have her there.
And I was with her, and she said – I heard her in the introduction talk about being in Kuala Lumpur together, and we had a chance to go out and break bread together. And we were chatting, and she was reminding me of the story of her dad who started the family business with one motel out in Los Angeles. And she kind of lived in the motel, and then she went up to San Francisco, and boom, it grew to six. And now everybody knows what Hyatt Hotels Incorporation are – it’s a great American story. It’s a great story of entrepreneurship, and we’re so proud of Penny and grateful that she’s stepping back from the private sector to share with us that expertise and give us the energy and dynamics we need.
Her leadership of SelectUSA is just one of the reasons that this effort has the potential to grow our country, and to grow all of yours, for those of you who are here visiting from so many other countries. And we welcome you here. The single biggest reason SelectUSA is going to make a difference is, frankly, all of you, a group of very capable business leaders, people who are hungry, who understand the dynamics of the marketplace, who are ambitious in your business goals, and come here with a vision from nearly 60 countries around the world and from all across the United States.
I said in my confirmation hearing, when I was selected to become Secretary of State – I said to the Senators, my former colleagues, that in many ways, foreign policy today is economic policy. And leaders in government need to understand that. There is a synergy and an importance to this relationship that cannot be denied.
I think many of you are here because you understand this new marketplace that we’re all operating in – voracious, huge appetite. And very, very fast-moving. And we wanted you to come here and SelectUSA is the umbrella that is hosting this event because we believe deeply – we’re convinced, based on our dealings in the world, the exposure in the world, without arrogance, without chauvinism – that there is no better place in the world to invest than here in America. And there’s no better time to do it, in many ways, than right now, because some of the growth and development of the last few years has sort of equalized out in some places so that manufacturing – as the Secretary said, the number of manufacturing jobs here now – we’re growing in manufacturing again because it’s competitive again for a lot of different reasons.
So make no mistake: As we look ahead to the major trends that are going to define this new age, the factors that will determine which countries thrive, as well as which businesses thrive in this competitive marketplace, I think it’s crystal clear that the United States is going to continue, because it’s the nature and base of our economy, not because we’re somehow superior and somehow better. We just – the nature of how we have grown and where we’ve come from, from the Industrial Revolution all the way through the 1990s and the tech explosion, and into where we are now. We will continue to lead the world in both innovation and education because of the nature of our universities, the structure, the number, and the openness with which they operate.
And I believe also people will have access here because we will continue to work hard to make sure that we have the most qualified workers and one of the largest consumer markets in the world. Again, I say, I don’t say any of this with one touch of arrogance. I say it because that good news for America is also, in fact, good news for the world. It is good news for you and your businesses. And you know the importance of the American economy in terms of driving China’s economy and other economies in the world, and their importance now to driving other economies in their regions and elsewhere. And it’s a principal reason why I believe you ought to invest here. It’s why President Obama is making attracting job-creating investment a top priority at a level unlike any before.
So you are sitting here this morning, we believe, in the heart of the most open economy in the world. The United States already is the world’s largest recipient of direct foreign investment. In addition, the investment Penny mentioned about manufacturing – we have about 5.6 million total good-paying American jobs, contributing close to a trillion dollars to our economy that comes from foreign direct investment. And that’s why manufacturing, pharmaceutical, IT, energy companies from many of your countries are now setting their shop – setting up shop here in the United States every day.
Our trade agreements are built on the premise of shared prosperity. We have deals that go both ways, and those create good-paying jobs all over the world. They offer American firms unprecedented global access, which we think is critical. But it also opens our doors and our markets to foreign firms. Now, I want you to – and I think, incidentally, I’ll just tell you, I think this is the direction of the world. This is the way the world is going to move. And those who understand it and those who move most rapidly to embrace the higher standards and the openness are those who are going to be able to take advantage of the new marketplace and be leaders in the global economy. Nobody can put this genie back in the bottle. I used to have arguments up in the Senate with my colleagues. We had the great NAFTA debate and all those other struggles, free trade versus the sort of old order, if you will. And the fact is that every single time we’ve moved forward in that openness and every single time we’ve embraced one of those agreements, we’ve done better. We’ve transitioned – not always without some disruption, not always without some dislocation, obviously, but with a massive infusion of new energy and new creativity and new innovation and new jobs that come with the change.
So I want you to measure what we’ve done with our neighbors, Canada and Mexico. We opened up North American through NAFTA, the greatest single step towards shared prosperity in this hemisphere. And we know we don’t have to share a border in order to share business, which is why we have free trade agreements with 20 countries from Chile to Morocco to South Korea – markets that together reach 700 million people and seven trillion in GDP.
But none of that alone would actually make the United States the best place to invest if we didn’t also focus on our workers and make sure that we’re doing as much as we can to try to have the best workers, the most skilled and the most productive that we can, in the world, hopefully. And that’s true in part because we work hard to make sure that we train them in the best schools and universities, and a lot of effort that goes into that. And we reach out to bring the brightest minds and the best talent from all over the world. Many of you know, and many of you were, maybe, educated here in the United States. I can’t tell you how many heads of state, finance ministers, foreign ministers, prime ministers throughout government, heads of state and chief executives, who I meet as I travel the world and have for the last 29 years as a senator, who came to the United States to go to school, or who participated in educational exchanges in the Fulbright Program, for instance, or in other programs.
I meet them everywhere. The Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, who has been Foreign Minister for 30 plus years or more, proudly reminds me of his education at Princeton, for instance. And the Foreign Minister of Vietnam today showed me, when I saw him in New York at the United Nations General Assembly, handed me a photograph and said, “This was you and me 25, 30 years ago when I met you at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy when you were a senator.” It’s incredible. That’s the new world we’re living in. Maybe a lot of you have a cousin or a friend who came to our shores to start their own business. In fact, about half of our small businesses are started by immigrants who know instinctively that the American Dream is not restricted to those born in America.
If you go to Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, or any major city in America, you will find a community that speaks your language, understands your culture, welcomes diversity, and can serve as an anchor for your next venture. And it’s not just the big cities. You’ve heard from President Obama, Secretary Pritzker, Secretary Lew, and so many others at this summit about a lot of the success stories – Indian manufacturers expanding plants in Upstate New York, Singaporean companies extending their supply chains to the heart of Texas, German multinationals creating jobs in small-town Kentucky, Canadian pharmaceutical subsidiaries investing in suburban Ohio, and South African energy firms investing in Southwest Louisiana. That’s not in the future. That’s now. That’s the present.
So there’s no question that the United States is lucky to be able to offer the world’s best investment climate today. And I say lucky; we’re blessed to have it, but we do try to work at it. And President Obama has made it clear we’re going to work at it even harder. No investment is about the past. It’s about the future. So we’re going to refuse to sit still. The world, as we all know, is getting more competitive, but so are we. Capital chases confidence, and I’m confident that we’re going to continue to get stronger and be more effective.
SelectUSA is a big reason why. As you’ve heard yesterday and perhaps during the week, those of you here, we’re working hard now to make it even easier for you to be able invest here, and making that effort is a much bigger part of our mission, especially now at the State Department. At home, we are coordinating at every level, from mayors of small towns all the way up to President Obama.
The State Department family around the world has been instructed, working with the Foreign Commercial Service of the Commerce Department, that we must organize dedicated investment teams, led by our capable ambassadors, drawing on the talent of our dedicated embassy staff, and we’re going to actively encourage job-creating investments in the United States as a core priority.
Our diplomats already play a huge role in helping your businesses succeed in the United States. In Estonia, our ambassador led an intensive outreach effort to encourage tech start-ups to come to the United States. In Canada, embassy officers worked with a local automotive firm in order to invest tens of millions of dollars in Michigan, where the American auto industry is now making a remarkable comeback. All over the world, working hard to help businesses meet their goals, the State Department is engaged in – with a new level of intensity and focus because of the nature of the global marketplace.
And we believe we can do more and we’re going to do more, starting in 32 markets that represent more than 90 percent of all the foreign direct investment that comes here. So what does that mean for business leaders like you? It means that you’ll now have a single point of contact to connect your company with our markets and investors, and the economic development organizations who are here to help you and your businesses grow.
Just the other week I met with a group of CEOs in Indonesia, and they – some of them expressed frustration to me with some of the foreign governments who preach the principle of open markets, but then they actually practice protectionism. These CEOs know, as you do, that freer markets create more opportunity, more growth, more dynamism, and more innovation. The freedom to fail is an important component of succeeding.
So in order to open more doors and in order to continue the best investment climate in the world, we’re going continue to add to our strong portfolio of trade agreements that reaffirm our commitment to open and free markets, and to a level playing field. Now, globalization means that people everywhere now have higher expectations. In many ways, the revolutionary events that are taking place in the Middle East and in some other parts of the world are a reflection of that. The Tunisian revolution that peacefully removed a dictator of some 30 years was not ideological. It was not inspired by religious extremism. It was a fruit vendor who wanted to practice his trade without corruption and without interference. And that fruit vendor sparked that revolution because people wanted to touch the aspirations that they now know the rest of the world is living or sharing in so many places.
Same thing in Tahrir Square. Tahrir Square was not the Muslim Brotherhood. Tahrir Square had nothing to do with that kind of politics or with any kind of religion or any kind of ideology. It was young people texting each other and using their smartphones and the virtues of being able to text and tweet and connect with people that brought about another revolution. And the same thing is what started Syria, though Syria was coopted faster by other interests and other forces.
No leader anywhere in the world can afford to look away from huge populations of young people coming at us in unprecedented numbers, all of them in touch with their aspirations. It’s a different world. It’s going to change politics as well as business. So what we’re going to try to accomplish with two enormous and high – very high-standard trade negotiations that were underway right now is to raise the standards and raise the possibilities for people.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will integrate a region, represents 40 percent of global trade. And if we can lock that in, it will raise the standards around the world. When you link that to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which will bring Europe, which is another 40 percent of the world’s market, you will have – in fact, it’s the largest market in the world that will join with the largest individual economy in the world, and that will create an enormous transformation in the standards that people are practicing by. Those efforts will dramatically expand our market reach and they will strengthen rules-based trading so that we engage in a race to the top, not a race to the bottom. And that helps everyone compete while ensuring strong protections for workers, for consumers, and for the environment.
While we’re talking about markets, we are staring at the biggest market in the world. Some people are trying to grab it. But I want you to measure this. The market that created the great wealth of the United States in which every single quintile of income earners saw their incomes go up in the 1990s and created unprecedented wealth, more wealth than was ever created in the age of no income tax and the Pierponts and Morgans and Rockefellers and so forth – much more wealth created in the 1990s. That was a $1 trillion market with 1 billion users.
The global energy market is a $6 trillion market, and today, it has 4 billion users and it will climb to somewhere around 6 or more, maybe 9 billion users over the next 40 to 50 years, because that’s where the population of the planet is going. This is the most incredible market ever, and it is the solution, incidentally, to climate change. So we’re going to fight to stay at the forefront of this energy market, recognizing that it has the benefits of climate change as well as the marketplace. We’re going to develop the clean technologies that are going to power the world and protect our environment at the same time. Now, we’re on pace right now to be the largest oil producer by 2020 – largest oil producer in the world. Who would have thunk that one a few years ago? And that gives us the promise of alternative fuels, including shale gas, and we will become fully energy self-sufficient by the year 2035.
There’s another kind of energy that also, I think, drives us here in this country. It’s the energy that fuels our private sector, and that is the energy that comes out of an American value called entrepreneurship. The United States does know how to encourage and cultivate startups, because not too long ago, our country was a startup. Innovation isn’t just in our interest; it’s in our DNA. And that’s why we aggressively protect intellectual property rights as part of a strong, transparent, accountable legal system.
Today, we need entrepreneurship more than ever. As more and more young people join the labor market, the world is going to need about a half a billion new jobs by 2030, and many of those jobs I guarantee you have not even been invented yet. Entrepreneurship will help to solve that puzzle, and SelectUSA can help.
A few weeks ago, I met with hundreds of entrepreneurs while I was in Kuala Lumpur. These were innovators who came from all around the world and they couldn’t wait to build the next big thing. And who knows? The best ideas are never limited by borders, but these folks may be the ones already changing the world. It’s that kind of openness that drives the American economy and foreign economies, and it moves all of us forward at the same time.
Now, needless to say, we have our own interests here, for sure. It’s no secret that our President’s number-one priority is creating strong middle class jobs here at home. But he also knows that the best way to do that is to strengthen our international economic ties and foster broad growth around the world.
We know that promoting inclusive growth and strengthening the rule of law in other countries also helps us to create new markets for our businesses and jobs for our workers. And when we help other nations to develop their own ability to govern and to meet the aspirations of that booming youth population I talked about, we foster stable societies, and everybody here knows stability is pretty important with respect to investment decisions and prognosis.
We do what we do because we’ve always known that we’re sort of all in this together. We’re all connected in this. And that’s another reason why the United States, we believe, is the best place to invest, because there’s no other country where you can be so confident that your investment is going to contribute to a shared prosperity.
Now, that idea is really one of the cornerstones of our country. You saw it in the Marshall Plan. Marshall Plan rebuilt a continent after a war, when all economies were just shattered and broken. And we stepped up and invested and loaned so that we could all share in the postwar prosperity. You see it today in the recipients of American assistance who are graduating from that assistance into full-fledged partnership in the trading community. Look at South Korea. In less than a generation, South Korea has been transformed from an aid recipient to one of the major donors in the world today. That’s an incredible story. In fact, that transformation describes 11 of our 15 largest trading partners. And that kind of shared prosperity today is more important than ever before to the reasons I talked about earlier about young people and their aspirations.
We also know in the United States that we are part of something much bigger than just buying and selling, hiring and investing. Before anyone is a CEO or a Secretary of State, we are citizens. And by virtue of the fact that you’re here, I know that you consider yourselves citizens of the world. So remember: Our shared responsibility to ensure shared prosperity is one of the most important ways that we advance shared security.
As Secretary of State, I obviously travel a lot, and I do it for a reason: Because there is no substitute for face-to-face diplomacy. There’s no more reliable way to build trust, to ensure your interests and values are aligned, to close a deal. And that’s why you’ve come here from all over the world to be in Washington this week – to meet each other face-to-face, to build relationships, and to share the ideas that could hopefully, conceivably, change the world.
As you build that confidence in each other, I want you to know there is no market in the world that I believe deserves your confidence more than this one. As investors, as friends, I think you understand the United States, despite momentary political hiccups and despite sometimes the conflict of politics, still marches forward with a private sector that is increasingly empowered to be able to define for itself what the economic future will be.
My message to you is that now is the best time to make that investment, and my pitch to you is pretty direct: Get in on the ground flood of this century of possibilities and transformation. The possibility of a great global century, a century hopefully that will be defined almost exclusively by the shared prosperity that lifts people all over the world and resolves so many of the conflicts and problems that we face today, because individuals who yearn for the opportunity to touch what we have are actually able to do so. You can be part of that transformation. In fact, it won’t happen without you. And I hope the sooner we get around to the business of doing it, the sooner we will solve some of these challenges we face today.
Thank you for letting me be with you. God bless. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT VETERANS INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at Veterans Innovation Partnership Announcement
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, DC
October 31, 2013
Thank you very, very much. I come to you today fresh from Fenway Park and flush with victory. (Applause.) It was a great night. Anybody watch? How many of you watched? Nobody? Come on. All right, a few of you. Well, anyway, it was a lot of fun for those of us who were there. It was part of my life balance program yesterday. (Laughter.) I committed to go up there, taking part.
But it’s a great, great pleasure to be here this afternoon with all of you, and really an honor for me to be introduced by Tulsi, by Congresswoman Gabbard. I’ve watched her in her early stages here, first-termer in Congress, and I’ve been impressed every single time. She speaks from her heart, speaks from her gut. She’s knowledgeable. And as I told her a few minutes ago, she’s going to be one of our stars in this political enterprise as we try to make America believe in the possibilities of getting things done again. So I’m really happy to be here with her, one of the first female combat veterans in the Congress, alongside Tammy Duckworth.
And both of them exemplify what brings us here today, which is the unique capacity that people who have worn the uniform in whatever – don’t have to be in combat, but you wear the uniform, you learn how to be part of a team, you learn leadership skills, you sacrifice wherever you go. And so it’s special, and we’re happy today to be able to do something that really capitalizes on that extraordinary experience.
I’m honored to be here with our Administrator of AID, Raj Shah, whom you’ll hear from in a little bit, who is going to help make this kind of effort executable and make it happen, and I’m delighted for his partnership on this and on many other things.
And I want to thank my good friend Drew O’Brien, my Special Representative for Global Partnerships, who has already been doing just a huge job of reaching out and creating new possibilities as we use the assets of this extraordinary Department in order to try to be creative and reach more people in different ways.
So I apologize up front to everybody, but I have to leave earlier than I had anticipated because I need to go up to the Hill to talk to both the leadership as well as the Banking Committee regarding what’s going on in terms of P5+1 talks with Iran. So I ask your indulgence in sort of liberating me, if you will, a little bit early.
But I will tell you all that for Drew, working on this program, and for me in many ways but not quite the same ways as Drew, this is very, very personal because Drew’s father, who I got to know a little bit – I helped him get some medals that he had never received from his service in war, and presented them to them – to him, and in fact not too long before he passed away. And I will tell you that Ed O’Brien, who served proudly in the Navy during World War II, including the invasion of Okinawa, embodied what we know as the Greatest Generation, those who served and defended America and saved democracy for the world. And then they came home to contribute to the community, quietly, in so many different ways, building our nation and ultimately laying the foundation for winning the Cold War, and ending it. So Drew really does understand what this is all about.
Now, I especially want to welcome all of you, all the veterans who are here in the room today, those of you who answered the call to service and took yourselves away from whatever your other course of life was for a period of time in order to wear the uniform and answer that highest calling, which is to serve your nation. I am deeply appreciative, whether you did so on the battlefield or in some other way. Everybody knows who served. It’s a team. And you can’t do one thing without the other thing happening, and it’s all connected. So we thank you all for what you did for your country in uniform, and what you’re now doing for your country that you’ve traded one uniform for another.
This is also, as Drew said, important to me. I’ve spent, literally since the day I returned from Vietnam, being involved in veterans affairs – a founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and involved in everything from getting Agent Orange designation for cancer and creating the charter, to working on benefits, including the change from $12,000 of insurance up to the now-$500,000. These are all parts of a continuum of effort that I’m proud of, but it never stops. And I think all of you know that. The Veterans Innovation Partnership – VIP, as we are calling it – is not about just what the State Department can do for veterans. It’s really based on the notion that veterans can do a lot for the State Department, and that we would be foolish not to try to reach out and harness the talent that exists.
I’ve always said also that being a veteran doesn’t automatically qualify you to be on the right side of any given foreign policy issue. Doesn’t work that way. No one is, myself included, but – although I’d better bat pretty high in this position. (Laughter.) But it’s a perspective and it’s obviously an important perspective.
The experience of being a veteran, I’ve always believed, does qualify you to speak with a voice that is a little bit different, and also helps you to validate ways in which we can project America’s force and values abroad. I personally never will forget – I’m sure none of you have forgotten the moment you returned home from a deployment. I certainly haven’t forgotten when I returned home from Vietnam and landed at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington, feeling a little older than the 26 years that I was, and feeling blessed for the skills of management, leadership, organization, strategy that the United States Navy had bestowed on me even as a young lieutenant JG.
It also left me with a couple of other lessons. First, the firsthand understanding of what it means to be the tip of the spear, to be the tip of the spear on Americas’ foreign policy, and a more personal understanding of what it meant when Tony Benn wrote that all war represents the failure of diplomacy.
Few lessons ever bring home to you that more profoundly than why the efforts of this State Department must be nothing less than first rate, so that if and when we have to send young Americans into harm’s way, it is because we have no other choice. And second, the military and our experience in combat gave us all a special motivation to live life in the fullest because of those who weren’t so lucky, and that lesson is that if you come back from war, you know that every day is extra.
That’s why I asked Drew to build this new partnership to bring the unique skills that veterans have and that they’ve developed on the front lines of service to bring it to the front lines of diplomacy and of development. We need more people like Corneal Hunter, who served with the Army in Operation Desert Storm and in Kosovo, and who now brings his understanding of budgeting and management as a budget analyst in the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Service. People like Phil Schlatter, the Executive Director of our Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, whose 10-year career at the State Department was preceded by 22 years of military service that gave him experience at command levels and at staff. People like Joan Annjohlie St. Marie, whose extensive Air Force experience in disaster preparedness, shelter operations, and emergency management has prepared her well for her current role in our Bureau of African Affairs.
Through the VIP, we hope to bring together U.S. Government agencies and private sector leaders in order to seek out those who have served America and who are interested in international issues and provide them with fellowship opportunities at State, USAID, OPIC, and MCC – Millennium Challenge, and help them find international employment opportunities in both the private and the public sectors. I am absolutely convinced of the enormous talent and capacity that veterans can bring to this Department to augment what we try to do on a global basis and do so with a unique credibility, a unique ability to be able to validate both the values and the interests that we are trying to represent. I’m very grateful for the outstanding partners who’ve already signed up to work with VIP, including the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and iRobot, which is a company I worked with previously when I was in the Senate, and they are represented here today. And I welcome others from the private sector, foundations, and civil society who want to contribute to this initiative.
The bottom line is pretty simple. I believe that those who have worn the uniform and gone through the training and the experience of leadership and of partnership in so many different ways, in so many different categories within our armed services – all of them have shown that they know how to serve in one capacity, and through that capacity have now developed a new capacity to be able to serve yet again on another front. We want the State Department, AID, and all these other entities to welcome them – more than that, we want to find them. We want to seek them out and we want to put them back into service for their country, knowing that will make our country stronger and it will make our departments that much more effective.
So, thank you for being here to be part of this. God bless you all, and I look forward to seeing you in the days ahead as we implement VIP. Thank you. (Applause.)
Remarks at Veterans Innovation Partnership Announcement
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, DC
October 31, 2013
Thank you very, very much. I come to you today fresh from Fenway Park and flush with victory. (Applause.) It was a great night. Anybody watch? How many of you watched? Nobody? Come on. All right, a few of you. Well, anyway, it was a lot of fun for those of us who were there. It was part of my life balance program yesterday. (Laughter.) I committed to go up there, taking part.
But it’s a great, great pleasure to be here this afternoon with all of you, and really an honor for me to be introduced by Tulsi, by Congresswoman Gabbard. I’ve watched her in her early stages here, first-termer in Congress, and I’ve been impressed every single time. She speaks from her heart, speaks from her gut. She’s knowledgeable. And as I told her a few minutes ago, she’s going to be one of our stars in this political enterprise as we try to make America believe in the possibilities of getting things done again. So I’m really happy to be here with her, one of the first female combat veterans in the Congress, alongside Tammy Duckworth.
And both of them exemplify what brings us here today, which is the unique capacity that people who have worn the uniform in whatever – don’t have to be in combat, but you wear the uniform, you learn how to be part of a team, you learn leadership skills, you sacrifice wherever you go. And so it’s special, and we’re happy today to be able to do something that really capitalizes on that extraordinary experience.
I’m honored to be here with our Administrator of AID, Raj Shah, whom you’ll hear from in a little bit, who is going to help make this kind of effort executable and make it happen, and I’m delighted for his partnership on this and on many other things.
And I want to thank my good friend Drew O’Brien, my Special Representative for Global Partnerships, who has already been doing just a huge job of reaching out and creating new possibilities as we use the assets of this extraordinary Department in order to try to be creative and reach more people in different ways.
So I apologize up front to everybody, but I have to leave earlier than I had anticipated because I need to go up to the Hill to talk to both the leadership as well as the Banking Committee regarding what’s going on in terms of P5+1 talks with Iran. So I ask your indulgence in sort of liberating me, if you will, a little bit early.
But I will tell you all that for Drew, working on this program, and for me in many ways but not quite the same ways as Drew, this is very, very personal because Drew’s father, who I got to know a little bit – I helped him get some medals that he had never received from his service in war, and presented them to them – to him, and in fact not too long before he passed away. And I will tell you that Ed O’Brien, who served proudly in the Navy during World War II, including the invasion of Okinawa, embodied what we know as the Greatest Generation, those who served and defended America and saved democracy for the world. And then they came home to contribute to the community, quietly, in so many different ways, building our nation and ultimately laying the foundation for winning the Cold War, and ending it. So Drew really does understand what this is all about.
Now, I especially want to welcome all of you, all the veterans who are here in the room today, those of you who answered the call to service and took yourselves away from whatever your other course of life was for a period of time in order to wear the uniform and answer that highest calling, which is to serve your nation. I am deeply appreciative, whether you did so on the battlefield or in some other way. Everybody knows who served. It’s a team. And you can’t do one thing without the other thing happening, and it’s all connected. So we thank you all for what you did for your country in uniform, and what you’re now doing for your country that you’ve traded one uniform for another.
This is also, as Drew said, important to me. I’ve spent, literally since the day I returned from Vietnam, being involved in veterans affairs – a founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and involved in everything from getting Agent Orange designation for cancer and creating the charter, to working on benefits, including the change from $12,000 of insurance up to the now-$500,000. These are all parts of a continuum of effort that I’m proud of, but it never stops. And I think all of you know that. The Veterans Innovation Partnership – VIP, as we are calling it – is not about just what the State Department can do for veterans. It’s really based on the notion that veterans can do a lot for the State Department, and that we would be foolish not to try to reach out and harness the talent that exists.
I’ve always said also that being a veteran doesn’t automatically qualify you to be on the right side of any given foreign policy issue. Doesn’t work that way. No one is, myself included, but – although I’d better bat pretty high in this position. (Laughter.) But it’s a perspective and it’s obviously an important perspective.
The experience of being a veteran, I’ve always believed, does qualify you to speak with a voice that is a little bit different, and also helps you to validate ways in which we can project America’s force and values abroad. I personally never will forget – I’m sure none of you have forgotten the moment you returned home from a deployment. I certainly haven’t forgotten when I returned home from Vietnam and landed at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington, feeling a little older than the 26 years that I was, and feeling blessed for the skills of management, leadership, organization, strategy that the United States Navy had bestowed on me even as a young lieutenant JG.
It also left me with a couple of other lessons. First, the firsthand understanding of what it means to be the tip of the spear, to be the tip of the spear on Americas’ foreign policy, and a more personal understanding of what it meant when Tony Benn wrote that all war represents the failure of diplomacy.
Few lessons ever bring home to you that more profoundly than why the efforts of this State Department must be nothing less than first rate, so that if and when we have to send young Americans into harm’s way, it is because we have no other choice. And second, the military and our experience in combat gave us all a special motivation to live life in the fullest because of those who weren’t so lucky, and that lesson is that if you come back from war, you know that every day is extra.
That’s why I asked Drew to build this new partnership to bring the unique skills that veterans have and that they’ve developed on the front lines of service to bring it to the front lines of diplomacy and of development. We need more people like Corneal Hunter, who served with the Army in Operation Desert Storm and in Kosovo, and who now brings his understanding of budgeting and management as a budget analyst in the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Service. People like Phil Schlatter, the Executive Director of our Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, whose 10-year career at the State Department was preceded by 22 years of military service that gave him experience at command levels and at staff. People like Joan Annjohlie St. Marie, whose extensive Air Force experience in disaster preparedness, shelter operations, and emergency management has prepared her well for her current role in our Bureau of African Affairs.
Through the VIP, we hope to bring together U.S. Government agencies and private sector leaders in order to seek out those who have served America and who are interested in international issues and provide them with fellowship opportunities at State, USAID, OPIC, and MCC – Millennium Challenge, and help them find international employment opportunities in both the private and the public sectors. I am absolutely convinced of the enormous talent and capacity that veterans can bring to this Department to augment what we try to do on a global basis and do so with a unique credibility, a unique ability to be able to validate both the values and the interests that we are trying to represent. I’m very grateful for the outstanding partners who’ve already signed up to work with VIP, including the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and iRobot, which is a company I worked with previously when I was in the Senate, and they are represented here today. And I welcome others from the private sector, foundations, and civil society who want to contribute to this initiative.
The bottom line is pretty simple. I believe that those who have worn the uniform and gone through the training and the experience of leadership and of partnership in so many different ways, in so many different categories within our armed services – all of them have shown that they know how to serve in one capacity, and through that capacity have now developed a new capacity to be able to serve yet again on another front. We want the State Department, AID, and all these other entities to welcome them – more than that, we want to find them. We want to seek them out and we want to put them back into service for their country, knowing that will make our country stronger and it will make our departments that much more effective.
So, thank you for being here to be part of this. God bless you all, and I look forward to seeing you in the days ahead as we implement VIP. Thank you. (Applause.)
Friday, November 1, 2013
CFTC $400,000 ORDERED IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE CURRENCY SCHEME
FROM: U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Federal Court Orders Louis J. Giddens, Jr., Anthony W. Dutton, and Michael Gomez to Pay Combined Restitution and Penalties of over $400,000 for Foreign Exchange Currency Scheme
Court Order Stems from a CFTC Complaint that Charged Dutton with Solicitation Fraud and Dutton and Gomez with Misappropriation of Customer Funds
Washington, DC - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained a consent Order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Defendants Louis J. Giddens, Jr. of Fayetteville, Georgia, Anthony W. Dutton of Peachtree City, Georgia, and Michael Gomez of Valrico, Florida, requiring them to pay restitution to investors, respectively, of $29,759.49, $56,604.35, and $68,000 and to pay a civil monetary penalty of $100,000, $100,000, and $75,000, respectively. The court’s Order also imposes permanent trading and registration bans against them, and prohibits them from violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged.
The Order, entered October 2, 2013, by U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey, Jr., stems from a CFTC anti-fraud Complaint filed against the Defendants on June 23, 2011 (see CFTC Press Release 6061-11).
The Order finds that, from at least January to October 2010, Giddens and Dutton operated Currency Management Group, LLC and Pinnacle Capital Partners, LLC, respectively, and solicited and accepted funds to trade off-exchange foreign currency (forex) from friends and co-workers. Giddens and Dutton transferred the solicited funds to another entity they owned and operated named Pinnacle Trade Group, LLC (Pinnacle Trade) to trade forex, the Order finds. Funds transferred to Pinnacle Trade were either sent to forex trading accounts or to a bank account controlled by Gomez to trade investor funds. However, the Order finds that not all of investor money was traded in forex, but rather, some funds were retained by Gomez and Dutton.
The Order also finds that Giddens and Dutton made statements on websites guaranteeing monthly returns of either five or ten percent from trading forex and that the websites did not disclose any risks associated with trading forex or that past performance does not guarantee future results. In addition to promising to pay investors fixed returns, the Order finds that Giddens and Dutton executed promissory notes that promised to repay investors their principal sum, plus monthly interest of either five or ten percent and prepared online account statements that showed the current net balance of the promissory notes. The notes did not disclose any risk associated with forex trading, the Order finds.
The CFTC appreciates the substantial assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office (Civil Division), Northern District of Georgia.
CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Kim Bruno, James Deacon, Amanda Harding, Michael Loconte, Erica Bodin, Kathleen Banar, Rick Glaser, and Richard Wagner.
Federal Court Orders Louis J. Giddens, Jr., Anthony W. Dutton, and Michael Gomez to Pay Combined Restitution and Penalties of over $400,000 for Foreign Exchange Currency Scheme
Court Order Stems from a CFTC Complaint that Charged Dutton with Solicitation Fraud and Dutton and Gomez with Misappropriation of Customer Funds
Washington, DC - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained a consent Order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Defendants Louis J. Giddens, Jr. of Fayetteville, Georgia, Anthony W. Dutton of Peachtree City, Georgia, and Michael Gomez of Valrico, Florida, requiring them to pay restitution to investors, respectively, of $29,759.49, $56,604.35, and $68,000 and to pay a civil monetary penalty of $100,000, $100,000, and $75,000, respectively. The court’s Order also imposes permanent trading and registration bans against them, and prohibits them from violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged.
The Order, entered October 2, 2013, by U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey, Jr., stems from a CFTC anti-fraud Complaint filed against the Defendants on June 23, 2011 (see CFTC Press Release 6061-11).
The Order finds that, from at least January to October 2010, Giddens and Dutton operated Currency Management Group, LLC and Pinnacle Capital Partners, LLC, respectively, and solicited and accepted funds to trade off-exchange foreign currency (forex) from friends and co-workers. Giddens and Dutton transferred the solicited funds to another entity they owned and operated named Pinnacle Trade Group, LLC (Pinnacle Trade) to trade forex, the Order finds. Funds transferred to Pinnacle Trade were either sent to forex trading accounts or to a bank account controlled by Gomez to trade investor funds. However, the Order finds that not all of investor money was traded in forex, but rather, some funds were retained by Gomez and Dutton.
The Order also finds that Giddens and Dutton made statements on websites guaranteeing monthly returns of either five or ten percent from trading forex and that the websites did not disclose any risks associated with trading forex or that past performance does not guarantee future results. In addition to promising to pay investors fixed returns, the Order finds that Giddens and Dutton executed promissory notes that promised to repay investors their principal sum, plus monthly interest of either five or ten percent and prepared online account statements that showed the current net balance of the promissory notes. The notes did not disclose any risk associated with forex trading, the Order finds.
The CFTC appreciates the substantial assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office (Civil Division), Northern District of Georgia.
CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Kim Bruno, James Deacon, Amanda Harding, Michael Loconte, Erica Bodin, Kathleen Banar, Rick Glaser, and Richard Wagner.
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