Visit of President U Thein Sein of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar / U.S. Assistance

The United States recognizes the important ongoing reform efforts underway by President Thein Sein, his government, Parliament, and key stakeholders among civil society to build a modern, peaceful, and democratic country. Building on a long legacy of support for the aspirations of the Burmese people, the United States is providing assistance to strengthen and accelerate the political, economic, and social transition; promote and strengthen respect for human rights; deliver the benefits of reform to the country’s people; and support the development of a stable society that reflects the diversity of all its people.

Drawing on the technical expertise and assets of U.S. Government agencies, institutes of higher education, U.S. businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and other partners, the United States is working to bring American ingenuity and ideas to the Burmese people. Through our calibrated policy and targeted foreign assistance programs and partnerships, we are working with the government and civil society to foster a sustainable transition to a democracy that respects and promotes human rights. Program activities include the following:

• Recognizing that the development of a transparent, accountable, representative government responsive to the needs of the people is critical for the democratic transition, the U.S. Government is assisting in improving electoral administration to ensure free, fair, and credible elections in 2015 as well as promote voter education, strengthen parliament, and support political party development. U.S. assistance promotes legal reform by supporting the technical capacity of the Government and empowering a broad-based civil society.
   
• The reestablishment of the Fulbright program is an important opportunity for the people of our two countries to work and learn side by side, teach students, build human capital and institutional capacity, and engage in scholarly collaboration through educational exchanges. In addition, EducationUSA advising offered at the U.S. Embassy provides accurate, comprehensive, and current information about how to apply to U.S. colleges and universities; the first ever EducationUSA fair in Rangoon in February 2013 drew the participation of 10 U.S. institutions and more than 1000 students and parents.
   
• The United States is catalyzing university-private sector partnerships involving U.S. businesses and U.S. and Burmese institutions of higher education to address critical development needs. The American Center in Rangoon, which has the highest attendance of any American Center in the world, trains political, civil society and labor activists in democratic systems, and civic engagement.
   
• The United States welcomes the Government’s support for the establishment of a Peace Corps program. A new program would not only build strong people-to-people ties between the people of our two countries, but also help meet development needs.
   
• Recognizing the role of agriculture in providing livelihoods for the majority of the Burmese people, the U.S. Government has funded a study that provides an expanded knowledge base for developing food security programs. In addition to providing essential health services, the United States is also laying the groundwork for the country’s first ever Demographic and Health Survey, which will provide data to relevant authorities, service providers, and the international community to best serve the health needs of the people.
   
• One of the country’s most significant challenges is achieving the national unity that has eluded it since independence. U.S. assistance aims to address the root causes of long-running conflicts and ethnic tensions. In addition, we continue to provide substantial humanitarian assistance to conflict-affected and vulnerable populations in border areas, the interior of the country, and in the region.
   
• The United States is taking additional steps to promote inclusive, broad-based economic development and strengthen economic relations between our two countries. Following the targeted easing in 2012 of economic sanctions, in consultation with Congress, we are supporting U.S. businesses as they apply their high standards in bringing responsible investment to Burma. We also seek to support reform by leveraging the talents and resources of the U.S. private sector to enhance economic development and extend the benefits of economic reform to all of the country’s people.
   
• As reaffirmed in a joint statement, the United States, through the State Department’s Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative, intends to provide technical assistance in support of the implementation of international best practices in oil and gas management and oversight, financial accountability, and safety and environmental stewardship.
   
• The United States is providing assistance to facilitate the transformational opportunities that result from a competitive and accessible telecommunications market. As the country liberalizes its telecommunications sector, the U.S. Government intends to provide technical assistance and capacity building, provide counsel in the development of a national broadband plan, and assist in the development of a universal service plan, supporting the government in meeting its goals to rapidly expand connectivity across the country in the context of an open regulatory and legal framework.

With these and other activities, the United States underscores our commitment to support and assist all of the people of Burma in their efforts to embrace reform and promote and respect human rights, and highlights our dedication to help them realize the full potential of their extraordinary country.

For further information, please visit:

http://www.state.gov/p/eap/ci/bm/

http://www.usaid.gov/burma

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Foreign Assistance Dashboard Update

The Foreign Assistance Dashboard (www.foreignassistance.gov), a key deliverable of the U.S. Government’s Open Government Partnership National Action Plan, promotes the Administration’s commitment to openness and transparency. The Dashboard serves as a dynamic tool to visualize foreign assistance data, and continues to expand with more robust datasets.

Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Quarter 2 obligation and expenditure data is now available on the Foreign Assistance Dashboard. In accordance with OMB Bulletin 12-01, agencies currently on the Foreign Assistance Dashboard are required to report data to the Dashboard on a quarterly basis. USAID and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) are the first agencies to provide timely quarterly FY13 obligation and expenditure data to the Dashboard. The USAID and MCC FY13 quarterly data is visualized in bar and pie charts and also included in the U.S. Government’s data files in the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) format found here.

The Foreign Assistance Dashboard serves as a tool for users to access U.S. foreign assistance data by country, sector, and agency in an easy-to-understand format. The site provides a visual presentation of foreign assistance data in a standardized and user-friendly way. Data on the site can be manually queried, filtered, and downloaded by users for further analysis. The Dashboard has become the U.S. Government’s main tool for improving foreign aid transparency with over 480,000 visitors since its initial launch in December 2010.

The Dashboard continues to expand with the goal of including detailed foreign assistance budget, financial, and program data from all U.S. Government agencies that fund or implement foreign assistance in accordance with the OMB Bulletin 12-01. As new data is added to the Dashboard, the IATI data files will also be updated to reflect the new data set visualized on the site.

To understand the information presented in the Foreign Assistance Dashboard, users are encouraged to read the supplementary information under the What You Should Know section of the website. Comments, questions, or suggestions can be submitted through the Contact Us form on the site.

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Joint Statement on Good Governance and Transparency in the Energy Sector

The text of the following statement was released by His Excellency Union Minister of Energy U Than Htay of Myanmar and Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Carlos Pascual.

Begin Text:

The energy sector plays a vital role in the economies of both our countries. If properly managed, oil and gas revenues can make an important contribution to economic development, and the sector can help supply the electricity needed to grow the economy, including to run businesses, schools, and hospitals.

Managing the energy sector transparently and in line with international best practices is an objective of both our governments. Transparency reduces the risk of corruption, and helps citizens to hold their governments accountable for spending natural resource revenues. Transparency also helps companies operate with the free, prior, and informed consent of affected communities, which can improve the operating environment for industry, and help reduce the risk of conflict associate with resource development.

Both our governments also strive to ensure international best practices are used in safety and environmental stewardship in the energy sector. Protecting our citizens and our countries’ natural environment are critically important priorities.

We recognize the expectation of our citizens that their governments operate accountably.

The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar have both committed to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), including working closely with civil society and industry. We view EITI as a valuable tool to support increased sector good governance and multi-stakeholder engagement in sector decision-making.

Therefore:

The United States and Myanmar reaffirm their shared objectives to manage their natural resources, including oil and gas, and the revenues they generate, transparently and for the benefit of all their citizens.

The Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar expresses its intention to continue to reform its energy sector, and to participate in the G8’s Partnership for extractives transparency in conjunction with the United States – an initiative that seeks to demonstrate how G8 members and partner countries, companies, and civil society are working together to advance greater transparency in extractives industry management. To that end, the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar intends to participate in the G8 Transparency launch event in London on June 15.

The United States intends, subject to available resources, to support Myanmar as it continues its economic reform efforts. Through the Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative (EGCI), the United States intends to provide technical assistance in support of the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar’s implementation of international best practices in oil and gas sector management and oversight, financial accountability, and safety and environmental stewardship. The EGCI plans to support technical capacity-building to facilitate successful long-term sector management, updates to the legal, regulatory, fiscal, and operating environment to attract qualified and responsible investors, and strong institutional governance and transparency with respect to oil and gas sector revenue management. The EGCI also plans to reinforce the Ministry of Energy’s efforts to support Myanmar’s implementation of EITI.

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Release of the 2012 International Religious Freedom Report

AMBASSADOR COOK: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. It’s an honor to serve you.

Good morning. The 2012 International Religious Freedom Report provides a factual rendering of the status of religious freedom around the world. Religious freedom is essential for a stable, peaceful, and thriving society. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This is the standard against which we assess religious freedom and the International Religious Freedom Report. This report seeks to advance religious freedom by shining a spotlight on abuses and violations. As Secretary Kerry said, when a country fails to provide equal protection of religious freedom for all, the groundwork is laid for political instability and sectarian violence. When a government favors one group or set of beliefs and restricts the rights of others, some in society may take that as tacit approval to further target marginalized groups.

As this report makes clear, much work remains to be done. Secretary Kerry just described some of the most troubling trends, and please let me note some others. Thousands of people around the world are jailed because of what they believe or don’t believe. In Iran, more than 116 Baha’is are in prison for teaching and expressing their faith, and many Christians, Sufis, and Sunnis are facing similar treatment. Additionally, a Christian pastor named Saeed Abedini, who is an American and Iranian citizen, was sentenced to eight years in prison just for his beliefs. In Eritrea, people are detained on account of their religious beliefs. Some have reportedly died due to torture or lack of medical treatment. We seek the release of all individuals detained or imprisoned because of their beliefs.

Many governments fail to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes motivated by religious animosity, creating a climate of impunity that fueled further discrimination and violence. In Egypt, the government failed to appropriately investigate and prosecute perpetrators and often did not effectively intervene when sectarian violence arose. In Pakistan, religious minorities continue to encounter societal discrimination and violence, and authorities frequently fail to arrest the perpetrators. As sectarian violence claims more lives each year in Pakistan, over 200 Shia were killed in the first two months of this year alone. In Nigeria, elements of the extremist sect Boko Haram claimed the lives of both Christians and Muslims. The government response has involved gross violations of human rights of a civilian population and deepened impunity.

Governments must fulfill their responsibility to condemn religious intolerance and bring to justice perpetrators of abuses. Just last month, I traveled to China where I pressed government officials to uphold the right to religious freedom for all and to stop abusing this universal right. The government restricts the practices of many groups, including Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, unregistered Christian congregations, and Falun Gong practitioners. In 2012, 83 Tibetans chose to self-immolate to protest Chinese policies. The total number now is over 100. We urge governments to protect the rights of all to hold, express, or change their faith without fear.

In Syria, the government targeted faith groups it deemed a threat, including members of the country’s Sunni majority and religious minorities. Such targeting included killing, detention, and harassment. Syria – excuse me – Syria Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi were kidnapped April 22^nd by persons unknown, and still remain missing.

Societal intolerance against religious minorities is on the rise. Too often this intolerance finds expression in acts of violence, vandalism, and desecration. In Iraq, extremists target religious ceremonies, leading people not to attend services out of fear for their safety. And sectarian violence directed at Muslims spread to central Burma in March 2013, resulting in casualties, displacement, and the destruction of places of worship.

Anti-Semitic rhetoric persists in some Middle Eastern media and too often appears in public discourse in some countries in Europe, especially where anti-Semitic parties have gained seats in parliaments. We continue to see violent attacks against Jews in Europe, and I look forward now to working with my new colleague Ira Forman, who was introduced to you by Secretary Kerry. I look forward to working with him to combat this pernicious problem.

Anti-Muslim sentiment and discrimination are evident in places as diverse as Europe and Asia. We call on societies and governments to foster tolerance and hold perpetrators of violence accountable.

We also partner with members of international communities to support religious freedom, to protect religious minorities, and to safeguard freedom of expression. We particularly advocate engaging women and youth on religious freedom as their voices are a positive force for change.

Violations of religious freedom easily capture the world’s attention, so I therefore want to highlight some positive developments that tend to fly under the media radar. Although governments’ restrictions on religious freedom remain in Vietnam, the government took a step forward by allowing large-scale worship services with more than 100,000 participants.

Turkey – they loosened its restrictions on religious attire, allowing female students to wear headscarves in certain religious classes and in certain Islamic schools. As you will see and read, the challenges are daunting. But we remain committed to working tirelessly to ensure religious freedom for all.

I thank you and I will be happy to take your questions.

MR. HENSMAN: Ambassador Johnson Cook has a few minutes for a couple questions. Why don’t we start with --

QUESTION: Thank you, Ambassador. The State Department has been issuing these reports for a long time. Apart from shaming publicly these countries, if they can be shamed, have you detected any change in their behavior over the years? And how does the State Department deal with allies like the Secretary mentioned, like Turkey, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, for being practiced in religious intolerance in varied degrees?

AMBASSADOR COOK: Well, for the first part of the question, in some cases there is change and progress. As I noted in the closing, there was progress in certain countries. Specifically, there was also places where the trends are not increasing and not doing well, and they’re going downward. So we look at the countries that – of particular concern that you’re talking about, that continue to have egregious, ongoing, systematic acts. And so we use different tools. Sometimes they’re sanctioned; sometimes they’re put on the CPC list. It depends on what happens. But we hope that people will take small steps for progress, because what we ultimately want is religious freedom for all in every country.

MR. HENSMAN: Lalit.

QUESTION: Thank you for doing this. The Secretary’s opening remarks mentioned about Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists increasingly facing protest and their religious freedom are being attacked in the various countries of the world. Do you know which are the countries? Have you identified the countries where Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists are facing problems in exercising their right to religious freedom?

AMBASSADOR COOK: Well, there are several countries. I think – I will refer you to the report, because there are several countries. We don’t want to highlight one particular one. Is there a country that you have a particular concern about?

QUESTION: I have seen some media reports about Pakistan, Afghanistan, about Hindus in Fiji. Do you know any other country where –

AMBASSADOR COOK: Well, in those particular countries, we certainly are concerned about religious minorities, Hindus as well as others. And so we press the governments – we urge the governments to allow religious freedom for all.

MR. HENSMAN: Samir.

QUESTION: Can you tell us what’s new, what’s different from the previous report? And is there any countries you consider sanctioning them?

AMBASSADOR COOK: Well, this is the report for 2012. So every year – I refer you to the report in terms of how they progress. I would say there are certain countries that we’re looking at, as I cited in the end of my remarks, like Vietnam, who have made progress in terms of having – allowing large places of worship. I think each country has its situations, and there are countries that are doing very well.

I had the opportunity, the fortunate opportunity, to visit Saudi Arabia and China, who have been on the Countries of Particular Concern List, as well as Uzbekistan. And so we’ve tried to make small steps. There are some governments that are not moving whatsoever, and particularly in Saudi Arabia they don’t allow non-Islamic persons to have freedom of religion.

So each year is situational, and we progress and we look at all 199 countries, and I think the report will speak for itself.

QUESTION: So do you see progress by the Saudis?

AMBASSADOR COOK: They don’t allow any non-Islamic persons to have religious freedom, so I don’t see progress there.

QUESTION: Like last report.

AMBASSADOR COOK: Their report is very close to where it was last year, very much so. What happened was, though, I was allowed a visit, and so that’s a beginning. We want to continue to be engaged with them.

QUESTION: Yes, please. Ambassador, the Secretary raised the issue of blasphemy. As a matter of fact, become an issue even in a place like Egypt, for example, when like Coptic Egyptian – beside Coptic Egyptian, even Muslims sometimes face this charge of blasphemy. How we are going to handle this issue or record it or even make a report about it?

AMBASSADOR COOK: Well, at all high levels our government has been involved in Egypt, since you cited that, at all high levels across government. We are very concerned. We want to hold accountability for those who are perpetrators of violence. We want to make sure that there’s protection of religious minorities, including Coptic Christians – especially Coptic Christians. And where there’s possibility of reform of laws, we want that to happen. Egypt, as you know, is dealing with a new constitution. As we see it right now, there’s not much room for religious freedom. But we continue to press the government, and as I said, at all levels – high levels – our government has been intervening there.

MR. HENSMAN: Goyal.

QUESTION: Madam, thank you. Burma’s President is here today in the White House, and so in Pakistan new Prime Minister will be there tomorrow. My question is on these two countries before I will one question. That – do you see any change in Burma? Or what message you think this report will have for the President of Burma today while he in U.S.? And also, as far as Pakistan is concerned, as I said, the new Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif, who is very close to the religious people in Pakistan, do you see any change under his administration since he will be the third-time prime minister of Pakistan?

AMBASSADOR COOK: Okay. Let me just say again, the report is for 2012. On Burma, we didn’t see any improvement in religious freedom. And as long as there’s no improvement of religious freedom, the sanctions will still remain in terms of religious freedom.

In terms of Pakistan, there’s a new government, there’s a new leadership, and I think it remains to be seen how people handle it. As to the question previously, blasphemy is very important to us, and there are many who are being held in prisons still – Asia Bibi and others – about 20 others who are in prison because of their belief. So we have to see what this new government will do. We certainly encourage him and will urge him to again hold accountable the perpetrators of violence and to make sure that there’s protection of religious minorities. And so that’s going to be very important. Human rights is a very high priority for this Administration.

QUESTION: And finally, Madam, on India, how much advice have you taken, as far as this report is concerned, from the international freedom religious commission of the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom? Because this commission has again – once again – addressed and also is urging the State Department that visas should not be issued to Mr. Narendra Modi, who is the chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, who is seeking to come to the U.S. But some of these groups here, including this commission, are still against his arrival in the U.S.

AMBASSADOR COOK: Thank you for your question. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, to whom you referred, is an independent commission, also mandated by Congress but they’re an independent commission. So that their references and suggestions are certainly taken into account when we do our reports, but in terms of what they designate, I refer you to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF.

MR. HENSMAN: Let’s do one last question.

QUESTION: If I could follow-up on Burma, please? The report mentions that there have been these political changes, this sort of opening up of society and the political system somewhat, and yet you see no improvement in the religious restrictions there. And on the contrary, you’ve actually seen a sort of spike of religious violence targeting various groups in that country. And this question might even apply to other countries, in Egypt and so forth, where there have been political transitions that seem to have led to increased religious tension or violence. Is that your sense, and why would that be?

AMBASSADOR COOK: Well, it’s not for me to determine what my sense is. I guess what you’re asking is, why does this continue to happen in these countries? As we said, in Burma particularly, we see societal and economic – some reform there. But as religious freedom, we haven’t seen much reform. At high levels, again, our Secretary went, and our Assistant Secretary and others went there. We continue to try to engage the government on religious freedom, but at this particular time there has not been an improvement there.

We want to look at – I think the immediate cause is looking at what are the root causes, the systemic causes of this, and we will continue as an office to do that for all 199 countries and watch the trends. Again, we take our information from many sources, but we will monitor the situation closely and where possible, where there’s diplomatic engagement possibilities, we will certainly engage.

MR. HENSMAN: Thank you, everyone.

QUESTION: Thank you, Ambassador.

AMBASSADOR COOK: Thank you.

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U.S. Department of State Hosts EMPOWER Conference to Advance Disability Rights Worldwide

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces the first EMPOWER Conference on disability inclusive diplomacy. The EMPOWER program is a series of two-way exchanges aimed at bolstering the rights of persons with disabilities around the world. Persons with disabilities have the same rights as non-disabled persons, and must be provided access, opportunity, inclusion, and full participation on an equal basis with others.

The conference will take place on Wednesday, May 22 in the George Marshall Center, starting at 8:45am. It will include 34 disability rights advocates from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tajikistan, and Uganda who are here for one-month fellowships in cities across the United States.

Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State Judith Heumann will provide opening remarks at the conference. The event will feature clips from the documentary film “Lives Worth Living” followed by an open discussion with leading disability rights advocates. John L. Wodatch, who wrote the first federal disability rights regulations in the 1970s and helped draft the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), will participate.

At its conclusion in the fall of 2013, the EMPOWER program, conducted in partnership with U.S. administrating organizations American Councils for International Education, Discovering Deaf Worlds and Global Deaf Connections, will have brought an estimated 75 foreign disability rights leaders from every geographic region to the United States for two-to-four week professional development programming, and sent approximately 60 American stakeholders abroad for reciprocal exchanges.

The opening and panel discussion are open press. Those members of the press interested in attending the EMPOWER Conference, please RSVP to Anna Griffin at GriffinAL@state.gov by 4pm Tuesday, May 21.

To learn more about disabilities and U.S. Department of State exchange programs, visit http://eca.state.gov/programs-initiatives/disabilities-exchange-programs.

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Secretary Kerry Names New Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism

Secretary of State John Kerry announced Monday that Ira Forman will serve as the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.

Ira Forman, a graduate of both Harvard and Stanford Universities, previously served as Director of Congressional Relations for the Office of Personnel Management during the Clinton administration. He led the National Jewish Democratic Council for fifteen years.

Special Envoy Forman’s first act will be to join a group of imams to visit the site of the former Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. He will then proceed to the International Conference of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem.

The Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 created the position of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.

Secretary Kerry made the announcement as he released the 2012 International Religious Freedom Report.

For further information or interview requests, please contact Evan Owen at Owene@state.gov or (202) 647-4747, or visit www.state.gov/j/drl and www.humanrights.gov.

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Christopher Painter, Coordinator for Cyber Issues, Travels to Stockholm, Sweden

Christopher Painter, the Secretary’s Coordinator for Cyber Issues, will travel to Stockholm, Sweden May 21-24, 2013. Coordinator Painter is leading the U.S. Delegation attending the Stockholm Internet Forum where he will address attendants on global security and human rights in the Internet age.

The Stockholm Internet Forum brings together policymakers, civil society representatives, activists, business representatives and technical community representatives to discuss the concepts of freedom and openness, respect for human rights, innovation and global development. This is the second meeting of the Forum. This year’s themes include Internet Freedom and Security, and Internet Freedom and Development.

While in Stockholm, Coordinator Painter will meet with government officials to discuss a range of international cyber policy priorities. He will also engage with civil society representatives from around the world.

For updates on this trip, please contact the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues at scci_press@state.gov.

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Timor-Leste Restoration of Independence Day

The United States is particularly mindful of Timor-Leste’s inspirational transformation and engagement as you celebrate Restoration of Independence Day this May 20.

President Obama and the United States value the friendship between our two countries and we look forward to working together to strengthen our partnership.

As you continue to work toward creating a stronger and more prosperous Timor-Leste, always know that the United States stands with you and we send our best wishes for a bright future.

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Remarks on the Release of the International Religious Freedom Report

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

With that --

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Jen. Thank you very much. Good morning, everybody. How are you?

Well, thanks for being here today for the release of the 2012 International Religious Freedom Report. I am pleased to be here with our Ambassador-at-Large, Suzan Johnson Cook, and I want to thank her and her entire cohort here for their terrific work in helping to put this together. She is doing – they are doing a superb job of advancing religious freedom abroad.

I also want to acknowledge the hard work of a whole bunch of State Department employees both here in Washington and at a lot of posts around the world, because all of them collect the information and do a lot of work throughout the year in order to be able to put this report together. This is not a one- or two-week affair. It’s a long one-year process, ongoing.

Fifteen years ago, I was very proud to join my colleagues in the United States Congress in passing the International Religious Freedom Act, the law that mandates the preparation of this State Department report. This report, as many of you know, shines light on the challenges that people face as they seek nothing more than the basic religious freedom, the right to worship as they wish. And its release here today is a demonstration of the abiding commitment of the American people and the entire U.S. Government to the advancement of freedom of religion worldwide.

Freedom of religion is a core American value. It’s one that helped to create our country. It’s been at the center of our national consciousness since the 1600s, when the Pilgrims fled rebellious – religious persecution and landed in my home state of Massachusetts. And many of these folks settled in the city of Salem, which takes its name from the words “salaam” or “shalom,” meaning “peace.”

But before long, even there, religious strife visited their hometown. Women were accused of witchcraft, and some were burned at the stake. Emerging differences between religious leaders in Massachusetts led some congregations to break away and to found new settlements in what would become Connecticut and Rhode Island. Providence was founded by people who wandered through the woods the entire winter and came out on this expanse of water, and named it Providence for obvious reasons.

So we approach this issue – I certainly do – mindful of our past, and of how as Americans we have at times had to push and work and struggle to fully live up to the promise of our founding. John Winthrop, who happens also to be my granddad from 10 generations back, was born in England, but his passionate faith and his disagreements with the Anglican Church inspired him to lead a ship full of religious dissidents to come to America to seek freedom of worship. And on the deck of the Arabella, he famously said in a sermon that he delivered before they landed: “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.” And they have been, and they remain there. And through – though we are obviously far from perfect, no place has ever welcomed so many different faiths to worship so freely as here in the United States of America. It’s something we can be extraordinarily proud of.

But freedom of religion is not an American invention. It’s a universal value. And it’s enshrined in our Constitution and ingrained in every human heart. The freedom to profess and practice one’s faith, to believe or not to believe, or to change one’s beliefs, that is a birthright of every human being. And that’s what we believe. These rights are rightly recognized under international law. The promotion of international religious freedom is a priority for President Obama, and it is a priority for me as Secretary of State. I am making certain, and will continue to, that religious freedom remains an integral part of our global diplomatic engagement.

The release of this report is an important part of those efforts. This report is a clear-eyed, objective look at the state of religious freedom around the world. And when necessary, yes, it does directly call out some of our close friends, as well as some countries with whom we seek stronger ties. And it does so in order to try to make progress, even though we know that it may cause some discomfort.

But when countries undermine or attack religious freedom, they not only unjustly threaten those whom they target; they also threaten their country’s own stability. And we see that in so many places. Attacks on religious freedom are therefore both a moral and a strategic national security concern for the United States.

I also want to note that this report was informed by a broad spectrum of contributors: faith leaders, religious organizations, and journalists. Some of these individuals showed immense bravery in coming forward and sharing their observations. And their stories show that we as an international community have a lot of work to do.

The report chronicles discrimination and violence in countries ranging from established democracies to entrenched dictatorships. It documents that governments around the globe continue to detain, imprison, torture, and even kill people for their religious beliefs. In too many places, governments are also failing to protect minorities from social discrimination and violence. The report identifies global problems of discrimination and violence against religious groups, including Baha’is, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs.

One troubling trend identified in the report is the potential rise of anti-Semitism. So today I would like to announce that I have named Ira Forman to the position of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. Ira has long been a champion of fair treatment for all, and he has worked extensively to combat intolerance. On top of that, he’s also a great guy, and I look forward to supporting him in this vitally important mission. So welcome aboard, Ira.

Lastly, another troubling trend is the increasing use of laws governing blasphemy and apostasy. These laws are frequently used to repress dissent, to harass political opponents, and to settle personal vendettas. Laws such as these violate fundamental freedoms of expression and religion, and we believe they ought to be repealed. And because we defend others’ rights of expression, we are also ensuring that we can express our own views and practice our own faith without fearing for our own safety or our own lives.

That is why, as I travel the world, I do press leaders to do more to safeguard freedom of belief and to promote religious tolerance. And that is why I urge all countries, especially those identified in this report, to take action now to safeguard this fundamental freedom.

While this report underscores the challenges to religious freedom, it is also true that it is harder than ever to restrict human freedom. It has never been easier in all of human history for people to share their views, to find information, to connect with others, even to send messages of desperation that ask for help or that shed light on abuses that are taking place, because of instant communication. So while serious challenges to religious freedom remain, I also could not be more optimistic about the prospects for freedom around the world, because there are great prospects for accountability around the world.

So I thank you very much. I want to turn the floor over to Ambassador Suzan Johnson Cook, who will explain further what the elements of this report are. Thank you.

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Remarks With New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully Before Their Meeting

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

But New Zealand has been a partner in a lot of our initiatives and interests, and particularly helping out in a place like Afghanistan, which is far away, but they’ve been an enormous global partner. The regional issues, particularly on the Korean Peninsula and the challenges in the South China Sea, are important to all of us. And we rely on our friends in New Zealand for the strength of a relationship not just in the region but globally. We share a lot of values and a lot of interests.

So I’m very, very happy to welcome the Foreign Minister here, and I look forward to a good conversation on any number of issues.

FOREIGN MINISTER MCCULLY: Thank you for your kindness, sir. I’m delighted to be here. I know you’ve got a really busy schedule and you’re off to the Middle East, I think for the fourth time, this afternoon. I’m delighted that you were able to receive us. I look forward to our discussions this afternoon. So thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. Thank you all. I apologize for running, but I literally have to run out to the airport in half an hour, so it’s my fault.

QUESTION: (Off mike.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Thank you very much. I’ll be back.

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Remarks to the Foreign Service Institute Overseas Security Seminar

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube

I’m glad to be here with Under Secretary Pat Kennedy, who does such an extraordinary job at implementing all of our efforts with respect to our embassies, consulates, and facilities around the world, and who has been much on top of this agenda, and our chief of security for the entire State Department and AID, Greg Starr. Thank you very much for being here with us. We appreciate it enormously.

One of things that I have learned – not just in the few months I’ve been Secretary, but in the years that I was on the Foreign Relations committee – is that you can train men and women for the assignments that you’re going to take on when you leave here – and FSI does that exceedingly well, and some of you have been through that before; I know we have some senior officers here, and we have people not just FSO but from other agencies here who have been out in the field previously – but the fact is that – and I think you know this – no training here, none of us who stand up here and talk to you, can teach the special instinct that brings you all here to a life of public service and particularly to carrying America’s message and efforts, our values abroad. That really comes from you. It comes from your sense of yourself as Americans; it comes from your understanding of who we are as a country, and from the direction that we need to move in and from the challenges that face us on this globe. Your dedication to our country and your determination to make the world better – these are the singular traits of very special people who are America’s face to the world in ways that so many of our fellow citizens will never know or understand.

A little more than 100 days ago now, I was privileged, honored to become your colleague and join the State Department, and join the State Department family – which is what it is – when I took the oath of office and began my service as Secretary of State. The oath that I swore is the exact same one that you swear. It is also the same one that our Ambassadors take, and it is the same one that people in the military and others take, people who wear uniform but are on the frontlines, just as you are on the frontlines.

We all of us solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. But with that oath, I assure you – and I think you understand this – we also pledge to defend and support each other. I want you to know that every day that I am privileged to be in this position, I have no greater priority and no greater responsibility than ensuring that we do all that we can within reason and capacity to protect you.

On my very first day as Secretary, the same day that I took that oath, a suicide bomber in Ankara, Turkey, killed a local guard named Mustafa Akarsu. I’ve met his family. I spoke at a memorial service for him in which we dedicated a beautiful fountain because his name means “flowing waters.” And now there are flowing waters at our Embassy forever in memory of him. Mustafa had guarded the gates of that embassy for 20 years, and on February 1^st, he moved in to challenge an intruder who was just walking in the door, and that is where he gave his life. He did so bravely, acting quickly to save the lives of others.

In Kabul, not too long after that, I met Anne Smedinghoff, a brilliant, brave, confident young woman from outside of Chicago. She would have come right here to be part of this training this summer, preparing for her next difficult post. But a week and a half after she helped to organize my visit to Kabul, she was gone, taken in yet another heinous terrorist attack as she was killed while delivering books to schoolchildren.

So I am acutely aware of the very real challenge that we face and the very real risks that we take around the world. I think of them every single day. I know all of you are deeply aware of these challenges too. You can’t help but be as you think about where you may be going and what you may be asked to do. And I am enormously appreciative, and President Obama shares a deep and abiding respect for and understanding of what you undergo and the challenges you undertake. We are enormously appreciative of the fearlessness that you somehow muster as you confront these challenges.

In the shadows of the attack in Afghanistan and Ankara, and of course last year’s terrorist attack in Benghazi which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, we all understand, it is indelibly imprinted on us, how important it is to protect our people in our facilities. And that is why as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I held both classified and unclassified briefings to make sure that we understood what went wrong and to do all we could to ensure it would never happen again.

That is why as Secretary of State, I am committed to implementing every single one of the recommendations in the report of the Accountability Review Board and doing more. That report makes it clear that our work will never be done, and we can never eliminate every last risk, but we can never stop working to mitigate those risks as much as possible.

So right now, even as we sit here, Pat Kennedy and I and Greg are working to upgrade our capacities. We’re bringing on more security personnel, we’re enhancing our training. We’re putting more Marines at our high-threat diplomatic posts, and we’re making sure that their first responsibility is protecting our people, not just classified materials. We’re working more closely with the Defense Department, with our partners, linking our embassies with various military commands to make emergency extradition more central to our military mission. We’re upgrading our facilities, and we’re building new embassies and consulates. And we’re making sure that the concern about safety and security always gets the attention that it needs and deserves.

But in addition to doing what we’re doing in order to be safe abroad, we as a nation need to engage in a larger conversation about the inherent dangers of diplomacy, ever mindful that we undertake them clear-eyed and we undertake them for a reason. And we must remember this conversation that we need to engage our country in is not a new one. The dangers of diplomacy are not unique to this moment in time. Serving in our diplomatic missions didn’t become dangerous that night in Benghazi. This is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, the reason that we continue to do this work is embedded in our DNA as Americans. It is part of our patriotic, pioneering character.

The memorial wall in the lobby of the State Department – which Vice President Biden and I stood at just a few days ago as we unveiled the additional names that have been added to it – that wall in the State Department bears 244 names, including Anne’s, and Chris Stevens’s, and Sean Smith’s, Glen Doherty’s and Ty Woods’s. But I ask you to remember today, and I ask Americans to remember today, that most of those 244 gave their lives long before September 11^th of 2012, or even September 11^th of 2001. The first plaque on the wall in Foggy Bottom is dedicated to a man named William Palfrey, the Consul General to France, who was lost at sea when the Constitution that we swear to defend was still a decade away from even being written.

The wall honors those that we lost in Beirut and Bosnia and Baghdad, in attacks like that on our embassy in Nairobi in 1998 and on our officers in far capital cities, those we lost as they served in perilous regions even in peaceful times. And though we can’t count all of their names, the wall also honors the families and the loved ones of those who serve and sacrifice in faraway places.

As some of you may know, my father was in the Foreign Service when I was a young man. We were stationed in Berlin when I was 11 years old, in the aftermath of World War II. The streets were still piled with rubble. Troops stood on either side of the line that divided East from West. I remember seeing Hitler’s bunker protruding up from where it had been exploded. And everyone, all the soldiers, were anxiously gripping their weapons wondering whether some hostility might break out. The crossings were dangerous. And the families were often trying to escape from East to West, to a more promising life – the life that you, we, represent. It was dangerous time, and it became even more dangerous when the wall went up and people tried to get across that wall to find freedom and liberty.

So this conversation is not new. But I believe it is more important than ever today. When we think about and grieve about and honor the bravery that we see in your predecessors and in your peers, we cannot at the same time wonder why or be surprised that there is danger. If we are going to bring light to the world, we have to go where it is dark. That is the meaning of service, and that is what American diplomacy has always been about.

Which is why I want to underscore a very important part of this ongoing conversation: how to keep our people safe overseas, and how to minimize our foreign policy – maximize our foreign policy in order to strengthen America.

If you are going to represent the United States in countries to which you’re about to travel, you just need to be accessible to the people on the ground. And every time you do reach out, every time you touch a citizen in another country, every time you carry the face of American values – the values of America – whatever kind of communication you have, you are making our country stronger. You are building the future.

We need to remind our fellow Americans – we are engaged with the rest of the world because that is in our vital interest. We have to be there. Because when we’re there we get things done. We protect the future. And we’re not – as we have too often learned of late – the vacuum will be filled by those whose goals are vastly different from ours.

We put ourselves on the line because it’s in our interest to do so. Because that’s the way we protect others from attacking us, because that’s the way we make sure we that we don’t have to send our kids to war, and that’s the way we build connections with other countries so that we can work together to solve problems that can only be solved across borders, transnationally, by reaching out and joining the global community.

We have to show up in places that no one else wants to go. And when we succeed there – building a safer city, forging a stronger trade partnership, helping a child to grow up understanding what America truly stands for rather than learning from a hateful propaganda package or false ideology – when we do that, our interests are advanced, our values are upheld, and the risks that we take are worth it.

Now, skeptics might try to suggest to you that it’s not worth it. They’ll tell us, “Stay inside the embassy,” or even “Stay in the cities and stay out of countries where you’re not safe.” My friends, that’s no way to advance our interests. That is not what America stands for. We cannot do the work we need to do to make the world safer, to build rule of law, to build the future, by hiding. We can’t do this work by staying away. We will never overcome threats by shrinking away from them. In countries with weak rule of law and dysfunctional governments, we have an interest in helping people to build a stronger democratic institution, to take advantage of opportunity and create the futures that they choose for themselves. Indeed, those are the very places where we have the most to gain.

Every day I get reports – from Greg or from Pat or from the intelligence community – about various threats that we’re facing. And there will be times when I decide that the threat in a certain place is great enough that we need to adjust our approach and take extra precautions, at least for a while. And we do, and we have. That’s the reality. But those will be the exceptional cases. Retreating behind the wire cannot be the way that we do business.

So I’ve got news for you today and I have news to share with America: We will not pull back. We’re going to keep practicing what my father called “foreign policy outdoors,” working directly with men and women around the world, from government officials and local leaders to civil society groups and ordinary people on the street. We’re going to build the people-to-people relationships that help foster trust and understanding between cultures. And we’re going to make that sort of engagement even stronger.

Chris Stevens understood that. He enjoyed and respected the people that he met, whether it was in this country or abroad. When he was just 17 years old, he went to Spain with the American Field Service, and he then lived in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco as a volunteer English teacher with the Peace Corps. In fact, one young student of his became a teacher because of English – because Chris Stevens touched that young man at a point in his life. Wherever he went, he made lasting friendships that were built on mutual respect. When Chris Stevens strolled down streets and greeted strangers with a friendly American smile, Libyans got a glimpse of the best of the United States – a decency and a respect for others regardless of race, religion, or cultural belief.

Chris was fortunate for the chance to live around the world, as I consider myself to have been, and as you are. Most people don’t have the opportunity to do what you do – spend time abroad, meeting people of another language and culture and history and sharing it with them, deeply immersed in their lives.

But today we also have digital bridges to connect different cultures – and I don’t just mean Facebook and Twitter. The State Department’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau runs a virtual exchange program that connects teachers and students in the United States with their counterparts in the Middle East and North Africa. These students are working together online, learning from each other about their cultures and history, and they’re forging lasting relationships.

So I’m excited to tell you that we are right now working closely with Chris Stevens’s family on a public-private virtual exchange that we’re going to call the Chris Stevens Youth Network. And we believe this can lead to the largest ever increase in people-to-people exchanges between the United States and the Middle East and North Africa. And we believe it will also dramatically increase the number and diversity of young people who have a meaningful cross-cultural experience – the same experience that Chris, and I think all of you understand is so important.

These are the kind of connections that actually led Libyans to go out into the streets of Benghazi after the attack spontaneously. Tens of thousands carrying signs, thanking the United States – they went out there not to shout terrible things about America, they went out there to mourn Chris’ death and celebrate democracy, to say “thank you” to Chris and America.

After World War II, during that time that I was growing up as a young person in Berlin and elsewhere, I watched our country invest in other people and in the future. In the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, NATO, the Fulbright Program, we watched Germany, Japan turn into powerhouse allies of the United States today. We watched countries like South Korea, which was under siege, which for years received aid from the United States, now become a donor country, giving aid to other people to follow in the example that we set. All of this has been geared towards understanding, and that’s what we have to continue to do today.

America’s interests demand that we not shrink from the world stage. We cannot retrench or retreat. We cannot do our work only from behind bricks and barbed wire. We have to be out there where people are.

In fact, we have to think creatively about expanding our tools and our capabilities so that we can address the issues that drive young people to despair and ultimately terrorism. What happened in Tahrir Square and what happened in Tunisia when a fruit vendor self-immolated himself, and when those young kids Tweeted each other and communicated via text messages – when they did that in Tahrir Square, they weren’t the result of some ideology. They weren’t the result of a religious extremist enterprise. They were young people trying to reach the future that they’ve seen here and in other parts of the world. That was a generational revolution, expressing the aspirations of people for a better future.

Diplomacy and security need do not have to be tradeoffs. President Obama has worked to strike a balance that ensures the outreach and engagement necessary to advance our policies and our interests in accordance with security measures necessitated by the threats to U.S. interests. Later this week, President Obama will discuss our counter-terrorism strategy, and he will discuss this balance which the Administration has sought to strike.

But friends, the challenges of the 21^st century are just plain more complex than they were in the latter part of the last century. And the fact is that the opportunities that we face are greater than any that we have encountered in our history. I am convinced of that. You’re here at FSI because you believe the United States must continue to play a leading role. So we need to make the case for what we must do.

We need to show the American people that diplomacy and development efforts are worth investing in, because they pay such huge returns to us in jobs, in our economy, in safety, in protection of the environment, in relationships with people, and in the security of our nation. We need to hold all of our elected officials accountable for making these efforts a priority, and that includes the Congress.

This is a Congress that reminds us all the time that they’re a coequal branch of the federal government, and they should because they are. But that means Congress needs to play a role on the world stage as well, not just investigating, but leading – leading on the Stevens Exchange Program, leading on the Middle East, providing the resources, and the support, and the investments to make the risks we take today worthwhile, that help us build that safer and brighter future, a more prosperous future.

Overseas, we need to keep deepening the relationships, the friendships, and forging the relationships that will benefit the American people around the world. I think there isn’t one of you sitting here who doesn’t understand these principles because that’s why you’re sitting here.

You live them abroad and you will. And here at home, we have an obligation to share them with our fellow citizens, because they need to be part of this journey, even though they may never leave their hometown to do so.

So that’s why I came here this morning, to emphasize and underscore that we are determined to stand up for our values, our interests, and our futures. Because those values and interests – justice and freedom, opportunity for all people – they have always been a beacon for people who aspire to a better life. This is what history has shown us – after World War II, during the depths of the Cold War, and that remains true today.

So we’re going to continue to be out there, not just because that defines us as Americans, but because we know that’s how you build a world that respects human rights, dignity, promotes rule of law, and ultimately fosters opportunity for those burgeoning populations of young people – more and more of them under the age of 30 – the dominant majority components of populations across the Middle East and elsewhere, all of whom need jobs and need a future. Our democracy will be strengthened when our allies are strong, and when we engage with their governments as well as with men and women in all walks of life.

So my friends, when you leave here, proud as you are to be part of this great enterprise, join us. Let’s tell this story. Let’s do so proudly. And as you never forget why you take the risks that we do, I want you to know that none of us – not Pat, not Greg, not myself – nobody charged with the responsibility will ever stop fighting for you and for the resources that you need to be able to undertake this great enterprise.

Thank you for being part of it, and thank you for being willing to share some thoughts with me this morning. Appreciate it. Thank you. (Applause.)

# # #

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Remarks With Foreign Minister of Brazil Antonio de Aguiar Patriota Before Their Meeting

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

Our relationship with Brazil is an extremely important one, growing in its significance. And that is evident by the fact that President Rousseff will be here in October visiting with the President, and we look forward to that. The Vice President of the United States will be visiting Brazil towards the end of the month. And I am looking forward to getting there before long, and we’ve talked about that. And I very much look forward to that visit.

We want to strengthen the Global Partnership Dialogue that we share, and there’s a lot that we work on together, particularly trying to take best practices with respect to food security, law enforcement, science, technology, other climate, environment – try to take those best practices to places like Honduras and Mozambique. And in addition to that, Brazil has been very, very important and committed to important global challenges – Haiti, played a very, very strong role, and also making important pledges to the humanitarian crisis of Syria.

So we have a lot to talk about and a lot to build on. One of the things we hope will happen as a result of this Global Dialogue, Partnership Dialogue, is that more people will travel from America to Brazil and Brazil to America and strengthen our ties. And I think there’s a great deal to be gained by both. Brazil – I’ve been there before; I love it. It’s a fascinating country, enormously diverse and huge economic energy, huge life energy. One of the things I certainly look forward to – I’m a major football, as they call it there, soccer fan here. And the World Cup fascinates all of us. I’m going to find some way to be there during that.

But Mr. Foreign Minister, it’s a real pleasure to have you here. We appreciate your country’s engagement in the world and particularly the friendship with us.

FOREIGN MINISTER PATRIOTA: Well, thank you so much. I’m very pleased to be here in Washington for our first face-to-face meeting. We’ve been speaking on the phone on and off since Secretary Kerry has assumed his position. Of course, he’s been involved in international affairs for a long time. We know that he has ascribes great importance to the relations with Brazil.

As he mentioned, this meeting, well, it is lined up with several important events that will be taking place in the next weeks and months, the visit by Vice President Biden to Brazil before the end of May, and then visit by President Dilma Rousseff in October. So we want to resume our direct dialogue, very eager to do that, and look at the entire scope of the agenda. There is economic and trade issues, investment issues. We had a very successful meeting of the CEO forum earlier this year in March. There are energy issues where the United States has developed extraordinary technology for shale gas, for example, and where we would like to work together. Science and technology, innovation, a large number of Brazilian students studying in the U.S. now in the Science Without Borders program, and we’re very grateful for the welcome that they’ve received.

We also want to look at the global agenda, as Secretary Kerry was mentioning. I know he is a very committed – well, politician, and now the Secretary of State – when it comes to climate change, sustainable development. And having been the host of Rio+20 last year, we’d like to give specific and great importance to the follow-up to that whole agenda. There is the entire peace and security agenda. Of course, we’ll be very interested in hearing about Secretary’s Kerry’s latest initiatives regarding Israel-Palestine, regarding Syria. We wish to contribute to a peaceful, diplomatic solution to all these issues. We’re very inspired by the State of the Union Address that President Obama, when he says a decade of war is over, we need to talk more about diplomacy.

So these are some of the topics we will be discussing, and look forward to your visit to Brazil very soon, Mr. Secretary of State. I know you were in Brazil for the first conference on the environment and development – where it appears you may have met your wife?

SECRETARY KERRY: That’s right.

FOREIGN MINISTER PATRIOTA: Is that correct? So we would like to invite you to come back --

SECRETARY KERRY: Not a small connection.

FOREIGN MINISTER PATRIOTA: Not a small connection. And maybe come back with her very soon.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER PATRIOTA: Thank you so much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Mr. Minister. Appreciate it. Welcome.

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Cameroon National Day

On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I congratulate the people of Cameroon and offer my best wishes as you celebrate your national day on May 20.

The United States and Cameroon have enjoyed a positive relationship since we first established diplomatic relations in 1960. Our relationship has blossomed over the years as we have worked to achieve our common goal of peace and stability in central Africa. More recently, we have joined together to combat wildlife trafficking and improve maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.

The United States values its increasing economic partnership with Cameroon, which exceeded $557 million in bilateral trade in 2012. We look forward to building on this momentum.

The United States welcomes Cameroon’s progress in expanding its democratic institutions and looks toward the upcoming municipal and legislative elections as an opportunity to further consolidate democratic gains through a free and fair electoral process.

I offer you my best wishes on the occasion of this 53^rd anniversary of Cameroon’s independence, and look forward to continued cooperation to promote peace, democracy, and economic growth in Cameroon and the region.

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Acting Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Yun's Travel to the Southeast Asia

Acting Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Yun will travel to Indonesia, Brunei, and Vietnam May 20-29 for bilateral and multilateral meetings with senior officials.

On May 22, Acting Assistant Secretary Yun will participate in the U.S.–Indonesia Global Policy Dialogue, which will be led by Under Secretary Wendy Sherman.

He will then travel to Bandar Seri Begawan for meetings in connection with the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Senior Officials Meeting (SOM).

He will be in Hanoi May 26-28 for meetings with government leaders. He will also participate in the U.S.-Vietnam Asia-Pacific Dialogue May 27.

Acting Assistant Secretary Yun will return to Washington, D.C., on May 29.

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Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman To Travel to Indonesia, India and Bangladesh

Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman will travel to Indonesia, India, and Bangladesh from May 21 to May 28.

Under Secretary Sherman will travel to Indonesia May 21-23 to participate in the U.S.-Indonesia Global Policy Dialogue, and will meet with senior Indonesian government officials to discuss bilateral, regional, and global issues. The Global Policy Dialogue is a key component of the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership launched by Presidents Obama and Yudhoyono in 2010, and is a long-term commitment to elevate bilateral relations by intensifying cooperation.

From Indonesia, Under Secretary Sherman will travel to New Delhi, India from May 24-25, where she will meet with External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, and other Indian officials to discuss a full range of bilateral and regional issues and preparations for the June U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue. She will then travel to Hyderabad, India on May 25 to engage with private sector leaders on furthering U.S.-India economic cooperation and innovation.

Under Secretary Sherman will then travel to Dhaka, Bangladesh from May 26-28, where she will lead the U.S. delegation to the Second U.S.-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue and plans to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, and the leader of the opposition, Khaleda Zia. The Partnership Dialogue is the premier forum for further expanding and deepening bilateral cooperation on a wide range of bilateral and regional issues, including development, civil society and governance; trade and investment; security and countering violent extremism; science and technology; women’s empowerment and gender equality. The Under Secretary will also lead a roundtable with labor, industry, and government officials to discuss standards in the garment sector in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza tragedy.

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Secretary Kerry To Address Security Overseas Seminar Class

Secretary of State John Kerry will address the Foreign Service Institute’s (FSI) Security Overseas Seminar on Monday, May 20, at 9:00am at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center. The speech is part of his ongoing commitment to security training for Department of State and other Federal Government employees.

The Security Overseas Seminar is a two-day security awareness program intended to better prepare our work force and their families for the security challenges overseas. Subject matter experts provide information and guidance on a range of topics which include personal security, environmental hazards, explosive devices, fire safety, evacuation planning, crisis management, weapons of mass destruction, and hostage survival. This course is mandatory for Department of State direct-hire employees prior to their first overseas assignment and highly recommended for their families. It is also mandatory for Foreign Affairs agency employees prior to their first overseas assignment and highly recommended for their family members.

FSI offers a separate Youth Security Overseas Seminar (YSOS) for children of Federal Government employees preparing for overseas assignment. The course is held at the FSI campus.

Established in 1947, FSI is the U.S. Government’s premier foreign policy training center. With annual enrollment of over 130,000, FSI prepares foreign affairs professionals from the Department of State and 47 other federal agencies to articulate effectively American values and implement the foreign policy of the United States while serving in over 190 countries around the world.

The event will be open to the press.

Address for FSI: 4000 Arlington Boulevard, Arlington, VA
Press Parking at FSI – Lot P-1
Press would need to enter the Visitor Center to be cleared into Building K.
Pre set for video cameras: 7:30 a.m. at FSI Building K.
Final access time for journalists and still photographers: 8:15 a.m.at FSI Building K .

Media representatives may attend events upon presentation of one of the following: (1) a U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense, or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification (driver’s license or passport).

For additional information, please contact Wayne Oshima at FSI at (703) 302-6730, or the State Department’s Office of Press Relations at (202) 647-2492.

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Readout of Secretary Kerry's Meeting With Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dipu Moni

Secretary of State Kerry and Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs Dipu Moni met today at the U.S. Department of State. The Secretary highlighted the strong cooperation between our two countries on a broad range of issues and welcomed the second annual Partnership Dialogue that will take place in Dhaka next week, including a Private Sector Forum to further enhance our strong bilateral trade relationship with Bangladesh.

Secretary Kerry expressed our condolences for the tragedy at Rana Plaza and urged rapid progress both on fire and building safety inspection issues and on quick passage of labor law amendments. He also noted the importance of the war crimes trials in the International Crimes Tribunal being conducted in a fair, transparent manner in accordance with international standards.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Secretary Kerry To Release Report on International Religious Freedom

Secretary of State John Kerry will release the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2012 on Monday, May 20, 2013, at 11:30 a.m. in the State Department Press Briefing Room.

Secretary Kerry will introduce the report and Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Suzan Johnson Cook will give remarks and take questions. The report describes the state of religious freedom around the world.

Ambassador Johnson Cook will host a live chat at 1:00 p.m. on the State Department’s official Facebook page. She will answer both pre-submitted and live questions from around the world, for approximately 30 minutes.

Remarks will be open to the press. All members of the press should access the building by the 23rd Street Entrance, and be in place by 11:15 a.m.

Media representatives may attend this event upon presentation of one of the following: (1) A U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense, or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification card (driver's license, passport).

Instructions for embargoed access of the report will be available, to members of the press only, on Monday, May 20 at 10:30 a.m. in the State Department Press Office, Room 2109. The entire report is EMBARGOED until the end of the press briefing, approximately 12:30 p.m. After the briefing, the report will be available to the public at www.HumanRights.gov.

PRESS CONTACTS:

Office of Press Relations, U.S. Department of State, (202) 647-2492

For updates, follow Ambassador at Large Suzan Johnson Cook on Facebook and Twitter at @HumanRightsGov and @IRFAmbassador, or join the conversation on Twitter at #IRF12.

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External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Remarks at the Annual Meeting of the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

Many of the survivors are women and girls, and so as chair of the council this is particularly important to me to struggle to figure out new and innovative ways to avoid the atrocities of human trafficking. But first, I’d like to begin by emphasizing that sexual assault is intolerable in any forms, and I want to begin the meeting by mentioning sexual assault in the military, because of course, we have to work on getting our own house in order.

Just yesterday, President Obama met with the top military leaders, including, of course, Secretary Hagel, and his entire national security team to focus on what we can do to make it clear that sexual assault is a crime and it will not be tolerated, particularly within our own military. It was a productive meeting, and moving forward it is clear that both the White House, the National Security team, and our military leaders are determined to make this a first priority. The only way we are going to maintain a world-class military is if this is not a side issue but is a central issue to the core function of our military. Last week – Tina Tchen is just joining us, who is the Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls – and I hosted a meeting with a number of senators and House members, bipartisan, focusing on legislative strategies to help provide the military with the tools that they need to crack down on this crime as well. So we will be exploring both legislative and executive solutions.

So now let me turn to trafficking. Over the last year, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with many survivors of human trafficking. I visited a center called FAIR Girls right here in DC. They have several offices, but one of them right here, and spending time with these girls, many of them who have suffered atrocities beginning at a young age and endured them for years, are benefitting from the program at FAIR Girls. FAIR stands for Free, Aware, Inspired, and Restored, which I think is a perfect acronym for what the service that they are providing to these young women. And it’s remarkable to see the progress in just a year that these girls have made. I visited the center’s annual celebration gala just last week, and many of the young girls that were so fragile a year ago are already beginning to thrive. And so it reminds me each and every day of the very important work that we are all doing to address this issue.

Last September, President Obama devoted his entire address at the Clinton Global Initiative to the evil – that’s what he called it – the evil of human trafficking. And his message that day was simple, and I quote: “To the survivors, we see you, we hear you, we insist on your dignity, and we share your belief that if just given the chance you will forge a life equal to your talents and worthy of your dreams.” The work that we do each and every day reinforces that very core message, and we’ve made a tremendous amount of progress in this last year and so I’m looking forward to today’s presentations because you’ll have the chance to talk not just about what we’ve accomplished, which is important, but also the road ahead and what we’re going to continue to do to stay vigilant on this issue as we prevent trafficking, protect victims, prosecute offenders, and partner with civil society both here at home as well as around the world. And so I look forward to hearing from each of you.

And now I have the pleasure of introducing our Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. Welcome, Denis.

MR. MCDONOUGH: Thank you, Valerie, and it’s good to see all our colleagues here, and thanks very much for this opportunity. As I look back a year ago when we met and consider all the stuff that we’ve accomplished since then, I feel quite proud of that, but also I’m very proud of the work of the team around here, in particular our colleagues at State but not only. Everybody’s got a piece of this action.

Obviously, the President, as he laid out in his speech at the UN, remains very committed to fighting human trafficking areas. As with much of our agenda, as we open the second term here, renewed energy on this topic and particularly since the President tasked us as this working group or this task force last year to identify administrative actions that we could take internationally and domestically to combat trafficking, things that we can do of our own accord and with our own authorities.

So over the past year, the Executive Branch has accomplished important goals to name – let me just name a couple of those. One is the presidential executive order to strengthen our federal government’s existing zero-tolerance policy on human trafficking in government contracting, and that’s currently being implemented by the development of regulations here in OMB to address overseas contracting, agency training, and interagency analysis.

Two, the development of comprehensive, cross-government victims services strategic action plan that outlines additional steps that government would take in the next five years to better protect and support victims. The plan has been released for public comment and will be finalized by September of this year.

Third, several public-private partnerships to increase services to survivors here and abroad and to provide cutting-edge technology tools for survivors and law enforcement. Let me in particular underscore the work of Todd Park and the interagency technology gurus in this regard. The briefing that Todd gave the President in the Oval Office, I think was quite – not only quite compelling but a nice byline – or a nice topline which said we’re going to use the technology to get the bad guys. So I thought that was pretty good.

Lastly, the launch of two new initiatives, the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Campus Challenge and Made in a Free World, both efforts to spur awareness on college campuses and among consumers and suppliers throughout the supply chain.

So the goal of today’s meeting is to recommit the Executive Branch to continuing to act and – think and act broadly and creatively to eliminate human trafficking. I think we’ve made a good head start on that, and this is a good opportunity for us to continue it. So I want to just say thanks to the whole team for that effort.

And Mr. Secretary, I think we’re going to go to you next.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Denis. First of all, Valerie, thank you for your chairmanship and leadership on issues with respect to women and girls, and particularly this issue. I appreciate your convening us here at the White House. And Denis, thank you very much for getting over here and taking time to be part of this effort.

As we all know, we’re kind of running under a very tight clock here, and this is a terrific opportunity to have a kind of summary view of everything and a sharing of what everybody is doing, and in the conglomerate there’s really a very powerful message here. I’m thrilled to chair this for the first time. As everybody knows, we have a terrific support team at State who have been working on this, led by our good ambassador, Luis CdeBaca, and thank you for your efforts, Luis.

This is an issue that I first kind of came across when I was Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and I was just stunned by the stories, the examples of the evil that Valerie just referred to and the President talked about. It is nothing less than the most predatory, extraordinarily abusive modern slavery that you could conceivably imagine. And the stories, the instances of young girls, some on occasion less than in their teens, most often in teens and upwards, women, the degradation, the depravity, not just in terms of sex traffic and sex trade but also labor, in the labor market. And there are so many good efforts that are going on here.

So what we hope to achieve, what we will achieve through this sharing, is the telling of a story that the world really needs to understand. And I think America should be very, very proud of the efforts that the President has put together and led and which are manifested at this table, where you have cabinet secretaries of major agencies of our government and other agencies that have all come together in, frankly, one of the better examples of coordination and accomplishment. So I think there’s much to be proud of here.

Everybody here understands the impact of human trafficking. I mean, it tears apart communities, tears apart families, challenges, rule of law, not to mention that it is a moral obscenity. And we have seen a recent example in a city in America where people for 10 years, three women, were held in captivity. It can happen in people’s neighborhoods and does, and it happens in all kinds of different ways. I learned a lot about this when I was a prosecutor, and I began one of the first victim witness assistance programs in America because so many people were being victimized twice, once by the crime and then again by the system. And what we’re doing here, I think is proving that we can push the proverbial rock up the hill and actually get it over the top and make good things happen.

The Obama Administration has – I can say this because I’m new to it – put together an unprecedented, absolutely unprecedented effort that is represented at this table. And so the stories today of what each agency is going – and we invite, obviously, our livestream audience to sort of really focus in on it – is a tremendous story of governance actually working and of people achieving their goals. And while there would just be an encapsulated snapshot of what that is, I think it’s one that tells a terrific story.

This is the concern of law enforcement, but it’s also the concern of diplomacy, of healthcare providers, of immigration officials, of all government, and that’s why this is such a representative table. The only way to ensure an adequate outcome in this kind of a challenge is to have the kind of cross-government holistic approach that is represented here. So I want to start my chairmanship by pledging my complete commitment to our whole-of-government approach and ask that every single one of you just continue to champion this in the way that you have been.

All of us understand also that government alone can’t do this. We just can’t do this alone, which is why one of the awards we’re giving today is to the private sector because we recognize the criticality of the private sector being involved – all employers, all components of the private sector particularly.

So all the stakeholders have to come to here to this initiative, and we’re going to do everything in our power to reach out to them. And we will support new approaches, new practices to spur action and accelerate our progress on this issue, which though considerable, every single one of us knows 27 million women, girls, people – not always women and girls incidentally, as we know. In the fishing industry in other parts of the world, people are just pressed in as they were hundreds of years ago to forced labor. So there’s an enormous challenge for all of us. America under the Obama Administration and the President’s leadership is setting a moral example here, a standard of applying conscience to governance, which I think really stands out.

It’s our pleasure here today, and I’m excited to present the first ever Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons. I’d like to welcome Florrie Burke and Tammy Lee Stanoch, who join us today, and ask them if they’d stand. Come up and join me at the podium. Florrie Burke has been a pioneer in this movement from its very earliest days, and I talked a moment ago about victims-centered approach, putting the rights and needs of victims first when you deal with this kind of crime. The fact that we do that really is because of Florrie and her leadership. Over the past 15 years she has been working tirelessly as an advocate in the field to protect victims and help survivors get their lives back on track. And at the same time she’s trained service providers and first responders around the world in order to recognize and respond to this crime.

So I can say without any question, Florrie, you are a hero, a true hero. We are grateful for your remarkable leadership and it’s our honor to be able to present you this first ever presidential award. Would you read the citation, Mr. Ambassador?

AMBASSADOR CDEBACA: “For her sustained dedication and unparalleled leadership in combatting modern slavery through the development and delivery of comprehensive services, the empowerment of survivors to move from slavery to independence, and the transformation of policy to eradicate all forms of human trafficking.” Ms. Florrie Burke. (Applause.)

(The award was presented.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Well done. I was just explaining to her the snaps on that are very hard – (laughter). I was sort of hoping that it stays. (Laughter.)

Tammy Lee Stanoch is the Vice President for Corporate Affairs for the global hospitality and travel company Carlson. Carlson is an amazing company in Minneapolis, in 150 countries, 2,200 restaurants and hotels, and they have been an amazing leader. And fighting human trafficking is just part of the way that they do business, and it has been for a long time. We’re proud of that.

Modern slavery is an enormous issue within the tourism industry, and it has been for a long time. If you work for Carlson, though, you have the tools to recognize human trafficking when you see it, and that’s because of their proactive leadership in order to make sure that their employees do that. They are pushing their corporate partners to deal with this problem, and they are exactly the kind of private sector leader that we need in order to win this fight. So thank you very, very much.

Would you step forward, and it would be my honor to present you with this recognition, the Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts in Combatting Trafficking.

MS. STANOCH: Thank you, Secretary Kerry.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you so much.

(The award was presented.)

MS. STANOCH: Thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Congratulations, Tammy and Florrie. And we ask you both if you could remain for the rest (inaudible) invite you to be part of it for certain, and look forward to a very productive conversation today. As I mentioned, we are sort of under the gun. I know everybody is prepared to do that. But I think it provides the kind of energy to it in a way as we proceed through it, and I know everybody would be interested in what everybody else is doing.

So my pleasure to introduce Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, who heads our Office to Monitor and Control Trafficking in Persons. Luis, thank you so much for your leadership.

AMBASSADOR CDEBACA: Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for your clear commitment to the fight against modern slavery. This time of year there are a lot of dedicated abolitionists burning the midnight oil at the State Department’s Trafficking Office, embassies around the world, and in our interagency partners. We’re about a month away from releasing the Annual Trafficking in Persons Report.

As we look at what governments around the world, including the United States, are doing to respond to this crime, we see a common indicator of success. Whether a country with a highly developed and sophisticated judicial system or a country hampered by a lack of resources, success correlates with the political will and strong coordination among agencies. The medal that was just presented, the symbolism of the eagle breaking the chains, those chains don’t break by themselves. It takes everyone working across government to bring freedom to those people.

In his speech at the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King characterized emancipation as a blank check, sadly never cashed. Now, with the example of President Obama and the leadership of all at this table, let this be the year when we make a serious down payment on that account.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Ambassador. We are going to focus on four areas. We’re running a little behind, so I’m going to cut my own comments here quickly. But just to say that we plan to launch a new in-person registration process to deal with some of the domestic workers that come over with respect to our diplomats and people abroad. Believe it or not, there have been some bad situations there. And we’re getting partnership – finalized a partnership with the law firm DLA Piper because we want to provide legal services to people in various parts of the world, and they’ve agreed to try to help do that.

So that’s a quick run over a couple of things that we’re doing, among others. Let me turn to Cecilia Munoz – Munoz – who will highlight the importance of a comprehensive victim approach.

MS. MUNOZ: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. And let me just add my thanks to the whole group for all the hard work that everyone’s been doing over the past year. As has already been said, this is tremendously important work. It’s an honor to be part of it. And to just refer to what Secretary Kerry just spoke of as the rolling a proverbial rock uphill, the rock in a sense is the arduous work of working all across the government in a coordinated way, in a way that allows us to pull together what is a comprehensive approach, an integrated approach, to really make sure that we create a whole which is greater than the sum of the parts that all of the agencies are contributing. So I’m going to highlight three developments that I hope will facilitate that approach.

First, you heard Denis mention the President’s directive that his Administration create a Victim Services Strategic Action Plan. And under the leadership of HHS, DHS, and DOJ, really every agency around this table has participated in developing this action plan to strengthen services for victims of trafficking. The idea, again, is for the plan to be comprehensive, for it to be action-oriented, and to make sure that it meets the needs of all victims. So I look forward to hearing more about that from the Attorney General and from Secretary Sebelius today.

Another goal that the President highlighted is the creation of the first-ever interagency national human trafficking assessment. So this really means mobilizing a broad set of interagency stakeholders to begin what is actually an extraordinary task of culling reams of trafficking related information that’s really scattered all across the federal government to make sure that we can analyze it with an eye towards assessing the domestic dimensions of the problem and putting forth recommendations. So that’s going to help us as a federal government better allocate law enforcement resources, identifying hot spots where we see trafficking activity across the United States, and revealing transit patterns that can help us identify what’s going on with victim recruitment and exploitation.

And then finally, I should just note that we received a report of recommendations from the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships on ways that the Federal Government can strengthen its work and its partnerships with communities across the country in fighting trafficking. You heard the Secretary say we can’t expect to do this effectively alone as a Federal Government; we need as many partners as possible.

And among the recommendations, the council suggested that the Federal Government identify gaps in services and programs and identify philanthropic and community partners to fill those gaps. And they also urge that a single trafficking hotline be designated as the primary hotline that’s promoted to the public. So there is a full report with 10 recommendations that I commend the group. We are reviewing them and look forward to working with the council, and of course look forward to continuing to work with all of you.

There’s a lot of good work that’s happened since this group met last year. We all know there’s a lot more to do, and we look forward to being part of those efforts. Thanks.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thanks, Cecilia, very, very much. Appreciate it. And indeed, we do look forward to hearing from the Attorney General.

ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER: Well, thank you, Mr. Secretary. I appreciate this opportunity to discuss the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to serve and support victims of human trafficking crimes. This is, has been, and will be a priority for this Department of Justice. DOJ’s victims of office crimes – Office of Victims of Crime has been a critical leader in advancing this work through OVC’s strategic planning effort for crime victim services. And this is an effort that’s known as Vision 21. We’ve identified the need for comprehensive legal services for all victims, including victims of human trafficking.

Too often crime victims are unable to realize the full measure of justice because they simply don’t have access to the legal services that they need. In response, OVC is developing a really comprehensive capacity-building effort to expand the availability of pro bono legal assistance for victims of crime. We’re bringing together the full array of legal service providers and crime victim services to create really what is an integrated network that will support victims of crime from the moment of victimization until they are made whole again. Already OVC has identified six pilot sites across the country to implement this initiative, and these sites will initially focus on victims of human trafficking.

Now, beyond this work, we’re strengthening and expanding victim law. This is OVC’s comprehensive website that maintains a searchable database of federal, state, and tribal victim’s rights laws and pertinent case law. OVC will expand victim watch to include information on rights and precedent-setting case law relevant to human trafficking victims. Victim law will also serve as a critical resource for our pro bono and nonprofit legal service partners who may not have access to expensive online case research services. And in addition, as our new strategic action plan makes clear, we must continue to invest in research and work to identify evidence-based practices for combating trafficking (inaudible). And to this end, the Department’s National Institute of Justice is supporting really cutting-edge research on the prevalence and the patterns of both labor and sex trafficking. And we’re striving to finally answer the critical question: Exactly how many trafficking victims are there in the United States? We don’t know that. We don’t know that just yet.

NIJ is also supporting evaluation studies to develop best practices in victim identification screening and services, and we’re working to ensure that we can provide help in a manner that’s both adequate and effective. So together, OVC, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the FBI are also continuing to offer state-of-the-art training and technical assistance to communities throughout the country, including Justice Department-funded and U.S. Attorney-led anti-human trafficking task forces.

So moving forward, we plan to increase strategic and operational coordination with the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services and we intend to release a comprehensive process map of Federal Government services to identify potential resource gaps. In close cooperation with the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center, we are working to provide federal agencies with geography-based information on current services, formal collaborations, and also available law enforcement data, and this will help to identify areas for improvement.

In addition, the Department will offer training and technical assistance to a variety of stakeholders, including first responders, law enforcement officials, organizations that work with at-risk youth, and victims of domestic and sexual – domestic violence and sexual assault.

And finally, I want to acknowledge the critical role that the FBI plays in advancing our victim services efforts. The FBI’s Civil Rights unit and its Office for Victim Assistance really developed a protocol for agents who are working with victim specialists during human trafficking investigations. And this illustrates the victim-centered approach that the FBI really now employs in such investigations. By developing brochures in various languages to give to victims of human trafficking with limited English proficiency, the FBI has also helped to enhance communication with victims during the investigation meant to foster greater participation in the entire criminal justice process. So that’s, I think, gives you an overview of where we are with regard to how we are approaching this whole question of victim services.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, General. Appreciate that. And obviously, HHS is at the middle of all of this when it comes to victim services. Secretary Sebelius.

SECRETARY SEBELIUS: Well, thank you, Secretary Kerry. And I want to thank you for your leadership, picking up the mantle of this really important initiative. And certainly the White House partners are focused and dedicated to this as a huge priority.

We certainly agree with your assessment that the worst of all worlds is to have the victims of trafficking be revictimized again by not having the services and support to rebuild and recover. So that’s really been our focus, and we have a very dedicated team at the Department of Health and Human Services, really led by our Agency for Children and Families, but coordinating across the Department because these victims need a whole variety of services.

I want to give you a couple of examples of what has happened, and I think it gives an indication that this effort is really beginning to pay off. So our hotline fielded more than 20,000 calls in Fiscal 2012, which is a 74 percent increase over the calls in 2010, a sign that more victims are reaching out, more community members are aware, and more people are actually seeking help, and that’s very good news. We also recognize that when survivors reach out, we have to do a better job connecting them with comprehensive services. So this past year we’ve been working to ensure the community’s working with victims were able to access legal services, improve the quality and access to traditional medical services, but also mental health services, which often are so critical to survivors.

To build on the work, the President’s budget reflects $10 million in new investments to our Department to strengthen and specialize services to victims of domestic human trafficking, bringing greater parity to the national support structure. We’ve also paid close attention to child welfare and homeless youth programs and working on guidance that strengthens protections for domestic victims of child sex trafficking, one of the most horrific aspects of this terrible crime. The guidance helps child protection professionals across the country by enhancing their ability to identify and better serve victims of child trafficking, and we are co-chairing, as has been mentioned, with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security a process to develop a comprehensive federal plan.

Now, a lot of you in this room have participated in that planning strategy. The Federal Strategic Action Plan was released by the White House last month and is open for public comment until May 24^th. And we have already received more than 100 comments and ideas and look forward actually receiving more. So there’s an innovative online platform designed to enhance public engagement and maximize transparency. We’ll take those comments and finalize the plan later this year and we are confident that it will mark an historic step, really, to make a comprehensive approach to combat human trafficking.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Madam Secretary, very, very much. David Hayes of the Department of the Interior. Thank you.

DEPUTY SECRETARY HAYES: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. There are two areas where the Department of the Interior is focusing on human trafficking in particular. One is in Indian country. There’s a great concern in Indian country about abuse of women and trafficking, and in 2011 a human trafficking working group was set up for Indian country. It’s developed a protocol to address the reporting and investigation of sex trafficking violations. And last year, it secured, with the Department of Justice’s cooperation, a prosecution of a man for 16 counts of sex trafficking in Indian country. The Bureau of Indian Affairs recently also has hired six specialists to work in Victims Services. These folks are trained to recognize violations of sex trafficking and provide community response for shelter and for treatment and other needs of victims.

The other area where we’re focusing in the Interior Department is in our insular areas. The Commonwealth, for example, of Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, Palau, American Samoa – these are all under our jurisdiction. There’s a very bad history here. Things are better now, but we are monitoring the situation carefully, and our office of Insular Affairs has recently hired a specialist to work, in particular, with the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands with a human trafficking intervention coalition there. And they work to provide visa services to women who are in trouble so that they can be protected from inappropriate situations. So we appreciate the opportunity to work across government cooperatively with our many colleagues on these important fronts.

SECRETARY KERRY: David, thank you very much. And I know you are facing some historic challenges, so we really appreciate your efforts in that area.

Now Seth Harris, Acting Secretary of Labor.

SECRETARY HARRIS: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Thank you, Valerie. (Inaudible.) Let me say how much we appreciate our partnership with Ambassador Cdebaca and his office, Mr. Secretary.

We know that affording victims of human trafficking the tools that they need to achieve economic self-sufficiency is a critical component of the victim services continuum, and we know that helping them to find jobs in an important part of economic self-sufficiency. And our colleagues at HHS and DOJ fund some terrific programs that provide a range of services to survivors. And those services include employment and training services, but those services are somewhat time-limited, and so the survivor sometimes needs additional services. And one resource for those services, particularly in local communities, is the Labor Department’s network of American Job Centers, which are one-stop centers around the country that provide employment and training services ranging from access to computers, and resonate advice and local labor market information, workshops, job training services, the whole spectrum of job services.

So the challenge that we are facing is how to integrate the DOJ-HHS funded programs with our programs so that survivors have seamless services from the Federal Government without having to work through all the complexities of our programs. So we are working to complement and engage with the terrific work of our colleagues in the other departments by enhancing coordination and awareness that exists between these multiple systems.

We’ve also taken steps to enhance the public workforce system’s – our system’s – ability to deliver these services. We’ve given out guidance to the system, and we’re following up with webinars and other training efforts and formal conference calls. The entire effort is geared towards getting those who are working DOJ and HHS at the front end of the victims’ services continuum to be fully integrated with our system to provide deeper services where they are necessary and helpful.

Lastly, let me just say we most typically encounter trafficking when we’re enforcing important laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act, minimum wage, and overtime protections. And so our wage and our (inaudible) investigators who are in – worked all across the United States are often the first set of eyes on a circumstance that may actually suggest that there has been trafficking. So what we have undertaken to do is to train those investigators to understand better what other services are available apart from those that we provide in the Labor Department, and how to refer out survivors we’ve found so that they can get full continuum for services that they need.

SECRETARY KERRY: Seth, thank you very much. I’ve got a little note here saying we’re still running a little behind, so if anybody has that marvelous ability to edit on the run – (laughter) – we welcome that talent.

The next here is rule of law. Suffice it to say, it is a top foreign policy priority and we press it in every respect in intelligence gathering, law enforcement, cross-country cooperation. We then want to turn quickly to our law enforcement folks to really fill us in on this, and we’re going to turn to Tony Blinken representing NSA.

MR. BLINKEN: Let me just start by thank you for your personal commitment to this cause. It makes a very big difference. You’re exactly right that a key to our approach to combatting trafficking is promoting effective legal regimes and law enforcement abroad and also at home. The Attorney General, my colleagues in the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, I think will talk to some of the specifics that we’ve engaged in.

Let me just take a moment to describe some of the efforts we’ve been making internationally over the past year. And I think it’s fair to say that we’ve witnessed great strides over the past year, led by the President and his direct engagement with leaders of foreign governments in this effort. A couple of examples: The President made a historic visit to Burma last November, and combatting human trafficking was very much a part of the agenda with the Burmese President Thein Sein. In the days leading up to the visit, the U.S. and the Burmese Governments announced a new joint plan on trafficking in persons to guide our cooperation on this issues. So this is a very concrete demonstration, the fact that we can use the President’s engagements abroad to leverage progress on these issues.

On that very same trip, which he made to other countries in East Asia, he met with the heads of state of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and they agreed to improve cooperative efforts to combat trafficking, including by harmonizing legal frameworks and increasing cross-border investigations.

And then just this past March here at the White House, the President hosted the leaders of Sierra Leone, Malawi, Senegal, and Cape Verde, and that was another opportunity for us to underscore our commitment to working with strong and emerging African nations on the question of trafficking. This is also translating into very concrete and tangible results from the very specific investigations that lead to prosecutions to actual changes in people – in countries’ legal codes.

Just two quick examples: Cameroon recently achieved its first-ever successful trafficking prosecution. An officer (inaudible) attended a State Department-funded police training program, and thereafter he successfully investigated a forced begging case that involved 98 children. He reunited the children who were between the ages of seven and twelve with their families. And those responsible are now serving time, 20 years of prison. And on a broader level, after intensified engagement with the Republic of Korea over the past year, that’s helped lead to the passage of a comprehensive (inaudible) criminal law prohibiting all forms of human trafficking for the first time. Looking forward, the President’s going to be using his engagements over the coming year to advance the cause and to make this very much a part of our dialogue with the two countries.

And then, of course, we’re looking forward to the upcoming release of the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report. This report, which assesses other nations’ progress in combatting human trafficking, and since 2010 our own progress, is a key tool to leverage progress. With that, let me turn it to the Attorney General.

ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER: Thank you. Well, as part of the Department’s interagency collaboration with the Department of Labor and HHS, we’ve started something that’s known as the Anti-Trafficking Coordination team, or ACT team. And this collaboration has led us to create interagency teams of federal agents and prosecutors who worked to develop high-impact trafficking cases. We have six ACT teams around the countries. In partnership with DHS and DOL, we’ve also developed and continue to deliver intensive week-long advanced human trafficking training programs so that we can exchange expertise among national human trafficking experts.

And we’re also continuing to strengthen our U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative. This is a vital relationship that we have to make sure flourishes. Under this program, we’re developing bilateral investigations and prosecutions of sex traffickers who operate across the U.S. and Mexico borders, and it allows us to charge human traffickers in both the United States and in Mexico, to apprehend and extradite fugitive sex traffickers, to locate and rescue victims in both the United States and Mexico, and to continue to locate and recover victims killed or who are held by trafficking networks.

So the relationship there, as I said, is an extremely important one. We’ll also be using our FBI to develop cases. And since 2009, we have prosecuted more human trafficking cases than ever before. The FBI’s victim – the FBI’s Violent Crime Against Children section also makes important contributions, and particularly through the Innocence Lost Initiative. This focuses on investigation of the commercial sexual exploitation of children here in the United States. And between 2008 and 2012, this section also coordinated operation across country one through six. Now, these national law enforcement efforts were conducted over three- to five-day periods and safely recovered 328 child victims of commercial sexual exploitation, and they resulted in the arrests of 430 suspects who engaged in this exploitation.

In addition, the FBI’s Civil Rights Unit has begun coordinating with the Criminal Justice Information Systems and Information Technology divisions to develop software to capture all human trafficking case data and to make this information available for uniform crime reporting statistics purposes. So this software in question will collect human trafficking data from law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S., and we expect to deploy it in the coming months.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Attorney General. Appreciate it.

Rand Beers, representing Homeland Security.

MR. BEERS: Thank you, Secretary Kerry. In 2010, Secretary Napolitano launched the DHS Blue Campaign, which is an effort to bring together throughout the Department our anti-human trafficking effort. Using DHS’s authority – investigative authority over these cases, we collect tips, we launch investigations, we rescue victims, and we assist in successful prosecutions.

In 2012, our Immigration and Customs Enforcement opened almost 900 cases, rescued over 300 trafficking victims, and made over 950 arrests. In turn, federal prosecutors obtained 380 convictions. That’s up from 300 arrests and 144 convictions in 2010, and I think represents the progress that we at DHS – but we in the interagency have all made in this area. Our Blue Campaign is very much linked in this area with the FBI and the Department of Justice and the human trafficking – Smuggling and Trafficking Center that we sponsor.

So we work together across the interagency. And as an example of that, on May 1^st this interagency effort led to ICE’s arrest of 13 individuals in New York City, which may be part of a much larger transnational network of sex traffickers, which we will work together with the law enforcement – broader law enforcement community to take down.

In addition to that, we’ve been working with our state and local fusion centers to ensure that they are adequately trained in terms of the law enforcement needs and requirements to bring together the tips that will help start the investigations that will hopefully lead to the prosecutions. But we’re also working with our immigration responsibility to streamline the T visa application process and provide clearer guidance on how to obtain this particular non-immigrant visa, and we will continue to do this while ensuring the integrity of the immigration system.

We’ve also, through the Victim’s Assistance Program, served over 1,200 victims in the last year to ensure that they have access to medical and mental health and legal assistance while also including long-term immigration relief for them. As our frontline partners, and we work together, we are also looking at how in the immigration area we can strengthen the ability to provide for those victims to have continued presence in the United States and to have access to both the T and the U visas.

So these are some of the examples that we at DHS but really we as an interagency are doing, working together in this particular area, and we look forward to continuing that effort. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Rand. Appreciate it. Stephanie O’Sullivan, the principal deputy director of DNI.

MS. O’SULLIVAN: For the intelligence community, trafficking in persons is a national security issue contributing to national instability, corruption, and crime around the globe. To combat it, we have implemented priorities, intelligence priorities, in alignment with the threat outlined by the President. This has allowed us to leverage more resources against trafficking in persons and to put in place an on-course collection strategy. Our efforts mean that we can address our resources and our attention to the worst of offenders, many of whom could not be located without unique intelligence information.

We have already seen a measurable uptick in intelligence in human information and we will continue to look into ways to increase our analytic focus. The Department of State’s intelligence arm, the Bureau of Intelligence and Resources[1], is leading the way with a decision to devote an analyst to this issue. We look forward to delivering increased returns from these efforts in the coming year.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Stephanie. Appreciate that. We will move now – we’re going to jump ahead slightly to the Federal Procurement. I’ll just say one quick word about it. In my trips to Iraq and Afghanistan through the years, I’ve heard lots of stories about concerns of possible exploitation (inaudible) third-country nationals who are supporting our work overseas. And there are lots of stories of workers struggling under force and fraud and coercion and violence, fear, isolation, paying back impossible debts for all of these procurement components.

So I want to hand it over to Joe Jordan, the administrator for Procurement Policy at the White House, just so he can lead us into this.

MR. JORDAN: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. In my brief remarks, I want to do two things – first of all, update the group on our progress implementing the executive order that Denis mentioned around preventing trafficking in persons in our government supply chain, and then second, deliver a thank you to you and your teams, because as the Secretary mentioned at the top, this really has been a concerted and collaborative effort between all of your agencies.

As the single largest buyer of goods and services in the world, we bear a significant responsibility as the federal government to ensure that no taxpayer dollars are used to contribute to human trafficking. And we’ve long had the zero-tolerance policy. However, as the stories that Secretary Kerry mentioned, that we’ve heard around the table, more work is needed in this area to effectively prevent and redress trafficking throughout our federal government supply chain.

So last fall, the President issued an executive order that really sent an important message to would-be lawbreakers that the United States Government is serious in combating human trafficking throughout our supply chain with prime and sub-contractors. And this past winter, Congress sent an important message of its own with its legislation strengthening the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

An interagency team has drafted changes to our government-wide regulations in this area. We expect to have those regulations out for comment this summer. They’ll, first of all, clarify what constitutes trafficking in the federal procurement supply chain; secondly, prohibit contractors and sub-contractors from engaging in specific activities, such as confiscating employee identity documents or fraudulent recruiting practices, things of that nature; and third, will require contractors and sub-contractors to have compliance plans and certify that their employees do not engage in or become complicit to these human trafficking activities.

We held a public meeting earlier this spring to get comments from contractors as well as all the stakeholders in this area, and we’ve also initiated an effort – excuse me – to identify sectors or industries within the United States along with PTIF to – that may have a history of trafficking.

So again, thank you for this concerted and collaborative effort, and we look forward to implementing these regulations.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you, Joe. And I’ll just say we obviously all understand the tight budgets. We are going to do everything we can, and we’re committing to funding the things that we need to do through the State Department in order to keep on this. So I can promise you we will stay at that.

MR. JORDAN: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me turn to Deputy Secretary Ash Carter of DOD.

DEPUTY SECRETARY CARTER: Hi. Thanks, Mr. Secretary. Joe said that the U.S. Federal Government is the largest purchaser of goods and services – Department of Defense – within that is the largest purchaser of goods and services, and a great deal of it abroad, a great deal of it in association with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, really at unprecedented levels over the last few years. And we’ve had – we have really striven to be careful that no taxpayer dollars contribute to trafficking.

So the way you do that is to make sure that the contracts contain a provision. Just like they require the contractors to do all the other things, it requires them not to participate in trafficking. So you need to get the clause in the contract, then you need to oversee the contract and the execution of the contract. Just like every other provision of the contract, make sure that it is obeyed and that penalties are imposed when it’s not. And then ironically, some of these practices that we had established, Mr. Secretary, in association with overseas contingency contracting, we’ve brought home and applied them to contracts and their execution here in the States.

One last word. Just like everything else – and Valerie mentioned sexual assault – you have to – and we need to make sure that our people are aware of and understand that this is incompatible with the profession of arms and it’s incompatible with the reputation we want to have around the world, which is to be a force for good. So we have a number of training programs. We’re all required to take periodic training in trafficking and (inaudible) other things affronts to the dignity of the nation and the world. So we completely understand our responsibilities in this regard are predetermined.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, we appreciate that very, very much, Ash. Thank you very much for that commitment. And it’s critical, obviously.

Needless to say, AID has a huge component of responsibility here. Raj Shah, thank you for being part of this.

ADMINISTRATOR SHAH: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Just three quick points. One is very akin to what Ash just described. We’ve implemented a code of conduct, and by the end of this year we’ll have trained all 9,600 of our team members around the world to enforce contract language that will ensure that American investment doesn’t lead to trafficking. We’ve focused in particular on disaster and conflict-affected areas, because we know it’s after the Haiti earthquake or after cyclones or weather events when things are most acute and most likely to go south.

Second, we’ve really expanded the range of results-oriented investments we’ve made in places where we know risks are very high. Just as one example, in the eastern Congo, in DRC, this past year we’ve expanded efforts and are now supporting 2,300 children who have been victims and who are being reintegrated back into communities, including 40 young boys that just a few weeks ago were recovered from armed groups there. And part of why this is more successful now is a public-private partnership with local mining companies and other interests that help us identify and expand the reach of more traditional NGOs. Those kinds of efforts, Afghanistan will be our largest new effort in this coming year. And we continue to expand investments in other parts of the world.

Lastly, we’ve had a real focus with Todd Park and others on public outreach efforts that can be at work here in the United States and around the world. One component of that was the launch of the CTIP Campus Challenge, which we launched at Pepperdine University this year. We’ve seen a huge thirst across universities in the United States and around the world. Young people are eager to come up with solutions and be part of the fight. We now have 2,300 students that are part of this effort. We’re expanding to more than 100 countries, including the first local campus challenge being conducted in the Ukraine.

And in addition to just expanding awareness, these are student groups coming up with some really innovative solutions. One is the creation of a social media-based victim identification database and public hotline for Africa. Another is a series of online tools to help consumers everywhere check product sourcing to ensure that it’s free from trafficking.

So we’re very excited about these types of efforts and engagements. And then, finally, Tony mentioned the President’s visit to Burma. One of our really important public-private partnerships has been with MTV, and through our efforts MTV has reached more than 300 million people through advertising and other forms. And we thought it was noteworthy that this past year, the largest public gathering in Burma was a MTV-sponsored concert to raise awareness amongst people there about the risks of trafficking, and more than 70,000 people gathered for the first time in a long time in downtown Rangoon to celebrate, go to the concert, and to learn a little bit.

So some of these efforts can work, and we’ve been expanding our efforts with strong support and strong partnership from across the government, and I’m proud to be a part of this.

SECRETARY KERRY: That’s great. Thank you very much, Raj. Appreciate it.

Michael Scuse, where – you’re on, Deputy Secretary USDA.

DEPUTY SECRETARY SCUSE: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. The United States Department of Agriculture recognizes that human trafficking is a critically important issue, and we’re glad to be here today to participate in this interagency (inaudible). And I look forward to having my team continue to work in partnership with experts from your agencies to identify opportunities for coordinated action while also engaging new areas in our Department in the fight against trafficking.

On April 12^th, 2011, USDA published guidelines containing a key list of practices that should be considered by those who want to adopt a program to reduce child and forced labor in their supply chains. The Department of Labor is funding a pilot project to test those guidelines, and we are very appreciative of that. USDA issued Agriculture Acquisition Regulation Advisory Number 99 in August of 2011. This advisory requires USDA contracting officers to include management and workforce practices as a technical evaluation factor for all agricultural commodity purchases under the Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 15. USDA has also included specific references to the FAR clause on Combating Trafficking in Persons in the recent requests for proposals and in contracts awarded, and is exploring other steps that we can take to emphasize the seriousness of this issue.

We also look forward to working with the task force on joint training and information efforts to learn about ways to heighten the awareness of USDA’s field staff and detecting and reporting suspected violations of human trafficking.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Michael, very, very much.

We’re going to turn now to our third area, which is public outreach. Obviously, you can’t solve this problem alone, as I said earlier. You’ve got to reach out to everybody and create partners. So we’re going to begin that discussion in the private sector, media, the public here in the United States and abroad, everywhere. I’d like to turn to Todd Park, our United States Chief Technology Officer.

MR. PARK: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. On July 25^th of last year, the Council on Women and Girls, the Office of the Vice President, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy launched the Tech Versus Trafficking Initiative. Here at the White House, we convened a group of advocates, tech innovators, companies and non-profits, law enforcement leaders, and leaders from your agencies to brainstorm how to effectively harness and unleash the power of tech to end the evil of child sex trafficking in America.

Tech has, unfortunately, played a significant role in facilitating the sale of girls and women online for sex. And we all know that we cannot and should not cede that ground. We need to use the power of tech to fight back in powerful ways. And that’s what we called upon the July 25^th summit attendees to do. And it was a call to action that the President amplified massively in his incredible speech at Clinton Global Initiative in September, in which called upon tech innovators to turn the tables on the traffickers. And as he said, just as they are now using tech and the internet to exploit their victims, we are going to harness tech to stop them.

What happened next was really quite remarkable. Tech innovators across America responded to the President’s call to action with enormous passion and ingenuity, building a whole array of remarkable new applications to help law enforcement find traffickers and help them out, identify and rescue victims, and help victims connect to services and health. Apps are now deployed in the field, being used, scaling, improving, and rescuing victims across the country. We showcased a number of these amazing apps at the White House Forum to Combat Trafficking on April 9^th.

We continue to work with the tech innovative community across the country, nonprofits, and law enforcement to help further evolve the scale, the use of these apps and raise awareness about the evil atrocity of trafficking and the efforts to fight it in general, and we’re also working on ways to improve data information sharing to fight trafficking. As one example, and one important example, we’re working with New Jersey law enforcement, your agencies, nonprofits, and the private sector to help develop a coordinated program armed with the latest tech tools, like the ones we’ve been talking about and helping to build, to combat trafficking around the Super Bowl, which is, unfortunately, the largest sex trafficking day of the year in America. And in partnership with all of you and the private sector, nonprofits, advocates, everyone, we hope to make this Super Bowl into a day that becomes a major victory in the fight against trafficking.

SECRETARY KERRY: Good for you, Todd. That’s great. Thank you very much.

I’m going to turn now to Rand Beers.

MR. BEERS: Thank you, Mr. Secretary, again. As we’ve been talking, human trafficking is really a hidden crime, and Cleveland just indicates again to all of us the nature of that. We can’t have – expect our investigators to rescue victims and bring traffickers to justice unless we have people to tell us and help us focus on where those crimes are occurring. So one of the things we’ve tried to do at DHS is prioritize our training and awareness efforts. And you may have seen three new posters that we’ve put together on your way in. They’re also in your folders today.

But what I wanted to do, since a picture is worth a thousand words, is just show you a brand new public service announcement on the screen over here that we’ve put together, which really, I think, typifies the notion that this kind of trafficking really is a hidden crime (inaudible). Now, with the wonders of technology, Todd – (laughter) – we will, hopefully.

(The public service announcement is shown.)

…So this is part of our effort to just get people to focus on the things they don’t see in their normal, daily activity in both the labor and the sex trafficking and domestic servitude, which are the three principal areas that we need people to begin to think about in their everyday lives when they see people (inaudible). So as I said, this is part of our effort. For those of you online, you can go, as the ad said, to dhs.gov/bluecampaign to get more of this information and to get it out. And we’re going to make a major effort with the posters, to get them out into public places, where people can’t walk by without seeing. And an example to think about is supermarkets. Everybody goes to a supermarket.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.

MR. BEERS: Get it out, get people to see it. That’s what the focus is.

SECRETARY KERRY: Spectacular. Thank you. Very, very, very effective and very important. Thank you.

Secretary Ray LaHood, the Department of Transportation efforts.

SECRETARY LAHOOD: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. At DOT, we share the President’s commitment to ending human trafficking, and we have begun our efforts by training our 55,000 employees to make sure that they’re well-trained in – to look for human trafficking. I’ve taken the time to meet with the CEOs of the airlines to see if can get a commitment from them that they will train their employees.

And Secretary Napolitano and I signed an agreement with Amtrak recently for a training program for all Amtrak employees. We believe that if we can get employees in transportation, where we know people are being trafficked, to really identify the kind of activities that take place that we will be on the frontline of really beginning to stop this. And so we’re going to continue our efforts. We are also working with – through our Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on the best way to detect human trafficking either by truck or bus, which we know takes place in many instances. And we’re partnering with DHS on the Blue Lighting Initiative.

And we think by training people in transportation at points all over the country and the world that we really have an opportunity to identify people and really be at the focal point of having the opportunity to stop it. And we look forward to continue to work with all on these efforts.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Let me just say that because of the pressure of time we have to jump over a number of presentations, and I apologize for that. I particularly want to thank the EOC. Thank you, David, very much for your work. They recently obtained the largest jury verdict in history of the agency in the tragic case of an exploration in the poultry industry, and we’re very grateful for your efforts there and congratulate you on that.

In addition, in the public outreach area, Secretary Sebelius was going to report on HHS efforts as well as Acting Secretary Seth Harris on a business toolkit. And finally Michael Yudin, Assistant Secretary, was going to mention the significant efforts in the Department of Education, which is just critical, obviously. So I’m sorry that they weren’t able to be included. And maybe we can find some way to get all of that online so that those of you who are livestreaming with us will be able to catch up to it all.

I do want to turn to Valerie Jarrett to provide the White House perspective on the next steps, which are critical out of this. I would just say to everybody as I listen to this it bowls you over…

the degree to which there’s just an all-government effort going on here. It’s impressive and I would simply urge everybody to stay focused, and we’ll figure out how we can do one of these where we don’t have to skip over anybody.

Valerie.

MS. JARRETT: Thank you, Secretary Kerry for your leadership and for your commitment to this initiative. And we’ll work with Todd Parks to figure out a way to get all of this online, because the information, I think, is indispensable. And I’m really heartened by this meeting, and I thought I would take a second just to summarize the ambitious course that we have ahead for the next year.

So I think the call to action that we all feel today is to focus on four areas: First, we will implement our existing commitments, such as finalizing the victims’ services strategies, finalizing the TIP and regulations and implementing appropriate recommendations from the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Second, we’re going to continue to promote the rule of law to hold traffickers fully accountable. And we’ll do this by ensuring that law enforcement has the tools that they need at the state, local and federal and international levels. We’ll also launch pilot technology projects that aid law enforcement reach out to survivors in new and creative ways. Third, we’re going to continue to work to ensure that our entire federal supply chain is free of trafficked labor, and we’ll do this by fully implementing the President’s executive order both at home and abroad. And finally, we’ll develop a simple, straight-forward way for citizens to report possible instances of human trafficking, and we’ll reach out to the schools and the general public to make sure everyone has the resources that they need to stay vigilant and prevent their classmates, students, neighbors from being trafficked.

Our goal is to finish these up by September on the first anniversary of the President’s CG – Clinton Global Initiative speech. So on behalf of the President and the entire team here at the White House, please know that we are committed to working closely with each and every one of the agencies represented here as we try to achieve these goals and bring the comprehensive response that Secretary Kerry just mentioned to this important issue. I’m confident that we’ll make great steps forward to end human trafficking. And we just are delighted that you all made the time to be here today, and even more importantly, that you make it a priority – a top priority of your agencies throughout the year.

So thank you, Secretary Kerry and everyone who’s over there.

SECRETARY KERRY: That you Valerie. Thank you very much. I think everybody should feel good and depart here with a good sense of mission, recognizing that we are really talking about winning back for a whole – for millions of people, their fundamental freedom. And we talk about the freedom and values that drives us here, this is a chance for us to marry our interests and our values in the best of ways and end modern day slavery. I think the United States, President Obama’s leadership, are taking us in the right direction and we ought to be proud of it. Thank you all for being part of it. Thank you very much. We stand adjourned.

[1]Research

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Travel of Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King to Seoul and Tokyo

Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King will travel to the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) and Japan, May 18-25.

Ambassador King will be in Seoul May 19-23 for meetings with senior R.O.K. Government officials with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lim Sung-nam, the Ministry of Unification, the Blue House, and the National Assembly. Ambassador King will also meet with civil society groups and North Koreans resettled in the R.O.K.

Ambassador King will be in Tokyo May 24 for meetings with senior Japanese Government officials, including Director General for Asian and Oceanic Affairs Shinsuke Sugiyama and Abductions Minister Keiji Furuya.

Ambassador King will return to Washington, DC on May 25.

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Assistant Secretary Jose Fernandez Travels to Mexico, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Spain

Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez will travel to Mexico, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Spain May 20-29, 2013. He will meet with government and business leaders to further U.S. economic relations with the four countries.

From May 20-21, Assistant Secretary Fernandez will meet with government officials in Mexico City to discuss entrepreneurship, innovation, telecommunications, transportation, trade, and other economic issues.

Assistant Secretary Fernandez will then travel to Ankara from May 22-24, leading the U.S. delegation to the 10^th U.S.–Turkey Economic Partnership Commission (EPC) meeting. The EPC serves to advance the United States strong and growing economic partnership with Turkey on entrepreneurship, innovation, intellectual property rights, trade, and investment.

From May 25-28, Assistant Secretary Fernandez will visit Dhaka to participate in the second annual U.S.–Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue. He also will meet with government and business leaders to discuss trade, investment, and labor issues.

Assistant Secretary Fernandez will travel to Madrid from May 28-29, meeting with government and private sector officials to discuss the Spanish economic reform agenda, investment climate, and progress on intellectual property rights enforcement.

For updates, follow Assistant Secretary Fernandez on Facebook and Twitter @EconEngage.

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Outcomes at the World Telecommunication/Information and Communication Technology Policy Forum

Daniel Sepulveda, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, led a U.S. delegation to the World Telecommunication/Information and Communication Technology Policy Forum (WTPF) in Geneva, Switzerland this week.

Discussions were conducted by the International Telecommunication Union and focused on adoption of Internet Protocol version 6 (iPv6), promoting Internet Exchange Points to advance Internet connectivity, and supporting the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance.

The forum sought to adopt six consensus-based opinions on Internet issues, validating the multi-stakeholder process which brought together governments, the technical community, civil society, and academia. The six opinions form a common denominator for future discussions on Internet governance.

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Assistant Secretary Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones To Travel to Geneva and Galway

Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, will travel to Geneva, Switzerland May 20-22 and Galway, Ireland May 23-25.

In Geneva, Dr. Jones will join a delegation led by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to the World Health Assembly. Dr. Jones will speak at an event hosted by the Government of Singapore on emergency risk management and public health preparedness.

In Galway, Dr. Jones will head the U.S. delegation to “The Atlantic – A Shared Resource,” a meeting on U.S. cooperation with the European Union and Canada on ocean observing and oceans literacy.

In her capacity as the U.S. co-chair of the trilateral U.S.-Ireland Research and Development Partnership, Dr. Jones will join her Irish and Northern Irish co-chairs to visit the National University of Ireland in Galway and discuss ocean research projects funded through the Partnership.

For more information, please contact Patrick Hudak at hudakpm@state.gov, (202) 647-3253.

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Remarks With Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni Before Their Meeting

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

And speaking of suffering, the Rana Plaza collapsed, which cost more than 1,000 lives. Everybody in America shared the agony of those losses, and our hearts go out to the families. We hope that this will be able to help all of us cooperate on the issue of labor and labor standards and workers and workers’ rights, obviously. We know you want to work hard to cooperate on that, and there are a number of initiatives we have.

We look forward to our dialogue, our partnership dialogue that will take place in Dhaka in about a week or so. And this is a very important step in working on presidential initiatives, including climate change and food security, among others. And these are important initiatives for both of us.

We also appreciate the difficulties you face with the issue of the Rohingya refugees. The Rohingya is really a problem that comes from Burma, from Myanmar. And the problem is that maybe 30,000 or more are --

FOREIGN MINISTER MONI: Registered refugees.

SECRETARY KERRY: -- registered refugees in Bangladesh. And it creates tensions, and it’s a difficult issue.

So we have a lot to talk about. We want to see Bangladesh continue to move forward, as it is working to on a number of different issues of labor and labor standards. But I am very, very happy to welcome the Foreign Minister here. We’ve worked together on a number of critical initiatives, and we look forward to a good meeting.

Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER MONI: I’m very happy to be here. And as Secretary Kerry mentioned, we have a lot of things to discuss. And I believe that the U.S.-Bangladesh relationship is at its best now. And we’re looking forward to more cooperation in all areas of our common concern, both bilaterally and also at the multinational level.

And there’s a lot of admirers of Secretary Kerry in Bangladesh, so I also hope that Secretary Kerry would come to Bangladesh for a visit soon.

Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: I would like to. Thank you. Thank you very much.

FOREIGN MINISTER MONI: Thank you.

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State of Emergency and Fighting in Northern Nigeria

The United States is deeply concerned about the fighting in northeastern Nigeria following President Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in the Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states. We are also deeply concerned by credible allegations that Nigerian security forces are committing gross human rights violations, which, in turn, only escalate the violence and fuel extremism.

The United States condemns Boko Haram’s campaign of terror in the strongest terms. We urge Nigeria’s security forces to apply disciplined use of force in all operations, protect civilians in any security response, and respect human rights and the rule of law.

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