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

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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Remarks With Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni Before Their Meeting

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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Norway's Constitution Day

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Norway on your Constitution Day this May 17.

The United States and our NATO Ally Norway’s strong friendship is vital in the face of global challenges. We’re natural partners in addressing today’s most important international issues.

From promoting stability in Syria and Afghanistan, to advancing peace in the Middle East and protecting the Arctic, together, as we discussed this past week in the Arctic Council, our partnership is making a difference.

The United States greatly appreciates Norway’s leadership in all of these areas, and we look forward to many years of cooperation creating a more stable and prosperous future for all.

On this special day, I extend our warmest wishes to the people of Norway.

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Remarks at Lunch Honoring Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

It’s my honor to welcome all of you to the Department of State, especially our very distinguished guests, Prime Minister Erdogan and Mrs. Emine Erdogan and her family, her beautiful family, who are here with her; Deputy Prime Minister Arinc and Mrs. Arinc; and Foreign Minister Davutoglu and his wife; and our friends from the Turkish-American community. We’re pleased to have all of you here.

I’m very pleased to be here also, obviously, with my good friend, the Vice President of the United States, and Dr. Jill Biden. I also want to recognize my wife, Teresa, who is here. And I want to welcome Turkey’s Ambassador to the United States Namik Tan and Fugen Tan, Mrs. Tan. Thank you for being with us.

Throughout my first 100 days as Secretary of State, I visited no country more than I have visited Turkey. I’ve been there three times already, and to put that in perspective, I have been home only twice. (Laughter.)

So I very much appreciate that my friends in Turkey have welcomed me into their homes. I’ve had the pleasure of marveling at the Foreign Minister’s extraordinary collection of calligraphy. I’ve experienced the warm hospitality of our friends, and I have laid a wreath at Anitkabir and the beautiful monument to the founder of the republic. And in our many conversations in Ankara and Istanbul, in Rome, in Brussels, and in what I think, Ahmet, are almost daily telephone calls, we have strengthened our very strong personal relationship and our strategic alliance.

So I’m honored to return your warm hospitality by welcoming you here to Washington to the Harry Truman Building. After all, it was his defining policy in the aftermath of World War II, the Truman Doctrine, that cast the modern relationship between the United States and Turkey. And it is a relationship that is shared, rooted in democratic values, freedom, pluralism, and justice. Five years after Truman outlined his vision, Turkey joined NATO, and our mutual commitment to regional peace and security has grown only stronger in the decades since.

Of course, our alliance, like any alliance, requires vigilance. And on the day that I was sworn in as Secretary, a suicide bomber in Ankara took the life of a Turkish guard at the U.S. Embassy, Mustafa Akarsu. And he bravely stood in front of that bomb to save the lives of countless others. We grieve his loss and those killed just this past weekend, the victims of two car bombings in Reyhanli, and America’s thoughts are with those who mourn their loved ones and those who wait for their loved ones’ wounds to heal.

We all gather here knowing that we have a distance to go to make our world more secure and stable, and never has that been – that effort – been more important than it is today. So it’s comforting to know that where the thorniest problems exist, we look beside us and we find Turkey at the table helping to lead.

The crisis in Syria, the new challenges exposed by the transitions in the Arab world, the opportunity to forge peace in the Middle East – in each of these priorities Turkey has been and will continue to be a vital partner.

This is in the nature of Turkey. Ninety years ago, Ataturk wrote a beautiful letter to the United States Congress telling America that the nation that he founded shares our love of liberty, independence, and democracy. He said, “Keep your heart open to the Turkish people.” “Turks,” he said, “are just like you, sincerely striving for the promotion of progress and justice in the world.”

Today, your rich culture combines the traditions of the East and the West, the ancient and the modern, just as your country spans Europe and Asia. Your growing economy capitalizes on the innovation of extraordinary citizens, and your proud place on the global stage is reflected in your readiness to address the world’s most pressing problems. Your success is your own creation.

But Mr. Prime Minister, what I think we all most appreciate about the U.S.-Turkish relationship is that it’s grounded not just on high-level diplomatic initiatives alone. What truly drives this friendship are our students and our scholars, our scientists and our artists, our tourists and our entrepreneurs, some of the most accomplished of whom are here with us today. Our alliance is strong because of our people.

I don’t know how many of you know this, but Turkey sends more students to America’s colleges and universities than any other European nation. And I am happy to say that includes the children of Prime Minister Erdogan, Foreign Minister Davutoglu, and President Gul. A couple of them actually studied in my hometown of Boston, where you can find so many Turkish students, folks, that we call it Bostonbul. (Applause.)

The long list of successful exchange students includes Hamdi Ulukaya, who is here today. And when he left eastern Turkey’s dairy country to come to study in upstate New York, he didn’t know a word of English, he had $3,000 to his name. Today, Hamdi employs 3,000 people at Chobani, which runs the two largest yogurt manufacturing facilities in the world. And in the great Turkish tradition of philanthropy, every year Hamdi gives away 10 percent of his company’s profits. (Applause.)

Prime Minister Erdogan, your visit to the United States is really a great celebration of the firm U.S.-Turkish friendship, and we affirm today that it is stronger than those who try to intimidate us with violence, it is tougher than the tests we face together in all corners of the globe, and our arms reach out wider than the waters that separate us. As the proverb says, and I will try this, Dağ dağa kavusmaz, insan insana kavusur. (Applause.) The mountains do not come together, but people do. And it’s up to us to make it so. So thank you for your friendship, Mr. Prime Minister. Welcome to Washington. (Applause.)

The country and the State Department are very fortunate to have a Vice President who is as deeply experienced in foreign policy as Joe Biden. And it is not just words when I say to you that he knows the importance of marrying our interests and our values. Joe and I – excuse me, the Vice President and I (laughter) – have been on a journey together for – since 1972, and we served together on the Foreign Relations Committee for 26 years. We used to joke about the fact that those of us sitting to the left of the Vice President – Paul Sarbanes, Chris Dodd, myself – we thought we would never, any of us, be chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee because he had such a strong heartbeat and he was so young. (Laughter.) (Inaudible) part, I totally screwed it up. (Laughter.)

So I’ll just summarize by saying very quickly the Vice President, when he served in the Senate, was the leading voice, the conscience really, that called to account America’s actions in Bosnia. He was prescient with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan. I think he was the first American on the ground with President Karzai before he became president, days after he went into the country. He’s always been on the cutting edge, the leading edge, of our foreign policy issues. We are lucky, Mr. Prime Minister, to have a Vice President who is as knowledgeable about foreign policy and as much of a supporter of the enterprise in the State Department.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice President of the United States Joe Biden. (Applause.)

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Remarks With Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa Before Their Meeting

First of all, we are representing the second and third largest democracies in the world. And that is an important reason for us to work on a number of different things, but to be committed as partners. We also do a great deal with respect to counter-narcotics, protection of the environment, trade issues, disaster relief, and maritime security. And all of these things are extremely important to our relationship.

In addition to that, Indonesia will be chairing the APEC conference this year, and I’m particularly looking forward to being part of that conference, going out there. We will have, I think, a very exciting agenda that the Foreign Minister and Indonesia have settled on regarding connectivity, increasing connectivity, globalization of trade, working on a number of the environment and other challenges in law enforcement and maritime security. So we have a big agenda.

And in the end, we are particularly interested in furthering this relationship as much as we can because Indonesia plays such a critical role in the balance of interests in that region, and because we’ve been rebalancing ourselves towards Asia. And so this relationship becomes even more important. So I’m very grateful that the Minister is here to spend some time talking through our issues. Welcome.

FOREIGN MINISTER NATALEGAWA: Thank you very much, Secretary. Likewise, I am delighted to be back in Washington. And thank you for making it possible for the two of us to meet. I echo the points that you have said. Our relations – our two countries’ relations are strong; they’re solid. We enjoy what we call comprehensive partnership; it’s a broad subject matter on which we cooperate, and this truly is in a sense a partnership among friends, mutually beneficial, and of a mutual – a great deal of mutual interest. I wish through our discussion this afternoon not only to strengthen that bilateral relations, but to further project closer cooperation on many regional and global issues as well.

SECRETARY KERRY: Look forward to it.

FOREIGN MINISTER NATALEGAWA: Thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Welcome.

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U.S. Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty With Australia

Today’s entry into force of the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty between the United States and Australia enables American and Australian troops to get the best technology in the fastest way possible.

It will expand our reach and help defend our interests around the world.

The creation of an approved community of users makes it easier for our two defense industries to collaborate in developing and fielding new technologies.

Australia is already a significant defense trade partner of the United States and one of our closest allies, and this treaty deepens our relationship even further.

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Remarks at the Arctic Council Ministerial Session

This video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

It’s an honor to be here in Kiruna, and I begin by saying that there are many areas where the eight Arctic states’ interests overlap significantly. And despite our different sizes and our different cultures, and many of the varied interests that we’ve heard today from permanent participants, we share many values and priorities. But there is nothing that should unite us quite like our concern for both the promise and the challenges of the northern-most reaches of the earth.
What makes this organization so important is that the consequences of our nations’ decisions don’t stop at the 66^th parallel. And that’s especially true today, when the threat of climate change is as ominous as ever, its effects are as tangible as ever, and the courage – literally, the courage – that we summon in the coming months and years is as crucial as ever. This is one of the most obvious shared challenges on the face of the planet today. I don't think there’s any one of us here who hasn’t visibly noticed with our own eyes or experienced the changes in fragile ecosystems.

When I was a senator, I worked with the late Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska in order to end driftnet fishing on the high seas. And more than once I rewrote America’s fisheries laws, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, to try to protect our fisheries. But the truth is that today fisheries all across the planet are challenged with too much money chasing too few fish. Today, as Secretary of State, I come here keenly aware that the long list of challenges – acidification, pollution, ice melt, rising sea levels, disappearing species, and indiscriminate development practices – all of these carry even more challenges downstream, so to speak, to each of our economies, to our national security, and to international stability.

So Carl, I applaud the Arctic Council, which addresses these challenges, and your exemplary leadership of the last two years in tenure. And I’m pleased to look forward to Canada’s leadership.

I’m pleased that President Obama, just a few days ago, released the U.S. National Strategy for the Arctic Region, reaffirming that a secure and well-managed Arctic marked by international cooperation and conflict – an absence of conflict – is a key policy priority of the United States. And we look forward to filling out the details of that with all of you over the course of the next few years.

I also look forward to joining my fellow ministers in signing the oil agreement that we will reach today. That’s an important framework for cooperation in the event of an emergency. And as the United States was reminded painfully in the Gulf of Mexico three years ago, we need strong partnerships and shared operational guidelines before a disaster occurs in order to make sure that we’re able to respond. So we need to prevent crises from happening in the first place, and that frankly brings me back to climate change.

Just last week in one of the major newspapers in the United States, the New York Times, it was reported that the atmospheric levels of CO2 exceeded 400 parts per million for an entire 24-hour period for the first time in recorded history. That is the highest level of CO2 in three or four million years. Temperatures we know in the Arctic are increasing more than twice as fast as global averages, and they are endangering habitats and they are endangering ways of life.

Last September, the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic reached a record low, threatening marine mammal life and the indigenous and local communities that depend on them. As many of you – or all of you – know, warming also erodes the natural barrier of ice that shields Alaska’s coast from hostile waters, and that causes homes to fall into the sea, it causes pollution. And the thawing of the permafrost, which is increasingly releasing methane, which is 20 times more damaging than CO2 – that has led to the first Arctic wildfires in thousands of years.

So the scientific research in each of our countries is more imperative than ever in order to protect the atmosphere, the global economy, the food chain, and the air we breathe. And we need to do more – all of us – urgently. The businesses investing in the region are obviously crucial to bringing new industries, jobs, and people to the Arctic to promote, but we need to make sure that we are promoting that growth in responsible ways. And we’ve heard from our friends and the permanent participators today about the urgency of that.

So I want to confirm that in all of these efforts, and so many more that we look forward to discussing in the next years, the United States is committed to being a productive and engaged partner. And we look forward to the Canadian chairmanship that begins today. We’re also planning ahead for the U.S. chairmanship from 2015 to ’17. And I greatly respect the hundreds of generations of tradition, culture, and expertise that has been built by the indigenous communities who have called this extraordinary place home for thousands of years. They shape this council’s work and they guide our decision-making, and they should.

America became an Arctic nation only about 150 years ago, when another Secretary of State, William Seward, had the vision to purchase Alaska, dramatically changing, not only our map but our choices, our landscape, our resources, and our identity as a nation. So we’re proud to join you today in the important work of protecting and preserving our shared Arctic, not just for the nations that touch it, but for the way that what happens here, for the stewardship that we have responsibility to execute, for the way that it touches every single person around the world and our way of life.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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Remarks with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Arctic Council Ministerial Session

[Kiruna Declaration Signing takes place.]

So please, if there is questions.

QUESTION: If I could ask Secretary Kerry and Minister Lavrov, you’ve spent a lot of time in the last few weeks and months working together on a variety of issues from Syria to the Arctic issues that you’ve discussed in the last two days. And yesterday, you had an American official from the Embassy in Moscow who was detained by the Russians and accused of espionage. Is that constructive to the kind of work, collaborative work, that you’re trying to do now? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: (Off mike.) Testing – one, two, three, four, five. So for all of you who didn’t hear that answer, I have nothing to add with respect to the situation regarding an Embassy official in Moscow.

And I’m grateful to my friend Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Russia, for a very productive meeting yesterday in which we did the large business of our countries, which was facing first of all the challenge of Syria. We met at length. We both agreed that there is much work to be done. We understand what each of us has to do in the next days. We’re very optimistic that we can get that work done. We’ve both been in touch with the United Nations, with Ban Ki-moon, with other participants. Each of us has agreed to work very hard with respect to the flow of people that we are in touch with, the foreign ministers, the opposition, the Assad regime, others, in order to bring the parties to the table. And I think it’s fair to say that both of us are confident about the direction that we’re moving in and very, very hopeful that within in a short period of time the pieces will have come together fully so that the world, hopefully, will have an opportunity to be given an alternative to the violence and destruction that is taking place in Syria at this moment.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you. I can confirm that we had a very productive meeting yesterday. We did not discuss the incident to which you refer. Everything we should have to say – we, the Russian side – on that particular incident was stated yesterday by the spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry. I have nothing to add.

As to the substance of our cooperative meeting yesterday, I would share the assessments just presented by John. We have a very clear initiative on the table. The Russian-American proposal to convene a conference to start implementing the Geneva communique of June last year – it’s self explanatory and what we need now is to mobilize support for this initiative on the basis of what was, I believe, in Geneva and what was proposed by Washington and Moscow – to mobilize support first of all by all the Syrian groups, the regime and all opposition groups; and second by those outside actors who have influence on either one or the other Syrian group.

That’s what we discussed. That’s what we will be doing in our conference with all outside players and with the Syrian, but especially in the expectation of the two events, which the opposition is holding one, a meeting by National Coalition in Istanbul. And about the same time there is – there will be a meeting in (inaudible) convened by the internal opposition, in particular by the National Coordinating Committee. It is very important that the participants of both meetings express their clear support for the Russian-American initiative to start implementing the Geneva communique. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: If I could just add, I want to emphasize the degree to which we both believe Russia and the United States share a belief that is extremely constructive and positive that we are working together cooperatively in an effort to try to implement a peaceful resolution based on Geneva I, which recognizes the need for a transition government with full executive authority by mutual consent. That’s what we’re working towards, and I don't think it’s insignificant that at this moment in time we are finding this common ground and working closer together.

FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: Next question over there.

QUESTION: Hello. Yelena Chernenko, Kommerserant Daily Newspaper. As far as I understand, your ministers, all of the requests from the countries to become observer members have been accepted today. The question is, does such a high number of observers not make the Arctic Council less effective and is there a limit of how many observers in the future there might be in the Council, or it can it grow forever, the number of observers? Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: That’s why we have also adopted (inaudible) the about the recent procedure earlier with some procedures, so there’s a very clear what observers are and what observers aren’t. That’s been the very purpose of that work that’s been done.

As to your question, I would say it demonstrates the broad international acceptance of the role of the Arctic Council, because by being observer, these organizations and states, they accept the principles and the sovereignty of the Arctic Council on Arctic issues. So I think it – as a matter of fact, it strengthens the position of the Arctic Council on the global scene. That is why this is, that we hope that the remaining issues that are indicated concerning (inaudible) is that that will be sorted out fairly quickly, and I trust that will be the case.

One there before we --

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, what will be your priority when it comes to Arctic issues in the future?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I think it’s premature for me, prior to assuming the chairmanship, with my Canadian friend standing to the left of me, to start laying out the agenda. But as I said in my statement, the Arctic is a precious treasure for all of the world. And the United States recognizes that we are one of the two major contributors to global emissions. More than 50 percent of the world’s emissions come from two countries, China and the United States. And then there are 17 to 20 major emitters, as we know, some of whom are standing here and others are not, who are responsible for well over 90 percent. So you have small nations who are hugely impacted by the long-time development practices of other nations.

President Obama has twice now this year at significant events embraced the importance of dealing with climate change, once in his Inaugural Address, and second time in his State of the Union message. And we are looking at every single option available to us to act responsibly. But no one nation can solve this. The United States of America today is below Kyoto levels in emissions. People don’t know that. The United States today is actually below the Waxman-Markey legislation mandates that didn’t pass. So we’re doing things – automobile efficiency, standards, efficiencies, building codes, fleet purchase, all kinds of things, but not enough. No one is doing enough.

The problem is that everything that we do or everything one other nation does is going to be wiped out by China or another nation if they continue with coal firepower at the rate that we are proceeding. So the warning signals are all there, and I can assure that when our chairmanship time comes around we will pick up on Leona’s appropriate concern for indigenous populations and we will build on that with respect to the needs for all of us to do things that recognize the global impact on the ecosystem of what is happening in the Arctic.

FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: Thanks and just two final remarks from my side. First that I do wish, on the issue that was mentioned earlier, that spirit of cooperation, of true Arctic cooperation of these few days, will continue to inspire U.S. to leading members of the UN Security Council when you proceed on your – on the enormously important issue of Syria.

Secondly, let me just on behalf of all us thank the city of Kiruna for having the your neighbors occupy this beautiful city hall and thank also the people of Kiruna and for your understanding that we might have messed up your town for a couple of days, but I hope that you accept that we’ve come here for not only one but for a couple of valuable purposes. Thanks very much. (Applause.)

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Meeting With Staff and Families of Embassy Stockholm

AMBASSADOR BRZEZINSKI: Mr. Secretary, we’ve had some formal meetings this morning. Now it’s the family meeting. Welcome to the U.S. Embassy Stockholm family community, and I just want to say, Mr. Secretary, my colleagues at U.S. Embassy Stockholm, my wife Natalia and I welcome you to our home, which is also your home. Mr. Secretary, I am so honored to introduce you to the U.S. Embassy community.

Ladies and gentlemen, Secretary of State Kerry is a statesman in the full meaning of the word, and what I mean is this: As a young man, he fought for our country. He then went into public service. He was a prosecutor, he was a lieutenant governor, he became a U.S. senator. In 2004, he was the Democratic nominee for the presidency. He was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and now he’s Secretary of State. This is a dream profile for any Secretary of State. (Laughter). But I also want to say this – that Secretary of State Kerry knows in the most personal way what war is really like. As I said, as a young man he fought for our country. And he knows that sometimes it is something that has to happen, but it’s not something that you go into lightly. And so this combination of background – his military service, his public service – puts him in the unique position to take on the challenges of our time.

And Mr. Secretary, I’m so honored to introduce you to our community here in Sweden. In our embassy, we have Americans and locally employed staff who have served in Afghanistan, in Libya, in Yemen, and in Iraq, and thanks to this embassy team, today Sweden stands at the very forefront of taking on the challenges of our time. Our Swedish hosts are honored and proud that you are here. We are so pleased that you have taken this historic visit. This is the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State that involves two cities, and we welcome you here with the same enthusiasm that our Swedish hosts do. Today America and Sweden stand together as never before. Thank you for coming, Mr. Secretary. We’re honored that you’re here, and welcome. Valkommen.

SECRETARY KERRY: Valkommen. Thank you. (Applause.) Hej. That’s why we all say “hey” in America now. We’re actually copying the Swedish. Thank you for a wonderful, generous welcome, Mark. I really appreciate it. And Natalia, thank you so much for opening your home to our crowd early today. And thank you all of you for crowding in here and coming over. We really appreciate it. I gather it’s not that far. It’s just around the corner, right? (Inaudible) building in – (laughter) – sorry about that. (Laughter.) Anyway, I was looking at this yellow line. This is a yellow brick road. You kind of follow this pot at the rainbow or something.

Hi, kids. How are you? Hi. How are you? You guys okay? Why are you hiding? Come on over here. Come up here with me. Come on. I want to get all the kids up here. Come on, guys. Don’t be bashful. Everybody’s being bashful? There we go. (Applause.) These are the guys. How are you doing, men? How are you? How old are you?

PARTICIPANT: I’m 13.

SECRETARY KERRY: All right. How are you? Nice to meet you. How are you doing? Hi, sweetie. Come on up here. What’s your name?

PARTICIPANT: Mia.

SECRETARY KERRY: Mia. Is that right? Did I get that right? Okay. Come on over here, guys. Come on. Come on, guys. Have some fun while we’re at it. You’re looking pretty sharp. (Laughter.) Come on up here. That a boy. Wow. Does he look good today, huh? Anyway, look at these guys coming up here. Come on up here, everybody. Will you come up here, young lady? It doesn’t matter, she’s bashful. I don’t know if I can handle him. (Laughter.) I’m an all-purpose Secretary of State, but that’s really – (inaudible.) Who’s that?

PARTICIPANT: He’s Julian.

SECRETARY KERRY: Julian. How old is Julian?

PARTICIPANT: He’s four months old.

SECRETARY KERRY: Fantastic. That’s a big four months. He’s a big four months. Hi, how are you? Yeah. Anyway, well, thanks for coming up. These kids are what it’s all about as everybody knows. And I was this guy. I was a year younger than this guy when I traveled abroad with my dad who was in the Foreign Service, and we went to Berlin, Germany not too long after World War II, which really makes me kind of old, doesn’t it? And it was really fun. I learned so much I want you to know. You guys are going to – I hope you learn language. I know that Aurora – where’s Aurora? There she is. Hi. (Laughter.) She’s speaking fluent Swedish, better than English, right? Pretty good. Congratulations. And that stays with you for a lifetime, so it’s a lot of fun. It really is. Hi there. You’re lost. (Laughter.) He’s sort of got the idea, but that – he’s totally (inaudible).

Anyway, I’m – I really did learn a lot when I was a kid biking around Berlin and having fun. And then we went to Oslo. So I spent a couple years in Oslo. So I got a sense of what you love here and the passion of this place. I learned how to say (in Swedish). (Laughter.) And in the end I learned how to say (in Swedish). (Laughter). So – but I didn’t have anybody to say it to. So anyway – (laughter) – it was fun.

Thank you all for being here. Where is Bill Stewart? Is he here? Bill, where are you? What is it? Thirty years? How many years? (Applause.) Thank you

PARTICIPANT: Do you remember me? I took you everywhere.

SECRETARY KERRY: Yeah, I do remember you, yeah. How many years? Thirty?

PARTICIPANT: Twenty-nine.

SECRETARY KERRY: Twenty-nine years. Well, it’s pretty amazing. Been a terrific leader and one of the people who help makes it go. And I want to thank – don’t run away. It’s alright, stay up here. (Laughter.) Let the kids shine in front of you there. There you go. And I really wanted to thank Mark and Natalia. I am a huge Brzezinski fan. I wake up every morning to – I have to be careful how I say this – watch Mika – (laughter) – on television, and she’s brilliant, as we all know. And his dad and his mom are just two of the brightest, most energetic exciting people I’ve ever met, and his father has been a great supporter and advisor and enormously helpful on any number of issues and one of the smartest people in foreign policy in our land. So you have a great, great genes that bring you here to this task, and we’re delighted to have you here as enthusiastic and energized as you are. And also, we – we’re engaged, all of us, all of you, every one of us, in an extraordinary challenge, a great mission, and it is about these kids.

The world is full of turmoil right now. Failed states and failing states in some parts of the world are growing faster than democracy and some of the values that we call care about. And there’s an extremism in the air. There are challenges throughout Europe. The economy of Europe, obviously, is facing big, tough choices, and when you have 56 percent unemployment among people – young people, you’ve got a problem in your country, a social fabric, structural problem, and it’s incumbent on all of us to find a way forward to hold this together.

One of the things that we think is most exciting in the possibilities to help do that is the TTIP, the trade partnership – trade and investment partnership. So all of you who are working on that and all of you who are part of that, I mean we’ve got to get Europe to get a mandate through the EU and to begin these negotiations and make it happen, because it could mean millions of jobs.

We also face the challenge of Syria, Egypt, the Maghreb, Sahel, violence, obviously, breaking out in Syria – it’s very, very dangerous, could threaten the entire region – Iran and its nuclear ambitions, Middle East peace process, which has dogged us for years and years and years, and of course, North Korea, where you have this totally untested young leader who is able to threaten nuclear devastation and a host of other global challenges with global climate change, environmental, oceans, I mean, you name it. Humankind on earth is yet to prove that we understand all of the implications of the choices that we make. I can’t think of a partner, literally, any partner who has a better sense of that and is more committed to that that in our partner in Sweden. Sweden gets it. And that’s why I’m proud to be here, to go up to Kiruna in a little while to talk about the Arctic and how we’re going to manage the Arctic, but also about climate change and our challenges. It’s important leadership, and we’re appreciative of Sweden for all that it does.

I want to thank every single one of you, Foreign Service, civil service, political appointees, and particularly locally hired folks. A lot of us come and go, the ambassador, myself, we’re here for four-year terms and so forth. But many of you have been here for a long, long time. Is Katarina Grundstrom here somewhere hiding? No? Not here? Well, I’ve heard about Katarina, something like 37 years? Thirty-seven years of devoted work helping us to speak to the community, to understand the community and work for it. So all of the folks who are locally hired are critical to our ability to be able to form our mission.

Sweden is helping us in Afghanistan, helping us in Syria, helped in Libya, helps us on climate, helps us on a host of other human rights and other kinds of challenges, Kosovo, Bosnia. You name it, Sweden steps up and Sweden gives significant amounts of money. In Afghanistan, they’re committing troops beyond 2014, and they’re doing an extraordinary amount of positive things. So I just say thank you to all of you. He’s okay. He’s good. (Laughter.) He’s got – he wants to give a speech when I finish. (Laughter.) But he doesn’t know I’m a former senator. So I may not finish. (Laughter.) Joking. I’m winding up right now. I want to have a chance to shake hands and say hello to everybody and maybe take some pictures and have a chance to just chat for a minute.

But let me just thank all of you. I do remember what it’s like to be uprooted from school, to leave your friends, to go to a new place, learn a new culture, new language, pack. Packing is awful. But we do it because we’re engaged in one of the great enterprises in life. It is not often you can get up every single day and go out and know that you’re doing something that helps make the world better in tangible ways. And every one of you is an ambassador. You may not get all the privileges and the pay level, but I’ve got news for you. Every day whether it’s a visa, a meeting, an inquiry, answering the telephone, returning a call, you’re the face and voice of America, and people will take an impression away by how you deal with them and what you accomplish for them.

So a profound thank you for being part of the State Department family. We’ve been through some tough days in the past year or so. Don’t let it get to you. We are going to keep on moving on our agenda, and we’re not going to let the politics of Washington get in the way of the high standards that we’ve set and what we do. I will have your back. I’m counting on you to have mine. All right? Thank you all. God bless. (Applause.)

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Paraguay Independence Day

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I extend my best wishes to the people of Paraguay as they celebrate 202 years of independence on May 15.

The United States values our strong relationship with Paraguay and we are committed to advancing our shared interests, including improving democratic institutions, promoting the rule of law, reducing poverty, meeting basic needs for health care and education, and expanding trade and economic opportunities.

We congratulate the Paraguayan people for their recent presidential elections, and we look forward to working with President-elect Cartes and his team.

Our citizens share a great friendship, enhanced by the new direct flights between our nations that will increase tourism and trade. As more citizens of the United States are introduced to Paraguay, they will have the opportunity to experience your vibrant culture, appreciate Paraguay’s rich history, explore new eco-tourism opportunities, and observe Paraguay’s extraordinary biodiversity. Similarly, we look forward to welcoming more Paraguayans to the United States.

May this year, and many to come, bring “py’aguapy ha akãpu’ã” — “peace and prosperity” — to all Paraguayans.

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Pakistan Elections

These national and provincial assembly elections mark an historic step in Pakistan's democratic journey. The Pakistani people stood up resiliently to threats by violent extremists. We'll be working with the new government to advance shared interests including a peaceful, more prosperous and stable future for Pakistan and the region.

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Bombings in Turkey

The United States condemns today's car bombings and we stand with our ally, Turkey. This awful news strikes an especially personal note for all of us given how closely we work in partnership with Turkey, and how many times Turkey's been a vital interlocutor at the center of my work as Secretary of State these last three months. Our thoughts are with the wounded and we extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

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Secretary Kerry Holds a Google+ Hangout With NBC's Andrea Mitchell

Mr. Secretary, welcome. I know you just got back from overseas. Thanks very much for being with us.

SECRETARY KERRY: Very happy to be with you. Thank you for doing this.

MS. MITCHELL: Well, our pleasure. Now, Secretary Kerry, in a speech at the University of Virginia, you explained why our engagement abroad is so important to Americans here at home. So today, we want to take a deep dive on the impact of U.S. foreign policy on all Americans, and joining us for this conversation are people from around the country, all with a strong point of view. So let’s meet them.

We’ve got, first of all, Lieutenant Colonel Adolfo Garcia. He is a decorated U.S. Marine with 20 years of service. He’s been deployed to Afghanistan twice, in 2010 and 2011. He currently lives in Burke, Virginia with his wife and four children.

Colonel Garcia, do you want to say hi?

LTC GARCIA: Hello, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY KERRY: Colonel, how are you doing? Thanks for being here.

LTC GARCIA: I’m doing well. Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thanks for your service.

LTC GARCIA: Thank you. You’re welcome.

MS. MITCHELL: And next up we have Corrie Frasier. Corrie leads Plus Social Good. It’s a new community inspired by the Social Goods Summit, connecting innovators around a shared vision, the power of technology, and new media to make the world a better place.

Corrie, do you want to say hi?

MS. FRASIER: Hello, Secretary Kerry. So nice to be here.

SECRETARY KERRY: Hi, Corrie. Nice to be with you. Thank you.

MS. MITCHELL: And next up we have Emily McKhann. She’s the co-founder of the popular, award-winning web community, The Motherhood. She’s been a blogger since 2004 and was recently named one of Parents Magazine’s Most Powerful Moms on the Web.

Hi, Emily.

MS. MCKHANN: Hi, it’s such a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having us, Secretary Kerry.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Emily. I’m awed to be in the power of – this blogger power. (Laughter.)

MS. MITCHELL: You have no idea, Mr. Secretary. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Trust me, I do. (Laughter.)

MS. MITCHELL: Yeah, I know you do. Next up is Andrew White. He is the president of Comptus, Inc., a leading producer of atmospheric and weather instruments and controls in Thornton, New Hampshire, and his products are sold domestically and overseas.

Hi, Andrew.

MR. WHITE: Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY KERRY: Andrew, good to see you.

MS. MITCHELL: And finally we have Sarah Hill from Columbia, Missouri, a host and digital storyteller for the Veterans United Network, which is the broadcast channel for Veterans United, a mortgage company dedicated to helping veterans. And Sarah is also a Google+ expert with more than 2.6 million followers.

Wow, Sarah. Hi there.

MS. HILL: Hi, there. Pleased to meet you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Hey Sarah, good to be with you.

MS. MITCHELL: Now, Mr. Secretary, before we open it up to all of our participants, I want to ask you a question about Benghazi. At a time when you were trying to explain to the American people the importance of foreign policy, the State Department is under attack again today, being charged with a cover-up involving the rewriting of those Benghazi talking points. This didn’t happen on your watch, and I know you’ve appointed your chief of staff to investigate, and we don’t have the results of that yet, but can you reassure the American people today that there was not a politically motivated cover-up?

SECRETARY KERRY: Andrea, I obviously was on the road all of last week and so I didn’t see the hearings, but I followed them and I’m getting a summary report of everything that’s taken place.

What I’ve seen thus far, I have to tell you, after all of the hearings that I took part in as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, all of the briefings that I took part in, many of which were classified, I really haven’t learned anything new. What we know is that four very courageous Americans, all of whom were out there on the front lines trying to affect our relationship with another country and help people to be free and enjoy what we enjoy, they lost their lives. It was a terrible event. It was a terrorist attack. We all understand that. And we know that people behaved courageously.

I respect the people who spoke up in the course of these hearings. They were there. They felt the horror of that terrorist attack, and obviously it’s emotional. But so is losing our ambassador. So is losing two members of our former armed forces who were providing security. And so is losing our employee who was there doing an extraordinary job on communications.

We run risks everywhere in the world. We have our friend here who served in – a colonel who served in Afghanistan who knows through the years the risks we take abroad. But America can never cower. America can never hide and run away from our responsibility to try to advance human rights, build relationships with other countries, try to provide people a vision of what life can be like in a strong democracy, in a place where women are participants in society, not hidden and pushed away. There’s so many values that we are struggling to try to carry out to the world in many different ways, and to bring it to a more prosaic place, we are living in a very new global marketplace where relationships with countries also mean jobs – jobs for our people, jobs for other people in the world – and it means building strength through economic growth and development, which brings with it a lot of the values that Americans stand up and promote and fight for.

So that’s really what Benghazi was about. It’s a tragedy, but I hate to see it turned into a pure, prolonged, political process that really doesn’t tell us anything new about the facts.

MS. MITCHELL: Secretary Kerry, thank you very much. You’ve raised and answered a lot of questions, but for our first question let’s go to Corrie.

Corrie.

MS. FRASIER: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, in the past year, you’ve talked about the fact that even small investments in foreign policy can pay real dividends to the American people. And I’m curious; what single investment do you see being most critical for the U.S. to make in the year ahead?

SECRETARY KERRY: What single investment? You mean on a global basis?

MS. FRASIER: Correct. In foreign policy.

SECRETARY KERRY: Oh my gosh, there really are so many. I mean, I’ll give you an example. I was in Afghanistan a few weeks ago – I think Andrea was there with me – and this young Foreign Service officer named Anne Smedinghoff, who lost her life only about a week later, was there helping to put together and promote an even with 10 women, 10 women each of whom have started multiple businesses, one of whom was owner and CEO and running a trucking company that is doing trucking business in all the surrounding countries around Afghanistan. And she started this, she owns it, she’s running it. And she stood up and told me, along with each of the other nine women, how much they depended on the United States as an example for what women can do and for what women can be in a society. They were doing this courageously, some of them at risk because we all know that women are not given the same kinds of opportunities in some parts of the world. But they believed that they were fighting – as a result of our efforts and initiative, they were fighting for the future Afghanistan, for women who will have opportunities as a result.

And I’ll give you an example. When we first came into Afghanistan, there were about a million kids, maybe slightly less than a million kids who were going to school; 98 percent of them were boys. Today, there are about 7 million children going to school in Afghanistan, and over 40 percent of them are women. That’s an extraordinary story, and America should be very, very proud of what it does in country after country to open the door of opportunity, to protect somebody’s human rights, to open up the reunion of a family by granting visas, by reaching out to people and giving them political asylum if they need it, by standing up and fighting for human rights for some lone dissenter who’s thrown into jail or perhaps tortured, and but for the attention of a Foreign Service officer from our embassy, no one would know they were there and might be killed with impunity.

So I think there are so many ways in which, for less than – for about 1 percent of our entire budget, a penny on the American dollar spent, we invest in everything that we do in foreign policy. I think it’s the best investment the United States gets, frankly.

MS. FRASIER: Thank you.

MS. MITCHELL: And now we want to go to Colonel Garcia, who, Mr. Secretary, you recall had two tours in Afghanistan, so he knows exactly what you’re talking about.

Colonel.

LTC GARCIA: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. My question is: During this period of fiscal austerity, how do you convince the American people that the interests – or correction, that the threats caused by foreign policy retrenchment are real and worth the current foreign policy investment to prevent these threats?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I hope, Colonel – and you understand this as well as anybody. I hope that everybody in America will simply take notice of what happens when you don’t pay attention to these challenges of terrorists growing and taking over countries and/or ungoverned spaces. The reason Usama bin Ladin was able to attack the United States is that he had free license that he bought in the country in which you went to fight and to represent America. He had the ability to work with impunity to plot against the United States of America. And we – that’s the reason we went to Afghanistan. And as a result of that, not only did we get Usama bin Ladin eventually in his hiding place in Pakistan, but we have really almost ended al-Qaida in Pakistan as a threat to the United States.

Now, there are al-Qaida in other places. There are terrorists in other places. And every society that is a civil society that has institutions of law and opportunity for people has found itself threatened by these extremists who know no boundaries. We’ve seen sarin gas used in the subways of Tokyo. We’ve seen bombs go off in the trains in London in the station or in Madrid. We’ve seen people who were killed recently by Hezbollah in Bulgaria riding a tourist bus, trying to just travel, to enjoy. And most recently, we saw what happens through radicalization in Boston, where a young man chose to bomb people in the marathon, or two young men did, but one certainly; there is evidence of some radicalization.

So if we simply ignore all of these signs of threat to the United States, we’re actually endangering the people of our country. It’s hard work; it’s expensive work. I tip my hat to you and those in the armed forces, but also to a lot of hidden people, a lot of FBI agents, a lot of customs personnel, a lot of border personnel, a lot of airport, homeland security people. Every day they are standing watch to protect Americans. And I happen to believe very deeply – I think President Obama shares this thought – that our efforts to try to prevent this from happening overseas and to try to reach these plots before they reach the shores of America will actually protect more Americans than choosing to ignore it.

And so that is what motivates us. And frankly, I think our law enforcement community, our homeland security people, all of our people on the front lines of American protection, have done an extraordinary job of allowing life to go on in America as unaltered as possible, obviously altered but as minimally invasive on our rights and privileges as Americans as is humanly possible.

MS. MITCHELL: Sarah Hill, I think you’ve got the next question. Thanks.

MS. HILL: Yeah, this also relates to a veteran’s issue, a little bit about what Lieutenant. Colonel Garcia said. And this question comes from a veteran. He asks, “Global health, education, and economic prosperity for foreign countries are certainly noble efforts, but what about the need for economic prosperity here at home? If we’re enabling foreign citizens to get jobs, why not focus that money instead on putting our veterans to work here at home?”

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I’m a veteran, and I’ll tell you, sir, I am very sensitive to the question. The first priority – and I emphasize this – the first priority is to take care of our veterans. The first priority is to put Americans to work. The first priority is obviously to bring our economy back to health as rapidly as we can.

But here’s the – it’s not a secret – here’s the reality of doing that. Every time we issue visas to people that travel to America through our people who are abroad, stationed in another country, issuing the visa, for every several thousand visas that are issued we create jobs in America. The truth is that we are in an interdependent global market nowadays. So it’s important for the United States to invest in some of these countries because it actually grows jobs at home.

Nobody is operating in an island today. You can’t just trade with yourself or work with yourself. And the more we develop the ability of some of these countries to avoid being a failed state, the less costly it is for the next generation of veterans. I guarantee you, if we ignore some of the places where we are investing today to prevent violence, to have people grow up with jobs, to be able to choose a different path – if we don’t do that, we’ll be sending another generation of Americans somewhere to clean it out when they attack us because of their developed hatred or taught ideology or religious extremism that comes home to attack the United States.

We didn’t do anything to Usama bin Ladin, but he attacked us. And there are many jihadists out there who view our way of life, our standard of living, our culture, our mores, our beliefs, as somehow an assault on them or a threat to them. And so they decide to simply take us on. And I believe that for the tiny percentage that we invest in these other places, we are actually investing in American jobs, we are investing in American security, and we are investing in future generations not having to go off and fight a war like Colonel Garcia did and so many others. And that will save us money in the long run.

MS. MITCHELL: Mr. Secretary, we’ve got Andrew White, who is a small businessman and business owner in New Hampshire. Andrew.

MR. WHITE: Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary. As a small business –

SECRETARY KERRY: Good afternoon.

MR. WHITE: Hi there. As a small business exporter, I am concerned about the relative cost of our goods in the global marketplace. Are there ways to incentivize small businesses for exporting goods and services that have been produced exclusively in the United States?

SECRETARY KERRY: Absolutely. We have something called the Ex-Im Bank. We have programs within the State Department. The Small Business Administration – actually, I used to be Chairman of the Small Business Committee in the Senate – will help small companies to be able to get online and be able to market their services or their products in other parts of the world.

A lot of people are intimidated by the idea, and they think that the only people who could go out and do trading with another country are big companies. But they’re wrong. There are loads of small, medium-sized businesses, homegrown businesses, where people deal with other countries and send their products overseas by using the internet. I mean, the internet is, as you know, an enormous equalizer, if you will, and it reduces costs. It reduces a lot of the costs of marketing, reduces a lot of the costs of sales, sales team, and so forth.

So there are lots of things that we can do. But we do have specific programs. People can go onto state.gov and come on and look at our website, or they can go just Google any particular export interest that they have, and you’ll find a whole slew of avenues by which you can engage with people who are doing this. And we have lots of ways of helping people. So you can either go to the Export-Import Bank, you can go to the Small Business Administration, you can come to the State Department. And we’d love to help people learn how they can actually engage in sales and transactions abroad right out of their house.

MR. WHITE: Excellent, thank you.

MS. MITCHELL: Thanks, Andrew. Thanks, Mr. Secretary. Emily McKhann, you’ve got a question for the Secretary.

MS. MCKHANN: Mr. Secretary, we have a question from our community of mothers. Here’s the question: We all know that people lead incredibly busy lives and have plenty to worry about here at home. What are the three most pressing global issues that impact average American families, and why should moms and their families care about them?

SECRETARY KERRY: Wow, that’s a biggie. That’s a great question. Well, moms, as we know, predominantly are the great caretakers in families, not exclusively anymore because life is changing, but I think overwhelmingly there is this profound concern about children, about how those kids are going to be raised and what their opportunities are going to be, and most of all, they’re going to be safe.

And I think an issue like environment/global climate change just leaps out at me as a profoundly important issue for future generations. If they’re breathing bad air, if there isn’t enough water, if the water’s bad, disease, all of these things become major threats, not to mention the fact that if we don’t respond adequately to the challenge of global climate change over the course of these next years, there will be people fighting wars over water and over land and agricultural land and other kinds of things. So I think that that is a major challenge of the future.

A second one obviously would be health and education, as they go sort of hand in hand, opening up opportunities to parents to be able to have all the knowledge they need to make the best decisions for their children with respect to health, healthcare, all of the family services issues that are so important, pediatrics, everything all the way up the line. I think we’ve done a great job of trying to export healthcare around the world, frankly. The State Department is deeply involved in the PEPFAR program that tries to prevent AIDS from being transmitted from mother to child in other parts of the world. And I think that if the United States can continue to be a leader with respect to that, we will be exporting our values in the best way possible and helping families to be able to make good choices.

And the final thing is really security. No mother, no parent, no father, no grandparent ever wants to bury their children. That’s just not the way it’s supposed to work. And I think that making sure that we don’t fight wars that aren’t necessary or that we prevent wars that might have been prevented or that we take actions to try to make sure that our children can grow up in a world which is not threatened by violence by running in a marathon and losing your life to a bomb – I think every family in America cares about our security. And that is a frontline concern of the State Department, and obviously, the Defense Department and of the President of the United States.

So I think those are three pretty big consequential choices that we get to make every single day.

MS. MITCHELL: Mr. Secretary, we only have about two and a half minutes left, but I want to give you a chance to report back on whether you think – in terms of preventing wars, whether you think after your meetings in Moscow that you can come up with a diplomatic solution with the Russians and prevent some kind of military engagement or us getting more involved militarily with Syria?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, if the political willpower is there and shared, and if people are prepared to compromise reasonably, there is a path forward to be able to have a peaceful solution in Syria. That requires a lot of different parties to sign up to those two principles I just enunciated. Whether they will or not, Andrea, is very, very difficult. I can’t tell you that. I can tell you that we all owe the world the best effort possible to try to get there and to explore, in good faith, whether or not we can end the violence, end the bloodshed, avoid a complete disintegration. And my judgment is that if we get to this meeting in Geneva, the arguments will be very clear to everybody as to who is prepared to be reasonable and who is not prepared to be reasonable.

There is no question in my mind that this fight is about the terrible choices that the Assad regime has made with its willingness to kill anywhere from 70,000 to 100,000 of its own people now; to use gas, which we believe there is strong evidence of use of; to massacre people with Scud missiles and with artillery; and to really try to pretend this is somehow an outside affair, when really, it’s people in Syria fighting for a different future.

If people come to this table prepared to recognize that you could have a transitional government – which will not include President Assad, because the terms of the agreement of the first Geneva conference are that the transitional government has to be chosen by mutual consent, and obviously, the opposition will never consent to Assad – but if you’re willing to compromise in the choosing of the people who will run that transitional government and you choose in good faith people who are prepared to put in front of the people of Syria a fair choice about who their leader ought to be, then I believe you could avoid war and you could have a settlement. But it’s not an easy path, but it is a path that we are, I think, obligated as a matter of conscience to try to go down.

MS. MITCHELL: Secretary Kerry, I know we’re out of time. I want to thank you for all the work you’re doing on this and for taking the time to talk to all of us and to be on Google+ on this hangout. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you so much, Andrea. Thanks for doing – thanks, everybody, for being here. It was good fun. I wish we had more time.

PARTICIPANT: Thank you very much.

PARTICIPANT: Thank you.

PARTICIPANT: Thank you.

PARTICIPANT: Have a good day.

SECRETARY KERRY: Take care of yourselves. Thank you all. Take care.

PARTICIPANT: Thank you.

PARTICIPANT: You too.

MS. MITCHELL: Thank you, guys.

PARTICIPANT: Thanks.

# # #

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Remarks With Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh

This video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

Foreign Minister Judeh was particularly helpful in helping to bring the Arab League together and in helping to lead the Arab League to a new engagement for the peace process, which I believe is very significant. King Abdullah in Jordan remains enormous committed to the possibilities of peace, and the Foreign Minister has graciously adjusted his schedule so that we could meet here in Rome as both of us travel in different directions, but recognizing the importance of this moment, particularly important because each day that goes by in the Middle East always brings the ability for someone somehow to create events that always threaten the ability of the process to continue smoothly.

And the Foreign Minister has agreed that it is absolutely critical for all of us to try to move speedily and with focus to try to get to a place where everybody understands we are engaged in a serious process to reopen negotiations. Jordan will play a key role in that. Jordan is an essential partner to peace. It borders Israel, has already engaged in many activities regarding security, regarding trade and relations, and we’re very, very grateful to King Abdullah and the Jordanians for their commitments in that regard.

But Jordan is also suffering a very significant impact of the events in Syria, and Jordan is a big stakeholder in the course of events in Syria. The Foreign Minister will work with us, as they have, to try to bring all the parties to the table so that we can effect a transition government by mutual consent on both sides, which clearly means that, in our judgment, President Assad will not be a component of that transitional government. The fourth largest city in Jordan today is a tent city, a refugee city. So Jordan feels the impact of what is happening more than any other country. And with that in mind today, President Obama has asked me to and authorized an additional $100 million in aid for humanitarian purposes, 43 million of which will be designated directly to Jordan in order to assist to relieve the burden that they are currently feeling.

And finally, I’d just say, Nasser, as we talk today about the peace process and things that could be done going forward, I just want to thank you for the longstanding commitment of Jordan to this kind of effort. King Hussein himself, in the year before he died, talked about the urgency of dignity for the Palestinian people, for Arabs living in the neighborhood. He talked about the urgency of their having the ability to share freedom of expression and peace and stability. And he talked greatly about the need for stability in the region.

King Abdullah and you remain committed to helping to make that happen, so I’m very grateful to you for sharing your thoughts here today, and more importantly, for putting yourself on the frontlines of peace, which is always difficult, and we thank you for that.

FOREIGN MINISTER JUDEH: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, dear friend. Thank you for receiving me here today. And I am here today meeting again with my good friend and Jordan’s friend, His Majesty’s friend, Secretary John Kerry, to build on the extremely successful visit and very productive discussions that His Majesty The King had in Washington recently with the President and the Vice President, with your good self, and many officials in the Administration, and on Capitol Hill.

If there is one thing that characterizes the relationship between Jordan and the United States, it’s that we always say it’s not just a friendship; it’s a true partnership, and it’s across the board. And this is something that we cherish and something that we believe is a strategic relationship, and we’re extremely pleased and gratified by the successful visit by President Obama to Jordan a few weeks ago. And again, the fact that we meet regularly and remain in constant touch is a reflection of that special relationship that spans more than six decades, which again, we remind has stood the test of time and many challenges, but gets stronger by the day.

So, John, I’m extremely happy to have this opportunity to discuss all that interests us and all that poses a set of challenges for both our countries. No doubt that the meeting that we had in Washington, D.C., both bilaterally and with the Arab League Peace Initiative committee representatives, will be a launching pad for a productive and overarching conversation today on your efforts, your admirable efforts, the President’s commitment and your leadership of this effort to try and bridge the gap between Palestinians and Israelis, to – and to try and end and resolve this decades of conflict, one of the longest conflicts of our contemporary times.

I mentioned just when I arrived what a challenging day yesterday was with the developments in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem being something that is very, very important not just to Arabs and Muslims around the world, but to Jordan and His Majesty and – His Majesty, the King, in particular, with the custodianship of the holy sites in Jerusalem. And we need to avoid that as much as we can. Jerusalem has to be the symbol of peace, and I think Jerusalem is a very, very important component of all the final status discussions that will take place.

So we salute the efforts that the Secretary is conducting. He’s seen everybody. He’s seen the Palestinian leadership, he’s seen the Israeli leadership frequently since he took over as Secretary of State. And I have had the pleasure of seeing him frequently as well and being in constant touch with him, and he has spoken to His Majesty, the King, and met with him several times as well. It is all an indication of what a commitment he has to see this fight through. There have been many initiatives in the past. There have been many failed attempts, false starts, and there were attempts that resulted in limited success, perhaps, and we should build on all that. And this is why it’s important to look at the history and share our thoughts and our ideas and our approaches with each other so that we can try and bring the parties back to the negotiating table, perhaps in a different way and more effective way this time. So I look forward to our discussion on them.

A key challenge, as Secretary Kerry pointed out, remains Syria today – the bloodshed, the violence, and no political solution in sight. And we are extremely encouraged by the results of the Secretary’s meetings in Moscow with the President and with the Foreign Minister and salute your achievements in that regard by identifying a path forward, I believe, and I look forward to hearing the details as I go to Moscow myself today to meet with our colleague, Sergey Lavrov. So it will be important to share with you, sir, and to hear from you and to get your insight on where we go forward. Our position in Jordan has and continues to be very clear that it has to be a transitional period that results in a political solution that includes all the segments of Syrian society, no exclusion whatsoever, all inclusive, that – one that preserves Syria’s territorial integrity and unity, and one that guarantees that pluralism and opportunity for everybody exists.

So as the Secretary pointed out, we are at the receiving end of the humanitarian spillover of that crisis with more than 525,000 Syrian refugees on Jordanian soil today, and continuing at an average rate of 2,000 a day. We have 10 percent of our population today in the form of Syrian refugees. It is expected to rise to about 20 to 25 percent given the current rates by the end of this year, and possibly to about 40 percent by the middle of 2014.

No country can cope with numbers as huge as the numbers I just described, and therefore, we appreciate the help that is coming from the international community, and particularly from the United States of America. And I’m extremely grateful for the announcement that the Secretary has just made with 42 million additional assistance to Jordan. And the more that comes, the better, but the United States has provided not just 200 million earlier, but another 42 million, and we’re extremely grateful to that – for that.

I hope that we can support each other in the weeks and months to come in that regard. We recently sent a letter to the Security Council to express the gravity of the situation when it comes to the refugees, and we thank our friends for the support that we’re getting there. We’re hoping that the United Nations will continue to shoulder its responsibility when it comes to assisting Jordan, to continue carrying this burden on behalf of the international community.

Sir, I look forward to our discussion again today, and I thank you for this opportunity, I thank you for your friendship, and may the friendship between our two countries continue forever.

SECRETARY KERRY: Inshallah. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER JUDEH: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: I’ll just mention to everybody that I asked Ambassador Robert Ford to continue on from Moscow to Istanbul, which he has done, and he has already been engaged in talks with the Syrian opposition, and they’ve been very productive. And the Secretary General of the United Nations has been in touch with me with respect to the way forward for this conference. So we are going to forge ahead very, very directly to work with all of the parties to bring that conference together. I spoke yesterday with the foreign ministers of most of the countries involved, and there’s a very positive response and a very strong desire to move to this conference and to try to find, at least exhaust the possibilities of finding a political way forward.

And so we’re going to keep the focus on that, and obviously, in conjunction with our discussions about the Middle East peace process, we will also have some discussion about Syria. So thank you all very much, appreciate it.

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Europe Day

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States of America, I would like to congratulate the people of the European Union as you celebrate Europe Day this May 9.

Sixty-three years have now passed since Robert Schuman declared that a united Europe was indispensable to the maintenance of world peace. This vision—protecting the peace within Europe while promoting the values of democracy and freedom throughout the world—was recognized this past year when the Nobel Committee awarded the 2012 Peace Prize to the European Union.

The United States and the EU are bound together by common values and together provide sustained global leadership. Over the past year we have worked toward a more secure, democratic and prosperous world. We have provided humanitarian assistance to displaced Syrians, supported civil society in Egypt, and sustained a democratic opening in Burma. We will continue to be partners in the Balkans and especially commend EU leaders for their contribution to the Serbia-Kosovo agreement to normalize relations.

On this Europe Day, we look ahead to exciting new prospects for the U.S.-EU relationship, including the launch of negotiations for an ambitious new Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This is a tremendous opportunity to deepen and broaden our strong U.S.-EU ties and add to the over 13 million American and European jobs already supported by existing trade and investment.

As you pause to mark Europe Day this May 9, know that the people of the United States stand with you as friends and partners. Together, we will continue to build a better and brighter future for both our peoples and the global community.

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Remarks With Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni Before Their Meeting

SECRETARY KERRY: Thanks, all, for being patient. We appreciate it. I am really very pleased to welcome Minister Tzipi Livni to the American Ambassador’s residence, Villa Taverna, here in Rome, together with the Special Envoy from Israel on these talks, Yitzhak Molcho. And this is a continuation of a number of conversations that we’ve been having. Most recently, we had a conversation in Washington; we did not have time to complete the task. And so she is on her way back to Israel, and I am on my way back to the United States, and this was a convenient way to complete the conversation, which is important right now because we are really working with very serious purpose on the behalf of everybody who’s been part of this – Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Abbas, the folks working around them. I met last week in Washington with Saeb Erekat, the envoy for President Abbas.

And I think it’s fair to say that we are working through a threshold of questions, that we’re doing it with a seriousness and purpose that I think Minister Livni would agree with me has not been present in a while. And we all believe that we’re working with a short time span. We understand an imperative to try to have some sense of direction as rapidly as we can.

So I’m grateful for their ability to be here. I think the announcement by the Arab League last week was an important step forward. And I spoke again this morning with Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasim of Qatar, who represented – who was the chairman of that committee. They want to keep the progress moving. They have asked for ongoing meetings, and we will have those ongoing meetings, but with a purpose. We don’t want to have a meeting for the sake of a meeting.

So over the course of the next weeks, we’re going to continue our work. I will be traveling back to Israel to meet with both Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as President Abbas around the 21^st or 22^nd of this month. So I’m grateful for the Minister for coming here, and we look forward to a productive session this afternoon.

JUSTICE MINISTER LIVNI: Thank you. I would like to express our appreciation to your efforts. We feel that peace between Israel and the Palestinians is in Israel interest, and I believe it is also in Palestinian interest. But yet we are, after some years of stalemate, and your determination and enthusiasm and efforts can change the realities. And I believe that what you are doing here will create hope in the region, because some of us lost hope. And this is something that we need, not just as a vague idea, but something which is concrete and thank you for (inaudible).

And I do believe that having the meeting with the Arab League and having the statement come from Hamad bin Jasim after the meeting was very good news, because there’s the need for the support of the Arab states. I hope that they would also support Abu Mazen in entering the negotiations room, giving the support of negotiations, and an understanding, which is very important for us that peace with the Palestinians means also peace with the Arab world. So I wish to congratulate you on this successful meeting with the Arab League.

MS. PSAKI: Okay. Thanks so much, guys. Thanks so much. Okay.

QUESTION: Minister Livni, is Israel thinking about reciprocating the Arab League gesture in any way?

SECRETARY KERRY: Folks, we’ll have more to say as we go forward here, I promise you.

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Meeting With Staff and Families of Embassy Moscow

AMBASSADOR MCFAUL: Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great privilege and honor to have with us today Secretary Kerry. I think we had an extraordinary day of diplomacy yesterday, and two things I just want to say in front of you Secretary Kerry.

Number one, with an incredibly productive, intense at some times, discussion with President Putin, and then later with a marathon day of diplomacy that I think ended at about 2:30 a.m. with Minister Lavrov, we got a new infusion and a new framing and a new strategic vision about how to talk about U.S.-Russian relations. And I want to tell you, Secretary Kerry, your trip could not have come at a better time, and I came away from that meeting thinking we have a very concrete set of issues to work with. We’re not always going to agree, as you said many times yesterday, but I thought the framing at the strategic level was at a very important time in U.S.-Russian relations.

And number two, I just want to say, on Syria in particular, we don’t know how it’s going to end, as you said yesterday many times, but I found it to be extraordinary the amount of time and effort that you are putting to work with our Russians on what I think is one of the biggest issues before our time. So for that infusion of new energy, I thank you greatly. I am enthused to be going back to work tomorrow. I’m glad that you all helped on this trip. And without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, Secretary of State John Kerry. (Applause.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. Thank you Mr. Ambassador, Michael. Thanks for the job that you’re doing, and Donna. Where’d Donna go out there? She’s here? Hey, Donna. Thank you very much. I appreciate your work with disabilities and children and everything. Thank you. And that’s Luke. We got Luke here. And Cole’s at school, is that right?

MS. NORTON: Model UN.

SECRETARY KERRY: Oh, no. He’s at the model UN. He’s Helsinki – what am I talking about? – which is very exciting. But anyway, thank you very, very much for what you do.

And it’s always nice to be in the humble home of an ambassador in a foreign country. (Laughter.) I’m looking around here. I was talking to the President the other day, because he’d been to a couple places and I’d been to a couple places. I said, “Boy, these ambassadors have better homes than any of the rest of us.” The President said, “Even better than the White House in some cases.” But thank you all for coming out here this morning.

And kids, thank you very much for being part of this. You all look terrific. Did I get you out of school? (Laughter.) Yeah. Pretty exciting. So that’s really worthwhile, right? You’ll remember this forever, the guy who got you out of school. You won’t remember who I am or what I do – (laughter) – but gosh, you got out of school for a day and that was really fun.

Anyway, it’s really special for me to be here. Spaso House is an incredible place, historic obviously, when I think that Ambassador Bullitt was here and George Kennan, Ambassador Kennan, and our own Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns. I was here once. I remember doing a big reception here with Bob Strauss when he was here. So historically, we have always had savvy, competent political players who also have a sense of history and an ability to do things in our ambassadors here, and Mike McFaul is no exception to that, and nor are any of you who work here, in terms of the tradition of the importance of this posting.

Russia is complicated, we all know, but vital. And the relationship with a Permanent Five member with as important a capacity to play a global role as Russia is is one of the most important diplomatic postings there is. We have had sort of a merry-go-round/rollercoaster ride over the last 20 years when the Soviet Union no longer – ceased to exist, and we’ve been transitioning. And I don’t think anybody can expect that kind of complicated transition to produce this ideal within this short span of time. It rarely does.

Look at the United States of America. I mean, you think of the 1700s and the turmoil between the Articles of Confederation and then later the Constitution, and then a civil war in the 1860s and then a civil rights movement in the 1960s, and we’re still trying to fill out the full promise of our own country’s Constitution. So we need to be thoughtful as we look at other countries as they go through their economic and social transformations.

And what all of you get to do is not just be sort of present at the creation, to think of a great book about diplomacy, but you get to be shaping the creation and involved in helping people to understand their way forward. There really isn’t a more exciting challenge, to be honest with you. And we can’t do it without you. It doesn’t matter what you do within the Embassy, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Foreign Service Officer or a Civil Service or whether you are temporarily assigned to duty or whether you are here as a representative of a different agency of government among the many agencies that get housed under an embassy. We all have to work as a team.

And we particularly need the help of the locally hired, locally employed people. Those of you who are Russian or third-party, third-country employees are just as important as anybody else, because we can’t do it without your knowledge of the locality, your ability to guide us, the language abilities, knowing the social customs and the culture. All of that contributes to our ability to be able to be better diplomats.

I had the privilege, last Friday, I think it was – it’s a blur – to swear-in the newest class of young Foreign Service Officers. And it was really interesting. There were a group of former military personnel, former Peace Corps volunteers, former teachers, former journalists. Almost every one of them was coming to this mission with some other work experience behind them. Ninety-eight percent of the people that we brought in in this new class have lived abroad, traveled abroad, studied abroad extensively, and every single one of them had broad language skills.

So I think if you want to pick something to do in life in a world that is going through enormous change and enormous confrontation, there is no more exciting challenge than to be on the frontlines of representing the United States of America, our interests and our values, and working to build relationships with people in other countries. Every single one of you, whether you’re doing an interview in a consulate and you get tired doing it because you got too many people to process every day – you’re the face of America. In many cases, you may be the only government official people ever meet. You’ll be the impression and you’ll be the ambassador of our country to say to those people here’s how we behave in America, here’s what we believe in America, here’s how we treat people in America, here are the door of opportunities that we open to you because we are America.

So stand tall, don’t get tired, keep fighting. I know sometimes it’s frustrating. We’re just starting to get at the bureaucracy and all those kinds of issues. I hate bureaucracy. I’m sure you do too. We’re working hard to try to break down some of the walls and barriers, speed things up. I hope over the course of the next year you’ll begin to see some of those changes.

But from me, from President Obama, from the American people, thank you. A profound thank you to you for being here, for packing up your family, going to a new school. I remember what that was like. I was 11 years old when my dad was in the Foreign Service, and I thought it was the biggest adventure in a lifetime. I didn’t have a clue where I was, but it worked. And so somewhere here, maybe you’re a future Secretary of State. Would you like to be Secretary of State? (Laughter.) She’s nodding her head. Okay, guys. (Laughter.) We got – just wait a few years, when I’m finished. (Laughter.)

It really was a great adventure, and it’s something that has stayed with me all my life, because it helped to open my eyes so I could begin to look at other people not just as an American and not just through our view of the world, but begin to see things through their view of the world. And it’s better to balance things that way and have an understanding of how everybody else thinks works and doesn’t work.

So on behalf of America, thank you for being here in Moscow. And if you’re in a consulate somewhere else and happen to be visiting, thank you for that. But we are profoundly grateful to all of you, and I’m privileged to be here for a couple of days.

We, incidentally, did have a great day yesterday. I think we, hopefully, found a cooperative way forward to maybe try – I can’t guarantee you can – but try to bring people together to deal effectively with Syria and hopefully end bloodshed and see if there isn’t a way to find a way forward. It is not easy. Nothing is easy in this process.

I just met with a group of your civil society folks who are struggling to find their voice in their own country, who courageously stand up and fight for what we take for granted in many cases in America. And so you’re part of that journey too. Every single part of this is a mosaic, are the pieces that all come together to create the values and the policies that represent our great nation.

And I’m very proud to be at the State Department, where I promise you I will have your back. Let me count on you to have mine, and together we’re going to fight hard to make real the values that motivated most of you to join up in the first place. Thank you, and God bless. Appreciate it. (Applause.)

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Remarks With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (Via interpreter) Secretary of State John Kerry and dear American colleagues, it is our pleasure to welcome you to Moscow. We have a very tight schedule today. The meeting in Kremlin with the President of the Russian Federation is just over. I would like to once again express that we are satisfied with the tone and with the atmosphere of such an expansive dialogue. We (inaudible) Americans (inaudible) to cooperate in a whole range of areas in economics, politics, as well as in global affairs and (inaudible).

I believe that the main outcome of the meeting with the President of the Russian Federation is that – is our mutual desire to overcome the vestige of past times and to strengthen trust, which is the prerequisite for further cooperation. Certainly we have some difficulties remaining, but given such (inaudible) relations, we are going to regularly resolve them all. And after our (inaudible) from mass media, we (inaudible) and at the press conference we are going to announce the outcome of that (inaudible).

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Foreign Minister Lavrov, thank you very, very much. Thank you for a terrific welcome. Thank you for the very serious approach to a number of critical issues between our countries. And I’m particularly grateful to President Putin for the significant amount of time that he devoted to the discussion that we had.

Mr. Minister, I’m privileged to be here right on the eve of the celebration of Victory Day, and we are very mindful of the extraordinary sacrifices of the Russian people in the course of two world wars, particularly the contributions to the victory that came at the end of World War II. We know it’s a big moment in your country, and I’m honored to be here to have met with some of your veterans and then laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (inaudible).

While there have been some disagreements, Mr. Minister, and you referenced them, the truth is that on really important issues to our countries, ranging from START to WTO, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, there’s been a tremendous amount of cooperation on issues of great global consequence.

President Obama looks forward to meeting with President Putin on the sidelines of the G-8 in Ireland, and most of the – Northern Ireland, excuse me. And I’ve come here on his behalf committed to the notion that Russia and the United States can cooperate on some significant challenges that we face now and make a very real contribution to the possibilities of stability and peace in places like the Middle East, Syria, and the other challenges that we face.

So I look forward to continuing our conversation, and hopefully we’ll have more to announce to the press at the end of those conversations. Thank you.

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Remarks With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Sergey. Thank you very, very much. Thank you for a very generous welcome. It’s been great to be here with you today, and we’ve had very thorough, very cooperative and extensive conversations, and I’m deeply appreciative for the hospitality that the Foreign Minister and the President have both afforded to me today.

I might comment that it was a beautiful day here in Moscow with a good feeling as I sensed people’s anticipation for the celebration of Victory Day. It’s a great honor for me to be here, for me to celebrate the victory of the Great Patriotic War and Russia’s enormous contribution in that war. Many people have never focused on the extraordinary losses, almost 30 million people lost in Russia, and its then-accompanying states. And it’s particularly poignant for us to be here at this point in time when we are considering how to resolve yet another conflict, but Victory Day is a reminder to everybody – or at least it should be – that despite different points of view, committed partners can find a way to accomplish great things together when the world needs it, and this is one of those moments where the Foreign Minister and I, our presidents – President Obama and President Putin – agree that it’s important for leadership to be demonstrated as an alternative to perpetual conflict.

I know that the future of the United States and Russian relations holds great potential because despite our differences, common, very common strategic interests unite us. Let me be very specific. As Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, I led the efforts in the United States Senate to ratify the START Treaty, which Russia entered into with the United States, with the leadership of your government and President Obama. And we were able to ratify that, and now, further discussions can take place about making the world even safer with respect to nuclear weapons.

In addition, Russia was enormously cooperative – has been and is today – with respect to Afghanistan, the WTO, Iran, and North Korea. Those are the big items, those are the big issues, on which issues like war and peace hang and fall. And so I want to thank Sergey for his cooperative efforts with respect to those issues, and I know President Obama is grateful to President Putin and to the Russian people.

In addition, I want to say a few words. We did discuss a broad array of issues, but I would like to focus, if I can for a moment, on the issue that Sergey just talked about with respect to Syria. It was clearly one of the important reasons for my coming to Moscow today, apart from the need to discuss the other issues. I thank all of you for your patience. I know it’s been a long day. But Foreign Minister Lavrov and I have conducted a broad discussion with President Putin and together about our increasing cooperation, particularly with respect to the issues surrounding Syria. I want to express my thanks to President Putin for the significant amount of time that he gave to a very productive and very warm and friendly discussion that we had today. And I think it has contributed significantly to our ability to map a road ahead, because President Putin specifically turned to Foreign Minister Lavrov and designated him to work directly with me on this effort, and we have decided on the following, to follow up on what Sergey said:

We believe that the Geneva communique is the important track to end the bloodshed in Syria, and it should not be a piece of paper. It should not be a forgotten communique of diplomacy. It should be the roadmap, the implemented manner by which the people of Syria could find their way to the new Syria, and by which the bloodshed, the killing, the massacres can end. Encouraging the stated intentions of the Syrian Government and the opposition groups to find a political solution, both have said they want to, both are committed to it. And recently, the opposition came to Istanbul and signed a set of declarations regarding its embrace of the Geneva communique.

And so to that end, Foreign Minister Lavrov and I have agreed that as soon as is practical, possibly and hopefully by the end of this month, we will convene – seek to convene an international conference as a follow-on to last summer’s Geneva conference. And the specific work of this next conference will be to bring representatives of the government and the opposition together to determine how we can fully implement the means of the communique, understanding that the communique’s language specifically says that the Government of Syria and the opposition have to put together, by mutual consent, the parties that will then become the transitional government itself.

Our two countries, the United States and Russia, reiterate our commitment to the sovereignty and the territorial unity of Syria, and to the full implementation of the Geneva communique, recognizing this requires the mutual consent of both parties. Therefore, we have agreed to use our good offices, both of us, to bring both sides to the table working with our other core coalition partners and other allies and interested parties to bring both sides to the table in partnership with the concerned foreign countries that are committed themselves to helping the Syrians to find a promising political solution within the Geneva framework.

We’ve also affirmed our commitment to a negotiated settlement as the essential means of ending the bloodshed, addressing humanitarian disaster in Syria, and addressing the problem of the security of chemical weapons and forestalling further regional instability. We believe that full implementation of the Geneva communique calls for a transition governing body as specifically set forth in the language of the communique, which is formed by mutual consent with the support of the international community and enjoying full executive authority – that means the full authority to run and manage the government, including the military and security services, and then doing so as soon as we can possibly implement it is the best way to resolve the crisis in Syria.

So I thank my friend, Sergey, for some terrific work today. They were great efforts, and again, I reiterate my gratitude to President Putin for a very generous welcome here. Thank you.

MS. PSAKI: The first question will be from Arshad Mohammed from Reuters.

QUESTION: Foreign Minister Lavrov, what makes you think that President Assad would be willing to take part in a negotiated political solution if, as the United States has repeatedly said, he must leave power?

And Secretary Kerry, why should ordinary Syrians, who have seen tens of thousands of their countrymen die since last June’s communique, believe that another – that a meeting held in a month or more might actually yield an end to this conflict? Why is that any more likely now than it was 10 months ago?

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (In Russian.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Actually, (inaudible)?

QUESTION: No, right here.

SECRETARY KERRY: Oh. What was – just clarify for me again the last part of your question. What would make the Syrian people --

QUESTION: (Inaudible), anyway, why should the Syrian people have any more – why should the Syrian people have any more confidence today that what you have announced – hopes for a conference by the end of the month perhaps and a joint effort to try to encourage both sides to come to the table – is any more likely to stop the violence given how many deaths have occurred and given particularly that your view is that Assad must go. And why should the Assad government go to a negotiation that entails its own demise?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, the – let me begin with the alternative. The alternative is that there’s even more violence. The alternative is that Syria heads closer to an abyss, if not over the abyss, and into chaos. The alternative is that the humanitarian crisis will grow, and the alternative is that there may be even a breakup in Syria or ethnic attacks and ethnic cleansing and other results which threaten the stability of the region and challenge the conscience of good people everywhere in the world. That’s the alternative.

Now, up until now, I think there has been a perception that Russia and the United States haven’t been particularly on the same page of cooperating in this effort. So what I think is significant is that we are here to say that we are going to cooperate in trying to implement the Geneva communique, and I think our understanding of that communique is very similar, and there’s actually more agreement even though our position has been that it’s impossible for me as an individual to understand how Syria could possibly be governed in the future by the man who has committed the things that we know have taken place. But that’s not – I’m not going to decide that tonight. And I’m not going to decide that in the end. Because the Geneva communique says that the transitional government has to be chosen by mutual consent by the parties. Who are the parties? The parties are the current regime and the opposition. So what we’re going to undertake to do is to try to get them in a position where they, representing the people they represent – Syria and the interests they represent – put people into a transitional government by mutual consent.

Now I believe another thing is happening. I think a lot of people in the region and in the world are seeing this violence and frankly are really deeply concerned for the people of Syria and for the possibilities of peace, and that there will be a growing crescendo of nations who will want to push for a peaceful resolution rather than the chaos that comes with the breakup of the country and the continued battle, which can and will take place. Now it’s obviously up to the regime to undertake a set of behavior – to undertake steps here to guarantee that they’re not using chemical weapons, they’re not inviting greater reactions than exist today. And we’ll have to see how that plays out.

But I think that Sergey and I are both convinced that since Geneva is there and agreed on – the opposition went to Istanbul a week ago, two weeks ago, and in Istanbul they issued a set of declarations in which they signed on to, number one, support for the Geneva communique, support for a transitional government. They signed on to a set of standards which would prohibit any use of chemical weapons. They agreed to be inclusive and democratic and protect all minorities inside Syria. And so I think there’s the basis here for the people of Syria to have confidence that if we can achieve a transitional government and ultimately end the violence, the people of Syria will decide the future of Syria. And I think that’s what Sergey wants, that’s what I want, and it’s what President Putin and President Obama want, and that’s what we’re trying to implement.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (In Russian.)

MODERATOR: (In Russian.)

QUESTION: (In Russian.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Olga,let me just say that the law has been – the law – the proposal that has been introduced in the United States Senate by the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Menendez, and there is some sentiment both in the House and Senate to provide arms to the opposition. I think that ultimately that will be determined to some degree by the state of the evidence with respect to chemical weapons and what steps have been taken. As you know, President Obama has ordered an appropriate, careful analysis of that evidence. And I think the Congress will look very carefully at the results of that analysis in order to make any judgments going forward. And again, I think if this kind of process can move successfully to bring parties together and actually implement the Geneva communique, then hopefully that would not be necessary. So much will depend on what happens over the course of these next weeks as to what will happen to that particular legislation.

One thing that’s clear: The President of the United States has said that he hasn’t taken options off the table yet, pending the determinations of the chemical weapons use, and he is serious about making certain that that prohibition is enforced.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (In Russian.)

MODERATOR: The next question will come from Jill Dougherty from CNN.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. I’d like to begin with a question in Russian for Sergey Viktorovich. (In Russian.) Secretary Kerry?

SECRETARY KERRY: That’s all right. I’ll just say da. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Maybe not.

SECRETARY KERRY: Maybe nyet. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: You have talked about Russia and the United States working more closely after the attack in Boston. But this last year has been marred by a number of issues, and you referred to some of them – Syrian missile defense, the Magnitsky Act, NGOs, adoption, et cetera. You spent, it looks like, two and a half hours with President Putin. Did you make any concrete progress on those issues, and does Boston really change anything specifically in how the countries are going to work together? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Jill – (inaudible), do you want to –

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (In Russian.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Jill, I think it’s important, really, to put some of the issues that have been on the table between Russia and the United States in the last few years, to put them in the perspective that I tried to put them in in my opening comments. I think that when Sergey and I first met earlier in the year, when I had just been appointed – and we had met many times before that, we’ve worked together on a number of things through the years – we sat down and said, we’re two of the most powerful countries in the world, we have a long history, there are really important things for the world to be working on right now, to see two great nations joining together to work on. And those are things like nuclear proliferation, Iran, North Korea, the threat of war, Middle East peace, Syria, and the possibility of ethnic conflagration.

We have the ability as countries to be able to change the direction of those events. And if we get lost in some of these other issues, which are important – I’m not negating them at all. We did talk about things like adoption and Magnitsky, because you have to be able to talk about those things. But the key is not to let them become so personalized or so much an impediment to the larger goal and to the broader agenda and to our larger interests.

And I think that’s what we’ve sort of resolved here, is there are big things to be done. What Boston does is remind us that all of us – as if we needed a reminder after 9/11 in 2001 and other events, but it does underscore that we all have an interest in standing up against extremism. One of the threats in Syria is – that has become a magnet for extremists, for people who have already announced their desire to do harm to other people in the world, to align themselves with al-Qaida, to attack Western interests or other interests. And so I think we have to keep our eye on the larger strategic interests here. And what we’ve done today is come together and try to focus on those, even as we will work on these other issues in a constructive and thoughtful way. And I feel very confident in the conversation with President Putin. He could not have been more clear, he was open, he listened carefully, took a few notes on a few of the things, and I was impressed by his desire to try to see us make a transformation.

The proof will be in the pudding. The words here tonight will not be judges of this. The actions over the course of the next months will be. But I know that there are high-level visits that are scheduled in the days ahead, and most importantly, that President Putin and President Obama will meet on the sidelines of the G-8 in Northern Ireland in a short time, and we are all going to work to try to make that a constructive and forward-leaning meeting.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (In Russian.)

QUESTION: (In Russian.)

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (In Russian.)

QUESTION: (In Russian.)

SECRETARY KERRY: You want me to say something? (Laughter.) Oh, I’m sorry (inaudible) I tried. Let me just say that Sergey has summarized it. Yes, we did discuss it. The minister raised the issue, and I responded. And I think he has adequately said that there is an appeal process, it’s going through our court system.

I want to emphasize that this is not about Russia and the United States. This is about two individuals who were tried in a court of law and who are going through the appellate process. And I can guarantee you they will be afforded the full rights that are afforded in our court system – transparency, accountability, and they will get medical care if medical care is needed. So I can assure you we will work very closely with the Foreign Minister; and if there’s a resolution when the appeal is over that works for everybody, we certainly will take that into consideration.

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Remarks With Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Before Their Meeting

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

Right now, we’re working on our bilateral. I hope to be able to meet with Mr. President shortly in person. We will have a number of opportunities this year. I think it’s very important that our key ministries and agencies, including the foreign ministry, cooperate in finding solutions for the most topical and relevant issues of today’s world.

I’m really happy to see you, because it offers a chance to discuss in person issues that we believe are relevant.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you very, very much, Mr. President. I’m really happy to be here to see you and I appreciate your welcome, and I’ve had a terrific opportunity to work with your Foreign Minister on any number of issues and we’re very appreciative for his diligence and cooperation.

Mr. President, I also am honored to be here on the eve of your Victory Day celebration. I had the pleasure of walking through Red Square and seeing the preparations, and I even met with some of your veterans and I had a chance to talk with them about their experiences. And I think many people in the United States and elsewhere are not fully aware of the enormous contribution of Russia, the amazing sacrifices and the great effort made as a partner, an ally, to win that war. And we thank you for that great cooperation.

And Mr. President, as you know better than anybody, there are enormous challenges today that require the same level of cooperation, and I’m very happy that our professionals are working together now to work to deal with some of the issues of the bombing that took place in Boston, and we thank you for that cooperation.

And Mr. President, I bring you President Obama’s greetings. He related to me the substance of his conversations with you, for which he was very grateful, and he is looking forward to seeing you on the side of the G-8 in Ireland and would reiterate that there are many issues – economic, economic cooperation, the challenges of North Korea, Iran, Syria, and many other issues – of which he believes that we could cooperate very significantly.

And finally, Mr. President, I know that we’ll have a chance to talk about it seriously in a few moments, but we really believe, the United States believes, that we share some very significant common interests with respect to Syria – stability in the region, not having extremists creating problems throughout the region and elsewhere – and I think we have both embraced in the Geneva communique a common approach. So it’s my hope that today we’ll be able to dig into that a little bit and see if we can find the common ground. And the President – President Obama particularly feels that cooperation between Russia and the United States with respect to economic issues is something that would be of enormous benefit to both, and Russia’s leadership is so key on so many of those issues. We look forward to working with you.

So thank you very, very much for receiving me here today. Thank you, Mr. President.

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Remarks With Thai Foreign Minister Dr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul Before Their Meeting

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

And I want to thank our friends in Thailand, who represent the longest security relationship, the longest partner that we have in Asia – 180 years of a treaty relationship with Thailand. They are our partner in the largest multinational field exercise that takes place in the region. They are an important partner with respect to a number of security issues – for instance, in Darfur, where they are partnering with us, as well as in the Horn of Africa, where they’ve been very productive with us in countering piracy, anti-piracy efforts.

In addition, we cooperate on a far range of issues, from the environment to wildlife protection, species protection, counter-narcotics, organized crime, other initiatives with respect to refugees and trafficking, anti-trafficking efforts. So we have an enormously broad security relationship, and Mr. Foreign Minister, we are very, very happy to welcome you here today. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER SURAPONG: Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am very pleased to be here once again in Washington, D.C. Secretary Kerry, thank you for your kind invitation and warm hospitality. Last November, President Obama visited Thailand as his first stop in Southeast Asia after his reelection. His visit served to strengthen our strong partnership. My meeting with Secretary Kerry today will be a good chance to continue dialogue on our future partnership, especially as we mark 180 years of Thai-U.S. diplomatic relations this year. So I am looking forward to a constructive discussion with Secretary Kerry on both bilateral and global issues of mutual interest.

Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. Let’s go work on the next 180 years.

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Remarks at the American Foreign Service Association Memorial Plaque Ceremony

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

The most important thank you that we can all give – and we do – is to the family members. I know this is a mixed day. It’s a hard day. It’s a day that brings back pain, but it’s also a day, I hope, of comfort and of pride in knowing that the contributions and the memories of your loved ones are a permanent part of the State Department, as strong as the marble which will carry their names for eternity.

Today we add eight names to our wall of honor, eight people who dedicated their lives to service. And to a person, each one sought out the most difficult assignments. They understood the risks, and still they raised their hands and they said: “Send me.”

Anne Smedinghoff was just 25 years old when she was killed in Zabul province, Afghanistan. I met her on my trip to Afghanistan, about a week before her death. And I remember her face – her permanent smile – cutting through the chaos and the crowd. That’s exactly where Anne wanted to be, right in the thick of it. And she was killed carrying out a mission of hope, bringing books to Afghan children, who had no connection to her, but who she believed deserved the chance to improve their lives.

Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the terrorist attack at our diplomatic post in Benghazi, on September 11, 2012. Through all of the tributes and the memorials after his death, we have learned so much about who Chris was as a person and about his skill as a diplomat. Everyone felt like he was a personal friend. And in fact, for those of us on the Foreign Relations Committee, he was, because he worked there at one time. One Peace Corps volunteer even visited the town in Morocco where Chris served almost 30 years earlier. And the volunteer met a young Moroccan, who not only remembered the first words Chris taught him in English, but he said that Chris inspired him to become an English teacher himself.

Sean Smith was killed in the same attack as Ambassador Stevens. He was serving literally as a one-man band to keep the Benghazi post running. He was Information Management Officer, Financial Management Officer, Management Officer in general. And Sean, throughout his career, went places that other people didn’t. He was the first to volunteer for Haiti after the earthquake, the first to volunteer for Japan after the Fukushima disaster. And so of course, he stepped up to serve in Benghazi. But with as much time and passion as he devoted to work, he also built a very rich network of friends. His love for the San Diego Chargers was legendary – as were his Super Bowl parties – and he was an accomplished online gamer. He leaves behind his wife, Heather, two young children. And I hope they know how much we are all diminished by Sean’s loss.

Today we also honor two true warriors – both trained Navy SEALs, both fierce patriots with loving hearts. Ty Woods and Glen Doherty died defending the U.S. annex in Benghazi. And thanks to their bravery and their sacrifice, 30 Americans escaped the attack. Thirty Americans are alive today because of Ty and Glen.

Ty Woods was a guy who was always looking for a challenge, always waiting for the phone to ring and for the next big mission. Even though he got a scholarship to wrestle for the University of Oregon, Ty joined the SEALs at 18 because he thought it was the biggest challenge that he could set for himself. He earned a Bronze Star and a Combat V, but he also had a healer’s touch, and he eventually became a registered nurse and a certified paramedic. Over the years, he become an instructor and a mentor to younger SEALs, even after he retired from the Navy and began defending our embassies. Ty’s close-knit group of friends still miss him deeply, as do we. And our thoughts are with his wife, Dorothy, and their infant son.

Glen Doherty protected our diplomatic posts around the globe from Iraq to Afghanistan, and finally, to Libya. According to his SEAL buddies, Glen was, without a doubt, the most liked man you could ever hope to meet. Whether he was skiing or surfing, running or rafting, Glen always wanted to be doing something and always wanted to be connecting with other people. He wanted to be the man in the arena, the “doer of deeds,” as Teddy Roosevelt said. And Glen actually carried that famous speech with him for years as an inspiration. It spoke to the part of him that wanted to protect people and ultimately led him to sacrifice himself defending others. Glen was from my home state of Massachusetts, and I’ll never forget how the people of Boston came out to honor him, thousands of people standing watch in the street as his casket came by.

Ragaei Abdelfattah. He was killed during a suicide attack in Afghanistan last August while working for USAID. He was Egyptian by birth, but his friends and family called him the biggest flag-waving American they ever knew. He loved bad chain restaurants – (laughter) – bad romantic comedies, and dark chocolate, which is always good. Throughout his life, Ragaei demonstrated a deep passion for helping people develop their full potential. In fact, after finishing his first year in Afghanistan – his first tour that is – he promptly signed up for the second because, in his own words he said, “I have more work to do here. One year was not enough.”

Today we also add the names of two Foreign Service officers that we lost more than 40 years ago. It was another time, another war, but their devotion to their work was identical to the six that we lost this past year.

Joe Fandino served in the Air Force during the Korean War where he sat on the “black box” during missions, meaning it was his job to blow up the plane if it got into real trouble. So he was a man who understood high-stakes situations. He also had a tremendous sense of humor. On his first Foreign Service posting to the Dominican Republic, he was riding with the Ambassador, who just happened to be his future father-in-law, and the rioters began rocking the car. And the Ambassador asked, “Joe, what do you intend to do if things get really bad?” And Joe didn’t miss a beat. He just leapt up and said, “I’ll jump out of the car, tear off my tie, and yell ‘down with the Americans!’” (Laughter.) Joe’s family and friends cherish those memories of his charm and his ability to cut through the noise. He died in 1972 while serving in Vietnam with USAID.

Frank Savage used to ride his Harley around Europe while wearing a Levi jacket with a big American flag sewn onto the back of it. He was proud of his country, and he wanted everybody to know it. Frank volunteered to serve in Vietnam with USAID, and when he wasn’t on duty, he helped defend a local orphanage from Viet Cong attacks. He was severely injured in the 1965 terrorist bombing of My Canh, the floating restaurant, but after a year, he volunteered to go back. And Frank felt he that had a job to finish, which is characteristic of every single one of these people. Sadly, he became critically ill from his original wounds and he died in Saigon in 1967.

So when you look at situations where danger is part of daily life, you actually develop a different perspective about life itself. I remember that from my own tour of duty in Vietnam with the Navy, working alongside men who became my brothers. And we all came back after losing a lot of friends with a saying: Every day is extra.

Anne, Chris, Sean, Ty, Glen, Ragaei, Joe, and Frank didn’t get enough extra days. And their loss still is real and it’s raw. As friends, we miss their joy in living each day to its fullest, whether that was biking across the United States or talking with locals in a Libyan souk or building a replica of the Starship Enterprise entirely out of Legos. They did what made them happy. These were special people.

As a Department, we miss their love of this country, their belief in our work. And for those of us blessed with extra days, let each one of us honor their memory and recommit ourselves to the mission that they loved so much.

I served on the Foreign Relations Committee for 29 years. And for 26 of them, I was privileged to sit near the Vice President of the United States, then the chairman, and even before that, before he was chairman. I don’t think the United States of America has ever had a vice president who knows as much about foreign policy, as much about this Department, or who cares about it as much as Vice President Joseph Biden. And I’m privileged to introduce him to you now, the Vice President of the United States. (Applause.)

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Remarks With President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili Before Their Meeting

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

We are very grateful in the United States for the assistance that Georgia has given us with respect to Afghanistan. Georgia is the largest contributor of troops of a non-NATO country. And they have also made significant commitments with respect to post-2014.

Just as importantly, we are very supportive of Georgia’s aspirations with respect to NATO and Europe. And we applaud the democratic transition that has been taking place. The President engaged in the first peaceful election transfer of power, and I know is committed to continue the work for the democratic aspirations of the Rose Revolution.

And so we look forward to having a good conversation, but I’m particularly happy to welcome him today. I know his term is up this fall. I’ll be anxious to talk to him about the future. But the democratic transition in Georgia is vital, it’s important, and we’re grateful to everybody’s efforts to keep that on track. So, welcome.

PRESIDENT SAAKASHVILI: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. It’s a great thrill to see you in that office. I think they’re incredibly lucky to have you as Secretary. And we were lucky to have you in Georgia at the (inaudible) moment of our history when Georgia was attacked. And you were the first one to come to our rescue. And you came to Georgia at a very difficult moment, a dangerous moment for you physically and personally, but you – basically you braved it and you came. And we will never forget, as well as we’ll never forget your great struggle at the U.S. Congress as a senator and head of the committee, for democracy, freedom, rights of minorities all over the world. That’s something that really shows the best of American moral stance.

And of course we are here to talk about NATO. We want American support for NATO. We want America’s support of further (inaudible) integration at this very difficult and crucial moment for Georgia’s democracy and Georgia’s survival.

And certainly we want to see America strong. And I think instrumental in that is having you in this office as well, with your experience, with your international (inaudible) contacts, because we have admired you for all these years as a senator, a great friend, as a really knowledgeable person on all these matters. And I think it’s really incredibly important at this very difficult moment of the world’s history to have you here, and we’ll do our best to work with you as allies, as friends, and as admirers.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. (Inaudible.)

We were mentioning earlier he broke his shoulder riding a bike and I broke my clavicle, so we – (laughter).

PRESIDENT SAAKASHVILI: You see, some people were criticizing me for biking it, but (inaudible) these are the people who broke their (inaudible) on the bike, headed by Secretary General of NATO. So I’m in a good club. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY KERRY: That’s a good one. Thank you.

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Remarks With Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo After Their Meeting

The video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.

I’m delighted to welcome Foreign Minister Garcia-Magallo here to Washington. Spain is an extraordinarily valued ally and a partner of the United States, and this year we mark the 500^th anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s landing in Florida. And the minister will be traveling before long to Florida, to Texas, to California, to celebrate these anniversaries, and we look forward to building on that in the days ahead.

Over the very long and shared history, the United States and Spain have built a strong friendship, and it’s based on common values and on deep cultural ties. I can remember personally vividly visiting Spain as a young man, and I remember the image of a bull charging behind me in Pamplona. That is an image that is not easily forgotten quickly. (Laughter.) But I’d like to think that as our Spanish-American relationship has grown stronger over the years, some of us have also grown wiser. (Laughter.)

Today our countries are working side by side to promote security and prosperity on a global scale. So I was very, very happy to have an opportunity this morning to talk with the minister about the challenges of the Eurozone and the extraordinary measures that Spain and other countries have taken in order to respond to that challenge. I know what a challenge and what difficult choices they have had to make in order to get back on the economic track, and the United States supports President[1] Rajoy’s efforts to advance the fiscal and the financial reform. None of those choices are easy.

Our bilateral trade relationship continues to thrive, giving both of our economies a needed boost. Spain is one of the fastest-growing investors in the United States of America, and American companies now support some 70,000 jobs in Spain. The Foreign Minister and I both want to look for more ways to try to grow this economic partnership, and I want to say while I’m mentioning the issue of jobs and job growth in both countries, what a terrific job our Ambassador in Madrid, Alan Solomont, is doing. We appreciate it. And his counterpart here in Washington, [Ramon] Gil-Casares, they are both deeply engaged on this issue and we appreciate their efforts.

I also reiterated this morning the United States’ view that a strong European Union is critical in our overcoming the broader European economic challenges. A prosperous EU is good for American interests and obviously speaks for itself about its own citizens. And that’s why we talked today about and we are committed to move forward on the President’s initiative of the TTIP, the [Transatlantic] Trade and Investment Partnership, which the President announced in February.

Transatlantic trade already supports 13 million American and European jobs. We know that we can build on that. And we look forward with enthusiasm to Spain’s participation in that, and I am grateful to the minister for his commitment of support and effort for it.

Finally, in terms of security issues, I thanked the Foreign Minister for Spain’s continued support on a number of operations, from promoting a smooth security and economic transition in Afghanistan where the partnership is important; in supporting humanitarian efforts in Syria, which we talked about at some length; and also in combating piracy off of the coast of Somalia.

In addition to that, Spain has been an important ally in pressuring Iran to address international concerns about its nuclear program. And Spain’s contributions to help keep NATO strong and our military partnership and cooperation on promoting security for both of our countries is an important component of our relationship.

I especially want to thank the Foreign Minister for his government’s recent decision to allow the temporary basing of 500 American Marines at Moron. When an emergency arises, we obviously need to be able to respond at a moment’s notice, and these Marines are helping to make the United States, Spain, our allies, and our partners more secure. And we’re grateful for that help.

And before I finish, I just want to mention that I will be traveling to Russia next week, and the visit, in my judgment, is overdue. I look forward to that, and particularly given the range of issues that we need to discuss, from Syria to Iran to the upcoming G-8 summit in a little more than a month.

So once again, Foreign Minister, welcome. Thank you very, very much for your commitment to this partnership.

FOREIGN MINISTER GARCIA-MARGALLO: Thank you, Secretary of State. Good morning, all of you. I will switch now to my mother tongue language. I will go on in Spanish, I would have translation afterwards, and I am ready to answer any questions you wish to put a question to me from the American side.

(Via interpreter.) This has been a trip that has taken me through memory lane, as it were. It’s a return to the past. I remember in 1972, 1973 coming to Harvard University, and I remember my first political campaign. The Secretary and I were talking about the fact that we were supporting the same senator, and I have a photograph that was taken of me with Ted Kennedy, where we were remembering the famous phrase from the movie Casablanca: I hope this is going to be the beginning of a wonderful friendship. And I think that we do have a wonderful friendship. We don’t have any different friendship or friendship we have to start. We’re simply continuing on the work we’ve already done.

And in our bilateral relationships, as we were discussing with Secretary Kerry, in terms of security, we have worked together in Rota on the anti-missile bases. We have worked together on over-flights. We have worked together on an agreement to allow the U.S. Marines to use the base of Moron. Economically speaking, our exports have grown by 11 percent, in spite of the difficult challenges that we’ve had in these financial times. In fact, Spanish investment in the United States is now 11.1 percent of our total investments. The United States is the third destination worldwide for Spanish investment.

And I was also saying to Secretary Kerry that our purpose is to be the best ambassador of the United States within the TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. With regard to global issues, we are working together in Afghanistan, in areas of interest to the United States, on Operation Atalanta in the Horn of Africa, in Lebanon, in Mali. And the basis of our political relationship is that we go in together and we come out together.

We reviewed the global scenario with the Secretary. We discussed the issue of Iran. We discussed Syria. We have shared opinions on that. And the value that Spain can add globally is especially evident in areas like Ibero-America, Middle East, and the Arab states.

(In English.) So to end my introduction, I would like to say that that is a very good momentum to re-launch our bilateral relations. I am traveling, as the Secretary said, to Miami to commemorate the fifth century anniversary of Ponce de Leon. We will come back in November. We will visit Texas and California as well, and Miami, and then I think that we will be even closer than we are today. Thank you very much.

MS. PSAKI: Thank you. We’ll take two questions. The first will be from Paul Eckert of Reuters.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, why was yesterday’s acknowledgement by the Arab League, in the person of Qatar’s Prime Minister, that a peace deal in the Middle East is going to require land swaps? Why is that so significant to you, given that it was already sort of baked into the Clinton parameters of the year 2000?

And on Benghazi, do you have anything to say about these assertions from – that some employees in this building are being prevented from testifying in Congress? This assertion has been made by the lawyers of the some of these employees.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, with respect to the meeting yesterday with the Arab ministers, let me make a number of things very, very clear. First of all, whatever was baked into the Clinton parameters was said by President Clinton, not by the Arab League. And we are now years beyond – 10 years-plus beyond the original statement of the Arab initiative. I think everybody would agree that when the Arab initiative was first set forth, it never received the full focus and full attention and recognition for the importance of the initiative that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was undertaking.

And so now since then, there have been changes on the ground. There’s been a significant, obviously, amount of disagreement between different countries, conflict in Israel, disappointment in the Oslo process, in other processes – Prime Minister Olmert, others. So there’s a confusion, frankly, in a lot of people’s minds.

When I have been in Israel in recent days, a lot of people have asked me: What are the Arabs going to do? What is the Arab attitude towards peace at this point in time? And so the Arab community – and I think they should be thanked for this – saw fit to come here to the United States as a delegation of the Arab League to make it clear that they are re-launching the Arab Peace Initiative.

And many people haven’t focused on what it does. Let me be very specific about what it does. Number one, if the Palestinians and Israelis reach a final status agreement between them, then the Arab community, 22 Arab countries and 57 Muslim countries that have signed up as members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, all of them have agreed, number one, that they would consider the conflict ended; number two, that they would establish the normalization of relations with Israel; number three, that they would enter into peace agreements with Israel; and number four, that they would provide security for all states in the region. In other words, they are offering a security arrangement for that region.

This is literally a statement by the Arab world that they are prepared to make peace providing the Palestinians and Israelis reach a final status agreement. I don’t think you can underestimate the – I don’t underestimate the significance of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, [United] Arab Emirates, the Egyptians, the Jordanians, and others coming to the table and saying, “We are prepared to make peace now in 2013,” but one more thing: Unlike the agreement, the proposal that was put forward originally which only talked about ’67 lines, nothing else, yesterday they stated that they are prepared to accept ’67 borders with adjustments to reflect mutually agreed-upon land swaps, recognizing some of the changes that have taken place.

That is a very big step forward. In fact, Israeli Justice Minister Livni said, quote, “It sends a message to the Israeli public that this is not just about us and the Palestinians.” It’s bigger than that. And I think, therefore, that it’s significant. We have a lot of homework to do, a lot of tough hurdles to get over, but each step forward is the way you get there. And the old saying, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Well, President Obama began that step when he went to Israel, offered a vision for peace. He instructed me to continue that work. We’re taking more steps. Yesterday was another step. And we’re going to continue to march forward and try to bring people to the table despite the difficulties and the disappointments of the past.

On Benghazi, look, there’s an enormous amount of misinformation out there. The simple fact is that when I testified before the Congress, what, a couple weeks ago now, I said very clearly to the chairman of the House – both House committees that we would work with them as closely as possible, put every question to us, whatever it is you need, and I would assign somebody to be responsible to work with them to answer those questions. My Chief of Staff, David Wade, was in touch with them forthwith, has been in touch with them, and we’re prepared to work openly and accountably to answer any of those questions.

So we have to demythologize this issue, and certainly depoliticize it. The American people deserve answers. I’m determined that this will be an accountable and open State Department, as it has been in the past, and we will continue to do that, and we will provide answers.

MS. PSAKI: The next question will be from Pablo Pardo from El Mundo.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. You have mentioned that the United States strongly supports the economic policy of Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy. I would like to know – I mean, in the last few weeks in some European countries, particularly among them Spain, there’s more emphasis in fostering economic growth and, let’s say, a little bit less in upfront fiscal consolidation. This has been traditionally the U.S. position or the U.S. recommendation to Europe, but it’s also kind of – I mean, not wildly supported by everybody in the European Union, namely Germany and maybe the European Commission. I would like to know your views about this, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, the United States is not going to micromanage or offer advice from afar to any European government publicly with respect to the choices that it’s making. We respect each country in the Eurozone to make its choices according to its economy and its needs and its people, and we respect – what we respect is that it’s been a very difficult time with very real significant challenges. And I respect the way that the President – the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have been working to advance their agenda. I think the Foreign Minister has been a particular advocate for important steps within the entire European community.

But it’s really not up to the United States to be doing anything except encouraging and supporting and trying to help provide a framework which can help Europe to come out of this. And we think that the TTIP is one of the – is an important contributor to that framework, and we’ll continue to work in other ways and provide our advice privately in ways that it ought to be. Each government needs to make its own decisions, and we respect that.

MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone.

SECRETARY KERRY: Is that it? Mr. Foreign Minister, thank you very much. Thank you, sir.

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[1] Prime Minister

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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.