FACT SHEET: United States Support for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative

Today, Vice President Biden met with the Prime Ministers, Presidents, and senior ministry personnel from 15 Caribbean nations in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where they discussed our comprehensive regional partnership to improve citizen security in the Caribbean.

Working together in support of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), the United States and the nations of the Caribbean are combating the drug trade and other transnational crimes that threaten regional security.  This partnership fulfills the commitment to deepen regional security cooperation that President Barack Obama made at the 2009 Summit of the Americas.  CBSI is part of an integrated citizen security effort that includes the Merida Initiative in Mexico, the Central America Regional Security Initiative, and the Colombia Strategic Development Initiative.  The United States, CARICOM member nations, and the Dominican Republic are improving citizen safety throughout the Caribbean by working together to:

• Substantially reduce illicit trafficking,
• Increase public safety and security, and
• Promote social justice.

CBSI partner nations have collectively identified priorities for cooperation, including: building a regional information sharing network, improving maritime interdiction coordination, developing regional training capacity, implementing prisons/corrections reforms, improving asset sustainment and maintenance practices, and addressing illicit firearms trafficking.  Effective solutions to these challenges will require a sustained commitment from all CBSI partners, as well as the assistance of other international donors. 

The United States committed $203 million in funding for the first three years of the initiative.  This contribution to CBSI includes assistance in the following areas, all developed through the CBSI cooperative dialogue process:

Maritime and Aerial Security Cooperation:   Support regional maritime and aerial coordination by improving radar coverage in strategic locations and sharing radar information.  Provide equipment and training that will enable Caribbean governments to carry out maritime and aerial operations to identify and respond to threats, engage in effective end game operations, and sustain those capabilities with reliability and regularity.

Law Enforcement Capacity Building:  Enhance law enforcement effectiveness through police professionalization, anti-corruption training, community-based policing, and sharing regional ballistics and fingerprint information. 

Border/Port Security and Firearms Interdiction:  Provide technical support, technology upgrades, and training on techniques for intercepting smuggled narcotics, weapons, bulk cash, and other contraband at commercial airports and seaports, to include the enhancement of strategic trade controls through training to strengthen border security capabilities.

Youth Development/Crime Prevention:  Improve academic opportunities and prepare at-risk youth for entry into the workforce.   Develop capacity to build sustainable youth development systems, providing professional development and life skills, strengthening second-chance institutions, and supporting entrepreneurship opportunities. 

A solid partnership, borne of our annual CBSI Dialogue and effective cooperation with Caribbean partners in the field, has begun to produce results.  The December 2012 meeting in Trinidad and Tobago of CBSI’s steering body reinforced regional commitment to information sharing and deployment of national resources, linchpins to the Initiative’s long term success.  In addition, we can point to the following CBSI accomplishments over the last year as indicators of tangible results:

• CBSI support contributed to several contraband interdictions, resulting in high levels of seizures and eradication efforts over the last few months in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and the Eastern Caribbean.  Homicides are also down as a result of successful CBSI-supported counter trafficking efforts and combating other crimes in the region.  St. Kitts and Nevis, which once had one of the highest per capita rates of homicides in the hemisphere, now boasts a reduction in homicides by more than 50 per cent from 2011 to 2012 and a 30 per cent reduction for the first quarter of 2013 alone.
• CBSI assistance helped the region adopt new legislation, criminal codes, and evidence-gathering guidelines, so prosecutors can more effectively manage high caseloads.  In addition, we worked together to found the first regional organization for prosecutors, which will promote information sharing and prosecutorial standards in 16 countries.  In St. Lucia, a model “Prosecution Witness Charter” teaches regional police and prosecutors about witnesses’ rights and protections.  We are also building capacity among investigators and prosecutors to target criminal asset forfeiture and financial crimes. 
• With the assistance of CBSI and CARICOM's Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), intelligence sharing has contributed to several arrests and prosecutions across the region, as well as significant seizures of drugs and weapons.
• CBSI has supported anti-corruption training for over 1,300 anti-corruption investigators and other law enforcement officials, resulting in the arrests and prosecutions of police officers suspected of corruption, money laundering, and other financial crimes.  In Jamaica alone, there has been a 24 % increase in prosecutions for corruption since 2010, successfully removing corrupt law enforcement and other government officials.  CBSI assistance has also resulted in 100 arrests and the seizure of over 120 vehicles, hundreds of computers and cell phones, and tens of millions of dollars from lotto scam operations. 
• CBSI has also focused on the empowerment of the region’s young people.  To date, more than 23,000 young people have participated in CBSI programs in education and workforce development across the Caribbean, diverting them from crime, gangs and prisons.

Remarks by the First Lady at White House Kitchen Garden Harvest

Kitchen Garden

1:24 P.M. EDT

MRS. OBAMA:  Hey!  What’s going on?  How are you guys doing?

CHILDREN:  Good!

MRS. OBAMA:  It’s exciting!  Look!  Look what you did -- it grew!  It’s very exciting. 

Well, welcome back.  We’ve got a few things going on here.  We’ve got a handful of kids who are brand new and I will say hello to them, but we’ve got kids who are returning who helped from schools who actually helped us plant the garden -- and I’m going to list you.  And when I list your school, I want you to scream so I know where you are. 

Sarah Moore Green Magnet Academy, where are you?  (Applause.)  Is that a scream?  Let’s try that again.  Sarah Moore Green Magnet Academy.  (Applause.)  That’s good.  And to your principals, teachers, administrators, parents who are here, let’s here it from you guys as well.  (Applause.)  That’s some screaming -- that’s some screaming.

We’ve got the Arthur D. Healey School from Somerville, Massachusetts -- where are you guys?  (Applause.)  Yes!  And where are your teachers, principals, administrators, parents?  (Applause.)  Welcome.  Yes, yes.

And then we’ve got Milton Elementary School from Milton, Vermont.  (Applause.)  Oh, come on, you guys.  Come on, Milton -- let me hear it.  (Applause.)  Are you hungry already?  You’re running out of energy?

Well, it’s good to have you guys back.  Thank you for being here.  You see -- how many kids who are here actually helped me plant?  All of you guys -- you guys -- isn’t it amazing how the garden has grown?  It’s just terrific.

And then we’ve got my friends from Tubman and Bancroft Schools.  (Applause.)  Yes!  And to all the administrators, teachers, principals, parents, everybody -- yay.  (Laughter.)  It’s good to have you guys.

Now, we’ve got some new friends here from schools in New Jersey, because today the President, he left me to go to your state to visit with your Governor.  And we thought, well, since he’s going to be there, wouldn’t it be good to have some schools from New Jersey here with us.  So today we’ve got Union Beach Memorial School from Union Beach, New Jersey.  You guys are here -- where are you?  (Applause.)  Wait, wait, wait, what?

CHILDREN:  Hi.  (Laughter.)

THE FIRST LADY:  They said hi.  (Laughter.)  You said hi.  Give me a scream!  They’re embarrassed -- they’re embarrassed.  Okay, and then we’ve got Long Beach Island Elementary, Ship Bottom, Surf City, New Jersey.  Where are you guys?

CHILDREN:  Woof, woof, woof.

THE FIRST LADY:  Oh, yes -- oh, yes, my Dogs -- my Dogs. 
Let’s hear that.  (Laughter.)  One, two, three --

CHILDREN:  Woof, woof, woof, let’s move!

MRS. OBAMA:  Oh, well, you got me right there.  That’s terrific.  And all the teachers, principals, administrators, parents who are here from New Jersey, you guys, thank you.  (Applause.)

Another one of the reasons why we wanted to invite you guys is I understand that given all that you guys have been through -- because many of your schools got damaged in Sandy, right? -- but despite that, you guys are still going to school every day, and you’re working on eating healthy, right?  And it hasn’t been that easy, but you guys have managed to get through the school year way on top of the game, and we’re just very proud of you.  That’s one of the reasons why we wanted to have you here today.  So welcome.  It’s good to have you.

So we’re here to harvest and we’re going to clear this out, right?  Right, Sam?  I know I’m going to be pulling up some radishes and doing some lettuce, but you guys are going to help harvest everything that’s over there.  Are we leaving anything in?  A few things we’re leaving in. 

I want to highlight the wheat that we planted.  That first bed is our wheat, and it is growing like gangbusters.  So we may even have bread one day, our own White House bread.  So that’s going to -- are we doing anything with that today?  So the wheat is not ready, but everything else is.  And it’s just been fun to watch the garden grow.  And I’m glad you guys are here. 

But we’re also going to do something else.  We’re going to actually get to eat what we harvest today.  So in addition to doing some harvesting, you guys are going to help -- we’re going to do some veggie flatbread pizzas with the vegetables from the garden.  You guys up for a little cooking, too?

CHILDREN:  Yes.

MRS. OBAMA:  And a little eating, too?

CHILDREN:  Yes.

MRS. OBAMA:  And to help us out, we’ve got our chefs.  We’ve got the executive chef from the White House, Cris Comerford, along with the White House chef crew.  Let’s give them all a round of applause.  (Applause.)  And they’re going to be helping out, so everything is all set up.  So are you guys ready to work?

CHILDREN:  Yes!

MRS. OBAMA:  All right, let’s move!  Let’s move!  We’re moving!

END   
1:32 P.M. EDT

Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Jay Carney aboard Air Force One en route New Jersey, 5/28/13

Aboard Air Force One
En Route New Jersey

10:56 A.M. EDT

MR. CARNEY:  Good morning, everyone.  Welcome aboard Air Force One as we make our way to New Jersey.  I think you have been provided information about today’s visit to look at recovery efforts in the wake of Sandy, look at the progress that’s been made restoring the Jersey Shore.  The President looks forward to the visit.  And with that, let’s go to questions.

Q    Jay, on Syria, the U.N. has lifted the embargo on arming the rebels.  The Russians have announced a new sale of antiaircraft missiles to the Assad regime.  I wondered what the President’s reaction is to both those developments.

MR. CARNEY:  Well, we welcome the EU action.  As you know, support for the opposition is a track that we are pursuing even as we also work with the opposition in an effort to realize the Geneva Communique and bring about the political transition that is envisioned in it.  And Secretary Kerry has been working on that issue, as you know.

On the matter of Russian arm sales, we've made clear in the past and made clear again our firm belief that providing arms to the Assad regime does not bring us closer to the political transition that Syria deserves.  So our position on that has not changed.

Q    Did you know that Senator McCain was going into Syria?  Did he carry a message from you there?

MR. CARNEY:  We were aware, of course, that Senator McCain was going to make this trip.  I would refer you to the State Department for more about that in terms of the administration, and to Senator McCain’s office in terms of the nature of the trip itself.  And we look forward to speaking with Senator McCain upon his return to learn more about the trip.

Q    So as far as you know, he didn’t carry a message from the administration?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, I would just refer you to Senator McCain’s office on that. 

Q    Jay, Senator Reid is saying that there probably won't be votes on the President’s remaining nominees until July.  What do you think is the effect of that delay?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, we have been working closely with the Senate to have the President’s nominees considered and confirmed, and we've made some progress in regard to that and we continue to work with the Senate to make sure that more progress is made.   

On some of the nominees there have been obstacles thrown up by Republicans, as you know, which, unfortunately, is part of a practice of slowing down or trying to block highly qualified nominees from consideration by the Senate.  But we'll continue to work with the Senate to bring about the confirmation that we need in order to effectively implement the President’s policies and administer the government.

Q    So if you end up having several nominees being considered in a compressed time period, does that -- is that a strategy you're hoping will help highlight --

MR. CARNEY:  Can you be more specific -- which nominees are you asking about?

Q    I'm talking about the remaining Cabinet picks, for example -- do you think it help to have --

MR. CARNEY:  I would refer you to Senator Reid for scheduling of votes in the Senate on nominations.  Our interest is in getting the President’s qualified nominees confirmed as soon as possible after the appropriate consideration by the Senate.

Q    Well, does the President have an opinion on the idea of further reform of the filibuster rules?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, we have expressed our concerns about the truly unfortunate delays in the confirmation process that Republicans have caused repeatedly.  The time lapse between consideration -- between committee hearings and consideration on the floor I believe is three to four times longer than under President Bush.  It’s unacceptable.  And it’s not an appropriate way to conduct the Senate’s constitutional obligations when it comes to the confirmation process. 

And we continue to urge Senate Republicans to act appropriately when it comes to the consideration of nominees.  They should be considered and then moved forward on.  We’ve seen again and again where nominees have been held up, blocked, holds have been put on them for no justifiable reason, and then eventually when months and months and sometimes years later, the nomination is voted on, it’s voted on unanimously in support, or with an overwhelming majority -- another indication that the delay in the process was simply about politics.

Q    Jay, last year Governor Christie took the step of praising President Obama for his leadership in managing the recovery of Hurricane Sandy, and it was before the election and it came at some -- caused a political kerfuffle.  And I’m wondering now, several months out, what does President Obama think about Governor Christie’s management of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey?

MR. CARNEY:  From what I know the President believes that Governor Christie has done an excellent job in the efforts he’s undertaken, in coordination with and with the assistance of obviously federal resources, to recover from and rebuild from Sandy.  I think a storm like that and the terrible impacts it has had underscores the need for that cooperation between local, state and federal authorities.  And the best way for us to recover from storms that are as devastating as Sandy was is to have that cooperation be smooth and efficient.  And we’ve generally seen that.

We’ve certainly seen that, from our perspective, in terms of the FEMA response and the effort undertaken by Secretary Donovan -- led by Secretary Donovan in the Sandy rebuilding effort.  And I think that this visit today, as was the case when the President visited the Gulf Coast during the recovery period after the Deepwater Horizon spill demonstrates that we in the administration remain committed to recovery efforts long after the storm has passed and, generally speaking, after the media attention has subsided.

Q    Jay, what do you think is their personal relationship? Do you have any sense of Christie and Obama and what they think of each other personally?

MR. CARNEY:  I wouldn't want to speak for Governor Christie. I know that the President has respect for Governor Christie and for his efforts on behalf of the citizens of New Jersey, and has found that focus to be key in creating the kind of coordination between federal, state and local entities that is so important when you have to recover from a storm like Sandy.

Q    On Sandy and FEMA, there have been complaints that FEMA has been slow to draw up new flood maps that would help homeowners decide how to rebuild their homes, and that that's holding up some folks.  Is the President aware of the FEMA flood plain issue and what’s being done about it?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, I would refer you to FEMA for specifics, but generally speaking, I believe that the work of FEMA here in response to and as part of the recovery from Sandy has been viewed favorably because of the efficiency of it.  And the fact of the matter is, since Sandy made landfall in southern New Jersey, FEMA has obligated billions of dollars to support state and local rebuilding efforts and disbursed more than $1.8 billion directly to more than 180,000 individuals across the affected region, covering eligible repair costs and meeting temporary needs.

And shortly after signing a $60 billion supplemental for Sandy aid, the administration worked expeditiously to get the first portion of that money out the door and, in February, provided an additional $5.4 billion to the affected states, with more money to support major rebuilding efforts on its way.

Just last week, Secretary Ray LaHood announced an additional $3.7 billion in disaster relief funds to help the four major transit agencies in New York and New Jersey that sustained the greatest damage from Hurricane Sandy.  The Sandy Task Force, as I mentioned before, is led by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, and it along with FEMA continue to work closely with our state and local partners as they make decisions about long-term rebuilding needs. 
I think as you will hear from the President today, what we know is that more work needs to be done -- one of the reasons why we’re here is to make it clear that the recovery effort is not complete and that work needs to be done.  And when there are issues that arise that need attention, the President is committed to ensuring that his administration, whether its through the task force led by Secretary Donovan or through FEMA, will respond and continue the efforts that began immediately after landfall.

Q    Jay, was this visit at the President’s request or Governor Christie’s request?

MR. CARNEY:  I don’t know about the origin of the visit.  These kinds of visits are always done in coordination with the state as well as the administration.

Q    Jay, the Post says there’s a report that key U.S. weapons designs have been hacked supposedly by China.  Is this a fact, and is this going to be the lead item for discussion with the Chinese President?

MR. CARNEY:  I’ve seen the report.  I would refer you to the Pentagon for specifics about the potential hacking of weapon systems.  But I would note, as you’ve heard from the President, his National Security Advisor and others, as well as myself, cyber-security is a key priority of this administration.  It is a key concern that we have.  It is an issue that we raise at every level in our meetings with our Chinese counterparts and I’m sure will be a topic of discussion when the President meets with President Xi in California in early June.  It was certainly a topic of conversation when National Security Advisor Donilon was having meetings in China, from which he is just returning now.

Q    And just to clarify -- earlier on Syria, when it was asked, did the White House relay a message through Senator McCain, you said to ask John McCain?  Why would McCain answer that question?

MR. CARNEY:  I’d just refer you to Senator McCain for details on his visit.  I can simply say because I've been asked, and others have, that the administration was, of course, aware that he was making the trip.  Beyond that, we tend to refer members of Congress to comment on their congressional --

Q    You don't want to comment on --

MR. CARNEY:  I think as a rule we refer to members of Congress to take questions about their visits abroad.

Q    Can I ask you a quick question on Iraq?  There’s been a ton of violence in Iraq -- car bombs and as many as 350 deaths in the last couple of weeks.  Is this something that the U.S. is monitoring even though our war there is complete?  What’s your reaction?

MR. CARNEY:  We have an important and ongoing relationship with the government of Iraq and the Iraqi people.  We engage with the government on issues all the time.  And it’s something that we continue to monitor and continue to provide advice on both with Iraq and with countries in the region.  This is a matter that I know, from having worked with him on it, the Vice President remains concerned about and focused on.

Q    Thanks, Jay.

MR. CARNEY:  Thanks.

END
11:12 A.M. EDT