Category: Natural Disasters

MIL-OSI USA: Disaster Recovery Centers in Garrard, Muhlenberg, Oldham and Webster Counties to Close Permanently; Help is Still Available

Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

Headline: Disaster Recovery Centers in Garrard, Muhlenberg, Oldham and Webster Counties to Close Permanently; Help is Still Available

Disaster Recovery Centers in Garrard, Muhlenberg, Oldham and Webster Counties to Close Permanently; Help is Still Available

FRANKFORT, Ky

–The Disaster Recovery Centers in Garrard, Muhlenberg, Oldham and Webster counties are scheduled to close permanently

Kentucky survivors who experienced loss as the result of the April severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides can still apply for FEMA assistance

The Disaster Recovery Centers are located at:Garrard County: Closing permanently Friday, June 20 at 7 p

m

Forks of Dix River Baptist Church: 5764 Lexington Road, Lancaster, KY 40444Working hours are Wednesday through this Friday, 9 a

m

to 7 p

m

Eastern TimeMuhlenberg County: Closing permanently Saturday, June 21 at 7 p

m

Fire Training Center: 61 Career Way, Central City, KY 42330Working hours are Wednesday through this Saturday, 9 a

m

to 7 p

m

Central Time

Oldham County: Closing permanently Friday, June 20 at 5 p

m

Goshen Branch Oldham Co

Public Library: 3000 Paramont Commons, Prospect, KY 40059Working hours are Wednesday through this Friday, 10 a

m

to 5 p

m

Eastern Time

Webster County: Closing permanently Saturday, June 21 at 7 p

m

Onton United Methodist Church: 15 Wrightsburg Road, Sebree, KY 42455Working hours are Wednesday through this Saturday, 9 a

m

to 7 p

m

Central Time

Disaster Recovery Centers are one-stop shops where you can get information and advice on available assistance from state, federal and community organizations

You can get help to apply for FEMA assistance, learn the status of your FEMA application, understand the letters you get from FEMA and get referrals to agencies that may offer other assistance

The U

S

Small Business Administration representatives and resources from the Commonwealth are also available at the Disaster Recovery Centers to assist you

FEMA is encouraging Kentuckians affected by the April storms to apply for federal disaster assistance as soon as possible

The deadline to apply is July 25

You can visit any Disaster Recovery Center to get in-person assistance

No appointment is needed

To find all other center locations, including those in other states, go to fema

gov/drc or text “DRC” and a Zip Code to 43362

You don’t have to visit a center to apply for FEMA assistance

There are other ways to apply: online at DisasterAssistance

gov, use the FEMA App for mobile devices or call 800-621-3362

If you use a relay service, such as Video Relay Service (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA the number for that service

When you apply, you will need to provide:A current phone number where you can be contacted

Your address at the time of the disaster and the address where you are now staying

Your Social Security Number

A general list of damage and losses

Banking information if you choose direct deposit

If insured, the policy number or the agent and/or the company name

For more information about Kentucky flooding recovery, visit www

fema

gov/disaster/4860 and www

fema

gov/disaster/4864

Follow the FEMA Region 4 X account at x

com/femaregion4

martyce

allenjr
Fri, 06/20/2025 – 15:16

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: FEMA Authorizes Funds to Fight Utah’s Forsyth Fire

Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

Headline: FEMA Authorizes Funds to Fight Utah’s Forsyth Fire

FEMA Authorizes Funds to Fight Utah’s Forsyth Fire

DENVER – This morning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Forsyth Fire burning in Washington County, Utah near Pine Valley

FEMA Region 8 approved the state’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) after receiving the request Thursday night and determining that the fire threatened such destruction that it would constitute a major disaster

At the time of the request, the Forsyth Fire was threatening more than 400 homes, which were under an evacuation order

The fire started on Thursday and has burned more than 500 acres

The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75 percent of the state’s eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling designated fires

These grants do not provide assistance to individual home or business owners and do not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire

Fire Management Assistance Grants are provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund and are made available by FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to cause a major disaster

Eligible items can include expenses for field camps; equipment use, repair and replacement; mobilization and demobilization activities; and tools, materials and supplies

For more information on FMAGs, visit https://www

fema

gov/fire-management-assistance-grants-program-details

minh

phan
Fri, 06/20/2025 – 13:59

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NASA History News and Notes – Summer 2025

Source: NASA

In the summer 2025 issue of the NASA History Office’s News & Notes newsletter, examples of leadership and critical decision-making in NASA’s history form the unifying theme. Among the topics discussed are NASA’s Shuttle-Centaur program, assessing donations to the NASA Archives, how the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star catalyzed NASA’s exoplanet program, and Chief of the Medical Operations Office Charles A. Berry’s decisions surrounding crew health when planning the Project Gemini missions.

Volume 42, Number 2Summer 2025

From the Chief Historian
By Brian Odom
NASA’s is a history marked by critical decisions. From George Mueller’s 1963 decision for “all up” testing of the Saturn V rocket to Michael Griffin’s 2006 decision to launch a final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, the agency has continually met key inflection points with bold decisions. These choices, such as the decision to send a crewed Apollo 8 mission around the Moon in December 1968, stand at the center of the agency’s national legacy and promote confidence in times of crisis. Continue Reading
Shuttle-Centaur: Loss of Launch Vehicle Redundancy Leads to Discord
By Robert Arrighi
“Although the Shuttle/Centaur decision was very difficult to make, it is the proper thing to do, and this is the time to do it.” With those words on June 19, 1986, NASA Administrator James Fletcher canceled the intensive effort to integrate the Centaur upper stage with the Space Shuttle to launch the Galileo and Ulysses spacecraft. The decision, which was tied to increased safety measures following the loss of Challenger several months earlier, brought to the forefront the 1970s decision to launch all U.S. payloads with the Space Shuttle. Continue Reading

A View into NASA’s Response to the Apollo 1 Tragedy
By Kate Mankowski
On January 27, 1967, Mission AS-204 (later known as Apollo 1) was conducting a simulated countdown when a fire suddenly broke out in the spacecraft, claiming the lives of astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee. The disaster highlighted the risks that come with spaceflight and the work that still needed to be accomplished to meet President Kennedy’s challenge of going to the Moon before the end of the decade. With the complexity of the Apollo spacecraft, discerning the cause of the fire proved to be incredibly difficult. Continue Reading
The Fight to Fund AgRISTARS
By Brad Massey
Robert MacDonald, the manager of NASA’s Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE), was not pleased in January 1978 after he read a draft copy of the U.S. General Accounting Office’s (GAO’s) “Crop Forecasting by Satellite: Progress and Problems” report. The draft’s authors argued that LACIE had not achieved its goals of accurately predicting harvest yields in the mid-1970s. Therefore, congressional leaders should “be aware of the disappointing performance of LACIE to date when considering the future direction of NASA’s Landsat program and the plans of the Department of Agriculture.” Continue Reading
The Hubble Space Telescope: The Right Project at the Right Time
By Jillian Rael
This year, NASA commemorates 35 years of the Hubble Space Telescope’s study of the cosmos. From observations of never-before-seen phenomena within our solar system, to the discovery of distant galaxies, the confirmation of the existence of supermassive black holes, and precision measurements of the universe’s expansion, Hubble has made incredible contributions to science, technology, and even art. Yet, for all its contemporary popularity, the Hubble program initially struggled for congressional approval and consequential funding. For its part, NASA found new ways to compromise and cut costs, while Congress evaluated national priorities and NASA’s other space exploration endeavors against the long-range value of Hubble. Continue Reading

Appraisal: The Science and Art of Assessing Donations to the NASA Archives
By Alan Arellano
The major functions of an archivist center include appraising, arranging, describing, preserving, and providing access to historical records and documents. While together these are pillars of archival science, they are more of an art than a science in their application, fundamentally necessitating skilled decision making. Throughout the NASA archives, staff members make these decisions day in and day out. Continue Reading
Orbit Shift: How 50 Pegasi b Helped Pull NASA Toward the Stars in the 1990s
By Lois Rosson
On October 20, 1995, the New York Times reported the detection of a distant planet orbiting a Sun-like star. The star, catalogued as 51 Pegasi by John Flamsteed in the 18th century, was visible to the naked eye as part of the constellation Pegasus—and had wobbled on its axis just enough that two Swiss astronomers were able to deduce the presence of another object exerting its gravitational pull on the star’s rotation. The discovery was soon confirmed by other astronomers, and 51 Pegasi b was heralded as the first confirmed exoplanet orbiting a star similar to our own Sun. Continue Reading

Four, Eight, Fourteen Days: Charles A. Berry, Gemini, and the Critical Steps to Living and Working in Space
By Jennifer Ross-Nazzal
In 1963, critical decisions had to be made about NASA’s upcoming Gemini missions if the nation were to achieve President John F. Kennedy’s lunar goals. Known as the bridge to Apollo, Project Gemini was critical to landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade and returning him safely to Earth. The project would demonstrate that astronauts could rendezvous and dock their spacecraft to another space vehicle and give flight crews the opportunity to test the planned extravehicular capabilities in preparation for walking on the lunar surface on future Apollo flights. Perhaps most importantly, Gemini had to show that humans could live and work in space for long periods of time, a fiercely debated topic within and outside of the agency. Continue Reading

Imagining Space: The Life and Art of Robert McCall
By Sandra Johnson
As we walked into Bob McCall’s Arizona home, it quickly became obvious that two talented and creative people lived there. Tasked with interviewing one of the first artists to be invited to join the NASA Art Program, our oral history team quickly realized the session with McCall would include a unique perspective on NASA’s history. We traveled to Arizona in the spring of 2000 to capture interviews with some of the pioneers of spaceflight and had already talked to an eclectic group of subjects in their homes, including a flight controller for both Gemini and Apollo, an astronaut who had flown on both Skylab and Space Shuttle missions, a former NASA center director, and two former Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) who ferried airplanes during WWII. However, unlike most interviews, the setting itself provided a rare glimpse into the man and his inspiration. Continue Reading
Inside the Archives: Biomedical Branch Files
By Alejandra Lopez
The Biomedical Branch Files (1966–2008) in the Johnson Space Center archives showcase the inner workings of a NASA office established to perform testing to provide a better understanding of the impacts of spaceflight on the human body. Ranging from memos and notes to documents and reports, this collection is an invaluable resource on the biomedical research done with NASA’s Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle, and Space Station projects. Files in the collection cover work done by groups within the branch such as the Toxicology, Microbiology, Clinical, and Biochemistry Laboratories. It also reveals the branch’s evolution and changes in its decision-making process over the years. Continue Reading

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: New Orleans Man Guilty of Third Drug Trafficking Offense and Multiple Firearms Offenses

Source: US FBI

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA –ODINE DOMINICK (“DOMINICK”), age 34, a resident of New Orleans, pleaded guilty on June 10, 2025, the morning his jury trial was set to begin, before U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk to possession with the intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl and a quantity of marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B), and 841(b)(1)(D); possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(i); and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8).

According to court documents, in the fall of 2023, law enforcement officers observed a photograph of DOMINICK with a rifle magazine in his waistband and a video of DOMINICK inside of a stolen car with a handgun. On December 14, 2023, the New Orleans Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at DOMINICK’s residence and found over 100 grams of a mixture of fentanyl and heroin; vacuum sealed bags of marijuana weighing over a kilogram; eight digital scales; drug trafficking supplies; 400 rounds of various calibers of ammunition; and a loaded Glock Model 23 .40 caliber handgun with an extended magazine.

Prior to his most recent arrest, DOMINICK had already been convicted of conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine, in Orleans Parish, and being a felon in possesion of a firearm, in St. Bernard Parish.

Because of his prior federal drug trafficking conviction, DOMINICK was charged with a sentencing enhancement. As to Count 1, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, up to an $8,000,000 fine, and at least eight years of supervised release. As to Count 2, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to life in prison, which must run consecutively to all other sentences, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to five years of supervised release. As to Count 3, he faces up to 15 years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release. Each count also carries a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit.

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: New Orleans Man Guilty of Being Felon in Possession of Firearms Stemming from New Orleans East Shooting

Source: US FBI

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced today that DANTRELL MCZEAL (“MCZEAL”), age 34, a resident of New Orleans, pleaded guilty on May 27, 2025 to being a felon in possession of firearms, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(8). MCZEAL faces a maximum term of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years, a fine of up to $250,000.00, a period of supervised release of up to 3 years, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00.

The Honorable District Judge Darrel James Papillion will sentence MCZEAL on September 9, 2025.

According to court documents, in July 2022, MCZEAL and an unknown individual, were involved in a shootout with each other in the parking lot of a gas station located on the corner of Downman Road and Morrison Road in New Orleans. MCZEAL was shot in the leg during the gunfire exchange and the unknown individual fled in his vehicle. MCZEAL also fled, but lost control of his vehicle, and struck a light pole. MCZEAL was observed limping away from his vehicle while in possession of a firearm.

New Orleans Police Department officers later recovered a Glock Model 30GEN4, .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol from inside MCZEAL’s vehicle. While on the scene, officers also observed a trail of blood outside of the vehicle leading to a nearby residence. Later, officers received a call from a nearby resident stating that an unknown male, later identified as MCZEAL, had entered her residence. The resident reported that MCZEAL had a firearm, later determined to be a Palmetto State Armory Model PA-15, .223 REM/5.56 x 45 milli-meter semi-automatic rifle. Federal law prohibits convicted felons, such as MCZEAL , from possessing firearms.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brittany Reed of the Violent Crime Unit.

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025

MIL-OSI Europe: Text adopted – 2023 and 2024 reports on Montenegro – P10_TA(2025)0130 – Wednesday, 18 June 2025 – Strasbourg

Source: European Parliament

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Montenegro, of the other part(1), which entered into force on 1 May 2010,

– having regard to Montenegro’s application for membership of the European Union of 15 December 2008,

– having regard to the Commission opinion of 9 November 2010 on Montenegro’s application for membership of the European Union (COM(2010)0670), the European Council’s decision of 16-17 December 2010 to grant Montenegro candidate status and the European Council’s decision of 29 June 2012 to open EU accession negotiations with Montenegro,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/1529 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 September 2021 establishing the Instrument for Pre-Accession assistance (IPA III)(2),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2024/1449 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans(3),

– having regard to the Presidency conclusions of the Thessaloniki European Council meeting of 19-20 June 2003,

– having regard to the Sofia Declaration of the EU-Western Balkans summit of 17 May 2018 and the Sofia Priority Agenda annexed thereto,

– having regard to the declarations of the EU-Western Balkans summits of 13 December 2023 in Brussels, and of 18 December 2024 in Brussels,

– having regard to the Berlin Process launched on 28 August 2014,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 6 October 2020 entitled ‘An Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans’ (COM(2020)0641),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 8 November 2023 entitled ‘2023 Communication on EU Enlargement Policy’ (COM(2023)0690), accompanied by the Commission staff working document entitled ‘Montenegro 2023 Report’ (SWD(2023)0694),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 8 November 2023 entitled ‘New growth plan for the Western Balkans’ (COM(2023)0691),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 20 March 2024 on pre-enlargement reforms and policy reviews (COM(2024)0146),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 24 July 2024 entitled ‘2024 Rule of Law Report’ (COM(2024)0800), accompanied by the Commission staff working document entitled ‘2024 Rule of Law Report – The rule of law situation in the European Union: Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Montenegro’ (SWD(2024)0829),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 30 October 2024 entitled ‘2024 Communication on EU enlargement policy’ (COM(2024)0690), accompanied by the Commission staff working document entitled ‘Montenegro 2024 Report’ (SWD(2024)0694),

– having regard to the Commission’s overview and country assessments of 31 May 2023 and of 13 June 2024 of the economic reform programme of Montenegro, and to the joint conclusions of the Economic and Financial Dialogue between the EU and the Western Balkans and Türkiye adopted by the Council on 16 May 2023 and to the joint conclusions of the Economic and Financial Dialogue between the EU and the Western Balkans Partners, Türkiye, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine adopted by the Council on 14 May 2024,

– having regard to the EU-Montenegro Intergovernmental Accession Conferences of 22 June 2021, 13 December 2021, 29 January 2024, 26 June 2024 and 16 December 2024,

– having regard to the 11th EU-Montenegro Stabilisation and Association Council on 14 July 2022,

– having regard to the declaration and recommendations adopted at the 22nd meeting of the EU-Montenegro Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, held on 31 October and 1 November 2024,

– having regard to Montenegro’s accession to NATO on 5 June 2017,

– having regard to Special Report 01/2022 of the European Court of Auditors of 10 January 2022 entitled ‘EU support for the rule of law in the Western Balkans: despite efforts, fundamental problems persist’,

– having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention), ratified by Montenegro in 2013, and to the recommendations of the Commission on gender equality and combating gender-based violence,

– having regard to the World Press Freedom Index report published annually by Reporters Without Borders,

– having regard to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) data on the Ukraine Refugee Situation as of April 2025,

– having regard to its recommendation of 23 November 2022 to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy concerning the new EU strategy for enlargement(4),

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Montenegro,

– having regard to its resolution of 29 February 2024 on deepening EU integration in view of future enlargement(5),

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (A10-0093/2025),

A. whereas enlargement is a key EU foreign policy tool and a strategic geopolitical investment in peace, stability, security and prosperity;

B. whereas the new enlargement momentum, sparked by the changing geopolitical reality and the EU membership applications by several Eastern Partnership countries, has prompted the EU to accelerate its efforts towards delivering on its long-overdue commitments to the Western Balkans; whereas the future of the Western Balkan countries lies within the EU;

C. whereas each country is judged on its own merits in fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria, including full respect for democracy, the rule of law, good governance, fundamental EU values and alignment with EU foreign and security policy; whereas the implementation of necessary reforms in the area of ‘fundamentals’ determines the timetable and progress in the accession process;

D. whereas Montenegro has gone furthest in the accession process, with all 33 chapters of the EU acquis open and six provisionally closed, and has significant public support therefor;

E. whereas the EU is Montenegro’s largest trading partner, investor and provider of financial assistance;

F. whereas Montenegro is exposed to malign foreign influence, disinformation campaigns and other forms of influence, including election meddling, hybrid warfare strategies and unfavourable investments from non-EU actors, particularly Russia and China, which are trying to influence Montenegro’s political, economic and strategic trajectory and threaten democratic processes and media integrity, jeopardising the country’s prospects for EU accession;

G. whereas on 8 June 2024, an ‘All-Serb Assembly’ took place in Belgrade with the participation of high-ranking parliamentarians under the slogan ‘One people, one Assembly’;

Commitment to EU accession

1. Recognises Montenegro’s firm commitment to EU accession and reaffirms its full support for the country’s future EU membership; welcomes Montenegro’s leading regional position in the EU accession process as well as the overwhelming support of Montenegro’s citizens and the majority of political actors for joining the EU in 2028;

2. Welcomes Montenegro’s positive progress in enacting EU-related reforms and measures, underpinned by an ambitious timeline and calls for collective efforts of political actors, civil society and citizens; commends Montenegro for meeting the interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24, which continue to determine the overall pace of negotiations, and for receiving a positive Interim Benchmark Assessment Report; welcomes the closure of three more negotiating chapters, bringing the total to six;

3. Encourages all political actors to stay focused on EU integration and the required reforms; stresses the need for political stability, commitment and constructive engagement in consensus building across party lines in order to move swiftly and more effectively towards closing additional chapters in 2025, so as to achieve the country’s ambitious timeline; stresses that the reforms adopted must be implemented effectively and consistently to ensure genuine progress and full alignment with EU legislation; calls for a strengthening of the functioning of, and coordination between, state institutions in order to achieve political stability and advance the country’s substantial progress in implementing key EU-related reforms, in particular electoral and judicial reforms and the fight against organised crime and corruption;

4. Underlines that the credibility of the EU, including its enlargement policy as a whole, would be affected if tangible progress achieved by certain Western Balkan countries does not translate into clear advancements on the EU accession path;

5. Welcomes Montenegro’s sustained full alignment with the EU’s common foreign and security policy (CFSP), including EU restrictive measures, inter alia, those related to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and those targeted against cyberattacks, as well as its support for the international rules-based order at UN level; encourages Montenegro to strengthen the enforcement of restrictive measures and avoid their circumvention and to seize the assets of those sanctioned; calls on all government representatives to respect and promote CFSP alignment and EU values and refrain from any activities that may threaten Montenegro’s strategic path towards EU membership and its sovereignty; is highly concerned, in this context, by public high officials’ statements in support of the President of the Republika Srpska entity, Milorad Dodik, who is undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina; regrets the participation of high-ranking parliamentarians from Montenegro in the ‘All-Serbian Assembly’ in Belgrade as well as their support for the declaration adopted on that occasion undermining the sovereignty of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo;

6. Underlines the strategic importance of Montenegro’s NATO membership and welcomes its active involvement in EU common security and defence policy missions and operations, such as EU Naval Force Operation Atalanta, and in NATO and other international and multilateral missions; welcomes the decision of Montenegro’s Council for Defence and Security to approve the participation of its armed forces in the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine and NATO’s Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine and calls on the Montenegrin Parliament to adopt these decisions, thereby reinforcing the country’s commitment to collective security;

7. Commends Montenegro for its humanitarian and material support to Ukraine and for extending the temporary protection mechanism that grants persons fleeing Ukraine the right to stay in Montenegro for one year; recalls that Montenegro is among the Western Balkan countries hosting the largest number of Ukrainian refugees, with over 18 800 refugees from Ukraine registered in Montenegro as of 31 January 2025, according to UNHCR statistics;

8. Remains seriously concerned by malign foreign interference, destabilisation efforts, cyberattacks, hybrid threats and disinformation campaigns, including attempts to influence political processes and public opinion, by third-country actors, which discredit the EU and undermine Montenegro’s progress on its accession path; urges Montenegro to adopt countermeasures in stronger cooperation with the EU and NATO and through increased regional cooperation among the Western Balkan countries; notes that religious institutions can be used as a tool for external influence and condemns any undue interference by the Serbian Orthodox Church in this regard; reiterates the importance of building resilience capacity against foreign information manipulation and interference, including through greater oversight of the media landscape, public awareness campaigns and media literacy programmes; recommends that Montenegro establish a dedicated hybrid threat task force;

9. Urges the Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Delegation of the EU to Montenegro and the Montenegrin authorities to boost strategic communication to Montenegrin citizens on the benefits of the enlargement process and EU membership, as well as on the concrete accession criteria that Montenegro still needs to fulfil to align with EU requirements; urges them, furthermore, to improve the EU’s visibility in the country, including as regards EU-funded projects; calls for StratCom monitoring to be expanded in order to concentrate on cross-border disinformation threats in the Western Balkan countries and their neighbours; calls on the Commission to further support the efforts of the EEAS and the Western Balkans Task Force so as to expand outreach activities by increasing visibility in local media, fact-checking reports and partnering with civil society organisations to counter false narratives more effectively;

10. Welcomes the Montenegrin Parliament’s renewed engagement in the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee;

Democracy and the rule of law

11. Recognises the Montenegrin Parliament’s key role in the accession process, notably as regards passing accession-related legislation, and underlines the importance of parliamentary cooperation in this regard; reiterates the European Parliament’s readiness to use its political and technical resources to advance the EU-related reform agenda, including through democracy support activities; notes, with concern, the re-emerging tensions and ethnic polarisation, which are slowing the reform process; calls for constructive dialogue and consensus building across the political spectrum, prioritising legislative quality, and strongly urges that solutions be found through parliamentary dialogue; calls for preventing identity politics from diverting attention from the EU agenda or straining relations with its neighbours, ensuring that Montenegro remains firmly on the EU path; welcomes the agreement between the Montenegrin Prime Minister and opposition leaders to request an opinion from the Venice Commission regarding the termination of the mandate of Constitutional Court judge Dragana Đuranović and for the opposition to return to the parliament;

12. Expresses its concern about attempts to amend the law on Montenegrin citizenship in the Montenegrin Parliament, which could have serious and long-term implications for the country’s decision-making processes and identity, while emphasising that any discussions on identity politics must be handled with the utmost sensitivity to avoid further polarisation and should aim for broad societal consensus; encourages the Montenegrin authorities to consult and coordinate with the EU on any possible changes to the law on citizenship and stresses the importance of achieving consensus on any matters relating to this subject of crucial importance for the identity and independence of Montenegro;

13. Strongly encourages the Montenegrin Parliament to hold inclusive and transparent public consultations and regular and meaningful engagement with civil society in decision-making from an early stage in the legislative process, notably for key legislation in the EU reform process; encourages a more active role for the Montenegrin Parliamentary Women’s Club;

14. Calls on Montenegro to fully align its electoral legal framework with EU standards, notably as regards harmonising electoral legislation, voting and candidacy rights restrictions, transparency, dispute resolution mechanisms, campaign and media oversight, and political party and election campaign financing, and to implement the recommendations of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights(6); urges Montenegro to increase transparency and control of political party spending and prevent the abuse of state resources by bringing the relevant legislation into line with EU standards, as well as enhancing the enforcement of third-party financing rules and strengthening sanctions for violations; highlights the role of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC) in this regard, and calls for increased cooperation between the APC and financial intelligence authorities to detect and prevent foreign influence in political campaigns; calls, furthermore, on Montenegro to implement the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on gender parity on electoral lists;

15. Reiterates its call on the Montenegrin authorities to establish a single nationwide municipal election day, as provided for in the Law on Local Self-Government, in order to enhance governance efficiency, reduce political tensions and strengthen the stability and effectiveness of municipal and state institutions; recalls that future disbursement of funds under the Reform and Growth Facility is contingent on the fulfilment of this reform, in line with Montenegro’s commitments in its reform agenda, and should be pursued as a matter of priority; welcomes the fact that, in 2022, elections in 14 municipalities were held on the same day; calls for a robust legislative framework in this regard; is concerned by the misconduct of the electoral process in the municipality of Šavnik;

16. Calls on the Montenegrin authorities to adopt the Law on Government that should enable an improved governance framework and the optimisation of public administration;

17. Underlines the importance of a professional, merit-based, transparent and depoliticised civil service; calls on Montenegro to amend and implement the relevant legislation to provide a framework for the professionalisation, optimisation and rationalisation of state administration, including procedural safeguards against politically motivated decisions on appointments and dismissals, as well as high standards for managerial positions; regrets the lack of significant progress in adopting and effectively implementing such legislation and highlights that this allows for public service recruitment to remain subject to political influence;

18. Welcomes Montenegro’s inclusion in the Commission’s 2024 Rule of Law Report; notes, with concern, the identified deficiencies, including judicial appointments and the independence of the prosecutor’s office;

19. Welcomes the progress made in implementing key judicial reforms, adopting a new strategic framework and completing long-outstanding judicial appointments; calls on Montenegro to fill the remaining high-level judicial positions;

20. Urges Montenegro to further align its legal framework, including the constitution, in particular on the composition and decision-making process of the Judicial Council, with EU laws and standards on the independence, accountability, impartiality, integrity and professionalism of the judiciary, and to further depoliticise appointments to bolster independence, implement outstanding international recommendations, and determine criteria for the retirement of judges and prosecutors in line with European standards and in full compliance with the Constitution; regrets the pending case backlog and calls on Montenegro to take measures to reduce the duration of legal proceedings, particularly for serious and organised crime cases, notably on money laundering; recommends that Montenegro adopt the amendments to the Constitution in the final stage of the country’s EU accession negotiations;

21. Notes the steps taken in the fight against corruption, including new laws and provisions on the protection of whistleblowers, the creation of a new National Council for the fight against corruption and a new anti-corruption strategy for 2024-2028; encourages Montenegro to further align with the EU acquis and EU standards and address recommendations by the Commission, the Venice Commission and the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO); encourages the Montenegrin authorities to continue addressing existing deficiencies in the handling of organised crime cases and the seizure and confiscation of criminal assets;

22. Urges Montenegro to step up its criminal justice response to high-level corruption, including by strengthening the effective enforcement of existing criminal legislation and imposing effective and deterrent penalties, and to create conditions for judicial institutions and independent bodies dealing with corruption to function effectively, free from political influence;

23. Notes the work of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and calls for it to be provided with sufficient funding and for it to be depoliticised; expects the Agency to deliver tangible results and act non-selectively to strengthen its integrity and enhance its authority in carrying out its competences effectively; calls for a stronger corruption prevention framework;

24. Urges Montenegro to align its weapons legislation with EU law and international standards, particularly as regards technical standards for firearm markings, deactivation procedures and regulations for alarm and signal weapons, as well as to establish a standardised and effective data collection and reporting system for firearms; is appalled by the tragic mass shooting in Cetinje and expresses its condolences to the victims’ families; expresses its concern over the exploitation of this tragedy for disinformation and ethnic polarisation; urges Montenegro to strengthen its crisis communication to counter disinformation and ensure responsible media reporting in the aftermath of violent incidents; calls for systematic actions in the areas of security, mental well-being and institutional transparency, as well as in civic education and public awareness, outreach and educational initiatives, on the dangers and risks of firearms, in line with citizens’ expectations and societal needs;

25. Calls on Montenegro to urgently fully align its visa policy with that of the EU, especially as regards countries posing irregular migration or security risks to the EU; expresses its concern that, contrary to expectations, two additional countries have been added to the visa-free regime and that Russian and Belarusian passport holders continue to benefit from a visa-free regime; notes that the harmonisation of the visa policy is also provided for in Montenegro’s reform agenda under the Reform and Growth Facility;

26. Welcomes the ongoing cooperation between Montenegro and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), Europol, Eurojust and the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL), and notes the importance of this cooperation in tackling cross-border crime, including the trafficking of weapons, drugs and human beings, and in combating terrorism and extremism; welcomes the entry into force of the upgraded agreement on operational cooperation in border management with Frontex on 1 July 2023 and encourages further cooperation between Montenegro and Frontex to strengthen border management, support asylum procedures, fight smuggling and enhance readmission;

Fundamental freedoms and human rights

27. Regrets that the most vulnerable groups in society still face discrimination; calls on Montenegro to adopt a new anti-discrimination law and relevant strategies, through an inclusive, transparent and meaningful process that actively involves those most affected, to improve vulnerable groups’ access to rights; underlines that respect for the rights of all national minorities is an integral part of the EU acquis; calls for stronger implementation to ensure equal treatment of all ethnic, religious, national and social groups so that they are guaranteed equal rights and opportunities and can fully participate in social, political and economic life;

28. Welcomes Montenegro’s multi-ethnic identity and calls for the further promotion of and respect for the languages, cultural heritage and traditions of local communities and national minorities, as this is closely intertwined with Montenegro’s European perspective;

29. Underlines the multi-ethnic identity of the Bay of Kotor; stresses that Montenegro’s European perspective is closely intertwined with the protection of minorities and their cultural heritage; calls on the Montenegrin authorities to nurture the multi-ethnic nature of the state, including the traditions and cultural heritage of the Croatian community in the Bay of Kotor;

30. Expresses its grave concern over the endangered heritage sites in Montenegro such as the Bay of Kotor and Sveti Stefan; stresses that Sveti Stefan, along with Miločer Park, was listed among the ‘7 Most Endangered heritage sites in Europe’ for 2023;

31. Calls on the Montenegrin authorities to address the difficult living conditions of Roma people in Montenegro and the discrimination they face, and calls for more measures to promote intercultural understanding in schools; calls on the Montenegrin authorities to also take measures to improve the climate of societal inclusion for LGBTI persons;

32. Welcomes that Montenegro has aligned its legislative and institutional framework with the EU acquis and international human rights standards regarding compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols; urges the authorities to address shortcomings in implementation, namely related to accountability and monitoring;

33. Calls for the effective implementation of strategies to uphold the rights of persons with disabilities across all sectors and policies;

34. Condemns all hate speech, including online and gender-based hate speech, and hate crimes; welcomes the criminalisation of racism and hate speech;

35. Emphasises the need to strengthen institutional mechanisms for gender quality and calls on the Montenegrin authorities to address the gender pay gap, to improve women’s participation in decision-making – in both the public domain, particularly public administration, and judicial and security sectors, and in business – to ensure the increased political participation of women, to introduce gender responsive budgeting, and to combat gender stereotypes and strengthen efforts to combat discrimination against women, particularly in rural areas; welcomes recent efforts aimed at boosting women’s representation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and encourages further efforts in technology sectors;

36. Is deeply concerned by the high rates of gender-based violence, including domestic violence and femicide; calls on Montenegro to fully align its definitions of gender-based violence and domestic violence with the Istanbul Convention, and with recommendations of international bodies, and to set up effective protection and prevention mechanisms and support centres, and ensure effective judicial follow-up for victims of domestic and sexual violence as well as a more robust penal policy towards perpetrators; calls for the collection of disaggregated data on gender-based violence and gender disparities to improve policy responses;

37. Regrets that the draft law on legal gender recognition was not adopted in 2024, despite it being a measure under Montenegro’s EU accession programme; urges Montenegro to adopt the law without delay;

38. Welcomes Montenegro’s new media laws and its strategy for media policy aimed at strengthening the legal framework to effectively protect journalists and other media workers; insists on a zero-tolerance policy with regard to pressure on, harassment of, or violence against journalists, particularly by public figures; underlines the need for effective investigations, the prosecution of all instances of hate speech, smear campaigns and strategic lawsuits against journalists, and follow-up of past cases; stresses the need to ensure journalists’ rights to access information and maintain a critical stance; notes a significant improvement in Montenegro’s press freedom, demonstrated by its progress on the World Press Freedom Index;

39. Expresses its concern over cases where journalists, academics and civil society organisations have faced pressure for exercising free speech, including instances where the police have initiated misdemeanour proceedings against them; is concerned by the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) to target journalists;

40. Regrets the prevailing high level of polarisation in the media and its vulnerability to political interests and foreign influence as well as foreign and domestic disinformation campaigns that spread narratives that negatively impact democratic processes in the country and endanger Montenegro’s European perspective; calls on Montenegro to further develop improved media literacy programmes and include them as a core subject in education; calls on the Montenegrin authorities to ensure the editorial, institutional and financial independence of the public service broadcaster RTCG, as well as the legality of the appointment of its management and full respect for court rulings concerning RTCG; recalls that it needs to comply with the law and the highest standards of accountability and integrity; regrets that the independence of public media is being weakened and undermined; calls on all media entities to comply with legal requirements on public funding transparency;

41. Welcomes the publication of the 2023 population census results; calls on the authorities to avoid any politicisation of the process; encourages stakeholders to use these results in a non-discriminatory manner;

42. Welcomes Montenegro’s vibrant and constructive civil society and underlines its importance in fostering democracy and pluralism and in promoting good governance and social progress; expresses its concern over the shrinking space for civil society organisations with a critical stance, and condemns all smear campaigns, intimidation and attacks against civil society organisations, notably by political figures in the context of proposals for a ‘foreign agent law’; notes that such laws have the potential to undermine fundamental freedoms and the functioning of civil society and are inconsistent with EU values and standards; calls for a supportive legal framework and clear and fair selection criteria in relation to public funding; calls for the Council for Cooperation between the Government and non-governmental organisations to resume work; underlines the importance of building collaborative relationships and genuinely consulting civil society on draft legislation from an early stage onwards;

Reconciliation, good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation

43. Recalls that good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation are essential elements of the enlargement process; commends Montenegro’s active involvement in regional cooperation initiatives; recalls that good neighbourly relations are key for advancing in the accession process;

44. Regrets that Chapter 31 could not be closed in December 2024; calls on all engaged parties to find solutions to outstanding bilateral issues in a constructive and neighbourly manner and prioritise the future interests of citizens in the Western Balkans; recalls that using unresolved bilateral and regional disputes to block candidate countries’ accession processes should be avoided; welcomes bilateral consultations between the Republic of Croatia and Montenegro on the status of unresolved bilateral issues; encourages the authorities to continue pursuing confidence-building measures;

45. Notes Montenegro’s amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code to address legal and practical obstacles to the effective investigation, prosecution, trial and punishment of war crimes in line with relevant recommendations; calls on Montenegro to apply a proactive approach to handling war crimes cases, in line with international law and standards, to identify, prosecute and punish the perpetrators and the glorification of war crimes and ensure access to, and delivery of justice, redress and reparations for victims, and clarify the fate of missing persons; calls on Montenegro to allocate sufficient resources to specialised prosecutors and courts and proactively investigate all war crime allegations and raise issues of command responsibility, as well as to review past cases that were not prosecuted in line with international or domestic law; calls for regional cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of individuals indicted for war crimes; recognises that addressing these issues and safeguarding court-based facts are an important foundation for trust, democratic values, reconciliation and strengthening bilateral relations with neighbouring countries, and encourages Montenegro to step up these efforts;

46. Warns against the dangers of political revisionism, which distorts historical facts for political purposes, undermines accountability and deepens societal divisions; strongly condemns the glorification of war criminals and widespread public denial of international verdicts for war crimes, including by the Montenegrin authorities; considers that President Jakov Milatović’s statement expressing regret over the participation of Montenegrin forces in the bombardment of the city of Dubrovnik was a valuable contribution to regional peace and reconciliation;

47. Reiterates its support for the initiative to establish the Regional Commission for the establishment of facts about war crimes and other gross human rights violations on the territory of the former Yugoslavia (RECOM);

48. Reiterates its call for the archives that concern the former republics of Yugoslavia to be opened and for access to be granted to the files of the former Yugoslav Secret Service and the Yugoslav People’s Army Secret Service in order to thoroughly research and address communist-era crimes;

Socio-economic reforms

49. Welcomes Montenegro’s inclusion in SEPA payment schemes, lowering costs for citizens and businesses; underlines that this opens up opportunities for business expansion, increased competitiveness, innovation and improved access to foreign direct investments;

50. Welcomes the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which aims to integrate the region into the EU’s single market, promote regional economic cooperation and deepen EU-related reforms, and which includes the EUR 6 billion Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans; welcomes Montenegro’s adoption of a reform agenda and encourages its full implementation; notes that the implementation of the defined reform measures under Montenegro’s reform agenda for the Growth Plan would provide access to over EUR 380 million in grants and favourable loans, subject to successful implementation; stresses the importance of inclusive stakeholder consultations, including local and regional authorities, social partners and civil society, in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases;

51. Encourages Montenegro to make best use of all EU funding available under the Pre-accession Assistance Instrument (IPA III), the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans, the IPARD programme and the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans, to accelerate socio-economic convergence with the EU and further align its legislation with the EU on fraud prevention; recalls the conditionality of EU funding, which may be modulated or suspended in the event of significant regression or persistent lack of progress on fundamentals;

52. Calls for the EU and the Western Balkan countries to establish a framework for effective cooperation between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the accession countries in order to facilitate close cooperation and the prosecution of the misuse of EU funds, including through the secondment of national liaison officers to the EPPO; encourages Montenegro to fully implement working arrangements with the EPPO; calls for the EU to make the necessary legal and political arrangements to extend the jurisdiction of the EPPO to EU funds devoted to Montenegro as a candidate country;

53. Positively notes Montenegro’s economic growth; calls for more steps to reduce the budget deficit and public debt, and to further remove indirect tax exemptions that do not align with the EU acquis; welcomes the efforts to reduce these fiscal vulnerabilities; reiterates the need for increased public investment in the education system for sustainable social and economic development;

54. Notes Montenegro’s public debt to foreign financial institutions and companies that can be used as a tool to influence its policy decisions, in particular those related to China and Russia; welcomes the efforts to reduce these vulnerabilities and calls on the authorities to further reduce economic dependence on China and to continue making use of the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans, the EU Global Gateway initiative and the Reform and Growth Facility, with a view to finding greener and more transparent alternatives for financing infrastructure projects; calls on Montenegro to increase transparency in future infrastructure projects, ensure competitive bidding and avoid excessive debt dependence on foreign creditors;

55. Calls on the Montenegrin authorities to take measures to counter depopulation and emigration, in particular through investments in education and healthcare, especially in the north of the country, as well as through decentralisation by investing in medium-sized cities;

56. Encourages the Montenegrin authorities to boost the digital transformation and pursue evidence-based labour market policies to address the persistently high unemployment rate, in particular among women and young people, while bolstering institutional capacity and enhancing the underlying digital policy framework, and to effectively implement the Youth Guarantee and the new Youth Strategy; urges the authorities to address brain drain as a matter of urgency; encourages the development of targeted preventive measures and incentives to legalise informal businesses and employees, as a large informal sector continues to hinder economic and social development in Montenegro;

57. Welcomes the calls for the prompt integration of all Western Balkan countries into the EU’s digital single market before actual EU membership, which would crucially enable the creation of a digitally safe environment;

58. Calls for more transparency in public procurement, notably for procedures via intergovernmental agreements, and for full compliance with EU rules and principles; calls on Montenegro to reduce the number of public procurement procedures without notices; expresses its concern over the financial burden and lack of transparency surrounding the construction of the Bar-Boljare motorway financed by a Chinese loan; stresses that the secrecy surrounding loan agreements and construction contracts raises accountability concerns;

59. Expresses its concern over any agreements or projects that circumvent public procurement rules, transparency obligations and public consultation requirements, as set out in national legislation and EU standards; calls on the Government of Montenegro to ensure full respect for the principles of transparency, accountability, inclusive decision-making and the rule of law in all public infrastructure and development initiatives;

Energy, the environment, biodiversity and connectivity

60. Urges Montenegro to advance the green transition, with the support of EU funding, improve its institutional and regulatory framework and enhance energy resilience by finally adopting and implementing the long-overdue National Energy and Climate Plan, adopting energy efficiency laws and integrating further with EU energy markets; calls for all new green transition projects to be implemented in line with EU standards on the environment, State aid and concessions;

61. Regrets the lack of progress on key sector reforms in the area of transport policy; calls on the Montenegrin authorities to align the country’s transport development with the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy for the Western Balkans, focusing on railways, multimodality and reducing CO2 emissions and other environmental impacts, and to further implement its Transport Development Strategy and strengthen administrative capacities for the implementation of trans-European transport networks;

62. Welcomes the reduction of data roaming charges between the EU and the Western Balkan countries and calls on the authorities, private actors and all stakeholders to take all necessary steps towards the goal of bringing data roaming prices close to domestic prices by 2028; welcomes the entry into force of the first phase of the implementation of the roadmap for roaming between the Western Balkans and the EU;

63. Encourages the adoption of sectoral strategies for waste management, air and water quality, nature protection and climate change, ensuring strategic planning for investments; notes the lack of progress and associated rising costs in building essential waste water treatment plants to prevent sewage pollution in rivers and the sea in seven municipalities;

o
o o

64. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commissioner for Enlargement, the Commissioner for the Mediterranean, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, and to the President, Government and Parliament of Montenegro, and to have it translated and published in Montenegrin.

(1)	OJ L 108, 29.4.2010, p. 3, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2010/224/oj.
(2)	OJ L 330, 20.9.2021, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1529/oj.
(3)	OJ L, 2024/1449, 24.5.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1449/oj.
(4)	OJ C 167, 11.5.2023, p. 105.
(5)	OJ C, C/2024/6746, 26.11.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/6746/oj.
(6)	https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/montenegro.

MIL OSI Europe News –

June 21, 2025

MIL-OSI Europe: Text adopted – 2023 and 2024 reports on Moldova – P10_TA(2025)0131 – Wednesday, 18 June 2025 – Strasbourg

Source: European Parliament

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Commission opinion of 17 June 2022 on the application by the Republic of Moldova (hereinafter ‘Moldova’) for membership of the European Union (COM(2022)0406) and the joint staff working document of 6 February 2023 entitled ‘Association Implementation Report on the Republic of Moldova’ (SWD(2023)0041),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2025/535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 March 2025 on establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Republic of Moldova(1),

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Moldova,

– having regard to the Commission analytical report of 1 February 2023 on Moldova’s alignment with the EU acquis (SWD(2023)0032),

– having regard to the proposal of 9 October 2024 for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Republic of Moldova (COM/2024/0469),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 9 October 2024 on the Moldova Growth Plan (COM/2024/0470),

– having regard to the Council conclusions of 17 December 2024 on enlargement,

– having regard to the visit of the delegation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs to Moldova on 25-27 February 2025,

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (A10-0096/2025),

A. whereas, following Moldova’s application for EU membership of 3 March 2022, the European Council granted it candidate status on 23 June 2022 and subsequently decided to open accession negotiations on 14 December 2023;

B. whereas in June 2024 negotiations on Moldova’s EU accession started;

C. whereas Moldova held a referendum on 20 October 2024, the outcome of which confirmed the embedding of EU accession into its Constitution, despite various forms of manipulative interference to destabilise the country, illicit financing of political actors, disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks;

D. whereas the Association Agreement(2), which includes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (AA/DCFTA), remains the basis for political association and economic integration between the EU and Moldova, and a regular political and economic dialogue is ongoing between the two sides;

Progress with EU accession-related reforms, in particular on the rule of law and governance

1. Commends Moldova’s exemplary commitment and steady progress with EU accession-related reforms despite significant internal and external challenges – such as Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine – which made it possible for accession negotiations to start in June 2024, half a year after the relevant decision by the European Council on 14 December 2023 and less than two years after the country’s application for EU membership on 3 March 2022;

2. Recognises that EU-Moldova relations have entered into a new phase, with intensifying cooperation, gradual alignment across all policy areas of the EU acquis and advancement on the EU integration path; welcomes the progress achieved in the bilateral screening process since it started in July 2024 and the recent closing of screening for cluster 1 (fundamentals) and cluster 2 (internal market); commends and supports the ambition of the Moldovan Government to open negotiations on cluster 1 (fundamentals), cluster 2 (internal market) and cluster 6 (external relations) in the coming months, as well as completing the screening process for all clusters by the end of 2025; calls on the Commission to enhance its support to the Moldovan Government in order to ensure the successful achievement of these key objectives; encourages the Council to take a merit-based approach in its decisions on Moldova’s negotiation process; deplores the bilateralisation and instrumentalisation of the EU accession process, such as the opposition of the Hungarian Government to opening negotiations on clusters 1, 2 and 6, which has led to a delay and serves Russia’s objective of obstructing the European integration of the region;

3. Believes that Moldova’s capacity to consolidate its current progress with EU accession-related reforms and sustain the ambitious pace towards EU membership will require the strong and genuine support of a parliamentary majority after the elections in autumn 2025;

4. Notes that the outcomes of both the constitutional referendum on EU accession, held on 20 October 2024, and the presidential election, held on 20 October 2024 and 3 November 2024, confirmed the support of a majority of the people of Moldova for the country’s goal of EU membership and the required pro-EU reforms; underlines that this referendum and election were held professionally and with an extraordinary sense of duty and dedication, despite a massive hybrid campaign by Russia and its proxies which used various tools, such as the strategic exploitation of social media, AI-generated content, ‘leaks’ of fake documents, intimidation, which entailed various forms of manipulative interference to destabilise the country, illicit financing of political actors, vote-buying, including by Russia’s instrumentalisation of parts of the clergy from the Metropolis of Chisinau and All Moldova, disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks; recalls that these attacks had four key strategies: divide society, delegitimise institutions, discredit democratic actors and promote Russian influence; welcomes the outcome of the 2024 constitutional referendum which enshrined the commitment to joining the EU in the country’s constitution; strongly condemns the increasing attempts by Russia, pro-Russian oligarchs and Russian-sponsored local proxies to destabilise Moldova, sow divisions within Moldovan society and derail the country’s pro-EU direction through hybrid attacks, the instrumentalisation of energy supplies, disinformation, manipulation and intimidation campaigns targeting civil society organisations and independent media;

5. Notes that the upcoming parliamentary elections on 28 September 2025 will be of crucial importance for the continuation of Moldova’s pro-EU trajectory; is concerned about the likely intensification of foreign, in particular Russian, malign interference and hybrid attacks ahead of the elections; calls for the EU to increase its support, including financial and technical support, for the Moldovan Government’s efforts to counter such interference in the country’s democratic process, including through additional sanctions listings, an extension and consolidation of the mandate and resources of the EU Partnership Mission (EUPM) in Moldova and the granting of additional support thereto, and the sharing of expertise in foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), countering hybrid threats and strengthening resilience; calls similarly for an increase in efforts by the Moldovan authorities and the EU in support of independent media and pro-democracy civil society, in order to enable journalists at national and regional level to counter FIMI and to strengthen digital literacy;

6. Stresses the importance of strategic communication, debunking and combating false, Russia-promoted narratives about the EU and its policies and of highlighting the concrete short- and long-term benefits of EU accession for the people of all of Moldova, with a special focus on regions such as Gagauzia as well as socio-economically disadvantaged communities in rural areas; calls for the EU to step up its support for Moldova in this regard;

Socio-economic reforms

7. Welcomes the Commission’s Moldova Growth Plan, which is aimed at supporting Moldova’s socio-economic and fundamental reforms and enhancing access to the EU’s single market; welcomes the Reform and Growth Facility for Moldova, which underpins the Growth Plan and is worth EUR 2,02 billion, making it the largest EU financial support package for Moldova since its independence; underlines that this facility provides Moldova with EUR 520 million in non-repayable support and a maximum amount of EUR 1,5 billion in loans, with an 18 % pre-financing rate, demonstrating the EU’s recognition of the urgency of supporting Moldova’s reforms and resilience; calls on the Commission to support the Moldovan authorities in implementing the necessary Reform Agenda for the effective absorption of funds from this facility, ensuring that the benefits of this support are promptly felt by Moldova’s citizens; looks forward to the announced impact assessment of the Reform and Growth Facility for Moldova in the form of a Commission staff working document within three months of the adoption of the corresponding regulation;

8. Calls on the Commission to include adequate dedicated pre-accession funds for Moldova in the EU’s next multiannual financial framework, and to begin preparing Moldova for the efficient use of future pre-accession funds as a newly designated EU candidate country;

9. Reiterates that the support of the people of Moldova for European integration can be strengthened with a tangible improvement in their livelihoods, by strengthening state institutions and public administration in order to use project funding effectively and to implement and enforce the EU acquis, ensuring a robust welfare system and fighting corruption and oligarchic influence and ensuring accountability; calls on the Moldovan authorities to continue to ensure the meaningful involvement of civil society organisations, diaspora, vulnerable groups and social partners, including trade unions, in order to strengthen trust in democratic institutions and processes and boost public support for EU accession-related reforms;

10. Stresses the importance of civil society organisations in monitoring governance and progress with EU-related reforms, promoting transparency, defending human rights and countering disinformation and external malign influence by anti-reform political actors and Russian proxies;

11. Calls for comprehensive social policy reforms to address poverty and persistent large-scale emigration, increase healthcare coverage, strengthen public education, improve working conditions and develop adequate social protection systems; emphasises that economic development must be inclusive and sustainable, with opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises; stresses the need for targeted social investment in Moldova’s young people and rural areas to reduce regional disparities and safeguard social cohesion;

12. Calls for special emphasis on Moldova’s participation in EU social, educational, and cultural programmes in order to promote social convergence, innovation and technological advancement;

13. Calls on Moldova to implement the Reform Agenda, which outlines the key socio-economic and fundamental reforms to accelerate the growth and competitiveness of Moldova’s economy and its convergence with the EU on the basis of enhanced implementation of the AA/DCFTA;

14. Strongly calls for the acceleration of Moldova’s gradual integration into the EU and the single market by continuing to align its legal and regulatory framework with the EU acquis and associating the country to more EU programmes and initiatives, including through the granting of observer status to Moldovan officials and experts in relevant EU bodies, which would deliver tangible socio-economic benefits even before the country formally joins the EU; congratulates Moldova on its inclusion in the geographical scope of the Single Euro Payments Area payment schemes, facilitating transfers in euro and reducing costs for Moldova’s citizens and businesses; commends the inclusion of roaming liberalisation in the updated EU–Moldova Association Agreement; welcomes Moldova’s recent progress in the transposition of the EU’s roaming and telecommunications acquis and expresses support for a swift decision on the inclusion of Moldova into the EU ‘roam like at home’ area; calls on the service providers to cooperate in good faith with the Moldovan authorities on implementing ‘roam like at home’;

15. Welcomes the renewal of the EU’s temporary trade liberalisation measures in July 2024 in order to support Moldova’s economy, substituting the loss of trade caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its unfriendly policies towards Moldova; calls for the EU to take swift and significant steps towards the permanent liberalisation of its tariff-rate quotas, in order to ensure predictability and increase the country’s attractiveness to investors;

16. Notes that the recent decision of the US administration to suspend support for civil society, independent media, key reforms and infrastructure projects has created additional urgent needs in Moldova, regarding which the EU should step in; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to increase its funding for EU instruments supporting democracy, such as the European Endowment for Democracy, and for other key projects that had until recently been funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other US agencies;

Human rights

17. Notes Moldova’s progress towards achieving gender equality, including its adoption of the Programme for Promoting and Ensuring Equality between Women and Men for the 2023-2027 period, and calls for its continued efforts in this regard, particularly to reduce the gender pay gap, fight against stereotypes, discrimination and gender-based violence, and to increase the representation of women in politics and business;

18. Welcomes the efforts by the Moldovan authorities to combat violence against women and improve protection for survivors, in particular the adoption of the National Programme on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence for the 2023-2027 period; notes that the impact of this, however, is still lacking and therefore calls for the establishment of more shelters for survivors of domestic violence, for adequate attention by the justice system to violence against women and for policy changes and increased awareness-raising among men regarding gender-based violence;

19. Calls on the Moldovan Government to strengthen its efforts, including the effective implementation of its legislative framework, to combat racial discrimination, marginalisation, racist hate speech and hate crimes targeting members of ethnic minority groups, including the Roma;

20. Commends Moldova’s efforts to improve the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community in recent years;

21. Calls on the Moldovan Government to fully align its legislation on the rights of persons with disabilities with the EU acquis and to tackle the systemic problem of children with intellectual disabilities being placed in psychiatric institutions;

Energy, environment and connectivity

22. Condemns Russia’s instrumentalisation of energy against Moldova, most recently by halting gas supplies to the Transnistrian region on 1 January 2025, in violation of contractual obligations, and thereby provoking a serious crisis in the region; applauds the Commission’s swift proposal of a Comprehensive Strategy for Energy Independence and Resilience and its support package worth EUR 250 million, which will reduce the energy bills of Moldovan consumers, including in the Transnistrian region, support Moldova’s decoupling from Russia’s energy supplies and integrate Moldova into the EU energy market; emphasises the need for the EU and the Moldovan authorities to effectively communicate about the substantial EU support package aimed at addressing Moldova’s energy crisis;

23. Commends the alignment of the Moldovan energy sector with the EU acquis; calls on the Moldovan Government to continue its efforts, with EU support that includes the tools available from the Reform and Growth Facility for Moldova, to diversify gas and electricity supply routes, develop connectivity, increase energy efficiency and its internal production and storage capacity, as well as advance its full integration into the EU energy market in order to ensure Moldova’s energy security and resilience; stresses the importance of the completion of the Vulcanesti-Chisinau 400 kV overhead power line by the end of 2025 in order to reduce Moldova’s reliance on energy infrastructure in the Transnistrian region; calls on the EU to mobilise the necessary resources to help compensate for the withdrawal of USAID support for Moldova’s energy sector;

24. Commends the Moldovan Government for its progress on decarbonisation, energy efficiency and transitioning to a green economy, including doubling the share of renewable energy to 30 % by 2030; encourages the EU and its Member States to continue to provide financial support and expertise to Moldovan counterparts in this area; welcomes the adoption in 2023 of Moldova’s National Climate Change Adaptation Programme until 2030 and its Action Plan for this purpose; calls on the Moldovan Government to adopt and begin implementing its National Energy and Climate Plan for the 2025-2030 period; notes the importance of implementing the commitments of the Energy Community’s Decarbonisation Roadmap, and implementing the Monitoring, Reporting, Verification and Accreditation package with a view to introducing carbon pricing and aligning with the EU emissions trading system;

25. Believes that an extension of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridor Baltic Sea-Black Sea-Aegean Sea (Corridor IX) to include the route of Chisinau-Constanta-Varna-Bourgas would be a strategic investment in the region’s transport infrastructure, enhancing connectivity and promoting economic growth, in view of the enlargement of the EU to the east and the potential positive impact of this extension on the region’s security and stability, serving as a key logistics route for NATO and enhancing the EU’s geostrategic autonomy;

Rule of law and good governance

26. Underlines that comprehensive justice reform remains key for the success of Moldova’s democratic and EU accession-related reforms; recognises Moldova’s sustained efforts to build an independent, impartial, accountable and professional judicial system and conclude the vetting process by the end of 2026; calls, therefore, for the EU to continue actively supporting the justice reform and the process of vetting both judges and prosecutors, including the attraction, training and recruitment of qualified judicial personnel and increase in judicial capacity;

27. Notes that Moldova has achieved progress in the fight against and prevention of corruption, but stresses the need to continue the fight against money laundering; welcomes the entry into force in February 2024 of Moldova’s National Integrity and Anti-Corruption Programme for 2024-2028; highlights the need to ensure enhanced coordination among all key anti-corruption and justice institutions in order to implement comprehensive reforms and to ensure that they have adequate resources and capacities; stresses that results in terms of prosecution and conviction in corruption cases need to be delivered in order to ensure public trust in the ongoing reforms;

28. Recalls the importance of continuing the investigation and bringing to justice those responsible for the 2014 bank fraud; welcomes the fact that, after long efforts by the Moldovan authorities, Interpol has finally added one of the alleged perpetrators, Vladimir Plahotniuc, to its list of internationally wanted persons;

29. Welcomes the adoption by Moldova in 2023 of a new national strategy for preventing and combating human trafficking, aligned with the EU acquis, and the cooperation of Moldova with Europol in combating drug trafficking;

30. Expresses its readiness to continue supporting the Parliament of Moldova through mutually agreed democracy support activities that respond to the needs of the institution, its elected members and staff; underlines the importance of the Parliament of Moldova in fostering public debate about the country’s European future and achieving a broad consensus over, and democratic legitimacy of, EU accession-related reforms across political parties and among broader society; highlights the decision of 10 March 2025 to open a European Parliament office in Chisinau to further strengthen Parliament’s engagement with the Eastern Partnership region;

Cooperation in the field of common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and progress on resolving the Transnistrian conflict

31. Welcomes Moldova’s consistent cooperation on foreign policy issues and the significantly increased rate, notably from 54 % in 2022 to 86 % in 2024, of its alignment with the EU’s CFSP positions and restrictive measures; invites it to continue to improve this alignment, including on restrictive measures against Russia, and to continue cooperation on preventing the circumvention of sanctions against Russia and Belarus related to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine;

32. Underlines that Moldova is a key contributor to the regional and European security, including through its unwavering support to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s war of aggression, for example by welcoming Ukrainian war refugees, and through its contributions to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, for example by deploying firefighting teams to tackle severe wildfires in Greece;

33. Expresses its support for the EUPM in Moldova and calls on the Member States to contribute the necessary experts and financial resources, in anticipation of a potential intensification of hybrid threats; welcomes the recent extension of the EUPM’s mandate until April 2026; encourages the Moldovan authorities to make full use of the EUPM’s expertise to enhance its preparedness, particularly in view of repeated electoral interference ahead of the parliamentary elections on 28 September 2025; calls for the EU to draw from the experience gained in Moldova in protecting the electoral process and democratic institutions in the EU itself; encourages the European External Action Service and the Commission to use all available EU instruments in the area of countering hybrid threats, in order to continue to support Moldova, including by swiftly deploying a Hybrid Rapid Response Team; welcomes the establishment of Moldova’s Centre for Strategic Communications and Countering Disinformation, as a means of coordinating the fight against foreign interference among the various Moldovan institutions, and of the National Agency for Cyber Security and the National Institute for Cyber Security Innovations; notes that Moldova’s National Security Strategy, adopted in December 2023, highlights EU accession as a key objective and for the first time identifies Russia as the source of major threats to Moldova’s security; stresses the importance of improving information sharing and intelligence cooperation between Moldova and the EU and its Member States on security threats;

34. Reiterates its full commitment to Moldova’s territorial integrity and to the peaceful resolution of the conflict, based on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova in its internationally recognised borders;

35. Welcomes the Commission’s initiatives to include proactive support for the Transnistrian region in its energy emergency support packages, and exchange of information and practical cooperation between the Moldovan Government and the de facto authorities of the Transnistrian region throughout the energy crisis caused by Russia; welcomes the progress regarding the conditionalities for Tiraspol in light of the recent gas transit agreement and calls for the full implementation of these conditionalities, including the release of all political prisoners by Tiraspol and the dismantling of the remaining illegal checkpoints;

36. Welcomes Moldova’s keen interest in contributing to the EU’s common security and defence policy (CSDP) and the fact that Moldova is the first country to sign a security and defence partnership with the EU; welcomes Moldova’s continued active participation in EU missions and operations under the CSDP, namely the EU Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Operation Althea) and the EU Training Mission in Somalia, its interest in participation in PESCO projects and the ongoing negotiations on a framework agreement with the European Defence Agency; calls on the EU to include Moldova in the EU security and defence programmes and related budget allocations, including the European Defence Industry Programme and Readiness 2030, allowing the country to participate in joint procurement alongside the Member States;

37. Welcomes the allocation of EUR 50 million to modernise the defence capacities of the Moldovan Armed Forces in the context of the current security challenges through the European Peace Facility (EPF) for 2024; notes that Moldova is the second-largest EPF beneficiary after Ukraine, with a total of EUR 137 million allocated since 2021; welcomes the announced support of EUR 60 million to be provided to Moldova from the EPF budget in 2025; calls on the Member States to progressively increase the EPF funding for Moldova to further enhance the country’s defence capabilities;

o
o o

38. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and to the President, Government and Parliament of the Republic of Moldova.

(1)	OJ L, 2025/535, 21.3.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/535/oj.
(2)	Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Moldova, of the other part (OJ L 260, 30.8.2014, p. 4, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2014/492/oj).

MIL OSI Europe News –

June 21, 2025

MIL-OSI: Stifel Welcomes Olympic Gold Medal Cyclist Kristen Faulkner as Newest Brand Ambassador

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

ST. LOUIS, June 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF) announced today the signing of Olympic gold medalist Kristen Faulkner as the firm’s newest brand ambassador. Faulkner made history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by winning gold in both the women’s individual road race and the women’s track cycling team pursuit. She brings extraordinary drive, determination, and a compelling personal story to Stifel, perfectly aligning with the firm known as a place “Where Success Meets Success.”

Before becoming a world-class cyclist, Faulkner began her career in venture capital, working at Bessemer Venture Partners and Threshold Ventures. Her bold leap from finance to Olympic champion has made her a symbol of resilience, ambition, and excellence. She is the first American woman to win gold in both road and track cycling in a single Olympic Games.

“We are incredibly proud to welcome Kristen Faulkner to the Stifel team,” said Ronald J. Kruszewski, Chairman and CEO of Stifel. “As our sports partnership portfolio continues to grow, Kristen’s commitment to excellence and inspiring journey, together with her experience as a financial professional, align perfectly with Stifel’s values. Her story is remarkable, and we are excited to have her represent our brand.”

As a brand ambassador, Faulkner will collaborate with Stifel on initiatives promoting financial wellness and empowering individuals to pursue their financial goals. She will participate in community outreach programs, engaging with Stifel clients and associates, represent Stifel at key events, and appear in select Stifel creative campaigns.

“I am honored to join Stifel and their impressive group of brand ambassadors,” said Faulkner. “Both financial success and athletic success require discipline, patience, and hard work. I’m excited to partner with a firm that shares these same values.”

Faulkner joins a roster of decorated athletes who serve as Stifel ambassadors, including all-time leader in World Cup alpine skiing victories Mikaela Shiffrin, three-time Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing Jessie Diggins, and two-time Olympic medalist in halfpipe skiing Alex Ferreira.

Stifel is also a proud partner of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team, the St. Louis Cardinals, the St. Louis Blues, and the Stifel Charity Classic of the PGA Tour Champions.

Stifel Company Information
Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF) is a financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that conducts its banking, securities, and financial services business through several wholly owned subsidiaries. Stifel’s broker-dealer clients are served in the United States through Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, including its Eaton Partners and Miller Buckfire business divisions; Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.; and Stifel Independent Advisors, LLC; in Canada through Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc.; and in the United Kingdom and Europe through Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited. The Company’s broker-dealer affiliates provide securities brokerage, investment banking, trading, investment advisory, and related financial services to individual investors, professional money managers, businesses, and municipalities. Stifel Bank and Stifel Bank & Trust offer a full range of consumer and commercial lending solutions. Stifel Trust Company, N.A. and Stifel Trust Company Delaware, N.A. offer trust and related services. To learn more about Stifel, please visit the Company’s website at www.stifel.com. For global disclosures, please visit https://www.stifel.com/investor-relations/press-releases.

Media Contact
Neil Shapiro, +1 (212) 271-3447
shapiron@stifel.com

Brian Spellecy, +1 (314) 342-2000
spellecb@stifel.com

The MIL Network –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Warner, Kaine, Scott Urge EPA to Reinstate Funding for Canceled Community Resilience Grants

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner, Tim Kaine (both D-VA), and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA-03) sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin urging the agency to reverse its decision to terminate two major Community Change Grants in Virginia. The canceled grants – approximately $40 million – would have supported dozens of community projects aimed at strengthening flood resilience, reducing pollution, and improving energy efficiency in Hampton and across Southwest Virginia.

The grants, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), were intended to support projects that increase resilience to major weather events, reduce pollution, and build community capacity.

The City of Hampton received $20 million in federal funding to address severe flood risk in the Aberdeen Gardens neighborhood. That funding would have advanced 51 projects ranging from stormwater infrastructure upgrades and rain garden construction to stream restoration efforts and improved public health protections for an area where over 22 percent of properties fall within FEMA-designated flood zones.

United Way of Southwest Virginia and the University of Virginia’s College at Wise also received nearly $20 million in federal funding to support flood-resilient housing, the construction of a community center and flood shelter in Dickenson County, and energy efficiency upgrades at childcare centers in eight counties in Southwest Virginia. These investments would have delivered long-term savings, improved disaster readiness, and supported vulnerable Appalachian communities hit hard by extreme weather in recent years.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “We are deeply concerned that the EPA no longer considers community resiliency, environmental conservation, and economic development to be administration funding priorities.”

They continued, “EPA’s decision to terminate these grants will leave communities in Virginia less resilient, less prosperous, and more vulnerable to extreme weather-related disasters. We urge you to reinstate this critical funding for communities throughout Virginia.”

Sens. Warner, Kaine, and Rep. Scott have long advocated for resiliency efforts in Virginia, championing legislation and funding to help communities strengthen infrastructure against extreme weather. The senators were strong supporters of the Inflation Reduction Act, which authorized the Community Change Grants program to help historically neglected and underserved communities address flooding, pollution, and climate vulnerabilities.

The lawmakers have also continuously stood up against the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel necessary federal funding for Virginia’s communities. Most recently, Sens. Warner, Kaine, and Rep. Scott wrote to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to reverse the cancellation of critical infrastructure funding for the Commonwealth.

Text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Administrator Zeldin:

We write regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to terminate approximately $40 million in funding intended to prevent localized pollution and mitigate the effects of flooding in Hampton, Virginia, and to support economic development, enhance resilient infrastructure, and lower energy costs across seven counties in Southwest Virginia. We strongly urge you to reverse this decision that will impact efforts to improve resiliency, environmental conservation, energy efficiency, and economic outcomes in communities across the Commonwealth.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided approximately $2 billion to EPA to establish the Community Change Grants Program. Congress intended this funding to be used to support projects that increase community resilience, reduce pollution, and build community capacity. In 2024, EPA selected 105 projects, including two projects in Virginia.

The City of Hampton, Virginia, was awarded just over $20 million to address significant flood risk in the historic Aberdeen Gardens neighborhood. In a locality where 22 percent of properties are in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-designated Special Flood Hazard Areas, the city and their nonprofit partner, Wetlands Watch, planned to leverage federal funding to advance 51 projects to update stormwater infrastructure, initiate stream-restoration projects, and construct community rain gardens. These projects were intended to mitigate flood risk, lessen the financial burden of flooding on the neighborhood’s residents, and improve environmental and public health outcomes.

The United Way of Southwest Virginia and the University of Virginia were awarded nearly $20 million to fund eight projects across the Virginia coalfields. Funding would have supported the construction of flood-resilient housing infrastructure in Buchanan County and a new community center and flood shelter in Dickenson County, two communities that have been devastated by flooding and extreme weather in recent years. Additionally, the grant would support energy efficiency upgrades at childcare facilities in eight counties, enabling thousands of dollars of energy cost savings to go towards childcare worker salaries.

In terminating these grants, EPA wrote to awardees that, “the objectives of the award are no longer consistent with EPA funding priorities.” We are deeply concerned that the EPA no longer considers community resiliency, environmental conservation, and economic development to be administration funding priorities. EPA’s decision to terminate these grants will leave communities in Virginia less resilient, less prosperous, and more vulnerable to extreme weather-related disasters. We urge you to reinstate this critical funding for communities throughout Virginia.

Thank you for your attention to this letter. We look forward to your response.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: First Sentencing in Burglary of Dozens of Firearms from Maryland Pawn Shop

Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

WASHINGTON – Juwon Markel Anderson, 22, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 84 months in federal prison for his role in the December 2023 burglary of a Maryland pawn shop that netted dozens of firearms and for his subsequent attempt to sell several of the stolen guns.

The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Washington Field Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Anderson, aka “Peezy,” pleaded guilty on March 4, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to commit firearms trafficking. In addition to the prison term, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Anderson to serve three years of supervised release.

According to the court documents, on Dec. 13, 2023, Anderson and at least four co-conspirators drove in two vehicles from the District to the A&D Pawn Shop, a Federal Firearms Licensee, in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

At the pawn shop, one of the co-conspirators used a portable saw to cut the locks on a pull-down security gate. Another co-conspirator then used a crowbar-type tool to pry open the main door. Once inside, the quintet grabbed an array of rifles, shotguns, and pistols from the shelves and display racks. They fled with at least 34 guns. Two days after the burglary, on December 15, 2023, Anderson was arrested with two of the stolen firearms. He has been detained ever since.

Co-defendant Tyjuan McNeal, 27, is scheduled to be sentenced July 1 for conspiracy to commit firearms trafficking. Vincent Lee Alston, 23, and Niquan Odum, 23, pleaded guilty March 6, 2025. Alston, aka “Vedo,” pleaded to one count of conspiracy to commit firearms trafficking. Cy’juan Hemsley, who pleaded guilty on May 7, 2025, and Odumn, aka “Stickz,” pleaded to conspiracy to commit theft from a firearms licensee and to possession of stolen firearms.

This case is being investigated by the ATF Washington Field Division and the Metropolitan Police Department, with assistance from the ATF Baltimore Field Division. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shehzad Akhtar with valuable assistance from former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Lipes.

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Southern District of Texas charges 215 people in third week of June in relation to border enforcement efforts

Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

HOUSTON – A total of 204 new cases have been filed in the last week related to immigration, border security and related offenses from June 13-19, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Among those are 65 people who face charges of illegally reentering the country. The majority have prior felony convictions for narcotics, violent crime, prior immigration crimes and more. A total of 125 people are charged with illegally entering the country, while five cases allege various instances of human smuggling with the remainder involving other immigration crimes and more, including assault on officers.

Two such charged include Adrian Alberto Castillo-Contador and Lorenzo Ramirez. Castillo-Contador, a Mexican national, allegedly attempted to make entry into the United States through the Hidalgo port of entry. The charges allege he failed to comply with commands and attempted to evade a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer. Castillo-Contador allegedly pushed the officer and caused injury but was apprehended before able to exit.

In another case, authorities allegedly found Lorenzo Ramirez near an abandoned vehicle after a failed smuggling event near Weslaco. The criminal complaint alleges that as a Border Patrol (BP) agent approached him, Ramirez fled, and a foot chase ensued. Law enforcement caught him, but during the struggle, Ramirez punched and elbowed the agent in the thigh and head, respectively, according to the charges. Ramirez also allegedly kicked another agent in the leg. The charges further allege authorities had to taser him. Both men face up to eight years in federal prison if convicted for assaulting an officer.

Also part of the new cases are several complaints alleging previous felons had illegally reentered the United States. Mexican nationals Ivan Edgar Martinez, Carlos Bartolo Santiago-Hernandez and Hugo Jimenez-Castillo had all been previously removed from the country on various dates between 2017-2014, acceding to their respective charges. However, all were allegedly found in the Rio Grande Valley area this week. Martinez and Santiago-Hernandez have convictions for illegal reentry, while Jimenez-Castillo had been sentenced to two years in prison for his driving while intoxicated conviction, according to the allegations. If convicted, all face up to 20 years in prison.

Throughout the district, law enforcement partners made multiple arrests, including nearly two dozen charged in large drug and money laundering operation. Grand juries in Houston and McAllen returned the five separate, but related indictments in May. The charges allegedly involve cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine trafficking, firearms-related offenses and money laundering. The arrests are the culmination of multiple months-long Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigations dubbed Operation Red Ranger, Borrowed Time and Resurrection. During the investigation and operations, law enforcement also seized over 170 kilograms of cocaine and heroin, over two thousand kilograms methamphetamine, more than 100 firearms and nearly $3 million as well as four properties valued at $1.2 million.

In Laredo, two cartel firearms traffickers have now been sent to federal prison. Mexican national Jorge Alberto Morales-Calvo received a 41-month-term, while Homero Arteaga Jr. previously received 57 months. At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence that the firearms were going to be smuggled across the border and delivered to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. On Sept. 18, 2024, they planned to purchase a Barrett .50 caliber rifle for $15,000 and a FN Herstal Belgium, 5.7 x 28 caliber pistol with a large capacity magazine for $850. They were both arrested as they tried to complete the transaction.

“The Department of Justice is looking to hit the cartels from every angle and at every opportunity, which includes vigorously prosecuting not just the members of these terror groups, but those that enable them as well,” said Ganjei. “Those that arm or otherwise empower the cartels are going to the meet the full force of the federal criminal justice system.”

In Corpus Christi, an Arkansas man was ordered to prison for 36 months for transporting illegal aliens in wheel well and fuel tank. The jury deliberated for less than 30 minutes following a less than two-day trial before finding Noel Mercado guilty on two counts of alien smuggling March 11. At the sentencing hearing, the court noted the egregious crime and said the smuggled individuals had been “treated like trash.” All the illegal aliens were from the countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala with no authority to be in the United States.

“As we continue our successful campaign to secure the border, human smugglers are going to get increasingly desperate,” said Ganjei. “No matter how creative they think they are in their methods, our law enforcement partners are always one step ahead.”

A Laredo felon was also sentenced for transporting illegal aliens. Braulio Ivan Rueda was ordered to serve 21 months after he had engaged in a high-speed chase. Rueda picked up several people running from the Rio Grande River into his SUV. When authorities tried to block the vehicle, four Guatemalan nationals fled towards the river. Rueda sped away and led authorities on a three-mile chase before stopping in a commercial parking lot and attempted to escape on foot. He admitted he needed money and agreed to smuggle the aliens for “easy money.”

Also in Laredo, Anthony Jacob Garza was suspiciously driving a Ford Expedition about 20 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border in April. He admitted he stopped at a gas station, where authorities ultimately found three illegal aliens hiding under a blanket in the SUV’s cargo area. He had picked them up near a county road. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

Two Mexican nationals and convicted felons, one who had previously assaulted public servant, are on their way back to prison for illegal reentry into the country. Abelino Hernandez-Torres was ordered to serve 60 months. He has prior convictions for illegal reentry as well as evading arrest with a motor vehicle and assault on a public servant. He was first ordered removed from the United States in 2015 and again in 2019 and 2020, and returned illegally.

Authorities had encountered Hector Ruben Cardenas-Morales in jail following charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful restraint. He has other convictions, including burglary, evading arrest with a motor vehicle and illegal reentry and was last removed in 2023. At the sentencing hearing, the court noted how this was his fifth time coming back and was not serving himself by returning to the country or learning from his mistakes, stating “Sir, you have no future in the United States.” He was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison.

These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – Homeland Security Investigations, ICE – Enforcement and Removal Operations, BP, CBP, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

The cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s OCDTF and Project Safe Neighborhood.

Under current leadership, public safety and a secure border are the top priorities for this district. Enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal history, including human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas remains one of the busiest in the nation. It represents 43 counties and more than nine million people covering 44,000 square miles. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from all seven divisions including Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo work directly with our law enforcement partners on the federal, state and local levels to prosecute the suspected offenders of these and other federal crimes.

An indictment or criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Co-Founder of Los Cuinis Drug Cartel Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison; High-Ranking Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) Operative Pleads Guilty

Source: US State of California

Today, a Mexican national and the co-founder of the armed, violent, and prolific Los Cuinis drug cartel was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a major drug trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia, 49, of Michoacan, Mexico, was one of the top leaders — alongside his brothers, Gerardo Gonzalez-Valencia and Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia — of Los Cuinis, a major Mexican drug cartel responsible for trafficking multiple tons of cocaine from South America, through Mexico, into the United States. Los Cuinis financed the founding and growth of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), which traffics hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States and other countries, and is known for extreme violence, murders, torture, and corruption.

In February 2025, President Trump designated CJNG a foreign terrorist organization. According to court documents, the top leader of CJNG, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” is the brother-in-law of the Gonzalez-Valencia brothers. Closely allied, Los Cuinis and CJNG form one of the most violent and prolific transnational criminal organizations in the world, responsible for sending staggering amounts of drugs into the United States and inflicting extreme violence to further that objective.

Also today, as part of the Department of Justice’s focus on dismantling CJNG, another Mexican national, Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, also known as “El Guacho,” a high-ranking CJNG member and El Mencho’s son-in-law, pleaded guilty to one count of international money laundering conspiracy.

“Today, the Criminal Division dealt two more devastating blows to CJNG and Los Cuinis through the sentencing of Jose Gonzalez-Valencia and the conviction of Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These men and the cartels they led are responsible for immeasurable death and destruction in the United States and Mexico. The Justice Department will continue to dismantle CJNG, Los Cuinis and all other transnational criminal organizations that flood our streets with dangerous drugs and engage in extreme violence to control their operations.”

“CJNG is one of the most powerful, influential, and ruthless criminal organizations to threaten our public safety and national security. Each leader and associate of CJNG who faces justice within the United States brings us one step closer to dismantling this terrorist organization,” said Acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Robert Murphy. “DEA will continue to use all available resources to disrupt CJNG’s drug trafficking and money laundering operations and systematically destroy their network.”

From at least 2006 to 2016, according to court documents, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia directed and coordinated numerous multi-ton shipments of cocaine destined for the United States using air, land, sea, and underwater methods. In 2007 the U.S. Coast Guard seized one shipment from a semi-submersible vessel that was transporting at least 4,000 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico for further distribution into the United States.

As one of Los Cuinis’ top leaders, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia directed acts of extreme violence in furtherance of drug trafficking activities, including the murder of an individual who allegedly stole a shipment of approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine from Los Cuinis, according to court documents. Jose Gonzalez-Valencia personally carried firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities and supplied weapons and ammunition to the CJNG.

In 2015, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia went into hiding in Bolivia — a country that did not extradite anyone to the United States from 2001 to 2023, despite an existing extradition treaty — and resided there for over two years under a fictitious identity. In 2017, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia was arrested in Brazil while on vacation and was subsequently extradited to the United States. Brazil’s extradition treaty required that the U.S. Government not recommend more than a 30-year sentence.

Pursuant to his plea agreement, Gutierrez-Ochoa admitted that he was a member of CJNG who was connected to CJNG’s top leadership. He also admitted that from at least 2023 until his arrest in 2024, he and other CJNG operatives used sophisticated money laundering methods involving real estate transactions, shell companies, and international money transfers to launder CJNG’s drug trafficking proceeds. For example, Gutierrez-Ochoa and others completed two wire transfers totaling $1.2 million of CJNG’s drug proceeds to purchase a luxury residence in Riverside, California, titled in the name of a Mexican entity owned and controlled by CJNG. When Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested in November 2024, he was living at that property under a fictitious identity and possessed two untraceable and illegal firearms, approximately $2.2 million of CJNG’s drug proceeds, and numerous luxury items purchased with CJNG’s drug proceeds, including jewelry, watches, and vehicles.

Gutierrez-Ochoa is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 7 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine his sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Today’s sentencing of Gonzalez-Valencia and conviction of Gutierrez-Ochoa follow several recent strikes into CJNG’s most inner circle.

El Mencho’s older brother, Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, and Erick Valencia Salazar, an alleged co-founder of CJNG and El Mencho’s close advisor, were among the 29 wanted cartel leaders taken into U.S. custody on Feb. 27, 2025.

Shortly after, on March 7, 2025, El Mencho’s son, Ruben Oseguera-Gonzalez, known as El Menchito, was sentenced to a term of life in prison plus 30 years to run consecutively and ordered to forfeit over $6 billion in drug trafficking proceeds. Before his arrest, Oseguera-Gonzalez was CJNG’s second-in-command and led CJNG for nearly seven years. He is responsible for trafficking more than 50 metric tons of cocaine and supervising drug labs that produced more than 1,000 metric tons of methamphetamine in Mexico. In 2013, he was one of the first contributors to the fentanyl epidemic in the United States, pledging to “do it big” and build an empire from counterfeit oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl. As the evidence at trial showed, he also committed heinous acts of violence. According to statements made in court and trial testimony, Oseguera-Gonzalez ordered the murder of more than 100 people, some of whom he murdered himself.

The DEA and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section have been systematically dismantling the leadership of the CJNG and Los Cuinis at the highest level. To date, the ongoing investigation has led to indictments of approximately 30 high-value CJNG and Los Cuinis command-and-control targets, including seven Consolidated Priority Organization Targets (CPOTs), the top drug trafficking command-and-control leaders. As of June 2025, 12 defendants have been convicted, including two at trial.

A number of indicted leaders of CJNG and Los Cuinis remain fugitives, including El Mencho, whose capture reward was recently increased to $15 million under the State Department’s Narcotic Rewards Program. Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia, another top leader of Los Cuinis and El Mencho’s brother-in-law, was arrested in 2015 by Mexican authorities pursuant to the U.S. indictment but since then has been fighting extradition to the United States.

The DEA Los Angeles Field Division investigated the cases. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance with obtaining foreign evidence and securing Jose Gonzalez-Valencia’s extradition to the United States.

Trial Attorneys Lernik Begian, Gwen Stamper, and Douglas Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the cases.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Co-Founder of Los Cuinis Drug Cartel Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison; High-Ranking Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) Operative Pleads Guilty

Source: United States Attorneys General

Today, a Mexican national and the co-founder of the armed, violent, and prolific Los Cuinis drug cartel was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a major drug trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia, 49, of Michoacan, Mexico, was one of the top leaders — alongside his brothers, Gerardo Gonzalez-Valencia and Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia — of Los Cuinis, a major Mexican drug cartel responsible for trafficking multiple tons of cocaine from South America, through Mexico, into the United States. Los Cuinis financed the founding and growth of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), which traffics hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States and other countries, and is known for extreme violence, murders, torture, and corruption.

In February 2025, President Trump designated CJNG a foreign terrorist organization. According to court documents, the top leader of CJNG, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” is the brother-in-law of the Gonzalez-Valencia brothers. Closely allied, Los Cuinis and CJNG form one of the most violent and prolific transnational criminal organizations in the world, responsible for sending staggering amounts of drugs into the United States and inflicting extreme violence to further that objective.

Also today, as part of the Department of Justice’s focus on dismantling CJNG, another Mexican national, Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, also known as “El Guacho,” a high-ranking CJNG member and El Mencho’s son-in-law, pleaded guilty to one count of international money laundering conspiracy.

“Today, the Criminal Division dealt two more devastating blows to CJNG and Los Cuinis through the sentencing of Jose Gonzalez-Valencia and the conviction of Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These men and the cartels they led are responsible for immeasurable death and destruction in the United States and Mexico. The Justice Department will continue to dismantle CJNG, Los Cuinis and all other transnational criminal organizations that flood our streets with dangerous drugs and engage in extreme violence to control their operations.”

“CJNG is one of the most powerful, influential, and ruthless criminal organizations to threaten our public safety and national security. Each leader and associate of CJNG who faces justice within the United States brings us one step closer to dismantling this terrorist organization,” said Acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Robert Murphy. “DEA will continue to use all available resources to disrupt CJNG’s drug trafficking and money laundering operations and systematically destroy their network.”

From at least 2006 to 2016, according to court documents, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia directed and coordinated numerous multi-ton shipments of cocaine destined for the United States using air, land, sea, and underwater methods. In 2007 the U.S. Coast Guard seized one shipment from a semi-submersible vessel that was transporting at least 4,000 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico for further distribution into the United States.

As one of Los Cuinis’ top leaders, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia directed acts of extreme violence in furtherance of drug trafficking activities, including the murder of an individual who allegedly stole a shipment of approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine from Los Cuinis, according to court documents. Jose Gonzalez-Valencia personally carried firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities and supplied weapons and ammunition to the CJNG.

In 2015, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia went into hiding in Bolivia — a country that did not extradite anyone to the United States from 2001 to 2023, despite an existing extradition treaty — and resided there for over two years under a fictitious identity. In 2017, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia was arrested in Brazil while on vacation and was subsequently extradited to the United States. Brazil’s extradition treaty required that the U.S. Government not recommend more than a 30-year sentence.

Pursuant to his plea agreement, Gutierrez-Ochoa admitted that he was a member of CJNG who was connected to CJNG’s top leadership. He also admitted that from at least 2023 until his arrest in 2024, he and other CJNG operatives used sophisticated money laundering methods involving real estate transactions, shell companies, and international money transfers to launder CJNG’s drug trafficking proceeds. For example, Gutierrez-Ochoa and others completed two wire transfers totaling $1.2 million of CJNG’s drug proceeds to purchase a luxury residence in Riverside, California, titled in the name of a Mexican entity owned and controlled by CJNG. When Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested in November 2024, he was living at that property under a fictitious identity and possessed two untraceable and illegal firearms, approximately $2.2 million of CJNG’s drug proceeds, and numerous luxury items purchased with CJNG’s drug proceeds, including jewelry, watches, and vehicles.

Gutierrez-Ochoa is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 7 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine his sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Today’s sentencing of Gonzalez-Valencia and conviction of Gutierrez-Ochoa follow several recent strikes into CJNG’s most inner circle.

El Mencho’s older brother, Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, and Erick Valencia Salazar, an alleged co-founder of CJNG and El Mencho’s close advisor, were among the 29 wanted cartel leaders taken into U.S. custody on Feb. 27, 2025.

Shortly after, on March 7, 2025, El Mencho’s son, Ruben Oseguera-Gonzalez, known as El Menchito, was sentenced to a term of life in prison plus 30 years to run consecutively and ordered to forfeit over $6 billion in drug trafficking proceeds. Before his arrest, Oseguera-Gonzalez was CJNG’s second-in-command and led CJNG for nearly seven years. He is responsible for trafficking more than 50 metric tons of cocaine and supervising drug labs that produced more than 1,000 metric tons of methamphetamine in Mexico. In 2013, he was one of the first contributors to the fentanyl epidemic in the United States, pledging to “do it big” and build an empire from counterfeit oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl. As the evidence at trial showed, he also committed heinous acts of violence. According to statements made in court and trial testimony, Oseguera-Gonzalez ordered the murder of more than 100 people, some of whom he murdered himself.

The DEA and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section have been systematically dismantling the leadership of the CJNG and Los Cuinis at the highest level. To date, the ongoing investigation has led to indictments of approximately 30 high-value CJNG and Los Cuinis command-and-control targets, including seven Consolidated Priority Organization Targets (CPOTs), the top drug trafficking command-and-control leaders. As of June 2025, 12 defendants have been convicted, including two at trial.

A number of indicted leaders of CJNG and Los Cuinis remain fugitives, including El Mencho, whose capture reward was recently increased to $15 million under the State Department’s Narcotic Rewards Program. Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia, another top leader of Los Cuinis and El Mencho’s brother-in-law, was arrested in 2015 by Mexican authorities pursuant to the U.S. indictment but since then has been fighting extradition to the United States.

The DEA Los Angeles Field Division investigated the cases. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance with obtaining foreign evidence and securing Jose Gonzalez-Valencia’s extradition to the United States.

Trial Attorneys Lernik Begian, Gwen Stamper, and Douglas Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the cases.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Co-Founder of Los Cuinis Drug Cartel Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison; High-Ranking Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) Operative Pleads Guilty

Source: United States Attorneys General

Today, a Mexican national and the co-founder of the armed, violent, and prolific Los Cuinis drug cartel was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a major drug trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia, 49, of Michoacan, Mexico, was one of the top leaders — alongside his brothers, Gerardo Gonzalez-Valencia and Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia — of Los Cuinis, a major Mexican drug cartel responsible for trafficking multiple tons of cocaine from South America, through Mexico, into the United States. Los Cuinis financed the founding and growth of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), which traffics hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States and other countries, and is known for extreme violence, murders, torture, and corruption.

In February 2025, President Trump designated CJNG a foreign terrorist organization. According to court documents, the top leader of CJNG, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” is the brother-in-law of the Gonzalez-Valencia brothers. Closely allied, Los Cuinis and CJNG form one of the most violent and prolific transnational criminal organizations in the world, responsible for sending staggering amounts of drugs into the United States and inflicting extreme violence to further that objective.

Also today, as part of the Department of Justice’s focus on dismantling CJNG, another Mexican national, Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, also known as “El Guacho,” a high-ranking CJNG member and El Mencho’s son-in-law, pleaded guilty to one count of international money laundering conspiracy.

“Today, the Criminal Division dealt two more devastating blows to CJNG and Los Cuinis through the sentencing of Jose Gonzalez-Valencia and the conviction of Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These men and the cartels they led are responsible for immeasurable death and destruction in the United States and Mexico. The Justice Department will continue to dismantle CJNG, Los Cuinis and all other transnational criminal organizations that flood our streets with dangerous drugs and engage in extreme violence to control their operations.”

“CJNG is one of the most powerful, influential, and ruthless criminal organizations to threaten our public safety and national security. Each leader and associate of CJNG who faces justice within the United States brings us one step closer to dismantling this terrorist organization,” said Acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Robert Murphy. “DEA will continue to use all available resources to disrupt CJNG’s drug trafficking and money laundering operations and systematically destroy their network.”

From at least 2006 to 2016, according to court documents, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia directed and coordinated numerous multi-ton shipments of cocaine destined for the United States using air, land, sea, and underwater methods. In 2007 the U.S. Coast Guard seized one shipment from a semi-submersible vessel that was transporting at least 4,000 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico for further distribution into the United States.

As one of Los Cuinis’ top leaders, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia directed acts of extreme violence in furtherance of drug trafficking activities, including the murder of an individual who allegedly stole a shipment of approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine from Los Cuinis, according to court documents. Jose Gonzalez-Valencia personally carried firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities and supplied weapons and ammunition to the CJNG.

In 2015, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia went into hiding in Bolivia — a country that did not extradite anyone to the United States from 2001 to 2023, despite an existing extradition treaty — and resided there for over two years under a fictitious identity. In 2017, Jose Gonzalez-Valencia was arrested in Brazil while on vacation and was subsequently extradited to the United States. Brazil’s extradition treaty required that the U.S. Government not recommend more than a 30-year sentence.

Pursuant to his plea agreement, Gutierrez-Ochoa admitted that he was a member of CJNG who was connected to CJNG’s top leadership. He also admitted that from at least 2023 until his arrest in 2024, he and other CJNG operatives used sophisticated money laundering methods involving real estate transactions, shell companies, and international money transfers to launder CJNG’s drug trafficking proceeds. For example, Gutierrez-Ochoa and others completed two wire transfers totaling $1.2 million of CJNG’s drug proceeds to purchase a luxury residence in Riverside, California, titled in the name of a Mexican entity owned and controlled by CJNG. When Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested in November 2024, he was living at that property under a fictitious identity and possessed two untraceable and illegal firearms, approximately $2.2 million of CJNG’s drug proceeds, and numerous luxury items purchased with CJNG’s drug proceeds, including jewelry, watches, and vehicles.

Gutierrez-Ochoa is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 7 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine his sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Today’s sentencing of Gonzalez-Valencia and conviction of Gutierrez-Ochoa follow several recent strikes into CJNG’s most inner circle.

El Mencho’s older brother, Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, and Erick Valencia Salazar, an alleged co-founder of CJNG and El Mencho’s close advisor, were among the 29 wanted cartel leaders taken into U.S. custody on Feb. 27, 2025.

Shortly after, on March 7, 2025, El Mencho’s son, Ruben Oseguera-Gonzalez, known as El Menchito, was sentenced to a term of life in prison plus 30 years to run consecutively and ordered to forfeit over $6 billion in drug trafficking proceeds. Before his arrest, Oseguera-Gonzalez was CJNG’s second-in-command and led CJNG for nearly seven years. He is responsible for trafficking more than 50 metric tons of cocaine and supervising drug labs that produced more than 1,000 metric tons of methamphetamine in Mexico. In 2013, he was one of the first contributors to the fentanyl epidemic in the United States, pledging to “do it big” and build an empire from counterfeit oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl. As the evidence at trial showed, he also committed heinous acts of violence. According to statements made in court and trial testimony, Oseguera-Gonzalez ordered the murder of more than 100 people, some of whom he murdered himself.

The DEA and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section have been systematically dismantling the leadership of the CJNG and Los Cuinis at the highest level. To date, the ongoing investigation has led to indictments of approximately 30 high-value CJNG and Los Cuinis command-and-control targets, including seven Consolidated Priority Organization Targets (CPOTs), the top drug trafficking command-and-control leaders. As of June 2025, 12 defendants have been convicted, including two at trial.

A number of indicted leaders of CJNG and Los Cuinis remain fugitives, including El Mencho, whose capture reward was recently increased to $15 million under the State Department’s Narcotic Rewards Program. Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia, another top leader of Los Cuinis and El Mencho’s brother-in-law, was arrested in 2015 by Mexican authorities pursuant to the U.S. indictment but since then has been fighting extradition to the United States.

The DEA Los Angeles Field Division investigated the cases. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance with obtaining foreign evidence and securing Jose Gonzalez-Valencia’s extradition to the United States.

Trial Attorneys Lernik Begian, Gwen Stamper, and Douglas Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the cases.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: IMF and South Sudan Reach Staff-Level Agreement on a Nine-Month Staff-Monitored Program
Source: IMF – News in Russian

June 20, 2025

Staff-Monitored Programs (SMPs) are informal arrangements between national authorities and IMF staff to monitor the authorities’ economic program. As such, they do not entail endorsement by the IMF Executive Board. SMP Staff reports are issued to the Board for information.
- IMF staff and the South Sudanese authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on a nine-month Staff-Monitored Program (SMP), which is expected to start in August 2025, pending approval from the IMF’s Management.
- The SMP aims to support South Sudan in designing and implementing policies and key reforms to strengthen its economic resilience to shocks, enhance macroeconomic stability, restore sustainability, and improve governance and transparency.
- The South Sudanese economy is projected to start recovering as oil production has resumed from the oil pipeline damaged in February 2024 due to the war in Sudan. This disruption had halted oil exports, fiscal revenues, and foreign exchange (FX) proceeds for over a year, leading to liquidity and financing constraints. The recovery is expected to be gradual and hinges on continued improvement in the security environment and political stability.
Washington, DC: Upon request from the authorities, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team, led by Ms. Mame Astou Diouf, held meetings in Juba, South Sudan, from June 11 to 20, 2025 to negotiate a Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) in support of the authorities’ economic and financial reform program. This SMP request follows the conclusion of South Sudan’s Staff Monitored Program with Board Involvement (PMB) on November 15, 2024 (See Press Release No. 24/434).

At the end of the mission, Ms. Diouf issued the following statement:

“The South Sudanese authorities and the IMF team have reached a staff-level agreement on the economic and structural policies and reforms that will underpin a nine-month SMP, pending approval by the IMF’s Management.

“Since early 2014, South Sudan has faced severe shocks that have exacerbated the country’s post-conflict fragility and humanitarian situation. Due to the war in Sudan, the country’s main oil pipeline was damaged in February 2024, halting related oil exports, fiscal revenues, and FX proceeds for over a year. The conflict also triggered a large influx of refugees, compounding an already-dire social and humanitarian situation caused by recurrent floodings, agricultural production losses, widespread food insecurity, and large-scale population displacement. The recent steep decline in international aid flows risks exacerbating the humanitarian challenges facing the country.

“The short- and medium-term economic outlook is moderately favorable and improving, contingent on a continuously improving security environment and political stability. The resumption of oil exports through the main pipeline since April 2025 is promising. While real GDP growth is projected to have contracted during FY2024/25 due to the lower oil production, it is expected to recover in FY2025/2026 as oil exports gradually strengthen. The rebound in oil exports is expected to significantly improve the current account balance, helping rebuild external buffers. The parallel foreign exchange (FX) market premium stood at 30.8 percent on June 11, 2025.

“While the budget execution of FY2024/2025 has been constrained by the financing constraints, non-oil domestic revenue collection was strong. This has allowed the resumption of government salary payments. However, structural bottlenecks partly hinder the effective distribution of salaries to civil servants due to cash shortages. For FY2025/2026, oil revenue is expected to recover substantially. Non-oil revenue will remain strong, benefiting from the continued implementation of tax policy reforms approved under the FY2024/2025 budget and broader revenue administration improvements. This will gradually ease liquidity constraints and provide some fiscal space for cautious repayment of salary arrears and a gradual increase of priority social spending and debt service repayments, while maintaining prudent fiscal management and cautious investment plans, given the continued risks to the outlook.

“Inflation has remained high. Average inflation is projected at about 143 percent in FY2024/2025, and expected to slow down in FY2025/26, thanks to ongoing tight monetary policy and a reduction in monetary financing. The debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast at about 58 percent of GDP in FY2024/2025, with large debt vulnerabilities. With the easing liquidity constraints, debt sustainability is projected to strengthen.

“Against this background, the South Sudanese authorities have requested a nine-month SMP to help strengthen economic resilience to shocks and foster macroeconomic stability through sound and prudent policies conducive to sustained growth. Key priorities under the SMP include:

“Restoring fiscal and public debt sustainability in the near term and laying the groundwork for positive medium-term prospects through prudent debt management and improved domestic revenue mobilization to increase fiscal space for priority spending, including salary and social programs. Enhancing spending efficiency, including through public financial and investment management reforms, will support public service delivery against the backdrop of high spending needs and limited availability of domestic and external financing.

“Maintaining a tight monetary policy stance to curb inflationary pressures and exchange rate depreciation. This includes containing monetary financing and continuing liquidity mop-up operations. While the official exchange rate has gradually decreased since August 2024 to narrow the parallel FX market premium, further policy adjustment is required to unify the official and parallel FX markets and increase FX reserves.

“Steadfast implementation of the governance and accountability reform agenda will be critical to addressing the country’s sources of fragility and creating an environment conducive to strong, diversified, and sustained growth and improved living standards. This includes the governance and transparency of oil-related investment programs.

“The mission met His Excellency, Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, Vice President and Chairperson of the Economic Cluster, the Minister of Finance and Planning, Honorable Dr. Marial Dongrin Ater, the Governor of the Bank of South Sudan, Dr. Addis Ababa Othow, and other senior government officials, as well as representatives from civil society, private sector, and development partners.

“The mission takes the opportunity to thank the authorities and stakeholders for their warm hospitality, strong cooperation, and for open and productive discussions.”

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Wafa Amr

Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

@IMFSpokesperson

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/06/20/pr-25200-south-sudan-imf-and-south-sudan-reach-agreement-on-9-month-staff-monitored-program

MIL OSI
MIL OSI Russia News –
June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Former Haitian Mayor and Human Rights Violator Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Lying about Past Involvement in Political Violence

Source: United States Attorneys General

Note: See indictment here.

Jean Morose Viliena, the former Mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, was sentenced today to nine years in prison followed by three years of supervised release by Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV for the District of Massachusetts for possessing and using a Permanent Resident Card he had fraudulently obtained by falsely stating that he had not ordered, carried out, or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people. A federal jury convicted Viliena in March 2025 of three counts of visa fraud.

“In Haiti, Jean Morose Viliena was involved in the violent killings, beatings, and assaults of whomever he believed threatened his power as mayor,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “His lies to U.S. immigration authorities allowed him to unlawfully enter this country and obtain lawful permanent resident status. Individuals who commit violent crimes in their home countries should take note: we do not tolerate human rights abusers who lie to take refuge here. We will find you, investigate you, and prosecute you to ensure that you are held accountable to the maximum extent of U.S. law for your heinous criminal conduct.”

“Jean Morose Viliena built a life in the United States by burying the truth about his violent past – a past marked by political persecution, bloodshed and the silencing of dissent in Haiti,” said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts. “For more than a decade, he lived freely and comfortably in this country while the victims of his brutality lived in fear, exile and pain. Today’s sentence brings a measure of justice for the lives he shattered and sends a clear message: the United States will not be a safe haven for human rights abusers. Lying to gain entry into this country and then lying again under oath to avoid accountability strikes at the heart of our immigration and legal systems. I commend the tremendous courage of the victims and witnesses who stood up and spoke the truth despite the risks and made this outcome possible.”

“Today’s sentencing underscores the commitment of Homeland Security Investigations to ensuring that individuals who commit heinous acts of violence and fraud are held accountable, regardless of where those crimes were committed,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New England. “Jean Morose Viliena’s actions were not only a gross violation of human rights but also a betrayal of the trust placed in him by his community. HSI will continue to work tirelessly with our partners to bring justice to victims and protect the American people from foreign criminals seeking to escape justice in their home countries.”

Viliena, 53, was the Mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, from December 2006 until February 2010. As a candidate and as mayor, Viliena was backed by Korega, a political machine that used armed violence to exert power throughout the southwestern region of Haiti. Viliena personally supervised his mayoral staff and other armed supporters aligned with Korega and directed them to engage in armed violence to quash opposition to his authority.

According to evidence presented at trial, on July 27, 2007, Viliena violently retaliated against an activist who had previously spoken at a judicial proceeding on behalf of a neighbor whom Viliena had assaulted. In a brutal act of reprisal, that evening, Viliena led an armed group to the activist’s home, where Viliena and his associates shot and killed the activist’s younger brother and then smashed the brother’s skull with a large rock before a crowd of bystanders.

Viliena committed another act of violent retribution in April 2008, when he and his associates attacked community members who had founded a radio station that Viliena opposed. According to multiple witnesses’ testimony, Viliena mobilized armed members of his staff and supporters to forcibly shut down the radio station and seize its broadcasting equipment. Viliena distributed firearms to his men, some of whom also carried machetes and picks. According to the evidence presented at trial, during this incident, Viliena beat one man and ordered an associate to shoot him when he tried to flee. As a result, the man’s leg was later amputated above the knee. Viliena also beat a student who was at the radio station; when the student tried to flee, a bullet struck his face, leaving him permanently blind in one eye.

Less than two months after the radio station attack, Viliena presented himself at the U.S. Embassy Consular Office in Port au Prince, Haiti, where he applied for a visa to enter the United States. The visa application specifically requires an applicant to state whether they are a member of any class of individuals excluded from admission into the United States, including those who have “ordered, carried out or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.” Viliena falsely responded “no,” indicating that this category did not apply to him. Viliena thereafter swore to and affirmed before a U.S. Consular Officer that the contents of the application were true and signed the application.

Based on Viliena’s false representations, the United States approved his visa application and permitted him to enter the country. The United States later granted Viliena lawful permanent resident status and a Permanent Resident Card, also known as a “Green Card.” For years, through the use of his fraudulently obtained Green Card, Viliena enjoyed a job; sufficient income; a comfortable home; a safe community; the ability to visit his family in Les Irois at any time; and the privilege of raising and educating a son who is now a U.S. citizen by birth.

The HSI Boston Field Office investigated the case, with coordination provided by the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC). Established in 2009, the HRVWCC furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate, and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female mutilation, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. Invaluable assistance was also provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection from Boston Logan Airport.

Trial Attorney Alexandra Skinnion of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura J. Kaplan for the District of Massachusetts prosecuted the case, with assistance from HRSP Historian/Analyst Dr. Christopher Hayden.

Members of the public who have information about former human rights violators in the United States are urged to contact U.S. law enforcement through the HSI tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or its online tip form at www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp.

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Erie County Botanical Gardens’ Expansion & Renovation

Source: US State of New York

arlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens broke ground on its long-anticipated expansion and renovation project. The $31 million project will include much-needed visitor amenities to meet the demands of the community, further the organization’s mission, and provide generational growth and stability. It is anticipated to be completed in early 2027.

B-ROLL of the Governor at the groundbreaking for the Botanical Gardens is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Wow. First of all, this is a homecoming for me. No I mean, I was born right there — across the street. I was born at Our Lady of Victory Hospital, and this neighborhood is just part of my story. And as a little girl, I would take my naps when I was about three or four years old in my parents’ bed, and on their dresser was a picture of their wedding right in front of this building.

So to me, this is always a magical place where mom and dad had their wedding pictures. And so as they brought us here as children, because when you grow up, and dad had worked at the steel plant down the road, the trailer park — still there, this is where you came for vacation, right? You didn’t have a lot of money to go on fancy trips. You came here, you thought you were going to the tropics, you thought you were going to a desert.

I mean, you could use your imagination to just think of all the places around the world that you probably were never going to get to in person, but your mind was activated, and I know that dream is still there for so many people, and I want to thank the people who brought us here.

Erin Grajek, who’s doing an extraordinary job as the President and CEO, I want to commend you for your leadership. It’s a good day. Probably the only person happier than you, Erin, is your 10-year-old son, Miles, who got out of school today. Right, Miles? You must be really proud of your mom. Tisha Luciani, our Board Chair. Let’s give her a round of applause as well.

And we have a very special guest here, traveled some distance. Our former CEO and President, Dave Swarts. If you do not know him, he has been gone a little while, not too long, but he spent a decade of his life as the Chairman and CEO of this institution. Before that, he had been in public life and we worked closely together. But literally, I think my first trip home, after going to Albany, after I became Governor, Dave wanted me to come here, sit in his office, look at some plans.

He showed me the plans, and I was hooked. And I knew that we could, with support from the State — which I would actually have a little more say over as the Governor — that we could make some real magic happen here. And so I was proud in April of 2022, my very first budget to announce significant funding to implement a vision here. So Dave, I want to give you a lot of credit for having the vision and the connections to be able to get this over the finish line. So welcome to you and Susan, your wife, who’s been at your side for such a long time.

But it’s also a chance to thank our elected officials. This is something that I know our County Executive is enormously proud of. This is also his hometown and a place that he gathered often as a child, and I want to thank Mark Poloncarz for the county stewardship for this great project. Our Mayor, Chris Scanlon, has joined us as well. Mayor Scanlon, thank you for being here and all your support for this.

The representatives of this area — the two elected officials of this particular property in Albany — Senator April Baskin, Assemblymember Pat Burke, thank you for getting your enormous support for this. Senator Sean Ryan, Assemblymember Jon Rivera, neighboring elected officials, but also this is a regional asset. This is for the entire region. Indeed it’s an incredible jewel for the State of New York, and I’m proud to be here.

It’s hard to think about this place, though, without recognizing the life and legacy of Mark Mortenson, who really just drove this so hard and would’ve liked nothing more I’m sure than to be here on this day. And our thoughts go out to him, his family and what a loss for all of us.

But also this is a place beloved by so many. And a $31 million investment signals that this community matters. And sometimes people who live here all their lives, they overlook how extraordinary this community is. This place — you have one of the most beautiful basilicas in the country right across the street, and we have to make Father Baker a saint someday. Right?

Can we keep that going, everybody? Please keep that going. So I put out there we have an American Pope. We’re going to go have a little chat.

I know he knows where Lackawanna is on a map — that’s a place that my dad — my mom went to school right there. My grandpa was the track coach at Father Baker. We always saw my uncles running around this beautiful property, and it’s such a tight-knit community here.

And those who either live in Lackawanna, live in Western New York, or just true lovers of the extraordinary presentation of God’s greatest gift to us — nature and plants and flowers right here. All of you are part of something quite extraordinary.

For 125 years — 125 years this place has been here. So people who came long before and people long after us, will take note of what we did when we were the stewards of this place.

Didn’t just let it stay, but had to fix many of the deteriorating structures. The Conservatory is so beautiful now, and I remember the light shows we used to see before the pandemic struck. But a 120,000 square foot expansion so we can have a better gathering space and more programming for children and just welcome generations to come.

Not even kids born yet. It’ll be coming to this place because we cared enough to make an investment and say, “This community matters. The botanical gardens matter, and the future for this community matters as well.” So I look at this, you welcome over a hundred thousand people every year. That’s extraordinary.

We have many other assets in the state that don’t claim that many people who are drawn to this place of comfort and solace, especially when the weather’s bad outside. I loved coming here during snowstorms with my kids, right? Let them walk around a little and pretend they’re outside. And so this is always going to such a significant part of our community and it has an economic impact over $5 million. Don’t underestimate that.

That’s me every time I come to the gift shop. I walk out with all kinds of loot but I know we can double those numbers, right? We can hit 200,000. Why not, and I’ll help promote this. The State of New York will help promote this even more. That’s my commitment to you. And we can double the economic impact.

So right up there with places like Kleinhans, who we invested in, and Fort Niagara and the aquarium, and children’s museums and other places this is part of what makes this place so incredibly special? So I just want to tell you, I’m so glad it worked out that I could be here for this celebration. As Marv Levy used to say, “Where would you rather be than right here, right now?” Right, Bills fans?

So this is a humbling experience for me to come back as Governor, as someone who’s born over there, raised in this community. Treasure this institution and be able to help with $12 million from the state. So, congratulations to everyone involved. I cannot wait to come back.

December 18th, 2026. That’s the day. That’s the day I will proudly come back as your Governor to say we’ll be cutting the ribbon on the next chapter for the Botanical Gardens. So thank you everybody.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Erie County Botanical Gardens’ Expansion & Renovation

Source: US State of New York

arlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens broke ground on its long-anticipated expansion and renovation project. The $31 million project will include much-needed visitor amenities to meet the demands of the community, further the organization’s mission, and provide generational growth and stability. It is anticipated to be completed in early 2027.

B-ROLL of the Governor at the groundbreaking for the Botanical Gardens is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Wow. First of all, this is a homecoming for me. No I mean, I was born right there — across the street. I was born at Our Lady of Victory Hospital, and this neighborhood is just part of my story. And as a little girl, I would take my naps when I was about three or four years old in my parents’ bed, and on their dresser was a picture of their wedding right in front of this building.

So to me, this is always a magical place where mom and dad had their wedding pictures. And so as they brought us here as children, because when you grow up, and dad had worked at the steel plant down the road, the trailer park — still there, this is where you came for vacation, right? You didn’t have a lot of money to go on fancy trips. You came here, you thought you were going to the tropics, you thought you were going to a desert.

I mean, you could use your imagination to just think of all the places around the world that you probably were never going to get to in person, but your mind was activated, and I know that dream is still there for so many people, and I want to thank the people who brought us here.

Erin Grajek, who’s doing an extraordinary job as the President and CEO, I want to commend you for your leadership. It’s a good day. Probably the only person happier than you, Erin, is your 10-year-old son, Miles, who got out of school today. Right, Miles? You must be really proud of your mom. Tisha Luciani, our Board Chair. Let’s give her a round of applause as well.

And we have a very special guest here, traveled some distance. Our former CEO and President, Dave Swarts. If you do not know him, he has been gone a little while, not too long, but he spent a decade of his life as the Chairman and CEO of this institution. Before that, he had been in public life and we worked closely together. But literally, I think my first trip home, after going to Albany, after I became Governor, Dave wanted me to come here, sit in his office, look at some plans.

He showed me the plans, and I was hooked. And I knew that we could, with support from the State — which I would actually have a little more say over as the Governor — that we could make some real magic happen here. And so I was proud in April of 2022, my very first budget to announce significant funding to implement a vision here. So Dave, I want to give you a lot of credit for having the vision and the connections to be able to get this over the finish line. So welcome to you and Susan, your wife, who’s been at your side for such a long time.

But it’s also a chance to thank our elected officials. This is something that I know our County Executive is enormously proud of. This is also his hometown and a place that he gathered often as a child, and I want to thank Mark Poloncarz for the county stewardship for this great project. Our Mayor, Chris Scanlon, has joined us as well. Mayor Scanlon, thank you for being here and all your support for this.

The representatives of this area — the two elected officials of this particular property in Albany — Senator April Baskin, Assemblymember Pat Burke, thank you for getting your enormous support for this. Senator Sean Ryan, Assemblymember Jon Rivera, neighboring elected officials, but also this is a regional asset. This is for the entire region. Indeed it’s an incredible jewel for the State of New York, and I’m proud to be here.

It’s hard to think about this place, though, without recognizing the life and legacy of Mark Mortenson, who really just drove this so hard and would’ve liked nothing more I’m sure than to be here on this day. And our thoughts go out to him, his family and what a loss for all of us.

But also this is a place beloved by so many. And a $31 million investment signals that this community matters. And sometimes people who live here all their lives, they overlook how extraordinary this community is. This place — you have one of the most beautiful basilicas in the country right across the street, and we have to make Father Baker a saint someday. Right?

Can we keep that going, everybody? Please keep that going. So I put out there we have an American Pope. We’re going to go have a little chat.

I know he knows where Lackawanna is on a map — that’s a place that my dad — my mom went to school right there. My grandpa was the track coach at Father Baker. We always saw my uncles running around this beautiful property, and it’s such a tight-knit community here.

And those who either live in Lackawanna, live in Western New York, or just true lovers of the extraordinary presentation of God’s greatest gift to us — nature and plants and flowers right here. All of you are part of something quite extraordinary.

For 125 years — 125 years this place has been here. So people who came long before and people long after us, will take note of what we did when we were the stewards of this place.

Didn’t just let it stay, but had to fix many of the deteriorating structures. The Conservatory is so beautiful now, and I remember the light shows we used to see before the pandemic struck. But a 120,000 square foot expansion so we can have a better gathering space and more programming for children and just welcome generations to come.

Not even kids born yet. It’ll be coming to this place because we cared enough to make an investment and say, “This community matters. The botanical gardens matter, and the future for this community matters as well.” So I look at this, you welcome over a hundred thousand people every year. That’s extraordinary.

We have many other assets in the state that don’t claim that many people who are drawn to this place of comfort and solace, especially when the weather’s bad outside. I loved coming here during snowstorms with my kids, right? Let them walk around a little and pretend they’re outside. And so this is always going to such a significant part of our community and it has an economic impact over $5 million. Don’t underestimate that.

That’s me every time I come to the gift shop. I walk out with all kinds of loot but I know we can double those numbers, right? We can hit 200,000. Why not, and I’ll help promote this. The State of New York will help promote this even more. That’s my commitment to you. And we can double the economic impact.

So right up there with places like Kleinhans, who we invested in, and Fort Niagara and the aquarium, and children’s museums and other places this is part of what makes this place so incredibly special? So I just want to tell you, I’m so glad it worked out that I could be here for this celebration. As Marv Levy used to say, “Where would you rather be than right here, right now?” Right, Bills fans?

So this is a humbling experience for me to come back as Governor, as someone who’s born over there, raised in this community. Treasure this institution and be able to help with $12 million from the state. So, congratulations to everyone involved. I cannot wait to come back.

December 18th, 2026. That’s the day. That’s the day I will proudly come back as your Governor to say we’ll be cutting the ribbon on the next chapter for the Botanical Gardens. So thank you everybody.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Members Of Drug Conspiracy Distributing Fentanyl And Methamphetamine Are Sentenced To Prison

Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Two members of a drug conspiracy that distributed fentanyl and methamphetamine were sentenced to prison yesterday, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Ashton Durrell Farley, 32, of Hickory, N.C., was sentenced to 235 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Thomas Eugene Ikard, 46, of Lenoir, N.C., was sentenced to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Farley and Ikard pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine.

U.S. Attorney Ferguson is joined in making the announcement by Alicia Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, Sheriff Donald G. Brown II of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, and Chief Reed Baer of the Hickory Police Department.

Two other members of the drug conspiracy were previously sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. Dustin Eric Wilson, 35, of Charlotte was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Harold Marquis Wilfong, 37, of Hickory, was sentenced to 84 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents and court proceedings, federal charges were filed against the defendants following a 10-month investigation led by the ATF and the Hickory Police Department (HPD), aimed at reducing drug distribution and drug-induced criminal activity in Catawba County and surrounding areas. The drug trafficking ring operated out of Hickory and distributed large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the area. To identify the drug conspirators and their operations, ATF agents and HPD officers utilized controlled drug purchases, conducted physical surveillance, and executed search warrants. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that members of the drug ring used several residences either as “stash houses” to store drugs and/or guns, or to conduct drug sales and other drug trafficking activities. One of the alleged stash houses was located two blocks from the federal courthouse in Charlotte.

According to court records, during the investigation, law enforcement seized multiple kilograms of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and marijuana. Law enforcement also seized multiple firearms used by some of the traffickers to support their drug distribution, including an AR-15 rifle and a privately made firearm or “ghost gun,” and ammunition.

In making the announcement U.S. Attorney Ferguson commended the ATF, HPD, and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office investigation of this case and thanked the U.S. Marshals Service for their invaluable assistance.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Nearly 2 dozen charged in large drug and money laundering operation spanning multiple jurisdictions

Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

Operations Red Ranger, Borrowed Time, and Resurrection lead to seizure of drugs and millions in illicit proceeds

HOUSTON – A total of 23 people are now in custody for various drug trafficking, firearms and money laundering charges following major law enforcement operations in Houston/Galveston and Rio Grande Valley areas of Texas this week, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Some of those arrested have already begun to make their appearances U.S. Magistrate Judges Christina Bryan in Houston, Andrew Edison in Galveston and Nadia Medrano in McAllen. Others are in state custody on related charges and expected in federal court in the near future.

Grand juries in Houston and McAllen returned the five separate, but related indictments in May. The charges allege crimes that occurred as early as January 2023 for some and between May 2024 and December 2024 for others and involve cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine trafficking, firearms-related offenses and money laundering.

The charges allege some of the individuals were truck drivers delivering drugs north. According to information presented to the court, 10 kilograms of cocaine had been taken to Georgia and money returned to pay drivers and other expenses.

The arrests are the culmination of multiple months-long Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigations dubbed Operation Red Ranger, Borrowed Time and Resurrection. During the investigation and operations, law enforcement also seized over 170 kilograms of cocaine and heroin, over two thousand kilograms methamphetamine, more than 100 firearms and nearly $3 million as well as four properties valued at $1.2 million.

If convicted, many charged with drug trafficking offenses face up to life in federal prison and could pay millions in fines. Those charged with money laundering offenses face up to 20 years, while the firearms convictions carry up to 10 or 15 years in federal prison.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the OCDETF operations with the assistance of U.S. Marshals Service; Texas Department of Public Safety; sheriff’s offices in Fort Bend, Galveston, Chambers, Hidalgo, Harris and Kleberg counties; Texas Attorney General’s Office – Money Laundering Unit; West Tennessee Drug Task Force and police departments in Houston, Katy and Galveston as well as Houston and South Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area programs.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Leo III, Patricia Cook Profit, Michael Day and Roberto Lopez are prosecuting the cases.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s OCDETF and Project Safe Neighborhood.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Filed 116 Border-Related Cases the Week of June 13
Source: US FBI

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 116 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:
- On June 9, Alejandro Garcia Rivera and Angel Bel Tran Zamora, both Mexican citizens, were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain and Aiding and Abetting after they were intercepted by the U.S. Coast guard off Point Loma as alleged captains of a smuggling boat; Gerardo Bejarano-Velazquez – who was also aboard the boat and had been previously deported to Mexico in 2018 in Nogales, Arizona – was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry After Deportation. Two other passengers were being held as material witnesses.
- On June 10, 2025, Jose Pablo Lopez Lopez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, when the defendant attempted to cross the border in his vehicle at the Tecate Port of Entry, Customs and Border Protection Officers found 113 packages containing 122 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the door panels, spare tire, firewall and passenger seats.
- On June 10, Juan Moreno Morales, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, he tried to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry aboard an ambulance. The defendant eventually admitted to using a bogus medical emergency as a scheme to enter the United States illegally. Moreno Morales was previously removed from the United States in 2000 and 2023.
Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:
- On June 9, Reymond Arias Valdez, a national of the Dominican Republic, who has multiple felony convictions for narcotics distribution in Massachusetts, was sentenced in federal court to 18 months in custody for illegally entering the U.S. In addition, Arias-Valdez has a previous felony unlawful reentry of a deported alien conviction from 2020.
- On June 13, Carlos Fernando Gallegos-Camacho, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of being a deported alien found in the United States in 2022 and 2010, was sentenced in federal court to nine months in custody for again reentering the U.S. illegally.
- On June 13, 2025, Monica Valdivia Ramirez, a Mexican national, was sentenced to 56 months in prison for importation of over 86,000 fentanyl pills into the United States, with an estimated street value of more than $800,000. She was found guilty by a federal jury in February.
- On June 13, 2025, Francisco Luevano-Casillas – a Mexican national who was previously convicted of felony cocaine trafficking – was sentenced in federal court to 15 months in custody for illegally reentering the U.S. after deportation in May 2008. For the 2008 drug offense, Luevano-Casillas was sentenced to 96 months in prison.
Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –
June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Nebraska Private Nonprofits Affected by July Storms

Source: United States Small Business Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Nebraska of the July 21 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding occurring July 31, 2024.

The disaster declaration covers the Nebraska counties of Cass, Douglas, Lancaster, Sarpy and Saunders.

Under this declaration, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to PNPs providing non-critical services of a governmental nature who suffered financial losses directly related to the disaster. Examples of eligible non-critical PNPs include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.

EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

“SBA loans help eligible small businesses and private nonprofits cover operating expenses after a disaster, which is crucial for their recovery,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “These loans not only help business owners get back on their feet but also play a key role in sustaining local economies in the aftermath of a disaster.”

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 3.25% and terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

The SBA encourages applicants to submit their loan applications promptly. Applications will be prioritized in the order they are received, and the SBA remains committed to processing them as efficiently as possible.

Applicants may apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than July 21.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force Arrests Cleveland Homicide Suspect While Riding a Bike

Source: US Marshals Service

Cleveland, OH – Today, the U.S. Marshals led Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) arrested Jacob Hughes, 61. Hughes was wanted by the Cleveland Division of Police for aggravated murder.

It is alleged that on May 30, 2025, Hughes stabbed and killed Kenneth Moore, 52 at an address near the 10500 block of Elk Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. It is also alleged that Hughes attempted to destroy evidence by setting a fire at the residence. Today, members of the NOVFTF arrested Hughes on E. 109th Street and he was riding down the street on a bicycle.

U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated, “Several hours of investigative work by our task force were dedicated to this arrest. The team had developed information that this fugitive was potentially homeless and getting around the city on a bike. Today, they found him on the bike and made a safe arrest.”

Anyone with information concerning a wanted fugitive can contact the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4WANTED (1-866-492-6833), or you can submit a web tip. Reward money is available, and tipsters may remain anonymous. Follow the U.S. Marshals on Twitter @USMSCleveland.

The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force – Cleveland Division is composed of the following federal, state and local agencies: U.S. Marshals Service, Cleveland Police Department, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Police Department, Euclid Police Department, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Independence Police Department, Parma Police Department, Aurora Police Department, Solon Police Department, Cleveland RTA Police Department, Westlake Police Department, Bedford Police Department, Middleburg Heights Police Department, Newburgh Heights Police Department and the Metrohealth Police Department.

MIL Security OSI –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NIH to Fund Long-Term Health Studies for East Palestine After Train Disaster

Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 2

Friday, June 19, 2026

Today, at the urging of Vice President JD Vance, under the leadership of U.S. Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched a five-year, $10 million research initiative to assess and address the long-term health outcomes stemming from the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
“Vice President Vance, thank you for your persistence on this issue,” Secretary Kennedy said. “You helped drive the first large-scale, coordinated, multi-year federal study dedicated to the long-term health effects of the East Palestine, Ohio disaster. The people of East Palestine have a right to clear, science-backed answers about the impact on their health.”
“As a senator, it was incredibly frustrating watching the Biden administration refuse to examine the potentially dangerous health impacts on the people of East Palestine following the train derailment,” Vice President Vance said. “I’m proud that we finally have a new president that takes the concerns of everyday, working-class people seriously. This historic research initiative will finally result in answers that this community deserves, and I’m grateful for the work of Secretary Kennedy and Director Bhattacharya on these efforts.”
On Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment involving 38 cars carrying hazardous chemicals—including vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylene glycol, and benzene residue—resulted in prolonged fires and controlled burns in East Palestine. Following the derailment, several railcars burned for more than two days, and emergency responders conducted controlled burns which raised concerns about the airborne release of hydrogen chloride and phosgene.
Community members experienced and reported a range of initial health symptoms—including headaches as well as respiratory, skin, and eye irritations—prompting concern about broader long-term impacts on maternal and child health as well as psychological, immunological, respiratory, and cardiovascular effects.
“NIH is working to ensure that the people of East Palestine and the surrounding communities are listened to, cared for, and get the answers they deserve,” NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said. “This multi-disciplinary research program will focus on public health tracking and surveillance of the community’s health conditions to support health care decisions and preventive measures.”
The multi-disciplinary, community-focused series of studies that will focus on:

Longitudinal epidemiological research to understand the health impacts of exposures on short- and long-term health outcomes including relevant biological markers of risk.
Public health tracking and surveillance of the community’s health conditions to support health care decisions and preventive measures.
Extensive, well-coordinated, communications among researchers, study participants, community stakeholders, health care providers, government officials, and others to establish a comprehensive approach to address the affected communities’ health concerns.

Technical details, application information, and other background material to the public were released today. It is expected that a series of grants will be issued to analyze various types of studies and community activities. The deadline to submit research proposals is July 21. Research projects to start this fall. Learn more here.
“The announcement today of the funding for long-term health studies for the people of East Palestine is great news for the community,” Governor Mike DeWine said. “This funding will enable the people of East Palestine to have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that any potential for long-term health effects will be studied by the scientists at the National Institutes of Health. I thank President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Secretary Kennedy for their commitment now and into the future.”
“Let’s be clear, Joe Biden abandoned East Palestine and left a community of working Americans behind when they needed him most,” Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said. “I’m beyond grateful that President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Secretary Kennedy are moving quickly to make the community whole again and help these Ohioans in need. This is a huge step toward finally getting justice for East Palestine.”
“On its path to full recovery, East Palestine deserves the reassurance that comes with transparency, and, thanks to the Trump Administration, that’s what they’re getting,” Senator Jon Husted (R-Ohio) said. “My commitment to East Palestine means making sure that we have the facts necessary to respond effectively and compassionately—now and into the future. I’m thankful for the leadership of President Trump and Vice President Vance, as well as Secretary Kennedy and Director Bhattacharya, in fighting for East Palestine and ensuring all impacted get the support they need and deserve.”
“Once again, this administration is showing the American people what true leadership looks like—putting Americans first,” Rep. Mike Rulli (OH-06) said. “Unlike the Biden Administration, which tried to sweep under the rug the catastrophic negligence and long-term health consequences of the East Palestine disaster, President Trump, Secretary Kennedy, and Director Bhattacharya are stepping up and putting Ohioans’ health first. I couldn’t be more pleased with this announcement and the meaningful support this administration is delivering to my constituents.”
“I applaud the Trump/Vance Administration for not leaving the people of East Palestine behind,” Rep. Dave Joyce (OH-14) said. “Programs like these, in coordination with other federal, state, and local partners, are critical to ensuring the impacted communities can move forward with the essential tools and knowledge to safeguard their long-term well-being. I look forward to continuing to work with the Administration and my colleagues in Congress to enact my bill, the East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act, and similar programs that advocate for the long-term recovery of the region.”
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®

Institute/Center

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Contact

NIH Office of Communications
301-496-5787

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Who is Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sahar Maranlou, Lecturer in Law and Socio-legal Studies, Royal Holloway University of London

Ali Khamenei was born in Mashhad, Iran, in 1939, as the second son of a local religious leader, Javad Khamenei, and he grew up in relative poverty.

He learned to read the Qur’an in early childhood before attending a theological seminary school in Mashhad. At 18, he travelled to Najaf in central Iraq to study Shia jurisprudence, but was later asked by his father to return. He was a student of Ayatollah Hossein Borujerdi and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

There is not much known about Khamenei’s family life, except that he is married and has six children. Khamenei’s interest in poetry is a well-known part of his public persona. He often cites poems in his speeches and hosts poetry gatherings where pro-government poets gather to read their poems to receive his comments. Khamenei’s interest in literature is quite rare among religious clerics. The same goes for his interest in gardening.

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

In the 1960s and 1970s Khamenei was involved in protests against the US-backed monarchy (the shah), and was an ardent supporter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then living in exile, and against the “westernisation” of Iran. This led to his arrest by the shah’s secret police and intelligence operation, the Organisation of National Security and Information (Savak), which suppressed opposition to the shah.

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the monarch who ruled Iran until 1979, was backed by western powers including the US and the UK. After a decade of economic growth in Iran, mainly based on oil revenues, did not lead to an improvement in the standard of living for ordinary Iranians, a combination of students, intellectuals and clerics created combined support for a revolution.

After the shah was overthrown in the 1979 revolution, Iran became an Islamic republic. Khamenei was appointed as a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Council, which was put in place to manage the revolution, and served as deputy defence minister and led Friday prayers in Tehran, which was considered highly prestigious.

The new republic adopted an anti-western “imperialist” foreign policy. This is known as “global arrogance” (Estekbar Jahani) in Iranian post-revolutionary discourse.

In 1982, he was elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, winning 95% of the vote, after the previous president, Mohammad Ali Rajai, was killed in a bomb attack in Tehran. Khamenei had been the target of an assassination attempt two months earlier, leaving him with serious injuries and paralysis in his right arm.

Iran’s supreme leaders reacts to air strikes by Israel and US rhetoric.

Iran’s war with neighbouring Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, lasted from 1980 to 1988 and is known in Iran as the “sacred defence”. The war began after an invasion by Iraqi troops on Iranian territory and resulted in around one million deaths across both countries.

This was another significant period in Khamenei’s career. He was active in managing Iran’s defence as the chairman of the supreme council of war support during this period. The council was formed to make sure the country was as prepared as possible during the war and to take measures to mobilise forces and to meet the needs of the war at the battlefront.

Read more:
Why Israel’s air strikes signal a shifting relationship with the US and a weakening Iran

He also commanded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite part of the Iranian armed forces, from 1981. At the end of the war, Khamenei claimed Iran had won a “luminous victory”.

He praised Khomeini for his tactics in the war and said that the supreme leader had realised from the very beginning that it was not an ordinary conflict between two neighbours. “He recognised the enemy and realised that the main enemy is not present in the war, and he recognised that Saddam is just a tool.”

He went on to suggest that this was a war about US regional power and that Saddam Hussein would continue to receive US support.

Rising to supreme leadership

Khamenei became supreme leader in 1989 after the death of Khomeini. He was designated as the new leader by the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body of Islamic clerics. He ruled in the same style, and with the same type of foreign policy, as his predecessor; looking for allies to offset US power in the region.

The duties designated for the rahbar (supreme leader) are listed in Article 101 of the constitution and range from determining the political direction of the government (in consultation with an advisory committee) to commanding the armed forces to declaring war, peace, and the mobilisation of armed forces to pardoning or commuting sentences upon recommendation of the head of the judiciary.

Khomeini’s conception of Islamic government was centred on the doctrine of the guardianship of “the jurist”, known as velayat-e faqih, and this continued at the heart of the government that followed under Khamenei. This gives the supreme leader extensive powers, including control over the military, judiciary and media.

This doctrine plays a vital role in legitimising theocratic power in Iran, linking religious authority with the state. Discussion about velayat-e faqih continues within Iranian society as part of an ongoing dialogue between traditional religious authority and civil society.

Read more:
Trump’s unpredictable approach to Iran could seriously backfire

The question of who might come to power after Khamenei was raised during the grassroots uprising and pro-democracy protests around Iran in 2022 and 2023. It was expected that any transition would take a considerable amount of time, especially if the aim was for a more democratic form of government.

The current war might suggest a different outcome. Even though the Israeli attacks on Iran have again sparked discussion of a possible change of leader, the public is focused now on their own safety, and defending Iran, not on political change.

Any external war or threats coming from outside Iran has historically united Iranians against aggressors. This means that the path to democratic change is not likely to be created, or helped, by Israeli air strikes or US threats.

Sahar Maranlou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Who is Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? – https://theconversation.com/who-is-irans-leader-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-259424

MIL OSI Analysis –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Missouri Private Nonprofits Affected by March Storms

Source: United States Small Business Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Missouri of the July 22 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset physical damage caused by severe storms, straight‑line winds, tornadoes and wildfires occurring March 14–15.

The disaster declaration covers the Missouri counties of Bollinger, Butler, Callaway, Carter, Dunklin, Franklin, Howell, Iron, Madison, New Madrid, Oregon, Ozark, Perry, Phelps, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard and Wayne.

Under this declaration, PNPs providing services of a governmental nature are eligible to apply for business physical disaster loans. Eligible PNPs may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.

Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase of up to 20% of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements might include insulating pipes, walls and attics, weather stripping doors and windows, and installing storm windows to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by any disaster. 

“One distinct advantage of SBA’s disaster loan program is the opportunity to fund upgrades reducing the risk of future storm damage,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “I encourage businesses and homeowners to work with contractors and mitigation professionals to improve their storm readiness while taking advantage of SBA’s mitigation loans.”

PNPs are also eligible to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the PNP suffered any physical property damage. 

Interest rates can be as low 3.62% with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

The SBA encourages applicants to submit their loan applications promptly. Applications will be prioritized in the order they are received, and the SBA remains committed to processing them as efficiently as possible. 

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

The deadline to return applications for physical property damage is July 22, 2025. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Feb. 23, 2026.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Arkansas Private Nonprofits Affected by April Storms

Source: United States Small Business Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Arkansas of the July 21 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset physical damage caused by severe storms, tornadoes and flooding occurring April 2–22.

The disaster declaration covers the Arkansas counties of Clark, Clay, Craighead, Cross, Dallas, Desha, Fulton, Greene, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Izard, Jackson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lee, Little River, Lonoke, Marion, Miller, Monroe, Montgomery, Nevada, Newton, Pike, Poinsett, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Scott, Searcy, Sevier, Sharp, St. Francis, Stone and Woodruff.

Under this declaration, PNPs providing non-critical services of a governmental nature are eligible to apply for business physical damage loans. Eligible PNPs may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.

Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase of up to 20% of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements might include insulating pipes, walls and attics, weather stripping doors and windows, and installing storm windows to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by any disaster. 

“One distinct advantage of SBA’s disaster loan program is the opportunity to fund upgrades reducing the risk of future storm damage,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “I encourage businesses and homeowners to work with contractors and mitigation professionals to improve their storm readiness while taking advantage of SBA’s mitigation loans.”

PNPs are also eligible to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the PNP suffered any physical property damage. 

Interest rates can be as low 3.62% with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

The deadline to return physical damage applications is July 22, 2025. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Feb. 23, 2026.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Relief Still Available to Nebraska Small Businesses and Private Nonprofits Affected by Spring Storms

Source: United States Small Business Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding eligible small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Nebraska of the July 21, 2025 deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding occurring May 20–June 3, 2024.

The declaration covers Howard County in Nebraska.

Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs impacted by financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises.

EIDLs are for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the small business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. They may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

“SBA loans help eligible small businesses and private nonprofits cover operating expenses after a disaster, which is crucial for their recovery,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “These loans not only help business owners get back on their feet but also play a key role in sustaining local economies in the aftermath of a disaster.”

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not begin to accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than July 21.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Information sessions for people affected by Scott Street fire
Source: Scotland – City of Perth

Running from 1pm to 7pm, the drop-in session on Tuesday 24 June will allow residents or employees of local businesses directly or indirectly impacted by the blaze and subsequent road and building closures to meet Council staff and those from partner agencies who will be able to answer questions and provide advice.

Fifty-five families have been displaced because of the blaze, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Residents should arrive at the main entrance to the Council offices at 2 High Street, Perth.

Information will be available on a range of issues including:
- Housing
- Welfare Rights
- Local taxes
- Access to properties
- Donations
- Mental Health and Wellbeing support
- Social work
- Community Support and engagement and more
Councillor Eric Drysdale, Deputy Leader of Perth and Kinross Council and ward member for Perth City Centre, said: “The devastating consequences of last weekend’s tragic fire will be felt for months to come.

“Our thoughts remain with those affected, not least the friends and relatives of the man who sadly lost his life in the blaze.

“People who lived at 41 Scott Street lost everything and now face the challenge of rebuilding their lives. Residents and nearby businesses also face being unable to access their homes and premises for weeks or months. Whatever we can do to help them, we will.

“The response from the people of Perth and Kinross to this emergency has been humbling. The generosity people and businesses have shown has been exemplary.

“But we know that those affected will still have many questions as they begin to move forward. We want to do everything we can to help them and Tuesday’s event will, I believe, help provide some of those answers.

“We know it is a long road ahead but will continue doing all we can to support those in their hour of need.”

Follow-up residents’ event (insurance focus) – Friday 27 June 2025, 11am-2pm

Following on from the resident drop-in session arranged for Tuesday 24 June, a follow-up information event for residents impacted by the fire in Perth city centre has been organised for Friday 27 June 2025 at the Council Buildings, 2 High Street, Perth. Hosted by Perth and Kinross and supported by Pete Wishart MP and John Swinney MSP, the event will also be attended by representatives of Perth-based insurance firm Aviva and the Association of British Insurers. This is an opportunity to share challenges people are facing with their household insurers and understand more about the industry’s approach in such cases. As insurance is a UK Government regulated industry, Mr Wishart’s office may be able to take up cases on individuals’ behalf directly with their respective insurance companies/ UK Government ministers.

Council teams and support services will also be on hand to provide information and advice on a range of other issues being experienced by residents impacted by the fire.
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: At Chelsea Town Hall, Pressley Reaffirms Solidarity with Immigrant Neighbors, Condemns Minnesota Lawmaker Assassinations

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

Pressley Also Condemned Trump’s March Toward Authoritarianism, and More

“I come here today to reaffirm my commitment to protect and to support our immigrant neighbors, and to do that work with my colleagues at every level of government.. You are not just constituents. You are family, and I will never stop fighting for you like that.”

Video (YouTube) | Photos (Dropbox)

CHELSEA – At a town hall in Chelsea, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) reaffirmed her solidarity with immigrant families under threat from the Trump Administration and condemned the harrowing assassination and assassination attempts targeting elected officials and their families that took place over the weekend in Minnesota. Congresswoman Pressley also denounced Donald Trump’s march toward authoritarianism, including his North Korea-style military parade in Washington, DC, and more.

Joined by community leaders at La Colaborativa in Chelsea, including La Colaborativa leadership, Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez, the Chelsea Black Community, and elected officials from across the Massachusetts 7th, Rep. Pressley addressed constituents impacted by the Trump Administration’s cruel and unlawful mass deportation agenda.

A transcript of the Congresswoman’s opening remarks is available below and the video is available here. Photos from the town hall are available here.

Transcript: Rep. Pressley’s Opening Remarks at Chelsea Town Hall
La Colaborativa, Chelsea, MA
June 16, 2025

Good evening, Chelsea. It is so good to be home.

It is so good to be in Chelsea, the city that I often refer to as tiny but mighty, a city that models community in every way, that leads with love and with solidarity.

…

Before I go any further, I just want to address the violence that we witnessed this past weekend in Minnesota. The targeted shootings of Minnesota Senator John Hoffman, Representative Melissa Hortman and their spouses, the tragic deaths of Rep. Hortman and her husband. Truly devastating that we find ourselves at a time simply because people disagree, that we are seeing an escalating political violence.

These are public servants, people who dedicated their lives to building stronger, safer communities. And there must be outcry, there must be outrage, and strong condemnation for what happened to them.

That being said, these horrifying acts are not occurring in isolation and because of the moment we find ourselves in, and their strategy is to flood the zone and overwhelm us. It can be difficult to keep up with the injustices, but let me just do a quick recap.

In the last week, Donald Trump unlawfully deployed the National Guard to attack peaceful protesters in California, then a sitting United States Black Congresswoman was indicted simply for doing her job and conducting federal oversight of an ICE detention facility in her district. Then, a Latino United States Senator was manhandled, thrown to the floor and handcuffed for daring to ask a question of this administration. And then, a North Korea-style military parade marched through our nation’s capital in an appalling display of authoritarianism.

These events are not disconnected. They are just the latest in a pattern of violent escalation and assaults on our democracy designed to intimidate and to silence. I remember when I went to conduct oversight and traveled to rural Louisiana to check on the well being of Mahmoud Khalil, and when I met with Mahmoud, and it’s important that we tell the truth– there are not mass deportations happening, there are mass kidnappings happening.

That is what happened to Mahmoud Khalil, and when I met with him, he said, “I grew up in Syria under Assad. I know what it is to live under an authoritarian regime, and this is it.”

Donald Trump wants a country where its people are ignorant and uninformed. Donald Trump wants a country where its people are indifferent to the suffering of their neighbors. Donald Trump wants a country where its people are inactive.

The fact that you chose to be here tonight is in opposition to all three of those things. You are choosing to be informed, you are choosing to be empathetic, you are choosing to be active.

I’m so grateful for the courageous people of Chelsea that are here tonight. Because remember, courage is not the absence of fear. Truth be told, we’re all carrying some fear in this moment, but the courage is that you are pushing beyond and through that to show up here today and every day, and we need to just acknowledge that. So clap for yourselves, the courageous people of Chelsea.

You know, in Donald Trump’s America, again, we’re in the midst of this extremist march towards fascism, it’s an America where anyone who he disagrees with is criminalized.

I have to remind those who think that they might be exempt from the harm of a fascist state. It is coming for everyone. True enough, this is discriminate harm. So some of us are bearing these harms more than others in this moment.

But your wealth will not protect you from fascism. Whiteness will not protect you from fascism. This is a harm coming for everyone.

And when people asked me, why would I journey all the way to Louisiana to check on my constituent, Rumeysa Ozturk, and to fight for her freedom, I said it is Rumeysa today for co-authoring an op-ed, and it will be you tomorrow for reading a banned book. It will be you tomorrow for teaching Black history. It will be you tomorrow for suffering a miscarriage. It could be you tomorrow for practicing diversity, equity, and inclusion and accessibility. That includes that, yes.

So he wants anyone that he disagrees with to be criminalized. He wants the work of oversight to be punished. He wants peaceful protest to be met with military force and political violence to be encouraged.

So we have to condemn these acts, and we have to call out — this is the season of call a thing a thing. We have to call out Donald Trump’s dangerous march towards authoritarianism for what it is. It is a threat to our freedoms.

Republicans like to talk a good game about freedom, but this is the anti-freedom agenda when people want to control your body and what you can do with it. They want to control your free speech. They want to control what books you can read. They want to control where you go. That is an anti-freedom agenda.

Those are the actions of a dictator, and the only way to beat a dictator is with defiance, and we must because this authoritarianism is a threat to our freedoms, our rights, and our democracy itself, and to the people in Massachusetts and everywhere across this country and our world.

But I do want to take a moment to speak directly to the crisis being felt right here in Chelsea, where our immigrant neighbors are being terrorized by this administration, and the community is carrying deep fear and trauma.

People have had their homes raided, property destroyed, families torn apart, rights trampled on by racist rogue ICE agents. Well, we think they’re ICE agents. We don’t really know, because they’re masked, but they’re operating with little to no accountability.

Community members have spoken to me of being targeted without warrants, detained without due process, and living every day in fear that they or their loved ones could be taken without warning from the only home they’ve ever known.

What is the point of all of this? The cruelty is the point.

The cruelty experienced by our Chelsea neighbor Kenia and her three children driving to a Mother’s Day church service with her husband Daniel, when ICE agents in unmarked vehicles ambushed them, broke the passenger side window, forcefully pulled Daniel from the car, and slammed his face on the sidewalk while their children watched on in horror.

High school students, children like Belizario Benito Vasques and recent graduate Geovani de la Cruz Catalan are being abducted and detained without due process, despite having no criminal records.

Children, real people, children and adults alike, traumatized whose lives have been disrupted and forever harmed.

Donald Trump and ICE claim that they are committing these assaults on our communities in the name of safety — laughable that the most lawless occupant of the Oval Office would say anything about law and order.

This is not what safety looks like, but this is what terror feels like, and terror makes no one safe. It does the opposite. It shows chaos. It breeds fear and it fosters unrest.

This administration has openly vowed to bring hell to our immigrant communities and for too many of our neighbors, they already have.

In my opinion, these actions are godless, lawless and a complete violation of our constitutional rights to due process, void of common sense and compassion. And what this moment demands is solidarity, resistance and rejection of these attacks on our immigrant communities, because an attack on our immigrant neighbors is an attack on all of us.

That’s why I’ve been unapologetic and calling for the end of ICE’s unchecked power, for the closure of these for-profit detention centers and these policies rooted in cruelty. Because no matter your immigration status, your zip code, or your country of origin, you deserve to live in dignity and freedom without fear.

So I come here today to reaffirm my commitment to protect and to support our immigrant neighbors, and to do that work with my colleagues at every level of government. That means pushing for real accountability. That means providing legal protections and a pathway to citizenship.

That means investing in communities instead of criminalizing them. I really do believe that we’re one human family, and our destinies are tied, and when one of us is targeted, all of us must rise in defense. So to our neighbors, know that I see you today and every day.

Donald Trump has made it clear that his election was never about improving your quality of life or lowering the cost of groceries or your rent. He’s coming after Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, this Big, Ugly Bill would rip away healthcare, food assistance and other essential needs from 16 million people. Donald Trump is not cutting costs. He’s cutting lifelines.

They’re coming after our neighbors in the LGBTQ community. Black folks, they’re coming after us. This administration is anti-Blackness on steroids. They’re coming after our bodily autonomy.

And even though we live in Massachusetts, do not for one second believe that we are completely safe as a result. They are coming after our federal workers who administer these essential services and programs to our communities. They are coming after NIH funding and our schools.

They want to overwhelm us and my Republican colleagues across the aisle in the House, they are not operating as a party at all. They are operating as a cult of cowards, complicit in wholesale harm, more concerned with keeping a job than doing it.

The but family, you know, I’ve given the occupant enough oxygen. Know that I get up every day compelled and fueled not to fight Donald Trump, but to fight for, with and alongside you,

Because the fact of the matter is that this is not about how do we survive the next four years. Truthfully, some days it feels like we’re just trying to survive the next four minutes. But this moment, I believe, will determine and shape the next 100 years. It’s not about surviving four it’s about shaping the next 100.

And so that work, because when we get to the other side, and we will, we’ll have to do the work of reconstruction. It’s a lot easier to tear down than it is to rebuild, and it is going to take all of us in the resistance and in the rebuilding.

Now, you don’t have to be a congresswoman, you don’t have to head a nonprofit, you don’t have to be a council president or a school board member. You just need to bring your gift, whatever it is, because some of us are going to speak on the mic, and someone else is going to make sure it works. Somebody’s going to read the speech, but someone else is going to write it.

Someone is going to march and hold a sign, and someone else made that sign. Someone else is going to march and have the stamina to do so because they’re well fed, because somebody made sure they were. Someone else is going to send a prayer up.

You just need to bring your gift, but you need to bring it and summon the courage in this moment.

So before I close, I want everyone here to know that myself and my office are here to serve you. Please use us as a resource. We are ready to support with federal casework on everything from immigration to housing to Social Security checks and more.

So if your neighbor or your loved one is detained, do not hesitate to reach out to my office please. We have one-pagers. Take one or more with you and pass them along. Stay in touch with me and my staff. We are also here to help you with any federal agency.

This is a time when we must show up for each other, where we double down on mutual aid, where we keep each other safe. I am my brother’s keeper. I am my sister’s keeper.

It is truly the honor of my life to serve the Massachusetts 7th, a district that reflects the best of who we are. And know this, you are not just constituents. You are family, and I will never stop fighting for you like that.

###

MIL OSI USA News –

June 21, 2025

Category: Natural Disasters

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

Rising to supreme leadership

Follow-up residents’ event (insurance focus) – Friday 27 June 2025, 11am-2pm