Heads of Benghazi review board say they'll testify

WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaders of the panel that independently reviewed the attack last year in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans have agreed to testify publicly before Congress to counter what they consider unfounded criticism of their work.

In a letter to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering says he and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen will answer any questions lawmakers have.

Pickering calls criticism of the Accountability Review Board "unfounded." He says he and Mullen stand by its findings.

Republicans believe the board's report was flawed, and they want to know why top officials like Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton weren't interviewed.

GOP lawmakers had sought a private hearing with Pickering and Mullen.

Democrats said any hearing should be open.

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ASPCA Board of Directors Names Matthew Bershadker President and CEO

NEW YORK, May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced that it has named Matthew E. Bershadker President and CEO. Mr. Bershadker is a 12-year veteran of the ASPCA, serving most recently as Senior Vice President of the Anti-Cruelty Group (ACG). Mr. Bershadker will assume the position June 1, succeeding Edwin Sayres, President and CEO since 2003.

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Under Mr. Bershadker's leadership, the ASPCA has risen to new heights in its response to cruelty and natural disasters. The Anti-Cruelty Group evolved from a fledgling team of responders to a robust, national program that confronts animal cruelty and suffering on all levels across the country.  Mr. Bershadker helped form the Field Investigations & Response team to provide skilled support to state and federal agencies during large-scale puppy mill busts, dog fighting raids, animal hoarding cases, and other instances of animal cruelty as well as natural disasters such as the Joplin, Mo. tornado and Superstorm Sandy. The team has investigated hundreds of cases around the country.  Last year, the ASPCA played a leadership role in the removal of 50 dogs from a Bronx dog fighting ring. Most recently, the ASPCA assisted federal and state authorities in the removal of nearly 100 dogs from a multi-state dog fighting ring.

Prior to leading the Anti-Cruelty Group, Mr. Bershadker served as Vice President of the ASPCA's Development department, where he was responsible for creating fundraising strategy and implementing tactics for major gifts, planned giving, special events, capital campaign, and corporate and foundation grants.

Chair of the Board Tim F. Wray stated: "Matt is far and away the most outstanding choice to be the next leader of the ASPCA. His extensive experience, energy and unwavering commitment to animal welfare, coupled with his strong understanding of business management and the non-profit world, make him the ideal leader for the organization as we pursue our mission. I, along with the rest of the Board, look forward to working with him in his new role. We thank Ed Sayres for all he has contributed to this organization and the welfare of animals. Ed grew the ASPCA by leaps and bounds and changed the fate of countless homeless animals. We wish him the very best."

"I am thrilled to serve the ASPCA, its members and the many communities around the country where we play a vital role," stated Mr. Bershadker. "We have made significant strides on behalf of animals around the country, but there is much more to do. I look forward to working with the executive leadership team and our staff to continue to pursue our mission and develop successful initiatives and programs to take animal welfare to next level."

Mr. Bershadker has been instrumental in the creation of the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, N.J., the first-ever facility dedicated strictly to providing behavioral rehabilitation to canine victims of cruelty, such as those confiscated from puppy mills and hoarding cases.

During Mr. Bershadker's tenure, the ASPCA also launched the Cruelty Intervention Advocacy program, a ground-breaking new initiative to help protect companion animals that are in danger of potential abuse or neglect, helping hundreds of New York City's animals in jeopardy of becoming cruelty victims.

Before joining the ASPCA, Mr. Bershadker worked for ICF Consulting and Share Our Strength (SOS). He received his MBA from Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School and his Bachelor's degree in Communications from Ohio University.

Mr. Bershadker serves on the board of the Gruber Family Foundation and Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. He lives in New York City with his wife, Nina, son Elias and their dog, Thelma.

About the ASPCA®
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) is the first animal welfare organization in North America and serves as the nation's leading voice for animals. More than two million supporters strong, the ASPCA's mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA is a national leader in the areas of anti-cruelty, community outreach and animal health services. For more information, please visit www.ASPCA.org, and be sure to follow the ASPCA on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

SOURCE ASPCA

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WRD Board President Albert Robles Named Among Top 100 Green Latinos in U.S

LAKEWOOD, Calif., May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The latest edition of Poder 360° released its list of the Top 100 Latino Environmental Leaders and selected Albert Robles, Board President of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD). Robles, who is serving in his second consecutive term as Board President, was chosen for his outstanding leadership on environmental regulation.

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"I am deeply honored to be recognized by such a distinguished business news publication," said President Robles. "The pioneering work we do at WRD toward making Southern California more independent from unreliable and expensive imported water is critical to the future of not only Southern California but the entire state.  Without WRD's efforts to eliminate our dependence on imported water, the very strength of the economy for California, specifically, Southern California where the demand for water exceeds nature's availability is in jeopardy."

Albert Robles is listed alongside other prominent environmental leaders such as: Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar; Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro; and Former US Energy Secretary Federico Pena.

WRD provides drinking water to more than ten percent of California's population which is located in one of the state's most densely populated regions – southern Los Angeles County.  At a cost that is approximately one-quarter the cost of imported water from Northern California's environmentally sensitive Bay Delta and the Colorado River, WRD is expanding opportunities to reclaimed and highly treated local water resources, and storing more water underground for use during dry seasons. These cumulative efforts have made WRD water one of the least expensive and most reliable sources of drinking water in the state.

During Robles' tenure as Board President, WRD has delivered on significant environmental accomplishments.  This past year WRD received the Institution of the Year Award from the WateReuse Association, one of the nation's leading organizations that promotes cutting edge and innovative uses of high-quality, locally produced, sustainable water sources. WRD received the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Gold Certification for its Lakewood headquarters building as well as the Energy Star Certification.  In addition, the Government & Finance Officers Association of the US and Canada awarded its highest accolade for government budgeting with the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.

"We are doing amazing things here at WRD and we are at a defining moment in the agency's 54-year history," stated Robles.  "We are now at the point of becoming completely independent of imported water.  As the demand for and the struggle over water increases in the coming years, WRD will be positioned to insure that residents in our region have an affordable and reliable source of clean, safe drinking water."

As a premier Hispanic business magazine, PODER is written for a global audience of influential senior business and political decision-makers. Its in-depth, cutting edge editorial coverage and exclusive insider access and information on the U.S. Hispanic market and Latin America have made it an influence in the social, economic, political and cultural arenas.

The Water Replenishment District of Southern California is the regional groundwater management agency that protects and preserves the quantity and quality of groundwater for two of the most utilized urban basins in the State of California. The service area is home to over ten percent of California's population residing in 43 cities in southern Los Angeles County. WRD is governed by a publicly elected Board of Directors which includes Willard H. Murray, Jr., Robert Katherman, Lillian Kawasaki, Sergio Calderon, and Albert Robles.

For more information, please visit WRD at www.wrd.org

SOURCE Water Replenishment District of Southern California

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AAPS Sues the American Board of Medical Specialties for Restraining Trade through Its Burdensome Recertification Program

TUCSON, Ariz., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association of American Physicians & Surgeons (AAPS) has filed suit today in federal court against the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) for restraining trade and causing a reduction in access by patients to their physicians. The ABMS has entered into agreements with 24 other corporations to impose enormous "recertification" burdens on physicians, which are not justified by any significant improvements in patient care.

ABMS has a proprietary, trademarked program of recertification, called the "ABMS Maintenance of Certification®" or "ABMS MOC®," which brings in many tens of millions of dollars in revenue to ABMS and the 24 allied corporations. Though ostensibly non-profit, these corporations then pay prodigious salaries to their executives, often in excess of $700,000 per year. But their recertification demands take physicians away from their patients, and result in hospitals denying access by patients to their physicians.

In a case cited in this lawsuit, a first-rate physician in New Jersey was excluded from the medical staff at a hospital in New Jersey simply because he had not paid for and spent time on recertification with one of these private corporations. He runs a charity clinic that has logged more than 30,000 visits, but now none of those patients can see him at the local hospital because of the money-making scheme of recertification.

There is a worsening doctor shortage in the United States, such that the average physician has the time to spend only 7 minutes with each patient. Roughly half the counties in our nation lack a single OB/GYN physician to care for women. There are long delays to see primary care physicians in Massachusetts, and about half of them are not even taking new patients.

Money-making schemes that reduce access by patients to patients, as "maintenance of certification" does, are against public policy and harmful to the timely delivery of medical care. AAPS's lawsuit states, "There is no justification for requiring the purchase of Defendant's product as a condition of practicing medicine or being on hospital medical staffs, yet ABMS has agreed with others to cause exclusion of physicians who do not purchase or comply with Defendant's program." AAPS adds that ABMS's "program is a moneymaking, self-enrichment scheme that reduces the supply of hospital-based physicians and decreases the time physicians have available for patients, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act."

ABMS does the public an additional disservice by inviting patients to search on which physicians have "recertified" and which ones have not, despite the lack of evidence that there is any difference in malpractice rates between the two categories. ABMS should try to make money by helping patients, rather than disparaging the many thousands of good physicians who spend their time caring for patients rather than on ABMS's self-serving recertification scheme.

A recent survey by AAPS showed that only 9.5% of 167 respondents thought that "maintenance of certification is good; we should support it." In an earlier survey, only 22% of physicians who had been through the process said they would voluntarily do it again.

AAPS's lawsuit, which was filed today in Trenton, New Jersey, seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to enjoin ABMS's continuing violations of antitrust law and misrepresentations about the medical skills of physicians who decline to purchase and spend time on its program. AAPS also seeks a refund of fees paid by its members to ABMS and its 24 other corporations as a result of ABMS's conduct.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties, founded in 1943.

SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

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Obama to nominate package of labor board members

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated three candidates for full terms on the National Labor Relations Board, which has been in limbo since a federal appeals court invalidated his recess appointments to the agency.

Obama urged the Senate to move swiftly in confirming the members — two Republicans and one Democrat — along with two other Democrats he nominated in February. That would fill all five seats on the board.

But the move is already facing opposition from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who remains angry that the nominee package includes the two Democratic lawyers Obama installed last year without Senate confirmation.

The board has been a partisan lightning rod during Obama's presidency, with Republican lawmakers and business groups furious over decisions and rules they say are aimed at helping labor unions win more members.

Obama is renominating board Chairman Mark Pearce, a Democrat, and nominating two new Republicans to the board: lawyers Harry I. Johnson III and Philip A. Miscimarra, who have represented companies in labor-management disputes.

The president also had nominated Democrats Sharon Block and Richard Griffin to full terms on the board in February. They have been sitting on the board since January 2012, when Obama made them recess appointments after Senate Republicans vowed to block Obama's NLRB nominees. Republicans complained the board was issuing too many pro-union decisions.

The White House hopes that Senate Republicans will favor the five-member package nomination of two Republicans and three Democrats. Both Republican nominees have passed muster with GOP leadership.

"I urge the Senate to confirm them swiftly so that this bipartisan board can continue its important work on behalf of the American people," Obama said in a statement.

But McConnell said he would not consider Block and Griffin.

"At a minimum, the president needs to send two new Democrat nominees to replace the two who were unconstitutionally appointed," McConnell said.

McConnell also said the Senate would give Pearce's nomination added scrutiny "given his decision to continue purporting to exercise government power, despite the circuit court's ruling that he does not lawfully possess it."

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in January that Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies on the board. Since then, Republicans have claimed the board lacks any legitimacy to act.

The nominations come as House Republicans prepare to vote this week on a measure that would effectively shut down the board until it has permanent members confirmed by the Senate.

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Tuesday reiterated his previous call for Block and Griffin to leave the board while the Senate reviews the nominations.

The White House has insisted the appeals court decision is wrong and plans to appeal it to the Supreme Court. But the ruling has prompted employers in more than 100 cases to claim the board, which referees labor-management disputes, lacks authority to take action against them because two of its members are not there legitimately. It also has frustrated labor unions who worry the board can't crack down on unfair labor practices.

The president claimed that he made the recess appointments last year while the Senate was on a break. But the appeals court panel ruled that a recess occurs only during the breaks between formal yearlong sessions of Congress, not just any informal break. It also ruled that a vacancy must come into being during a recess in order to be valid.

The White House says the first-of-its-kind ruling runs contrary to more than 150 years of practice and would invalidate hundreds of recess appointments in Democratic and Republican administrations.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka expressed his support for the five-nominee package, noting it includes Republicans "who have views on labor relations matters that we do not agree with. But working people need and deserve a functioning NLRB, and confirmation of a full package will provide that stability."

Randel Johnson, vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for labor issues, said the board has issued many decisions "of serious concern to the business community and we hope that the Senate, as it vets these nominees, will closely examine the entirety of the board's recent actions."

House Republicans are expected to pass a measure this week that would prevent the NLRB from conducting business until the Senate confirms new members constituting a quorum or the U.S. Supreme Court decides the board has the authority to act. But the measure is not expected to make any headway in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

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Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP

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Nuclear board warns of Hanford tank explosion risk

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Underground tanks that hold a stew of toxic, radioactive waste at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site pose a possible risk of explosion, a nuclear safety board said in advance of confirmation hearings for the next leader of the Energy Department.

State and federal officials have long known that hydrogen gas could build up inside the tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, leading to an explosion that would release radioactive material. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommended additional monitoring and ventilation of the tanks last fall, and federal officials were working to develop a plan to implement the recommendation.

The board expressed those concerns again Monday to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and had sought the board's perspective about cleanup at Hanford.

The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. It spends billions of dollars to clean up the 586-square-mile site neighboring the Columbia River, the southern border between Washington and Oregon and the Pacific Northwest's largest waterway.

Federal officials have said six underground tanks at the site are leaking into the soil, threatening the groundwater, and technical problems have delayed construction of a plant to treat the waste for long-term safe disposal.

Those issues are likely to come up during confirmation hearings next week for Energy Secretary-nominee Ernest J. Moniz. The fears of explosion and contamination could give Washington and Oregon officials more clout as they push for cleanup of the World War II-era site.

Central to the cleanup is the removal of 56 million gallons of highly radioactive, toxic waste left from plutonium production from underground tanks. Many of the site's single-shell tanks, which have just one wall, have leaked in the past, and state and federal officials announced in February that six such tanks are leaking anew.

"The next Secretary of Energy - Dr. Moniz - needs to understand that a major part of his job is going to be to get the Hanford cleanup back on track, and I plan to stress that at his confirmation hearing next week," Wyden said in a statement Tuesday.

The nuclear safety board warned about the risk of explosion to Wyden, who wanted comment on the safety and operation of Hanford's tanks, technical issues that have been raised about the design of a plant to treat the waste in those tanks, and Hanford's overall safety culture.

In addition to the leaks, the board noted concerns about the potential for hydrogen gas buildup within a tank, in particular those with a double wall, which contain deadly waste that was previously pumped out of the leaking single-shell tanks.

"All the double-shell tanks contain waste that continuously generates some flammable gas," the board said. "This gas will eventually reach flammable conditions if adequate ventilation is not provided."

All of the tanks are actively ventilated, which means they have blowers and fans to prevent a buildup of hydrogen gas, and those systems are monitored to ensure they are operating as intended, Energy Department spokeswoman Carrie Meyer said.

For even greater safety, she said, the agency implemented an improved monitoring system in February.

"DOE is absolutely committed to ensuring the safety of Hanford's underground tanks," Meyer said.

The board also noted technical challenges with the waste treatment plant, which is being built to encase the waste in glasslike logs for long-term disposal. Those challenges must be resolved before parts of the plant can be completed, the board said.

The federal government spends about $2 billion annually on Hanford cleanup — roughly one-third of its entire budget for nuclear cleanup nationally. About $690 million of that goes toward design and construction of the plant. Design of the plant, last estimated at more than $12.3 billion, is 85 percent complete, while construction is more than 50 percent complete.

The problems identified by the board show that the plant schedule will be delayed further and the cost will keep rising, Wyden said, adding: "There is a real question as to whether the plant, as currently designed, will work at all."

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