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WASHINGTON—A bipartisan group of Senators introduced a pair of bills that would cement and build on the important progress that has been made to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s costs our nation an astonishing $321 billion per year, including $206 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid. If we continue along this trajectory, Alzheimer’s is projected to claim the minds of 12.7 million seniors and nearly surpass $1 trillion in annual costs by 2050.  In 2021, family caregivers provided 16 billion hours of unpaid care for loved ones with dementia.  Nearly half of baby boomers reaching age 85 will either be afflicted with Alzheimer’s or caring for someone who has it.

In 2011, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) authored the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) with then-Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN).  NAPA convened a panel of experts, who created a coordinated strategic national plan to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025.  The law is set to expire soon and must be reauthorized to ensure that research investments remain coordinated and their impact is maximized.

The NAPA Reauthorization Act—authored by Senator Collins and co-led by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)—would reauthorize NAPA through 2035 and modernize the legislation to reflect strides that have been made to understand the disease, such as including a new focus on promoting healthy aging and reducing risk factors.

The Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act—authored by Senators Collins, Markey, Capito, Warner, Moran, Menendez, Murkowski, and Stabenow—would continue through 2035 a requirement that the Director of the National Institutes of Health submit an annual budget to Congress estimating the funding necessary to fully implement NAPA’s research goals. Only two other areas of biomedical research – cancer and HIV/AIDS – have been the subject of special budget development aimed at speeding discovery.

“We have made tremendous progress in recent years to boost funding for Alzheimer’s research, which holds great promise to end this disease that has had a devastating effect on millions of Americans and their families,” said Senator Collins, a founder and co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease.  “The two bills we are introducing will maintain our momentum and make sure that we do not take our foot off the pedal just as our investments in basic research are beginning to translate into potential new treatments. We must not let Alzheimer’s define our children’s generation as it has ours.”

“I lost my mother to Alzheimer's after a 10-year battle with the illness, and I saw firsthand the challenges of this terrible disease,” said Senator Warner, co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease. “While we have made great strides in research, this legislation seeks to build on that progress as we continue to seek new ways to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s. On behalf of the millions of American families who have been touched by Alzheimer’s, we will continue to fight for a cure.”

“More than a decade ago, I cosponsored the National Alzheimer's Project Act, and since becoming law, it has played a major role in ensuring Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are a priority at NIH and other federal agencies,” Senator Capito said. “More than ever before, Americans and their families are living with the effects of Alzheimer’s, something that I have personally experienced. We must build on this momentum, continue to make critical research investments, and fight for all those impacted by this disease. Both of these bipartisan bills work toward our shared goals, and I’m proud to reintroduce them with my colleagues.”

“I am proud to have worked across chambers and across the aisle throughout my time in Congress to create a whole of government strategy for curing Alzheimer’s Disease and supporting families living with this disease. We’ve made significant progress in prevention, treatment, and supporting caregivers,” said Senator Markey, a founder and co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease. “We’ve delivered resources and breakthroughs that I wish my family had when my mother was living with Alzheimer’s. But the work is not done until we’ve ended Alzheimer’s for good. I will continue to fight for major investments to advance research for a cure.”

“Our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and the development of new treatments have made significant progress since the National Alzheimer’s Project Act was first signed into law in 2011,” said Senator Moran. “As our senior population expands, more research and treatment will be required to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease. It’s important that we continue the work of NAPA and invest in further research of this horrible disease.”

“No family deserves to go through the pain of watching their loved ones fade away to this awful disease as I experienced with my mother,” said Senator Menendez. “Congress must do more to make sure the U.S. is leading the way in understanding Alzheimer’s and reducing risk factors, as well as expanding early diagnosis and providing assistance to patients and their families. I’m proud to continue fighting for this cause in my mother’s name by cosponsoring and advancing these bills to ensure one day we have a world without Alzheimer’s.”

“Alzheimer’s is unforgiving and devastating for families. And the impacts of this disease, both emotional and financial, require continued efforts,” said Senator Murkowski. “We’ve made progress by providing support and hope to those affected by this condition, but we must expand upon previous legislation to invest further in Alzheimer’s research. These bipartisan efforts will aid in the goal of developing better treatments and eventually finding a cure.” 

“Receiving an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is heartbreaking for patients and their families. Yet we’ve taken major steps toward understanding and fighting Alzheimer’s thanks to increased research investments,” said Senator Stabenow.  “This legislation will help ensure that we keep making progress toward the goal we all share: being able to prevent, treat, and cure Alzheimer’s disease.”

“With the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) set to expire by 2025, passing the NAPA Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act is urgently needed. These bipartisan pieces of legislation would continue the critical work of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease to support Alzheimer’s research and improve the delivery of clinical care and services for people living with Alzheimer’s and their families,” said Robert Egge, Alzheimer's Association chief public policy officer and AIM executive director. “The Alzheimer’s Association and AIM are deeply grateful to the sponsors for reintroducing this important legislation to help improve the lives of those impacted by Alzheimer’s throughout the nation. We look forward to working with these bipartisan congressional champions to swiftly pass these bills.”

“By making these her first two bills of the new Congress, Senator Collins has once again demonstrated her unwavering commitment to ending Alzheimer’s. The National Alzheimer’s Project Act has played a major role in the advancements we are seeing today but the fight is far from over, which makes these two bills so important” said George Vradenburg chair and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. “Research is key to understanding, preventing, treating, and ultimately curing Alzheimer’s. People living with Alzheimer’s and their loved ones are grateful for champions like Senator Collins and her colleagues who stand with us in our fight to end this terrible disease.”

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WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) introduced the Portable Retirement and Investment Account (PRIA) Act of 2021. The PRIA Act will create universal, portable retirement and investment accounts that will be accessible to all Americans throughout their lives and move our retirement system into the 21st century.

“Americans are more likely to change jobs and be engaged in non-traditional forms of work than they were a generation ago, but our policies haven’t kept up with these shifts,” Warner said. “As more and more Americans hold multiple jobs across a career, a year, and even a day, PRIA will provide more workers with access to flexible, portable benefits such as retirement savings that will carry with them from employer to employer and gig to gig.”

“The current retirement system isn’t working for all Americans,” said Himes. “The options to which American workers have access can differ significantly based on their area of employment and the systems can be needlessly confusing. In addition, many Americans lose access to retirement savings vehicles if they lose their jobs, and gig, contract, and part-time workers are often ineligible. PRIA changes all of this.”

Congress needs to act to bring more people into the system and make it easier for Americans to save:

  • Approximately half of American households do not have access to a 401k retirement account.
  • The Federal Reserve calculates that half of Americans have not saved enough to retire at their current standard of living.
  • While 80% of full-time workers have access to retirement savings accounts, only 40% of part-time workers have access.
  • According to the 2020 Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households by the Federal Reserve, around 35% of Americans work outside of traditional full-time jobs, in the gig economy.

Every American will receive a PRIA at the same time they receive a Social Security Number. PRIAs will be administered by an independent board and managed by selected financial institutions. After the creation of the initial account, account holders will have the option to choose investment options from a qualified financial institution. Employers can contribute to their employee’s PRIA just like legacy plans like 401ks, but employees who separate from their employer will still have the ability to contribute to the same PRIA plan as before.

Americans who want to keep their 401ks, IRAs, and other savings plans with which they are familiar will still have those options. PRIAs are designed to supplement the existing system and provide a simple, portable option for those who want it.

“PRIA is going to bring people in from the cold,” Himes continued. “Instead of seeing themselves fall further and further behind in their retirement savings, millions of Americans in non-traditional employment arrangements will have another tool in their retirement toolbox.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. —U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senator Amy Klobuchar and their colleagues in reintroducing the Empowering Medicare Seniors to Negotiate Drug Prices Act to allow Medicare to negotiate the best price of prescription drugs for seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D. Current law only allows for bargaining by pharmaceutical companies, not Medicare. By harnessing the bargaining power of the nearly 46 million seniors enrolled in the program, Medicare could negotiate bigger discounts from pharmaceutical companies. This bill is co-sponsored by 30 other senators, and a companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives.

“No one should have to choose between putting food on the table and their prescription medication,” said the Senators. “This legislation would help combat the rising costs of prescription medications and ensure more Americans, including our most vulnerable, have access to quality, affordable health care.” 

The Empowering Medicare Seniors to Negotiate Drug Prices Act would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate with drug companies for price discounts for the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, eliminating the “non-interference” clause that expressly bans Medicare from negotiating for better prices. By bargaining on behalf of nearly 46 million seniors, Medicare would be in a position to secure significant discounts and ensure enrollees are receiving the best prices.

Warner and Kaine have been strong advocates for making health care more affordable and reducing prescription drug prices. Both Senators supported congressional passage of the American Rescue Plan. The new law now caps health care premiums on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange at a maximum of 8.5 percent of household income for all families and includes funding to encourage states to expand their Medicaid programs to millions more Americans. Last week, Warner introduced the Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2021a bill supported by Kaine that would undo Trump-era rulemaking and guidance that, if fully enacted, would destabilize the ACA health insurance market, weaken protections for Americans with preexisting conditions, and increase costs for millions of individuals with quality health plans. Earlier this year Warner also introduced the Health Care Improvement Act of 2021 to expand health care coverage, reduce costs, and protect Americans with preexisting conditions. Kaine has recently reintroduced legislation to create a public option by expanding on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicare. In 2019, Kaine introduced the Biologic Patent Transparency Act to increase access to lower-cost drugs by making it easier for competitors to evaluate and plan for the development of generic versions of these drugs. Kaine also sent letters to three insulin manufacturers requesting information about recent price increases, how the revenue contributes to research and development, and what the companies are doing to help patients access affordable insulin.

This legislation is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). 

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $19,013,614 from the U.S. Department of Labor for two career and training centers for seniors in Arlington, VA.

“These investments will enhance on-the-job training programs and provide seniors who are currently out of work with an opportunity to earn a paycheck and learn new skills, making them better-qualified candidates for future employment,” said the Senators.

The funding will be awarded as follows:

  • $17,431,229 for the National Council on Aging, Inc in Arlington, VA.
  • $1,582,385 for the National Older Worker Career Center in Arlington, VA.

The funding is made available through the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). SCSEP is a community service and work-based job training program for older Americans. Authorized by the Older Americans Act, the program provides training for low-income, unemployed seniors, to give them the skills they need to re-enter the workforce. Additionally, SCSEP participants will have access to employment assistance through American Job Centers.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine have requested information from the Departments of State and Homeland Security about their efforts to protect unwitting older Americans tricked into trafficking drugs internationally. In two letters—one to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the other to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official Tony Pham, and Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mark Morgan—the senators inquired about 77-year-old Centreville, Virginia resident Victor Stemberger.

According to reports, in March 2018, Mr. Stemberger received an email inviting him to a business opportunity that entailed making international deliveries. In July 2019, Mr. Stemberger followed his contacts’ instructions to receive gifts in Brazil; he was arrested the next day in Spain after he was found with cocaine sewn into his luggage, and a Spanish court subsequently sentenced him to seven years in prison for drug smuggling. Mr. Stemberger and his family insist he knew nothing about the drugs, and a retired DEA agent working on the case says 161 pages of emails demonstrate that “he’s completely unwitting.”

 In their letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, Warner and Kaine asked about efforts to protect unknowing senior citizens during Operation COCOON, DHS’s program to target narco-traffickers who manipulate older Americans into carrying drugs.

“We would like to understand what, if anything, your agencies did during Operation COCOON to prevent these targeted individuals’ arrest and prosecution in a foreign country once they were in transit as couriers and your efforts to have them returned to the United States,” the senators wrote to Wolf, Pham, and Morgan. “We are concerned that in an attempt to interdict illicit contraband being moved by unsuspecting senior citizens, Operation COCOON may have led DHS to provide information about these unwitting Americans to foreign law enforcement partners who then arrested, prosecuted, and jailed them abroad.” 

In their letter to Secretary Pompeo, Warner and Kaine requested assistance in bringing Mr. Stemberger home and asked about the State Department’s knowledge of Operation COCOON and whether it has been working with DHS to prevent the foreign prosecution of older Americans exploited by drug traffickers.

“Sadly, Mr. Stemberger is not the only older adult a transnational criminal organization has tricked into becoming an unwitting drug mule,” the senators wrote to Pompeo. “Given these unique circumstances, we are requesting your personal involvement to encourage the Government of Spain to immediately release Mr. Stemberger on humanitarian grounds so he can return to his family in the United States. We are especially worried for Mr. Stemberger’s health after learning that two prisoners held in the same section have recently contracted COVID-19 and ask that the State Department push for safer facilities to hold Mr. Stemberger while efforts to secure his release are ongoing.”

The full text of the senators’ letters can be found here and below:

Acting Secretary Wolf, Mr. Pham, and Acting Commissioner Morgan, 

We write to express concern about the case of Victor Stemberger and request information on your work to investigate and combat scams targeting older Americans to become unwitting drug mules. On July 30, a Spanish court found Mr. Stemberger, our constituent, guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced him to seven years in prison, rejecting his defense that he was duped into acting as a drug mule for a West Africa criminal network. Mr. Stemberger, 77, is a Vietnam veteran who served 24 years in the U.S. Army. To our knowledge, he has never been in trouble with the law. The circumstances of his arrest — as well as his advanced age — give us pause and concern. 

According to news reports, the case began in March 2018 with an email from someone purporting to be a financial consultant with Nigeria’s foreign ministry and inviting Mr. Stemberger into a business opportunity that carried the prospect of a lucrative payout. The job allegedly entailed traveling abroad to deliver gifts and documents to officials, with a goal of recovering funds that were misallocated. In July 2019, he traveled to Brazil on a trip that was to take him to Spain and on to Asia. Sources claim his contacts told him officials would be visiting his Sao Paolo hotel room to help transfer the gifts into luggage but that Mr. Stemberger continued to believe the work was legitimate. The following day, Mr. Stemberger was arrested in Madrid after he was found with cocaine sewn into bubble jackets in a bag. 

Mr. Stemberger and his family say he knew nothing about the drugs, and a retired DEA agent Robert Zachariasiewicz, whose investigative firm has worked with the family on the case, said the 161 pages of emails he’s reviewed make clear that “he’s completely unwitting.”[1] His family also explains that Mr. Stemberger suffered a brain aneurysm in 2005 that greatly diminished his logic and decision-making abilities, which a medical expert testified to at his trial. And, in a memorandum regarding Mr. Stemberger’s case dated October 28, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that he was “fraudulently deceived by members of a narcotics trafficking network into unwittingly transporting concealed controlled substances.”

For years, federal officials have warned about scams that target and lure older Americans or those with diminished mental capacity to become unwitting drug mules. In fact, in February 2016, A. Scott Brown, former Acting Assistant Director of Investigative Programs for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging about “international drug smuggling scams targeting seniors.” Mr. Brown noted that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was tracking 144 cases of older adults being duped into acting as unwitting drug mules. He cited statistics of Operation COCOON (DHS’s program to target narco-traffickers who manipulate older Americans into carrying drugs): “To date, HSI and CBP have worked with our foreign counterparts to interdict a total of 272 kilograms of methamphetamine, 209 kilograms of cocaine, 4 kilograms of ecstasy, and 11 kilograms of heroin. They have arrested 15 facilitators affiliated with TCOs — one in Hong Kong, two in China, three in Argentina and nine in Spain.”[2] 

We would like to understand what, if anything, your agencies did during Operation COCOON to prevent these targeted individuals’ arrest and prosecution in a foreign country once they were in transit as couriers and your efforts to have them returned to the United States. We are concerned that in an attempt to interdict illicit contraband being moved by unsuspecting senior citizens, Operation COCOON may have led DHS to provide information about these unwitting Americans to foreign law enforcement partners who then arrested, prosecuted, and jailed them abroad. As such, we would like to request more information on Operation COCOON and any other similar ongoing operation to combat criminal organizations from preying on older adult Americans.

We would appreciate your responses to the following questions about Operation COCOON and other requested documentation no later than September 28, 2020:

  1. Please provide all records and information related to Mr. Stemberger.
  2. Please provide the Concept of Operation for Operation COCOON and any related guidance, reports, metrics, and documentation. Please include any documentation pertaining to the collaborative arrangement between DHS and foreign law enforcement.
  3. Please provide the Concept of Operation for any ongoing operations pertaining to the targeting of older adult Americans to become unwitting drug mules and any related guidance, reports, metrics, and documentation.
  4. Please explain how you tracked success of the Operation COCOON and any similar ongoing operation.
  5. As DHS was aware that older adult Americans were tricked into being unwitting drug mules, did DHS alert these individuals or their family members or otherwise intervene to stop them from leaving the United States?
  6. Did Operation COCOON identify these “unsuspecting elderly citizens” to foreign law enforcement?
  7. Subsequent to identification by U.S. officials, were these Americans then arrested by the foreign law enforcement to whom they had been identified?
  8. Did DHS or any other agency or component of the U.S. federal government communicate to foreign law enforcement the judgment of the U.S. Government that these American citizens were unaware of drugs placed in their luggage?
  9. Did the information-sharing or collaborative arrangement between DHS and foreign law enforcement include a commitment by the foreign government to not prosecute unwitting older adult Americans and, instead, only prosecute members of the transnational criminal organization facilitating the fraud on the Americans?
  10. How many unwitting older American citizens have served time in foreign incarceration as a result of Operation COCOON? How many are still detained in foreign jails (in addition to Mr. Stemberger)? How many Americans died while in foreign custody as a result of Operation COCOON?
  11. If there were 144 cases in 2016, how many cases is DHS aware of cumulatively throughout the period of Operation COCOON?
  12. If there were nine cases involving Spain in 2016, how many is DHS aware of involving Spain cumulatively throughout the period of Operation COCOON?
  13. Did DHS or any entity involved in Operation COCOON notify Spanish officials of their suspicions relating to, or knowledge of, Victor Stemberger being an unwitting drug mule prior to his July 5, 2019 arrest? If so, did the notifying entity make clear to the Spanish officials that it was the position of the U.S. Government that Mr. Stemberger was unaware drugs were planted on him?
  14. What steps, if any, has DHS taken to secure Mr. Stemberger’s release from Spanish prison? Is DHS coordinating with the State Department on the release of Mr. Stemberger or any other senior American imprisoned via Operation COCOON?

Cc:

Derek N. Benner

Executive Associate Director for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Director 

 

 

 

The Honorable Michael Pompeo

Secretary of State

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We write to request your assistance to seek the return of Victor Stemberger to the United States on humanitarian grounds and request information about the Department’s knowledge of a DHS program called Operation COCOON. On July 30, a Spanish court found Mr. Stemberger, our constituent, guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced him to seven years in prison, rejecting his defense that he was duped into acting as a drug mule for a West Africa criminal network. Mr. Stemberger, 77, is a Vietnam veteran who served 24 years in the U.S. Army. To our knowledge, he has never been in trouble with the law. The circumstances of his arrest — as well as his advanced age — give us pause and concern. 

According to news reports, the case began in March 2018 with an email from someone purporting to be a financial consultant with Nigeria’s foreign ministry and inviting Mr. Stemberger into a business opportunity that carried the prospect of a lucrative payout. The job allegedly entailed traveling abroad to deliver gifts and documents to officials, with a goal of recovering funds that were misallocated. In July 2019, he traveled to Brazil on a trip that was to take him to Spain and on to Asia. Sources claim his contacts told him officials would be visiting his Sao Paolo hotel room to help transfer the gifts into luggage but that Mr. Stemberger continued to believe the work was legitimate. The following day Mr. Stemberger was arrested in Madrid after he was found with cocaine sewn into bubble jackets in a bag.

Mr. Stemberger and his family say he knew nothing about the drugs, and a retired DEA agent Robert Zachariasiewicz, whose investigative firm has worked with the family on the case, said the 161 pages of emails he’s reviewed make clear that “he’s completely unwitting.”[1] His family also explains that Mr. Stemberger suffered a brain aneurysm in 2005 that greatly diminished his logic and decision-making abilities, which a medical expert testified to at his trial. And, in a memorandum regarding Mr. Stemberger’s case dated October 28, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that he was “fraudulently deceived by members of a narcotics trafficking network into unwittingly transporting concealed controlled substances.” 

Given these unique circumstances, we are requesting your personal involvement to encourage the Government of Spain to immediately release Mr. Stemberger on humanitarian grounds so he can return to his family in the United States. We are especially worried for Mr. Stemberger’s health after learning that two prisoners held in the same section have recently contracted COVID-19 and ask that the State Department push for safer facilities to hold Mr. Stemberger while efforts to secure his release are ongoing. 

We are confident that you and your team are closely engaged on this case, and we would appreciate the following updates:

  • Have officials of the Department of State met with Mr. Stemberger and his Spanish defense counsel?

 

  • Is there anything that the Embassy in Madrid can do to improve the conditions in which Mr. Stemberger is being held?

 

  • Have State Department officials communicated at a senior level to appropriate officials of the Government of Spain that it is the position of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice that Mr. Stemberger was unaware of the drugs in his luggage and that sophisticated transnational criminal organization tricked him into becoming an unwitting drug mule?

 

  • Has Ambassador Buchan or officials working at the Embassy in Madrid met with Mr. Stemberger’s defense counsel and offered support in his pending appeal of his conviction to ensure that the Spanish courts have documentary evidence of the U.S. Government’s determination that Mr. Stemberger was unwitting of any illicit activities?

Sadly, Mr. Stemberger is not the only older adult a transnational criminal organization has tricked into becoming an unwitting drug mule. We understand that there are numerous additional cases of older Americans falling victim to similar schemes. As such, we have written separately to the Department of Homeland Security to ask for information about their activities under a program called Operation COCOON — a joint effort by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — to target international drug traffickers who manipulate older Americans into carrying drugs. We are troubled that in an attempt to interdict illicit contraband being moved by unsuspecting senior citizens, Operation COCOON may have led DHS to provide information about these unwitting Americans to foreign law enforcement partners who then arrested, prosecuted, and jailed them abroad. To that end:

  • Have State Department officials inquired with their colleagues in the Spanish Government about how they selected Mr. Stemberger for screening and whether they received advanced notification of him by any U.S. officials? 

Is the Department aware of Operation COCOON? Has DHS coordinated with the Department on the protection of these older unwitting Americans to ensure that, once they entered a foreign country, they were not arrested, prosecuted, and jailed but instead sent safely home to the United States?   

Sincerely,

 

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