1.  Greetings from AFSA President John Naland.  Here is what we are working on at AFSA headquarters.  Please send any comments to me at naland@afsa.org.

 

SECRETARY-DESIGNATE CLINTON

 

2.  State and USAID employees should be ecstatic at Secretary-designate Hillary Clinton's strong advocacy for more resources for diplomacy and development assistance at her January 13 Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing.  Below is just one except from her repeated emphasis on this vital issue:

 

"Ensuring that our State Department is functioning at its best will be absolutely essential to America's success.  This is a top priority of mine, of my colleagues' on the national security team, and of the President-elect's.  He believes strongly that we need to invest in our civilian capacity to conduct vigorous American diplomacy, provide the kind of foreign assistance I've mentioned, reach out to the world, and operate effectively alongside our military."

 

"I realize that the entire State Department bureaucracy in Thomas Jefferson's day consisted of a chief clerk, three regular clerks, and a messenger - and his entire budget was $56,000 a year.  But over the past 219 years the world, and the times, have certainly changed.  Now the department consists of Foreign Service officers, the civil service, and locally engaged staff working at Foggy Bottom, in offices across our country, and at some 260 posts around the world. And today, USAID carries out a critical development mission that is essential to representing our values across the globe."

 

"These public servants are too often unsung heroes.  They are in the trenches putting our policies and values to work in an increasingly complicated and dangerous world.  Many risk their lives, and some lose their lives, in service to our nation.  And they need and deserve the resources, training, and support to succeed."

 

"I know this committee, and I hope the American public, understand that right now Foreign Service officers, civil service professionals, and development experts are doing work essential to our nation's strength ...  We must not shortchange them, or ourselves, by denying them the resources they need.  One of my first priorities is to make sure that the State Department and USAID have the resources they need, and I will be back to make the case to Congress for full funding of the President's budget request.  At the same time, I will work just as hard to make sure that we manage those resources prudently so that we fulfill our mission efficiently and effectively."

 

3.  AFSA warmly welcomes these pledges.  AFSA had very productive meetings with President-elect Obama's Transition Teams at State, USAID, FCS, and IBB last month during which we urged swift action to strengthen the platform upon which diplomacy and development assistance are conducted and to create a Foreign Service that is adapted to the demands and challenges of the 21st Century.  We also provided similar information to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and key Senate offices prior to the confirmation hearing.  AFSA looks forward to working with the incoming Administration and the 111th Congress to turn these pledges into reality.

 

4.  In an odd footnote, hundreds (perhaps thousands) of State employees who were watching Secretary-designate Clinton's live confirmation hearing via the Department's in-house "BNET" video broadcast were startled when, in the middle of the Tuesday morning hearing, BNET cut away from the Secretary-designate to show the Department Spokesman's routine daily press briefing.  BNET did later re-broadcast the entire hearing without interruption.

 

OVERSEAS PAY GAP

 

5.  As of January 5, overseas junior and mid-level Foreign Service members now take a 23.10 percent cut in base pay.  AFSA calculates that members take a net pay cut to serve at 183 of 268 overseas posts (68 percent).  At another 42 posts -- those at the 25 percent hardship level -- the net incentive is now just 1.9 percent and will likely drop to zero next year if the pay gap remains.  For AFSA's updated discussion paper, see <www.afsa.org/congress/paygap09.pdf >.     

 

6.  AFSA worked extremely hard last year in getting our pay gap elimination bill through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  The State Department also played a pivotal role at key junctures in the process.  However, the start of a new congressional term means that the process must begin all over again.  Thus, we have already been very engaged in an attempt to get off to a quick start this session on this vital issue.  We worked with Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to get a bill (HR 370) offered last week.  We are grateful for Rep. Smith's proactive support of the Foreign Service and also appreciative of Rep. Don Payne (D-NJ) who stepped up early in his support of this legislation.  We have also been quite active with the House Foreign Affairs Committee in supporting State's strategy of insuring that early drafts of any comprehensive State Department authorization bill include a solution to the pay ga p problem among other issues we see as important.  Furthermore, like State, we have been advocating that the pay gap authorization language be linked to what will be an omnibus appropriations bill to resolve the FY09 budget that Congress did not complete in the last session.  AFSA and the Department have been successful in including one-year's worth of funding in the relevant appropriation bill, but the authorization language is essential.

 

7.  Obama Administration support will be vital to achieve final legislative success in closing the overseas pay gap.  AFSA made detailed presentations to the Obama Transition Team on this issue.  We look forward to raising it in our hoped-for early meetings with Secretary Clinton and top members of her management team.  

 

GLIFAA LETTER

 

8.  The employee group Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA) asks members of the U.S. foreign affairs community to sign a letter to be delivered to Secretary of State-designate Clinton concerning members of household issues.  GLIFAA has already obtained over 1500 signatures.  The letter can be seen and signed online at < http://sites.google.com/site/glifaaletter/ >.  They seek signatures by January 20.

 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

 

9.  I am pleased with the continuing response to the Foreign Affairs Professional Reading List co-sponsored by AFSA and the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.  The list is on the Internet at < http://www.afsa.org/readinglist.cfm > and State's Intranet at < http://diplopedia.state.gov/index.php?title=Foreign_Affairs_Professional_Reading_List >.
Since it was posted last summer, the list has been one of the most visited sites on both the Department's Intranet and on AFSA's website with a combined total of over 11,000 page views.  

 

10.  AFSA has also seen a good response to our parallel program to provide funding to assist employees at Foreign Service posts in purchasing books to start a Professional Reading Library to be maintained permanently at post.  AFSA has distributed $3,840 between 39 posts with a total of 401 book club members.  We also provided $500 to the State Department's Ralph Bunche Library.  Kudos to participating posts:

 

EUR: Adana, Athens, Belgrade, Bucharest, Frankfurt, Geneva, Kyiv, Lisbon, Moscow, Naples, Oslo, Rome, Zagreb
AF: Abidjan, Accra, Asmara, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Nairobi, Niamey, Ouagadougou, Praia
WHA: Bogota, Caracas, Ciudad Juarez, Hermosillo, Monterrey, Montreal, Panama
NEA: Cairo, Doha, Muscat, Rabat, Sanaa
EAP: Guangzhou, Hanoi, Hong Kong
SA: Chennai, Karachi

 

11.  AFSA only has funds left to assist two more posts.  Apply online at < http://www.afsa.org/bookclub.cfm >.  AFSA will provide a gift card of up to $100 per post usable at an online bookseller on a one-for-one matching basis for funds raised by allocations from appropriated post funds or other authorized sources.  AFSA again thanks the Una Chapman Cox Foundation for its financial support for this project.

 

RETIREE ISSUES

 

12.  I recently visited with Foreign Service retirees in New England.  While there, I also met with an editorial board member at the Boston Globe newspaper to discuss the need for more resources for diplomacy and development assistance.  Having now visited with eight Foreign Service retiree groups in six states across the nation, I applaud the role that those groups play in providing their members with opportunities to keep in touch with others who learned first-hand the unique demands of a Foreign Service career.  Some members of those groups also work in their local areas to explain the value of diplomacy and development assistance to fellow citizens, the news media, and Members of Congress.

 

13.  Retirees who do not already participate in one of the 18 Foreign Service retiree associations around the nation can find contact information on the nearest group in AFSA's Directory of Retired Members or at < http://www.afsa.org/retiree/retassoc.cfm >.  For information on recent AFSA advocacy of issues of concern to retired members, please see < http://www.afsa.org/retiree/ >.