2. As previously reported, the President's FY09 budget request seeks to add 1,076 new positions at State and 300 at USAID (almost all for Foreign Service personnel). Secretary of State Rice testified for that request before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) on February 13. It remains unclear how the budget process will play out this year. Election year dynamics could scuttle the normal budget process, or they could motivate Congress to get the annual job done on time for a change.

3. AFSA's position is that now is the time to address these urgent staffing needs. The next president, whoever he or she is, will undoubtedly want a strong diplomatic corps to work hand-in-hand with our
nation’s strong military. Yet, if the current Congress were to miss this opportunity, it would be 2010 before the first diplomatic reinforcements could finish their initial training. Waiting two more years for reinforcements is too long. It would reduce the new president’s flexibility in crafting foreign policy, and continue to place undue burdens on the uniformed military to carry out tasks for which theyare ill-suited.

4. AFSA Legislative Affairs Director Ian Houston and I had a good conversation with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) in his office on February 13. Rep. Wolf is a long-time supporter of the Foreign Service and his powerful position as Ranking Member on the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee is key to helping secure monies for additional Foreign Service positions. Rep. Wolf said that it remained to be seen how the appropriations process will play out over the next few months, but he promised to be supportive of resources for diplomacy.

5. As part of AFSA's on going effort to make the case for resources, I appeared National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday with host Liane Hansen on February 24. Here is an audio link to the interview: <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19315183>

OVERSEAS PAY GAP

6. Secretary Rice noted in her February 13 testimony that solving the pay inequity problem for the Foreign Service is a top management priority. AFSA is pleased to see senior Administration officials
continue to weigh in with Members of Congress on pay modernization. AFSA encourages overseas posts to develop a plan to deliver a similar message so that it is well-received if Congressional delegations visit. As a result of one such visit, AFSA met this week on Capitol Hill with a top staffer of Rep. Bud Cramer (D-AL) who sits on the Appropriations Committee. This is but one example of numerous leads that we have tracked down and which have yielded helpful follow-up conversations.

7. In our meeting with Rep. Wolf, we also raised the pay disparity issue. He has been a key supporter on this front and has already formally cosponsored both of the bills (HR 3202 and HR 3203) that are
currently before Congress to fix this problem. As is the case with the appropriation process, it is unclear whether or not Congress (specifically, the SFRC or HFAC) will produce an authorization bill this
year to implement pay modernization.

8. AFSA's Ian Houston continues to work with individual Foreign Service members and spouses (now over 60 volunteers) who have answered our call to write first-person letters to Congress. If you are
interested in sending a letter, please contact Ian Houston at houston@afsa.org.

PERSISTENCE

9. A veteran Member of Congress recently counseled me not to confuse action with progress. In other words, just because AFSA (or, indeed, State Management) is working hard on the FY09 budget and pay modernization does not guarantee success this year. Election-year politics or other outside factors might leave us empty handed no matter how hard we try. But, it is equally true that current deficits in
Foreign Service staffing and compensation are simply unsustainable. They must be addressed soon unless our nation is prepared to give up on diplomacy and development assistance and depend solely on military action in the coming years. Thus, regardless of our immediate chances for success (which there is no way to accurately judge anyhow), we must and will keep making our case aggressively on the Hill and in the media.

PASSING OF REP. TOM LANTOS

10. AFSA notes with sorrow the passing of Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA). Chairman Lantos was a friend of the Foreign Service and traveled extensively throughout the world. His particular focuses were human rights, democracy promotion, and alleviating poverty and suffering. AFSA will miss his directness and wisdom. Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) takes over the chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) in an acting role. It is believed that Rep. Berman will become the permanent chairman of the HFAC. In addition to his long time service on HFAC, Rep. Berman has a labor background and so AFSA looks forward to getting to know him better. Rep. Ileana-Ros Lehtinen (R-FL), with whom AFSA met on January 16, will remain as the Ranking Republican
on HFAC.

LETTER TO THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION

11. This week, I wrote to Edwin J. Feulner, President of the Heritage Foundation, to express AFSA's heartfelt, if tardy, appreciation for his December 3, 2007, commentary "Stuck in a Real State"
<http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed120307b.cfm>. At a time when others were bashing the Foreign Service, Dr. Feulner looked beyond the headlines to see the need to increase the incentives and training provided to Foreign Service members serving in war zones. Moreover, he made the key point that U.S. national security depends not only on our superb armed forces, but also on the other elements of national power, including diplomacy and development assistance. My letter noted that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich have been urging increased funding for the State Department to reverse the trend of assigning traditionally-civilian tasks to our over-burdened uniformed military. After noting that Secretary Rice's pending budget request would strengthen diplomacy, I invited the Heritage Foundation to take a clear-eyed look at the case for strengthening the diplomatic component of national security and then publish the results.

BUDGET OF THE FUTURE PROJECT

12. I am honored to be participating in a major project managed by the prestigious American Academy of Diplomacy <http://www.academyofdiplomacy.org> designed to produce hard budget and staffing numbers to support the missions of traditional diplomacy,public diplomacy, development diplomacy, and stabilization and reconstruction as provided for in the Federal budget's 150 account. The
project is funded by the Una Chapman Cox Foundation and the Academy has engaged the Henry L. Stimson Center to accomplish the necessary research and drafting. The Advisory Group includes retired Ambassadors Thomas Pickering, Thomas Boyatt, and Ronald Neumann, along with Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and George Voinovich (R-OH), former Under Secretary of State for Management Grant Green, General (Ret.) John J. Sheehan, and other distinguished members. The study will be released this fall and every effort will be made with the new administration and the Congress
to obtain the necessary increases in staffing and funding.

AFSA MEMBERSHIP

13. AFSA continues to have success in recruiting new Foreign Service members to join with us to work to make the Foreign Service a better-supported, more respected, more satisfying place in which to
spend a career. At State, 94 percent of the most recent Specialist orientation class joined AFSA as did 87 percent of the most recent A-100 class. While we strive to motivate 100 percent to join, some people apparently need more convincing. If you have colleagues who have not yet joined or who perhaps resigned from AFSA years ago over some disagreement that has long since faded, please urge them to join you in supporting AFSA. They are benefiting from our advocacy on issues affecting their careers without contributing to the operating budget that funds that advocacy.

14. For active duty employees to join, simply go to <http://www.afsa.org/mbr/active.cfm>, e-mail member@afsa.org, or phone 1-800-704-AFSA (within the U.S.). Foreign Service retirees may go
to < http://www.afsa.org/mbr/retired.cfm >, e-mail member@afsa.org, or phone 1-800-704-AFSA (within the U.S.).

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