Dear Foreign Service Colleagues:

This is a call for AFSA member input – your input - into our effort to reach out to the newly established Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction aka the “Super Committee” tasked with finding ways to reduce the federal deficit by more than $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.  It is also part of our ongoing work to strengthen real understanding of and support for diplomacy and development as critical instruments of U.S. national power and fundamental elements of our national security and economic prosperity.

We are looking for creative and effective forms of advocacy on behalf of our Foreign Service and its people – our key resource.  We are working to expand and deepen our network of personal contacts and channels of communication with members of Congress and their staff.

Here’s how you can help now:

If you have personal or professional connections to the senators or representatives on the committee (listed below), or connections to their staff, these can be especially effective ways for AFSA to make the case directly to the members of the committee and help protect the international affairs budget from extreme or ill-considered budget cuts.  Please contact AFSA Policy Director Ed Dickens (dickens@afsa.org) or AFSA Legislative Assistant Clint Lohse (lohse@afsa.org) if you are able to help us establish lines of communication with this new committee or if you have questions.  The sooner AFSA can make contact with these offices, the more effectively we can make our case as the "Super Committee" moves forward in the next few weeks.

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)
Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
Representative Dave Camp (R-MI)
Representative Jim Clyburn (D-SC)
Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)
Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH)
Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Representative Fred Upton (D-MI)
Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

Thank you for your continued support,

Susan R. Johnson
President
American Foreign Service Association