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STATEMENT OF MR. MARSHALL P. ADAIR, PRESIDENT,
AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION

To The Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Hearing on the Role of Security in the State Department Promotion Process

June 22, 2000

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting the American Foreign Service Association to testify today on the role of security in the State Department promotion process. Security of personnel and security of information are critical to effective diplomacy. AFSA is concerned with both, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to work with you.

I would like to give you first a little background on the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) and our perspective on these kinds of issues. AFSA represents 23,000 active duty and retired Foreign Service personnel. It is an unusual organization in that it is both a professional association and a union. As a professional association, it is concerned with the standards and the effectiveness of the diplomatic profession. As a union it is concerned with the welfare of the individuals in that profession.

In recent years, AFSA has focussed primarily on security of personnel. We have been particularly concerned with increasing terrorist threats, and we have worked hard to ensure that more attention and more resources are devoted to the protection of our people and our posts overseas. In that regard, I would like to thank you for recognizing the danger, and for giving us so much support from your position on this committee. The Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act which you sponsored last year set the right tone and the right parameters for addressing this problem, and we hope both the Administration and the Congress will live up to the example you set. I also appreciate the article that you did for the Foreign Service Journal this month.

Security of information is also essential. Over the last two years there have been several high profile incidents that had at least the potential to damage our national security, and which have reminded us all of the need for constant vigilance. Most recently, you have brought to our attention the fact that a number of recent Ambassadorial nominees have a history of security violations which may raise questions about their suitability for these positions. As the Department has provided us no details on any of these cases, we must reserve judgement on the cases themselves. However, we share your concern that the information on security violations which was shared with the Congress was apparently not made available to those in the Department who actually selected these individuals for nomination.

AFSA is willing to work closely with the Department of State, the Administration and the Congress to improve security management. As a professional association, we want to ensure that our professional service maintains the highest possible standards and ability to protect sensitive information. As a union, we must ensure that individuals in the service are given the necessary guidelines, training and support to meet those standards and perform effectively.

Your letter to Ambassador Grossman lists ten areas of possible action to ensure that the personnel system at the Department of State does a better job of reinforcing security. They are:

* Including security criterion in the promotion board precepts;

* Including security performance in employee evaluation forms;

* Exercising the Director General's discretion to strike names of security violators from promotion and nomination lists;

* Ensuring security performance records travel with an employee from post to post;

* Reconciling Personnel & Diplomatic Security records and making them available to promotion boards and raters;

* Lowering the numerical and temporal "bars" to adverse personnel responses to accumulated security infractions and violations;

* Listing violations monthly in State Magazine
* Providing Diplomatic Security with an opportunity to make security related inputs to employee ratings;

* Incorporating security awareness curriculum into Department training programs at all levels;

* Providing annual security refreshers for all employees with access to classified information.

While the details of these suggested changes are unclear and will be important, AFSA does not object in principle to any of them. We are prepared to work closely with the Department to define them clearly and to develop appropriate and effective ways of implementing them as quickly as possible.

However, the Department should not stop with measures to enhance security awareness. It must also take steps to provide employees with the necessary tools to do their jobs in a secure way, and to provide a supportive environment for security. For instance:

* The amount of classified information continues to increase rapidly. Some steps have been taken in recent years to reduce that burden by preventing overclassification of information. We need an ongoing, dynamic review to ensure the system is not overloaded.

* We need a system of follow-up and counseling to look into security violations, look at the causes for them and propose individual and systemic improvement to avoid them in the future.

* We need cutting edge research on secure electronic information management (including communications, distribution, storage and retirement) to provide better tools to meet the unique needs of diplomacy and foreign policy management.

* We need better training for all employees on available tools and how to use them to perform their jobs without compromising security.

As you have pointed out, Mr. Chairman, leadership, management and training are all critical to security management and effective diplomacy.

Resources are also critical. Logistical support for diplomacy is just as important as logistical support for the military, and the Foreign Affairs Account has been underfunded for many years. We need look no further than the issue of Embassy security. In spite of your personal efforts, the Administration still has not requested and the Congress has not appropriated the funds recommended by Admiral Crowe to bring our overseas posts up to proper security standards.

Information security has similar needs. The research mentioned above probably compares to a major defense project in scope and expense. In addition, a serious improvement of security at the Harry S. Truman State Department building will require major design and construction work to separate classified and unclassified areas, as well as significant new efforts to monitor security and escort visitors.

Senator Grams, the American Foreign Service Association deeply appreciates the support that you have given the Department of State and the Foreign Service in improving security at overseas posts. We will do our best to help address the concerns that you are raising today, and hope that we can continue to count on your support in the future.