OVERSEAS PAY GAP

2. As detailed in my April 9 update ( http://www.afsa.org/040908overseas.cfm ), unless legislation starts to move forward soon, AFSA sees no chance of ending the pay gap before the election year 2008 legislative calendar begins to run out. Thus, AFSA continues to push this issue as hard as we can:

-- AFSA continues to press Congress to act. We helped to organize a letter signed by seven Members of Congress urging House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and ranking committee member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) to bring up the pay gap bill (H.R. 3202 which was offered by Rep. Chris Smith R-NJ) for mark-up and committee vote by May. The friends of the Foreign Service signing the letter were Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Rep. James Moran (D-VA), Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA), and Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA). We also appreciate other lawmakers who have cosponsored H.R. 3202. Just this week, Rep. Chris Smith and Rep. Don Payne (D-NJ) circulated a letter among their House colleagues which stated "this Congress has an obligation to resolve the pay equity problem without further delay." AFSA has secured a meeting directly with Chairman Berman and a separate meeting with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), both scheduled for May 8. And we continue to communicate with the senior staff of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden (D-DE) and other key Senators.

-- AFSA met on April 22 with Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy. Speaking for AFSA, I told the Under Secretary that we are convinced that the time has come for the senior State leadership to act on what they have identified as one of their top management priorities. I urged him to reach out to Congress to seek a way forward lest the Bush Administration's eight years in office end with this ever-growing disincentive to overseas service still unresolved. I told him that, if State acts and succeeds, then Secretary Rice and her management team will reap enormous gratitude. If State makes a major push but falls short due to external obstacles, then employees will give Secretary Rice full credit for trying. However, if State refuses to make a serious effort, then it will be a harsh slap in the face for employees who are being asked to do so much in often difficult and dangerous places around the globe.

3. For more background, see Pay Equity Q&A at < http://www.afsa.org/OCP2008Jan.pdf > and Crossing the Rubicon on the Overseas Pay Gap at < http://www.afsa.org/011108overseas.cfm >.

FY09 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS BUDGET

4. Both houses of Congress are moving forward in developing their respective budget resolutions which serve as blueprints for the eventual appropriations bills. The international affairs portion of the budget (150 Account) has not faired well in the early stages of this process. AFSA is grateful to Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) for their efforts on March 14 on the Senate floor to restore $4.1 billion to the international affairs budget that was to be taken out in the Senate budget resolution. In a significant, bipartisan show of support, 73 Senators voted in favor of the amendment.

5. AFSA continues to make the case for additional Foreign Service positions as part of the budget debate. We have had direct conversations with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), who is the Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. We also met on April 3 with senior staff of Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) who chairs this subcommittee. And we are in frequent communication with senior staff of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) who is the Ranking Member of that subcommittee.

EMERGENCY WAR SUPPLEMENTAL SPENDING

6. AFSA continues to lobby for funds for the Foreign Service in the pending Iraq and Afghanistan supplemental spending bill. It is AFSA's understanding that, to staff many of the positions in those countries, State transferred hundreds of Foreign Service positions from posts around the globe and from Washington, D.C. Those transfers have left the losing posts and offices seriously understaffed. At the same time, to fill key Foreign Service positions in Iraq with language-proficient officers and to expand the pool of Arabic language proficient Foreign Service members, State increased Arabic-language training at the Foreign Service Institute. Because those new training billets are likewise unfunded, it is AFSA's understanding that State has diverted positions from other priorities in order to put diplomats through those long-term programs.

7. Thus, AFSA is urging Congress to fund the back-filling of those in-country and language training positions. This could allow State to hire additional Foreign Service members and re-establish the positions that were taken from posts worldwide. AFSA realizes that one-year supplemental funding would not guarantee permanence of any new positions, but we are willing to fight for continuing funding later. AFSA estimates the cost of backfilling 450 positions at approximately $100 million. AFSA is urging Congress to place this funding in the FY08 war supplemental measure, for it is clearly a funding emergency related to the ongoing wars. Congress is beginning to move forward with the supplemental and AFSA's views have been heard.

HERITAGE FOUNDATION TALK

8. Last week, I spoke at the Heritage Foundation on "The Case for a Strengthened Foreign Service." The invitation came after I wrote to Heritage President Edwin Feulner applauding his December 2007 essay "Stuck in a Real State" < http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed120307b.cfm > in which he commented on last year's Iraq staffing flap at the State Department. While some commentators took that opportunity to bash the Foreign Service, Dr. Feulner insightfully looked beyond the headlines to identify deeper problems, including the failure to give diplomats serving in war zones benefits similar to those given to military members. Moreover, he made the key point that America's National Security Strategy depends not only on our superb armed forces, but also on the other elements of national power, including diplomacy and foreign aid.

9. In my remarks, I 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. I detailed how Secretary Rice's pending budget request would strengthen diplomacy and development assistance. While I acknowledged that there are probably many reforms needed at the State Department that have little to do with funding, staffing, and training, I stressed that the prerequisite for any positive change is adequate resources. Continuing to limp along with inadequate operating budgets and hollowed-out staffing serves no-one's interests. My talk generated a thoughtful discussion by the participants, most of whom agreed that America needs a Foreign Service that is large enough and well-trained enough to "step up to the plate" overseas with the knowledge, skills, abilities, and outlooks needed for 21st century diplomacy.

HEARING ON FOREIGN ASSISTANCE REFORM

10. On April 23, House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) convened a special hearing entitled, “Foreign Assistance Reform in the New Administration: Challenges and Solutions.” At the hearing, Chairman Berman noted, “it is painfully obvious to Congress, the Administration, foreign aid experts, and NGOs alike, that our foreign assistance program is fragmented and broken and in critical need of overhaul.” He added, “I strongly believe that America’s foreign assistance program is not in need of some minor changes, but, rather, it needs to be reinvented and retooled in order to respond to the significant challenges our country and the world faces in the 21st century.” His opening statement will be reprinted in the AFSA News section of the June issue of the Foreign Service Journal. AFSA is scheduled to meet with Chairman Berman on May 8 to discuss a variety of issues.

RETIREE ISSUES

11. Several recent AFSANet messages have highlighted AFSA's advocacy of issues of concern to our retired members. Please see < http://www.afsa.org/retiree/012608update.cfm > and < http://www.afsa.org/retiree/040308update.cfm >. In addition, AFSA’s officers are continuing the tradition of meeting with Foreign Service retiree groups around the country. Over the past nine months, I have met with groups in Northern VA, Sarasota, FL, Austin, TX, and Houston, TX. I will visit with Foreign Service retirees in the Raleigh/Durham, NC area on May 5 and will visit with retirees in Los Angeles, CA on May 15 and San Francisco, CA on May 17. During the Los Angeles stop, I am scheduled to meet with the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times to discuss the need for more resources for diplomacy and development assistance.

SICK LEAVE CREDIT

12. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) offered a bill (HR 5573) on March 10 that is designed to compensate more retiring federal employees for a portion of their unused sick leave. Rep. Moran’s bill would provide employees retiring under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) up to $10,000 in compensation. The legislation will also cover employees in the Foreign Service Pension System (FSPS), inasmuch as the Foreign Service Act provides for conformity between FERS and FSPS. Employees would be paid 10 percent of the hourly average of their three highest salaries for all but the first 500 hours of their unused sick leave. Employees under FERS and FSPS currently receive no compensation for their unused sick leave when they retire. AFSA has weighed in urging passage, but prospects for this bill this year are uncertain.

REST AND RECUPERATION AND PUERTO RICO

13. Rep. Luis Fortuno (R-PR) has offered a bill (H.R. 3658) which addresses Rest and Recuperation Travel (R&R) specifically as it relates to Puerto Rico. There are Foreign Service employees who were born and raised in Puerto Rico and have maintained Puerto Rico as their "state" of residence. This bill would allow them, as well as those from other US territories, to have the same R&R privileges as the rest of Foreign Service employees. (Under the Foreign Service Act, Home Leave includes Puerto Rico as it "may be taken in the United States, its territories and possessions, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico," while R&R travel to the U.S. is statutorily limited to "locations in the United States," which is defined as not including Puerto Rico.) The bill, which AFSA is supporting, has 15 co-sponsors from both parties. While we expect the bill to be favorably reported out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the next few days, the Senate does not yet have any companion legislation to the House version.

PIT BUY BACK PROGRAM

14. The PIT buyback is available to former "Part time, Intermittent, Temporary" employees who will be eligible for an annuity under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or the Foreign Service Pension System (FSPS), but who were unable to participate in the retirement system from January 1, 1989 to May 23, 1998. They are now able to purchase credit toward retirement by making a deposit equal to the deductions that would have been made from their earnings if they had been eligible, plus interest. Applicants for retirement must have at least five years of creditable service - which includes prior service as PIT employees - to qualify for a FERS or FSPS annuity. If an applicant plans or expects to complete at least five years of service by the time he or she is otherwise qualified to receive an annuity, it makes sense to purchase credit for prior service. In the event that one does not acquire five years of service, one may apply for refund of any annuity deposits made. If an applicant does not plan to complete five years of service, it would not be worthwhile to purchase credit for prior service.

CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENTS FOR U.S. PRESIDENT

15. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) recently introduced legislation (S. 2678) that would declare that any child born abroad to citizens serving in the United States military would meet the constitutional requirement that anyone serving as President of the United States be "a natural born citizen." AFSA moved quickly to urge that the bill's scope be broaden to include the children of U.S. citizens serving overseas in the U.S. Foreign Service. We made calls to Sen. McCaskill and to senior staff of the Judiciary Committee which has jurisdiction over this matter. As of now, it appears that this legislation may not advance. If it does begin to move, AFSA will seek an amendment expanding it to include the Foreign Service.

MEMORIAL FOR AMBASSADOR DAVID NEWSOM

16. The Institute for the Study of Diplomacy and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University cordially invite AFSA members and other friends and colleagues to attend a memorial service for the late Ambassador David D. Newsom on May 29 at Georgetown at 2-3 pm. Ambassador Newsom died March 30 in Charlottesville. The service will be held on the Georgetown Campus at Gaston Hall on the third floor of the Healy Building, across from the main Georgetown gate at 37th and O Streets. It is the building with the clock tower. There will be a reception thereafter at the Riggs Library, also on the third floor. Parking is available in the Visitor Lot, Southwest Garage. Please enter from Canal Road; you will receive a reduced parking rate of $2 by mentioning the Newsom Memorial Service. To attend the service, please RSVP at 202-965-5735, ext. 205.

17. Ambassador Newsom was born in Richmond, California, attended the University of California at Berkeley and the Columbia University School of Journalism. He joined the Foreign Service in 1947. In his long and distinguished career, he served as Ambassador to Libya, Indonesia, and the Philippines. He was Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, and retired as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in 1981. Thereafter he served as Director of the Institute of Diplomacy at Georgetown and as Professor of International Affairs at the University of Virginia. He was honored in 2000 with AFSA's Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy. He is survived by his wife Jean Newsom and five children. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Foreign Service Association Scholarship Fund or the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Newsom Junior Fellowship in Diplomacy.

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