The Foreign Service Journal, January 2009

officers staffing the Operations Center or the Executive Secretariat. This would both incentivize officers who are considering bidding on these assign- ments and elevate the stature of the as- signments — and the H Bureau in general — by making clear that such service is a top priority. Other Ideas Use existing expertise. HR Online’s Employee Profile+ database could identify officers of all levels with expe- rience on Capitol Hill or congressional relations, who could then be encour- aged to work in H — much the same way an Arabic speaker might be con- tacted about an assignment in NEA. Once the department’s leadership de- cides to make the bureau’s staffing a higher priority, they can equate Hill ex- pertise with a “Congressional Needs” designation, similar to the critical- needs language designation. Identify outside expertise. Congres- sional appropriations are an extremely complex process. Even inWashington, few people understand the difference between appropriations and authoriza- tions, the timing and importance of mark-ups, or the subtleties and impli- cations of budget scoring. While ap- proximately one-third of the current H staff are political appointees, State should identify more veterans for those slots with the required contacts and ex- pertise — if they are not currently in the department — to provide training and strategic counsel on a long-term appropriations strategy. This should be done as committee memberships change with each new Congress. A related option would be to seek the services of a private firm on a con- tract or retainer basis to assist in devel- oping and executing a plan ensuring that accurate information is delivered in a timely manner to the right policy- making and budget staff. Beef up training. Foreign Service personnel need to appreciate the con- nection between their work and re- ceiving the resources in order to per- form in the future. Some version of the Foreign Service Institute’s PA-215 course, Principles of Appropriation Law, could easily be adapted as online or short-term training. As part of the leadership training continuum, that course should be mandatory for career progression. Require each bureau and office to have a congressional relations compo- nent in its annual action plan and mis- sion strategic plan. For example, tech- nology and personnel offices could work with H to document and demon- strate the constraints they encounter in meeting their congressionally man- dated obligations, such as increasing the opportunities for telecommuting, recruiting and hiring officers in a timely manner, and expanding paper- less processes. Overseas posts and their desk offi- cers could highlight upcoming events and activities that lend themselves to invitations to congressional members and staff. For issues of strategic im- portance, this might involve facilitating visits of foreign dignitaries and elected officials to meet with lawmakers. An- other possibility might be to support meetings and visits between foreign ambassadors in the U.S. and lawmak- ers on key bilateral issues. Encourage officers to visit their rep- resentative and senators upon return- ing from overseas tours, particularly those at critical-needs posts. Facili- tated by the expanded H staff, this would give policymakers and their staff up-to-date, personal indications of the role of the Foreign Service on the front lines and begin to establish recognition of our work. It is time for State to be more ag- gressive in seeking the resources to ful- fill its growing mission. None of these recommendations on their own will rectify the resource crisis overnight, but a multiyear effort would pay off in spades. As AFSA President John Naland noted in a recent column, “The For- eign Service personnel system has been re-engineered every 28 years — exactly the length of time since 1980,” the last time the Service received a congressional overhaul. With legisla- tive change on the horizon, State must ensure it has the resources to strongly advocate its role—and resource needs — in a revised regime of American for- eign aid, empowering itself in the fu- ture to live up to its potential. Stetson Sanders, a vice consul in Chen- nai, previously served in Dushanbe. Prior to entering the Foreign Service in 2004, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Russia, executive director of the In- ternational Intellectual Property Insti- tute, and an intern with the Congres- sional Economic Leadership Institute. J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 15 S P E A K I N G O U T Policymaking on Capitol Hill is a contact sport that relies on relationships. Have something to say? Speak Out! Send your thoughts to journal@afsa.org.