The Foreign Service Journal, March 2004

4 AFSA NEWS • MARCH 2004 Y E A R I N R E V I E W D.C.-area retirees present the Elderhostel week in Northern Virginia, the 50th there since the AFSA-sponsored program began in 1996. AFSA arranges for a distinguished group of retirees to explain U.S. diplomacy to audi- ences at Johns Hopkins University’s presti- gious “Evergreen” professional education pro- gram. AFSA intercedes on behalf of several State employees whose EERs had not been written or submitted in a timely manner. Discussions are held between AFSA and man- agement officials in the Diplomatic Courier Service addressing ongoing issues affecting traveling couriers. Over 100 university and college career centers purchase Inside a U.S. Embassy following AFSAmailing. October The Journal wins an Award for Publication Excellence certificate in the category of printed four- color magazines and AFSA News wins an award in the annual report category. The annual AFSA Elderhostel week at the Chautauqua Institution in New York draws a record 200 partici- pants. AFSA meets on Capitol Hill with House International Relations Committee staff to discuss the State Department 2004 authoriza- tion bill. AFSAmeets with the Senate Government Affairs Committee regarding status of new language in the Defense Department autho- rization bill conference. AFSA alsomeets with Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff to discuss progress on the State Department authorization bill and offer assistance. A joint press conference is held with the Uniformed Coalition urging the House and Senate to enact the Military Tax Fairness Act provisions. AFSAmeets with Donald Reid, Senior Coordinator for Diplomatic Security, con- cerning the handling of security clearances and related issues. The association concludes an agreement with the State Department on the requirement for hardship service in order to qualify for pro- motion to the Senior Foreign Service, with waivers in certain medical circumstances. AFSA agrees to the department’s proposed incentive packages for service in Iraq and Afghanistan. November OnNov. 11, President Bush signs H.R. 3365, the “Military Family Tax Relief Act,” providing special tax considera- tions for the Foreign Service and themilitary in exempting the capi- tal gains tax on the sale of a principal residence. AFSA President John Limbert speaks at the annual meeting and banquet of the Foreign Service Retirees Association of Florida in Jacksonville. Retiree Liaison Bonnie Brown meets with State’s legal, retirement and financial staff concerning measures to prevent future over- payments to annuitants and measures to ameliorate the effects of overpayments. She receives assurances that the monitoring of cal- culations and communications with retirees will improve. AFSA Governing Board members and staff receive a briefing fromDiplomatic Security on Iraq service. AFSA expresses the concerns of members and seeks better preparation for those assigned to Iraq. Rep. FrankWolf, R-Va., Chairman of the House Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Subcommittee, meets with AFSA to discuss our concerns regarding the omnibus appropriations package and other issues. AFSA collaborates withUSAIDmanagement on the USAIDWorkforce PlanningWorking Group and other working groups, and success- fully persuades management to offer an Immediate Benefit Plan toUSAID employees in 2004. USAIDAFSA continues an ongoing exchange withUSAA over its denial of eligibility to FS personnel serving inUSAID, FAS, FCS and IBB. USAIDAFSA creates and presents to man- agement a matrix that lays out the benefits disparity between USAID and other foreign affairs agencies. AFSA hopes the matrix will serve as a catalyst for movement on the issues listed. December As part of AFSA’s mid-term bargaining agen- da with FCS, we succeed in persuading FCS to endorse the new FAM guidelines on the Member of Household Policy. AFSA proposes changes to the time-in-ser- vice/time-in-class rules for State generalists who convert from specialist at the mid-level. We also propose changes to HR records to take into account the special circumstances affecting employees who are called up for mil- itary service. We successfully contest Human Resource decisions to deny two temporary quarters allowance extension requests. AFSAmeets with Senate Government Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Service staff to dis- cuss the impact on the Senior Foreign Service of the DOD authorization bill. The measure would freeze an existing discrepancy in SFS remuneration because of the lack of locality pay for those serving abroad. AFSAmeets with the Senior Executive Association’s general counsel to discuss the impact on SES and SFS of the DOD autho- rization provisions eliminating locality pay and the freezing of salary levels as of Jan. 11, 2004, and to seek an (ultimately successful) joint approach to our common problem. The Journal sets an all-time record (for one month and for one year) for advertising, both in pages sold and total advertising revenue. In spite of a relatively difficult year for the advertising industry, the FSJ increased gross sales by more than 10 percent in 2003. AFSA hosts the last of 28 recruitment lun- cheons in 2003 for new generalists and spe- cialists: a full 85 percent of all new hires join AFSA. AFSA hosts three retirement champagne toasts for retiring members and welcomes 256 new and rejoining retired members. Membership reaches 12,474 by year’s end. AFSA assists hundreds of employees from State, USAID, FCS, FAS and IBB during 2003 with administrative issues, grievances, disci- pline cases, security investigations and security clearance matters. ▫ AFSA Annual Report 2003