The Foreign Service Journal, March 2005

V.P. VOICE: STATE n BY LOUISE CRANE Condi, the Foreign Service will walk on hot coals for you if ... S omemonths agoIdevotedoneof these columns to local- ity pay, saying it is AFSA’s Job Number One. It still is. Once the White House announced Dr. Condoleezza Rice’s nomination to replace Secretary Powell, I wrote to the director general and to the assistant secretary for each region- al bureau. I asked each of them to list the lack of locality pay for ForeignService employees overseas in the newSecretary’s briefingbooks as oneof themajor challenges they face. I urged themtoput into their briefings books anote about the inequity of requiring members of the Foreign Service and their families to give up 16 percent of their pay when they go overseas, a gap betweenWashington salaries and overseas salaries that grows more punitive year by year. Then, when the director general announced a town meeting in December, I told HR Iwould like tobe the first personhe calledupon in theQ&A session. They agreed. I asked the director general for his position on locality pay. He replied that he is for it. The first briefing for Dr. Rice was on management issues. Security, personnel, budget, buildings. I was assured by several who were present that locality pay was raised and the case was made for it to be an urgent priority. And yes, the fact that our CIA, NSA and DIA colleagues all receive Washington pay while overseas was mentioned. Then, AFSA asked for a meeting with the Secretary-designate and it was sched- uled. Inour preparatorymeetingswithAFSAPresident JohnLimbert, the active-duty State members of the AFSA Governing Board insisted that for this meeting, the sole, single issue was asking her to get locality pay for everyone overseas. Locality pay was the one issueAmbassador Limbertmentioned inhis introduction. AFSAunderstands that the new Secretary is well aware of the importance of this issue for the Foreign Service. She knows the gap only grows. She knows overseas service is harsher than ever. InhermeetingwithAFSA, she acknowledged the sacrifice our families aremak- ing accompanying us overseas or staying behind when 500 of us serve at one of the 15 unaccompanied posts. What else can we do? AFSA will be writing to all U.S. ambassadors asking them to make a forceful case for locality pay when members of Congress, as well as staff delegations, visit. AFSA is now updating our legislative agenda, and the top priority remains local- ity pay. We are currently calculating how much salary and how much in TSP you lose while overseas during an average career. It is a considerable sum. Now add to that the lack of employment for spouses in a dual-income, two-401(k), two-Social Security society and it is clear we are asked to bear a significant sacrifice. What can you do? When a codel or staffdel visits your post, get this item on the agenda. At home, most of us are residents of theMaryland andVirginia suburbs and our congressional representatives are very seniormembers of bothparties ineachhouse of Congress. It will not hurt us to remind them that considerable numbers of their constituents aremaking a great financial sacrifice to serve our country, onewhich they are in a position to correct. It won’t be easy, but wemust keep up the pressure. Even if rebuffed this year and next, we must keep reminding everyone of the sacrifices we willingly make for our country. Locality pay should not be one of them. ▫ HAIL AND FAREWELL AFSA Governing Board Change In December, AFSA bid farewell to IBB Representative to the Governing Board Laurie Kassman, who has left the Foreign Service to take a position at the Middle East Institute as Director of Communications and Outreach. We are pleased to report that she will remain on the Foreign Service Journal ’s Editorial Board as a public member. Replacing Laurie as IBB rep is Sheldon Daitch, a Foreign Service engineer. He is reachable at sdaitch@ibb.gov. AFSA Staff Change We extend our heartfelt thanks to Ward Thompson for helping to create and ably directing the first AFSA Foreign Service Elderhostel programs for seven years. Ward is now fully retired from AFSA, although he has agreed to let us call on him for the Elderhostel and AFSA Speakers circuits on occasion. We are happy to announce that Janice Bay has taken over from Ward as AFSA's Director of Elderhostel Programs. Janice retired from the State Department in 2003 after a 36-year Foreign Service career including assignments as Deputy Assistant Secretary in EB, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in HR and tours in Germany, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. She can be reached at (202) 944- 5508 or at bay@afsa.org. Foreign Affairs Day Set for May 6 Foreign Affairs Day, the annual homecom- ing for retired State Department employees, will be held this year on Friday, May 6. There will be a ceremony at the site of the AFSAMemorial Plaques. More details will follow in April. Mark your calendars now so you can join AFSA for this important event. The guest list includes everyone invited last year and every- one newly retired. To make sure you’re on the list, e-mail foreignaffairsday@state.gov. AFSA’s Day on the Hill 2005 On Thursday, May 5, AFSA will again lead a group of retired Foreign Service personnel to visit their senators and representatives on Capitol Hill. Please join AFSA in support of the Foreign Service and American diplomacy. Look for more information in next month’s AFSA News and in your Foreign Affairs Day mailing. ▫ AFSA NEWS BRIEFS MARCH 2005 • AFSA NEWS 13