The Foreign Service Journal, March 2012

M A R C H 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 43 A FSA is more active than ever in advocating our top policy priorities. In 2011, we ex- panded our policy and legislative team and now have two full-time staff dedicated to en- gaging with Congress, the State Department and the federal government. Ed Dickens, AFSA’s policy di- rector, is a retired FSO with 22 years of experience with the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Devel- opment. Clint Lohse, AFSA’s legislative assistant, came to us after five years as a staffer in the U.S. Senate. Congress and Foreign Affairs This has been a difficult and frustrating year, marked by deep disagreements in Congress over spending priorities and much else. The political climate in Con- gress creates constraints and challenges for all federal agencies, departments and pro- grams. The federal deficit and debt have shaped nearly every policy question before Congress this year and led to heightened scrutiny of the federal budget. Although several members of the House and Senate have called for deep cuts to the foreign af- fairs budget,AFSA is proud to have spoken up in strong sup- port of funding for diplomacy and development. The FY 2012 Budget Happily, Congress passed an omnibus Fiscal Year 2012 appropriations bill in December, funding the government for another year and averting a shutdown. International affairs spending was cut, but not as sharply as had been feared. Overseas Comparability Pay was preserved at 16.52 percent through September 2012. The threat to eliminate OCP for personnel serving overseas was real but did not materialize. While we are pleased that the current level has been preserved, we remain vigilant and committed to seek- ing full implementation of OCP at the Washington, D.C., rate. The omnibus measure provided $42.1 billion in base funding for State & Foreign Operations, which is $6 billion below 2011 funding and $8.7 billion below the president’s request. That figure is a negotiated compromise between higher funding in an earlier Senate version and a draft ver- sion in the House containing much deeper cuts. Reflecting the difficult fiscal and political climate, that spending level represents an approximately 5-percent decrease from FY 11 and a 14-percent cut fromFY 10, at a time when investments in diplomacy and development are more critical than ever. The bill contained a total of $13.2 billion in funding for operational costs for the State Department and approxi- mately $1.3 billion for USAID’s operating expenses. The final number for USAID OE was below the request, but far above a House-proposed cut that would have imperiled sev- eral initiatives. A separate appropriations bill signed into law in Novem- ber funded the Foreign Commercial Service at $270 million and the Foreign Agricultural Service at $176 million. The Foreign Commercial Service appropriation was above what it might otherwise have been, and AFSA was directly engaged in that outcome. As AFSA has contributed to the larger debate on foreign affairs spending, we have focused on the “people” side of the budget and on efforts to protect essential Foreign Service accounts, including resources for more and better professional education and training enabled by an adequate ‘training float.” AFSA on Capitol Hill AFSA is building on its positive reputation as an educa- tional and practical resource for legislators and their staff. During the past year, AFSA has enhanced and strengthened collaboration and cooperation between our in-house leg- islative team and AFSA’s bipartisan political action com- mittee. AFSA’s leadership have met with, among others, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations; Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations; Senator Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Representative Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Appropria- tions Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations; and Representative Kay Granger, R-Texas, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Oper- ANNUAL REPORT American Foreign Service Association 2011 A F S A N E W S Legislative Affairs: The Fight Continues B Y E DWARD D ICKENS , D IRECTOR OF P OLICY , AND C LINT L OHSE , L EGISLATIVE A FFAIRS A SSISTANT AFSA is proud to have spoken up in strong support of funding for diplomacy and development.