The Foreign Service Journal, March 2019

18 MARCH 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL TALKING POINTS Senate Confirms New Director General T he U.S. Senate confirmed Ambassador Carol Z. Perez by a voice vote on Jan. 2 to become the newDirector General of the Foreign Service. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan swore her in on Feb. 1 at the State Department. Amb. Perez, who joined the Foreign Service in 1987, is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor. She replaces Acting DGWilliam “Bill” Todd. Ambassador (ret.) Arnold Chacón resigned from the position in 2017. Amb. Perez was previously confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Chile in 2016. Prior to that, she served as principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Human Resources (2015-2016) and in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (2013-2015). Turkey Releases FSN from Prison O n Jan. 30 Turkish authorities released Hamza Uluçay, a 37-year employee of U.S. Consulate Adana’s political section, fromprison. Uluçay had been sentenced to four years and six months in prison and was released based on time already served. Originally detained and questioned in February 2017 because of routine contacts with Kurdish authorities on behalf of the consulate, Uluçay was arrested and charged with being part of a terrorist organization. Two other locally employed staffmem- bers, Metin Topuz andMete Canturk, both employees at the consulate in Istanbul, remain in prison. In November 2017, then- Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Jonathan Cohen said that it appeared the men “were arrested for maintaining legitimate con- tacts with Turkish government and local officials and others in the context of their official duties on behalf of the U.S. government.” Secretary of State Mike Pom- peo raised the cases during mul- tiple visits to Turkey in 2018. The Foreign Service Journal previously covered the story in December. USG Breaks Record for Longest Shutdown A fter 35 days, the longest shutdown in U.S. history ended on Jan. 25. In a Jan. 11 memo to the department that addressed the shutdown, Secretary Pompeo wrote that: “We face a serious humanitarian and security crisis, and the president is working to secure our southern border and bring reforms that will ensure the safety and security of the American people.” On Jan. 17, with the end still nowhere in sight, Bill Todd, the State Department’s acting under secretary for management, issued a statement recalling all State employees to work for two weeks, with pay. Funds had been located to cover one pay period. Ironically, a planned worldwide conference on border security, which the State Department hosts annually, had to be cancelled due to the shutdown. Some good news was forthcoming, however: the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, signed by the president on Jan. 16, is now law. It not only guarantees back pay for both exempted and furloughed workers after the shutdown ended, but also guarantees back pay after any future shutdowns. On Jan. 25, the president, facing mounting criticism, called for a three- week pause, during which the govern- ment would reopen, and Congress would try once again to reach an agreement on border security. The FSJ goes to press before the end of the pause. Though members of the Foreign Service, and all federal employees, have now received their back pay, uncertainty remains. The Congressional Budget Office reported on Jan. 28 that the shutdown cost the U.S. economy $11 billion, although they expect that $8 billion of that will be recovered as federal employ- ees receive their back pay, resulting in increased economic activity. Global COM Conference Goes On As Scheduled T he Jan. 16-17 Global Chiefs of Mission Conference, “One Team, One Mission, One Future,” which had been scheduled long before the shut- down, went forward as planned in Washington, D.C. In a message to employees Jan. 11, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated: “Bringing together the men and women who lead our overseas diplomatic mis- sions is essential to successfully achiev- With her husband holding the Bible and their daughter in attendance, Ambassador Carol Z. Perez is sworn in as Director General of the Foreign Service by Secretary of State John Sullivan on Feb. 1. U.S.DEPARTMENTOFSTATE