The Foreign Service Journal, April 2008

A FSA welcomes all State Depart- ment retirees to the annual home- coming event, Foreign Affairs Day, on May 2. Deputy Secretary John D. Negroponte will deliver the keynote address. The AFSAMemorial Plaque ceremo- ny takes place during Foreign Affairs Day to honor those Foreign Service person- nel who have lost their lives while serv- ing their country abroad. Two names will be added this year: Steven Thomas Stefani, a Foreign Agricultural Service employee killed in Afghanistan on Oct. 4, 2007; and JohnM. Granville, a USAID FSO killed in a terrorist attack in Khar- toumon Jan. 1, 2008. The ceremony will be held at the site of theMemorial Plaques in the State Department C Street lobby. Foreign Affairs Day invitations were mailed out in late February. If you did not receive one, please e-mail the fol- lowing information to foreignaffairs day@state.gov : last name, first name, retirement date, Civil or Foreign Service, street address and e-mail address. All State Department retirees are cor- dially invited to a reception hosted by AFSA from 3 to 5 p.m. at the F Street Bistro in the State Plaza Hotel, 2117 E Street NW, across from the department. Please stop by to reconnect with colleagues and catch up on the latest Foreign Service news. A FSA representatives met on Jan. 17 withCharlesRangel,D-N.Y., chair- man of the powerful House Ways andMeans Committee. They hand-deliv- ered a letter signed by 110 Foreign Service members serving in Iraq urging Congress to act on H.R. 1974, which would lift the tax burden placed on civilians serving in combat zones. The letter toChairmanRangel reads, in part: “We are 110 Foreign Service and Civil Service civilian employees of the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Develop- ment who are all voluntarily serv- inginIraq,writingtourgeyoursup- port for H.R. 1974, the Federal EmployeeCombatZoneParityAct. “We believe that United States civilians working in combat zones deserve taxbenefits similar to those American Foreign Service Association • April 2008 ANNUAL HOMECOMING FOR RETIREES MAY 2 Join AFSA for Foreign Affairs Day LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FS Members Urge War Zone Tax Exemption In This Issue: In Defense of “Traditional” Diplomacy ..................53 Sinclaire Language Award Winners Announced .......................................55 Needed: A Commitment to First-Class Retiree Services...............56 FCS Working Conditions..................57 Journal Circulation Tops 15,000 ....................................57 AFSA President Visits Retirees, Presents Award ................................58 Call for SOSA Nominations..............60 Classifieds .........................................61 AFSA NEWS Continued on page 54 Continued on page 59 A P R I L 2 0 0 8 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 51 NO MORE BUSINESS-CLASS TRAVEL AFSA Regrets New Travel Restrictions BY SHAWN DORMAN S ince 2002, business-class travel had been authorized for permanent change-of-station travel that exceed- ed 14 hours. On Jan. 25, the StateDepart- ment announced to employees that the Office of Management and Budget’s gov- ernmentwide directive restricting premi- um-class travel applied to the Foreign Service andwouldbe implemented imme- diately. Following the announcement, AFSA received hundreds of e-mails from the membership taking issuewith thenewtrav- el policy. Both State management and AFSAhave expressed regret about the new restrictions, but the reality is that compli- ance ismandatory and applies to all agen- cies. Statemanagement tellsAFSAthat the Pictured left to right: AFSA LegislativeDirector IanHouston, AFSA President John Naland, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., AFSA State VP Steve Kashkett and State Governing Board Representative Daphne Titus.