The Foreign Service Journal, April 2008

The Budget: Good News, But Not This Year F irst, the bad news. Congress was so late in passing the Fiscal Year 2008 budgetthatagenciesarejustnowfinal- izing their spendingplans. TheFY-08State Department operatingbudget isbleak. The WhiteHouse’s original funding request for diplomatic andconsularprograms failed to adequately cover such expenses as foreign currency exchange losses and govern- mentwide annual salary increases. Then Congress took that inadequate budget request and cut $200million from it. As a result, not onlywill State be unable tocreate anyof the254newForeignService positions that it requested, but itwill not be able to fund existing operations at current levels (excludingEmbassyBaghdad, which is fundedprimarilyby supplemental appro- priations). The inadequate FY-08 budget followsdisappointingFY2006andFY2007 allocations that also failed to fund request- edstaffing increases (outsideof consular and diplomatic security). In view of the ever- expanding demands being placed on U.S. diplomacy, this endangers U.S. national security. Additional FY 2008 funding for State operations might be available via an Iraq supplemental appropriation, but that is far from certain. There is some good news, though, on prospects forFY2009. Thepresident’sbud- get request, presented toCongress on Feb. 4, calls for substantial increases inState and USAID staffing. The State Department’s requestedincreaseisforapproximately1,000 positions and theUSAIDincrease is for 350 positions. AFSA understands that these increases came only after personal lobby- ing by Secretary Rice. Significantly, the budget also requests funding for ForeignService compensation reform to close the overseas pay gap. Of course, getting those requests into thepres- ident’s budget is only the first step. Persuading Congress to appropriate the funds will be impossible without deter- mined personal lobbying by the Secretary and Deputy Secretary John Negroponte. AFSAlooks forward tosupportingSecretary Rice in her efforts to gain support for the budget request. 54 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 0 8 provided to the military. The federal gov- ernment relies on civilian volunteers to fill the positions needed for reconstruction assignments and other tasks in areas such as Afghanistan and Iraq. The sacrifice of a long-termseparation fromone’s familyand friends inservingour country abroad isnot limited to the military. Members of the ForeignService living andworking incom- batzonesareexposedtouniquedangersand potentially life-threatening situations. “The tax benefit would be a significant gesturetoAmericancivilianswhoshowgreat couragewhile serving incombat zones, and it will provide a greater incentive for recruitingvolunteers for thosepositions. … “H.R.1974wasintroducedbyRep.Wolf on April 19 and was referred to the Ways andMeansCommittee,whereitisstillpend- ing. Thebill haswide andgrowing support, with27bipartisanco-sponsors. … Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your long history of support for the Foreign Service and for your consideration of our concerns.” AFSAalsoraised thepaymodernization issue with Chairman Rangel, and he has offered to try to be helpful. The congress- man established the Charles B. Rangel InternationalAffairsFellowshipProgramin 2002 to help increase diversity within the ForeignService. The programattracts and supports outstanding young people who haveaninterestinpursuingaForeignService career. A F S A N E W S Legislative Update • Continued from page 51 From left: AFSA Legislative Director Ian Houston, AFSA USAID Vice President Francisco Zamora, AFSA President John Naland, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and former AFSA President Dennis Hays. AFSA Testifies on the Hill O n Jan. 23, AFSA President John Naland joinedretiredcareer ambassadorsThomas Pickering and Marc Grossman in testi- fying before the Subcommittee on National Security and ForeignAffairs of theHouseCom- mittee on Oversight and Government Reform. The topic was “Fortress America Abroad: Effective Diplomacy and the Future of U.S. Embassies.” Naland’s remarks focused on the human element of diplomacy. He stressed the need to funddiplomacy anddevelopment assis- tanceand toendchronicunderstaffingandunder- investment inprofessional development. He also highlighted the need to end the overseas pay gap. Naland’s testimony can be found at www. afsa.org/congress/012308testimony.cfm. Hope for Pay Modernization? A FSAhada very encouragingmeetingwithRepresentative IleanaRos-Lehtinen, R-Fla., on Jan. 16 in herWashington, D.C. office. Rep. Ros-Lehtinen is the senior rankingRepublicanmember of theHouse ForeignAffairsCommittee and a key player on the pay modernization question.