The Foreign Service Journal, June 2007

56 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / J UN E 2 0 0 7 year’s program. The event is held on the day before ForeignAffairs Day in order to allowretirees in town for that event topar- ticipate. AFSA President Tony Holmes wel- comed participants at the Foreign Service Club for amorning briefing andbreakfast and thanked everyone for attending, espe- cially those who traveled long distances. Participants were then introduced to Ian Houston, AFSA’s director of legislative affairs, who gave an overviewof the issues at hand. Houston encouraged the partic- ipants to stay connected with AFSA, and particularlywithAFSA’s legislative team, in order to help create and strengthen a domestic constituency for the Foreign Service. The key messages taken to CapitolHill includedanappeal to fully fund the international affairs budget request of $36.2 billion and to eliminate the penalty for service overseas by passing overseas comparabili- ty pay. AFSA also advocated several issues of concern to ForeignService retirees, chiefly the passage of the Social SecurityFairnessAct of 2007 to repeal the Government Pen- sion Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision, both of which unfairlydisadvantage lower-income annu- itants. After taking a bus to Capitol Hill, par- ticipantsmet inside thehearing roomof the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations with two active-duty FSOs serving on the Hill asPearsonFellows. Ms. CherriDaniels from the office of Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla., andMs. Strother Murray fromtheofficeof Senator Joseph Lieberman, Independent- Conn.,spoke about the challenges facing the State Department on the Hill. Both highlighted the respect and admiration held by membersofCongress for the indi- vidual career diplomats working around the world to advance the nation’s interests. Noting that the Department of Defense has a strong, vocal constituency base, Daniels urged Foreign Service families and retirees to maintain contact with the local constituent offices of their members of Congress to advocate for a stronger Foreign Service. In a new approach, several teams of AFSA participants visited the majority leadership offices of the House and Senate as well as Democratic and Republi- can staffers of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committee. Mr. Houstonwill fol- lowupon thesemeetings tomaintaingood relationswith the leadershipoffices and the committees that affect the ForeignService. AFSA’sDayon theHill participants vis- ited congressional offices representing California, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois,Massachusetts,Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. o A F S A N E W S Day on the Hill • Continued from page 53 AFSA delegationmeets with Senator Richard Lugar, R-Ind. From left, AFSA/USAID VP Francisco Zamora, Legislative Affairs Director Ian Houston, Board Secretary Tex Harris, Sen. Lugar, Amb. Thomas Boyatt and Amb. William DePree. The AFSA delegation heads to Capitol Hill. Legislative Affairs Director Ian Houston, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and AFSA President Tony Holmes. MIKKELA THOMPSON