The Foreign Service Journal, June 2008

Sick Leave Compensation Employeesunder theFederal Employees Retirement System currently receive no compensation for unused sick leave when they retire. OnMarch10, Rep. JimMoran, D-Va., offered a bill, H.R. 5573, designed to compensate retiring federal employees for a portion of that time. Rep. Moran’s bill would provide employees retiring under FERS up to $10,000 in compensa- tion. Employeeswouldbe paid10percent of the hourly average of their “high three” years of salary for all but the first 500hours of their unused sick leave. The bill ismeant todiscourage employ- ees fromdrawingdown their sick leaveben- efits as they near the end of their careers. The legislationwill also affect employees in the Foreign Service Pension System, because the Foreign Service Act provides for conformity between FERS and FSPS. Citizenship Requirements for U.S. President Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., recently introduced legislation, S. 2678, stat- ing that any child born abroad to citizens serving in theU.S.militarywouldmeet the constitutional requirement that theUnited States presidentmust be anatural-borncit- izen. AFSAmoved quickly on this bill in an effort to broaden its scope to include the children of U.S. citizens serving over- seas in theU.S. Foreign Service. Wemade calls to Sen. McCaskill and to senior staff of the Senate JudiciaryCommittee, which has jurisdiction on the matter. Prospects for the bill’s passage are unclear. Budget Update The administration’s now-pending Fiscal Year 2009 budget request seeks to add 1,076 new positions at State and 300 at USAID (almost all for Foreign Service personnel). This request represents a commendable push to better staff and fund the diplomatic platform upon which foreign policy and development assistance are implemented. Testifying on April 9 before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, Secretary of State Con- doleezza Rice reinforced the need for addi- tional positions. AFSA is supporting this push for resources with all of the tools at our dis- posal. We have solicited bipartisan sup- port for the administrationbudget request in face-to-face meetings with key law- makers, in testimony at a formal con- gressional hearing and innumerous letters to the Hill. On the media front, we have high- lighted the budget and staffing needs in interviews broadcast onCNN, the “Lehrer Newshour” and three different NPR shows. AFSAcomments and information onbudget and staffing gaps have alsobeen incorporated in articles by major media including the WashingtonPost , Washington Times , Federal Times , Government Execu- tive, NPR, Bloomberg News, and major wire services. We have placed op-eds, editorials, or letters-to-the-editor addressing these issues in the WashingtonPost,WashingtonTimes, Federal Times and the Houston Chronicle . At AFSA’s urging, numerous members have published their own views in support of budget and staffingneeds in local papers around the country. AFSA also provided background information on this issue to participants in our national speakers pro- gram, reaching audiences in 44 states and Washington, D.C. o O n March 13, AFSA had an excellent conversationwith RepresentativeHenryWax- man,D-Calif.,whochairs theHouse Oversight andGovernmentReform Committee, which has wide-rang- ing jurisdiction over labor and fed- eral work-force matters across the government. AFSA discussed the State Department budget with Chairman Waxman and strongly advocated action on the pay equity problem. Both his committee and the House Foreign Affairs Com- mittee have a role to play in solv- ing this. O n Feb. 13, AFSA met withRepresentativeFrank Wolf, R-Va., a longtime supporter of the Foreign Service (seen here, center). The conver- sationwas focusedon the need to increase Foreign Service staffing and to secure a solution to thepay equity problem, both of which Mr. Wolf agrees must be done. Rep.Wolf serves as themost senior Republicanon the powerful HouseAppropriations Subcommittee on State, ForeignOperations andRelatedPrograms. This committee is the principal entity tasked with approving resources for State and USAID operating accounts. A F S A N E W S J UN E 2 0 0 8 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 63 AFSA ON THE HILL Legislative Update BY IAN HOUSTON, AFSA LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS DIRECTOR From left: Former AFSABoardMember Gil Sheinbaum, Chairman Henry A. Waxman, AFSA President John Naland and AFSA Legislative Affairs Director Ian Houston.