The Foreign Service Journal, June 2013

26 JUNE 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL In 1981, when I first transferred to the agency’s legislative affairs office, the director schooled me in the importance of developing and maintaining good rela- tions. As he pointed out, members of Congress and their staff are our strongest supporters, as well as our sever- est critics. With that in mind, he strongly encouraged us to go on daily Hill “walkarounds” to chat with staff on our oversight committees and respond to their requests. As a career liaison officer, I always articulated the current administration’s position on the issues. I still recall staffers saying jokingly, “I liked you better when you were in the other party.” The Department of State and USAID have four principal oversight committees: the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations authorization committees, and the House and Senate Foreign Operations appropriations subcommit- tees. We also work with other committees that have oversight responsibilities or particular interests in our programs, includ- ing the House and Senate agriculture committees (for the P.L. 480 Food for Peace program), armed services committees (military cooperation), and governmental oversight commit- tees (general oversight and investigation). And we reach out to other members and their personal staff to address any specific concerns. Foreign Service officers play a key role in efforts to maintain good relations with Congress, particularly given the respect that most members have for the “street cred” of the men and women who carry out our overseas policies and programs. The legislative affairs offices at State and USAID take full advantage of that resource to advance each administration’s programs and goals, both by coordinating visits to Capitol Hill by Washington and overseas staff, and by facilitating overseas travel by congressional del- egations and staffers to U.S. project sites. Members of codels and staffdels, as these groups are famil- iarly known, nearly always return with a greater appreciation for the development and humanitarian activities we are under- taking around the world. But because of legislators’ fears that primary election challengers will malign any overseas travel as “junkets,” the number of such delegations has declined in recent years. (In fact, some members of Congress even take pride in not owning a U.S. passport.) This discouraging trend makes it all the more imperative for Foreign Service personnel in the field to make the most of such visits. The Value of Firsthand Accounts Whenever individual FSOs are back in the United States on home leave, it is often useful and desirable for them to sched- Anne Wenikoff AFSA’s book, Inside a U.S. Embassy: Diplomacy at Work , is an essential guide to American diplomacy that answers the question of what diplomats do. The book is circulating on Capitol Hill. A well-informed legislative branch is a good partner for U.S. foreign policy and foreign assistance programs.