The Foreign Service Journal, June 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2015 55 AFSA NEWS Second Annual Advocacy Day: AFSA Brings the Foreign Service to the Hill The American Foreign Service Association spent a day—and an evening—on the Hill on April 15, meeting members of Congress and their staffs to discuss the importance of the Foreign Service to national security, economic development and job creation. On AFSA’s second annual Advocacy Day, AFSA Gov- erning Board members and professional staff visited 12 congressional offices to talk about AFSA’s priority issues of career and profes- sional development, over- seas security and Overseas Comparability Pay, as well as opportunities for collabora- tion with the Hill. Congressional interlocu- tors were primarily staff of members of Congress who currently serve as authoriz- ers (Senate Foreign Relations Committee) and appropria- tors (House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, For- eign Operations and Related Programs). Meetings also included staffers from the offices of presidential hopeful Sena- tor Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Senate Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). That evening, AFSA hosted its annual congres- sional reception at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. AFSA President Robert J. Silverman welcomed congressional guests who came to listen to stories of the Foreign Service told by three speakers. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who recently returned from the Summit of the Americas in Panama, is a staunch supporter of diplomacy and development and currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs. She spoke pas- sionately on the importance of the Foreign Service and the need to better educate her peers on the benefits of a strong and well-funded Service. Ambassador Gerald M. Feierstein, currently the prin- cipal deputy assistant secre- tary in State’s Bureau of Near East Affairs, talked about his personal experiences overseas. Amb. Feierstein joined the Foreign Service in 1975 and has served in Islamabad (twice), Tunis, Riyadh, Peshawar, Muscat, Jerusalem, Beirut and as ambassador to Yemen from 2010 to 2013. In addition, he discussed his experience as a Pearson Fellow in the office AFSA/BRITTANYDELONG AFSA/BRITTANYDELONG of then-Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.). The final speaker, Edith Bartley, vice president of government affairs at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, shared her own Foreign Service story of courage. Ms. Bartley’s father and brother were killed in the 1998 attack on Embassy Nairobi. FSO Julian Bartley Sr. had been consul general in Nai- robi at the time of the attack and Julian Jr., Ms. Bartley’s 20-year-old brother, had been working at the embassy for the summer. Ms. Bartley, who was away at school when the attack happened, has since worked tirelessly to advocate for victims of international ter- rorism and to get justice and compensation for Foreign Service families and other embassy employees killed in terrorist attacks while work- ing abroad. n —Debra Blome, Associate Editor AFSA hosted a reception on Capitol Hill in honor of Advocacy Day. From left: AFSA Director of Advocacy Javier Cuebas, AFSA USAID Vice President Sharon Wayne, guests of honor Susan Bartley and Edith Bartley, AFSA President Robert J. Silverman and AFSA Executive Director Ian Houston.