The Foreign Service Journal, June 2015

56 JUNE 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA ON THE HILL AFSA Scores Victories, Garners Support AFSA has been busy on the Hill this spring. Tenures and Promotions Capitalizing on lessons learned last year, AFSA started working early with both majority and minor- ity members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the State Department and USAID to urge confirmations of the Foreign Service tenure and promotion list. Our efforts paid off. Just before leaving town for recess in March, the full Senate confirmed the commission, tenure and promotion of 374 members of the Foreign Service. We look forward to con- tinuing to work with Chair- man Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and minority members on other important initiatives such as the State Depart- ment Authorization bill. State Department Reauthorization Congress has not passed an authorization bill for State since 2002, and given that different parties control the executive and legislative bodies, odds are against an authorization this year, as well. However, the authoriza- tion language will feed into the appropriations bills. That is why AFSA has been actively engaging the authorizers. In fact, over the last two years, AFSA has met with members of Congress and staff from both sides of the aisle to discuss priorities such as Overseas Compara- bility Pay, security funding and professional develop- ment. On April 15, we met with the staff of the SFRC’s rank- ing member, Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), to discuss these issues and convey our support for him in his new role. We have also simultane- ously worked to partner with the foreign affairs agencies to advocate for OCP and other issues. This year, the department submitted AFSA’s addendum to the department’s Section 326 report on the “State of the Foreign Service Work- force” (see p. 60). We also briefed Senate and House committee staff on Foreign Service-relevant provisions of the Service Members Civil Relief Act. Thanks to these efforts and to members like you who have taken the time to call, write and/or email your elected officials, Congress better understands and val- ues the Foreign Service, the sacrifices made by you and your families and the extraor- dinary contributions that you are making to the well-being of our country. This progress was evident during the April 22 testimony by Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Heather Higgin- bottom before the SFRC on the department’s reauthori- zation. In her opening statement, the Deputy Secretary made it clear that the adminis- tration’s “top priority is to secure [the third tranche of] OCP....” (To read her full statement, please visit www. bit.ly/DMRSFRCtestimony. ) During the Q&A session, Senator Cardin publicly stated his support of full OCP and made it clear that he is ready to work with her and State to make it part of the 2016 State Department Authorization Act, adding, “American diplomats and development professionals are the best examples of tal- ented people who are on the front line for America.” Several other SFRC mem- bers joined the public praise and recognized the impor- tance of the Foreign Service: “These men and women are the best and the brightest,” Senator David Perdue (R-Ga.) said. “They’re working in very tough situations. They deserve our highest support, and they’re doing a fantastic job right now.” This strong statement of support for OCP—the stron- gest made in the past several years—gets us closer to pro- viding long overdue justice to rank-and-file Foreign Service employees and their families. While we do not expect a reauthorization, most experts forecast either a con- tinuing resolution or another “CRomnibus.” AFSA’s work with the authorizers will be key to preventing cuts to the international affairs budget (aka the “150 Account”) during the appropriations process. International Affairs Budget The House passed its budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 27) on March 25, despite opposition by AFSA and the Federal- Postal Coalition to certain components. The measure “American diplomats and development professionals are the best examples of talented people who are on the front line for America.” —Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.)