The Foreign Service Journal, September 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2020 17 Protecting FSOs Abroad This year is a stark reminder of how we must do everything we can to support the safety of our Foreign Service officers work- ing abroad at 260-plus installations. —Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) at the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) Full Appropriations Committee Markup, July 9. Diplomacy’s Bedrock I am very, very appreciative of your dedication to … protecting our career personnel at the State Department and USAID and international institutions, these people who are the bedrock of our nation’s diplomatic efforts. —Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) to Appropriations Chairwoman Rep. Nita Lowey at the SFOPS Full Appropriations Committee Markup, July 9. State’s Role During Pandemic The State Department has an incredibly important role in building diplomatic support for pandemic readiness and can play a role also in coordinating broader overseas U.S. engagement. —Chairman Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) at the Senate Foreign Relations Hearing, “COVID-19 and U.S. International Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response: Additional Perspectives,” June 30. Diversity at State People who bring diversity to the State Department will help us more than oth- ers because we’ll have a Foreign Service that reflects America, but it will also undercut the propaganda of our enemies, who say that America is a place of discrimi- nation and caste. And obviously, nothing defeats that argument more than people at a high level in our State Department serving abroad in illustrating the opposite. —Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) at the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Hearing, “Diversity and Diplomacy: Why an Inclusive State Department Would Strengthen U.S. Foreign Policy,” June 17. HEARD ON THE HILL JOSH Great Chinese Firewall—was sacked before she could resign. Pack also dismissed RFE/RL President Jamie Fly and MBN President Alberto Fernandez, both staunch Republicans appointed by Trump, and both esteemed throughout USAGM. Pack froze all spending and replaced all members of the organizations’ biparti- san governing boards—which included seasoned, knowledgeable individuals like Ambassadors (ret.) Ryan Crocker and Karen Kornbluh—with himself and five other individuals. Among them are Rachel Semmel, who has used her position as spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget to provide caustic responses to questions about Trump’s disputed decision to with- hold military aid fromUkraine; Bethany Kozma, who has brought her anti-abor- tion-rights activism to USAID; and Jona- than Alexandre, senior counsel for Liberty Counsel, an organization dedicated to “religious freedom” that once threatened legal action against a Jacksonville, Florida, library for holding a Harry Potter event, on the grounds that this constituted pro- motion of witchcraft. Even as heads were rolling, Pack sent an email to USAGM employees assuring them: “I am fully committed to honoring VOA’s charter, the missions of the grant- ees and the independence of our heroic journalists around the world.” But the message concluded on a chillier note, as Pack announced his intention “to examine some of the prob- lems that have surfaced in the media” and warning that, while he hoped to “confer extensively with you—the talented and dedicated men and women of USAGM… current circumstances will limit the kind of outreach and contact we have for a while longer.” USAGM then issued a press release, quoted by Martha Bayles in The American Interest. “Pack’s message was met with an overwhelmingly positive response by staff and grantees, who personally reached out and candidly congratulated him,” the release stated in part. As Bayles trenchantly observes, “It is remarkable how closely this resembles an official Chinese Communist Party com- muniqué, translated into stilted, unnatu- ral English by a person with absolutely no ear for the way people actually talk.” Meanwhile, Pack has refused calls to sign off on J-1 visa extensions