THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2023 23 Because kids, as a rule, are so remarkably adaptive, there is a tendency to overlook the fact that they, as well as the adults, have to undergo a rapid environmental and cultural adjustment each time the family moves. The overseas kid has a unique set of behavioral needs. In an attempt to be American he can be accused of cultural imperialism; by trying to be himself he may behave in a manner that could possibly affect his father’s efficiency report. Just what happens to kids who live for protracted periods of their lives in a constantly changing foreign environment? Where do they ultimately settle? Do they settle? Do they have adjustment problems? Does anybody know—or care? Their cross-cultural experiences can become seed beds for the brotherhood the world so desperately seeks; they can serve to close cultural gaps. —Thomas F. Kelly, educator and former associate Peace Corps country director, excerpted from his article, “Who’s the Kids’ Advocate,” in the September 1973 FSJ. 50 Years Ago What Happens to the Overseas Kid? More Consular Officers, Please The State Department hired almost 200 new passport adjudicators this year, boosting its consular workforce by about 10 percent and aiming for further growth, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter said in June. Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 6, Bitter reported that the bureau is seeing “historically high demand” for passport and visa services. The State Department set a record last year when it issued about 22 million passport books and cards, according to Federal News Network. But it is on track to break that record and issue about 25 million passport books and cards this year—a 15 percent increase from last year. In addition to ramping up hiring, the bureau also plans to modernize its information technology (IT) systems to drive down wait times. “Every passport [adjudicator], every visa [adjudicator] is a national security position. And it does take time to onboard people, to ensure that they have the appropriate clearances, to PRC Targets DoS Emails Hackers affiliated with China’s military or spy services penetrated the email accounts of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and State Department officials in the weeks before Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Beijing in June, officials said on July 12. The intrusion, first discovered by the State Department’s cybersecurity team on June 16, is still under investigation, but no sensitive or classified information is believed to have been accessed, according to The New York Times. Officials believe Raimondo was the only Cabinet-level official to be successfully hacked in the attack. While the hackers got access to other State Department email inboxes and hundreds of thousands of individual U.S. government emails, they were not able to acquire emails in Secretary Blinken’s Microsoft 365 account. The two most senior diplomats to be hacked were Nicholas Burns, U.S. ambassador to China, and Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of State for East Asia, the Wall Street Journal reported. n This edition of Talking Points was compiled by Julia Wohlers. make sure they’re suitable, to train them, in many cases, in quite difficult languages,” Bitter told the Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability. New Bill Takes Aim at State DEIA In late June, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Representative Brian Mast (R-Fla.) introduced a piece of legislation in response to “how wokeness is weakening the U.S. State Department,” according to a press release from Senator Rubio’s office. The bill, called “Stop Wasteful, Odious, and Kooky Exercises (WOKE) at State Act” (for real), or H.R.4255, seeks to eliminate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) requirements during the Foreign Service tenure and promotion process. It would also remove DEIA references in the Foreign Affairs Manual, Foreign Service precepts, and employee evaluation reports. Separately, Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) acknowledged to Politico that he had sent questionnaires to some U.S. FSO ambassador nominees to determine whether any were too “woke” to be ambassadors. Senators Vance and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have been responsible for dozens of holds on career FSO appointments in recent months.
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