The Foreign Service Journal, October 2007

OC T OB E R 2 0 0 7 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 65 AFSA Testifies on the Hill On Aug. 1, AFSA President John Naland testified alongside ForeignAffairs Council President (and former AFSA president) Ambassador Thomas D. Boyatt before the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight and Government Management, chaired by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. The hearing, “Building a Stronger American Diplomatic Presence toMeet theChallenges of a Post- 9/11 World,” gave AFSA a chance to present its position on the need for increased resources and per- sonnel for diplomacy. In his testimony, Naland noted that “the last three years have witnessed serious backsliding as new Foreign Service staffing demands in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere have far out- paced appropriations for personnel.” TheAFSAtestimony concluded: “[The] underinvestment in Foreign Service fund- ing, staffing and training is undermining U.S. diplomacy. … AFSArespectfully asks this Congress to fully fund Secretary Rice’s FY 2008 budget request, to implement Overseas Comparability Pay and tomove forward in FY 2009 with creating the robust training float that will provide our Foreign Service with the knowledge, skills and abilities that are essential to suc- cessful foreign policy development and implementation.” On the issue of overseas pay disparity for members of the Foreign Service, Naland stated that "ending this disparity would help validate the significant efforts and sacrifices made by the men and women of the Foreign Service and their families who serve our country abroad." This continues to be a high-priority issue that AFSA will be actively pursuing dur- ing the fall session of the 110thCongress. Representatives fromthe StateDepart- ment, Government AccountabilityOffice, United Nations and other organizations also testified at the hearing. New Legislation Introduced on Overseas Pay Disparity In amajor step forward, legislationwas introduced in theHouse on July 27 to cor- rect the overseas pay disparity. There are two versions: one simply implement- ing Overseas Comparability Pay and the other closing the same pay gap in con- junctionwith implementing a pay-for-per- formance system. (Go to www.afsa.org/ congress/overseas_comp_pay.cfm for background on the issue.) The Bush administration supports the pay-for-performance concept, but many Democratic members of Congress are wary of that model based on the experi- ence of attempting to implement such a system for civilian employees at the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. The AFSA Governing Board, meeting on Aug. 1, reaffirmed AFSA’s position that either version is acceptable. The priority is to close the pay gapbetween FS employees serving inWashington and overseas, and to remedy the inequity of Senior Foreign Service members getting Washington comparability pay when no one else does. The newHouse legislation is co-spon- sored by Reps. TomDavis, R-Va.; Donald Payne, D-N.J.; David Scott, D-Ga.; Chris Smith, R-N.J.; Chris VanHollen, D-Md.; and Frank R. Wolf, R-Va. AFSA greatly appreciates their support. The two bills were referred to the House Foreign Affairs and the Oversight andGovernment ReformCommittees. In earlyAugust, AFSAPresident JohnNaland and LegislativeDirector IanHoustonmet with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Rep.MarkKirk, R-Ill., andRep. SamFarr, D-Calif., seeking their support. (Sen. Whitehouse grew up in the Foreign Service and his father, Charles, served as AFSA president from 1981 to 1982.) Pursuing another angle on the issue, Naland and Houston met July 31 with State’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs Assis- tant Secretary Jeffrey T. Bergner andDep- uty Assistant Secretary JosephMacManus to discuss efforts to eliminate the overseas pay disparity and fully fund the depart- ment’s Fiscal Year 2008 budget request for personnel and operating costs. The H Bureau officials detailed State’s concert- ed efforts to achieve those legislative goals, which have already included personal contact with keymembers of Congress by Sec. Rice, outgoing Under Secretary for Management HenriettaH. Fore and other senior department managers. TheHoffi- cials said they were confident that such high-level involvement would continue as needed. AFSA expressed appreciation for this advocacy of measures critical to the success of U.S. diplomacy in the com- ing years. A F S A N E W S LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS UPDATE AFSA President John Naland (left) and Foreign Affairs Council President Thomas Boyatt being sworn in at the Aug. 1 Senate hearing. AUSTIN TRACY