The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

62 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / OC T OB E R 2 0 0 8 A F S A N E W S AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Life in the Foreign Service n BY BRIAN AGGELER Staff: Executive Director John Mamone: mamone@afsa.org Business Department Controller Kalpna Srimal: srimal@afsa.org Accounting Assistant Cory Nishi: nishi@afsa.org Labor Management General Counsel Sharon Papp: papps@state.gov Labor Management Attorney Zlatana Badrich: badrichz@state.gov Labor Management Specialist James Yorke: yorkej@state.gov Grievance Attorneys Neera Parikh: parikhna@state.gov and Holly Rich: richhe@state.gov Office Manager Christine Warren: warrenc@state.gov USAID Senior Labor Management Adviser Douglas Broome: dbroome@usaid.gov USAID Office Manager Asgeir Sigfusson: asigfusson@usaid.gov Member Services Member Services Director Janet Hedrick: hedrick@afsa.org Member Services Representative Michael Laiacona: laiacona@afsa.org Web-site & Database Associate: vacant Administrative Assistant Ana Lopez: lopez@afsa.org Outreach Programs Retiree Liaison Bonnie Brown: brown@afsa.org Director of Communications Thomas Switzer: switzer@afsa.org Congressional Affairs Director Ian Houston: houston@afsa.org Executive Assistant to the President Austin Tracy: tracy@afsa.org Scholarship Director Lori Dec: dec@afsa.org Professional Issues Coordinator Barbara Berger: berger@afsa.org Elderhostel Coordinator Janice Bay: bay@afsa.org AFSA HEADQUARTERS: (202) 338-4045; Fax: (202) 338-6820 STATE DEPARTMENT AFSA OFFICE: (202) 647-8160; Fax: (202) 647-0265 USAID AFSA OFFICE: (202) 712-1941; Fax: (202) 216-3710 FCS AFSA OFFICE: (202) 482-9088; Fax: (202) 482-9087 AFSA WEB SITE: www.afsa.org FSJ: journal@afsa.org PRESIDENT: naland@afsa.org STATE VP: kashkettsb@state.gov RETIREE VP: pamichko@aol.com USAID VP: fzamora@usaid.gov FCS VP: donald.businger@mail.doc.gov AFSA News Editor Shawn Dorman : dorman@afsa.org (202) 338-4045 x 503; Fax: (202) 338-8244 On the Web : www.afsa.org/fsj and www.fsjournal.org How to Contact Us: Governing Board: PRESIDENT: John Naland STATE VP: Steve Kashkett USAID VP: Francisco Zamora FAS VP: Henry Schmick FCS VP: Vacant RETIREE VP: Robert W. Farrand SECRETARY: F.A. “Tex” Harris TREASURER: Andrew Winter STATE REPS: Anne Aguilera, Oscar DeSoto, David Firestein, Sandy Robinson, Shayna Steinger, Elaine Tiang-Chu, Daphne Titus, Andrea Tomaszewicz, Christopher Tremann USAID REP: Michael Henning FCS REP: Rebecca Balogh FAS REP: Vacant IBB REP: Al Pessin RETIREE REPS: Janice Bay, Herman Cohen, David Passage Support AFSA and the FS with Your CFC Gift! Choose #11759 and #10646 The AFSA Scholar- ship Fund (CFC #11759) provides need-based schol- arships and merit awards to Foreign Service kids to help meet their college expenses. Over $180,000 was awarded last year to 83 Foreign Service families. Scholarship support stays in the Foreign Service community. Visit www.afsa.org/scholar/CFC11759.cfm for more information. The Fund for AmericanDiplomacy (CFC #10646) educates the public (fromCongress to business leaders to students) on the importance of diplomacy and the need for a strong U.S. Foreign Service. Some of our activities include: a speakers bureau, AFSA-sponsored “Elderhostel” education programs, a nationwide high school essay contest for students whose parents are not in the Foreign Service, and our popular book, Inside a U.S. Embassy. Visit www.afsa.org/CFCFAD.cfm. Just before the congressional August break, Senator John Kerry, D- Mass., offered a mirror version of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Bill, H.R. 3202 — the AFSA-supported bill that passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee in July that would give overseas Foreign Service members that same comparability pay adjustment afforded to colleagues assigned to the District of Columbia. The Senate bill, “Foreign Service Overseas Pay Equity Act of 2008,” S. 3426, is co-sponsored by Senator George Voinovich, R-Ohio, Senator Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Senator Richard Durbin, D-Ill. AFSA has developed close relationships with all the offices involved. Senators Kerry and Voinovich are respected members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the key committee in this process. While chances of passage this year are uncertain, this bill represents critical progress in building support for pay equity for overseas Foreign Service employees. Comparability Pay: A Senate Bill “I guess this explains why we can’t fill that consular position, but I’m still not sure what to do with these trombonists ...”