The Foreign Service Journal, November 2004

NOVEMBER 2004 • AFSA NEWS 7 AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Continued from page 5 TELLING OUR STORY: JOIN ADST AFSA members should consider joining one of our sister organizations, the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, on whose board the AFSA presi- dent serves ex-officio. ADST and AFSA have many interests in common, including the goal of promoting understanding of U.S. foreign policy and the role of the Foreign Service. In that regard, ADST has two programs of particular interest to AFSA members: two book-publishing series (the Diplomats and Diplomacy Series, con- ducted jointly with DACOR, and Memoirs and Occasional Papers) and the Foreign Affairs Oral History Program. The tran- scripts of some 1,400 oral histories of for- mer foreign affairs personnel are available now on CD-ROM and will appear soon on the Web site of the Library of Congress (www.loc.gov). Th e program is ongoing, so it is hoped that even more Foreign Service retirees will add their oral histories to the collection. Members of ADST not only benefit from discounts on its products and admission to its gala award dinners, but have the sat- isfaction of supporting its programs, which include enhancing training at FSI. To join, explore publishing options, sign up as an interviewee or volunteer in the oral history program, check ou t www.adst.org or con- tact President Ken Brown at (703) 302- 6992. Disability Insurance Temporarily Discontinued Marsh Affinity Group Services has decided to discontinue offering the AFSA Group Disability Insurance coverage. Current policy-holders will continue to receive service, but Marsh will not accept new applications. AFSA is disappointed by this change and will search for a new carrier for this insurance product. Federal Health Plans’ Costs Rising Again Health insurance premiums for the eight million federal employees and retirees will increase by an average of 7.9 percent in 2005. This increase is lower than the double-digit increases of the last four years. Nevertheless, health care costs are running at more than five times the rate of inflation and the rate at which workers contribute to their premiums is rising. Moreover, if, as expected, this year’s COLA remains low, 2005 will be the eighth year in a row that premium increases have exceeded the COLA. Blue Cross standard-option coverage will increase by 6.75 percent and the Foreign Service Benefit Plan by 6.5 per- cent. In 2005, FEHBP will offer 249 options. Twenty-one choices will be available to employees and retirees in the Washington, D.C., area. The options include health savings accounts, which are high-deductible catastrophic health plans. The annual open season begins Nov. 8. Legislative Update The 108th Congress came back to town in September after the August recess, before adjourning again in October for the election. Competing for floor time in the Senate have been intelligence community reorganization and the extension of three expiring middle-class tax cuts. The State Department authorization bill, which contains many of AFSA’s requested personnel provisions, continues to languish in the Senate despite the fact that the Foreign Relations Committee approved it by a 19-0 vote last March. Because of concerns that an authorization bill would not pass this year, the Senate has put some of its important provisions into the Commerce, Justice, State appropriations measure. These provisions include: raising the ceilings on post differentials and danger pay; easing the 5-percent low-ranking requirements; and, forcing the Office of Personnel Management to act on the PIT retirement buyback. Having these provisions in the Senate appropriations bills, however, does not mean the fight is over; we must keep pushing for our issues. For example, not in the bill —but extremely important — is prescrip- tive relief authority to the Grievance Boards. AFSA will continue to seek ways to get the provisions passed that matter to the Foreign Service. Defending the Service In keeping with our policy of “let no cheap shot go unanswered,” AFSA President John Limbert sent a letter to the editor of the Washington Times about an article by defense and nation- al security reporter Bill Gertz (“French Connection Armed Saddam,” Sept. 7). In a gratuitous attack, Gertz wrote: “The problem with the Foreign Service is its culture. It trains diplomats to ‘get along’ with the foreign governments they are sent to work with. Not insignificantly, Paris is among the most coveted postings in the world.” In his response Limbert noted that, “Our men and women are not trained to ‘get along.’ They are trained to rep- resent the people of the United States and to protect our nation’s security in some very difficult and dangerous places ... The American people can be proud of the heroic work of our Foreign Service colleagues in Iraq and around the world.” The complete text of the letter is at www.washingtontimes. com/op-ed/20040910-090605- 5083r.htm.