The Foreign Service Journal, December 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2019 13 F oreign Service officers perform invalu- able, nonpartisan work; and those in power should never target them for political purposes. I’m proud to cosponsor a resolu- tion today to affirm those convictions and show these public servants we have their backs. —Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), from a Facebook post, Oct. 24. Specifically on USAID, I want to say I don’t think you guys get enough credit, and just generally the State Department does not get enough credit. … So I want to thank you and your folks for all the good work; and, specifically, I think it’s important to try to make sure we’re spending taxpayer resources effectively and efficiently and in a targeted way. I think we shouldn’t cut those resources simply to cut them. —Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) at a House Foreign Affairs Committee subcommittee hearing, “The FY20 Budget: Examining the Administration’s Policy Objectives for a Turbulent Middle East,” Oct. 29. I have been deeply troubled by reports of the administra- tion sidelining State Department policy experts on critical national security issues and retaliating against career employees. Career diplomats dedicate their lives to serving the American people and govern- ment both home and abroad. They serve on the front lines of American diplomacy, helping mitigate and prevent some of our country’s most pressing foreign policy issues. We must send a strong signal to our diplomats that they are valued, and that starts with retaining and promoting our best and brightest public servants. —Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.), in a press release introducing his bill, the Strengthening Traditional American Diplomacy (STAND) Act, Oct. 30. Our State Department is on the front lines of our national defense. They are patriots charged with achieving our goals through diplomacy, not conflict. —Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee nomination hearing, Oct. 30. I’ll tell you, as a former State Department political appoin- tee, in my experience the difference between career folks and political appointees is the career folks take very good notes. —TomMalinowski (D-N.J.), in response to Amb. Bill Taylor’s deposition before the House committees in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Oct. 22. Heard on the Hill JOSH Oct. 20 Politico article by Nahal Toosi, “The Revenge of the State Department. ” Toosi wrote: “As U.S. diplomats defy the president and the Secretary of State to testify before impeachment investiga- tions, they’re being hailed as heroes by colleagues who’ve long felt abused.” As of press time, the State Depart- ment officials who have testified in the closed-door phase of the impeachment hearings so far include Ambassadors Marie Yovanovitch, Kurt Volker, Gordon Sondland, Mike McKinley, William Taylor and Philip Reeker; Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale; Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent; and Foreign Service Officers Catherine Croft, Christopher Anderson and Jennifer Williams. Open hearings began Nov. 13. Trump Announces U.S. Military Pullout from Syria T urkish forces invaded northern Syria on Oct. 9 to fight the Syrian Demo- cratic Forces—a Kurdish-led militia that has worked with the United States—three days after a phone call between President Trump and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which President Trump agreed that the U.S. military would withdraw from the area. The Kurds had been longtime allies of the United States, and thousands have died in the fight against the Islamic State. But on Oct. 13 they announced a new deal with the Russian-backed Syrian govern- ment, The New York Times reported. American politicians from both sides of the aisle expressed their dismay. “Withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria is a grave strategic mistake,” Senate Major- ity Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post Oct. 18. “It will leave the American people