[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 49 (Thursday, April 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      FAIRNESS AND EQUITY FOR SPOUSES OF FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 4, 2001

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing 
legislation to correct an inequity that affects a number of spouses of 
Foreign Service Officers in my district and throughout the nation who 
served in part-time, intermittent, or temporary positions (PITs) in 
American embassies and missions from 1989 to 1998.
  Although countless Foreign Service spouses have given up their own 
careers to follow officers overseas, many of them hope to continue 
government service, whether assigned to an embassy or here in 
Washington. In fact, hundreds have gone to work for the Department of 
State as civil service employees while their spouses were serving 
domestically. When the time has come for Foreign Service family members 
to check their retirement status, many are shocked to hear that the 
years they worked overseas will not count for retirement purposes.
  PIT employees are excluded from receiving credit in the Federal 
Employees Retirement System because of the generally non-permanent 
nature of their employment. However, Foreign Service spouses who worked 
as PITs had no choice over the type of work they performed. These 
individuals had to take PIT positions because these jobs were the only 
ones available to them while living abroad. They had no choice between 
part-time, temporary government work and full-time, permanent work. 
Even those who worked full-time were still classified as PITs.
  The exceptional nature of their situation is reflected in the 
Department of State's reclassifying this group of workers in 1998 as 
falling under the new Family Member Appointment. This position allows 
them to begin accruing retirement credit. However, these individuals 
are not allowed to pay back into the FERS for time worked in PIT 
positions, As a result, many Foreign Service spouses who worked as a 
PIT between 1989 and 1998 have lost up to nine or ten years of 
retirement credit.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a matter of grave consequence to many Americans 
who devoted their most productive years to public service abroad. 
Foreign Service Officers and their spouses live lives that often put 
them in physical danger and cause great emotional distress. One 
constituent recounted being taken hostage with her husband by 
terrorists in Peru; while she was released early, she did not know if 
her husband was alive, injured, or dead.
  It is simply unfair that these individuals, who have lived and worked 
under incredibly stressful conditions and who had no choice as to the 
type of work they performed, are not able to buy back the retirement 
credit they earned. As I indicated, some of my constituents have lost 
up to nine years of retirement credit because this provision has not 
been corrected. I urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this 
important legislation.

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