The House-Senate conference committee dealing with establishing common language in separate election reform bills passed by the House in December 2001 and the Senate in April 2002 agreed on October 4th to final formulation of the proposed legislation. Once passed by both houses and signed into law by the President, it would provide funds to help states pay for modern voting systems and would impose new identification requirements on voters registering by mail.

ACA co-founder Andy Sundberg commented, "We owe a great vote of thanks to Congressman Steny Hoyer who very kindly made sure that the requested reforms that were desired by overseas Americans were included and who recently spoke on the floor of the House to this effect. There were many other members of Congress who also worked very hard on our behalf and we owe them all a great amount of thanks and recognition." He added, "Congratulations to everyone in all of our overseas American organizations who worked so hard to make this happen."

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The State of Virginia is concerned about overseas Americans with a nexus to the state who are nevertheless disenfranchised under current legislation. Virginia is contemplating an amendment to its constitution which would permit such individuals (for example, citizen children born abroad to Americans who are Virginia voters; citizens who own residences in Virginia, etc.) to register temporarily in the state for federal elections.

The process to an amendment is multi-tiered. What is most neeed at this point is testimonials from overseas citizens who would be affected by such an opening. PLEASE WRITE to ACA, outlining your situation, if you could be in this category. Various overseas organizations are compiling information which will be transmitted to the Virginia State Board of Elections.

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Use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB SF-186). The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), created to help absentee voters, says:

Generally, a citizen can only use the FWAB under three very specific conditions. To be eligible for this ballot, the citizen must:

• Be located overseas (including APO/FPO addresses);
• Have applied for a regular ballot early enough so that the request is received by the local election official at least 30 days before the election; and
• Not have received the requested regular absentee ballot.

Overseas citizens may obtain supplies of the FWAB by contacting their local consular post, Democrats Abroad or Republicans Abroad, or the FVAP directly at vote@fvap.ncr.gov.

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It came into effect as of October 1, 2002. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) the agreement "helps many people who, without the agreement, would not be eligible for monthly retirement, disability or survivors benefits under the Social Security system of one or both countries. It also helps people who would otherwise have to pay contributions to both countries on the same earnings." The SSA has similar totalization agreements with 20 other countries. Texts of all the agreements can be found at: www.ssa.gov/international/

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On September 30, 2002, an AARP delegation headed by the 35-million-member organization's president, James G. Parkel, met with members of American Citizens Abroad. Formerly called "American Association of Retired Persons," AARP represents interests of Americans over 50 years of age.

ACA emphasized the importance of collaboration on issues affecting American citizens living overseas, such as extension of Medicare coverage abroad and Social Security-related issues.

AARP's international activities range from participating in United Nations conferences on aging to collaborating with parallel groups in other countries and advising various governments interested in learning from U.S. experience with legislation against age discrimination. Director of International Affairs Nancy LeaMond underscored, however, that the group is becoming increasingly interested in serving -- and increasing -- its membership outside the U.S., and AARP anticipates collaborating with overseas American groups to learn about their problems and to indicate its interest in this market segment.

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...If you are a paying member of American Citizens Abroad. If not, don't forget you can pay dues securely online now, via this ACA web site. Stories in the current issue include:

• Preparing for Elections 2002
• the Youth page
• review of David C. Warner, "Getting What You Paid For: Extending [Medicare] Benefits to Eligible Benefits in Mexico"

...and issue No 4 is in preparation. ADVERTISERS TAKE NOTE: Last chance this year to place an ad in our hard copy nwsletter distributed in 100+ countries worldwide!

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Antoinette Lamore Ornati, ACA's Country Contact in Italy, announced that her husband's work is appearing in a major exhibition at the Fondazione Stelline in Milan October 16 through November 9, 2002. The exhibition of portraits by sculptor Ernesto Ornati, Personages of the 20th Century, covers works spanning nearly 40 years beginning in 1964. The exhibition consists of 32 portrait heads in polychrome terracotta or bronze, each portraying illustrious personages from the world of art and literature, whose likenesses were sculpted by Ornati while they posed. The collection includes, among others, portraits of: Carlo Carra, 1964; Ezra Pound, 1967; John Cheever, 1979; Enzo Fabiani, 1981; Wanda Broggi; 1990 Rossana Bossaglia, 1998.

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