The fifth annual Overseas Americans Week was held June 19th to 24th. OAW 2006 brought together more than 20 delegates from five organizations - the Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO), Americans Citizens Abroad (ACA), Alliance of American Organizations - Iberia (ALLAMO), Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas (FAWCO) and Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF). For more pictures see the OAW website

During the "door knock" with the staffers of Congressmen, OAW delegates focused on four key issues - 1) facilitating voting for overseas Americans, 2) instituting a caucus, 3) promoting our views on Social Security and Medicare, and 4) defending our tax position.

1. Voting: Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) received positive feedback on its approach, strategies, initiatives and early statistical results. Congressional and Senate staff, and key voting agencies are voicing support for their work and the new development proposals which were presented during the week.

2. Caucus: Numerous representatives in Congress voiced strong interest in being either key sponsors or supporters of a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators familiar with and sympathetic to our causes. Active follow-up on the Americans Abroad Caucus will continue through the year.

3. Social Security and Medicare issues: The reception received by OAW delegates for the group's position was warm as the Washington weather. This enormous progress is largely the result of the five years of investment of OAW time and effort in educating Congressional staffers about the problems and inequities of American policy applied to Americans abroad. Solid results in both fields will depend on continued reminders of our problem, case studies that illustrate inequities, particularly regarding WEP, and on seizing the initiative with solutions if and when reform of current legislation comes up.

4. Taxation: The tax issue was in the limelight for two reasons. First, the passage of the tax hike on overseas Americans in May (via the so-called "Tax Increase Prevention Act" raised a furor among overseas Americans and the American corporate world (see extensive coverage on this ACA website). The Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and The Economist have all run one or more articles on the dilemma of the double taxation of overseas Americans.

Equally if not more important, in June 2006 Senator DeMint (with co-sponsorship by Senator Chuck Hagel) officially submitted a bill (S-3496) entitled "The Working American Competitiveness Act", to eliminate the cap on the foreign earned income exclusion. This would serve to put Americans working overseas on a level playing field in competition with other nationalities. Senator DeMint organized a seminar in the Capital during the 2006 OAW regarding his proposed bill. His goal is to improve American competitiveness. More on how you can support this new legislation here.

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Overseas Vote Foundation (overseasvotefoundation.org) claims that it takes only five minutes to fill out voter registration forms appropriate to your state, using their RAVA software system - and it's true! Then you need only print out the form, sign and mail.

OVF is non-partisan, and works in collaboration with the government's Federal Voting Assistance Program. It has helped tens of thousands of overseas Americans register to vote.

A glance at their website - or a free subscription to their alert list - will also alert you to "hot news" related to federal and state elections, changes such as expanded use of federal write-in ballots, and the like. OVF has met with phenomenal success since its inception; consider also a donation to help continue (and expand) the services it makes available to Americans worldwide.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program's website is also chock-full of useful info (fvap.gov) and merits review. Plenty of information is available online on individual candidates, from their own sites to interest groups such as Republicans Abroad, Democrats Abroad, AARP, The League of Women Voters, and others.

Whatever means you choose to do it, REGISTER and VOTE. Remember Americans abroad can vote in federal elections in their last state of residence, with no repercussions as far as state taxes are concerned - and no matter how long they have been away from the US.

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On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote, became law. Now August 26th has been made "Women's Equality Day".

Read an article by Marina Mecl (Overseas Vote Foundation) and Lucy Laederich (Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas) on the history behind winning the right to vote for women in the US, then for all American overseas voters, and where women stand on the political scene now.

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If you missed this event, here's a summary of what was presented:

ACA’s Tax Seminar which took place at Webster University in Bellevue, Switzerland on September 19th was a big success. Some 120 people attended. John Serrato opened up the evening presenting a review of ACA’s lobbying efforts during Overseas Americans Week in Washington as well as the issues that ACA defends.

Jackie Bugnion gave a presentation entitled "Now is the Time to Act," an overview of the recent changes in the tax legislation affecting Americans overseas and information on the recent proposed legislation called the Working Americans Competitiveness Act, which would alleviate some of the double taxation on Americans working overseas. She strongly encouraged everyone to support this legislation through a letter writing campaign to Washington representatives.

Two representatives from Deloitte then illustrated the affect of the new legislation on Americans resident in Switzerland and answered questions from the audience.

Jonathan Lippman, American Honorary Consul in Geneva, followed by giving some tips about passport renewal. Andy Sundberg closed the evening by announcing to everyone that the Allamo conference in Spain a few days earlier had unanimously adopted a resolution that Americans overseas should have six delegates in the House and two delegates in the Senate, a representation which corresponds to the population of 4 million of Americans residing overseas.

ACA is planning additional tax seminars for Paris (7 November 2006), Zurich and Lugano and would be willing to hold seminars or provide materials for ACA members to use for presentations elsewhere.

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Have you been given exceptional, caring service by a State Dept employee at any level - from foreign service national to consular official, ambassador or Washington-based official? A good way to have your appreciation placed on the individual's State Dept record is to nominate her/him for ACA's Thomas Jefferson Award.

The State Dept is informed of the list of nominees, and a plaque listing award winners is displayed in the consular affairs section of the State Dept in Washington.

ACA launched the Thomas Jefferson Award in 1994 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson,

Previous winners include personnel of all ranks based in Cameroon, Italy, Uruguay, Israel, Spain, the Philippines, the Caribbean, Washington and elsewhere, who have through their commitment, creativity and enthusiasm served, inspired and united "their" American communities.

Nominations for the award should include:

• One or more letters of recommendation, explaining why the candidate should be chosen for the award, citing anecdotes and examples of service to the local community;

• A curriculum vitae of the nominee;

• A recent photograph of the candidate, if possible showing him/her among members of the local community that the candidate is serving or has served;

• Those submitting nominations should also provide their own name, organization and phone/fax/emails;

• The deadline for submission of nominations for this year's Thomas Jefferson Award has been extended to 15 October 2006.

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ACA's collected tales, "So Far and Yet So Near", strikes chords with the experiences of all Americans living abroad, and provides a glimpse to our US-based compatriots of the diverse reasons there can be for spending months - or a lifetime - based abroad. A great gift and/or choice for a reading group. Please share any book review with ACA , and/or review the book for amazon.com or amazon.co.uk Order online on this ACA website Also available at amazon.com (click in to Amazon via ACA website to get a small commission for ACA on any purchases).

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Pride yourself on keeping up with current events? Rather confident of the related geography? Put yourself to the test: rethinkingschools.org
(relax: no score, no comments). Thanks to reader Lou Berman for this tip.

For a world of info on living in France in general, and on the Riviera in particular, don't fail to look at the Riviera Reporter website (riviera-reporter.com) in which current and past articles from their invaluable publication are accessible. Lots of commonsense advice and useful contacts.

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This News Update is, like ACA itself, of, by, and for Americans abroad. ACA is staffed through the efforts of volunteers, with its primary income source being membership fees and donations from private American citizens around the world.

WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE HANDS-ON TO ACA WORK:

1. NEWS UPDATE EDITORS. ACA is seeking to supplement its News Update staff. Work involves actually writing the News Update 2 - 3 times a year, under supervision of a Senior Editor, and monitoring raw material considered for the newsletter on a regular basis. Calls for e-mail access and an ability to write/edit succinctly and against a deadline. ACA takes pride in the global spread of its editors.
2. BOOK REVIEWS/REVIEWERS. ACA is interested in discovering books of particular interest to Americans abroad. It also seeks individuals willing to review such books. Reviewers get to keep the book, and to see their contribution in print. Click here for a list of books or contact the ACA office.

WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE TO ACA'S FINANCIAL SUCCESS:

1. ORDER YOUR PUBLICATIONS THROUGH THE ACA WEBSITE and we get paid for your business - at no cost to you. Go to the Book Review section and click on any link to amazon-com (USA) or amazon-UK. Any purchases you make when you have entered through the ACA portal, whether of items reviewed on the website or not, will generate a small revenue for ACA; Please make this extra click-to-give gesture to help us continue to help you. You can also order our new ACA book So far and Yet So Near directly from www.amazon.com USA or from www.amazon.co.UK and add your other orders.
2. JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL AUCTION. The FUNdraiser evening produces the single largest annual contribution to ACA's working budget. And the highest bids are for items ingenious and/or exotic. It's a good bet that someone in the attending crowd of internationals will be intrigued by even the most distant and/or unusual of objects or services.
3. IS YOUR MEMBERSHIP CURRENT? Renew by secure online payment or contact the ACA office . Membership is only US$40 a year (CHF 60). Of course, an outright contribution via check or charge card is the most obvious way to support the work of ACA and its worldwide volunteers working to help YOU. Secure payment using PayPal^®, or send a check to: ACA, 5 rue Liotard, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland.

Disclaimer: While ACA makes every effort to be accurate in the information it transmits, such information is not to be considered a substitute for specific and qualified professional advice.

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