Overseas Americans Week 2006 was a Success

The fifth annual Overseas Americans Week was held June 19^th to 24^th OAW 2006 brought together over 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).

OAW 2006 was indeed a success. In addition to our usual door-knock with the staffers of members of Congress – over 60 different meetings were held during the week -, OAW organized an event inviting important people in Washington and from the Press.  The evening started out with an animated photo show “Who We Are,” to put a human face on overseas Americans.  The show was enthusiastically received.  We also presented OAW objectives and issues of concern to overseas Americans.  Senator Chuck Hagel was the keynote speaker at the OAW event. The Senator’s presentation was delightfully refreshing with his straight talk and his honest evaluation of what is going on in Washington today. He expressed his support for Americans living and working overseas. The purpose of the evening was to create awareness that Americans overseas do exist and do have issues which need to be addressed.  The event was covered by Dan De Luce for The International Herald Tribune.  His article “Americans abroad see tough fight over taxes” appeared on June 23^rd.

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

On the voting issue, Overseas Vote Foundation received positive feedback across the board as to their approach, strategy, 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.  The U.S. EAC is now including OVF in working sessions and the Alliances that OVF has developed with key stakeholders continues to solidify support on many sides.

With regard to the caucus, OAW made big strides with a strong interest voiced by representatives in Congress to be either key sponsors or supporters of the group.  We are aiming for a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators familiar with, and sympathetic to, our causes, setting the stage for helpful two-way exchange that might make attacks on the “easy target” Americans living and working overseas a little less likely in the future.  Active follow-up on the Americans Abroad Caucus will continue through the year.

Although no progress was made on Social Security and Medicare issues, the hearing we received for our position was almost as warm as the Washington weather.  This understanding is largely the result of the five years of investment of time and effort in educating Congressional staffers about the problems and inequities of American policy applied 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. No reform of the WEP is expected during this election year and is unlikely as a stand alone measure outside an overall reform of social security.

The tax issue came into the limelight for two reasons.  First, the passage of the tax hike on overseas Americans in May which raised a furor among overseas Americans and the American corporate world.  The issue is now on the radar screen of the press.  We have never had such coverage – 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.  The injustice of the last tax hike has also led to a new level of coordination between the regional Chambers of Commerce and the organizations representing individuals overseas.  Serious lobbying effort will be underway to attenuate some of the damage through the flexibility of the Treasury regulations allowed in the recent legislation related to the limitation on the housing deduction/exemption. 

Equally if not more important, Senator DeMint officially submitted in June 2006 a proposed law (S-3496), The Working American Competitiveness Act,  to eliminate the cap on the foreign earned income exclusion.  This would in fact, put Americans working overseas on a level playing field in competition with other nationalities.  Senator DeMint organized a seminar in the Capital during our OAW with regard to his proposed bill. His goal is to improve American competitiveness.   

The DeMint bill has already received important support in Washington.  Over twenty Senators and Representatives in Congress have lined up behind it.  Senator Chuck Hagel has announced that he will co-sponsor the DeMint bill in the Senate.  Representative Chris Chocola of Indiana has announced that he will sponsor parallel legislation in the House of Representatives.   Newt Gingrich, although not in Congress but who has an important voice in Washington, has come out very strongly for the bill.  The Heritage Foundation, The Center for Freedom and Prosperity, the American Enterprise Institute and the American Chamber of Commerce, National Taxpayers union, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Americans for Tax Reform have publicly acclaimed the bill and its potential benefits for the American economy.

The DeMint bill has provided overseas Americans with a concrete legislative objective and has certainly invigorated our determination to move ahead.  Associations representing Americans overseas will be undertaking coordinated initiatives to gather support for the DeMint legislation. There is a lot of work to do.  We count on your participation in this effort.