American Town Hall Meeting in Geneva

American Citizens Abroad and the United States Consular Services hosted an "American Town Hall Meeting" on May 23, 2007 at Webster University in Bellevue, near Geneva.

The event brought together a good attendance of overseas American residents, consular staff from both Geneva and Bern, Directors of American Citizens Abroad and the Executive Director of the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Jonathan Lippman (Consul Honoraire Geneva consular agency), Doria Rosen (Consul General, Bern), Aaron Maatz (head of American Citizen Services, Bern) and Annette Greenwood (Federal Benefits Unit, Bern) presented current information on passport and visa procedures and on Social Security, as well as an overview of services provided by the Geneva consular agency and the US Embassy in Bern. A question and answer session followed the presentations.

Susan Duzieduszycka–Suinat, Executive Director of the Overseas Vote Foundation (www.overseasvotefoundation.com), then gave a comprehensive overview of efforts to help Americans overseas register and vote in Federal elections. She also highlighted two surveys conducted by OVF after the 2006 mid-term elections: a survey of voters and one of local election officials. Results of these surveys are available on the OVF website.

ACA Directors made presentations updating attendees on current ACA activities. John Serrato gave an overview of current ACA initiatives, emphasizing the potential of the Americans Abroad Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives and ACA’s ongoing efforts to repeal the recent Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act (TIPRA) that effectively targets overseas Americans for a tax hike. Jackie Bugnion spoke on the issues to be raised and meetings scheduled during the upcoming Overseas Americans Week to be held in Washington D.C. 18-22 June, and Andy Sundberg spoke on citizenship issues affecting Americans living overseas.