The House Committee on Foreign Affairs today favorably reported US Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) legislation to correct a significant and worsening pay inequity in the Foreign Service compensation system. 

    “The Foreign Service Overseas Pay Equity Act would establish a global pay scale for the dedicated men and women who are the backbone of US foreign diplomacy. It is unacceptable that Foreign Service members transferring from Washington, DC to places like Sri Lanka, Syria, or Zambia now receive a 21% pay cut,” Smith stated. This loss in pay results from the loss of locality pay, which is given to federal government employees, including Foreign Service personnel posted in certain cities in the US. The locality pay is intended to make government salaries competitive with comparable employment in the private sector. 

    Smith pointed out that “a major error was made in 1990 when comparability pay was first enacted and it was not extended to Foreign Service members serving overseas. 

    “Congress has a responsibility to correct this problem before it seriously impacts our efforts to recruit and retain the best and brightest in the Foreign Service,” said Smith. The comparability pay differential increases annually, which increases the disparity in basic pay between personnel serving in the US and those serving abroad. 

    Nearly two-thirds of the Foreign Service postings overseas are considered “hardship posts,” and nearly 1,000 positions are designated as unaccompanied—meaning it is considered too dangerous for personnel to have their families living with them. 70% of nearly 4,300 active-duty Foreign Service members recently surveyed ranked correction of the pay disparity as their top priority. 

    The legislation (HR 3202) would also provide a more standard amount to the surviving dependents of Foreign Service employees who die as a result of injuries sustained in the performance of duty abroad. “This amendment is particularly timely given the terrorist attacks this month involving US personnel in Iraq and Turkey. The death of Mr. Steven Farley, a State Department employee who was serving on a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Baghdad, has brought home to all of us the heroic service that civilian as well as military American men and women are providing in dangerous areas around the world,” Smith said.