Bill Text: VA HJR406 | 2014 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending the American Foreign Service Association.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-6)
Status: (Passed) 2014-03-06 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ406ER) [HJR406 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2014-HJR406-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, the American Foreign Service Association, the professional association and labor union of the United States Foreign Service, celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2014; and WHEREAS, this year also commemorates the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Foreign Service of the United States; and WHEREAS, established in 1924, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) represents the 31,000 active and retired Foreign Service employees of the Department of State, Agency for International Development, Foreign Agricultural Service, Foreign Commercial Service, International Broadcasting Bureau, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; and WHEREAS, founded to cultivate an esprit de corps, the AFSA ardently serves as a powerful voice and advocate for the Foreign Service to Congress and the American public; and WHEREAS, with the support of the AFSA, professional Foreign Service members are given the opportunity to serve as the backbone of American diplomacy, protecting the personal freedoms and liberties the American people hold most dear; and WHEREAS, in addition to faithfully protecting the men and women of the Foreign Service for nine decades, the AFSA publishes the monthly Foreign Service Journal, presents awards for intellectual courage and constructive dissent, strengthens professional training and education for American diplomats, and participates in college scholarship programs for children of Foreign Service members; and WHEREAS, today, more than 2,600 Foreign Service employees and their families call the Commonwealth home; and WHEREAS, a year-long commemoration of this historic accomplishment has been planned by the United States Department of State, the AFSA, and communities across the Commonwealth and the nation to recognize the many outstanding contributions of the American Foreign Service Association; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the American Foreign Service Association on the occasion of its 90th anniversary; and, be it RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Robert Silverman, president of the American Foreign Service Association, as an expression of the General Assembly's respect and admiration for the organization's commitment to the men and women of the United States Foreign Service. |