The annual trek to Washington

Before going to Washington, I had a nice birthday party the Sunday before, at home. Then, my actual birthday; Paul and I went out to eat after attending an interesting book presentation at the American Library in Paris (Forgotten: the Untold Story of D-Day's Black Heroes....) On Claire's birthday, I left -- but not straight to DC. I flew to Orlando to visit the cousins, there. The flight to Philly was an hour late and the line to get through immigration a bit long, but since I only had carry-on, I managed to run to the other terminal and catch the flight to Orlando. The plan was that I would rent a car, but when I took out my licence I took a look and discovered Paul's licence! So, no car rental for me and this meant that Paul must be driving with my licence. I caught a cab and went to Maitland for a very agreeable weekend -- an art show, a visit to an orchid farm, a great dinner at home with littler cousins, dinner out, brunch, a movie (Hail Caesar) and then a Sunday flight to DC.
In DC, I had reserved the same airbnb apartment V. and I had shared two years ago in the Adams Morgan section between the Woodley Park and Columbia Heights metro stations. I arrived by about 3 and my roommate, CLF, arrived at about 10 at night. I had time to go to the supermarket, eat, and take a nap. When CLF arrived, we started talking like old friends, already, and sat down to work, assembling the handouts.
I posted blurbs about our days on facebook, only about meetings that I was able to attend:
"Today, we start our rounds of Overseas Americans Week -- AARO and FAWCO. In fact, this year, we have two delegations: this week's and another to follow at the end of the month."
"First meeting done -- my Congressman's office. The Legislative assistant we met with this year seemed more aware of our issues. She had researched FATCA, for example, so my remarks were not new. This year, though, although we present our overall goals, we are concentrating a one issue, which is the passport revocation business in the FAST Act. She acknowledged that the office had received the letter from the Americans Abroad Caucus heads and would see that the Congressman considered signing it."
"Second meeting -- in Mick Mulvaney's office. He's a co-chair of the Americans Abroad Caucus. What I had not realized before was that the bills go to the Representatives' offices until about 36 hours before the vote. They are parsed among office staff for a quick read through. This explains why everything is a reaction to a passed bill rather than proactive. So we, the organizations, are the ones to alert the caucus to the problems, not the other way around."
"After that, the group spllit and I went to my Senators' offices, first Senator Casey, then Senator Toomey. In both cases, very good meetings. In Senator Casey's office, I met with two people, one legislative aide who was very aware of the FATCA issue and "I brought up the passport revocation business and also expressed my disappointment that the Senator was associated with the idea of not allowing people who had renounced (ostensibly for tax reasons) to re-enter the US. She was accompanied by an aide, more an intern, from Australia, who immediately understood the absurdity of citizenship-based-taxation.
"Immediately after that meeting, I rushed off to Senator Toomey's office. He wasn't around in 2010 for the HIREAct, but he is against FATCA. His aide was very interested in the implications of the passport revocation part of the FAST Act and has bookmarked it in order to keep an eye on it...."
"Then a meeting, very nice, in Carolyn Maloney's office and we talked about the letter that is being drafted and should be ready before we leave (fingers crossed) and how to target Representative's offices with high vollume of voters residing overseas."
"After all that, we all met with H. D. P. -- a very good meeting of the minds." This was particularly interesting, as he is an American living in the DC area who had been thinking of moving, which is how he got interested in the issues of living overseas. He's become a real expert, very helpful in the facebook group, always informative, not inflammatory, and he's even drafted comments and testified at Congressional committee meetings.
"Second day -- my first meeting was in Congressman McGovern's office. He is a member of the Americans Abroad Caucus and the meeting went very well. His staffer was aware of our issues and said she would have the Congressman take another look at the bill on the creation of a commission for his sponsorship. And she'll be looking out for the letter from the Caucus co-chairs on the passport revocation issue."
"Second appointment in Representative Carson's office (IN). He is also a member of the Americans Abroad Caucus and the staffer working with the caucus is the legislative director -- a good thing. He told me that he's heard from many constituents abroad about FATCA and other issues. Proof that your letters count.  Write to your representatives even if they sometimes seem unresponsive, volume will make them sit up and listen, eventually."
"We all got to Representative Beyer's office. He's the former ambassador to Switzerland and now the representative in northern Virginia, around Washington. He's very aware of the problems faced by those of us abroad and or constituents relocating from the US."
"In the afternoon, we had back to back meetings in Senator Rand Paul's and Senator  Ted Cruz's offices. Good meetings.Yes, Keith, we mentioned the conversation you had about the social taxes on income. We found out where Gray, Paul's tax expert from last year went (to a think tank); we had a very good discussion with Cruz's deputy legislative director, who is very much aware of all the tax issues we have and the discussions going on about territorial taxation for corporations and equivalent resident-based-taxation for individuals. He is also aware of the passport revocation implications for US citizens who live abroad."
"Third day -- Meeting 1 done at the Tax Foundation, where good questions were asked and they were truly interested in the individual taxpayer's situation."
".... The meeting at the Tax Foundation was good and concise, so we didn't have to rush to the next meeting in Senator Rubio's office. His aide told us that the Senator was firmly in the "RBT" group. Good to know. He was also concerned about the passport revocation punishment in the FAST Act."
"Then, we all headed to a meeting in Senator Crapo's office, where the implications of citizenship-based-taxation on home-based businesses was not lost.The Senator is in favor of territorial taxation for corporations and the jump to residence-based-taxation for individuals is a tiny step.
After lunch, we headed to the American Banker's Association for another good exchange. Of course, they have no influence over foreign institutions, but since US banks have been clearing out US citizens with foreign addresses, it is good to have these exchanges to see what we can do to help the US banks see the market potential of having us as customers rather than leaving us without accounts."
"Okay, sorry for the lack of updates today, but we were on the move all day.
We started with caucus members' offices: Reps.Capuano (MA), Davis (CA), and Doyle (PA). Again, they all emphasized how important it is to have contituents writing to them. Even if you think they are brushing you off and sending you replies that have nothing to do the subject, keep it up."
"We had time before the next scheduled meeting, so we stopped by Mia Love's office. In this (Facebook) group, earlier this week, someone had posted the article about her proposing a bill that would make bills stick to a single subject. It's a laudable idea, but one that will not really get far, since every expense requires a "pay for", and that guarantees unrelated subjects getting into a bill. However, it seemed to us that perhaps she might be interested in the Americans Abroad Caucus -- that she would see how these other subjects tend to affect us. Her chief of staff came out and was very, very interested."
"Then we stopped by Steven Russell's office, on the suggestion of T.M., and again had a most interesting meeting."
"Then, it was time for a brisk walk over the hill to Senator Hatch's office, where the two staffers we met with asked very pertinent questions. We wanted to visit that office because he was instrumental in the FAST Act. They couldn't tell us who, precisely, came up with the passport revocation provision and they were suitably appalled at the effect it could have on non-US residents. They asked lots of questions."
"Our last meeting on the hill was with Senator Sanders staffer on the budget committee and again, he truly wanted to understand the difficulties due to FATCA, due to our system of taxation. He asked good questions and will talk to the boss."
"Our last meeting on the hill was with Senator Sanders' staffer on the budget committee and again, he truly wanted to understand the difficulties due to FATCA, due to our system of taxation. He asked good questions and will talk to the boss."
"The day ended meeting with our old friend who has become a commissioner on the Election Assistance Commission. Discussion of voting, rather than taxes, for a change!"
"This morning (Friday) -- light schedule -- we had an appointment at Rep.Connolly's office and had a very constructive meeting with suggestions how to be more effective, how to, perhaps, change the language of the position paper on the passport revocation, address committee staffers of upcoming bills... We need  to better monitor upcoming bills."
"We stopped in to "report" back to Reps.Maloney and Mulvaney's offices. And then, we had time to stop at Rep. Perlmutter's office because over in the Americans Expatriates group, one of his constituents had mentioned whom to contact. I've finished for this week. Off to see my aunt and uncle in Bethesda and then return home tomorrow. It's been a good week. Please write to your representatives. Be polite, and diplomatic, and be to the point. Inform them. We can't see them all, although we hope next year, with a new Congressional Session starting, we will be a larger delegation to visit more offices."
There were only three of us for this Overseas Americans Week, so two more are going this weekend for three days of meetings next week. I spent some time preparing those appointments, too. And I still have to do my thank you notes for all the meetings I was in. Oof!

Going back to DC

It's time to gear up for Overseas Americans Week. Time to make appointments, revise the position papers and all that. It's also time to visit family. This year I'll stay with B & T in Bethesda and commute into DC each day.I'm looking forward to that, the idea of "going home" in the evening.
When the week is done, I'll head down to Florida for more family visits. I didn't write about it before, but in mid-January I and all my kids went to Orlando for MLK weekend for a surprise party! It was a surprise, already, that we were all able to go. After all, they had to get time off from work. It's not a holiday in Europe. We all converged on Orlando on the same day along with more family coming in from London, California, Oregon, New York, the midwest -- when we were all together, on Sunday, there were 160 family and friends! It was a great party, full of love and energy for R. In March, I'll be able to pay a calmer visit.
I'll even get to see my brother and his wife because they'll be in Florida, too. T will be in a training program for her rowing club.
The main subject in DC, this year, will be taxes, again. Yes, again. As FATCA rolls out, more and more people are being discriminated against. Personally, I'm fed up with proposing a compromise position. The only real solution is for the US to adopt what the rest of the world does: residence-based-taxation. Then the OECD exchange of banking information would be the worldwide system -- reporting foreign accounts to the country of residence. I see the logic of that. I live in France and think it is normal that France knows of any accounts I might have elsewhere. France, yes, not the US. The US, with its system, treats my accounts in France as foreign accounts and the reporting of that information, on the part of the banks, is so cumbersome and expensive, they prefer to do without US customers.
Enough!

Overseas Americans Week 2014 Recap Video

I have neglected this blog for a month! And I'm not going to write, now. I just want you to go to the AARO website and check out the video of the recap we did last month at Joe Allen's, in Paris. I'm not embedding it because I really want to you go to the website and get a pre-rollout peek at changes. So, after the video, take a stroll through the site and send in your constructive comments.
Overseas Americans Week Recap

OAW, Over and Out

Today was the last day of OAW. We only had one meeting left and it was one of the very best. We went to Alexandria, to a sort of annex of the Pentagon, to the FVAP, the Federal Voting Assistance Program.
Remember a few things:

1. If you are an overseas voter, living overseas, use the procedures set up for overseas voters. That means do not phone your old board of elections and ask for a absentee ballot. There's the government site, FVAP, and there are private organizations, like OVF (Overseas Vote Foundation) that will help you vote as overseas voters. 
2. You have to send in your ballot/registration request EVERY year. The recommendation is to do it at the beginning of the year and get it out of the way and to do it even if there is no federal election scheduled. You never know when there might be a special election for an official who resigns or dies.
3. If you do not receive the ballot in time, use the Federal Absentee Write-in Ballot (FWAB) that you can find on the site. You must have registered before sending in the ballot. If you send in the ballot, thinking that it will serve as both registration and voting, it won't; it'll just be used as registration. And please, don't keep waiting for the official ballot until it's too late. If you have sent in the FWAB and your official ballot finally arrives, send that one in, too, and the board of elections has procedures to handle it.
4. If you've never voted, if you never lived in the US, they will guide you through the process of finding the right address to use, so don't use that as an excuse for not voting.
5. If your preferred party sets up an "overseas primary" election and you register for that, that is NOT a registration to vote in the election! 

You can set up alerts, so that you will be informed of upcoming deadlines for registration or voting in your state: http://www.fvap.gov/vao/alerts. First, you create your account with your email address and a password. Then, you set up your subscriptions. If you want to get the updates for your state, scroll down the list to "Absentee Voter Resources by State" and check off your state. Don't forget to click "Submit".
I'm not going to review yesterday's meetings, now. I'll leave that for another post. This is an election year, so it's important to have this one message only.

We're in Washington -- AARO!

Victoria (follow her on the Franco-American Flophouse) and I are sharing a flat, obtained via airbnb, in the Adams Morgan section of DC, right near the zoo. We walked to, and later from, the metro station at Woodley Park -- a pleasant walk across Rock Creek on the Duke Ellington Bridge. It's a neighborhood, with people going about their business and as we were walking home yesterday evening, we thought how far we were from the hill.

So, let's go to the hill, which is why we are here in DC, anyway! It's Overseas Americans Week. This year, the delegation is made up of AARO (sorry, no link because it's still the old, outdated website and I won't put up a link until the new site is up) and FAWCO, the Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas. Our partners at ACA now have a permanent presence in Washington. The AARO Facebook page will carry regular updates. We are united in our positions and efforts to bring about change in the laws, rules and regulations that have had unintended negative consequences on we who live abroad.
To start, breakfast at the Longworth Cafeteria. It was the first chance we had for all of us to get together. Tim's not in this picture, because he's the one who took it. We got down to business as soon as we cleared away the trays. Got out schedule sorted out: who would attend which meetings. Today, Tuesday, that's especially important as we've got several simultaneous appointments.

Then, we all went off to the IRS to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, headed by Nina Olson, who has extensive knowledge of our particular issues and has worked very hard to bring about change. In fact, AARO presented her with an award for her dedication. Her key staff were also present and we all recognize that their contribution is immeasurable. We can't say too much, yet, about the content of the meeting. But our key issues are very high on their list of priorities.
Back to the hill, first to bring Carolyn Maloney's office up to date. She is the co-chair of the Americans Abroad Caucus. And on to other representatives. No need to go into details. I think that our new issue on APEC cards (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the card is the ABTC, Asia business travel card) is getting a lot of attention. This is a card that allows streamlined processing for business travelers belonging to the APEC economies. The US is one, so it honors the cards of business travelers from member economies, and passed a law in 2011 to establish the card for US business travelers. Homeland Security has still not issued those cards.
Must go, now. Today is a busy, busy day.