The overseas American community has lost a great friend and champion, the kind of man we encounter only rarely in our lives.

Andy Sundberg, founder of the Children’s Citizens Rights League in 1977 and American Citizens Abroad in 1978, Secretary of the Overseas Americans Academy, indefatigable researcher and prolific writer, died on Thursday, August 30.  He is being referred to with reason as an icon of the overseas American community, having moved to Switzerland in 1968 and quickly become passionately involved in advocating for the citizenship and voting rights of Americans living and working abroad.

He also fought for years against what he called the injustice of worldwide taxation of US citizens and more recently, the unintended and sometimes disastrous consequences on them of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). 

As the editor of the English-language online community newspaper Geneva Lunch put it, “His work, including thousands of letters sent to people in positions of influence, put him on a first-name basis with politicians, government leaders and celebrities, whether they agreed with him or were targeted by him as someone to be convinced of the need for change.”

On August 1, HR 6263 was introduced in the House of Representatives calling for the creation of a bipartisan federal commission to study the impact of government policies on Americans living and working abroad and to make recommendations to Congress to improve drafting and implementation of policies concerning the overseas population.

Americans Abroad Caucus Chair Carolyn Maloney of New York and Representatives Mike Honda of California and Charles Rangel of New York have introduced the bill because, according to Congresswoman Maloney, the concerns of overseas Americans  “about how their government interacts with them deserve to be heard-- and paid attention to-- here in Washington.”

FAWCO salutes this unprecedented effort to examine the impact of U.S. legislation on the overseas community and seek ways to “ensure awareness, coordination, and integration of the activities of the federal government relating to Americans abroad.”

The Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) is the document with which military and overseas voters register to vote and request their ballots.

A new version of this form was introduced for the 2012 election which raised concerns with many voters  (see earlier article on this here).  In response to requests from state and local election officials, the new form explicitly asks voters to state whether they “intend to return” to the state or not.  Many were unsure of their intent and even more unsure of the implications of their affirmation and, for U.S. citizens born abroad, the notion of “return” did not apply.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program, responsible for military and overseas voting, has recently issued a Federal Register notice for the 2011 FPCA and hopes for feedback on the new format and wording.  

Comments on the new form have been submitted by FAWCO’s U.S. Liaison and its Voting from Overseas Chair (click to view comments). Additional comments and suggestions from others who either like or do not like the new form are most welcome.  Click here for more information and to submit a comment (the "submit formal comment" box is in the upper right-hand corner of the page); the deadline for submission is September 4, 2012.

FAWCO is pleased to announce the Regional Meeting for Region 2, Scandinavia and Russia, to be held in Stockholm this September. Register today and take this opportunity to interact directly with your fellow FAWCO members. All regional meetings are open to everyone (also outside the region) so register today!

AWC Stockholm is excited to host the 2012 Federation of American Women’s Clubs (FAWCO) Regional Meeting in Stockholm this year 21-23 September! Our meeting will be a huge success for three good reasons!

1-Stockholm is the biggest city in Sweden and other AWC ladies will want to come here to see the sights and go shopping before and after the meeting.