Two recent announcements from Washington, one from IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman, and one from Pamela Mitchell, Acting Director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, appear to signal a new awareness of the realities of the overseas American population.

On June 26,  Commissioner Shulman announced new procedures to take effect on September 1, 2012, to make compliance easier for delinquent overseas...

Echoing a position that FAWCO and its partner organizations have supported for several years, reflected in FAWCO’s Resolutions and Recommendations (Resolution 1.6, adopted Marrakech, March 2011 ), the Washington Post recently supported legislation introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee*.  FAWCO’s position has been that unless the United States honors its Vienna Convention obligation to ensure...

Increasing numbers of overseas Americans are encountering problems with U.S. banks unwilling to open or maintain an account for them simply because they have a foreign address.  Such accounts are needed to pay U.S. taxes, receive Social Security payments, make payments or have credit cards in the U.S., etc.

FAWCO's partner organization ACA has drawn up recommendations for U.S. citizens...

In one memorable week, two Members of the House of Representatives joined the Americans Abroad Caucus in response to requests from one (yes, one) of their constituents.  In each case, the Congressmen were simply contacted by an overseas voter in their district and both agreed to join, adding their names to the list of legislators who, by joining the Caucus,

The Americans Abroad Caucus is the first group officially created on Capitol Hill to provide for dialogue between Congress and the overseas American community. 

The Caucus grew rapidly at the beginning but has stagnated since. Since it was created, several of its members joined simply because a single constituent asked his/her Representative to do so.  

You can help grow the...

We are regularly encouraged to write to our Washington representatives, urging them to support legislation that directly affects us living abroad. When we do, it would be wise to keep a few things in mind.

Here are some tips on writing to your legislators, as well as a few websites for those particularly interested in US issues. 

Communicating with your...

In 2005, FAWCO conducted a survey of its members around the globe to learn how they would like to be represented in Washington: many people complain of "taxation without representation" and dream of a Congressperson or even a group of them to represent the large overseas American population without necessarily thinking of the constitutional challenge that would represent.

This is...

FAWCO Survey on Representation of Overseas Americans in Washington
January - April 2005

Contents

Introduction 

Survey    

Breakdown of results

Workshop results    

Carried out and reported by Lucy Stensland Laederich
FAWCO U.S. Liaison

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Introduction

In our rapidly globalizing world, many tens of millions of people of many different nationalities have already left their home countries to live and work in foreign markets.

Unanimous Resolution from the Council
FAWCO Interim Conference
March 24-29, 2004 - The Hague, Netherlands
(Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas, Inc.)

 

FAWCO (the Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas, Inc.), a non-partisan organization with more than 17,000 members in 33 countries, endorses the Equal Rights Amendment and urges its timely ratification by the following states:

Alabama		Mississippi
Arizona		Missouri
Arkansas

FAWCO endorsement for the Equal Rights Amendment

Written in 1923 by the suffragist leader Alice Paul, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was introduced into every session of Congress between 1923 and 1972, when it was passed and sent to the states for ratification. The seven-year time limit in the ERA's proposing clause was extended by Congress to June 30, 1982,