On Tuesday, March 20, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, put a direct question to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner concerning the difficulties overseas Americans are increasingly encountering in maintaining or opening bank accounts abroad, where they live and work and need access to financial services.
In response, Secretary Geithner pledged to work with her office to make sure that, while pursuing the goal of preventing tax evasion, the Treasury Department can still be as "responsive as possible to those concerns".
This recognition of the needs of "legitimate American citizens" abroad must be seen as an encouraging sign to all organizations like FAWCO that seek to protect and defend America's overseas constituency. See the relevant portion of the Financial Services Committee hearing here (Congresswoman Maloney's question concerning overseas Americans begins at the 3:12 mark).
