WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The State Department will carry out department-wide reforms aimed at "getting more Americans into the diplomatic frontlines of the 21st century."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the proposal Wednesday at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in Washington. Funding for the proposal would come to about $7.2 billion, she said.
"This funding will enable us reflect our goals of moving more of our diplomats into the regions and provinces of our host countries," Rice said.
Citing her knowledge of Russian as an example, the secretary said it had become extremely important to equip the department with experts in languages of interest to the United States like Urdu, Farsi, and Arabic.
The 2008 budget, the first collaborative effort by the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development, focuses on six proposals.
Integrating departmental planning based on total government resources, assessing the U.S. stand to match assistance to individual countries, and investing in states critical to the global war on terror are some of the proposals the secretary said the budget would take care of.
Other proposals are geared to empower ambassadors and mission directors overseeing the different ranges of foreign assistance programs in countries where they work, and to aligning U.S. account structure with their countries' condition and goals.
"Our new approach to foreign assistance ensures an efficient, effective, and strategic use of American taxpayer's money," Rice said.
To reach the department's goal of filling the Foreign Service with the "nation's best talent," it is important to revamp the "pay scale" for the diplomatic corps, she added.
This becomes necessary as 20 percent of personnel in the department are increasingly expected to serve in "hardship posts."
