U.S. Representative Howard Berman (D-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has introduced legislation to improve the State Department, including extending benefits for same-sex partners of American Foreign Service officers. Currently, benefits are only extended to spouses and children of Foreign Service officers.
The legislation has to be approved during the budget process, including approval by the Senate, but advocates doubt that Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, the chairman and Republican ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will strip the legislation from the budget bill.
Via UN Dispatch
