American Citizens Abroad’s Thomas Jefferson Award Winners – 2006

In 1993, American Citizens Abroad created the Thomas Jefferson Award to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth. This annual award is conferred upon U.S. State Department staff in recognition of their work and dedication to the ideals of America. The 2006 ACA Thomas Jefferson Award Winners are:

“David W. Abell is the U.S. Consul General in Baghdad. He joined the Foreign Service in 1987, and has served in Mexico City; Bridgetown, Barbados; Harare, Zimbabwe; Lagos, Nigeria; and Toronto. During his assignments in Washington, DC, David was an instructor for new consular officers, and later headed the Anti-Fraud Training Unit. In Baghdad, David is in charge of the U.S. Embassy section that provides essential services to the private sector U.S. community living and working in Iraq. In addition to the routine tasks of assisting with passports and absentee voting, David is on duty essentially 24 hours a day answering calls for help on a very wide variety of uniquely challenging problems and concerns. This is a hardship post in very dangerous circumstances. David volunteered for this assignment and his willingness to endure these trying conditions manifests the highest degree of patriotism and devotion to his fellow citizens. ACA salutes his courage, his dedication to his country, and his services to his compatriots living and working abroad. David has previously received several awards for his performance. Two of these cited his outstanding work in Harare and Toronto. A third recognized his role in improving the training of new consular officers. David and his wife, Mary, have a son who is currently a Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Rena Bitter is the Consular Chief in Amman, Jordan. She joined the Foreign Service in 1994, and has previously served in Mexico City; Bogota, Colombia; and London. She worked for a year directly with the British Foreign Office before becoming the Chief of the Nonimmigrant Visa Unit at the American Embassy in London. During an assignment in Washington, she served as a Special Assistant to former Secretary of State Colin Powell. In her current capacity in Amman, Rena has a double responsibility. She not only provides a full range of assistance to American citizens living and working in Jordan, but also provides vital backup and support to David Abell and his colleagues at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. She and David form a powerful team working closely together to respond to the needs of U.S. citizens in very trying circumstances. Rena has also previously received awards for outstanding performance. Two of these cited her leadership of London’s Nonimmigrant Visa Unit, which is the largest visa processing post in Europe. A third noted her contributions to the office of the Secretary of State. As testimony to her courage and dedication, one of her supervisors wrote a few years ago: “If my grandkids were to find themselves in trouble, I would hope it would be Rena, or someone like her who would be available” to help them.”

Thank you David and Rena for your fine work on behalf of the U.S. and all of her myriad and many citizens around the globe. A list of previous winners of the ACA Thomas Jefferson Award is available here.