The Obama Biden Position on Americans Abroad

If you, like me, believe we must restore America’s moral authority so that America can once again lead by the power of our example, to paraphrase former President Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, you should take a look at the Obama Biden campaign’s policy sheet (PDF) on Americans living overseas. In it, the Obama campaign writes:

Americans abroad are uniquely aware of the impact that our government’s policies have on the rest of the world and recognize that it’s time for America to be seen as a global leader once more. Facing terrorism, climate change, global AIDS, or the spread of weapons of mass destruction, America cannot meet these challenges on its own, and the world cannot defeat them without America. As president, Obama will restore America’s moral leadership in the world and the understanding that the world shares a common security and a common humanity. Obama understands the special concerns and issues of Americans living abroad and will seek to address these as president.

Specifically, the Obama campaign’s Americans abroad policy sheet states that Senator Obama:

• will ensure that overseas Americans have every chance to compete on a level playing field
• make sure that the Social Security Administration guidelines on receiving Social Security benefits abroad are made more accessible to overseas Americans and that embassy officials are properly trained on Social Security issues.
• is committed to addressing citizenship denials and their effects on travel abroad, immigration of family members, and citizenship in a manner that protects American interests
• will ensure U.S. embassies and consulates streamline the citizenship claim process for American children born abroad and that regulations on reporting the birth of a child born to an American abroad are more widely communicated to Americans living abroad
• supports vigorous efforts to ensure that American citizens abroad have the ability to exercise their voting rights and to make the overseas voting process more transparent and accessible for Americans abroad
• supports efforts to find an efficient and accurate procedure to count Americans living abroad in the U.S. Census
• believes it is important to understand the role of Americans abroad in determining U.S. policy and will work with members of the Americans abroad community and U.S. embassies to determine how the U.S. government can be responsive to the concerns of overseas Americans and work to establish a direct dialogue with Americans abroad
• believes that U.S. embassies and consulates, which are the main U.S. government contact points for Americans abroad, should develop and implement concrete plans on how to communicate basic information to Americans living abroad
• will restore America’s standing, reputation, and authority in the world by respecting civil liberties, ending torture, restoring habeas corpus and the rule of law, making the U.S. electoral processes fair and transparent, and fighting corruption at home