Democrats Abroad speaks with Laurie Gayle, Humanitarian Officer and Deputy Chair of Communications for Social Media about her experience of the refugee crisis, life in Scotland, and why she’s involved with Democrats Abroad.

Ten years ago and after stints living in England and Ireland, native Texan Laurie Gayle settled in Edinburgh, Scotland, and felt immediately at home. “My grandfather was born here,” Laurie explains. “I’m a proud Texan and there is something that aligns between the strong identities that both Texans and Scots have.  And of course, we both love fried food, live music and the bottle of whisky isn’t that far away.”

Laurie, who currently directs DA’s Facebook and Twitter channels as Deputy Director of Communications – Social Media, was prompted to join Democrats Abroad when a call to action was published on Facebook to recruit an entire new Chapter Committee in Scotland.  “The only way to run for a leadership position in Democrats Abroad is to become a member,” she recalls. “It only takes two minutes to join, so I did and shortly after I was elected Chair of the Scottish Chapter of Democrats Abroad.”

Around the world, our hearts go out to the people of Orlando. Our votes go out to U.S. leaders who support gun control. 

For most people, a bank account close to home is a fact of life. Sarah, an American researcher living in Canada, had thought little of how this right could come under fire until the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) went into effect. She now faces the anxiety of invasive monitoring of the account she shares with her British husband and worries about how she can save for her future. FATCA, a law intended to target those who evade taxes by stashing untaxed earnings in foreign banks, unjustly hurts normal Americans abroad—whose only crime is having a bank account in their country of residence.

Democrats Abroad is truly an international organization. Active members who keep it alive, like DNC member Gary Suwannarat, work tirelessly because they recognize the wide-reaching impact of US policies and understand the power of each and every vote.

(Gary Suwannarat, all the way on the left, is joined by fellow DNC members Caitlin Craft-Buchman and John Eastwood, and International Chair Katie Solon, reminding Americans overseas to Vote From Abroad)

Raised by active FDR-style liberal Democrats in a Republican-dominated Colorado district, Gary jokes that her political involvement is likely a “genetic inheritance.” Her appetite for affecting change led her to work in international development throughout southeast Asia, landing her in Thailand where she helped to revive a Democrats Abroad branch in 2003.  Now retired, she has represented our organization within the Democratic National Committee since 2012.

The Democrats Abroad Global Convention in Berlin came to a successful close on Sunday after a long and action-packed weekend.

Our congratulations to all the delegates elected this weekend at the Democrats Abroad regional caucuses and Global Convention! 

The first day of the Democrats Abroad Global Convention got off to an exciting start !  It began early when the Credentials Committee met to hear a challenge made by the Hillary Clinton campaign about the allocation of global delegates.   

When the news announces the winner of a primary election, people often believe that the story is over.  But that’s far from true—the results of the popular vote are just the beginning!

After a primary vote,  each state party has a state convention where the real action takes place.   And as a state party, Democrats Abroad is seeing a lot of action this weekend in Berlin as it holds its “Global Convention.”

2016 DPCA GLOBAL MEETING (MAY 12)

Who are the Voting Participants ?

DPCA Voting Members* -- Country Committee Chairs, Vice Chairs , Voting Representatives, current DNC Members, plus the 8 Members of the DPCA (International) Executive Committee
* DPCA Voting members representing Country Committees must be from a CC in compliance as of the start of the Global Meeting.

The FBAR/FATCA Task Force has closely followed the progress of the FATCA lawsuit (Mark Crawford et al vs US Department of Treasury et al) filed by Sen Rand Paul and others seeking to stop FATCA.  Yesterday, April 26, the case was thrown out of court.  This was, in many respects, expected after the judge denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of the Act last September. The plaintiffs then added four plaintiffs, but the judge has found that the plaintiffs still fail to demonstrate standing to sue and the violation of a protected interest.*

The plaintiffs can, of course, appeal the judge's decisions.  We continue to follow this case and will keep you up to date with any further developments.

And we continue the work to promote our recommended reform to FATCA, the Same Country Safe Harbor for Americans Abroad, which would exempt the accounts of Americans abroad in their legal country of residence from FATCA disclosure.

Please contact the FBAR/FATCA Task Force at any time with questions: [email protected]

*This is from the court order terminating the case:  "...the Court finds that none of the Plaintiffs has standing to sue Defendants. No individual Plaintiff has suffered an invasion of a legally protected interest, which is concrete and particularized, and actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical. Moreover, no alleged injury is fairly traceable to the actions of the Defendants, but rather, the actions of an independent third party. Finally, there are no allegations that it is likely that the alleged injury will be redressed by a favorable decision."