[Congressional Record: January 22, 2009 (Senate)]
[Page S782-S783]
TRIBUTE TO MELVIN DUBEE
Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, Melvin Dubee, one of the Senate's
most highly valued staff members and one to whom I am personally
grateful, will soon conclude two decades of government service in order
to apply his considerable talents in the private sector. While I do
not, for a moment, believe that this is the end of Melvin's public
duties--one day a wise official will certainly summon him back to
public service--it is fitting to note his accomplishments to date.
As evident to even casual observers, particularly around key Longhorn
or Cowboy games, Melvin has roots in Texas, where he received at the
University of Texas at Arlington a Bachelor of Business Administration
degree in finance. His path to public service then included a Masters
degree in international affairs from George Washington University in
1988 and two years as a Presidential management intern between 1987 and
1989.
The Presidential Management Intern Program was established by
President Carter to attract to Federal service, through a national
competition, outstanding individuals from a variety of disciplines who
are interested in a career in Federal service. During the internship
Melvin worked in the Office of the Inspector General in the Department
of Defense, where he began to build expertise in defense issues that
carried into his Senate work. During that time he received a
congressional fellowship, which introduced him to the Senate in the
office of the Senate's master teacher, my senior Senator, Robert Byrd,
where Melvin continued to work on defense management issues.
It doesn't take long for those with whom Melvin works to be impressed
by his considerable skills and calm demeanor. His audition as a
Congressional Fellow led to 5 years of service as national security
assistant to Senator Byrd, between 1989 and 1994. In that capacity, he
advised Senator Byrd, who was then in the midst of his distinguished
leadership of the Senate Appropriations Committee, on foreign policy
and defense issues. This included serving as Senator Byrd's staff
representative to the Armed Services Committee, during which Melvin
complemented his growing knowledge of defense issues with his
impressive legislative process skills concerning hearings, markups,
floor action, conference committee negotiations, and negotiations with
other congressional offices and with the Executive Branch.
In 1994, Melvin began his service on the Senate Intelligence
Committee. This service continued until now with brief interruptions,
including a year during President Clinton's administration in the
Office of National Drug Policy where he advised Director Barry
McCaffrey on that office's interaction with Congress.
Melvin has contributed to the committee in a variety of positions.
As a professional staff member, which is the general entry point for
our staff, Melvin developed expertise in a number of key intelligence
community oversight issues, including counter-drug, counterterrorism,
international organized crime issues, as well as area expertise
concerning Latin America and Southeast Asia. As a professional staff
member, he also served as an adviser and liaison to Senator John Kerry
and then to me, during the early part of my service on the committee in
2001.
One of Melvin's particular contributions during that time was
leadership of the committee's investigation of the tragic April 2001
shoot-down of a U.S. missionary plane in Peru. Our report, entitled
``Report on a Review of United States Assistance to Peruvian Counter-
Drug Air Interdiction Efforts and the Shootdown of a Civilian Aircraft
on April 20, 2001,'' S. Prt. 107-64, bears witness to a number of his
skills. They include an ability to gather and carefully analyze facts,
write accurately and clearly, help the Committee draw sound conclusions
and make needed recommendations, and do so in a manner that draws
bipartisan support. And, I should add, also to do all that
expeditiously so that the committee was able to report publicly within
6 months of the incident.
The skills that Melvin amply demonstrated as a professional staff
member led to his selection to fill two key staff management positions.
From mid-2001 through 2002, Melvin served as the committee's budget
director. Our budget director post is an immensely important
responsibility. The total national intelligence budget when Melvin was
budget director is classified. But we have declassified the top line
for the last 2 fiscal years. The most recent figure, $47.5 billion in
fiscal year 2008, conveys the importance of the task of reviewing,
making recommendations about, and monitoring implementation of the
Nation's intelligence budget. As budget director, Melvin led the
committee's budget monitors for each of the individual intelligence
community elements in scouring the President's budget numbers and
evaluating the broad span of human and technical collection,
analytical, acquisition, and management issues they involve. The budget
director arranges for the presentation of these issues at classified
hearings of the committee, their consideration at committee markups,
coordination with the Senate Armed Services and Appropriations
Committees, and negotiation with the House and also with the Executive
Branch. This work is at the heart of the committee's responsibilities.
Confidence in Melvin, starting with former Vice Chairman Richard
Bryan in 2000 and then myself from 2003 through the 110th Congress,
also led to Melvin's designation as deputy staff director, initially on
the minority side and then beginning in 2007 as the committee's deputy
staff director. There are two aspects of that responsibility. One is
leadership within the staff, helping it to maintain the high level of
professionalism and effectiveness that has been the hallmark of our
Intelligence Committee staffs. The other is being a close adviser to
the chairman or vice chairman, as the case may be, on the full breadth
of issues relating to the oversight of the U.S. intelligence community.
In both respects, as a partner with the staff director in managing
the committee and as a close adviser to me, Melvin performed
magnificently. On a daily basis, I most often saw Melvin as a trusted
adviser. In that role, Melvin combines key capabilities and attributes.
Melvin knows his material. This includes current intelligence and
historical background. It includes detailed knowledge of the elements
of the intelligence community, from the CIA, to components of the
Defense Department, to intelligence elements in the State, Treasury,
and Energy Departments, as well as the FBI. And it includes knowledge
of the functioning of the Senate, with respect not only to the
Intelligence Committee, but also to the committees with which we work,
and its leadership and floor proceedings.
Melvin has an admirable ability to express his considerable knowledge
succinctly and clearly. He has no hesitation in expressing disagreement
or dissent, respectfully but clearly, particularly when a matter of
principle is involved, as is often the case when addressing sensitive
matters. When a decision is made, he has an uncanny ability to find and
recommend the right words for remarks in committee, on the floor, in
letters or press releases, or in speeches outside the Senate. And, in
all of our endeavors, Melvin has been forever guided by a deep
commitment to the protection of our Nation and our values.
It would be incomplete, however, to talk only about Melvin at work. A
[[Page S783]]
glance at his wall of photographs, an opportunity to hear him talk
about his family, and the chance to meet his wife and two daughters,
make it clear that Melvin and his wife Kristine Johnson are loving and
imaginative parents, and that Melvin's priorities have always been
right on the mark. As may often be the case when someone leaves the
Senate for the private sector, daughters Katrina and Eliza may find
that Dad is able to get home a little earlier to join them at dinner.
With gratitude for his service to the Senate and the Nation, for
myself and the many others who have benefited from it, I wish Melvin
the best in the time ahead.
____________________
