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“TRIBUTE TO COMDR. ROBERT MEISSNER, USN” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S8204-S8205 on June 13, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO COMDR. ROBERT MEISSNER, USN
MR. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise to recognize the dedication, public service, and patriotism of Comdr. Robert M. Meissner, U.S. Navy, on the occasion of his retirement after 20 years of faithful service to our Nation.
Today Commander Meissner, a 1975 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, is [[Page S8205]] serving his last day of a 12-month assignment as the Director of Senate Affairs for the Secretary of Defense. During this and previous assignments over the past decade in the legislative affairs offices of the Department of the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense [OSD] and in Senator Gramm's office, many of us have come to know Bob Meissner well and he has earned the admiration and respect of Members on both sides of the aisle.
Legislative liaison is often a thankless job. Interpreting the Pentagon to the Congress and the Congress to the Pentagon is certainly no easy task. There is a well-known tendency in Washington to shoot messengers of bad tidings. Commander Meissner has had to convey bad news both to Members of Congress and to senior Department of Defense officials on many occasions. The fact that he has survived to his retirement, and not only survived, but thrived and continually advanced in responsibility, is testament to his grace, skill, honesty, and strong commitment to excellence in carrying out his duties.
Commander Meissner also brought a keen sense of humor to the job, which is probably an essential qualification for any legislative liaison officer. I am sure that many of my colleagues would join me in saying that Commander Bob Meissner represents the epitome of the Pentagon legislative liaison officer and we will miss his contributions to our joint effort with the Pentagon to advance our Nation's security.
Let me briefly now summarize Commander Meissner's career as a Naval officer.
Commander Meissner holds a master's degree in government with distinction, from Georgetown University, and is a graduate of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government's Senior Officials in National Security Program. His military experience includes four operational carrier deployments, two with an air antisubmarine squadron and two as a strike operations officer with the ship's company, a staff assignment as aide and executive assistant, post graduate studies, and several joint duty staff assignments. He is an antisubmarine warfare mission commander in the S-3A aircraft and qualified as an underway command duty officer.
In October l983, as the U.S. task force's only on-scene strike operations officer, Commander Meissner singularly scheduled and planned the weapons for all Navy tactical combat air missions during the first 5 days of the successful Grenada Operation Urgent Fury. Two months later he was cited for his extraordinary contribution in the successful execution of the December 1983 retaliatory air strike over Beirut and the Bekaa Valley. In March 1985, Commander Meissner reported to the Navy's Office of Legislative Affairs as a Senate liaison officer, where he assisted the Office of the Secretary of the Navy on political and legislative issues before the U.S. Senate. In early 1987, he was selected to serve on the Secretary of Defense's Legislative Affairs staff as an Assistant, responsible for weapon systems' procurement legislation.
After the U.S.S. Stark was attacked in the Persian Gulf in May 1987, Commander Meissner became Secretary of Defense Weinberger's legislative point of contact to Congress on the Kuwaiti reflagging and escort issue. Within 9 months, he coordinated over 50 congressional briefings and hearings, made 10 trips to the region with 28 Members of Congress, and was cited by Congressmen, U.S. State Department officials, and Middle East foreign leaders for his efforts in promoting the administration's successful Persian Gulf policy. He assisted in writing a section of the Persian Gulf chapter of former Secretary of Defense Weinberger's book, Fighting for Peace.
In March 1988, he was selected by the Secretary of Navy as the first naval officer to receive a LEGIS congressional fellowship. He was assigned to the personal staff of Senator Phil Gramm, then the ranking member on the Armed Services Defense Industry and Technology Subcommittee, and served as his senior defense advisor and National Security Affairs legislative assistant. Upon completion of his fellowship, Commander Meissner returned to OSD [Legislative Affairs], where he assumed the responsibilities of the assistant for research, development, test and evaluation.
In June 1990, he was promoted to Director for House Affairs, where he provided direct liaison between the Secretary of Defense and the U.S. House of Representatives. In early 1991, Commander Meissner left the OSD staff and reported to the President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament as its Executive Director. Commander Meissner returned to OSD [Legislative Affairs] in January 1993 and assumed responsibility for the Research and Technology legislative portfolio with particular emphasis on representing the Advanced Research Projects Agency [ARPA] and the administration's dual-use and technology reinvestment programs.
In May 1994, Commander Meissner assumed his current position as the Director of Senate Affairs for the Department of Defense. Commander Meissner has lectured at the Naval Postgraduate School and the Defense System's Management College on civil-military affairs and congressional relations.
His military awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal [fourth award], and several unit commendations, expeditionary, and service ribbons. Bob is married and resides with his wife, Denise, in Falls Church, VA.
Our Nation, the U.S. Navy, the Department of Defense as a whole, and especially his wife, Denise, can truly be proud of Commander Meissner's many accomplishments. A man of his extraordinary talent and integrity is rare indeed. While his honorable service will be genuinely missed in the Department of Defense and here in the Senate, it gives me great pleasure to recognize Comdr. Bob Meissner before my colleagues and send him all of our best wishes in his new and exciting career.
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