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Rand Fishbein
served as one of nine professional staff members of the Senate Defense
Appropriations subcommittee (majority staff) responsible for drafting
and overseeing the implementation of the annual U.S. defense budget.
He was personally responsible for the budgeting of approximately
$35 billion annually out of a defense budget totaling about $270
billion.
Oversight and
budget responsibilities covered the following accounts:
- Operation
and Maintenance, Air Force;
- Operation
and Maintenance, Marine Corps;
- Special
Operations (MFP 11);
- Environmental
Restoration, Defense;
- Overseas
Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid;
- Procurement
of Ammunition, Army;
- Procurement,
Marine Corps (Ammunition);
- Weapons Procurement,
Navy (Other ordnance and ammunition);
- Other Procurement,
Air Force (Munitions and Assorted Equipment);
- Drug Interdiction
and Counterdrug Activities, Defense;
- Select classified
accounts; and
- Special Projects.
General responsibilities
also included:
- Review and
analysis of the President's annual budget request for foreign
assistance (function 050 account);
- Preparation
of the annual Senate committee report;
- Joint preparation
of the annual House-Senate conference report and statement of
managers;
- Preparation
and analysis of all supplemental appropriations requests for foreign
assistance;
- Preparation
of subcommittee budget and oversight hearings;
- Review and
commissioning of General Accounting Office (GAO) and DoD Inspector
General (IG) investigations;
- Handling
of agency and public correspondence; and
- Representation
of subcommittee in discussions with executive branch agencies,
NGOs, the congressional authorization and budget committees, and
constituent interests.
Represented
the Senate Appropriations subcommittee at Department of Defense,
contractor, and association meetings. Conducted overseas field investigations
in Turkey, Iraq, Germany, Belgium, and Israel. Conducted domestic
field investigations and unit/installation inspections across the
United States.
Conceived of
and authored bill and report language responsible for the establishment
of over a dozen new defense initiatives. Initiated the first comprehensive
subcommittee discussions on the Iraqi military threat culminating
in the authorship of the first Iraq Sanctions Act ten months prior
to the Iraq invasion of Kuwait.
Conceived of
and authored appropriations language responsible for initiating
the $100 million humanitarian relief program for the Kurds immediately
following the Gulf War of 1991.
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