Rich Verma is a partner at the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the international and government affairs practice groups. Rich also serves as Counselor to the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global consulting firm, and is Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. Rich most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, where he was a principal advisor to Secretary Clinton. Rich formerly was the Senior National Security Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, and he has worked in the House of Representatives for the late Congressman John P. Murtha. In 2008, he was appointed a member of the Commission to Prevent Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism, and he also served as a member of the Defense Department Presidential Transition Team. Rich is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and also a former country director for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI). Rich is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and he holds degrees from the Georgetown University Law Center (LLM), the American University (JD), and Lehigh University (BS).