senator ayotte, let me start with you. when harry reid said we should be allowed an up or down vote and harry reid and dick durbin and schumer all complaining about a filibuster when they just got ton tabling a bill without a vote the second time they have done it and haven't passed a budget in 8 hyundais won't put their bill on paper seems ironic to me. >> it is disingenuous. it is always a 60 vote threshold and they held republicans to a 60 vote threshold and blocked consideration of the only proposals passed which is the work has been done in the house of representatives by the republicans their cut cap and balance and then, of course, the proposal that passed tonight. so, you know, this is i think very what he is talking about is disingenuous in terms of where we are. >> what is more, mitch mcconnell i'm speaking only behalf of all of the republican senators offered harry reided on the floor tonight right after the vote that they cast to kill the bill that came over to the house. he offered to have a vote immediately.

senator ayotte, let me start with you. when harry reid said we should be allowed an up or down vote and harry reid and dick durbin and schumer all complaining about a filibuster when they just got ton tabling a bill without a vote the second time they have done it and haven't passed a budget in 8 hyundais won't put their bill on paper seems ironic to me. >> it is disingenuous. it is always a 60 vote threshold and they held republicans to a 60 vote threshold and blocked consideration of the only proposals passed which is the work has been done in the house of representatives by the republicans their cut cap and balance and then, of course, the proposal that passed tonight. so, you know, this is i think very what he is talking about is disingenuous in terms of where we are. >> what is more, mitch mcconnell i'm speaking only behalf of all of the republican senators offered harry reided on the floor tonight right after the vote that they cast to kill the bill that came over to the house. he offered to have a vote immediately.

senator ayotte, let me start with you. when harry reid said we should be allowed an up or down vote and harry reid and dick durbin and schumer all complaining about a filibuster when they just got ton tabling a bill without a vote the second time they have done it and haven't passed a budget in 8 hyundais won't put their bill on paper seems ironic to me. >> it is disingenuous. it is always a 60 vote threshold and they held republicans to a 60 vote threshold and blocked consideration of the only proposals passed which is the work has been done in the house of representatives by the republicans their cut cap and balance and then, of course, the proposal that passed tonight. so, you know, this is i think very what he is talking about is disingenuous in terms of where we are. >> what is more, mitch mcconnell i'm speaking only behalf of all of the republican senators offered harry reided on the floor tonight right after the vote that they cast to kill the bill that came over to the house. he offered to have a vote immediately.

ayotte: thank you. mr. president, it an honor to be here with my esteemed colleague from florida, senator marco rubio. my husband and i are phrefd to be the -- blessed to be the parents of two wonderful children. this 4th of july, we walked together as a family in the parade in wolfboro, new hampshire. as i watched my children in the parade hand out candy to other new hampshire children as they were standing with their parents, it reminded me again of why i am here and how concerned i am about the future of our country for kate and jacob and for all of our children. as parents, we all want to provide our children with a brighter future and at least the same, if not greater, opportunities than we have all had in the greatest country on earth. that is the american dream, that a young woman like me from a middle-class family can have the opportunity to serve in this chamber, that someone like senator rubio, the son of cuban immigrants, could serve as the senator from florida, a leader of our great country who

senator ayotte. ms. ayotte: i want to thank my colleagues and i think those of you who are watchinghis will see that we are new senators back here in the back corner of the senate, and i can tell you as a new member of this chamber i'm deeply disappointed by the lack of work that we have been doing here in the united states senate. and the mority leader has put us in a position where we haven't been focusing on the fiscal crisis that is facing our nation rig now. when you look at the fact that it's been 792 days since we've had a budget. and i was so excited as a new member of the budget committee to rollp my sleeves and get together to put together a responsible blueprint for this country; yet, unfortunately, we were told by the majority leader that would be foolish to put together a responsible blueprint for this country and to do the work of the budget committee. one of the reasons i came to the united states senate is i'm tired of business as usual. i know that my freshmen colleagues back here share

senator ayotte. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. wanted to follow up with attorney general madigan. could you help me a little bit in terms of, what are the current laws and penalties in place to address grammy cramming three prosecution route? you know, i think about when somebody steals from the convenience store we generally shut down the store. we go after the peace. and so when you say to ban all third party, i just want to understand what the difficulties are and why that should be the route versus some other route. >> scheuer. >> we want to ban third-party charges on phone bills because we have yet to see anything legitimate in terms of the products or services. people are obviously unaware. and it shouldn't be though of responsibility to play whack a mole. you've heard people testified that there should be about enforcement action that ultimately results in the vendor being kicked off the carriers billing platform. but they simply reappear with another name and are engaging in the exact same activities, so much so that there

ayotte: well, i thank you. what i have certainly heard from my constituents, in new hampshire we do have a requirement that we balance our budget. it's not easy to make those tough choices, but that is what i have heard from my constituents. they don't understand why in washington there is controversy over the notion of balancing your budget because at home people are balancing their budget, families balance their budget, businesses balance their budgets. i meet with business people and they just look at me in disbelief when they say i don't understand why in washington they don't look at what you have to spend and base that -- base your -- what you are going to do in washington based on what money you have. it really comes down to common sense. and one of the biggest issues i have heard from my constituents that they are concerned about is that it's been almost over two years, 800 days, over 800 days since we have passed a budget in the united states senate, and the notion that we have been operating without a

jon: senator ayotte, what about tax increases?ave generally said the tax increases are off the table right now. is there any scenario in which you would vote for a debt ceiling lift that would include tax increases? >> well, i don't think we should do anything right now that's going to hurt our economic recovery and further increasing taxes on our small businesses is going to hurt our economic recovery. but what republicans have said and i firmly believe, i believe in tax reform. that means eliminating and simplifying the tax code and lowering rates for everyone to make us more competitive. ask i believe that we can get -- and i believe we can get further revenue through economic growth by doing that. so i think you'll hear there's bipartisan support for tax reform, and we can do that without hurting our economic recovery. in fact, it will help our economic recovery. jon: there seems to be a lot of, well, name calling going on on capitol hill right now, and a lot of taxpayers are frustrated. they say, you know, let's everybody, bo

chairman and i would concur with what senator ayotte talked about. in fact our state has been taking this on an attorney general madigan knows not just the federal level but the state level with attorney general swanson and last january she and i join together and talked about the consumer fraud lawsuit against a company that fraudulently charged thousands of minnesotans for services that they neither authorized or used. the company which is called t. -- cheap to dial-up charged consumers in minnesota for long-distance service fees and you know how many people actually use that service mr. chairman? nine people. nine people of the 2567 that were charged. it is just one example of an process that has cost consumers and businesses millions if not aliens of dollars. i will never forget the consumers that were standing there with us and they were -- i think one was -- they were a lutheran minister and his wife and of course she had checked the bill every tiny detail and was able to discover that charge which is not something i would do. and so it is very

ayott. >> the united states senate voting now. the goal, to kill the house republican plan that passed just hours ago. this debate will continue throughout the week about getting deficit cuts. we'll continue live coverage throughout the weekend, including "in the arena, " which begins right now. >> good evening, i'm tom foreman. and washington in a hell for leather race against the clock. the republican deadline has cracked open. house speaker john boehner, after days of furiously urging members to line up behind him, has finally pass the debt reduction plan. as you saw a moment ago, the senate now in the process of killing it by effectively tabling it, because democrats are in charge over there. you heard harry reid speak moments ago, a big thumbs down over there, and then -- then -- we will move on. but the number of votes on either side really doesn't matter so much as this number. the number of days and hours now left until the money runs out. this is what we've been warning about for weeks and weeks. still, the vote today was

one is on following up on senator ayotte. she had asked about the guard, and i know there's been discussions and concerns. would the guard ever have joint chiefs of staff or would it be equal footing on that? i know you've been reseptember acti -- receptive in thinking about that and whether it's a possibility. >> i have been open on that, but also concern. one concern is i just finished, rather in elegantly, perhaps, describing how close we are -- i'm speaking again for the army, but -- >> with a need for the guard. >> and i don't know what that would do for the relationship if we have two or three stars over one force. one is more pragmatic. and that is, what gives me more authority for the chief, they would pay the budget. they would pay attention to me because i to use the resources that i'm given, so i'm held accountable for delivering it. i don't know what this means. they derive their ability from the title but also that they manage the city's budget. if we had a national four-star on the joint chiefss. they have nothi

my vice chairman, senator ayotte will make the next introduction. >> thank you.is my privilege to introduce the attorney general from illinois, lisa madigan who will provide testimony and has been active in going after crammers in her own state. i know how diligent she is in protecting consumers. thank you, attorney general madigan. >> thank you. i appreciate this opportunity to testify. i want to stress three points that draw my 8.5 years experience investigating and bringing enforcement action against phone bills crammers. number 1 -- most consumers are completely unaware that their phone number can be charged almost like a credit card. many consumers will never discovered that there are unauthorized charges buried in their phone bill. my office has yet to see a legitimate third-party charge placed on a consumer phone bills. 3 -- phone bill cramming is such a pervasive problem, i believe the only effective solution is to enact legislation banning third-party charges on phone bills. to give you an overview, ill. individuals, businesses, churches, and government

one is on following up on senator ayotte. she had asked about the guard, and i know there's been discussions and concerns. would the guard ever have joint chiefs of staff or would it be equal footing on that? i know you've been reseptember acti -- receptive in thinking about that and whether it's a possibility. >> i have been open on that, but also concern. one concern is i just finished, rather in elegantly, perhaps, describing how close we are -- i'm speaking again for the army, but -- >> with a need for the guard. >> and i don't know what that would do for the relationship if we have two or three stars over one force. one is more pragmatic. and that is, what gives me more authority for the chief, they would pay the budget. they would pay attention to me because i to use the resources that i'm given, so i'm held accountable for delivering it. i don't know what this means. they derive their ability from the title but also that they manage the city's budget. if we had a national four-star on the joint chiefss. they have nothi

. >> ok, senator ayotte. >> mr. kerry, i understand that the department of commerce has led this internet policy task force. could you also explain for us what the role of the department of commerce it would be? do you envision any enforcement role going forward? i am pretty clear as to what the ftc and fcc's is. >> sen. ayotte, no, we do not envision enforcement role. ftc is a critical policy maker and the enforcement authority over a broad area rather than specific regimes like communications and health records. we believe that that role should be strengthened. the role of the department of commerce is as a convener, a policy leader for the executive branch. it is important that the executive branch has a voice in the process. that we be part of the debate as we are today. we've worked closely with the ftc in developing policy in this area. we will continue to do so. >> thank you. commissioner brill, i wanted to follow up -- i know you share a history -- >> exactly. >> so welcome. i wanted to ask about the enforce

. >> thank you, ayotte. senator udall. >> mr. chairman, thank you for your presence and i want to associate myself with the remarks of my colleague on the results of your service and acknowledge the families that are here and wonder americans. if you could turn to you, i know you are going to have some challenges. you've got a leadership record that's exemple re. let me turn to the success that you had and we are in anbar in iraq. you reached out to an operation that was hostile and worked with them to turn their focus to al qaeda and the elements of terrorism that had really created enormous chaos. and in the process, the coin doctrine was validated. i don't want to imply that the two countries are alike. but could you talk about the primary lessons that we learned in anbar and how we are going to apply those lessons in afghanistan? >> senator, much of what was accomplished in the anbar providence, needless to say, much of it was accomplished on the shoulders of the sacrifice of many terrific soldiers and marines and sailors and

senator mitch mcconnell has not signed on, but we have so far as co-sponsors, ayotte, barossom hatch, isaacson, johnson, toomey, etc. >> speaker boehner left a little more optimistic after the meeting with the president. and did you leave with that impression? [inaudible] give us a sense of what he told you. >> i have probably been in hundreds of meetings with speaker boehner before he was speaker. he is always an optimistic man and was optimistic today. so i think that if you are a glass half full kind of guy, you heard that with optimism. if not, you heard that with less optimism. but i do think and probably the right answer to anything about revenue or anything else is the president has publicly says he is going to have the same group come back to the white house on sunday. there is a substantial belief that whatever is going to happen is likely to happen in the next few days. i intend to wait and see what happens rather than try to say how liked about what might happen. i think it's either going to happen or not a pretty quickly. my sense is that was one of the messages, working h

senator ayotte is asked about what surprises her most. the and complicated reply -- uncomplicated reply -- we will read more from that. we want to get your thoughts on this current session of congress -- what it should be doing or perhaps not be doing the rest of the summer and the rest of the year. as for current business, we can lead off with a little bit from president obama about the work that needs to be done here in the district. >> right after we finished dealing with the government shut down, averting a government shutdown, i called leaders, i said, we have to get this done. i put vice president biden in charge of a process that, by the way, has made real progress, but these guys have met, work through all of the issues -- i met with every single caucus for an hour to one-and-a-half hours each. republican senators, democratic senators. republican house, democratic house. i met with the leaders multiple times. at a certain point, they need to do their job. host: we will hear from the other side in just a moment. all little bit more

. >> thank you, ayotte. senator udall. >> mr. chairman, thank you for your presence and i want to associate myself with the remarks of my colleague on the results of your service and acknowledge the families that are here and wonder americans. if you could turn to you, i know you are going to have some challenges. you've got a leadership record that's exemple re. let me turn to the success that you had and we are in anbar in iraq. you reached out to an operation that was hostile and worked with them to turn their focus to al qaeda and the elements of terrorism that had really created enormous chaos. and in the process, the coin doctrine was validated. i don't want to imply that the two countries are alike. but could you talk about the primary lessons that we learned in anbar and how we are going to apply those lessons in afghanistan? >> senator, much of what was accomplished in the anbar providence, needless to say, much of it was accomplished on the shoders of the sacrifice of mny terrific soldiers and marines and sailors and ai

senator mcconnell has not signed on but we have so far as co-sponsors to this legislation senators ayotte barrasso lunt coburn corker demint graham hatch isakson johnson lee paul portman roberts rubio sin toomey vitter wicker and sessions. >> senator blunt speaker was at your lunch and some of the members left feeling a little optimistic after hearing -- [inaudible] and it to be but that impression [inaudible] can you give us some sense and are you more optimistic? >> i have probably been in at least hundreds of meetings. i don't know that i we get to thousands but it leaves hundreds of meetings with speaker before he was speaker. he is always an optimistic man that he was optimistic today so i think if you are a half-full kind of guy you heard that with optimism and if you are half-empty kind of guy you have heard that with less optimism but i do think and probably the right answer to anything about revenue or anything else is the president has i believe publicly said he is going to have the same group come back to the white house on sunday. there is a substantial belief that whatever is

so i'd just like to recognize at this time, senator johnson and senator kelly ayotte have have who have provided i am pet tuesday to what led to this significant event today. >> i have been following your lead. senator sessions has been out there talking about how really broken the senate is when it comes to the budget. let's face it, the united states senate has not passed a budget in over two years and i understood how broken washington is and i understand how -- the senate is fiddling while america goes bankrupt. and so last week, i stood up on tuesday and said this has got to stop. and until the senate gets serious about addressing the number one problem facing this nation, i was going to withhold my consent. we kind of passed through the nominations bill. but then senator reid brought up the libyan resolution and i objected, because as important an issue as that is, it simply does not address the fact that we are bankrupting this nation. think about the fact that the united states senate has not passed a budget in two years. i have been in business for 34 years and had to produce b

do the right thing and we want to protect people, and that's the end of me, so i call on senator ayotte. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you for holding this important hearing. i know that you and your staff have put a great deal of time and effort into preparing investigative report the committee released today. i also want to thank those at the federal and state levels who have pursued enforcement actions against those perpetrating this fraud on consumers. .. >> found to be cramming or ban them entirely from access to the telephone company billing apparatus to prevent further harm to consumers. as we continue to examine this issue and discuss how to best address it, we must not lose sight of the fact that cramming affects regular hard working americans who are being scammed out of their hard earned dollars. as a former prosecutor, it's my intent to bring to justice bad actors, but simultaneously recognize there are legitimate business providing services to consumers. it is my hope that we will spend some time this morning talking about the prosecution of crammers, how to b

we are promoting a standardized set of reference data, one of which is called the kelly ayotte initiative, or the legal entity identification system. we go back, go to bedrock and identify the entities in the transactions that occur between them and among them. we don't currently have such a system. there's a multiplicity of identification systems. and those are going to exist in parallel with what we seek to set up, but the unique and enduring transit system we hope will serve as a standard, set of standards which will enable researchers and regulators and financial firms to collect and report their data in a way that is transparent, in a way that reduces the burden of reporting, and that helps promote better risk management by enabling to devote resources to those other activities. and only the poor financial data in the most transparent streamlines way. so, in the data center we are building up an organization with strong data management. we are running the data center as a business driven technology enabled solution provider. we've hired people from private industry, and information t

ayotte: thank you, madam president. i have filed an amendment to h.r. 2055 that seeks to make sure that our wounded warriors get the benefits of next-generation advanced prosthetics in a timely fashion. this amendment would require the secretary of veterans affairs to submit to congress a report within 90 days identifying the bureaucratic hurdles and red tape that we need to cut through to make sure that the research that is being done and the next-generation advanced prosthetics that are being developed to help our wounded warriors will get to them as quickly as possible. we have invested substantial taxpayer dollars, including through the defense advanced research projects agency, or darpa, in developing this great technology in advanced-next generation prosthetics. last week i had the chance to go to walter reed hospital and meet with some of our wounded warriors. they are absolutely amazing americans, and what they have done for our country is incredible. we can never repay the sacrifices that they have made. but th