. >> thank you, senator ayotte. senator blumenthal. >> thank you, and i appreciate your being here this morning. focusing on the road bombs or ieds. the senate considers the role of pakistan in providing ingredients used to make those roadside bombs a grave threat to this nation. in fact, in the 2012 defense authorization act, the $700 million in aid to pakistan is frozen until they, and i'm quoting, demonstrate significant efforts toward implementation of a strategy to counter improvised explosive devices. i've seen nothing to indicate they are making that kind of significant effort. am i misinformed? could you shed some light on that issue? >> sir, i would tell you that, yes, ied usage in afghanistan is up by 15%, and most of the precursors and components for those ieds while they are assembled in afghanistan come through pakistan. >> and that could not be happening if pakistan were making significant efforts to stem the flow of immonium calcium nitrate for those bombs, am i right? >> that's correct, they have two

thank you. >> the comments of senator kelly ayotte, a republican, freshman from new hampshire as she spoke on capitol hill. two related stories from the hill.com with headlines, the white house trying to struggle to contain the uproar over the birth control mandate and white house press secretary jay carney announcing the administration will work to deal with concerns on the contraceptive rule. and the associated press, ben feller, getting the first question and the first topic was this one. >> on the contraception issue, speaker boehner is promising to repeal the rule through legislation and senator connell has talked about the same. i'm curious about your reaction to that and if that were to happen, is that the kind of measure that the president would veto? >> i think that's a lot of speculation embedded in that question and i'm not going to go there. i think on this issue, from the very beginning, we've said we'll listen and work with individuals who have concerns as we work to implement the law. as i said yesterday, on january 20th, when this decision was announced, secretary seb

and, republicans in congress like new hampshire senator kelly ayotte have raised their voices. >> this is not a women's rights issue. this is a religious liberty issue. and it can apply to all faiths. >> suarez: in a floor speech wednesday, house speaker john boehner threatened legislative action, but it was unclear today what form that would take. >> i think the house is going to work again through the regular order with real deliberations about how we protect the religious freedom of the american people. that's the issue and we're, we're keenly focused on it. >> suarez: women rights groups and many democrats like california senator barbara boxer are now coming to the administration's defense. >> women in this country are tired of being treated like a political football by republicans in congress. who have tried continually and have continued to try to take away their benefits. to take away their rights. >> suarez: white house officials seeking to defuse the issue suggest a still-undefined compromise is possible. tuesday, on the "newshour", the president's senior campaign strategist d

as i mentioned to senator ayotte, if you look at cross-countries that have experienced financial crises, they tend to have very slow recoveries. but they differ a lot in what happens. they differ partly because of government policies and partly because of underlying nick conditions. we're trying to extract lessons from that, but it's a challenge. >> well, i'm worried about it. the europeans seem to have decided and entered a compact recently that they were going to bring down their spending and their debt. and i'm afraid that's correct, because a solution to this unacceptable high debt that we've been given from the president is borrow more and spend more so the economy won't get weaker. so, you know, just for common sense, i think that's a dangerous policy. the europeans i don't think are following that. on the defense situation, i missed yesterday, mr. chairman, because they had a defense department major briefing to the armed services committee of which i'm a member over their projections and their presuming to cut about $489 billion. and that savings is what they're working on. and

ayotte: thank you so much, senator blunt. mr. president, i appreciate the opportunity to be here to rise in support of a pending amendment that is based upon as senator blunt mentioned, a piece of legislation that was introduced on a bipartisan basis earlier in the year called the respect for rights of conscience act. which i was proud to cosponsor. during the past few weeks we've heard certainly impassioned arguments from both sides of the aisle about this issue, and certainly it's been a robust and important exchange of views, which i've appreciated. however, i think it's regrettable that like so much else that happens around here, this issue has been used as an election-year tactic to score political points, and in some cases there have been the facts of what this amendment and our bill hope to accomplish have been supplanted by mistareqizations -- mischaracterizations and distortions. that's unfortunate because what we're here to talk about is incredibly important. this is a fundamental matter of religious freedom and the pro

. >> senator ayotte is recognized. >> i understand that you testified before the house committee yesterday that we can get to 2013 without raising the debt ceiling again, or without additional extraordinary measures. so my question to you is this. we're at a point where we've -- the president has requested and the congress has allowed the debt court of appealing to go to 16.4 trillion. our total debt right now is about 15.3 trillion and surpasses the size of our economy. it's a huge number. you've issued this estimate that we won't have to have another increase of the debt ceiling before 2013. and i simply have this question for you is what could further balloon our debt? and what keeps you awake at night when it comes to the issues you're most worried about in terms of having our debt get out of control, and also further increasing in a way that you haven't been able to estimate? >> so senator, what i said yesterday was that we think, given our current projections, that the government can get to 2013 without having to raise the debt ceiling. i also emphasized a great deal of uncertainty w

the conscience protection lot that senator ayotte and senator rubio signed predicted the path of the president would be on. this is something we have tried to talk about for weeks now. >> [unintelligible] >> we are obviously very concerned about the americans being held. i issued a statement yesterday with senator mccain and senator lieberman. right now the egyptian government needs to understand how serious we are about resolving this issue. we are in a position where they could be in jeopardy. they have an opportunity to correct this by obviously releasing the americans and resolving this with our country. we have a very important relationship with egypt and i want to see that relationship repaired, but it is up to them to act right now. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> reporter's question white house spokesman jay carney about the contraception issue at the daily news briefing. this is 15 minutes. >> on the contraception issue, speaker boehner is promising to repeal the rule through le

i know senator ayotte wanted to be on the budget committee. we had a host of fabulous senators who wanted to be on it. we got four but many more wanted to be on, senator portman, senator johnson, senator ayotte, senator toomey were selected. i know how disappointing it was because we talked how we didn't mark up a budget last year. so the people who wanted tock on there to participate in the great issue of our time -- the debt this nation is facing -- got no ability and had no option -- no opportunity to participate in the debate because the majority party in the senate decided that was not what they wanted to do. and the majority leader said it would be fool ties foolish to ha budget. i think it's very, very sad. so the president's budget represents an opportunity and a responsibility to guide this nation for the future. the president has no higher duty, no higher responsibility than to help the nation avoid an obvious crisis. mr. bowles and senator simpson, who chaired president obama's debt commission, looked us in the eye and issued a join

instead you get people like kelly ayotte just blasting the white house. >> you were at the white housen a constant issue with the white house, whenever they have to make a tough decision, they do a poor job of explaining the decision, and now they're trying to figure out how to come up with a compromise without compromising. >> well, i think the politics is overstated. if you look at polls, the majority of cath likts support this. cad lick women sharply support this. men are more opposed. they're not going to vote for the president anyway so i think the politics have been misunderstood, but the president has gone out and gotten surrogates. i think senator shahin will be leading efforts. so i think they are getting surrogates out there, and i think there's a big difference between the washington conversation on this issue and the conversation in the country. >> you look at this from both perspectives? what do you think? isms the challenge for barack obama is the catholic church is not backing down. they are not backing down. they are out there defending religious free. it's very rare yo

martha: kelly ayotte always good to talk to you. thank you very much for being here.with the white house on this issue. bill: breaking news from washington. the attorney general eric holder talking about a deal that has been reached. officials announcing a deal between the states and the nation's biggest lenders with regard to foreclosures. a nationwide settlement stems from abuses that occurred during the housing bubble and when it burst. a lot of companies they allege forced the process of foreclosure by failing to verify documents. and the allegations that some employees signed papers they had not read or used fake signatures to speed the process, that is an action known as robo signing. a deal has been reached with the states that were bringing the suit. the average number of weeks a person is filing for unemployment doubling over the last 2 years. the national unemployment rate still dropping. how does that work? it's a head scratcher, because you asked, steven moore is on that with an answer. martha: the united states military is about to make a very big change.

ayotte: thank you, madam president.inly share the concerns of my colleague from missouri, and i share the concerns of my constituents in new hampshire and citizens across this nation who see the recent rule issued by the administration for what it is: an unprecedented, unnecessary affront to religious liberty in our country. and i'd like to say at the outset that this issue isn't limited to the catholic church. the administration's new health care mandates on religious institutions impact all religions. and, madam president, religious freedom is a foundation, a foundation america -- a foundational american right enshrined in our bill of rights. the first amendment to our bill of rights makes clear that congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. unfortunately, i see the administration chipping away at these bedrock freedoms as it engages in a troubling pattern here with respect to this rule. and i think that we saw that the president's new mandate on relig

and senator ayotte has had lots of contact from our side. i think many of us have. you know, if you were in a -- if you were -- last week, if you were in a military service, you might have heard one of these letters read. and i just saw the line that had to be taken out of the letter, apparently, that the army wouldn't otherwise -- was standing in front of but was read in the other services was the line that said we cannot, we will not comply with this unjust law. when the government begins to tell people to do things that violate their faith principles, the government has gone too far, and i yield back. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: madam president, what is the parliament situation? the presiding officer: the majority controls the time until 6:00, and senators are limited to speak for up to ten minutes. ms. mikulski: thank you very much, madam president. i claim ten minutes of the democratic majority time, and i come to the floor to speak about women's health, and i come to speak about the issue of prevention, and i come to talk ab

kelly ayotte. >> we have seen with the president's health care bill as the regulations are released by health and human services unprecedented -- if we put religious institutions and faith based organizations in a position where they have to comply with government mandates that violate the principles of their faith, it is an affront to what we stand for as americans. also, this is not a women's rights issue. this is a religious liberty issue and it can apply to all faiths. i have for from my constituents who are deeply concerned about this. we need to respect the rights of conscience are all religions. when you look at what this administration has done, it has awakened a whole group of people who are deeply concerned about an unprecedented expansion of government into issues that we have always left in the quiet people's homes, churches, and faith based institutions. i will say this also. what the administration has done is really unprecedented. both parties have respected religious liberty. if you look at what was signed into law in 1993 -- the religious freedom restoration act -- wha

ayotte: plying an over -- by applying an overly rigid standard, what we care about is whether kids are learning, not how much time they spend doing it. i've talked to folks who use apresentshipitiesships, online education, and we should hold -- apprenticeships, online education. we should make sure there is a backstop for what i think people on both sides agree exists which is waste, fraud and abuse in the system. what my amendment would do is replace the specifics of these regulations with an alternative plan that protects taxpayer dollars and students' rights. this would make sure that we can deal with many of the issues raised by the inspector general, not by providing an overly arching and rigid definition of time, that's a necessary part of education, but rather by requesting and require that the secretary come up with ideas that are consistent with the future of education towards combating waste, fraud and abuse. i'll reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from north carolina. ms. foxx: i thank you, madam chairma

. >> senator ayotte. >> thank you, mr. chairman, they keep mr. secretary, thank you, chairman, thank you, mr. hale. chairman dempsey, i have great respect for you and the service to the country and the important role you play, but i have to ask you about the interview he gave to cnn. i need to understand -- when you were asked by friedriareed zakaria about what we are counseling our israeli partners with respect to iran, and he said you were counseling than -- you said you are counseling that not to attack iran, and you also said he believed that -- you believe that the administration believes, i assume, that the iranian regime is a rational actor. can you help me understand why you have said that, particularly in a public interview about what of our closest allies -- one of our closest allies? i am concerned that in doing that, we are sending the wrong signal to iran. >> actually, thanks for asking me, senator. you beat senator graham to the punch. no, honestly, i want to clear up some things. first of all, i did not council israel not to attack

nelson and i, senator rubio, senator ayotte and others were anticipating that we were going to begin to see exactly the kinds of things that this discussion this week has brought about. this is about the first amendment. it's about religious beliefs. it's not about any one issue. in fact, this amendment specifically does not mention a specific issue. it refers to the issue of conscience. and in the amendment itself, the reference is made to the letter that, in 1809, thomas jefferson sent to the new london methodist where he says of all the principles in the constitution, the one that we perhaps should hold most dear, if i can paraphrase a little bit, is the right of conscience and that no government should be able to come in and oppose itself -- impose itself between the people and their faith-based principles. in health care, we've never had this before. why didn't we need this amendment or why didn't we need the bill that was filed in august five years ago or one year ago or two years ago or three years ago? because only with the passage of the affordable health care act did we hav

. >> senator ayotte, may i just interrupt not on your time but ask the director to repeat that, because i think the question you have asked is is so important that that message be understood by those listening, our colleagues, staffs, and people who might be listening via television if you would repeat the -- >> if the treasury interest rates were one percentage point higher throughout the coming decade that would add about $1 trillion to the cumulative deficit over the decade. >> it's really staggering and it points out the urgency of us going forward with a debt reduction plan, bipartisan debt reduction plan that addresses where we are going, the sustainability of our debt. i have been a supporter of the efforts and i know the chairman has been as well to go big and address this issue head on. i want to ask one other quick question which is, what is your view on the impact of what's happening in europe and how could that impact here in terms of ourcies fist cal health? >> -- in terms of our fiscal health? >> the situation europe has. there are crosscurrents how it affects our economy.

apart from the security issues that have been raised by my colleagues from the hampshire, senator ayotted others previously feared let me ask you if i make him a general question and i understand he may be reluctant to go into detail in this setting, but if you could characterize whether they are differences in the threat assessments fr our intelligence about the iranian nuclear capability and the potential response to israeli intervention there and the israelis intelligence assessments, if you understand my question, which calls for a general answer, i am not asking for detail. >> your question, to make sure i understand it, to be in the israelis largly agree? and the answer is yes. >> do you agree? >> sir, i do. and we have at least discussions for many years. i have personally been involved in both my previous life and displays. and generally speaking, our assessment struck withach other. they comport. >> thank you. let me ask a final question and you may not think it is a directly relevant to all the questions you had so far but we have been in discussions with secretary panetta and

the conscience protection law that senator ayotte and senator rubio and i filed some time ago as we anticipated exactly the past the administration was on became the issue that has brought public attention that we have been trying to talk about four weeks. >> [inaudible] >> i am obviously concerned about the american is that are being held an issue the center at -- statement yesterday with senator mccain and lieberman right now the egyptian government needs to understand how serious we are about resolving the issue and certainly we're in a position where they could be in jeopardy. they have an opportunity to correct this by releasing the american and sadr held a to resolve this with our country. no question we have a very important relationship with egypt and i want to see that relationship prepared but it is up to them to act right now. >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] we're waiting to hear from the democratic senators with their response. this is expected to get under way in five minutes. on money "washington journal" we talked with ed whelan who is president of ethics and public polic