ayotte has a good point. business experience, i believe most people think mitt was a successful businessman. i'm not sure they understand what exactly yet he'll do to make the economy better, but the experience thing is a crucial issue. has barack obama rebut that? >> first of all, senator ayotte is absolutely correct that the economy is key and gasoline prices are key to the economy. and so the challenge for the president is going to be to surmount and fight back the increases that we've seen in gasoline prices, which is really going to be a measure of what he can do as a president and what his qualifications are as a president. and it is a very different job than running a bank or most corporations. as heads of corporations have found out when they go into politics. what can you do about gas prices? well, number one, he can release some product from the strategic petroleum reserve. number two, fight speculation. >> you really want to go into the strategic petroleum reserve? shouldn't we hold on to that stuf

obviously what senator ayotte said about the state participation program, i went to paraguay and found paraguay and other places where we don't have a lot of money but we through the partnership program, can get good value for our dollar and it's something i know state has an interest in. i want to keep it right where it is so we can continue to train and use it as an asset, so thank you for that support and obviously, general fraser, thank you for your service and support as well. general jacoby, i was wondering if you could expand for a minute on your comments regarding defense support to civil authorities with respect to counter drug operations and with respect to natural and man-made disasters. can you just expound on that just a touch? >> thank you, senator. we had a great initiative last year with the dual status commander. i mentioned it in my opening statement. and we had an opportunity to test that in a way that we haven't done in the past this year in august with hurricane irene. i'm really proud to report as a team that the very first opportunity we had to employ dual status

ayotte: thank you so much, senator blunt. mr.resident, 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 prope

i told you about tally ayotte the center -- kelly ayotte, the new senator.as a former fighter pilot in the air force and is a small-business owner in new hampshire. i have been to new hampshire more times than i can count. it is a little different than it is here in butler county. she gets this. she decided to show up and have dinner with what people in washington call "the rat pack." you have heard me talk about my friends in washington, when seagram will show up once and awhile we can put up with him. -- lindsey gramm will show up once in awhile when we can put up with him. you have dinner with our crowd a couple of times, you get to know each other pretty well. kelly understands what is going on in america. she understands what the american people want. she is somebody i am very proud of. ladies and gentlemen, join me in welcoming the freshman senator from the state of new hampshire, kelly ayotte. [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much. it is wonderful to be here with the tonight. first of all, i want to thank your chairman for his leadership. i know

. >> thank you, senator ayotte. our planning on a closed session immediately following this, that means that there will be one round here and it is or plan to succeed. senator reid. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and secretary. all of the options that are beginning to be contemplated, the humantarian corridors and aerial strikes and all would presume that we would have complete control of the air space over syria and given what we know about their defense systems that would presume, i don't know what you can comment on opening, that the first step in any type of military operation was a campai-- can yo us how long an operation would be be? >> we have demonstrated the air program, that stays we have that capabilitity. as i mentioned, to conduct an enduring or sustained campaign, we would have to suppress the air defense, and we do is have an estimate based on gaming and modelling of how long it would take to do that given the density s density of their capabilitity. >> and it will be led by the united states r

. >> thank you, senator ayotte. senator? >> thank you all for being here. i think i'm the last man standing so i'll try to walk through a couple issues. or second to last man standing. i want to talk a little bit about the articus, as you can imagine, but i want to talk about the early steps in regards to energy in research and development. i want to tell you i'm going to be a huge supporter of your efforts in the defense department. i may have some questions about some of the efforts that you're doing, but we go back to the '60s and darpa, which is the defense of advanced research project, if you go back to the '60s, everybody forgets they decided to do some simple things. they just wanted to communicate between the different facilities, and lo and behold, we had the internet. you took the initiative. you actually hired someone out of the private sector because you thought it was so important -- when i say we, collectively -- back in the '60s how important that was. the military have been the lead in many areas that have damaged this economy in many ways.

think could lead to the return , you cannsdale belt comi submit a web ticket to metro crimestoppers ayotte net are you can call a hot line. >> a crash in anne arundel county took the life of a virginia man. police say 25-year-old damon simonson it crashed into a garage door in annapolis early sunday morning. we are told he lost consciousness with his book on the gas pedal, causing the will to spend until it caught fire. he was flown to hospital, but died earlier today. >> another accident investigation in baltimore county. and overturned tractor trailer along 695. police say the vehicle was hauling one steel coil. the driver was taken to hospital and we have no word yet on his condition. >> the state budget is now officially in the hands of a the senate. the spending plan is slightly different than the one governor o'malley submitted back in january. this one contains a controversial measure that would kick in if local jurisdictions don't fully fund education. the state would be able to distribute county income tax monies directly to the school board. the governor wanted to tack a flat $6.

for the ports naval ship yard and we have requests for modernization report that senator collins, ayott and i included in the bill last year and it's due back by september first. i hope that will be on time and we will see what your commitment is to supporting our public ship yards. >> it will be on time. >> thank you. >> thank you senator shaheen. any of my colleagues have additional questions. senator bloom enthall? >> i will and one question to follow on, the question about the submarine force and the possibility of going back to the two sub as year program in -- i believe that going bag to that program ulonrun. and i would just like, if you would, admiral green to comment on the possibility of alternative plans and the possibilities for frntransition to that kind of 2014, two-sub option. >> right now, the submarines in 18, we are requesting a block buy starting in '14, '14 through '18. we request a multiple procurement authority, that gives us the opportunity to make an economic quantity buy, you can buy the turbines and shafts at a better price, the vendors are more efficient and t

apart from the security issues that have been raised by my colleagues from the hampshire, senator ayotte and 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 from 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 largely 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 with each 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 pan

portsmouth naval ship yard and we have requests for modernization report that we -- senator collins, ayotte and i included in the defense authorization bill last year and it's due back by december 1st. i hope that will be on time and we will see what your commitment is to supporting our public ship yards. >> it will be on time. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator shaheen. either of my colleagues have additional questions? senator bloomthal? >> yes, i appreciate the chance to ask a question to follow on the submarine force and about the possibility of going back to the two sub as year program for 2014, which i strongly sport and i know we've talked about it a little bit. i believe that going back to that program would be cost effective in the long run, and i would just like if you would admiral greenert to comment on the possibility of alternative plans and the possibility for transitioning to that kind of 2014 two sub option. >> mr. senator, for some reason 18, we are requesting a block buy starting in '14, '14 through '18. we would request a multi-procurement authority. you can buy the rea

senator ayott? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, general alexander and thank you, general kehler for being here today and for your service. general kehler, the senate support for the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty was tied to modernization of the united states nuclear complex and strategic delivery system, and specifically during the senate confirmation, the president committed to modernization in what became known as the 1251 plan that was incorporated in the 2010 ndaa, isn't that right? >> senator, yes. >> okay. and if you look at that commitment in the 1251 plan, there was an initial plan submitted in may of 2010, and then a month before the ratification of the senate treaty, there was $4.1 billion added over five years to the plan. isn't that right? >> yes. you're talking about the d.o.d. -- >> yes. but that was specifically reflected a month before the ratification of the s.t.a.r.t. treaty put into the 1251 plan as incorporated in the 2010 ndaa. >> senator, i think that's right. that's a little before my time but i think that

and from the beginning of this discussion backan in august when senator he ayotte ian senator rubio and senator nelson from nebraska anj i filed this bill we have been joined in this amendmentne by 30 or more other sponsors, one of whom actually i mentioned as piece of legislation that he wan involved in the first time he was in the senate.igio r it protected the religious rights of people who were temporarily in the country with exactly the same language, whois might have some religious belief or moral conviction that meant that they did not want to get the vaccines that we would require a visitor to have.1996 senator coates in 1996 put thisa into law that virtually every p member of the senate on bothoted parties serving that they voted for as they have time after time after time when this issue, thip language was understood to be ar important defense to the first a amendment and inti a health care piece of legislation.ed senator coates i am glad you r joined today and whenever i have looked into research this saw that you have used this very language 15 years ago in a piece of le

i'm advised that senator ayotte was planning on coming. she is a signator to this letter, a member of the armed services committee, who shares many of these same concerns, but she is not going to be able to come at this time. i am sure shell be commenting on this later. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor and thank my colleague. the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader is recognized. mr. durbin: i thank my colleague from texas for speaking with me on this issue that we are working on together. mr. president, i have eight unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, i'd like to ask consent to speak in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, i have been in the house and senate

new hampshire kelly ayott is one of those srnenators calling for action against the firm and against russia for what it is do engine syria? >> it is outrageous what russia is doing. not only did they block the u.n. resolution genlts the assad regime, but they are supplying billions of dollars worth of arms and they have supplied the regime with land mines that they have used to put on the boarder and they are providing training on on how to use the weapons and they are being used to murder innocent civilians in syria. it's awful what the regime is doing, they are torturing and committing rape and russia is standing by, it's outs rage us what they are doing. i feel they are accomplice to this, they need to stop right away. >> what more should the u.s. or could be doing, certainly secretary clinton was tough in, she spoke of the actions being d despicable. and we the british being the head of the u.n. council, and they are trying to push russia into a resolution on syria, do you have hopes of that? >> first of all, we need to stop purchasing from this russian owned companies. we have b

i'm advised that senator ayotte was planning on coming. she is a signator to this letter, a member of the armed services committee, who shares many of these same concerns, but she is not going to be able to come at this time. i am sure shell be commenting on this later. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor and thank my colleague. the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader is recognized. mr. durbin: i thank my colleague mr. durbin: i thank my colleague >> also on the senate for several women senators talked about domestic violence and called for passage of the violence against women reauthorization act. they are remarks are about 45 minutes. here today with the women senators to talk about the reauthorization of the violence against women act. a law that has a history of passing this chamber with broad bipartisan support. i would note that there are many authors of this bill. i think up to something like 58 authors currently and the women that are speaking today include myself and senator feinstein, senator hagan, sen

. >> thank you, senator ayotte. our planning on a closed session immediately following this, that means that there will be one round here and it is or plan to succeed. senator reid. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and secretary. all of the options that are beginning to be contemplated, the humantarian corridors and aerial strikes and all would presume that we would have complete control of the air space over syria and given what we know about their defense systems that would presume, i don't know what you can comment on opening, that the first step in any type of military operation was a campai-- can yo us how long an operation would be be? >> we have demonstrated the air program, that stays we have that capabilitity. as i mentioned, to conduct an enduring or sustained campaign, we would have to suppress the air defense, and we do is have an estimate based on gaming and modelling of how long it would take to do that given the density s density of their capabilitity. >> and it will be led by the united states r

. >> senator ayotte. >> thank you, general alexander and general kehler for being here and for your service. general kehler, the senate support for the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty was tied to modernization of the united states nuclear complex and strategic delivery system. specifically during the senate confirmation the president committed to modernization in what became known as the 1251 plan that was incorporated in the 2010 nba a. is that right? >> yes. >> if you will look at that commitment in the 1251 plan, there was an initial plan submitted in may of 2010 and a month before the ratification of the senate treaty there was $4.1 billion added over five years to the plan. isn't that right? >> yes. talking about the dod? >> yes. specifically reflect a month before the ratification of the s.t.a.r.t. treaty put into the 1251 plan to incorporate the 2010 nbaa. >> that was before my time but i think that is right. >> that was done because modernization was such an important issue to getting that treaty through the united states senate. and because modernization is very important for our nuclear pro

. >> thank you, senator ayotte.ur planning on a closed session immediately following this, that means that there will be one und here and is or plan to succeed. senator reid. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and secretary. all of the options that are beginning to be contemplated, the humantarian corridors and aerial strikes and all would presume that we would have complete control of the air spe over syria and given what we know about their defense systems that would presume, i don't know what you can comment on opening, that the first step in any type of military operation was a campai-- can yo us how long an operation would be be? >> we have demonstrated the air program, that stays we have that capabilitity. as i mentioned, to conduct an enduring or sustained campaign, we would have to suppress the air defense, and we do is have an estimate sed on gaming and modelling of how long it would take to do that given the density s density of their capabilitity >> and it will be led by the united states rather than o

jon: senator kelly ayotte of new hampshire, thank you very much. >> thank you jon.e breaking news. you might recall over the last couple of weeks one of the big stories has been the americans that have been unable to leave the canada egypt and we just got word from the associated press as well, senator mccain, by the way, talking to our own trish turner on capitol hill about this, that the seven americans that were in cairo have now left, they are on the plane headed back to our country, along with several others -- other democracy workers. they had all been run out of the country. just a quick note, though, this is not suddenly, how should we put it -- they weren't just allowed to go free. there were terms to put in for their freedom, and as we understand it, there was a bail price of $300,000 each that our country had to pay egypt to allow them to leave. just a reminder, our country also gives millions and millions, tens of millions of dollars in aid to the egyptians every year, and this has an point of contention, these americans, about whether or not that aid wi

noted from that trip was the fact that we are contracting with the enemy and by that trip, senator ayotte tonight with the blessing of the chairman and others were able to address that in a recent defense authorization bill. so is that helping? >> absolutely. the ability to terminate a contract on the spot is very hopeful. the mac gray. and i was also able to learn about some of the bh issues affecting our kriseman and address that as well to the chairman's help and support and getting an amendment that to do that. so just those two issues alone made the trip worthwhile. the other thing i noted during that time. with the amazing amount of audits that you and your command are subject -- subjected to. is that better than it was her work? >> i have to start by saying we have benefited from these artists. >> i understand them. >> woodcut now within the department of defense and other audit agencies and consolidating lake or identical requirements so that we can get one audit that can provide universal return. is it that has been very hopeful. staff has that been done because i know it's somet

president, i ask that senator ayotte be added as a cosponsor of this legislation. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate and that any statements related -- in this matter be placed in the record as if given. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i'm told there is a bill at the desk due for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 2191, a bill to amend the americas with disabilities act of 1990, and so forth. mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask for a second reading. that's for purposes of placing the bill on the calendar, but i object under the privileges of rule 14 to my own request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will be read for a second time on the next legislative day. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business tonight, the senate adjour

i want to address my questions -- a fall, what senator ayotte said. i participated in paraguay, fighting our relationships with places where we do not have a lot of money, but we can get a .alue on our dollar general fraser, thank you for your service and support. general chocolate, could you expand on commons -- general jacoby, could you expand on comments with suspected drug operations and natural and man- made disasters. could you expand on that just a touch? >> we had a great initiative last year with the dual status commander. we had an opportunity to test that in a way we have not done in the past in august with hurricane irene, and i am proud to report as a team that the very first opportunity we had to complete -- to employ dual status commanders, we did. it was the intent of congress and the council of governors. that program is alive and well, and we will continue to grow that and look at ways to employee dual status commanders in regional and other events. a big progress. we are working with the reserve force, the air force and the army, to

ayotte yes. >> in 2014, the exchange is going forward with the individuals in the exchange market. is the irs making preparation for that? >> yes. we're making preparation. we're on track. the majority of the work we're doing and the people we have had to hire his to build technology systems to interact with the state exchanges and the federal exchange said that an estimated 30 million people can get over $400 billion of tax credit. i testified yesterday before our appropriations committee, and what i said to them is i understand there is heartfelt policy debate about the affordable care act and that there are members of congress who do not like it, there are some who like it. the bottom line is come 2014, there is going to be a lot of constituents and every district who expect the credit when they show up at the exchange, and we need to get funded properly in 2013 to prepare for that. we're spending money now based on operation is that came to the bill, but we when did he -- but we will need to get financial support. we are involved in moving the money to make the law work. >> tha

. >> eric: senator ayotte joins us live from d.c the serving trend, the actual number of people returning growing. how are they getting out? >> well, we've previously released them under both administrations and what happens is, we release them to third countries and we don't keep track of them. they get back out. they get back into the fight against us and as identified in that hearing, it's not just that they're getting back in the fight to commit attacks against us, they're leading the fight. for example, one of the top taliban commanders we had at gitmo, we released him and he got back in the fight against us. the number two guy in al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula is a former gitmo detain yeah. it's real problem we released these individuals and the reengagement rate has gone up. >> steve: it's gone in the wrong direction. and the problem going forward, senator, of course, barak obama famously said as soon as i'm president, i'm going to close gitmo. this country doesn't have a long-term plan on where to put these people who clearly, from the reengagement rate, can't go back home. >>

i'm advised that senator ayotte was planning on coming.she is a signator to this letter, a member of the armed services committee, who shares many of these same concerns, but she is not going to be able to come at this time. i am sure shell be commenting on this later. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor and thank my colleague. the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader is recognized. mr. durbin: i thank my colleague mr. durbin: i thank my colleague and called for passage of the violence against women reauthorization act. their remarks are about 45 minutes. ms. klobuchar: i'm honored to be here today with the women senators to talk about the reauthorization of the violence against women act. a law that has a history of passing this chamber with broad bipartisan support. i would note that there are many authors of this bill. i think up to something like 58 authors currently and the women that are speaking today include myself and senator feinstein, senator hagan, senator mikulski, mr. senator murray, senator boxer, a

senator ayotte. >> thank you mr.chairman, thank you general mattis and thank you sir for your service to our country. i want to ask you about the recidivism rate in guantÁnamo. a story which i believe was misleading and the headline was not so many guantÁnamo three offenders. the story said far fewer detainees released from guantÁnamo bay have rejoined terrorist activity as previously reported. however before this committee this is an issue that i've questioned many individuals about. last year director clapper said the re-engagement rate from former guantÁnamo detainees were confirmed or suspected of re-engaging with 27% and in fact just three weeks ago before a committee again and he actually said that he reengage -- the re-engagement rate of those who led reengage where we conformed suspected to be re-engaging with increasing close to 20% and i believe it's 27.9%. and of course we heard the same testimony from secretary gates as well as secretary vickers that the way we calculate the recidivism rate is not just th

senator ayott? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, general alexander and thank you, general kehler for being here today and for your service. general kehler, the senate support for the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty was tied to modernization of the united states nuclear complex and strategic delivery system, and specifically during the senate confirmation, the president committed to modernization in what became known as the 1251 plan that was incorporated in the 2010 ndaa, isn't that right? >> senator, yes. >> okay. and if you look at that commitment in the 1251 plan, there was an initial plan submitted in may of 2010, and then a month before the ratification of the senate treaty, there was $4.1 billion added over five years to the plan. isn't that right? >> yes. you're talking about the d.o.d. -- >> yes. but that was specifically reflected a month before the ratification of the s.t.a.r.t. treaty put into the 1251 plan as incorporated in the 2010 ndaa. >> senator, i think that's right. that's a little before my time but i think that

for joining me in this resolution, also senator lindsey graham, senator joe lieberman, joe kelly ayotte and as i say, we're now 60 cosponsors on this resolution in, wooing to see that it is -- in working to so that it passes the senate here. it expresses a sense of the senate, clearly calling for open, free, and fair elections in the republic of iran. the problem is that the elections that they will be holding tomorrow are neither fair, neither free nor fair. and they are certainly not consistent with international standards. as i said, these will be the first nationwide parliamentary elections since june 12 of 2009. those e exelections were neither -- those elections were neither free nor fair and they provoked widespread protests throughout iran. those protests were brutally repressed, put down by the regime of ayatollah and ahmadinejad, trampling rights and taking political prisoners who remain in prison to this very day. since the last election, uprises, popular movements have taken place throughout the middle east, often referred to as the arab spring. countries like tunisia, egypt

last august senator ayotte and i held a small business field hearing in new hampshire, and it was on small business exporting. we heard how difficult it can be for a small company to sell its products overseas. it is particularly challenging for a small business to get financing for its foreign deals. that's where the export-import bank makes such a significant impact. 87% of the export-import bank transactions support businesses. so i think there's a misconception about who the ex-im bank really helps. 87% of their transactions support businesses. last year alone the bank helped finance more than $6 billion in export sales from small companies in the united states t. set a goal of increasing this volume by an additional $3 billion in the coming year, and it's created a new global access for small business initiative which is designed to dramatically increase the number of small companies taking advantage of its programs. in fact, i think this new initiative is terrific. the ex-im bank came to new hampshire and unveiled this initiative, again, this bank assists small businesses at no

ayotte: nounses to the house his approval -- proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereofthe pledge i have a liegeance will be led by the gentleman from -- allegiance will be led by the gentleman from california, mr. dreier. mr. dreier: i ask my colleagues and our guests in the gallery to reaffirm our commitment to the greatest nation the world has ever known. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has agreed to s.con.res. 38, providing for a continual adjournment or recess of the senate and ape adjournment of the -- and adjournment of the house of representatives in which the concurrence of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 4 of rule 1, the