senator ayotte. ms. ayotte: i'd like to be added as a co-sponsor, i've sponsored legislation to do this in the last telecongresses. soy commend the senator for -- so i commend the senator for have this. mr. grassley: we've held hearings on this. it's amazing to me, the defense department won't undergo an audit, they're going through a process to show -- mr. johnson: they're showing that they can qualify to do an audit. wal-mart is over $400 billion large and they go through audit every year. i think you strike your tone of bipartisanship here senator. mr. enzi: the next amendment on your side? mr. sanders: ms. murray. ms. murray: i worked very hard to make sure the federal government meets its moral and legal obligations to clean up hanniford as well as similar sites throughout the couldn't thrism department of energy has the responsibility to uphold the legacy responsibilities of our federal government. these sites are the result of more than 50 years nuclear weapon research development and production f

next on our side would be senator ayotte. senator ayotte: i have a deficit neutral reserve fund to address heroin and prescription opioid abuse. i don't know if you're all experiencing this in your states in the same way we're experiencing this in new hampshire. this is a public health epidemic. we've had a 60% increase in drug deaths from heroin, and heroin is so cheap on the streets right now that people who are addicted to prescription drugs are now shifting to heroin and it's really killing people. we need to address this and look at this issue and make sure that we're working with state and localities to stop this public health epidemic. we need to work with law enforcement as well but we can't arrest our way fully out of this problem, unfortunately, which is devastating people in this country. senator enzi: opposition? senator warner: i'd like to be added as a co-sponsor. senator enzi: without objection. senator sessions: and i would too. senator enzi: without objection. without objection. back to your side again. senat

the next one would be the ayotte amendment which has the side-by-side. sen. ayotte: thank you. i am a deficit neutral reserve fund to strengthen our civilian workforce focused on military readiness and national security. i amended my amendment to make it a deficit neutral reserve fund so it can address spending and revenue, and also to broaden it. it goes across the civilian workforce to look at those national security functions. thank you, mr. chairman. chairman enzi: that has been modified then. the side-by-side? >> mr. chairman, i'm not asking congress to vote against the ayotte amendment, but what i'm offering is something i believe is a much stronger commitment to protecting our military readiness at a time of tremendous stress around the world and to this country as well. i think we have to set priorities and determine where revenue is coming from so it is not just a typical deficit neutral reserve fund, but that we are identifying the way that we are going to strengthen our civilian workforce, and so i am tying that to an amendment -- provision of mine, that would preven

ayotte: mr. misener, with some issues you have raised, given how amazon proposes to use these unmanned systems to help package delivery, where do you see this issue in the rulemaking going forward? ms. gilligan, if you can help address concerns mr. misener raised. first, i would like to hear from mr. misener. mr. misener: what the faa has done in its nprm is fine. it really needs to go further. we need to be looking further beyond the road from the beyond visual line of sight. it is coming quickly. the fact that we are not even proposing rules or frameworks for rules is lamentable. we ought to move ahead now. at least be thinking about those rules as opposed to dismissing them as the nprm did. ms. ayotte: how do you address the concerns with which he pays the faa is going for to issue these rules in light of international competitors? ms. gilligan: we are focusing on the area authorizing operations beyond visual line of sight. there are several technology challenges to being able to do that, incl

senator ayotte may want to speak to this. this is our government report, kelley appeared >> i just want to support senator warner on this. this has been important work we have done in the performance task force and i fully support the amendment. it's good government. it makes sense and i thank him for bringing it. >> i would add we have been able to document millions of savings from this. but it all counts. >> i appreciate the effort of both of you and also time you put in reviewing regulations. i know how city mayor to read. any opposition? next on our side would a senator tree of lakes. >> i have a deficit neutral reserve fund to address and prescription opioid abuse. i don't know if you are all experiencing this in your state the same way we experience this in new hampshire. this is a public health epidemic. we've had a 60% increase in drug deaths and is so cheap on the streets right now the people addict to prescription drugs are now shifting to harebrained and it's killing people. we need to address this and look at this

ayotte: mr. misener with some issues you have raised, given how amazon proposes to use these unmanned systems to help package delivery, where do you see this issue in the rulemaking going forward? ms. gilligan, if you can help address concerns mr. misener raised. first, i would like to hear from mr. misener. mr. misener: what the faa has done in its nprm is fine. it really needs to go further. we need to be looking further beyond the road from the beyond visual line of sight. it is coming quickly. the fact that we are not even proposing rules or frameworks for rules is lamentable. we ought to move ahead now. at least be thinking about those rules as opposed to dismissing them as the nprm did. ms. ayotte: how do you address the concerns with which he pays the faa is going for to issue these rules in light of international competitors? ms. gilligan: we are focusing on the area authorizing operations beyond visual line of sight. there are several technology challenges to being able to do that includ

ayotte. >> aye. >> mr. wicker. >> aye. >> mr. corker. >> aye use mr. purdue. >> aye. >> mr. sanders, no. >> mrs. murray todd nod. >> mr. widen. >> no. >> miss stabenow. >> no. >> were whitehouse. >> no,. >> mark merkley, no. >> miss ball win. >> no. >> mr. cane understand nod. >> member king. [inaudible] >> mr. chairman, aye. >> the yeas are 12, the nays are 10. >> the resolution passes. and i'd like to thank all the members for their tremendous cooperation getting this done. it is important that if you have any necessary documents to be filed, it has to be done tomorrow in order that the resolution can be brought to the senate floor next week. the deadline for submitting additional or minority views is no later than noon tomorrow. any views muss have a member's signature and we'll begin debate at 2:00 on monday. >> you also need to -- >> ready or not. >> staff can make technical and conforming changes. >> and may add to the chairman's mark of facts and figures to complete the charts. >> can add the numbers for the facts and figures. and complete the charts. >> congratulatio

ayotte: thank you mr. morris. i would like to welcome dr. billingham. he is the director at the gao. gilligan: thank you madam chairman. since the early 1990's, we have upgraded on the airspace system. primarily supporting porter security. the list of the potential uses is expanding. the economic impact has been estimated to grow to more than $82 billion by 2025. the faa has taken steps towards integration, including the six test sites, and recently issuing the new rules. first, the status of the sites. second, how other countries are integrating it into their airspace for commercial purposes. third, critical next steps for integration. regarding the test sites in december 2014 we reported problems with the working relationships and three vacations between the faa and the test sites. for example, some of the operators reported they were not receiving guidance from faa on the kind of research needed to support integration, or how to report. officials at the faa tell us the situation has improved in part because the faa and the sites made a dedicated effo

senator ayotte. i have an amendment. to invest in conservation and from my perspective i think affordable energy drives our economy. new hampshire is a beautiful state where we have been able to balance energy efficiency with natural resources. this would allow us to pursue an all of the above energy strategy and look at how we develop the best energy domestic wise and also the best technology to protect our environment. >> is there opposition? >> we need to invest billions of dollars in energy efficiency weatherization and sustainable energy. so her amendment is exactly the right thing. but we have to go beyond a deficit neutral reserve fund. >> senator baldwin. >> i would like to bring up the baldwin amendment to strike section 405 of the budget resolution. this amendment is cosponsored by senator warner. it would strike section 405 of the chairman's mark which eliminated a point of order against reconciliation leage that would increase the deficit or reduce a surplus. i can see no good reason why we should be making i

miss ayotte. >> no. mr. corker? >> no. >> mr. sanders. >> yes. mr. stabenow. >> yes. >> white house. >> yes. >> barner. >> aye. >> baldwin, mr. king mr. chairman. >> no. >> chairman the ayes are 10 the nays are 12. the amendment has been defeated. next be the graham overseas facilities. >> this is deficit neutral reserve fund to be used at our diplomatic facilities overseas in light of threats we face i think say veryis a very prudent thing to do. >> anyone wish to provide opposition? if not, we'll proceed to vote. all those in favor a aye. those opposed? >> the ayes appear to have it. they do have it. the amendment is passed. >>> next will be the white house amendment. the whitehouse amendment. >> thank you very much. this is the amendment we talked about that would add the information into the budget report of the amount of federal revenue that doesn't come into the budget but instead is dislocated, i guess i'd say by the tax code. i think the important information. it's a neutral amendment in the sense all it does is add information sort of like s

senator ayotte: as i understand it, they continue to support assad. they have continued to support groups including has below -- including hezbollah. would you still consider them one of the largest state sponsors of terrorism? director clapper: they are still classified that way. senator ayotte: i would like to follow up on an issue with international implications, and that is of international drug trafficking. in my home state of new hampshire, we have had a devastating amount of people dying from heroin overdoses. i would like to hear your opinion, general stewart, about what is happening in terms of drug trafficking, and in particular heroine, and how the networks are using -- are being used to fuel terrorism. what do southern and northern command need in terms of fighting drug trafficking? general stewart: i-8 will have to look at the numbers again, -- i will have to look at the numbers again, but i don't think drug trafficking is increasing through our southern borders. pakistan and afghanistan continue at about the norm of the last few years. w

that's kelly ayotte's hometown paper. in kentucky, they lead their editorial bluntly. has congress gone crazy? that's what many u.s. observers and much of the world must be wondering after a group of rogue are republican senators wrote a letter to iran. among the 47 senators signing the letter, kentucky's mitch mcconnell, the new senate majority leader, and rand paul with presidential aspirations. this is the paper calling out the two home state senators. mr. mcconnell took over the leadership post this year to end dysfunction and return the senate to a working body. that effort appears off to a poor start. and if mr. paul's signature represents his grasp of foreign policy, republicans should be justifiably leery of him of a presidential nominee. whatever the outcome of negotiations with iran, the 47 senators have done irreparable harm. it is regrettable that kentucky's two senators were among them. louisville courier journal. here's a headline in the salt lake city tribune in utah. utah senators increase risk of war. senators lee and hatch join a foolish campaign. it

cosponsored by senator ayotte. this will establish a spending neutral reserve fund to reform and improve and enhance 529 college savings plans. many of my colleagues an i were taken back by the president putting forward a proposal in his budget to tax 529 accounts. the president had to quickly backtrack on his proposal based on prexzexpressed concerns from across the political spectrum. i believe the big reason it was met with disapproval is that we all know first habd through communications with our constituent that is the typical family with 5.9 accounts is a family with modest means. i have some statistics on that. an average, on a national average, the average account balance is under 21,000 and for my iowans who hold 529s, the balance is lower than 18,000. i was pleased to be able to work with senator casey on a bipartisan bill that reaffirms congress' support for college savings. this bill is the basis for my amendment today. it would make three important yet very modest reforms. to 529 plans. it would permit

ayotte proposes amendment number 400. ms. ayotte: mr. president i ask the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. ayotte: thank you mr. president. last year in this body, we heard and saw evidence about what was happening at some of our v.a. facilities. the manipulated wait lists the delays that our veterans had to endure and unfortunately some of our veterans died waiting for care. we passed a bipartisan bill, one that we all worked together on, and i appreciate that senator sanders worked very hard on. the veterans' choice program was part of that bipartisan bill, but this program has yet to be implemented in the way that this body intended. the goal was to expedite care for veterans that had been waiting longer than 30 days or live farther than 40 miles away from the v.a. hospital. in my home state of new hampshire, we don't have a full service veterans hospital, so too often our veterans are driving long distances to massachusetts or to other locations to get the care that they earned

cosponsored by senator ayotte. this will establish a spending neutral reserve fund to reform and improve and enhance 529 college savings plans. many of my colleagues an i were taken back by the president putting forward a proposal in his budget to tax 529 accounts. the president had to quickly backtrack on his proposal based on expressed concerns from across the political spectrum. i believe the big reason it was met with disapproval is that we all know first had through communications with our constituent that is the typical family with 5.9 accounts is a family with modest means. i have some statistics on that. an average, on a national average, the average account balance is under 21,000 and for my iowans who hold 529s, the balance is lower than 18,000. i was pleased to be able to work with senator casey on a bipartisan bill that reaffirms congress' support for college savings. this bill is the basis for my amendment today. it would make three important yet very modest reforms. to 529 plans. it would permit 529 f

senator ayotte. we'll go back to offering. >> i'm just -- >> we're offering. there was some confusion on both sides. give people more time to prepare. yeah. >> so, i'm offering an amendment and i'm going to be making when we vote on this amendment a revision. because it is an amendment to -- >> speak closer into the mike, please. >> this is an amendment to strengthen our civilian workforce that works on national security and military readiness issues. my, the language that is been handed out now is a spending neutral fund. i'm going to amend that to be a standard deficit neutral reserve fund because that's what i intended in the first place and i am the chair of the readiness subcommittee in the armed services committee and the civilian workforce for example at the portsmouth naval shipyard and the civilian workforce and recruiting and retaining the very best that support our national security is very important in terms of military readiness, so this reserve fund will focus on ensuring that we're recruiting and retaining the best civilian workforce and as i un

senator kelly ayotte is next. plus, donald trump goes "on the record." he has big news.shear a hint. the next inaugural parade. donald trump coming up. disturbing news news the tree are teaming up. senator kelly ayotte joins us. good evening senator. >> good evening, greta. >> all right. well u i guess we should have expected this but this is a nightmare. >> well, it is. i mean, you know if this is true and they are collaborating we are in a situation where beam who have civilized individuals and civilized everywhere. this trifecta from hell as far as these terrorist groups joining together. i think if you look at this it really shows you that the obama foreign policy of leading from behind is not working. >> the disturbing thing is who is really surprised by this? this is not really sort of breaking news because everyone expected this because if you look at the growth of ice in syria and iraq and the troubles in libya. tunisia, boca haram all over nigeria. and people from western europe joining isis. what's the big surprise that these three horrible groups would join up

proud to have worked with many senators on both sides of the aisle senators heitkamp, gillibrand, ayotte murkowski on a simple yet straightforward amendment which incentivizes state and federal cooperation on this important issue. the mann act cooperation amendment will free up federal resources by allowing state attorneys general and local d.a.'s to prosecute human trafficking cases that would otherwise be a sign to federal government prosecutors or if federal government prosecutors do not have the resources to take on such cases oftentimes they're not going to be pursued. at the same time this amendment preserves the federal prosecutor's ability to exercise prosecutorial options while importantly increasing transparency about decisions made on human trafficking cases. mr. president, in human trafficking cases it's often local investigators and local prosecutors who have the most information on these cases. as alaska's attorney general i saw this firsthand. we usually had great cooperation with our partners in the federal government. but when the feds can't take on human trafficking cas

ayotte who despite emphatic and persuasive criticism of the letter has yet to explain her reasoning for endorsing such a dopey idea. are you worried this is going to be hurtful to the people who helped make up your majority who make you majority leader? >> no. what i'm worried about is the administration entering into a very bad deal with one of the worst regimes in the world. members are very concerned about it on both sides of the aisle and the senate will be heard from. this won't be the last time there are senators speaking out on this issue. they'll be heard from again. >> on your point about the fact that this is a bipartisan process, it absolutely is. there are democrats and republicans who want congress to weigh in with the legislation you were talking about. i've heard from democrats that by sending this letter you've made it a partisan process and it's harder to get democrats on board and maybe even there was a possibility of getting a veto proof margin harder to get the democrats on board because you've polite sized the process. >> i can't believe a democrat concerned abo

kelly ayotte: these are incredibly talented people. thank you. sen. angus king: thank you, mr. chairman. admiral greenert, i'm sure you are sad this is your last hearing before this committee but you have had a long and distinguished career. want to thank you. secretary mabus, your dad should have met mine. i remember him watching the time go by. they would've had some sort of spiritual kinship. the arctic is an important area of policy, i know you have been looking at the navy developing a strategy. just briefly, do you see the arctic as an emerging area of importance, of strategic importance, of national security importance to this country? jonathan greenert: i think we need to look at it deliberately. we need to understand it. things like iisecs, we need to do it more frequent, get industry up there to study the place, find out when it is going to melt, when are they going to be lines open, are the threats russia is increasing their military presence. how do we survive out there, our people, our ships, our aircraft? sen. angus king: a simple example about infrastructure iceb

she came to testify along with senator ayotte from new hampshire and senator klobuchar at that hearing and talked about how really important this was to all 20 of our women senators, and how proud they were of the fact that it moved forward and it wouldn't have happened without the senator from iowa, the chairman of the judiciary committee, willing to take that challenge up and to move the bill here to the floor in such a -- in a unanimous fashion. but i would just close, mr. president, by saying that all members of the united states senate, presumably came here to try to do something important. not just to -- not just to march in place or fill up space, but presumably they spend the time away from their families they go through the rigors of political campaigns they suffer the slings and arrows of partisan politics in order to try to something -- do something good, to try to help people who cannot help themselves. and so here is a perfect opportunity to do exactly that. and we're not asking people to do anything extraordinary. certainly not asking them to do anything they haven't done

and third the leahy-collins-mikulski-ayotte amendment filed yesterday to protect runaway and homeless youths from trafficking. this trafficking prevention bill was reported by the judiciary committee last year with the support of senator grassley, senator cornyn, nearly all of the other judiciary committee members. it has been narrowed here at the request of republicans this year. i hope that a combination of these three bills that i do in good faith will bring us together. in response to the request of survivors, the many dedicateed people work with them to remove the unnecessary partisan provisions as a result of this impasse. they need us to find a way forward without playing politics and pass a meaningful bill. with that, mr. president i would request a number of groups and others who support this, that those letters be included in the record at this point. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: and i yield the floor and i thank the senator from mississippi for his courtesy. mr. wicker: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: t

her signature endorsing letter the concord monitor -- new hampshire -- the republican senator kelly ayotte it's not every day that the united states senator attempts to undermine u.s. foreign policy and weaken the nation in one cursive sweep in phoenix, arizona, the arizona republic republic board concluded the republican senators are equicktively edie claireing the congressional right to conduct subversive important foreign pollsive with the great to blow up agreements negotiated as weapons of choice. mr. president, on another subject. in the last congress legislation combating human trafficking was a bipartisan matter. senators klobuchar, leahy, long leaders on this issue but this year and we can talk about how it got in the bill -- many believe it was a slight of hand -- sleight of hand but it's in the bill. an abortion provision in this bill before the body for more than 25 years i had the pressure of serving with henry hyde in the house of representatives who is famous because he has penned the hyde language which deal with abortion. all of these 25 plus yearses that matter has been p

kelly ayotte in new hampshire, again, a state that has gone presidential blue in recent elections, she voted yes. pat toomey voted yes. paid sick leave. conservative senator from pennsylvania. we're going to see the pressures, are we not, on the senate floor? >> these are little 30 second ads in the form of bills. the war on women. you can already see it happening. these senators don't have to worry about primaries. they are looking at the general election and they live in a world of reality that way. >> every time they vote no on one of these things, hillary clinton prepares if it's one of them to say, they don't care about you. they're not fighting for you. they're not compassionate. they're intolerant. >> and they don't care. they have to get through iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. until they can do that can they go back. >> we're all watching cruz. cruz pulls them all to the right. we're watching them on the senate floor. if he's going to vote against it, i have to vote against it. the other thing about the defense debate, where is it in the republican party? >> is he possible

next is the ayotte amendment on energy. >> i have an amendment that would address very important provisions on energy deficit neutral reserve right providing assistance to those who are low income,. and also federal support for the land and water conservation fund. this fund will allow you to look at energy efficiency and how we deal with having we protect the environment. all those in favor say i? >> opposed? it passed. next to senator baldwin. >> thank you. this amendment would restore a point of order that was eliminated in the against reconciliation legislation that would increase the deficit or increase the server us. i want to yield to senator white house the balance of my time. >> this must be the most important vote we take today. i support the senator. >> without objection. this takes us act two 2008 in the way the committee ran. i would ask for a no info on this. please pull the committee. -- please poll the committee. >> the amendment has failed. as job training. -- next is job training. >> it would reduced under -- redundancy. it comes about training programs. we have done studi

senator ayotte: so in order to incorporate information third party available that's available and also when i hear mr. o'carroll's example i also think that apparently what the states in submitting their vital statistics to the social security administration apparently doesn't have the same level of accuracy that it should too, so do you need legislative proposals to be able to consult third party information or is it a resource issue or is it all of the above? and also what is it that we need to do from the state's perspective if we knew that you could get the death certificate for certain individuals. apparently their vital records office wouldn't have submitted that if it didn't get into your system properly. >> senator, two points. the data set that mr. o'carroll just mentioned, the 58 number holders in suspense those recommends were sent to the agency last friday. we believe there are policies we can look into and agree with that recommendation and will be pursuing it. the best thing that we could do in my opinion, the agency's position is full funding of electronic death registra

senator ayotte. >> i would like to ask my colleagues comment. thank you. rebuttal? >> as senator crapo mentioned, i suspect many of my colleagues will support this amendment. that i did want to add to it that if we are serious about helping the unsubscribe as i suppose all of us are we would not be voting for a budget that slashes funding to the program. .. democrats and republicans across the country have said the across-the-board cuts are terrible policy and an absurd way to reduce the deficit that must be replaced. there replaced. there are republicans on this committee who have been vocal about the need to roll back these cuts and have expressed the need to raise some revenue. last year democrats and republicans were able to reach an agreement that the rollback the worst of these automatic cuts which prevented another government shutdown, moved us away from the crisis and restored critical investment in research, education defense and more. this amendment builds on that deal and extends it for two more years, maintains the principal the democrats won't abandon t

too new hampshire republican senator kelly ayotte who sign the letter on what she makes of what her colleagueink about what senator johnson is saying. >> what you hear him saying -- i have lot of respect for him -- is that the letter and what was in it was very important. let me put this into perspective. this letter was written on the heels of the president of the united states threatening to veto bipartisan legislation, the corker menendez bill, which i'm an original sponsor of, that said very simply we want a say on this incredibly important agreement, and you have to bear in mine it was congress on after overwhelming bipartisan basis that put the toughest financial and energy sectors on iran to bring them to the table and this is an incredibly important issue to the american people. it's the largest state sponsor of terrorism. >> you think you -- with the right intentions -- played into some of the nuts' hands over there? you know what i mean? >> neil, look at what they've done since we have been negotiating this deal. they've helped to overthrow the government in yemen. they're support s

senator ayotte is a mother of two young children. she has become one of the rising stars. she has been at the table on immigration, finding a replacement to sequestration. thank you for sending her. jeanne shaheen has been very good to work with. almost everybody in new hampshire is a woman in government. one guy in congress. new hampshire is isil's worst nightmare -- women running the place. [laughter] >> one question from aarp. >> thank you senator. great presentation. your priorities are right. the security of the country comes the first really. i am and volunteers spokesperson for aarp. we talk a bit before. i am glad you mentioned about your sister being held vessels of security. in -- being helped by social security. we would like to know what would be on the table for consideration in strengthening social security today. sen. graham: what would be on the table is making it solvent for 75 years so that the people coming after us would have it. how many of you have a 401(k) plan? how many of you worry about outliving your 401(k) plan? social security in the future wil

. >> next to kelly ayotte, jack reed, ed markey, bringing people together. governor perry: i may talk about that a little today, but, you know, i find that dysfunction one of our real challenges in our country, and governors do not have that -- you know, they do not have that luxury. >> i know that. governor perry: we have to get things done, and we never get to do things big. you know jennifer. >> yes. >> the governor massachusetts, halley baker -- governor perry: yes, good guy. >> watched him with a multimillion dollar deficit, sits with the speaker, sits with the president, he says this is my idea, 4-1. governor perry: not one big issue did we pass in texas without democrat help, and -- >> it is what people want. governor perry: well, it is what this country have got to have. we have got to get past this talking past each other. i amit is one of the things that i am really critical on the president on his he has divided this country, he has divided us by gender, race, economic strata , and we have got to get over that. i mean, you know, i grew up on a ver

senator ayotte. >> i want to thank the chairman and ranking member and all of you. appreciate obviously why we need this. we've all had incidences in our state, a number of years ago we had an incident in new hampshire that prompted an early discussion in our state about this where we had a horrible horrible mad man who basically murdered a judge, murdered troopers that were trying to subdue him. murdered local newspaper person and the radios didn't talk to each other, and that created -- that was to the advantage of the perpetrator and allowing that situation to cause more deaths. so this is a real issue and as i think about our state i know that the consultation in new hampshire, i guess, is going to be june 9th i've been told. and you have said miss swensen you're going to get the feedback from the states and particularly as i think about chairman thune's question, two-thirds of my state would technically be really rural areas where we have challenges on how to build the network that people can talk to each other, and in that process where you take new hampshire'

and i'm working with senator booker, senator shotts, senator ayotte on a number of things. i think that's going to be a very good bipartisan resolution and moving forward hopefully legislation so we can see that innovate toreors are able to grow their business and they'll be able to solve problems with clear rules and also clear expectations. i think that's necessary, that innovators have to have that certainty out there. and when i look at the general conduct that is proposed that you have here i'm concerned it could jeopardize that regulatory certainty that i think we have to have if we're going to remain competitive. the electronic frontier foundation has described this rule as an overreach and confusing. specifically the eff said the fcc believes it has broad authority to pursue any number of practices. hardly the narrow light touch approach we need to protect the open internet. "the wall street journal" reported that at a recent press conference, you said with respect to the general conduct rule that, quote, we don't really know. we don't know where things will go next

senator ayotte? >> i want to thank the chairman and ranking member and all of you. appreciate obviously, why we need this. we've all had incidences in your state a number of years ago we had an incident in new hampshire that promptedable early discussion in our state about this where we had a horrible, horrible madman who basically murdered a judge, murdered troopers that were trying to subdue him murdered local newspaper person and the radios didn't talk to each other. and that created -- that was to the advantage of the perpetrator, and allowing to use that situation to cause more deaths. so this is a real issue, and as i think about our state, i know that the consultation in new hampshire, i guess, is going to be june 9th, i've been told. and you have said, miss swenson, that you're going to get the feedback from the states, and particularly as i think about chairman thune's question two-thirds of my state would technically be really rural areas, where we have challenges on how do we build the network that people can talk to each other. and in other and in that p

. >> senator ayotte. >> thank you chairman and ranking member. appreciate it. >> commissioner pai.- shortly after the latest spectrum option you and i pend an op ed in the journal about the flaws in the program and showed a egregious example where in the most recent auction that companies with billions of dollars in revenue were able to get taxpayer credits to purchase discounted spectrum. and since our op ed, it's been interesting to see that a wide variety of groups have come out to say this issue needs to be addressed by the fcc, including groups ranging from the naacp to americans for tax reform. can you update us on this program? and i hope that the commission has a whole will take a very thorough review of what happened here. because it can't have been what we intended with this so called designated entity program. because this isn't benefitting truly small or disadvantaged businesses. >> thank you senator for the question and for your leadership. since we had a chance to collaborate we have seen a broad raising of concern across the countr

and that's why the warner-ayotte amendment is actually a deficit-reduction reserve fund. again, i urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan amendment. thank you mr. president. with that, i yield to my good friend, the senator from kansas. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i thank the gentleman from virginia for yielding to me. i would like to talk for a moment about, first of all the budget. i'm pleased that the united states senate is working on a budget. we're required to pass one by april 15. it's been awhile since we've been able to accomplish that. i'm hopeful that the budget will be reconciled with the house-passed budget giving us the opportunity to develop 12 appropriations bills within this budgetary outline. it's unfortunate that by the nature of a budget, it's a partisan endeavor, and the expectation is that no democrat will vote for the budget that ultimately will pass the senate today. i hope that doesn't continue to be true in another issue that i am encouraging and am encouraged to know will be consider

as senator ayotte said yesterday, her amendment would -- quote -- ensure veterans don't have to wait in line, that they can exercise private care options when they want to, unquote. well i'm proud to say that's something that we all support. the debate this week is a unique opportunity for hardworking taxpayers to see an open and transparent legislative process with members from both sides of the aisle offering, debating and voting on amendments to this resolution. this is something we haven't had in the past eight years and i think members are energized to be able to do what they were sent here to do, the people's business. among the topics we'll be talking about today are enhancing america's energy security protecting personal property rights from agencies like the e.p.a., carbon tax helping veterans get better access to v.a. medical facilities and simplifying student loan repayment options and saving medicare. thank you again to members for offering amendments that help make our government more efficient, effective and accountable to hardworking taxpayers. it's what the american p

senator kelly ayotte shares as transportation subcommittee hearing on aviation operations. [inaudible conversations] >> i want to call the hearing to order. i want to welcome our witnesses here today. appreciate all of you being here here. before i offer any of our opening statements, news is still coming in that i want to add knowledge the tragedy in europe this morning and my thoughts go out to the friends and families of those who are affected. we will be monitoring this as the situation develops but i know all of us are very sad to hear about this tragedy. with that, appreciate all of you being here today and i want to thank you because today's hearing represents the second of an active sprint schedule including a series of hearings and preparations for this year's federal aviation administration reauthorization effort was the agencies authorization expires in september this year. for years unmanned aircraft systems uaf also sometimes more properly called drones has been identified with fighting terrorism abroad and i have appreciated the important work that this techno

senator ayotte is a mother of two young children. she has become one of the rising stars. she has been at the table on immigration, finding a replacement to sequestration. thank you for sending her. jeanne shaheen has been very good to work with. almost everybody in new hampshire is a woman in government. one guy in congress. new hampshire is isil's worst nightmare -- women running the place. [laughter] >> one question from aarp. >> thank you senator. great presentation. your priorities are right. the security of the country comes the first really. i am and volunteers spokesperson for aarp. we talk a bit before. i am glad you mentioned about your sister being held vessels of security. in -- being helped by social security. we would like to know what would be on the table for consideration in strengthening social security today. sen. graham: what would be on the table is making it solvent for 75 years so that the people coming after us would have it. how many of you have a 401(k) plan? how many of you worry about outliving your 401(k) plan? social security in the future wil

senator ayotte: i thank the chairman for the difficult work of putting together this budget resolution. as we look at where we are in this country, the nation's fiscal outlook is one that needs to be desired in terms of what we know in terms of making a stronger and better future for the next generation. it is clear that we need to get america's fiscal house back in order and fix the broken budget process in washington. since i have been elected to the senate there has been one time when we have gone through the actual budget process on the floor. i think it is very important that when we talk about families sitting around kitchen table that we as members of congress actually work together to get a legit resolution done instead of the many years when we have not done that and the many times when we have kicked the can down the road. when i was first elected, the national debt was nearly $14 trillion. now it it exceeds $18 trillion. if we do not take action we will reach [indiscernible] so the need for deficit and debt reduction is becoming more, not less urgent as we look at the challe

kellie: -- ayotte: if you're fighting an enemy and were not getting intelligence in real-time, a 24 hour delay is like a lifetime in a wartime setting. so i guess the real-time intelligence for me -- there has to be a way to protect our sources and methods, but not 24 hours later in an intelligence context is a lifetime. i hope we can get real-time intelligence so they can defend themselves and they have suffered too many casualties and anything we can do -- we have some responsibility given that we were under the budapest memorandum, too and this is outright aggression of one nation upon another. i appreciate that. i want to ask about isil's activity beyond iraq and syria. we are hearing a lot about isis activity in libya. can you help me understand what we see isil doing, beyond the great challenges we face establishing caliphate's along iraq and syria and where else we will see their presence and what we are going to do about it. secretary carter: i will say something and the chairman may want to add. we are seeing it throughout north africa, we are seeing it in the gulf area. i had a

gardner: i ask that you can the pending amendments be set aside and i call up the ayotte amendments number 485 40 and 852 en bloc. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report en bloc. the amendments are calmed en bloc. mr. gardner: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. gardner: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 115 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 115, designating april 2015 as national congenital die fragmatic hernia awareness month. the presiding officer: without objection, the sna the will proceed to the measure. mr. gardner: i ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. gardner: mr. president i ask unanimous consent t

i would like to take this opportunity to thank senators ayotte murkowski heitkamp, and baldwin for also cosponsoring our amendment and for their strong support. mr. president, our amendment would reauthorize the runaway and homeless youth act amendment programs which expired in the year 2013. these three programs -- the street outreach program the basic center program and the transitional living program -- have helped thousands of our homeless youth meet their immediate needs and provided long-term residential services for those who sadly cannot be safely reunited with their families. mr. president, the street outreach program helps homeless and runaway youth find stable housing and connects them with the treatment counseling, and crisis prevention they need. a central goal of this program is to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse. the basic center program helps community-based providers meet the basic needs of shelter food and clothing for homeless youth. and the transitional living program supports long-term housing services that help our homeless youth enter stable living environme

senator ayotte: i want to thank the chair and thank all of you for what you do for the country and, secretary carter, i want to thank you very much for so quickly into after your confirmation of following through and meeting with the -- to hear their perspective on the air support on friday and for including me in that meeting. i appreciate your commitment to review the air force's decision on the a10 and appreciate your willingness to do that. so thank you very much. i wanted to follow-up on the issue of ukraine on a different topic, and that is the issue of u.s. intelligence sharing because there were reports recently in "the wall street journal" that really troubled me about what we are doing to help the ukrainians in terms of their defense, the information we can share with them to be able to minimize their casualties and defend the territory. and in that article basically what it said is images are being degraded to avoid provoking russia and that what it was doing in terms of ukrainian officials, they said, has really hampered their ability of their forces to counter separatists because