Kelly Ayotte: “I rise today to talk about the state of affairs and where we are in the Senate, particularly with regard to the Defense…”

“I rise today to talk about the state of affairs and where we are in the Senate, particularly with regard to the Defense authorization bill. Right now in the Senate--I am a freshman Member of this body--it has been over 2 years since we passed a budget. We have only passed one appropriations bill. Last week, the Democrats changed the rules in the Senate because they did not want to vote on amendments. For the first time in my lifetime, the Defense authorization bill is not being brought to the floor by the majority leader. This is at a time when we are engaged in two wars and the threats to us and our allies from the Islamist terrorists remain. In fact, today authorities broke up an alleged plot to bomb the Israeli and Saudi Arabian Embassies in Washington and to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States. At a time such as this, when there is nothing more important we can do in the Senate than to ensure the national security of the American people, the majority leader is refusing to bring forward the Defense authorization bill to this floor because he objects to one provision in it addressing detainees. I am concerned that this is no longer the most deliberative body in the world. I am new here, and I am often asked what has surprised me most as a new Senator, and I have to say, honestly, how few votes I have taken since I have been in the Senate.…”