Kelly Ayotte

Wonderful that we can reach a 2-year budget agreement. But you know what was astounding to me is once this became public that people from both sides of the aisle said this is wrong.

As far as I know, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee was not consulted on this cost-of-living increase cut.

I believe the Air Force should not take any steps to prepare to retire the A-10 or reduce the modernization or readiness of the A-10 fleet.

Let me ask the Senator from South Carolina this. Does anyone care that the Secretary of State claimed she knew nothing about this August 16 cable? She didn't know about these cables leading up to what had happened in Benghazi, about the…

May I also add to that the President--we heard testimony that obviously the Secretary of Defense and others knew right away this was a terrorist attack. Let's not forget the 16-minute interview where he is asked about that on September 12…

I wish to thank my colleagues, the Senator from South Carolina and the Senator from Arizona, who have been relentless in finding the truth about what happened in Benghazi where our ambassador and three brave Americans were murdered. There…

Mr. Carson, recently the Army announced changes to the organization of its Warrior Care and Transition Program. Can you describe those changes?

Mr. Carson, are you aware of the requirement in section 525 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 regarding reports on involuntary separation of members of the Armed Forces?

The Army recognizes and appreciates the many hard sacrifices its soldiers and their families make daily.

The Army National Guard (ARNG) and the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) have performed admirably in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Maintaining vitality of the laboratories and sites and the core competencies of the workforce at each site must be a priority.

I commit to work closely with Congress to ensure the United States meets its plutonium disposition obligations.

Mr. Carson, do I have your commitment that you will work to avoid involuntary separations?

I think of that and I think $1 billion we lost on that, when we have the A-10s that are incredibly important for close air support.

Mr. Carson, will you ensure the Army complies with this reporting requirement?

In fact, General Odierno has said it's the best close air support platform we have today.

In your position this is very important that this not happen again, and we look for areas in the Air Force where you see this problem bubbling up.

Why did it happen and how do we prevent it from happening again?

A billion dollars, that's about $3.7 billion over the Future Years Defense Program.

That is music to my ears and I'm really glad to know that that program is going so well and on track.

Despite this effort to divest it, General Welch has said it is the best airplane in the world at what it does.

Based on your experience and your preparation for this hearing, particularly in the position you're going into, who is being held accountable in the Air Force for wasting $1 billion of tax dollars into a failed Air Force acquisition…

I think one of the challenges we face as a committee, as well, is any legislation that we put forward, will not account for the fact that the technology is always changing, and the anticipation of those changes.

I know the experience, having been an attorney general, of making sure that all of the various law enforcement agencies actually had devices that could communicate with each other on the same radio frequency, took a long time in a state…

We know that lives are at stake.