Kelly Ayotte

The President has called for $400 billion in reductions to national security spending over a 10-year period starting in 2013.

I believe the Department needs to strategically prioritize its battle force mix consistent with ensuring it is a ready and agile battle force.

If confirmed, do you commit to working to address this modernization backlog at this and other important shipyards?

America wants a normal, productive relationship with Iraq going forward--a partnership like we have with other nations around the world.

Will you make that assurance to this committee?

I will be making recommendations to him based on your best assessment of what should be done on all major areas in DOD.

I do not believe that we should subjugate our national security for our failure to have political courage here in Washington.

I hope you'll support, to cut off funding as soon as possible when our money goes into enemy hands.

Absolutely. When we say disastrous, that's exactly the disaster we mean.

As part of our ongoing Comprehensive Defense Review, we are assessing how defense cuts of $400 billion would impact the DOD's ability to carry out contingency plans.

Over the long-term, history shows that a nation's economic strength is the foundation of its national security.

The Nation cannot have a strong defense without a strong economy; therefore I view the deficit crisis and corresponding deep cuts in defense as one of the most significant challenges to the entire national security community.

If we fail to have the political courage in Congress to make the difficult decisions... do you think this will make us less safe as we look forward?

People are very concerned. The 19 Senators that signed that letter, we're concerned that releasing him back to the Iraqis is like releasing him back into the theater.

I would ask you to look carefully at, because it is one that demonstrates again why we need a detention facility that ensures the security of these individuals so that they don't just go back to other countries that will just release them…

I would hope that you would look at this as a very important security issue.

I wanted to echo on the question that Senator Brown had asked you about the Guard and Reserve and the role of the Guard and Reserve.

25 percent of those that have been released from Guantanamo have gotten back in the fight against us.

I commit to work with me and Congress to support and learn from best practices for this important program.

The most important thing in this plan is it provides flexibility now to General Allen to decide how he withdraws those forces, when he withdraws them.

I am deeply concerned about one particular aspect of it, and that is the plan to fully remove the surge troops during September 2012.

I think it is important that we take a look at this.

Do you have an opinion whether there was any strategic, operational, or tactical advantages to the September withdrawal versus at the end of the fighting season?

I firmly believe that Guantanamo is a top rate facility having visited it and should be that facility.

I believe that we need to take serious caution before the administration makes a commitment to further reductions below New START force levels.