Amessage from Kelly Ayotte

To help support breast cancer survivors and advance breast cancer research, I'd like to tell you about two events this week that I committed to supporting.

Last night in Washington, I played in the 3rd Annual Congressional Women's Softball game, which benefitted the Young Survival Coalition, an organization that supports young women who have breast cancer. For charity, I played on a bipartisan team comprised of women members of the Senate and House, and we squared off against female Capitol Hill reporters. It was a fun way to support a very worthy and important cause.

And this Sunday in my hometown of Nashua, I will run in "Rosanne's Rush for Research" - a 5K run/walk that will help benefit triple negative breast cancer research and treatment.

On Capitol Hill, I continued an effort of great importance to many North Country residents: getting the federal prison in Berlin up and running. Read on for additional news about my work this week in Washington on behalf of New Hampshire citizens.

During a meeting Wednesday in her Capitol Hill office with top officials from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Justice Department, Senator Ayotte reiterated her request for the department to activate the federal correctional facility in Berlin, which has been vacant since it was completed in 2010 despite the nation's federal prisons being 38 percent overcrowded.

Senator Ayotte discussed her request with the Bureau's Assistant Director, William Dalius, and other BOP and Justice Department officials. Mr. Dalius told the Senator that the Berlin Prison is a high priority, and that BOP officials are committed to working with her to ensure that the prison, which is the only existing federal correctional facility in Northern New England, is opened and staffed as soon as possible.

"I am encouraged by Mr. Dalius' comments that the Berlin Prison is a high priority for the Bureau and that he is eager to find a solution," said Senator Ayotte. "I will continue to work with BOP officials to ensure that the facility in Berlin is opened, providing needed jobs in the area, and helping address the dangerous overcrowded conditions at federal correctional facilities throughout the country."

Because of Congress' failure to pass a budget last year, the BOP is being funded under a Continuing Resolution that does not include funds for staffing the Berlin prison. As a result, the facility remains vacant and unstaffed, costing taxpayers an estimated $4 million a year. Senator Ayotte wrote to BOP officials and Attorney General Eric Holder last month, urging them to redirect sufficient funds within the Bureau's budget to allow for the opening and staffing of the prison.

Senator Ayotte, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, met this week with the commanding officers of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, along with two pilots that participated in the F-15 pilot rescue in Libya. The Navy and Marine team provided a briefing of their nine month deployment, which began in August of 2010 and included humanitarian flood relief assistance in Pakistan, combat operations in Afghanistan, counter-piracy operations near the Horn of Africa, and support to operations in Libya.


Senator Ayotte's Statement on President's Plan to Withdraw Troops from Afghanistan

Senator Ayotte on Wednesday released this statement following the President's address to the nation regarding his plan to begin withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan:
"While our troops should not stay in Afghanistan a day longer than our interests require, I don't believe we should impose arbitrary deadlines for withdrawal from Afghanistan. Such timetables encourage the terrorists to wait us out, and dissuade average Afghans from supporting their government and opposing our enemies."


Senator Ayotte Renews Call for Limiting Detainee Transfers Following Escape of Al Qaeda Militants from Yemen Prison

Following reports that as many as 60 al-Qaeda militants escaped this week from a prison in Yemen, Senator Ayotte renewed her call for a stronger U.S. terrorist detention policy that includes permanent limits on the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo to foreign countries.
"While it is unclear whether any of the escapees are former Guantanamo detainees, this alarming news is further evidence that future transfers of detainees from Guantanamo Bay to countries like Yemen are unwise. Such transfers pose the risk of escape and recidivism, representing an unjustifiable security threat to our nation and the world," said Senator Ayotte, who personally inspected Guantanamo during an official visit in March. "Today's news also further underscores the urgent need for the U.S. to develop a responsible detainee policy that establishes Guantanamo Bay as the location for the long-term detention of current and future terrorist detainees."

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Ayotte has worked to keep open the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention facility, keep terrorist detainees out of the United States, and limit the transfer of detainees from Gitmo to foreign countries.

Last week, Senator Ayotte successfully worked to include in the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2012 Defense Authorization bill a provision she authored that permanently prohibits funding for the construction or modification of facilities in the United States to house terrorist detainees. The measure was approved by the full Committee last Thursday.

In May, Senator Ayotte introduced the Detaining Terrorists to Secure America Act (S. 944), bipartisan legislation that would keep open the Guantanamo Bay facility for the detention and interrogation of current and future terrorists. The bill would also permanently limit the transfer of detainees to foreign countries.


Senator Ayotte Continues Efforts to Cut Federal Red Tape

Continuing her efforts to reduce burdensome federal regulations on New Hampshire's small businesses, Senator Ayotte this week introduced legislation that would protect employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) from a costly new regulation proposed by the Department of Labor (DOL). If implemented, DOL's rule would expand the definition of "fiduciary" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to include appraisers of all private ESOPs.

The proposed rule would result in new compliance and regulatory costs for private companies offering ESOPs (nearly all of which are small businesses) and could jeopardize the availability of these plans in the future. It also would force appraisers to purchase expensive fiduciary insurance, employ specialized counsel, and could expose private ESOP companies to frivolous litigation.

Senator Ayotte's legislation would reverse DOL's rule by explicitly exempting ESOP appraisals from the law's stringent fiduciary requirements.

ESOP Association President, J. Michael Keeling, said, "We're very pleased to see Senator Ayotte take the lead on this issue. The DOL needs to wake up to the fact that private company ESOPs have tremendous positive records of creating jobs that are locally controlled in high performing companies. ESOPs are good for employees, companies, and our communities."

Last night, Senator Ayotte played in the 3rd Annual Congressional Women's Softball game, which benefitted the Young Survival Coalition, an organization that supports young women who have breast cancer. Ayotte was a captain of the bipartisan, bicameral women members of Congress team, which played against a team comprised of women of the Capitol Hill press corps. Senator Ayotte went 1 for 2 with a line drive to right field in helping the women members of Congress win by a score of 5 to 4.