When she was asked to evaluate the problems which have developed in the small city of Ferguson, Missouri, Senator Ayotte drew on her experience as a prosecutor here in New Hampshire. In a case in which a police officer is involved in a shooting, she said that it is always very complicated. There are many factors that have to be evaluated. No one can know all of the facts of a case like this. That’s why there is a grand jury process which was in this instance very slow and deliberative in reaching a decision.
Now that white police officer, Darren Wilson, has not been indicted for causing the death of the unarmed African-American teenager, Michael Brown, Senator Ayotte had several constructive and conciliatory suggestions about where to go from here.
We should take a lesson from this situation and try to do the following:
1) Always look at improved training for law enforcement
2) Always understand the feelings of communities that feel disaffected
3) Always try to reach out and bring people together
Ayotte recognized the right of people to stage demonstrations in order to peacefully protest the death of Michael Brown and other concerns in the African-American community with the criminal justice system. Drawing on her experience as the New Hampshire Attorney General, she also recognized the legitimate concerns for the support and safety of law enforcement personnel. She believes that we need to learn from this tragedy and work toward healing the wounds that this incident has caused.
The senator also weighed in on the departure of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the qualities which will be needed in his replacement. She thanked Hagel for is service to the country, but stated that he never had a chance to break into President Obama’s National Security inner circle. His voice was never heard, so Secretary Hagel can’t be blamed for the foreign policy shortcomings of this administration. Ayotte hopes that the next defense secretary will have the right background and vision that we need to keep the country safe. In addition, the next defense secretary will need to be able to speak forcefully and honestly with President Obama and his security team. As a result of a briefing before the senate adjourned for the Thanksgiving break, Senator Ayotte is concerned about how we should deal with ISIS. She feels that the current strategy of only using a bombing campaign is not enough to deal with the threat from this dangerous group. She claims that, at best, this policy can only produce a stalemate. Also, we should be providing more support to the Kurds. They seem to be the only effective fighting group in the area. ISIS seems to be getting stronger, so we need to do something about their getting increased support by terrorists coming into and from Syria. She implied that this was one of Secretary Hagel’s points of contention with Obama’s National Security team which may have led to his leaving the administration.
In closing, Sen. Ayotte discussed why she recently gave her support to Republicans choosing Gene Chandler as the Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. The senator felt that Chandler did a good job as minority leader and would be able to work in concert with the senate and governor. She also took the opportunity to reach out to Bill O’Brien who has been chosen to be the next speaker.
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