mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. over the last several weeks, i have spent a lot of time traveling around my home state of wyoming and you may have in your home state of arkansas as well. we have talked to a lot of people. we hear a lot from people as we travel around to the rodeos, the fairs, and the parades. one of the things that i have been hearing more and more about because i'm seeing it daily in wyoming and i know senator daines has talked about it, senator tester, both the senators from montana, have been the incredible forest fires that have been raging in the west. there are more than a million acres of land burning in the west. smoke is spreading around the west. certainly in wyoming, fire as well as smoke impacting people, impacting land, impacting the soil, the air, the water, and impacting life as well as property. the damage that is happening is dramati

mr. barrasso: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: are we in morning business, madam president? the presiding officer: we're on the motion to proceed to s. 1519. mr. barrasso: last week, the senate passed the bipartisan defense authorization act. the world is a very dangerous place. this legislation i believe is very important to keeping our country safe. another thing we need to do to keep america safe is to get the economy going and growing. we need a strong and healthy economy in this country, and we need it now. a strong economy means a strong country with enough money to pay for the defense needs that we have at this time. over the eight years of the obama administration, washington doubled its debt. why? because our economy grew so slowly and the administration spent too much money. if this sort of thing continues, it's going to leave america in a much more vulnerable position. america needs a stronger economy th

mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i think it's clear to people all across america that the united states health care system needs reform. premiums for health insurance are going up by double digits across the country. people living in almost half of the country only have one company selling obamacare plans. millions of people are struggling. they are struggling to get coverage that they can afford and so that they can get the care that they need. mr. president, i will tell you it is all because the health care law the democrats wrote and democrats passed in congress and inflicted upon the american people have raised the costs for people all across the country and limited their choices. so today the senator from vermont, senator sanders, and other democrats said they want to take this failing health care system even further. they call their plan medicare for all. don't be fooled. they want to take a plan that has had government much, much more involved with the health care of the american people and go much

mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, last week the senior senator -- junior senator from vermont and a group of other democrats unveiled a proposal to have washington take over health care for everyone in america. some refer to it as berniecare. they intended to do this on the backs of american seniors which is of great concern to me as a doctor who has taken care of many senior citizens, people on medicare as part of my practice as an orthopedic surgeon. their idea is to put everyone in this country on a new program that operates like medicare. that's about 250 million americans who would be added on to a program, medicare, that is already being strained. one-third of the democrats in the senate have signed on to this plan. it seems to be the litmus test for the liberal left. several of them came to the floor last night to criticize republican efforts, efforts by the republican party to save america's failing health care system as the problems resulting to the american h

mr. barrasso is a republican for wyoming.on to you, can the republicans rip the votes needed to get this through? >> and for having me. committed to do something. we need to provide relief and a better way to get the decisions out of washington works much better. many of us were committed to do. where in the process of working with every member to get it done. ashley: what do you do to persuade senator murkowski, collins and mccain that this is the way to go. >> you work with every member on why it's better for people who suffered under obama cured to help those get the care they need from the doctor they choose at lower costs. so many governors have come out supporting mass because they know they do much better in their states if you don't have washington dictating what they have to buy. plus this eliminates the individual mandate that says everybody has to buy a government product, a government approved product it eliminates the employer mandate, which is very helpful across the country in stimulating the economy. ashley: a