mr. barrasso: is leading the -- chairman barrasso is leading the way to expand america's waterways infrastructure. chairman shelby and appropriations committee today have already begun their work on the annual funding bills. mr. mcconnell: mr. mcconnell: while in the committee's robust discussions, i look forward to bringing the appropriations bills they craft here to the senate floor. earlier this week, the armed services committee began considering this year's defense authorization bill. they have a solid foundation on which to build thanks to the historic agreement reached earlier this year that delivered the highest year on year increase of funding for our armed forces in 15 years. one bill after another, one confirmation after another, the senate continues to produce major accomplishments that will directly improve the lives of the american people. now, on that subject, yesterday brought another piece of exciting news for american workers and middle-class families. the u.s. manufacturer united technologies announced new plans to invest $15 billion right here in america and hire 35,000 americ

mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, yesterday president trump joined republican senators for lunch. he was very optimistic, very positive about a lot of the developments in america's foreign policy in places like nortnorth korea. at the same time we all recognize that the world continues to be a very dangerous place. national security must be our first responsibility. my goal is a nation that is safe, strong, and secure. now, to have safety and security at home, we need peace and stability abroad. republicans in congress understand that. so does president trump and so does gina haspel. that's why the senate select committee on intelligence today approved gina haspel's nomination to lead the central intelligence agency. it was a bipartisan vote. you know, that used to be the normal way things operated around here, in a bipartisan way. when you had a nominee who was undeniably qualified, they got support from both sides of the aisle. it's become very uncommon over the past

mr. barrasso: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, last friday, we got new numbers from the labor department in terms of jobs and how american workers are doing. well, the unemployment rate is now down to 3.9%. it's the lowest it has been in 17 years. one analyst from the network cnbc said this is a wow number. the american economy has created three million jobs since president trump took office. three million americans who are now earning a paycheck instead of waiting for a government check. gotten 304,000 new manufacturing jobs since trump took office. 352,000 new construction jobs. 84,000 new jobs in pining and logging industries. compare this, mr. president, to when democrats in congress and in the last administration launched an all-out war on coal. 84,000 new jobs in mining and logging. look, republicans ended the war on coal. we struck down a major democrat regulatio

mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, over the past 50 years, our country has gone from being a construction society to a consumption society, and as a result our bridges, our roads, our dams and our waterways have suffered. president trump has said rebuilding america's infrastructure is a priority toker this administration. he says that we have build, quote, with american heart, american hands, and american grit. that's what president trump said in the state of the union this year. well yesterday the committee of environment and committee works took a big step towards meeting that goal. we voted to approve america's infrastructure act. now, there's a lot of people that we say in wyoming -- lots of people say, around the rocky mountain west as well, well, it's originally been attributed to mark twain. and it goes like this. whiskey is for dripping. water is for fighting over. well, surprisingly, mr. president, in this case, we actually didn't fight over the water of the united states. this legislation was writt

barrasso. >> thank you very much, mr. secretary, we appreciate you being here. we are so appreciative of your efforts and the president's efforts to achieve verifiable denuclearization of north korea. i know we will continue to work toward that goal and continue our efforts to impose maximum pressure on north korea, especially in light of the -- today's announcement. as we continue to impose sanctions and conduct joint military exercises, keep the regime fully aware of the consequences of their actions i want to ask a little bit about china. do you believe china is embracing maximum pressure strategy in order to get north korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program and what we can expect from china regarding north korea for future activities and have they responded in our efforts to continue along this line? >> so i haven't spoken to him since this letter was released but i did speak to him as recently as yesterday afternoon and they made every commitment that they were prepared to continue in the way that they have. we should give the chinese full credit for w

mr. president, i rise today in support of legislation that i've introduced with several of my colleagues, senators mccaskill, barrasso, stabenow, and cassidy that would remove a barrier that prevents patients from getting the most affordable prescription drug prices at the pharmacy counter. mr. president, americans have the right to know which payment method -- whether it's using your insurance or paying with cash out of pocket -- would provide the most savings when they are purchasing prescription drugs. the two bills that we've introduced would establish some clarity in this incredibly opaque drug pricing system. nearly 60% of americans, including roughly 90% of seniors, take at least one prescription drug. in 2016, americans spent more than $330 billion, including a staggering $45 billion out of pocket, on retail prescription drugs. the federal government picked up another $139 billion through medicare, medicaid, and other programs. prescription drugs amount to nearly 18% of all health care expenditures and are the second fastest-growing expenditure within health care. moreover, two-thirds of personal bankruptcies

mr. barrasso: mr. president, i have nine requests for committees to meet during today's session of senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leader. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. barrasso: i ask that the senate proceed to executive calendar 607. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. barrasso: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for wyoming. war bar i ask -- war bar i ask -- mr. barrasso: i ask that the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the carson nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 77. the nays are 21. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to rec