We were certainly lucky to have a professor of his caliber. Professor bibas then took a position on the faculty of the university of Pennsylvania Law School where he has been teaching since. Professor bibas has been prolific in his academic writings, publishing numerous articles on all aspects of criminal law. His Academic Work culminated in the publication of his book entitled the machinery of criminal justice. That book was published 2012. In this book and many of his articles, professor bibas criticized the current model of bureaucratic assemblyline justice and americas high incarceration rate. Much of his work has been devoted to finding solutions to these problems. His Academic Work has certainly had an impact on the law. In fact, professor bibas is one of the most cited law professors in judicial opinions. One study shows he is the 15th most cited legal scholar by total judicial opinions, and he is the fifth most cited in the area of criminal law. Not bad for a relatively young professor. Professor bibas has also had a positive impact on colleagues and students. The Judiciary Committee received a letter from 121 law professors throughout our country, representing a diverse range of viewpoints. These professors support professor bibas nomination, pointing to his and this quote comes from the letter his influential contributions to criminal law and procedure scholarship as well as his fairmindedness, conscientiousness and personal integrity, end of quote. Professor bibas also received a letter in support of his nomination from many colleagues at the university of pennsylvania. They stated that he has been, quote, an outstanding scholar, teacher, and colleague at penn, end of quote, after the word colleague. Professor bibas also has extensive litigation and a lot of experience in litigation. He is currently the director of the university of Pennsylvania Law Schools Supreme Court clinic. In this role, he and his students have represented numerous litigants who could not otherwise afford topflight counsel. He has argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, and he obtained a significant victory in the landmark case of padilla versus kentucky, which established a defendants sixth amendment right to Accurate Information about deportation before pleading guilty. One of our Supreme Court justices, ruth bader ginsburg, in a personal letter to professor bibas that the Judiciary Committee received called him one of the, quote, very best lawyers presenting cases to the court. Its nice if you are considered kind of a strict constructionist that you get a letter like that from one of the more activist members of the Supreme Court. Some of my democratic colleagues criticized professor bibas during his confirmation hearing for two really isolateed events in a long and illustrious career that he has had. First, democrats criticized professor bibas for prosecuting a minor theft of only 7 when he was an assistant u. S. Attorney, and this case took place nearly 20 years ago. But it was professor bibas supervisor who made the decision to charge the defendant and of course required an underling by the name of bibas to pursue the case even after it started to fall apart. In his hearing, nowprofessor bibas readily acknowledges that his defendant should not have been prosecuted, and the professor stated this to our committee. Quote i learned from that mistake, and as a scholar, i have dedicated my career to trying to diagnose and prevent the causes of such errors in the future. Inadequate brady, that would be brady disclosure, new prosecutor syndrome, tunnel vision, jumping to conclusions, partisan mind sets. And i have testified before this committee on those very issues, and so i made a mistake. I apologize. I learned from it. And i have tried to improve the Justice System going forward. End of quote. Some of my colleagues have also criticized professor bibas for a single article that he wrote but never published. This article endorsed limited form of Corporal Punishment as an alternative to lengthy prison sentence, but professor bibas reconsidered this idea soon after completing the idea, he concluded that it was a bad idea and did not publish it. He completely disallowed the position in his book published shortly thereafter. When asked about Corporal Punishment at his hearing, professor bibas stated, quote, it is wrong. It is not american. It is something i its not something i advocate. I categorically reject it, end quote. Additionally, professor bibas positioned on Corporal Punishment position on Corporal Punishment was well intended. He was motivated to address overall harsh and unproductively long prison sentences. As he said at his hearing, he wanted to offer an answer to the question. The question is this quote is there some way, any way we can avoid the hugely destructive effects of imprisonment both on prisoners own lives and on the families and friends in the communities, end of quote, end of his question. In the time since professor bibas wrote the article, he has offered more Creative Solutions to the disruptions caused by lengthy prison sentences. As an example, instead of suffering through forced indolence, prisoners could work and develop workrelated skills in anticipation of their release from prison. Professor bibas scholarship, of course, as i have stated and quoted from, is a testimony to his devotion, to the rule of law, and the notion of equal justice before the law. Its very clear that he cares very deeply about how the criminal Justice System impacts defendants, victims, families, and entire communities. As you can tell, im very confident that professor bibas will make an excellent judge on the Third Circuit court of appeals. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin mr. President , President Trump will be leaving tomorrow for a lengthy trip to asia. He will be visiting japan, the republic of korea, and china. And in each of those countries, we expect that the Number One National security issue that will be talked about is north korea. North koreas dangerous activities are certainly putting not only the region but the Global Community at risk. They have a nuclear capacity. They currently have the ability to explode a nuclear device, and theyre working on Delivery Systems that could very well reach not just the region but come into the United States. They are violating international commitments. They have done dozens of tests this year alone, all in violation of their international commitments. We have had a strong policy to try to isolate north korea. The u. S. Has led in the imposition of sanctions. We have introduced this year and passed the countering americas adversaries through sanctions act. It passed this body by a 982 vote. I note that the chairman of the Senate ForeignRelations Committee is on the floor, and he was one of the strong architects of that legislation. We have also seen the United NationsSecurity Council pass resolutions 2270, 2371, 2375. The president has issued executive order 13810. We have been there, asking for regular enforcement of sanctions. We could do more, and one of the points i hope the president will be talking about during his trip is to rigorously enforce the sanctions that are out there, and as i see there is activity taking place in the banking committee. We have legislation in the Senate ForeignRelations Committee. If additional Sanction Authority is needed, lets do that, thats important. But what additional things can we do and what should the president be promoting as he visits asia . First, let me give you a few unacceptable alternatives. We could not lead with military intervention. The casualties could be astronomical. The technology to develop Nuclear Weapons would still remain, and our allies are certainly not in agreement with that policy. There is no Congressional Authority for the u. S. Of force. A second alternative thats not acceptable is just continue the current course. North korea is developing a Delivery System that will threaten not just japan and the republic of korea, but also guam and the United States. We will see an arms race if we do not effectively stop north Koreas Nuclear program. President trumps statement in my view made the challenges even more dramatic. His america alone statements isolate america, make it more difficult for us to get the type of support we need. His reckless statements, i think, make it more likely rather than less likely he will use a military option. What we need is a surge in diplomacy. A surge in diplomacy can very well start with a meeting between president xi of china and President Trump of the United States. We have a common agenda. Both countries, china and the United States, does not want to see a nuclear north korea. Both china and the United States recognize that the kim jongun regime or leadership in north korea is unrelyle. Were both looking for an off ramp so we dont need to use a military option. And china has the capacity to turn the pressure on north korea through sanctions that could change the equation in north korea. China and north korea have a common agenda. Both want to preserve the regime of kim jongun. Kim jongun, for obvious reasons, china because they do not want to see the unified Korean Peninsula under western influence. Our objective is for north korea to give up its Nuclear Weapons. China needs to be convinced that our objective is the same as theirs. With that, they could instill greater pressure on north korea and diplomacy could work. What should be our objective . We have got to be realistic. In the short term, it should be containment. Freeze the current program. Stop the testing. Make it clear that we cannot allow this program these programs to continue. Ultimately, we want to see a nonnuclear korea peninsula. Now, we know that in the past, in the 1994 Framework Agreement with north korea lasted for eight years, so there is an ability to make progress, but we have to develop confidence between the parties. In conjunction with this, mr. President , let me just urge us not lose sight of the north korean people. Lets continue our focus on the human rights problems in the country. Lets work with our allies, particularly japan and the republic of korea, and lets enforce rigorously the sanctions until progress is made. We can achieve an alternative outcome in north korea, but it requires u. S. Leadership and u. S. And President Trump needs to engage on that issue. We need confidencebuilding, and we need to make sure that we make progress. Time is not on our side, but there is still time before to make progress. Without a diplomatic surge, theres only unacceptable options. Our goal should be a more peaceful, stable, and prosperous northeast asia community. With that, mr. President , i would yield the floor. The presiding officer under the previous order, all time is expired. The question occurs on the Stephanos Bibas 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 . Hearing none, the yeas are 53, the nays are 43, the namings is confirmed. The nomination is confirmed. Mr. Heller mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from nevada. Mr. Heller i ask unanimous consent that with respect to the bibas nomination, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senates action. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Heller i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Heller thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , this week we currently have the unique opportunity to move forward on promises we made to the American People last year confirming judges and providing tax relief to hardworking americans. The American People sent us to congress to complete this critical work and we must stop at nothing do it. Now, weve already taken significant steps to address both of these issues by confirming 13 judges with five more this week and passing a budget with instructions for tax reform. Theres still much more it that we need to do and i stand ready to stay here until that job is done. Most people cant go home until their work is finished. Mr. President , i dont think we should either. Imagine dropping your car off at the auto mechanic and instead of staying to finish the job they leave at 3 00 p. M. And go home because thats their scel youll, yet schedule, yet you have to pay them for a full days work. We need to work as much as possible to ensure the federal judiciary is filled with judges that will uphold the constitution and bring us closer to providing tax relief to the American People. We need to have a fully occupied, fully functioning federal judiciary to ensure that americans Constitutional Rights are upheld. In almost ten months we started started to address the issue of judicial vacancies by confirming 13 judges, most notably, justice gorsuch, who has already served as a strong, conservative voice on the Supreme Court. As al fellow westerner, i was proud to vote for such a qualified judge in our nations highest court. Beyond the vacancy, beyond the Supreme Court, there are vacancies at all levels of our federal judiciary, and we cannot forget the importance of every single court that makes up the federal system. We must prioritize confirming judges to fill these openings, especially those deemed judicial emergencies of the fact emergencies. The fact that we have so many judicial emergencies is incredibly concerning and should be a wakeup call to awr senators, especially to all senators, especially those slowing down this important process. The president is continuing to send us wellqualified nominees and chairman grassley has done an excellent job of moving nominees through the committee process. Im especially encouraged that week we are confirming five more judges including four Circuit Court judges. Thats the pace that when we need to keep. If that means working 247, mr. President , count me in. We cannot allow obstructionism from the on the other side of the aisle from the other side of the aisle to prevent us from filling vacancies. It is clear when judges are brought to the floor by a healthy majority, the gridlock being caused is purely political. Because of this, leadership is having to file cloture on these nominees and those across the aisle are running the debate clock instead of actually debating. We have what is known as a onehour rule in the senate and i think it is time to enforce it. Members are entitled to their opinions and as a deliberative body, we should debate nominees, but if youre going to debate a nominee, i think you need to come down here and speak on them. You cant just hide behind your desk and run the debate clock. If you have a problem with the with a nominee, come down to the floor and voice your concerns. If youre not willing to do this, you shouldnt hold this nominee hostage to an artificial clock. We should use debate time on a nominee to debate the nominee. If there is no more debate, we should vote on that nominee and move on to the next one. The constitution guarantees a right to a speedy trial. As a body that makes that constitutional right possible, we have a critical responsibility and we must do whatever it takes to fulfill this duty. In order to deliver swift justice throughout the country, these seats need to be filled. Im wredy to work day and ready to work day and night, weekends, holidays, to do what nevadans sent me to accomplish. We should work through the week of thanksgiving. Hardworking americans dont go home until their work is complete and neither should we. That work also includes reforming our tax code, providing desperately needed relief to the middle class. Today chairman brady of the ways and Means Committee released a draft of their tax bill which is another enormous step forward in providing meaningful tax relief to nevadans and other hardworking americans across the country. Middleclass tax relief is particularly critical to the residents of my home state of nevada, whether its the mother who doesnt receive child support, works full time and trying to make ends meet or the worker who is working hard to the get a Small Business off the ground and wondering if he will ever catch a break and be able to hire his first employee. I ton hear from i continue to hear from diligent hardworking families who are struggling to cover their expenses and get ahead in life. The american, previously achievable through hard work and sheer deter