[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 96 (Thursday, June 16, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S4315]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4746. Mr. HATCH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 4685 proposed by Mr. Shelby (for himself and Ms. Mikulski) 
to the bill H.R. 2578, making appropriations for the Departments of 
Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes; which was ordered to 
lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
       Sec. ___. (a) It is the sense of Congress that when a 
     statute or regulation defining a criminal offense fails to 
     specify the state of mind required for conviction, a court 
     should read a default standard of willfulness into the 
     statute or regulation unless it is clear from the text of the 
     statute or regulation that Congress or the agency 
     affirmatively intended not to require the Government to prove 
     any state of mind.
       (b) In this section, the term ``willfulness'' means acting 
     with knowledge that one's conduct is unlawful.
                                 ______