Hearts to you. Lord, please shower your mercy on our nation, as we seek to deal with the las vegas mass shooting. Please show mercy to the victims and their families. Lord, in spite of this horrific act, give us faith to believe that evil will not ultimately prevail in our world. May this tragedy motivate us to plant and water seeds of peace, as we cultivate a greater respect for the laws of seed time and harvest. Cut in pieces the cords of wickedness that seek to bind us. Today, guide our senators and use them as ambassadors of reconciliation in our nation and world. Eternal god, though we walk in the midst of trouble, stretch forth your hands and revive us with your might. We pray in your merciful name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the senate now observe a moment of silence for the victims of the las vegas attack. The president pro tempore without objection, it is so ordered. The senate will now observe a moment of silence for the victims of the attack in las vegas. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell the us in we awoke to this morning the news we awoke to this morning was heartbreaking. What happened in las vegas is shocking, its tragic, and for those affected and their families, its devastating. Its hard to even imagine their pain. I hope they will know that we are praying for them now. I hope they will find strength in the love and kindness of those around them in these hours of such darkness and pain. I hope they will see that our country is standing by their side today. Many americans are still in shock. Others have begun to wonder why someone would do something this terrible. Investigators will continue their dedicated work in search of answers. But what is clear now is that this is a moment for National Mourning and for prayer. Just a moment ago President Trump led the country in observing a moment of silence. As he noted this morning, were all grateful for the courageous efforts of the First Responders. They always put their lives on the line to save others. They do so with selflessness. It reminds us of the inherent courage and mercy that remains possible within each of us. Light amidst the dark, open times of terrible grief, the same is true of the National Spirit of compassion that shines through our country in the moments when it is needed most. Whether it is lining up to donate blood or signing up to volume theyre their time, our fell will he americans our fellow americans are always there to offer what they can when others are in need. We thank these americans and Law Enforcement and the First Responders for everything they have done. We thank them for their efforts that continue. We again send our condolences to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the pai nomination, which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, federal Communications Commission, pie pie pie of kansas for a Ajit Varadaraj pai of kansas to be a member. Mr. Hatch mr. President . The presiding officer the senator utah. Mr. Hatch mr. President , there are a number of issues i wish to speak on today. But first i wish to extend my most sincere condolences to the victims of violence in las vegas. What we witnessed last night was a tragedy without precedent. Today our thoughts are with all those folks who have lost families, loved ones and friends whose lives will never be the shame as a result of the shooting. Our heart are with all of you and so are our prayers. We love you, we stand by you today, and we ask that god will stand by you always. Now, mr. President , on another solemn subject, i wish to pay tribute to elder robert d. Hales, a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. He passed away peacefully yesterday after noon in between sessions of a conference. More than a beloved leader, he was a caring family man, a powerful role model and a close friend whom i will miss dearly. Today i wish to pay tribute to him and remember a life welllived. Elder heals was born in 19332t e group up in long island in a neighborhood that allowed him to become familiar with many cultures. He would speak fondly of the summers he spent in utah. Baling hay, riding horses, tending sheep, herding cattle in the mountain pastures. Although he would later become an accomplished businessman, he was no stranger to manual labor. He credited his earlier days working on the farm as the source of his strong work ethic. During his teenage years, he distinguished himself as a student and excelled as a pitcher for his High School Baseball team. After enrolling at the university of utah, he returned home to new york for the summer and met mary crandall. It was love at first sight. They married a year later in the salt lake temple on june 10, 1953. Followless his graduation from college, elder heals joined the United States air force where he served as a fighter pilot. His squadrons motto was return with honor. In his own words, quote, the motto was constant reminder to us of our determination to return to home base with honor after we had expanded expended all of our efforts to successfully complete every aspect of our mission, unquote. Return with honor would become the credo with which he lived his life, expending every effort as a faith leader, father, and friend to better himself, less oh, and build the kingdom of god. Yesterday afternoon after decades of dedicated service as a minister of jesus christ, he completed his mission and returned to heaven. The challenge he leaves behind is for all of us to do the same. To the very end, he was a model of selfless service. Even in his later years, he continued to carry out his responsibilities of his Apostolic Office without hesitation and without complaint. He decided when he was still a young man that he would never let anything get in the way of his church service. Following his career in the air force, elder heals enrolled in Harvard Business school where he was called to serve as president , one of the most demanding positions in the church because of his verily courseload, elder heals could have easily declined the calling. But he gladly accepted it. His wife mary guided him in making this decision. He said he might fail his classes if he agreed to serve as the president , mary said, quote, bob, i would rather have an active priesthood elder than a man who holds a law degree from harvard. Unquote. With marys support, he would serve as the president in addition to earning his mba. He would later go on to work as a highlevel executive at multiple national corporations. From this formative experience, bob and mary learned that god would provide for them as long as they put the gospel first. Thats why elder hales did not hesitate to leave his business behind when he was called to serve as an apostle for ther church. Mr. President , elder hales provided a model of Servant Leadership for all of us to follow. It was a he was a true disciple of geez utah christ putting the welfare of others before self and the kingdom of god above all. He was gracious and loving, thoughtful, and kind. And all things elder hales exemplified humanity and humility, which was the hallmark of his life. While millions of us grieve his passing, we take peace and comfort in knowing that his service continues on the other side. I knew him very well. I played golf with him, thought he was one of the great men that in my life. And i want to pay tribute to him and his family here today in front of the whole United States senate and the country. He was one of the most worthwhile people i ever met and were going to miss him. Now, mr. President , with the time i have remaining, i wish to address an issue that remains critically important as well. Overcriminalization and the need to reform criminal intent requirements in our federal criminal code. Like many of my colleagues, i believe congress has criminalized far too much conduct and has mandated overly harsh penalties for too many crimes. A number of my colleagues have sought to address these problems by cutting prison sentences, altering statutory minimums, or releasing prisoners earlier for good behavior. But as we seek to reform the criminal Justice System, we must be careful mott to overlook not to overlook one of the major roots of the problem the lack of adequate criminal intent requirements in federal criminal statutes. There is a latin phrase meaning guilty mind. One of the timehonored, fundamental features of our criminal law, is that for a person to be found guilty of a crime, he or she must have criticalled the act with criminal committed the act with criminal intent or mensrea. This principle is summarized in the idea that the act is not culpables unless the mind is guilty. Mensrea requirements protect individuals against an illegal act without knowing if their action was wrong or unlawful. To give an example, a person who mistakenly retrieves the wrong coat from the coat room does not become a they have nearly because he took something that wasnt his but looked like his. Only if he knows the coat belongs to someone else does he commit a criminal act. Unfortunately, many of our criminal laws and regulations contain inadequate mens s rea requirements and some contain no mensrea requirements at all. This leaves individuals, innocent individuals subject and vulnerable to prosecution for conduct they believe to be lawful at the time. In recent years, as congress and federal agencies have criminalized more behavior, they have often been vague about mensrea requirements or even silent about mens rea altogether. In a 2017 law review article, michael cattone investigated how many federal criminal statutes there are in the u. S. Code. Mr. Cattone explained that, quote, tellingly, no exact count of the number of federal statutes and imposed criminal sanctions has ever been given, unquote. Most lawyers agree there are approximately 5,000 federal statutes that impose criminal sanctions, but those criminal statutes do not include the nearly 300,000 federal regulations that also carry criminal penalties. With so many criminal laws on the books, its far too easy for americans to break federal laws unwittingly with no understanding whatsoever that their behavior happens to be illegal. For example, did you know its a federal crime to write a check for an amount less than 1, or that its a federal crime to allow a pet to make a noise that frightens wildlife on federal land . Even more incredibly, did you know its a federal crime to keep a pet on a leash that exceeds six feet in length . On federal land . Mr. President , there are examples these are examples of unlawful activity that reasonable people cannot reasonably be expected to know. Whats worse, many of these unlawful activities are punishable by time in prison. This is not only ridiculous, its immoral. The lack of accurate mens rea requirements in our federal criminal code subjects innocent people to unjustified fiveminute. On this issue, i introduced the mens rea reform act of 2017 today. Today i wish to express my sincere appreciation to the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society for highlighting the need for mens rea reform and for supporting my efforts to protect innocent people. Theyre not the only ones. Anybody who looks at this has got to say were going to send people to jail when they didnt know what they were doing was wrong . It makes anybody stop and think, is that right, should we do that, is that fair . Likewise, i wish to thank senator rand paul, ted cruz, mike lee, and david perdue for joining me as cosponsors on this bill. My bill sets a default intent requirement of willfulness for all federal criminal offenses that lack an intent requirement. Additionally, the bill defines willfulness to mean that a person acted with knowledge that his or her conduct was unlawful. Naturally, our bill does not apply to any offenses that congress clearly intended to be strict liability offenses. Our bill has garn eshed widespread support from a variety of organizations, including the National Association of criminal defense lawyers, koch industries, federal defenders, the u. S. Chamber of commerce, the federal defenders, and the national Heritage Foundation, just to name a few. Importantly, our bill does not remove any crimes from the books nor does it override any existing mens rea standards written in the statute. Moreover, it does not limit congress authority to create new criminal offenses, including strict liability offenses. Mr. President , mens rea really is a simple issue individuals should not be threatened with prison time for accidentally committing a crime or for engaging in an activity they did not know was wrong. If Congress Wants to criminalize an activity, it does not want to include any criminal intent requirement, congress should have to specify in statute that it is creating a strict liability offense. I believe this simple legislative solution will go a long way in reducing the harsh sentences for mostly or morally innocent offenders. It will also push back against the overcriminallization of innocent behavior. As i have said many times, any consideration of criminal Justice Reform or sentencing reform is incomplete without reforms to mens rea requirements. Mr. President , on a final note, i wish to express my concern about a provision in u. S. Law that allows foreign litigants to come into u. S. Courts and gain access to documents and other evidence for use in foreign judicial proceedings. Under current provision 28 u. S. C. 1782, an american citizen can be subjected to invasive requests by a foreign entity, even when the citizen has no ability under the laws of the foreign jurisdiction to obtain similar information from the foreign entity itself. This gives foreign entities an unfair advantage over their u. S. Counterparts. Equally problematic, u. S. Persons may be compelled under federal law to turn over confidential Business Information or trade secrets for use in federal judicial proceedings without any guarantee that such information will be adequately protected in a foreign jurisdiction. This places u. S. Businesses at risk and again creates an unfair Playing Field. Such unfairness and lack of reciprocity is deeply concerning, mr. President. Our laws should not disadvantage our own citizens and companies. Rather, we should ensure a level Playing Field in the coming weeks. Mr. President , i will be introducing legislation to do just that. Mr. President , these are important bills, these are important ideas, and i appreciate having this time to be able to express them for the country at large. Mr. President , i i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call a senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from hawaii. Mr. Schatz thank you, mr. President. I ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schatz thank you, mr. President. Before my planned remarks on the federal Communications Commission, i want to say a few words about the awful events in las vegas. Our hearts are with the families affected by the tragedy and with the city of las vegas. And we do send them our best wishes and our prayers, but we can do more than send our thoughts and prayers to the grieving. We can do more than thank the First Responders. We can do more than lower the flag to halfmast. We can take a stand against gun violence by passing commonsense gun safety laws. Otherwise, this just becomes a ritual of mass murder, mourning, moving on. Lets stop this awful ritual. Lets stop the violence. Lets do something about it. Now, id like to talk about the nomination of chairman ajit pai to lead the federal Communications Commission for another five years. When it comes to chairman pai personally and professionally, i want to say i believe in his integrity as a Public Servant and i believe he is smart and qualified, but the f. C. C. Is supposed to create competition and protect consumers, and chairman pai just isnt doing that. First, chairman pais f. C. C. Is trying to get rid of Net Neutrality. There is a federal rule that sis i. S. P. s, Internet Service providers, must treat all content equally. It cannot discriminate by making certain kinds of content slower, charging more for other kinds of content or blocking some content altogether. Thats the basic premise of the internet. Once you pay for your Broadband Internet access and then you jump on a browser, everything comes down at the same speeds. And it is so foundational to the way we use the internet that its actually hard to describe a future without Net Neutrality, but it could be that you pay your i. S. P. And certain websites download fast, certain websites are almost impossible to find, certain websites you have to pay a premium just to be able to capture their content. Forget what you may have to pay hulu, netflix, others. The i. S. P. Will essentially control your access to the internet. And thats why Net Neutrality was so important, not that things were necessarily undermining in that moment the current internet, but that without a firm rule, these Companies May have incentives to change the internet as we know it. When chairman pai announced the f. C. C. Would review the rules on Net N