the erosion of the mens rea requirement in Federal law is the most pressing issue facing this Task Force.

I very much appreciate you holding this hearing.

we have a very concerted effort in this Committee to identify all bills that are moving through the Congress

the Supreme Court has stated that mens rea means the concurrence of an evil-meaning mind with an evil-doing hand.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your holding this hearing.

It is with great pleasure that I acknowledge the great work of the gentleman from Georgia on this issue and thank him. Mr. Speaker, all across the country, Americans are asking one question: Why wasn't the mandate on them delayed? If the…

It is absolutely critical that we protect the rights of all Americans to be protected in their rights to register and to vote.

One simple solution to this problem would be to publicly release significant FISA court opinions or, at the very least, unclassified summaries of these opinions.

We must ensure that America's intelligence gathering system has the trust of the American people.

They feel like more than any Nation in history, this is an Administration that has used enormous power of Government agents to oppress and harass U.S. citizens.

The limitation, the minimization exception for a criminal investigation, and when I asked the Attorney General Gonzales about what you could use this information for, he specifically indicated criminal.

Section 215 expires at the end of 2015, and unless you realize you have got a problem, that is not going to be renewed.

Now what we think we have here is a situation in which if the Government cannot provide a clear public explanation for how its program is consistent with the statute, then it must stop collecting this information immediately.

I think that it is key to obtain an understanding of the court's understanding of its legal authorities...

They feel like that more than any Administration in history this is an Administration that has used taxpayer resources to advocate their political agendas.

Do you think a program of this magnitude, gathering information involving a large number of people involved with telephone companies and so on, could be indefinitely kept secret from the American people?

How long do you retain information collected under 702?

Instead of simply asking our constituents to trust us, I am asking you and the executive branch to trust them.

Over 4 years into nominal recovery, America's economy remains far too weak, and America's workers have far too few jobs.

The federal government's outdated and overly burdensome environmental review process keeps jobs and workers waiting for approval.

For over 4 years, since the great recession officially ended, America's workers and small businesses have waited for real recovery to take hold.

And when forming regulations, we absolutely do have to consider the consequences on jobs and the economy, because it is the foundation on which everything else rests.

I regret that I was detained at the beginning of the vote series on June 28, 2013 during votes on amendments to H.R. 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act. Had I been present, my intention was to vote ``no'' on the DeFazio Amendment and…

I'm pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio, a member of the Agriculture Committee, to close our debate.

At this time, it's my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Grimm).