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At present, several versions of a bill to reform the mens rea requirements under federal criminal law are working their way through the House and Senate. I Recognizing that many federal crimes do not explicitly specify a mens rea element, the proposed legislation would establish a default mens rea for such crimes. Where a crime does not specify a mens rea, the Senate version of the bill would require that the violation be" willful"-which, in turn, is defined as possessing" knowledge that the person's conduct was unlawful." 2 The House version of the bill, by contrast, would impose the mental state of knowledge as the default mens rea requirement (at least for crimes involving conduct that a reasonable person would know to be illegal). 3