BOM15716

S.L.C.

114TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION

S. ll

To ensure that the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory
action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such
person believes, speaks, or acts in accordance with a sincerely held
religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations
are properly reserved to such a marriage, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

llllllllll
llllllllll introduced the following bill; which was read twice
and referred to the Committee on llllllllll

A BILL
To ensure that the Federal Government shall not take any
discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person believes, speaks,
or acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious
belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should
be recognized as the union of one man and one woman,
or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such
a marriage, and for other purposes.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

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S.L.C.

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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the First Amendment De-

3 fense Act.
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) Leading legal scholars concur that conflicts

between same-sex marriage and religious liberty are

real and should be addressed through legislation.

(2) As the President stated in response to the

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decision of the Supreme Court in United States v.

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Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013), Americans hold

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a wide range of views on the issue of same-sex

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marriage, and maintaining our Nations commit-

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ment to religious freedom is vital.

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(3) Nevertheless, in 2015, when asked whether

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a religious school could lose its tax-exempt status for

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opposing same-sex marriage, the Solicitor General of

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the United States represented to the United States

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Supreme Court that [i]ts certainly going to be an

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issue.

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(4) Protecting religious freedom from govern-

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ment intrusion is a government interest of the high-

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est order. Legislation advances this interest by rem-

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edying, deterring, and preventing government inter-

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ference with religious exercise in a way that com-

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plements the protections mandated by the First

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Amendment to the Constitution of the United

States.

(5) Laws that protect the free exercise of reli-

gious beliefs and moral convictions about marriage

will encourage private citizens and institutions to

demonstrate tolerance for those beliefs and convic-

tions and therefore contribute to a more respectful,

diverse, and peaceful society.

(6) In a pluralistic society, in which people of

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good faith hold more than one view of marriage, it

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is possible for the government to recognize same-sex

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marriage as required by the United States Supreme

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Court without forcing persons with sincerely held re-

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ligious beliefs or moral convictions to the contrary to

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conform.

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SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND MORAL CONVICTIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL.Notwithstanding any other provi-

19 sion of law, the Federal Government shall not take any

20 discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially
21 on the basis that such person believes, speaks, or acts in
22 accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral
23 conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the
24 union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations
25 are properly reserved to such a marriage.

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(b) DISCRIMINATORY ACTION DEFINED.As used in

2 subsection (a), a discriminatory action means any action

3 taken by the Federal Government to
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(1) alter in any way the Federal tax treatment

of, or cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be as-

sessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke an exemp-

tion from taxation under section 501(a) of the Inter-

nal Revenue Code of 1986 of, any person referred to

in subsection (a);

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(2) disallow a deduction for Federal tax pur-

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poses of any charitable contribution made to or by

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such person;

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(3) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth-

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erwise make unavailable or deny any Federal grant,

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contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement, guar-

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antee, loan, scholarship, license, certification, accred-

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itation, employment, or other similar position or sta-

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tus from or to such person;

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(4) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth-

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erwise make unavailable or deny any entitlement or

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benefit under a Federal benefit program, including

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admission to, equal treatment in, or eligibility for a

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degree from an educational program, from or to

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such person; or

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(5) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate or oth-

erwise make unavailable or deny access or an entitle-

ment to Federal property, facilities, educational in-

stitutions, speech fora (including traditional, limited,

and nonpublic fora), or charitable fundraising cam-

paigns from or to such person.

(c) ACCREDITATION; LICENSURE; CERTIFICATION.

8 The Federal Government shall consider accredited, li9 censed, or certified for purposes of Federal law any person
10 that would be accredited, licensed, or certified, respec11 tively, for such purposes but for a determination against
12 such person wholly or partially on the basis that the per13 son believes, speaks, or acts in accordance with the sin14 cerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions described
15 in subsection (a).
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SEC. 4. JUDICIAL RELIEF.

(a) CAUSE

OF

ACTION.A person may assert an ac-

18 tual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or de19 fense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain
20 compensatory damages, injunctive relief, declaratory re21 lief, or any other appropriate relief against the Federal
22 Government. Standing to assert a claim or defense under
23 this section shall be governed by the general rules of
24 standing under Article III of the Constitution.

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(b) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT REQUIRED.

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action

3 under this section may be commenced, and relief may be
4 granted, in a United States district court without regard
5 to whether the person commencing the action has sought
6 or exhausted available administrative remedies.
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(c) ATTORNEYS FEES.Section 722(b) of the Re-

8 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by insert9 ing the First Amendment Defense Act, after the Reli10 gious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of
11 2000,.
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(d) AUTHORITY

OF

UNITED STATES

TO

ENFORCE

13 THIS ACT.The Attorney General may bring an action

14 for injunctive or declaratory relief against an independent
15 establishment described in section 104(1) of title 5, United
16 States Code, or an officer or employee of that independent
17 establishment, to enforce compliance with this Act. Noth18 ing in this subsection shall be construed to deny, impair,
19 or otherwise affect any right or authority of the Attorney
20 General, the United States, or any agency, officer, or em21 ployee of the United States, acting under any law other
22 than this subsection, to institute or intervene in any pro23 ceeding.

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SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

(a) NO PREEMPTION, REPEAL,

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STRUCTION.Nothing

OR

NARROW CON-

in this Act shall be construed to

4 preempt State law, or repeal Federal law, that is equally

5 or more protective of free exercise of religious beliefs and
6 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed
7 to narrow the meaning or application of any State or Fed8 eral law protecting free exercise of religious beliefs and
9 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed
10 to prevent the Federal Government from providing, either
11 directly or through a person not seeking protection under
12 this Act, any benefit or service authorized under Federal
13 law.
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(b) SEVERABILITY.If any provision of this Act or

15 any application of such provision to any person or cir16 cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder
17 of this Act and the application of the provision to any
18 other person or circumstance shall not be affected.
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SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

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In this Act:

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(1) FEDERAL

BENEFIT PROGRAM.The

term

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Federal benefit program has the meaning given

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that term in section 552a of title 5, United States

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Code.

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(2) FEDERAL;

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.The

terms Federal and Federal Government in-

clude

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(A) any department, commission, board, or

other agency of the Federal Government;
(B) any officer, employee, or agent of the
Federal Government; and
(C) the District of Columbia and all Federal territories and possessions.

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(3) PERSON.The term person means a per-

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son as defined in section 1 of title 1, United States

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Code, except that such term shall not include

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(A) publicly traded for-profit entities;

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(B) Federal employees acting within the

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scope of their employment;

(C) Federal for-profit contractors acting
within the scope of their contract; or

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(D) hospitals, clinics, hospices, nursing

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homes, or other medical or residential custodial

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facilities with respect to visitation, recognition

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of a designated representative for health care

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decisionmaking, or refusal to provide medical

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treatment necessary to cure an illness or injury.