Text of US SB 1598 (2015)

II 114TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1598 To prevent discriminatory treatment of any person on the basis of views held with respect to marriage. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 17, 2015 Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. VITTER, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. ENZI, Mr. PERDUE, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. DAINES, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. HATCH, Mr. COTTON, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CAS- SIDY, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. SASSE) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To prevent discriminatory treatment of any person on the basis of views held with respect to marriage. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘First Amendment De- 4 fense Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1598.IS S1598 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1598 IS (1) Leading legal scholars concur that conflicts 1 between same-sex marriage and religious liberty are 2 real and should be legislatively addressed. 3 (2) As the President stated in response to the 4 decision of the Supreme Court on the Defense of 5 Marriage Act in 2013, ‘‘Americans hold a wide 6 range of views’’ on the issue of same-sex marriage, 7 and ‘‘maintaining our Nation’s commitment to reli- 8 gious freedom’’ is ‘‘vital’’. 9 (3) Nevertheless, in 2015, when asked whether 10 a religious school could lose its tax-exempt status for 11 opposing same-sex marriage, the Solicitor General of 12 the United States represented to the United States 13 Supreme Court that ‘‘[i]t’s certainly going to be an 14 issue’’. 15 (4) Protecting religious freedom from Govern- 16 ment intrusion is a Government interest of the high- 17 est order. Legislatively enacted measures advance 18 this interest by remedying, deterring, and preventing 19 Government interference with religious exercise in a 20 way that complements the protections mandated by 21 the First Amendment to the Constitution of the 22 United States. 23 (5) Laws that protect the free exercise of reli- 24 gious beliefs and moral convictions about marriage 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1598.IS S1598 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1598 IS will encourage private citizens and institutions to 1 demonstrate tolerance for those beliefs and convic- 2 tions and therefore contribute to a more respectful, 3 diverse, and peaceful society. 4 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELI- 5 GIOUS BELIEFS AND MORAL CONVICTIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 7 sion of law, the Federal Government shall not take any 8 discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially 9 on the basis that such person believes or acts in accord- 10 ance with a religious belief or moral conviction that mar- 11 riage is or should be recognized as the union of one man 12 and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly re- 13 served to such a marriage. 14 (b) DISCRIMINATORY ACTION DEFINED.—As used in 15 subsection (a), a discriminatory action means any action 16 taken by the Federal Government to— 17 (1) alter in any way the Federal tax treatment 18 of, or cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be as- 19 sessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke an exemp- 20 tion from taxation under section 501(a) of the Inter- 21 nal Revenue Code of 1986 of, any person referred to 22 in subsection (a); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1598.IS S1598 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1598 IS (2) disallow a deduction for Federal tax pur- 1 poses of any charitable contribution made to or by 2 such person; 3 (3) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth- 4 erwise deny any Federal grant, contract, sub- 5 contract, cooperative agreement, loan, license, cer- 6 tification, accreditation, employment, or other simi- 7 lar position or status from or to such person; 8 (4) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth- 9 erwise deny any benefit under a Federal benefit pro- 10 gram from or to such person; or 11 (5) otherwise discriminate against such person. 12 (c) ACCREDITATION; LICENSURE; CERTIFICATION.— 13 The Federal Government shall consider accredited, li- 14 censed, or certified for purposes of Federal law any person 15 that would be accredited, licensed, or certified, respec- 16 tively, for such purposes but for a determination against 17 such person wholly or partially on the basis that the per- 18 son believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief 19 or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recog- 20 nized as the union of one man and one woman, or that 21 sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. 22 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL RELIEF. 23 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A person may assert an ac- 24 tual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1598.IS S1598 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1598 IS fense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain 1 compensatory damages, injunctive relief, declaratory re- 2 lief, or any other appropriate relief against the Federal 3 Government. Standing to assert a claim or defense under 4 this section shall be governed by the general rules of 5 standing under Article III of the Constitution. 6 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT REQUIRED.— 7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action 8 under this section may be commenced, and relief may be 9 granted, in a United States district court without regard 10 to whether the person commencing the action has sought 11 or exhausted available administrative remedies. 12 (c) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re- 13 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by insert- 14 ing ‘‘the First Amendment Defense Act,’’ after ‘‘the Reli- 15 gious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 16 2000,’’. 17 (d) AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES TO ENFORCE 18 THIS ACT.—The Attorney General may bring an action 19 for injunctive or declaratory relief against an independent 20 establishment described in section 104(1) of title 5, United 21 States Code, or an officer or employee of that independent 22 establishment, to enforce compliance with this Act. Noth- 23 ing in this subsection shall be construed to deny, impair, 24 or otherwise affect any right or authority of the Attorney 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1598.IS S1598 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1598 IS General, the United States, or any agency, officer, or em- 1 ployee of the United States, acting under any law other 2 than this subsection, to institute or intervene in any pro- 3 ceeding. 4 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 5 (a) BROAD CONSTRUCTION.—This Act shall be con- 6 strued in favor of a broad protection of free exercise of 7 religious beliefs and moral convictions, to the maximum 8 extent permitted by the terms of this Act and the Con- 9 stitution. 10 (b) NO PREEMPTION, REPEAL, OR NARROW CON- 11 STRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 12 preempt State law, or repeal Federal law, that is equally 13 or more protective of free exercise of religious beliefs and 14 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 15 to narrow the meaning or application of any State or Fed- 16 eral law protecting free exercise of religious beliefs and 17 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 18 to prevent the Federal Government from providing, either 19 directly or through a person not seeking protection under 20 this Act, any benefit or service authorized under Federal 21 law. 22 (c) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 23 any application of such provision to any person or cir- 24 cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1598.IS S1598 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1598 IS of this Act and the application of the provision to any 1 other person or circumstance shall not be affected. 2 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) FEDERAL BENEFIT PROGRAM.—The term 5 ‘‘Federal benefit program’’ has the meaning given 6 that term in section 552a of title 5, United States 7 Code. 8 (2) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Fed- 9 eral Government’’ includes each authority of any 10 branch of the Government of the United States. 11 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means a per- 12 son as defined in section 1 of title 1, United States 13 Code, and includes any such person regardless of re- 14 ligious affiliation or lack thereof, and regardless of 15 for-profit or nonprofit status. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1598.IS S1598 smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS