Text of US SB 2525 (2018)

II 115TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2525 To ensure that the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person speaks, or acts, in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as a union of one man and one woman, or two individuals as recognized under Federal law, or that sexual relations outside marriage are im- proper. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 8, 2018 Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. HATCH, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. RISCH, Mr. WICKER, Mr. ENZI, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. SASSE, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. THUNE, Mr. PAUL, Mr. PERDUE, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. COTTON, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To ensure that the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or par- tially on the basis that such person speaks, or acts, in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as a union of one man and one woman, or two individ- uals as recognized under Federal law, or that sexual relations outside marriage are improper. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2525 IS 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 (1) Leading legal scholars concur that conflicts 8 between same-sex marriage and religious liberty are 9 real and should be addressed through legislation. 10 (2) As President Obama stated in response to 11 the decision of the Supreme Court in United States 12 v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013), ‘‘Americans 13 hold a wide range of views’’ on the issue of same- 14 sex marriage, and ‘‘maintaining our Nation’s com- 15 mitment to religious freedom’’ is ‘‘vital’’. 16 (3) Nevertheless, in 2015, when asked whether 17 a religious school could lose its tax-exempt status for 18 opposing same-sex marriage, the Solicitor General of 19 the United States Donald Verrilli represented to the 20 United States Supreme Court that ‘‘[i]t’s certainly 21 going to be an issue’’. 22 (4) Protecting religious freedom from govern- 23 ment intrusion is a government interest of the high- 24 est order. Legislation advances this interest by rem- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2525 IS edying, deterring, and preventing government inter- 1 ference with religious exercise in a way that com- 2 plements the protections mandated by the First 3 Amendment to the Constitution of the United 4 States. 5 (5) Laws that protect the free exercise of reli- 6 gious beliefs and moral convictions about marriage 7 will encourage private citizens and institutions to 8 demonstrate tolerance for those beliefs and convic- 9 tions and therefore contribute to a more respectful, 10 diverse, and peaceful society. 11 (6) In a pluralistic society, in which people of 12 good faith hold more than one view of marriage, it 13 is possible for the government to recognize same-sex 14 marriage as required by the United States Supreme 15 Court without forcing persons with sincerely held re- 16 ligious beliefs or moral convictions to the contrary to 17 conform. 18 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELI- 19 GIOUS BELIEFS AND MORAL CONVICTIONS. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 21 sion of law, the Federal Government shall not take any 22 discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially 23 on the basis that such person speaks, or acts, in accord- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2525 IS ance with a sincerely held religious belief, or moral convic- 1 tion, that— 2 (1) marriage is or should be recognized as a 3 union of— 4 (A) one man and one woman; or 5 (B) two individuals as recognized under 6 Federal law; or 7 (2) sexual relations outside marriage are im- 8 proper. 9 (b) DISCRIMINATORY ACTION DEFINED.—As used in 10 subsection (a), a discriminatory action means any action 11 taken by the Federal Government to— 12 (1) alter in any way the Federal tax treatment 13 of, or cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be as- 14 sessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke an exemp- 15 tion from taxation under section 501(a) of the Inter- 16 nal Revenue Code of 1986 of, any person referred to 17 in subsection (a); 18 (2) disallow a deduction for Federal tax pur- 19 poses of any charitable contribution made to or by 20 such person; 21 (3) withhold, reduce the amount or funding for, 22 exclude, terminate, or otherwise make unavailable or 23 deny, any Federal grant, contract, subcontract, co- 24 operative agreement, guarantee, loan, scholarship, li- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2525 IS cense, certification, accreditation, employment, or 1 other similar position or status from or to such per- 2 son; 3 (4) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth- 4 erwise make unavailable or deny, any entitlement or 5 benefit under a Federal benefit program, including 6 admission to, equal treatment in, or eligibility for a 7 degree from an educational program, from or to 8 such person; or 9 (5) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth- 10 erwise make unavailable or deny, access or an enti- 11 tlement to Federal property, facilities, educational 12 institutions, speech fora (including traditional, lim- 13 ited, and nonpublic fora), or charitable fundraising 14 campaigns from or to such person. 15 (c) ACCREDITATION; LICENSURE; CERTIFICATION.— 16 The Federal Government shall consider accredited, li- 17 censed, or certified for purposes of Federal law any person 18 that would be accredited, licensed, or certified, respec- 19 tively, for such purposes but for a determination against 20 such person wholly or partially on the basis that the per- 21 son speaks, or acts, in accordance with a sincerely held 22 religious belief or moral conviction described in subsection 23 (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2525 IS SEC. 4. JUDICIAL RELIEF. 1 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A person may assert an ac- 2 tual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or de- 3 fense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain 4 compensatory damages, injunctive relief, declaratory re- 5 lief, or any other appropriate relief against the Federal 6 Government. Standing to assert a claim or defense under 7 this section shall be governed by the general rules of 8 standing under article III of the Constitution. 9 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT REQUIRED.— 10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action 11 under this section may be commenced, and relief may be 12 granted, in a district court of the United States without 13 regard to whether the person commencing the action has 14 sought or exhausted available administrative remedies. 15 (c) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re- 16 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by insert- 17 ing ‘‘the First Amendment Defense Act,’’ after ‘‘the Reli- 18 gious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 19 2000,’’. 20 (d) AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES TO ENFORCE 21 THIS ACT.—The Attorney General may bring an action 22 for injunctive or declaratory relief against an independent 23 establishment described in section 104(1) of title 5, United 24 States Code, or an officer or employee of that independent 25 establishment, to enforce compliance with this Act. Noth- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2525 IS ing in this subsection shall be construed to deny, impair, 1 or otherwise affect any right or authority of the Attorney 2 General, the United States, or any agency, officer, or em- 3 ployee of the United States, acting under any law other 4 than this subsection, to institute or intervene in any pro- 5 ceeding. 6 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 7 (a) NO PREEMPTION, REPEAL, OR NARROW CON- 8 STRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 9 preempt State law, or repeal Federal law, that is equally 10 or more protective of free exercise of religious beliefs and 11 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 12 to narrow the meaning or application of any State or Fed- 13 eral law protecting free exercise of religious beliefs and 14 moral convictions. 15 (b) NO PREVENTION OF PROVIDING BENEFITS OR 16 SERVICES.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to pre- 17 vent the Federal Government from providing, either di- 18 rectly or through a person not seeking protection under 19 this Act, any benefit or service authorized under Federal 20 law. 21 (c) NO AFFIRMATION OR ENDORSEMENT OF 22 VIEWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affirm 23 or otherwise endorse a person’s belief, speech, or action 24 about marriage. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2525 IS (d) NO IMPACT ON DEFINITION.—Nothing in this 1 Act shall be construed to alter the definition of marriage 2 for Federal or State purposes. 3 (e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 4 any application of such provision to any person or cir- 5 cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 6 of this Act and the application of the provision to any 7 other person or circumstance shall not be affected. 8 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 9 In this Act: 10 (1) FEDERAL BENEFIT PROGRAM.—The term 11 ‘‘Federal benefit program’’ has the meaning given 12 that term in section 552a of title 5, United States 13 Code. 14 (2) FEDERAL; FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The 15 terms ‘‘Federal’’ and ‘‘Federal Government’’ in- 16 clude— 17 (A) any department, commission, board, or 18 other agency of the Federal Government; 19 (B) any officer, employee, or agent of the 20 Federal Government; and 21 (C) the District of Columbia and all Fed- 22 eral territories and possessions. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2525 IS (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means a per- 1 son as defined in section 1 of title 1, United States 2 Code, except that such term shall not include— 3 (A) publicly traded for-profit entities; 4 (B) Federal employees acting within the 5 scope of their employment; 6 (C) Federal for-profit contractors acting 7 within the scope of their contract; or 8 (D) hospitals, clinics, hospices, nursing 9 homes, or other medical or residential custodial 10 facilities with respect to visitation, recognition 11 of a designated representative for health care 12 decisionmaking, or refusal to provide medical 13 treatment necessary to cure an illness or injury. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS