II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1113

To amend title XXIV of the Revised Statutes, relating to civil rights, to

prohibit discrimination against nongovernmental organizations and certain individuals on the basis of religion in the distribution of government

funds to provide government assistance and the distribution of the assistance, to allow the organizations to accept the funds to provide the

assistance to the individuals without impairing the religious character

of the organizations or the religious freedom of the individuals, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 25, 1999

Mr. ASHCROFT introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To amend title XXIV of the Revised Statutes, relating to

civil rights, to prohibit discrimination against nongovernmental organizations and certain individuals on the basis

of religion in the distribution of government funds to

provide government assistance and the distribution of

the assistance, to allow the organizations to accept the

funds to provide the assistance to the individuals without

impairing the religious character of the organizations

or the religious freedom of the individuals, and for other

purposes.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE UNDER GOVERN4 MENT PROGRAMS BY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZA5 TIONS.

6 Title XXIV of the Revised Statutes is amended by

7 inserting after section 1990 (42 U.S.C. 1994) the fol8 lowing:

9 ‘‘SEC. 1994A. CHARITABLE CHOICE.

10 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the

11 ‘Charitable Choice Expansion Act of 1999’.

12 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this section are—

13 ‘‘(1) to prohibit discrimination against non14 governmental organizations and certain individuals

15 on the basis of religion in the distribution of govern16 ment funds to provide government assistance and

17 distribution of the assistance, under government pro18 grams described in subsection (c); and

19 ‘‘(2) to allow the organizations to accept the

20 funds to provide the assistance to the individuals

21 without impairing the religious character of the or22 ganizations or the religious freedom of the individ23 uals.

24 ‘‘(c) RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDED AS NON25 GOVERNMENTAL PROVIDERS.—For any program carried
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1 out by the Federal Government, or by a State or local

2 government with Federal funds, in which the Federal,

3 State, or local government is authorized to use nongovern4 mental organizations, through contracts, grants, certifi5 cates, vouchers, or other forms of disbursement, to provide

6 assistance to beneficiaries under the program, the govern7 ment shall consider, on the same basis as other nongovern8 mental organizations, religious organizations to provide

9 the assistance under the program, so long as the program

10 is implemented in a manner consistent with the Establish11 ment Clause of the first amendment to the Constitution.

12 Neither the Federal Government nor a State or local gov13 ernment receiving funds under such program shall dis14 criminate against an organization that provides assistance

15 under, or applies to provide assistance under, such pro16 gram, on the basis that the organization has a religious

17 character.

18 ‘‘(d) EXCLUSIONS.—As used in subsection (c), the

19 term ‘program’ does not include activities carried out

20 under—

21 ‘‘(1) Federal programs providing education to

22 children eligible to attend elementary schools or sec23 ondary schools, as defined in section 14101 of the

24 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

25 (20 U.S.C. 8801) (except for activities to assist stu-
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1 dents in obtaining the recognized equivalents of sec2 ondary school diplomas);

3 ‘‘(2) the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20

4 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.);

5 ‘‘(3) the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et

6 seq.); or

7 ‘‘(4) the Child Care and Development Block

8 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.).

9 ‘‘(e) RELIGIOUS CHARACTER AND INDEPENDENCE.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A religious organization

11 that provides assistance under a program described

12 in subsection (c) shall retain its independence from

13 Federal, State, and local governments, including

14 such organization’s control over the definition, devel15 opment, practice, and expression of its religious be16 liefs.

17 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL SAFEGUARDS.—Neither the

18 Federal Government nor a State or local government

19 shall require a religious organization—

20 ‘‘(A) to alter its form of internal govern21 ance; or

22 ‘‘(B) to remove religious art, icons, scrip23 ture, or other symbols;

24 in order to be eligible to provide assistance under a

25 program described in subsection (c).
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1 ‘‘(f) EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.—

2 ‘‘(1) TENETS AND TEACHINGS.—A religious or3 ganization that provides assistance under a program

4 described in subsection (c) may require that its em5 ployees providing assistance under such program ad6 here to the religious tenets and teachings of such or7 ganization, and such organization may require that

8 those employees adhere to rules forbidding the use

9 of drugs or alcohol.

10 ‘‘(2) TITLE VII EXEMPTION.—The exemption of

11 a religious organization provided under section 702

12 or 703(e)(2) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42

13 U.S.C. 2000e–1, 2000e–2(e)(2)) regarding employ14 ment practices shall not be affected by the religious

15 organization’s provision of assistance under, or re16 ceipt of funds from, a program described in sub17 section (c).

18 ‘‘(g) RIGHTS OF BENEFICIARIES OF ASSISTANCE.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an individual described

20 in paragraph (3) has an objection to the religious

21 character of the organization from which the indi22 vidual receives, or would receive, assistance funded

23 under any program described in subsection (c), the

24 appropriate Federal, State, or local governmental

25 entity shall provide to such individual (if otherwise
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1 eligible for such assistance) within a reasonable pe2 riod of time after the date of such objection, assist3 ance that—

4 ‘‘(A) is from an alternative organization

5 that is accessible to the individual; and

6 ‘‘(B) has a value that is not less than the

7 value of the assistance that the individual would

8 have received from such organization.

9 ‘‘(2) NOTICE.—The appropriate Federal, State,

10 or local governmental entity shall ensure that notice

11 is provided to individuals described in paragraph (3)

12 of the rights of such individuals under this section.

13 ‘‘(3) INDIVIDUAL DESCRIBED.—An individual

14 described in this paragraph is an individual who re15 ceives or applies for assistance under a program de16 scribed in subsection (c).

17 ‘‘(h) NONDISCRIMINATION AGAINST BENE18 FICIARIES.—

19 ‘‘(1) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—A religious or20 ganization providing assistance through a grant or

21 contract under a program described in subsection (c)

22 shall not discriminate, in carrying out the program,

23 against an individual described in subsection (g)(3)

24 on the basis of religion, a religious belief, a refusal
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1 to hold a religious belief, or a refusal to actively par2 ticipate in a religious practice.

3 ‘‘(2) INDIRECT FORMS OF DISBURSEMENT.—A

4 religious organization providing assistance through a

5 voucher, certificate, or other form of indirect dis6 bursement under a program described in subsection

7 (c) shall not deny an individual described in sub8 section (g)(3) admission into such program on the

9 basis of religion, a religious belief, or a refusal to

10 hold a religious belief.

11 ‘‘(i) FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), any religious organization providing as14 sistance under any program described in subsection

15 (c) shall be subject to the same regulations as other

16 nongovernmental organizations to account in accord

17 with generally accepted accounting principles for the

18 use of such funds provided under such program.

19 ‘‘(2) LIMITED AUDIT.—Such organization shall

20 segregate government funds provided under such

21 program into a separate account. Only the govern22 ment funds shall be subject to audit by the govern23 ment.

24 ‘‘(j) COMPLIANCE.—A party alleging that the rights

25 of the party under this section have been violated by a
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1 State or local government may bring a civil action pursu2 ant to section 1979 against the official or government

3 agency that has allegedly committed such violation. A

4 party alleging that the rights of the party under this sec5 tion have been violated by the Federal Government may

6 bring a civil action for appropriate relief in an appropriate

7 Federal district court against the official or government

8 agency that has allegedly committed such violation.

9 ‘‘(k) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN

10 PURPOSES.—No funds provided through a grant or con11 tract to a religious organization to provide assistance

12 under any program described in subsection (c) shall be

13 expended for sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytiza14 tion.

15 ‘‘(l) EFFECT ON STATE AND LOCAL FUNDS.—If a

16 State or local government contributes State or local funds

17 to carry out a program described in subsection (c), the

18 State or local government may segregate the State or local

19 funds from the Federal funds provided to carry out the

20 program or may commingle the State or local funds with

21 the Federal funds. If the State or local government com22 mingles the State or local funds, the provisions of this sec23 tion shall apply to the commingled funds in the same man24 ner, and to the same extent, as the provisions apply to

25 the Federal funds.
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1 ‘‘(m) TREATMENT OF INTERMEDIATE CONTRAC2 TORS.—If a nongovernmental organization (referred to in

3 this subsection as an ‘intermediate organization’), acting

4 under a contract or other agreement with the Federal Gov5 ernment or a State or local government, is given the au6 thority under the contract or agreement to select non7 governmental organizations to provide assistance under

8 the programs described in subsection (c), the intermediate

9 organization shall have the same duties under this section

10 as the government but shall retain all other rights of a

11 nongovernmental organization under this section.’’.

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