II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1382

To amend the Public Health Service Act to make grants to carry out certain

activities toward promoting adoption counseling, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 15, 1999

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself and Mr. BROWNBACK) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to make grants

to carry out certain activities toward promoting adoption

counseling, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Adoption Awareness

5 Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR CERTAIN ACTIVITIES TOWARD PRO2 MOTING ADOPTION COUNSELING.

3 Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding

5 at the end the following section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 330D. CERTAIN SERVICES FOR PREGNANT WOMEN.

7 ‘‘(a) ADOPTION COUNSELING.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make

9 grants to national adoption organizations for the

10 purpose of developing and implementing programs to

11 train the staff of eligible health centers in providing

12 adoption counseling to pregnant women and infertile

13 married couples. With respect to such a grant—

14 ‘‘(A) a national adoption organization may

15 expend the grant to carry out the programs di16 rectly or through grants to or contracts with

17 other adoption organizations;

18 ‘‘(B) the purposes for which the national

19 adoption organization expends the grant may

20 include the development of a training cur21 riculum; and

22 ‘‘(C) a condition for the receipt of the

23 grant is that, with respect to an eligible health

24 center for which such training is to be provided,

25 the national adoption organization agree to

26 make reasonable efforts—
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1 ‘‘(i) to provide such training at the

2 center or at a site that is near the center;

3 and

4 ‘‘(ii) to provide the training through

5 individuals who are experienced in pro6 viding adoption counseling in the geo7 graphic area in which the center is located.

8 ‘‘(2) ADOPTION ORGANIZATIONS; ELIGIBLE

9 HEALTH CENTERS; OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For pur10 poses of this section:

11 ‘‘(A) The term ‘adoption organization’

12 means an organization—

13 ‘‘(i) whose primary purpose is the pro14 motion of adoption;

15 ‘‘(ii) that is knowledgeable on the

16 process for adopting a child and on pro17 viding adoption counseling to pregnant

18 women; and

19 ‘‘(iii) that is a nonprofit private en20 tity.

21 ‘‘(B) The term ‘eligible health centers’

22 means public and nonprofit private entities that

23 provide health-related services to pregnant

24 women.
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1 ‘‘(C) The term ‘married couples’ means

2 couples who have entered into marriage as de3 fined in section 7 of title 1, United States Code.

4 ‘‘(3) TRAINING FOR CERTAIN ELIGIBLE

5 HEALTH CENTERS.—A condition for the receipt of a

6 grant under paragraph (1) is that the national adop7 tion organization involved agree to make reasonable

8 efforts to ensure that the eligible health centers with

9 respect to which training under the grant is provided

10 include—

11 ‘‘(A) eligible health centers that receive

12 grants under section 1001 (relating to vol13 untary family planning projects);

14 ‘‘(B) eligible health centers that receive

15 grants under section 330 (relating to commu16 nity health centers, migrant health centers, and

17 centers regarding homeless individuals and resi18 dents of public housing);

19 ‘‘(C) eligible health centers that receive

20 grants under this Act for the provision of serv21 ices in schools; and

22 ‘‘(D) eligible health centers that do not

23 perform or make referrals for abortions, or pro24 vide or make referrals for counseling that pre25 sents abortion as an option.
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1 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATION OF CERTAIN ELIGIBLE

2 HEALTH CLINICS.—In the case of eligible health cen3 ters that receive grants under section 330 or 1001,

4 the Secretary shall provide for the training of the

5 staff of such centers through the program under

6 paragraph (1), subject to subsection (c)(4).

7 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING FEDERALLY

8 FUNDED FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES.—The Secretary

9 shall require that each program providing voluntary family

10 planning services with a grant from the Secretary provide

11 nondirective counseling and referrals regarding—

12 ‘‘(1) prenatal care and delivery;

13 ‘‘(2) infant care;

14 ‘‘(3) foster care; and

15 ‘‘(4) adoption.

16 ‘‘(c) RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Religious organizations

18 may receive grants under subsection (a) on the same

19 basis as any other nongovernmental provider without

20 impairing the religious character of such organiza21 tions, and without diminishing the religious freedom

22 of beneficiaries of assistance funded under such pro23 gram.

24 ‘‘(2) NONDISCRIMINATION AGAINST RELIGIOUS

25 ORGANIZATIONS.—Religious organizations are eligi-
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1 ble for grants under subsection (a) on the same

2 basis as any other nonprofit private entity as long

3 as the programs are implemented consistent with the

4 Establishment Clause of the United States Constitu5 tion. The Federal Government shall not discriminate

6 against an organization that applies to receive such

7 a grant on the basis that the organization has a reli8 gious character.

9 ‘‘(3) RELIGIOUS CHARACTER AND FREEDOM.—

10 ‘‘(A) RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.—A reli11 gious organization receiving a grant under sub12 section (a) shall retain its independence from

13 Federal, State, and local governments, includ14 ing such organization’s control over the defini15 tion, development, practice, and expression of

16 its religious beliefs.

17 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL SAFEGUARDS.—The

18 Federal Government shall not require a reli19 gious organization receiving a grant under sub20 section (a)—

21 ‘‘(i) to alter its form of internal gov22 ernance; or

23 ‘‘(ii) to remove religious art, icons,

24 scripture, or other symbols;
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1 in order to be eligible for a grant under sub2 section (a).

3 ‘‘(4) RIGHTS OF BENEFICIARIES OF ASSIST4 ANCE.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an individual de6 scribed in subparagraph (B) has an objection to

7 the religious character of the organization from

8 which the individual receives services pursuant

9 to a grant under subsection (a), the organiza10 tion shall provide such individual, within a rea11 sonable period of time after the date of such ob12 jection, with services from an alternative pro13 vider that is accessible to the individual and the

14 value of which is not less than the value of the

15 services that the individual would have received

16 from such organization.

17 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUAL DESCRIBED.—An indi18 vidual described in this subparagraph is an in19 dividual who receives, applies for, or requests to

20 apply for, services under a program carried out

21 with a grant under subsection (a).

22 ‘‘(5) EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.—A religious or23 ganization’s exemption provided under section 702

24 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 regarding employ25 ment practices shall not be affected by its participa-
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1 tion in, or receipt of funds from, a program carried

2 out with a grant under subsection (a).

3 ‘‘(6) NONDISCRIMINATION AGAINST BENE4 FICIARIES.—Except as otherwise provided in law, a

5 religious organization shall not discriminate against

6 an individual in regard to providing services under

7 a grant under subsection (a) on the basis of religion,

8 a religious belief, or refusal to actively participate in

9 a religious practice.

10 ‘‘(7) FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

12 subparagraph (B), any religious organization

13 receiving a grant under subsection (a) shall be

14 subject to the same regulations as other grant15 ees under such subsection to account in accord

16 with generally accepted auditing principles for

17 the expenditure of the grant.

18 ‘‘(B) LIMITED AUDIT.—If a religious orga19 nization receiving a grant under subsection (a)

20 segregates the grant funds into separate ac21 counts, then only such funds shall be subject to

22 audit.

23 ‘‘(8) COMPLIANCE.—Any party which seeks to

24 enforce its rights under this subsection may assert

25 a civil action for injunctive relief exclusively in an
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1 appropriate State court against the entity or agency

2 that allegedly commits such violation.

3 ‘‘(9) PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this subsection

4 shall be construed to preempt any provision of a

5 State constitution or State statute that prohibits or

6 restricts the expenditure of State funds in or by reli7 gious organizations.

8 ‘‘(10) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS FOR

9 CERTAIN PURPOSES.—A grant under subsection (a)

10 may not be expended for sectarian worship, instruc11 tion, or proselytization.

12 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.—The Secretary may

13 make a grant under subsection (a) only if an application

14 for the grant is submitted to the Secretary and the appli15 cation is in such form, is made in such manner, and con16 tains such agreements, assurances, and information as the

17 Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out this sec18 tion.

19 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

20 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

21 to be appropriated $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, and

22 such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years

23 2001 through 2004.’’.

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