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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4230 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4230

 To amend the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to provide for the 
 traditional use of peyote by Indians for religious purposes, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 14, 1994

Mr. Richardson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to provide for the 
 traditional use of peyote by Indians for religious purposes, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Indian Religious Freedom 
Act Amendments of 1994''.

SEC. 2. TRADITIONAL INDIAN RELIGIOUS USE OF THE PEYOTE SACRAMENT.

    The Act of August 11, 1978 (42 U.S.C. 1996), commonly referred to 
as the ``American Indian Religious Freedom Act'', is amended by adding 
at the end thereof the following new section:
    ``Sec. 3. (a) The Congress finds and declares that--
            ``(1) for many Indian people, the traditional ceremonial 
        use of the peyote cactus as a religious sacrament has for 
        centuries been integral to a way of life, and significant in 
        perpetuating Indian tribes and cultures;
            ``(2) since 1965, this ceremonial use of peyote by Indians 
        has been protected by Federal regulation;
            ``(3) while at least 28 States have enacted laws which are 
        similar to, or are in conformance with, the Federal regulation 
        which protects the ceremonial use of peyote by Indian religious 
        practitioners, many States have not done so, and this lack of 
        uniformity has created hardship for Indian people who 
        participate in such religious ceremonies;
            ``(4) the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case 
        of Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990), held that 
        the First Amendment does not protect Indian practitioners who 
        use peyote in Indian religious ceremonies, and also raised 
        uncertainty whether this religious practice would be protected 
        under the compelling State interest standard; and
            ``(5) the lack of adequate and clear legal protection for 
        the religious use of peyote by Indians may serve to stigmatize 
        and marginalize Indian tribes and cultures, and increase the 
        risk that they will be exposed to discriminatory treatment in 
        violation of the religious guarantees of the First Amendment of 
        the Constitution.
    ``(b)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the use, 
possession, or transportation of peyote by an Indian who uses peyote in 
a traditional manner for bona fide ceremonial purposes in connection 
with the practice of a traditional Indian religion is lawful, and shall 
not be prohibited by the United States or any State. No Indian shall be 
penalized or discriminated against on the basis of such use, possession 
or transportation, including, but not limited to, denial of otherwise 
applicable benefits under public assistance programs.
    ``(2) This section does not prohibit such reasonable regulation and 
registration of those persons who cultivate, harvest, or distribute 
peyote as may be consistent with the purposes of this Act.
    ``(3) This section does not prohibit application of the provisions 
of section 481.111(a) of Vernon's Texas Health and Safety Code 
Annotated, in effect on the date of enactment of this section, insofar 
as those provisions pertain to the cultivation, harvest, and 
distribution of peyote.
    ``(c) For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `Indian' means a member of an Indian tribe;
            ``(2) the term `Indian tribe' means any tribe, band, 
        nation, pueblo, or other organized group or community of 
        Indians, including any Alaska Native village (as defined in, or 
        established pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 
        Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), which is recognized as eligible 
        for the special programs and services provided by the United 
        States to Indians because of their status as Indians;
            ``(3) the term `Indian religion' means any religion--
                    ``(A) which is practiced by Indians, and
                    ``(B) the origin and interpretation of which is 
                from within a traditional Indian culture or community; 
                and
            ``(4) the term `State' means any State of the United 
        States, and any political subdivision thereof.
    ``(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as abrogating, 
diminishing, or otherwise affecting--
                    ``(A) the inherent rights of any Indian tribe;
                    ``(B) the rights, express or implicit, of any 
                Indian tribe which exist under treaties, executive 
                orders, and laws of the United States;
                    ``(C) the inherent right of Indians to practice 
                their religions; and
                    ``(D) the right of Indians to practice their 
                religions under any Federal or State law.''.

                                 <all>
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