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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5145 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5145

To amend section 1977A of the Revised Statutes of the United States to 
repeal the authority to award punitive damages for violations of title 
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans With Disabilities 
    Act of 1990, for the purposes of equalizing damages between the 
           Congress and the private sector under these laws.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 30, 1994

Mr. Goodling (for himself, Mr. Fawell, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. Boehner, Mr. 
  Hoekstra, and Mr. McKeon), introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred jointly to the Committees on the Judiciary and Education and 
                                 Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To amend section 1977A of the Revised Statutes of the United States to 
repeal the authority to award punitive damages for violations of title 
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans With Disabilities 
    Act of 1990, for the purposes of equalizing damages between the 
           Congress and the private sector under these laws.

    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 ``Equity in Remedies Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Congress should, absent manifest constitutional 
        limitations, place itself under the same laws it imposes on 
        private sector employers, including liability for damages,
            (2) while the Congress has recently undertaken steps to 
        extend coverage under these laws to itself, it has become 
        apparent that the Congress will not allow for recovery for 
        punitive damages, even though private sector employers are 
        subject to such damages under title VII of the Civil Rights Act 
        of 1964 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990,
            (3) therefore to in fact achieve equal coverage under these 
        laws between the Congress and the private sector, it is 
        necessary to amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to 
        eliminate punitive damages authorized for violations of title 
        VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans With 
        Disabilities Act of 1990, and
            (4) doing so would also achieve conformity with State and 
        local governments and the Executive Branch which are also not 
        subject to punitive damages.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to eliminate punitive damages authorized 
for violations of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 
Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS.

    Section 1977A of the Revised Statutes of the United States is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) by striking 
        ``and punitive'',
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the heading of such subsection by striking 
                ``and Punitive'',
                    (B) in paragraph (3) by striking ``, and the amount 
                of punitive damages awarded under this section,'', and
                    (C) by striking paragraph (1), and redesignating 
                paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as paragraphs (1), (2), 
                and (3), respectively, and
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``or punitive'', and
                    (B) by striking ``subsection (b)(3)'' and inserting 
                ``subsection (b)(2)''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Effective Date.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
amendments made by section 4 shall take effect on the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Application of Amendments.--The amendments made by section 4 
shall apply only to civil actions commenced after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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