I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8720 

To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and the Foreign 

Assistance Act of 1961 to prohibit preferential Federal grant treatment 

for atheist groups, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2024 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. BANKS, Mr. HERN, Mr. DUNCAN, 

Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. SELF, Mr. WEBER of 

Texas, Mr. BABIN, Mr. CLINE, and Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 

and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to prohibit preferential Federal grant treatment for atheist groups, 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 ‘‘Religious Freedom and 

5 Fairness Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS 

2 FREEDOM ACT OF 1998. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Section 2(a) of the International Re4 ligious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(a)) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by amending paragraph (6) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(6) Targeting of non-theists, humanists, and 

9 atheists because of their beliefs occurs around the 

10 world.’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(8) Decreasing religiosity and increasing secu13 larization has, in some parts of the world, led to 

14 some practicing theists facing greater discrimination, 

15 harassment, and threats.’’. 

16 (b) HIGH-LEVEL CONTACTS WITH NONGOVERN17 MENTAL ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 105 of the Inter18 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6414) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘United States chiefs of mission 

21 shall’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—United 

22 States chiefs of mission shall’’; 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘United States chiefs of mission 

24 and Foreign Service officers abroad shall’’ and in25 serting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) OTHER MEETINGS.—United States chiefs of 

2 mission and Foreign Services officers abroad shall’’; and 

3 (3) in subsection (a) (as so designated)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘to provide’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘to— 

6 ‘‘(1) provide’’; 

7 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

8 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) organize, participate in, and attend high11 level meetings to understand, document, and report 

12 to the Department of State’s Office of International 

13 Religious Freedom any perceived or actual anti-reli14 gious or anti-theist funding concerns, in the Depart15 ment of State’s programs and grant awards.’’. 

16 (c) PROGRAMS AND ALLOCATIONS OF FUNDS BY

17 UNITED STATES MISSIONS ABROAD.—Section 106 of the 

18 International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 

19 6415) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘It is the sense of Congress’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the 

22 sense of Congress’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (a) (as so designated)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

25 the end; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) in allocating or recommending the alloca5 tion of funds for programs and grants funded by the 

6 United States Government, the Department of State 

7 and United States diplomatic missions shall ensure 

8 that the programs and grants do not— 

9 ‘‘(A) promote or advance non-theist or hu10 manist ideologies or beliefs; or 

11 ‘‘(B) aim to expand the membership of 

12 non-theist groups.’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS ON FUNDS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) OTHER LIMITATIONS.—No funds allocated 

16 for programs or grants funded by the United States 

17 Government as described in subsection (a) may be 

18 used to provide funding to— 

19 ‘‘(A) any entity or close affiliate of such 

20 entity that has made public statements dispar21 aging, infringing upon, or otherwise denigrating 

22 theistic belief; or 

23 ‘‘(B) any atheist, agnostic, humanist, or 

24 other non-theist group in a foreign country un25 less the Department of State and United States 


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1 diplomatic mission to that country also provide 

2 proportional funding to other religious groups 

3 in that country over the same time period, tak4 ing into account the severity and number of vio5 lations of religious freedom of the various reli6 gious groups and the population and financial 

7 capacity of the various religious groups.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT 

9 OF 1961. 

10 Section 116(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

11 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(e)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e)(1)’’; 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘None of these funds’’ and in14 serting the following: 

15 ‘‘(2)(A) None of these funds’’; and 

16 (3) in paragraph (2) (as so designated), by add17 ing at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(B) None of these funds may be used, directly or 

19 indirectly, to— 

20 ‘‘(i) promote or advance non-theist or humanist 

21 ideologies or beliefs; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) directly aim to expand the membership of 

23 non-theist groups. 

24 ‘‘(C) None of these funds may be provided to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) any entity or close affiliate of such entity 

2 that has made public statements disparaging, in3 fringing upon, or otherwise denigrating theistic be4 lief; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) any atheist, agnostic, humanist, or other 

6 non-theist group in a foreign country unless the De7 partment of State and United States diplomatic mis8 sion to that country also provide proportional fund9 ing to other religious groups in that country over the 

10 same time period, taking into account the severity 

11 and number of violations of religious freedom of the 

12 various religious groups and the population and fi13 nancial capacity of the various religious groups.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

17 the Office of International Religious Freedom, in coordi18 nation with the Department of State’s Bureau of Democ19 racy, Human Rights, and Labor, shall submit to the ap20 propriate congressional committees a report that includes 

21 a list of all grants, cooperative agreements, and programs 

22 funded by the Department in the previous fiscal year that 

23 have been provided to religious, atheist, agnostic, and hu24 manist groups worldwide. 


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1 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The list include 

2 in the report required by subsection (a)— 

3 (1) shall be disaggregated by country, dollar 

4 amount, name of implementing partner; 

5 (2) shall include a brief description of what ob6 jectives the grant was intended to achieve, what 

7 metrics suggest those objectives were met, and what 

8 national interests were advanced; and 

9 (3) how programming comports with both the 

10 Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause 

11 of the United States Constitution. 

12 (c) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

13 may be submitted in classified form if necessary. 

Æ 


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