I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3133 

To prevent adverse treatment of any person on the basis of views held 

with respect to marriage. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 

Mr. LABRADOR (for himself, Mr. PITTS, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. 

SCALISE, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. 

LIPINSKI, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. BRIDENSTINE, Mr. DAINES, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. WALBERG, Mrs. BLACK, Mr. 

HULTGREN, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. HARPER, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. 

CRAMER, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. 

ROKITA, Mr. SANFORD, Mr. MARINO, Mr. LONG, Mr. GRAVES of Georgia, 

Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. FLORES, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, Mr. STUTZMAN, 

Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. SALMON, Mr. COTTON, Mr. KELLY

of Pennsylvania, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. BENTIVOLIO, Mr. HALL, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. ROTHFUS, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. 

CHAFFETZ, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. STEWART, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, 

Mr. CHABOT, Mr. SOUTHERLAND, Mr. JONES, and Mrs. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prevent adverse treatment of any person on the basis 

of views held with respect to marriage. 


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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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marriage and Religious 

5 Freedom Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Leading legal scholars concur that conflicts 

9 between same-sex marriage and religious liberty are 

10 real and should be legislatively addressed. 

11 (2) As the President stated in response to the 

12 decision of the United States Supreme Court on the 

13 Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, ‘‘Americans hold 

14 a wide range of views’’ on the issue of same-sex 

15 marriage, and ‘‘maintaining our Nation’s commit16 ment to religious freedom’’ is ‘‘vital’’. 

17 (3) Protecting religious freedom from Govern18 ment intrusion is a Government interest of the high19 est order. Legislatively enacted measures advance 

20 this interest by remedying, deterring, and preventing 

21 Government interference with religious exercise in a 

22 way that complements the protections mandated by 

23 the First Amendment to the United States Constitu24 tion. 


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1 (4) Laws that protect the free exercise of reli2 gious beliefs about marriage will encourage private 

3 citizens and institutions to demonstrate similar tol4 erance and therefore contribute to a more respectful, 

5 diverse, and peaceful society. 

6 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELI7 GIOUS BELIEFS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Government shall 

9 not take an adverse action against a person, on the basis 

10 that such person acts in accordance with a religious belief 

11 that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of 

12 one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are 

13 properly reserved to such a marriage. 

14 (b) ADVERSE ACTION DEFINED.—As used in sub15 section (a), an adverse action means any action taken by 

16 the Federal Government— 

17 (1) acting through the Administrator of the In18 ternal Revenue Service, to— 

19 (A) deny or revoke an exemption from tax20 ation under section 501 of the Internal Revenue 

21 Code of 1986 of such person; or 

22 (B) disallow a deduction for Federal tax 

23 purposes of any charitable contribution made to 

24 or by such person; 


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1 (2) to deny or exclude such person from receiv2 ing any Federal grant, contract, cooperative agree3 ment, loan, license, certification, accreditation, em4 ployment, or other similar position or status; 

5 (3) to deny or withhold from such person any 

6 benefit under a Federal benefit program; or 

7 (4) to otherwise discriminate against such per8 son. 

9 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL RELIEF. 

10 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A person may assert an ac11 tual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or de12 fense in a judicial proceeding and obtain compensatory 

13 damages, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or any other 

14 appropriate relief against the Federal Government. Stand15 ing to assert a claim or defense under this section shall 

16 be governed by the general rules of standing under article 

17 III of the Constitution. 

18 (b) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re19 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by insert20 ing ‘‘Marriage and Religious Freedom Act,’’ after ‘‘the Re21 ligious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 

22 2000,’’. 

23 (c) AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES TO ENFORCE

24 THIS ACT.—The Attorney General of the United States 

25 may bring an action for injunctive or declaratory relief to 


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1 enforce compliance with this Act. Nothing in this sub2 section shall be construed to deny, impair, or otherwise 

3 affect any right or authority of the Attorney General, the 

4 United States, or any agency, officer, or employee of the 

5 United States, acting under any law other than this sub6 section, to institute or intervene in any proceeding. 

7 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

8 (a) BROAD CONSTRUCTION.—This Act shall be con9 strued in favor of a broad protection of religious beliefs, 

10 to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of this Act 

11 and the Constitution. 

12 (b) NO PREEMPTION, REPEAL, OR NARROW CON13 STRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 

14 preempt State law, or repeal Federal law, that is equally 

15 as protective of religious beliefs as, or more protective of 

16 religious beliefs than, this Act. Nothing in this Act shall 

17 be considered to construe any State or Federal law pro18 tecting religious beliefs more narrowly than such law oth19 erwise would be construed. 

20 (c) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 

21 any application of such provision to any person or cir22 cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

23 of this Act and the application of the provision to any 

24 other person or circumstance shall not be affected. 


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1 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) FEDERAL BENEFIT PROGRAM.—The term 

4 ‘‘Federal benefit program’’ has the meaning given 

5 that term in section 552a of title 5, United States 

6 Code. 

7 (2) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Fed8 eral Government’’ includes a branch, department, 

9 agency, instrumentality, or official of the United 

10 States. 

11 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ has the 

12 meaning given such term in section 1 of title 1, 

13 United States Code, and includes any person regard14 less of religious affiliation or lack thereof, and re15 gardless of for-profit or nonprofit status. 

Æ 


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