II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2525 

To ensure that the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory 

action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such 

person speaks, or acts, in accordance with a sincerely held religious 

belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized 

as a union of one man and one woman, or two individuals as recognized 

under Federal law, or that sexual relations outside marriage are improper. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2018 

Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. HATCH, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. 

BLUNT, Mr. RISCH, Mr. WICKER, Mr. ENZI, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. 

ROUNDS, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. SASSE, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. THUNE, Mr. 

PAUL, Mr. PERDUE, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. COTTON, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. CRUZ, 

and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure that the Federal Government shall not take any 

discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person speaks, or acts, 

in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or 

moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized 

as a union of one man and one woman, or two individuals as recognized under Federal law, or that sexual 

relations outside marriage are improper. 


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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 ‘‘First Amendment De5 fense 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 addressed through legislation. 

11 (2) As President Obama stated in response to 

12 the decision of the Supreme Court in United States 

13 v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013), ‘‘Americans 

14 hold a wide range of views’’ on the issue of same15 sex marriage, and ‘‘maintaining our Nation’s com16 mitment to religious freedom’’ is ‘‘vital’’. 

17 (3) Nevertheless, in 2015, when asked whether 

18 a religious school could lose its tax-exempt status for 

19 opposing same-sex marriage, the Solicitor General of 

20 the United States Donald Verrilli represented to the 

21 United States Supreme Court that ‘‘[i]t’s certainly 

22 going to be an issue’’. 

23 (4) Protecting religious freedom from govern24 ment intrusion is a government interest of the high25 est order. Legislation advances this interest by remVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525

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1 edying, deterring, and preventing government inter2 ference with religious exercise in a way that com3 plements the protections mandated by the First 

4 Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

5 States. 

6 (5) Laws that protect the free exercise of reli7 gious beliefs and moral convictions about marriage 

8 will encourage private citizens and institutions to 

9 demonstrate tolerance for those beliefs and convic10 tions and therefore contribute to a more respectful, 

11 diverse, and peaceful society. 

12 (6) In a pluralistic society, in which people of 

13 good faith hold more than one view of marriage, it 

14 is possible for the government to recognize same-sex 

15 marriage as required by the United States Supreme 

16 Court without forcing persons with sincerely held re17 ligious beliefs or moral convictions to the contrary to 

18 conform. 

19 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELI20 GIOUS BELIEFS AND MORAL CONVICTIONS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, the Federal Government shall not take any 

23 discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially 

24 on the basis that such person speaks, or acts, in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525

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1 ance with a sincerely held religious belief, or moral convic2 tion, that— 

3 (1) marriage is or should be recognized as a 

4 union of— 

5 (A) one man and one woman; or 

6 (B) two individuals as recognized under 

7 Federal law; or 

8 (2) sexual relations outside marriage are im9 proper. 

10 (b) DISCRIMINATORY ACTION DEFINED.—As used in 

11 subsection (a), a discriminatory action means any action 

12 taken by the Federal Government to— 

13 (1) alter in any way the Federal tax treatment 

14 of, or cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be as15 sessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke an exemp16 tion from taxation under section 501(a) of the Inter17 nal Revenue Code of 1986 of, any person referred to 

18 in subsection (a); 

19 (2) disallow a deduction for Federal tax pur20 poses of any charitable contribution made to or by 

21 such person; 

22 (3) withhold, reduce the amount or funding for, 

23 exclude, terminate, or otherwise make unavailable or 

24 deny, any Federal grant, contract, subcontract, co25 operative agreement, guarantee, loan, scholarship, liVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525

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1 cense, certification, accreditation, employment, or 

2 other similar position or status from or to such per3 son; 

4 (4) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth5 erwise make unavailable or deny, any entitlement or 

6 benefit under a Federal benefit program, including 

7 admission to, equal treatment in, or eligibility for a 

8 degree from an educational program, from or to 

9 such person; or 

10 (5) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth11 erwise make unavailable or deny, access or an enti12 tlement to Federal property, facilities, educational 

13 institutions, speech fora (including traditional, lim14 ited, and nonpublic fora), or charitable fundraising 

15 campaigns from or to such person. 

16 (c) ACCREDITATION; LICENSURE; CERTIFICATION.— 

17 The Federal Government shall consider accredited, li18 censed, or certified for purposes of Federal law any person 

19 that would be accredited, licensed, or certified, respec20 tively, for such purposes but for a determination against 

21 such person wholly or partially on the basis that the per22 son speaks, or acts, in accordance with a sincerely held 

23 religious belief or moral conviction described in subsection 

24 (a). 


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1 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL RELIEF. 

2 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A person may assert an ac3 tual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or de4 fense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain 

5 compensatory damages, injunctive relief, declaratory re6 lief, or any other appropriate relief against the Federal 

7 Government. Standing to assert a claim or defense under 

8 this section shall be governed by the general rules of 

9 standing under article III of the Constitution. 

10 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT REQUIRED.— 

11 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action 

12 under this section may be commenced, and relief may be 

13 granted, in a district court of the United States without 

14 regard to whether the person commencing the action has 

15 sought or exhausted available administrative remedies. 

16 (c) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re17 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by insert18 ing ‘‘the First Amendment Defense Act,’’ after ‘‘the Reli19 gious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 

20 2000,’’. 

21 (d) AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES TO ENFORCE

22 THIS ACT.—The Attorney General may bring an action 

23 for injunctive or declaratory relief against an independent 

24 establishment described in section 104(1) of title 5, United 

25 States Code, or an officer or employee of that independent 

26 establishment, to enforce compliance with this Act. NothVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Mar 17, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2525.IS S2525

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1 ing in this subsection shall be construed to deny, impair, 

2 or otherwise affect any right or authority of the Attorney 

3 General, the United States, or any agency, officer, or em4 ployee of the United States, acting under any law other 

5 than this subsection, to institute or intervene in any pro6 ceeding. 

7 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

8 (a) NO PREEMPTION, REPEAL, OR NARROW CON9 STRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 

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

11 or more protective of free exercise of religious beliefs and 

12 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 

13 to narrow the meaning or application of any State or Fed14 eral law protecting free exercise of religious beliefs and 

15 moral convictions. 

16 (b) NO PREVENTION OF PROVIDING BENEFITS OR

17 SERVICES.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to pre18 vent the Federal Government from providing, either di19 rectly or through a person not seeking protection under 

20 this Act, any benefit or service authorized under Federal 

21 law. 

22 (c) NO AFFIRMATION OR ENDORSEMENT OF

23 VIEWS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affirm 

24 or otherwise endorse a person’s belief, speech, or action 

25 about marriage. 


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1 (d) NO IMPACT ON DEFINITION.—Nothing in this 

2 Act shall be construed to alter the definition of marriage 

3 for Federal or State purposes. 

4 (e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 

5 any application of such provision to any person or cir6 cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

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

8 other person or circumstance shall not be affected. 

9 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) FEDERAL BENEFIT PROGRAM.—The term 

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

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

14 Code. 

15 (2) FEDERAL; FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The 

16 terms ‘‘Federal’’ and ‘‘Federal Government’’ in17 clude— 

18 (A) any department, commission, board, or 

19 other agency of the Federal Government; 

20 (B) any officer, employee, or agent of the 

21 Federal Government; and 

22 (C) the District of Columbia and all Fed23 eral territories and possessions. 


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1 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means a per2 son as defined in section 1 of title 1, United States 

3 Code, except that such term shall not include— 

4 (A) publicly traded for-profit entities; 

5 (B) Federal employees acting within the 

6 scope of their employment; 

7 (C) Federal for-profit contractors acting 

8 within the scope of their contract; or 

9 (D) hospitals, clinics, hospices, nursing 

10 homes, or other medical or residential custodial 

11 facilities with respect to visitation, recognition 

12 of a designated representative for health care 

13 decisionmaking, or refusal to provide medical 

14 treatment necessary to cure an illness or injury. 

Æ 


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