I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2802 

To prevent discriminatory treatment of any person on the basis of views 

held with respect to marriage. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 17, 2015 

Mr. LABRADOR (for himself, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. JONES, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. CRAMER, 

Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of 

Texas, Mr. SANFORD, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. ROTHFUS, Mr. FRANKS of 

Arizona, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. POMPEO, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. 

PITTENGER, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. PALMER, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. 

ALLEN, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. PITTS, Mr. GRAVES of Georgia, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. FINCHER, Mr. SALMON, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. HARRIS, 

Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BABIN, Mr. YOHO, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. 

PALAZZO, Mr. CARTER of Texas, Mr. ROUZER, Mrs. BLACK, Mr. BRAT, 

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mrs. 

LOVE, Mr. GOWDY, Mr. ADERHOLT, and Mr. STEWART) 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 discriminatory 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 ‘‘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 legislatively addressed. 

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

12 decision of the Supreme Court on the Defense of 

13 Marriage Act in 2013, ‘‘Americans hold a wide 

14 range of views’’ on the issue of same-sex marriage, 

15 and ‘‘maintaining our Nation’s commitment to reli16 gious 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 represented to the United States 

21 Supreme Court that ‘‘[i]t’s certainly going to be an 

22 issue’’. 

23 (4) Protecting religious freedom from Govern24 ment intrusion is a Government interest of the high25 est order. Legislatively enacted measures advance 


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1 this interest by remedying, deterring, and preventing 

2 Government interference with religious exercise in a 

3 way that complements the protections mandated by 

4 the First Amendment to the Constitution of the 

5 United 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 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELI13 GIOUS BELIEFS AND MORAL CONVICTIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi15 sion of law, the Federal Government shall not take any 

16 discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially 

17 on the basis that such person believes or acts in accord18 ance with a religious belief or moral conviction that mar19 riage is or should be recognized as the union of one man 

20 and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly re21 served to such a marriage. 

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

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

24 taken by the Federal Government to— 


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

2 of, or cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be as3 sessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke an exemp4 tion from taxation under section 501(a) of the Inter5 nal Revenue Code of 1986 of, any person referred to 

6 in subsection (a); 

7 (2) disallow a deduction for Federal tax pur8 poses of any charitable contribution made to or by 

9 such person; 

10 (3) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth11 erwise deny any Federal grant, contract, sub12 contract, cooperative agreement, loan, license, cer13 tification, accreditation, employment, or other simi14 lar position or status from or to such person; 

15 (4) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth16 erwise deny any benefit under a Federal benefit pro17 gram from or to such person; or 

18 (5) otherwise discriminate against such person. 

19 (c) ACCREDITATION; LICENSURE; CERTIFICATION.— 

20 The Federal Government shall consider accredited, li21 censed, or certified for purposes of Federal law any person 

22 that would be accredited, licensed, or certified, respec23 tively, for such purposes but for a determination against 

24 such person wholly or partially on the basis that the per25 son believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief 


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1 or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recog2 nized as the union of one man and one woman, or that 

3 sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. 

4 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL RELIEF. 

5 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A person may assert an ac6 tual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or de7 fense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain 

8 compensatory damages, injunctive relief, declaratory re9 lief, or any other appropriate relief against the Federal 

10 Government. Standing to assert a claim or defense under 

11 this section shall be governed by the general rules of 

12 standing under Article III of the Constitution. 

13 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT REQUIRED.— 

14 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action 

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

16 granted, in a United States district court without regard 

17 to whether the person commencing the action has sought 

18 or exhausted available administrative remedies. 

19 (c) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re20 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by insert21 ing ‘‘the First Amendment Defense Act,’’ after ‘‘the Reli22 gious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 

23 2000,’’. 

24 (d) AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES TO ENFORCE

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


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1 for injunctive or declaratory relief against an independent 

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

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

4 establishment, to enforce compliance with this Act. Noth5 ing in this subsection shall be construed to deny, impair, 

6 or otherwise affect any right or authority of the Attorney 

7 General, the United States, or any agency, officer, or em8 ployee of the United States, acting under any law other 

9 than this subsection, to institute or intervene in any pro10 ceeding. 

11 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

12 (a) BROAD CONSTRUCTION.—This Act shall be con13 strued in favor of a broad protection of free exercise of 

14 religious beliefs and moral convictions, to the maximum 

15 extent permitted by the terms of this Act and the Con16 stitution. 

17 (b) NO PREEMPTION, REPEAL, OR NARROW CON18 STRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 

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

20 or more protective of free exercise of religious beliefs and 

21 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 

22 to narrow the meaning or application of any State or Fed23 eral law protecting free exercise of religious beliefs and 

24 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 

25 to prevent the Federal Government from providing, either 


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1 directly or through a person not seeking protection under 

2 this Act, any benefit or service authorized under Federal 

3 law. 

4 (c) 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 GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Fed16 eral Government’’ includes each authority of any 

17 branch of the Government of the United States. 

18 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means a per19 son as defined in section 1 of title 1, United States 

20 Code, and includes any such person regardless of re21 ligious affiliation or lack thereof, and regardless of 

22 for-profit or nonprofit status. 

Æ 


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