II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1598 

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

held with respect to marriage. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2015 

Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. VITTER, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. 

INHOFE, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. ENZI, Mr. PERDUE, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. 

DAINES, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. HATCH, Mr. COTTON, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. SASSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prevent discriminatory treatment of any person on the 

basis of views held with respect to marriage. 

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: 


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1 (1) Leading legal scholars concur that conflicts 

2 between same-sex marriage and religious liberty are 

3 real and should be legislatively addressed. 

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

5 decision of the Supreme Court on the Defense of 

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

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

8 and ‘‘maintaining our Nation’s commitment to reli9 gious freedom’’ is ‘‘vital’’. 

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

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

12 opposing same-sex marriage, the Solicitor General of 

13 the United States represented to the United States 

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

15 issue’’. 

16 (4) Protecting religious freedom from Govern17 ment intrusion is a Government interest of the high18 est order. Legislatively enacted measures advance 

19 this interest by remedying, deterring, and preventing 

20 Government interference with religious exercise in a 

21 way that complements the protections mandated by 

22 the First Amendment to the Constitution of the 

23 United States. 

24 (5) Laws that protect the free exercise of reli25 gious beliefs and moral convictions about marriage 


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1 will encourage private citizens and institutions to 

2 demonstrate tolerance for those beliefs and convic3 tions and therefore contribute to a more respectful, 

4 diverse, and peaceful society. 

5 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELI6 GIOUS BELIEFS AND MORAL CONVICTIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of law, the Federal Government shall not take any 

9 discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially 

10 on the basis that such person believes or acts in accord11 ance with a religious belief or moral conviction that mar12 riage is or should be recognized as the union of one man 

13 and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly re14 served to such a marriage. 

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

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

17 taken by the Federal Government to— 

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

19 of, or cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be as20 sessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke an exemp21 tion from taxation under section 501(a) of the Inter22 nal Revenue Code of 1986 of, any person referred to 

23 in subsection (a); 


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1 (2) disallow a deduction for Federal tax pur2 poses of any charitable contribution made to or by 

3 such person; 

4 (3) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth5 erwise deny any Federal grant, contract, sub6 contract, cooperative agreement, loan, license, cer7 tification, accreditation, employment, or other simi8 lar position or status from or to such person; 

9 (4) withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or oth10 erwise deny any benefit under a Federal benefit pro11 gram from or to such person; or 

12 (5) otherwise discriminate against such person. 

13 (c) ACCREDITATION; LICENSURE; CERTIFICATION.— 

14 The Federal Government shall consider accredited, li15 censed, or certified for purposes of Federal law any person 

16 that would be accredited, licensed, or certified, respec17 tively, for such purposes but for a determination against 

18 such person wholly or partially on the basis that the per19 son believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief 

20 or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recog21 nized as the union of one man and one woman, or that 

22 sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. 

23 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL RELIEF. 

24 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A person may assert an ac25 tual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1598.IS S1598

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1 fense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain 

2 compensatory damages, injunctive relief, declaratory re3 lief, or any other appropriate relief against the Federal 

4 Government. Standing to assert a claim or defense under 

5 this section shall be governed by the general rules of 

6 standing under Article III of the Constitution. 

7 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT REQUIRED.— 

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action 

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

10 granted, in a United States district court without regard 

11 to whether the person commencing the action has sought 

12 or exhausted available administrative remedies. 

13 (c) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re14 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by insert15 ing ‘‘the First Amendment Defense Act,’’ after ‘‘the Reli16 gious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 

17 2000,’’. 

18 (d) AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES TO ENFORCE

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

20 for injunctive or declaratory relief against an independent 

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

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

23 establishment, to enforce compliance with this Act. Noth24 ing in this subsection shall be construed to deny, impair, 

25 or otherwise affect any right or authority of the Attorney 


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1 General, the United States, or any agency, officer, or em2 ployee of the United States, acting under any law other 

3 than this subsection, to institute or intervene in any pro4 ceeding. 

5 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

6 (a) BROAD CONSTRUCTION.—This Act shall be con7 strued in favor of a broad protection of free exercise of 

8 religious beliefs and moral convictions, to the maximum 

9 extent permitted by the terms of this Act and the Con10 stitution. 

11 (b) NO PREEMPTION, REPEAL, OR NARROW CON12 STRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 

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

14 or more protective of free exercise of religious beliefs and 

15 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 

16 to narrow the meaning or application of any State or Fed17 eral law protecting free exercise of religious beliefs and 

18 moral convictions. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 

19 to prevent the Federal Government from providing, either 

20 directly or through a person not seeking protection under 

21 this Act, any benefit or service authorized under Federal 

22 law. 

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

24 any application of such provision to any person or cir25 cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 


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

2 other person or circumstance shall not be affected. 

3 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) FEDERAL BENEFIT PROGRAM.—The term 

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

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

8 Code. 

9 (2) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Fed10 eral Government’’ includes each authority of any 

11 branch of the Government of the United States. 

12 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means a per13 son as defined in section 1 of title 1, United States 

14 Code, and includes any such person regardless of re15 ligious affiliation or lack thereof, and regardless of 

16 for-profit or nonprofit status. 

Æ 


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