IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 592 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Received 

MARCH 13, 2013 

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to clarify that houses of worship 

are eligible for certain disaster relief and emergency assistance on terms equal to other eligible private nonprofit 

facilities, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Disaster As3 sistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Hurricane Sandy inflicted catastrophic 

7 damage in the Northeastern United States. 

8 (2) Houses of worship across the Northeast’s 

9 many faiths and denominations were among the pri10 vate nonprofit facilities that sustained damage. 

11 (3) Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, 

12 and other houses of worship throughout communities 

13 in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and else14 where play an essential role in the daily lives of the 

15 communities. 

16 (4) The Federal Emergency Management Agen17 cy’s (FEMA) public assistance program provides fi18 nancial grants for the repair of various types of pri19 vate nonprofit facilities. 

20 (5) Among the types of nonprofits to which 

21 FEMA provides such grants are those in which citi22 zens gather and engage in a variety of educational, 

23 enrichment, and social activities. These activities are 

24 essential to community building and occur in houses 

25 of worship. 


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1 (6) Under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re2 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 

3 et seq.), FEMA’s disaster relief program is a general 

4 government program under which assistance is pro5 vided in the wake of a natural disaster using criteria 

6 that are neutral with regard to religion. 

7 (7) Congress has previously enacted legislation 

8 providing financial assistance to religious nonprofit 

9 institutions, including houses of worship, on terms 

10 equal to other eligible nonprofit institutions. 

11 (8) Such legislation is consistent with recent 

12 precedents of the Supreme Court of the United 

13 States and legal opinions issued by the Office of 

14 Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice. 

15 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF HOUSES OF WORSHIP AS PRIVATE 

16 NONPROFIT FACILITIES ELIGIBLE FOR DIS17 ASTER RELIEF. 

18 (a) DEFINITION OF PRIVATE NONPROFIT FACIL19 ITY.—Section 102(10)(B) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis20 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 5122(10)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FACILITIES.—In addi23 tion to the facilities described in subparagraph 

24 (A), the term ‘private nonprofit facility’ in25 cludes any private nonprofit facility that proVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:11 Mar 14, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H592.RFS H592

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1 vides essential services of a governmental na2 ture to the general public (including museums, 

3 zoos, performing arts facilities, community arts 

4 centers, community centers, including houses of 

5 worship exempt from taxation under section 

6 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

7 libraries, homeless shelters, senior citizen cen8 ters, rehabilitation facilities, shelter workshops, 

9 and facilities that provide health and safety 

10 services of a governmental nature), as defined 

11 by the President.’’. 

12 (b) REPAIR, RESTORATION, AND REPLACEMENT OF

13 DAMAGED FACILITIES.—Section 406(a)(3) of the Robert 

14 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

15 (42 U.S.C. 5172(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(C) HOUSES OF WORSHIP.—A church, 

18 synagogue, mosque, temple, or other house of 

19 worship, and a private nonprofit facility oper20 ated by a religious organization, shall be eligible 

21 for contributions under paragraph (1)(B), with22 out regard to the religious character of the fa23 cility or the primary religious use of the facil24 ity.’’. 


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1 (c) APPLICABILITY.—This section and the amend2 ments made by this section shall apply to the provision 

3 of assistance in response to a major disaster or emergency 

4 declared on or after October 28, 2012. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 13, 

2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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