I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 592 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2013 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. MENG, and Mr. KING of New 

York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Disaster As5 sistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

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1 (1) Hurricane Sandy inflicted catastrophic 

2 damage in the Northeastern United States. 

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

4 many faiths and denominations were among the pri5 vate nonprofit facilities that sustained damage. 

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

7 and other houses of worship throughout communities 

8 in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and else9 where play an essential role in the daily lives of the 

10 communities. 

11 (4) The Federal Emergency Management Agen12 cy’s (FEMA) public assistance program provides fi13 nancial grants for the repair of various types of pri14 vate nonprofit facilities. 

15 (5) Among the types of nonprofits to which 

16 FEMA provides such grants are those in which citi17 zens gather and engage in a variety of educational, 

18 enrichment, and social activities. These activities are 

19 essential to community building and occur in houses 

20 of worship. 

21 (6) Under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re22 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 

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

24 government program under which assistance is promstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 vided in the wake of a natural disaster using criteria 

2 that are neutral with regard to religion. 

3 (7) Congress has previously enacted legislation 

4 providing financial assistance to religious nonprofit 

5 institutions, including houses of worship, on terms 

6 equal to other eligible nonprofit institutions. 

7 (8) Such legislation is consistent with recent 

8 precedents of the Supreme Court of the United 

9 States and legal opinions issued by the Office of 

10 Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice. 

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

12 NONPROFIT FACILITIES ELIGIBLE FOR DIS13 ASTER RELIEF. 

14 (a) DEFINITION OF PRIVATE NONPROFIT FACIL15 ITY.—Section 102(10)(B) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis16 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 5122(10)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FACILITIES.—In addi19 tion to the facilities described in subparagraph 

20 (A), the term ‘private nonprofit facility’ in21 cludes any private nonprofit facility that pro22 vides essential services of a governmental na23 ture to the general public (including museums, 

24 zoos, performing arts facilities, community arts 

25 centers, community centers, including houses of 

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1 worship exempt from taxation under section 

2 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

3 libraries, homeless shelters, senior citizen cen4 ters, rehabilitation facilities, shelter workshops, 

5 and facilities that provide health and safety 

6 services of a governmental nature), as defined 

7 by the President.’’. 

8 (b) REPAIR, RESTORATION, AND REPLACEMENT OF

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

10 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

11 (42 U.S.C. 5172(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

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

14 synagogue, mosque, temple, or other house of 

15 worship, and a private nonprofit facility oper16 ated by a religious organization, shall be eligible 

17 for contributions under paragraph (1)(B), with18 out regard to the religious character of the fa19 cility or the primary religious use of the facil20 ity.’’. 

21 (c) APPLICABILITY.—This section and the amend22 ments made by this section shall apply to the provision 

23 of assistance in response to a major disaster or emergency 

24 declared on or after October 28, 2012. 

Æ 

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