I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1691

To protect religious liberty.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 5, 1999

Mr. CANADY of Florida (for himself, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. HYDE, Mr. WEINER,

Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr.

SMITH of Texas, Mr. ROGAN, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, and Mr.

CANNON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To protect religious liberty.

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 ‘‘Religious Liberty Pro5 tection Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS EXERCISE.

7 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided in sub8 section (b), a government shall not substantially burden

9 a person’s religious exercise—
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1 (1) in a program or activity, operated by a gov2 ernment, that receives Federal financial assistance;

3 or

4 (2) in any case in which the substantial burden

5 on the person’s religious exercise affects, or in which

6 a removal of that substantial burden would affect,

7 commerce with foreign nations, among the several

8 States, or with Indian tribes;

9 even if the burden results from a rule of general applica10 bility.

11 (b) EXCEPTION.—A government may substantially

12 burden a person’s religious exercise if the government

13 demonstrates that application of the burden to the

14 person—

15 (1) is in furtherance of a compelling govern16 mental interest; and

17 (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering

18 that compelling governmental interest.

19 (c) REMEDIES OF THE UNITED STATES.—Nothing in

20 this section shall be construed to authorize the United

21 States to deny or withhold Federal financial assistance as

22 a remedy for a violation of this Act. However, nothing in

23 this subsection shall be construed to deny, impair, or oth24 erwise affect any right or authority of the Attorney Gen25 eral or the United States or any agency, officer, or em-
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1 ployee thereof under other law, including section 4(d) of

2 this Act, to institute or intervene in any action or pro3 ceeding.

4 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

5 (a) PROCEDURE.—If a claimant produces prima facie

6 evidence to support a claim alleging a violation of the Free

7 Exercise Clause or a violation of a provision of this Act

8 enforcing that clause, the government shall bear the bur9 den of persuasion on any element of the claim; however,

10 the claimant shall bear the burden of persuasion on wheth11 er the challenged government practice, law, or regulation

12 burdens or substantially burdens the claimant’s exercise

13 of religion.

14 (b) LAND USE REGULATION.—

15 (1) LIMITATION ON LAND USE REGULATION.—

16 (A) Where, in applying or implementing

17 any land use regulation or exemption, or system

18 of land use regulations or exemptions, a govern19 ment has the authority to make individualized

20 assessments of the proposed uses to which real

21 property would be put, the government may not

22 impose a substantial burden on a person’s reli23 gious exercise, unless the government dem24 onstrates that application of the burden to the

25 person is in furtherance of a compelling govern-
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1 mental interest and is the least restrictive

2 means of furthering that compelling govern3 mental interest.

4 (B) No government shall impose or imple5 ment a land use regulation in a manner that

6 does not treat religious assemblies or institu7 tions on equal terms with nonreligious assem8 blies or institutions.

9 (C) No government shall impose or imple10 ment a land use regulation that discriminates

11 against any assembly or institution on the basis

12 of religion or religious denomination.

13 (D) No government with zoning authority

14 shall unreasonably exclude from the jurisdiction

15 over which it has authority, or unreasonably

16 limit within that jurisdiction, assemblies or in17 stitutions principally devoted to religious exer18 cise.

19 (2) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.—Adjudication of

20 a claim of a violation of the Free Exercise Clause or

21 this subsection in a non-Federal forum shall be enti22 tled to full faith and credit in a Federal court only

23 if the claimant had a full and fair adjudication of

24 that claim in the non-Federal forum.
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1 (3) NONPREEMPTION.—Nothing in this sub2 section shall preempt State law that is equally or

3 more protective of religious exercise.

4 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL RELIEF.

5 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A person may assert a viola6 tion of this Act as a claim or defense in a judicial pro7 ceeding and obtain appropriate relief against a govern8 ment. Standing to assert a claim or defense under this

9 section shall be governed by the general rules of standing

10 under article III of the Constitution.

11 (b) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re12 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended—

13 (1) by inserting ‘‘the Religious Liberty Protec14 tion Act of 1998,’’ after ‘‘Religious Freedom Res15 toration Act of 1993,’’; and

16 (2) by striking the comma that follows a

17 comma.

18 (c) PRISONERS.—Any litigation under this Act in

19 which the claimant is a prisoner shall be subject to the

20 Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (including provi21 sions of law amended by that Act).

22 (d) AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES TO ENFORCE

23 THIS ACT.—The United States may sue for injunctive or

24 declaratory relief to enforce compliance with this Act.
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1 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

2 (a) RELIGIOUS BELIEF UNAFFECTED.—Nothing in

3 this Act shall be construed to authorize any government

4 to burden any religious belief.

5 (b) RELIGIOUS EXERCISE NOT REGULATED.—Noth6 ing in this Act shall create any basis for restricting or

7 burdening religious exercise or for claims against a reli8 gious organization, including any religiously affiliated

9 school or university, not acting under color of law.

10 (c) CLAIMS TO FUNDING UNAFFECTED.—Nothing in

11 this Act shall create or preclude a right of any religious

12 organization to receive funding or other assistance from

13 a government, or of any person to receive government

14 funding for a religious activity, but this Act may require

15 government to incur expenses in its own operations to

16 avoid imposing a burden or a substantial burden on reli17 gious exercise.

18 (d) OTHER AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CONDITIONS ON

19 FUNDING UNAFFECTED.—Nothing in this Act shall—

20 (1) authorize a government to regulate or af21 fect, directly or indirectly, the activities or policies of

22 a person other than a government as a condition of

23 receiving funding or other assistance; or

24 (2) restrict any authority that may exist under

25 other law to so regulate or affect, except as provided

26 in this Act.
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1 (e) GOVERNMENTAL DISCRETION IN ALLEVIATING

2 BURDENS ON RELIGIOUS EXERCISE.—A government may

3 avoid the preemptive force of any provision of this Act by

4 changing the policy that results in the substantial burden

5 on religious exercise, by retaining the policy and exempt6 ing the burdened religious exercise, by providing exemp7 tions from the policy for applications that substantially

8 burden religious exercise, or by any other means that

9 eliminates the substantial burden.

10 (f) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—In a claim under sec11 tion 2(a)(2) of this Act, proof that a substantial burden

12 on a person’s religious exercise, or removal of that burden,

13 affects or would affect commerce, shall not establish any

14 inference or presumption that Congress intends that any

15 religious exercise is, or is not, subject to any other law.

16 (g) BROAD CONSTRUCTION.—This Act should be con17 strued in favor of a broad protection of religious exercise,

18 to the maximum extent permitted by its terms and the

19 Constitution.

20 (h) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or

21 of an amendment made by this Act, or any application

22 of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held

23 to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, the

24 amendments made by this Act, and the application of the
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1 provision to any other person or circumstance shall not

2 be affected.

3 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE UNAFFECTED.

4 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect, inter5 pret, or in any way address that portion of the first

6 amendment to the Constitution prohibiting laws respect7 ing an establishment of religion (referred to in this section

8 as the ‘‘Establishment Clause’’). Granting government

9 funding, benefits, or exemptions, to the extent permissible

10 under the Establishment Clause, shall not constitute a vio11 lation of this Act. As used in this section, the term ‘‘grant12 ing’’, used with respect to government funding, benefits,

13 or exemptions, does not include the denial of government

14 funding, benefits, or exemptions.

15 SEC. 7. AMENDMENTS TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RESTORA16 TION ACT.

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 5 of the Religious Free18 dom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb–2) is

19 amended—

20 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a State, or

21 subdivision of a State’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered en22 tity or a subdivision of such an entity’’;

23 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘term’’ and all

24 that follows through ‘‘includes’’ and inserting ‘‘term

25 ‘covered entity’ means’’; and
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1 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking all after

2 ‘‘means,’’ and inserting ‘‘conduct that constitutes

3 the exercise of religion under the first amendment to

4 the Constitution; however, such conduct need not be

5 compelled by, or central to, a system of religious be6 lief; the use, building, or converting of real property

7 for religious exercise shall itself be considered reli8 gious exercise of the person or entities that use or

9 intend to use the property for religious exercise.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 6(a) of the

11 Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C.

12 2000bb–3(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘and State’’.

13 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

14 As used in this Act—

15 (1) the term ‘‘religious exercise’’ means conduct

16 that constitutes the exercise of religion under the

17 first amendment to the Constitution; however, such

18 conduct need not be compelled by, or central to, a

19 system of religious belief; the use, building, or con20 verting of real property for religious exercise shall

21 itself be considered religious exercise of the person

22 or entities that use or intend to use the property for

23 religious exercise;

24 (2) the term ‘‘Free Exercise Clause’’ means

25 that portion of the first amendment to the Constitu-
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1 tion that proscribes laws prohibiting the free exercise

2 of religion and includes the application of that pro3 scription under the 14th amendment to the Con4 stitution;

5 (3) the term ‘‘land use regulation’’ means a law

6 or decision by a government that limits or restricts

7 a private person’s uses or development of land, or of

8 structures affixed to land, where the law or decision

9 applies to one or more particular parcels of land or

10 to land within one or more designated geographical

11 zones, and where the private person has an owner12 ship, leasehold, easement, servitude, or other prop13 erty interest in the regulated land, or a contract or

14 option to acquire such an interest;

15 (4) the term ‘‘program or activity’’ means a

16 program or activity as defined in paragraph (1) or

17 (2) of section 606 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

18 (42 U.S.C. 2000d–4a);

19 (5) the term ‘‘demonstrates’’ means meets the

20 burdens of going forward with the evidence and of

21 persuasion; and

22 (6) the term ‘‘government’’—

23 (A) means—
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1 (i) a State, county, municipality, or

2 other governmental entity created under

3 the authority of a State;

4 (ii) any branch, department, agency,

5 instrumentality, subdivision, or official of

6 an entity listed in clause (i); and

7 (iii) any other person acting under

8 color of State law; and

9 (B) for the purposes of sections 3(a) and

10 5, includes the United States, a branch, depart11 ment, agency, instrumentality or official of the

12 United States, and any person acting under

13 color of Federal law.

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