II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3957 

To protect freedom of speech exercisable by houses of worship or meditation 

and affiliated organizations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2006 

Mr. INHOFE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To protect freedom of speech exercisable by houses of 

worship or meditation and affiliated organizations. 

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 Freedom Act 

5 of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH FOR 

7 HOUSES OF WORSHIP OR MEDITATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law, no organization described in subsection (b) 

10 may be denied its Federal tax exemption under the InterVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:42 Sep 28, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3957.IS S3957

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•S 3957 IS

1 nal Revenue Code of 1986 by administrative or judicial 

2 action, nor shall donors to such organization be denied the 

3 deductibility of their contributions under such Code, be4 cause such organization engages in an activity that is pro5 tected by the United States Constitution, including com6 ment on public issues, election contests, and pending legis7 lation made in the theological or philosophical context of 

8 such organization. 

9 (b) HOUSES OF WORSHIP OR MEDITATION AND AF10 FILIATED ORGANIZATIONS.—For purposes of subsection 

11 (a), an organization described in this subsection is a 

12 church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other house of wor13 ship or meditation (including any organization affiliated 

14 with any of the foregoing)— 

15 (1) with an established form of worship or 

16 meditation and a recognizable creed that minimally 

17 acknowledges the right of others to freely accept or 

18 reject such form and creed, and 

19 (2) which meets 2 or more of the following indi20 cia: definite and distinct ecclesiastical government; 

21 formal code of doctrine and discipline; distinct reli22 gious history; membership not axiomatically associ23 ated with any other organization; organization of or24 dained ministers; ordained ministers selected after 

25 completing prescribed courses of study; a literature 


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1 of its own; established places of worship or medita2 tion; regular congregations; regular religious serv3 ices; classes for the religious instruction of youth or 

4 seniors or both; auxiliaries to provide relief and sus5 tenance to the poor and deprived; and auxiliaries to 

6 provide youth with morally-structured community 

7 service and supervised opportunities to compete in 

8 sport and intellect-expanding activities as an alter9 native to destructive behavior such as crime and 

10 drug use. 

11 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall not be con12 strued so as to exempt any organization described in sub13 section (b) from the operation of any other law generally 

14 applicable to all organizations and individuals. 

Æ 


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