I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2034
To protect the free exercise of religion by prohibiting religious coercion in
our schools.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 13, 1995
Mr. NADLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities
A BILL
To protect the free exercise of religion by prohibiting
religious coercion in our schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Schoolhouse Religious
Freedom Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) various proposals have been made to amend
the Constitution and enact laws that would establish
government-sponsored school prayer;
(2) any law, regulation, or practice that coerces
a person to pray, or to pray in a certain manner,
contrary to that person’s religious beliefs or prac-
tices, or to refrain from praying, is inconsistent with
the Constitutional guarantee of religious liberty;
(3) circumstances that single out, or call atten-
tion to, elementary or secondary school-age children
with religious beliefs or practices different from the
majority of other persons present, will generally have
a coercive effect on those children; and
(4) circumstances in which a student’s class-
mates recite, as a group, a prayer or other liturgical
reading from a religious tradition that differs from
the student’s religious tradition, will generally have
a coercive effect on that student.
SEC. 3. COERCION PROHIBITED.
(a) GENERALLY.—Neither the United States, nor
any State may coerce any student at, or employee in, any
public elementary or secondary school to pray or refrain
from praying.
(b) TIME, PLACE, AND MANNER REGULATION PER-
MITTED.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to
prevent reasonable regulations as to the time, place, and
manner of voluntary prayer.
(c) COERCION
BY
EMPLOYEES
AND
STUDENTS
DEEMED GOVERNMENT COERCION.—Coercion by employ-
ees or students of Public Elementary or Secondary
Schools that is encouraged or permitted by the authorities
in charge of a school shall be deemed to be coercion by
those authorities for the purposes of this section.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘coercion’’, with respect to prayer,
means—
(A) penalizing or withholding a benefit
from an individual because that individual en-
gaged in or failed to engage in prayer;
(B) the selection or composition of the
prayer by a public authority;
(C) taking any action that calls attention
to an individual who wishes to pray in a par-
ticular manner or to refrain from praying;
(D) requiring or permitting organized
group prayer, or the reading of a prayer aloud,
at any time when students of a public elemen-
tary or secondary school are present for a
school sponsored activity;
(2) the term ‘‘prayer’’ means any religious text,
liturgy, or musical composition used for the purpose
of religious practice;
(3) the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any other territory or
possession of the United States; and
(4) the term ‘‘elementary or secondary school’’
means an ‘‘elementary school’’ or a ‘‘secondary
school’’ as those terms are defined in section 14101
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).
Æ