I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2405 
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 
MAY 11, 2017 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. MENG, 
and Mr. FRANKS of Arizona) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act to clarify that houses of worship 
are eligible for certain disaster relief and emergency as-
sistance on terms equal to other eligible private nonprofit 
facilities, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Federal Disaster As-
sistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, 
and other houses of worship throughout communities 
nationwide play an essential role in the daily lives of 
the communities. 
(2) The Federal Emergency Management Agen-
cy’s (FEMA) public assistance program provides fi-
nancial grants for the repair of various types of pri-
vate nonprofit facilities. 
(3) Among the types of nonprofits to which 
FEMA provides such grants are those in which citi-
zens gather and engage in a variety of educational, 
enrichment, and social activities. These activities are 
essential to community building and occur in houses 
of worship. 
(4) Under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re-
lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 
et seq.), FEMA’s disaster relief program is a general 
government program under which assistance is pro-
vided in the wake of a natural disaster using criteria 
that are neutral with regard to religion. 
(5) Congress has previously enacted legislation 
providing financial assistance to religious nonprofit 
institutions, including houses of worship, on terms 
equal to other eligible nonprofit institutions. 
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(6) Such legislation is consistent with recent 
precedents of the Supreme Court of the United 
States and legal opinions issued by the Office of 
Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice. 
SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF HOUSES OF WORSHIP AS PRIVATE 
NONPROFIT FACILITIES ELIGIBLE FOR DIS-
ASTER RELIEF. 
(a) DEFINITION
OF PRIVATE NONPROFIT FACIL-
ITY.—Section 102(11)(B) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis-
aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5122(11)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL
FACILITIES.—In addi-
tion to the facilities described in subparagraph 
(A), the term ‘private nonprofit facility’ in-
cludes any private nonprofit facility that pro-
vides essential services of a governmental na-
ture to the general public (including museums, 
zoos, performing arts facilities, community arts 
centers, community centers, including houses of 
worship exempt from taxation under section 
501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 
libraries, homeless shelters, senior citizen cen-
ters, rehabilitation facilities, shelter workshops, 
and facilities that provide health and safety 
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services of a governmental nature), as defined 
by the President.’’. 
(b) REPAIR, RESTORATION, AND REPLACEMENT OF 
DAMAGED FACILITIES.—Section 406(a)(3) of the Robert 
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5172(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(C) HOUSES
OF
WORSHIP.—A church, 
synagogue, mosque, temple, or other house of 
worship, and a private nonprofit facility oper-
ated by a religious organization, shall be eligible 
for contributions under paragraph (1)(B), with-
out regard to the religious character of the fa-
cility or the primary religious use of the facil-
ity.’’. 
(c) APPLICABILITY.—This section and the amend-
ments made by this section shall apply to the provision 
of assistance in response to a major disaster or emergency 
declared on or after October 28, 2012. 
Æ 
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