‘‘(C) Nothing in this subsection shall be 
construed to invalidate any other law that oth-
erwise applies to a religious property exempt 
under section 201(b)(11) or a religious em-
ployer exempt under section 702(a)(2)(B). 
‘‘(3) ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE FUNDING, 
LICENSURE, AND CERTIFICATION.—No State shall 
enforce a law with respect to a particular contract, 
cooperative agreement, grant, guarantee, or benefit 
if that law, as applied, abridges any right or benefit 
under section 610, unless the State demonstrates 
that the contract, cooperative agreement, grant, 
guarantee, or benefit is solely funded by revenues of 
a State or political subdivision thereof. A State or 
its political subdivision may commingle its revenues 
with Federal financial assistance for the purpose of 
providing financial aid to adoption agencies; such 
commingled revenues shall be deemed Federal finan-
cial assistance. No government may deny, withhold, 
or suspend the license or certification of a religiously 
affiliated adoption or foster care agency because of 
its religious teachings or practices, provided that the 
agency complies with generally applicable health and 
safety standards. 
‘‘(c) RELIGIOUS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.— 
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‘‘(1) NO ADVERSE ACTION FOR RELIGIOUS MIS-
SION.—No government shall take any adverse action 
against a religious educational institution, its fac-
ulty, students, or graduates because of its religious 
mission. 
‘‘(2) ACCREDITATION.—No accrediting agency 
shall take an adverse action against a religious edu-
cational institution for noncompliance with an ac-
creditation standard that would require the institu-
tion to act inconsistently with its religious mission 
as related to marriage, family, sexuality, or gender 
identity, except as these matters pertain to race, 
color, or national origin. Nothing in this provision 
shall be interpreted to deny an accrediting agency 
the authority under section 496(a) of the Higher 
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1099b(a)) to take action 
necessary to ensure that the courses or programs of 
instruction, training, or study offered by an institu-
tion of higher education are of sufficient quality to 
achieve the stated objective for which the courses or 
the programs are offered. An accrediting agency 
does not demonstrate that its adverse action against 
a religious educational institution is authorized 
under section 1099b(a) merely by showing that the 
action results from a rule of general applicability. 
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‘‘(3) REMEDIES.—A religious educational insti-
tution harmed by a violation of this subsection may 
obtain injunctive relief against the responsible ac-
crediting agency. Upon receiving a copy of such an 
injunction, the Department of Education shall deem 
the affected religious educational institution as ac-
credited for all purposes under Federal law. The De-
partment shall deny recognition for any purpose to 
an accrediting agency that knowingly violates this 
subsection. An accrediting agency that loses its gov-
ernment recognition may apply with the Department 
to restore its recognition if the agency demonstrates 
that the violation resulted from mistake or inadvert-
ence. Within two years of the enactment of this Act, 
the Department shall issue final rules prescribing 
the procedures governing this section. 
‘‘(d) NO RELIGIOUS TESTS.—No government shall— 
‘‘(1) exclude a person from an occupation by 
depriving a person of professional credentials or im-
posing a fine or penalty, including through a private 
right of action, because of the person’s religious be-
liefs or affiliations, provided that the person other-
wise complies with occupational or professional 
standards that, in purpose and effect, are neutral to-
ward religion and generally applicable; or 
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‘‘(2) determine eligibility for public office be-
cause of religious beliefs or affiliations. 
‘‘(e) SCOPE
OF
APPLICATION.—Subsections (a) 
through (d) apply in any case in which— 
‘‘(1) section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States grants law-
making power to Congress; 
‘‘(2) action by a government or an accrediting 
agency would affect commerce with foreign nations, 
among the several States, or with Indian Tribes; 
‘‘(3) a State or political subdivision receives 
Federal financial assistance, to the full extent per-
mitted by Congress’ authority under the Spending 
Power in article I, section 8 of the Constitution; 
‘‘(4) Congress has power under the Necessary 
and Proper Clause of article I, section 8 to effec-
tuate the exercise of its enumerated powers; or 
‘‘(5) the Constitution grants Congress any 
other lawmaking power. 
‘‘(f) JUDICIAL RELIEF.— 
‘‘(1) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A person or organiza-
tion may assert an actual violation of this section, 
or a credible threat of such a violation, as a claim 
or defense in a judicial, administrative, or arbitra-
tion proceeding and obtain appropriate relief against 
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a government or accrediting agency, including attor-
neys’ fees. A State shall not be immune under the 
Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States from a claim under this section. 
‘‘(2) REMOVAL.—Any proceeding brought in a 
State court for which a claimant invokes this section 
as a claim, counterclaim, or defense may be removed 
by the claimant to the district court of the United 
States for the district and division embracing the 
place where such action is pending. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In section 1107: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘abridges’ means to diminish, 
burden, hinder, or obstruct. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘accreditation’ means the status 
of public recognition that an accrediting agency 
grants to an educational institution or program that 
meets the agency’s standards and requirements. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘accrediting agency’ means a 
legal entity, or part of a legal entity, that conducts 
accrediting activities through voluntary, non-Federal 
peer review and makes decisions concerning the ac-
creditation or preaccreditation status of institutions, 
programs, or both. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘adverse action’ includes action 
that suspends, revokes, or withholds licenses, per-
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mits, certifications, professional credentials, guaran-
tees, contracts, or cooperative agreements; denies or 
revokes scholarships, grants, loans, a tax exemption 
or tax-exempt status; denies access to government- 
sponsored facilities, activities, or programs; or that 
imposes any other penalty or denies an otherwise 
available benefit. Except for a violation of subsection 
(a)(1) of this section, adverse action does not include 
a State’s refusal to subsidize contracts, grants, 
loans, or cooperative agreements with exclusively 
State revenues because of noncompliance with State 
standards that, in purpose and effect, are neutral to-
ward religion and generally applicable. Commingled 
State and Federal revenues shall be deemed Federal 
revenues. Adverse action does include suspending, 
revoking, or withholding scholarships, grants, and 
loans, or access to government-sponsored facilities, 
activities, or programs to qualified students or grad-
uates of religious educational institutions, notwith-
standing that the scholarships, grants, loans, facili-
ties, activities, or programs are funded with State 
revenues. 
‘‘(5) The term ‘government’ means— 
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‘‘(A) a State, county, municipality, or 
other government entity created under the au-
thority of a State; 
‘‘(B) any branch, department, agency, in-
strumentality, or official of an entity listed in 
subsection (g)(5)(A); 
‘‘(C) any other person acting under color 
of State law; and 
‘‘(D) the United States, a branch, depart-
ment, agency, instrumentality, or official of the 
United States, and any other person acting 
under color of Federal law. 
‘‘(6) The terms ‘religion’ and ‘religious’ include 
all aspects of religious belief, observance, and prac-
tice, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a 
system of religion. 
‘‘(7) The term ‘religious corporation, associa-
tion, educational institution, or society’ include— 
‘‘(A) a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, 
or other house of worship; 
‘‘(B) a nonprofit corporation, association, 
educational institution, society, or other non-
profit entity that is, in whole or in substantial 
part, owned, supported, controlled, or managed 
by a particular religion or by a particular 
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church, denomination, convention, or associa-
tion of churches or other houses of worship; or 
‘‘(C) a nonprofit corporation, association, 
educational institution, society, or other non-
profit entity that holds itself out to the public 
as substantially religious, has as its stated pur-
pose in its organic documents that it is reli-
gious, and is substantially religious in its cur-
rent operations. 
‘‘(8) The term ‘religious educational institution’ 
means 
any 
organization 
covered 
by 
section 
703(e)(2). 
‘‘(9) The term ‘religious mission’ includes reli-
gious affiliation, religious tenets, religious teachings, 
and religious standards, including policies or deci-
sions related to such affiliation, tenets, teachings, or 
standards with respect to housing, employment, cur-
riculum, self-governance, or student admission, con-
tinuing enrollment, or graduation. 
‘‘(h) CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall supersede 
State or local law as provided for expressly herein. Noth-
ing contained in section 1107 shall be construed as indi-
cating an intent on the part of Congress to occupy the 
field in which this Act operates to the exclusion of State 
or local laws on the same subject matter.’’. 
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SEC. 8. PRESERVATION OF TAX-EXEMPT STATUS. 
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 
U.S.C. 1 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Corporations, 
and community chest . . .’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B)(i) For purposes of Federal law, any deter-
mination whether an organization is organized or op-
erated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, 
literary, or educational purposes or complies with 
legal standards of charity shall be made without re-
gard to the organization’s religious beliefs or prac-
tices concerning marriage, family, or sexuality, ex-
cept insofar as such practices pertain to race or 
criminal sexual offenses punishable under constitu-
tionally valid Federal or State law. 
‘‘(ii) As used in subsection (B)(i), the term ‘re-
ligious’ includes all aspects of religious belief, ob-
servance, and practice, whether or not compelled by, 
or central to, a system of religion.’’. 
SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act, or the application of any 
provision to any individual or circumstance, is held to be 
invalid, the remainder of this Act and the application of 
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its other provisions to any other individuals or cir-
cumstances shall not be affected thereby. 
Æ 
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