BOM15716 S.L.C.
114
TH
CONGRESS 1
ST
S
ESSION
S.
ll
To ensure that the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person believes, speaks, or acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recog-nized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
llllllllll llllllllll
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
llllllllll
A BILL
To ensure that the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or par-tially on the basis that such person believes, speaks, or acts in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
2
BOM15716 S.L.C.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘First Amendment De-
2
fense Act’’.
3
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
4
Congress finds the following:
5
(1) Leading legal scholars concur that conflicts
6
between same-sex marriage and religious liberty are
7
real and should be addressed through legislation.
8
(2) As the President stated in response to the
9
decision of the Supreme Court in United States v.
10
Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013), ‘‘Americans hold
11
a wide range of views’’ on the issue of same-sex
12
marriage, and ‘‘maintaining our Nation’s commit-
13
ment to religious freedom’’ is ‘‘vital’’.
14
(3) Nevertheless, in 2015, when asked whether
15
a religious school could lose its tax-exempt status for
16
opposing same-sex marriage, the Solicitor General of
17
the United States represented to the United States
18
Supreme Court that ‘‘[i]t’s certainly going to be an
19
issue’’.
20
(4) Protecting religious freedom from govern-
21
ment intrusion is a government interest of the high-
22
est order. Legislation advances this interest by rem-
23
edying, deterring, and preventing government inter-
24
ference with religious exercise in a way that com-
25
plements the protections mandated by the First
26
3
BOM15716 S.L.C.
Amendment to the Constitution of the United
1
States.
2
(5) Laws that protect the free exercise of reli-
3
gious beliefs and moral convictions about marriage
4
will encourage private citizens and institutions to
5
demonstrate tolerance for those beliefs and convic-
6
tions and therefore contribute to a more respectful,
7
diverse, and peaceful society.
8
(6) In a pluralistic society, in which people of
9
good faith hold more than one view of marriage, it
10
is possible for the government to recognize same-sex
11
marriage as required by the United States Supreme
12
Court without forcing persons with sincerely held re-
13
ligious beliefs or moral convictions to the contrary to
14
conform.
15
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELI-
16
GIOUS BELIEFS AND MORAL CONVICTIONS.
17
(a) I
N
G
ENERAL
.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
18
sion of law, the Federal Government shall not take any
19
discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially
20
on the basis that such person believes, speaks, or acts in
21
accordance with a sincerely held religious belief or moral
22
conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the
23
union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations
24
are properly reserved to such a marriage.
25