Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
Enrolled Bill (Sent to the
President)
H.R.1308
One Hundred Third Congress of the United States of America AT THE
FIRST SESSION Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the fifth day
of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three An Act
TITLE: To protect the free exercise of religion.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the 'Religious Freedom Restoration Act of
1993'.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSES.
(a) Findings: The Congress finds that--
(1) the framers of the Constitution, recognizing free exercise of
religion as an unalienable right, secured its protection in the First
Amendment to the Constitution;
(2) laws 'neutral' toward religion may burden religious exercise as
surely as laws intended to interfere with religious exercise;
(3) governments should not substantially burden religious exercise
without compelling justification;
(4) in Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990) the Supreme
Court virtually eliminated the requirement that the government justify
burdens on religious exercise imposed by laws neutral toward religion;
and
(5) the compelling interest test as set forth in prior Federal court
rulings is a workable test for striking sensible balances between religious
liberty and competing prior governmental interests.
(b) Purposes: The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to restore the compelling interest test as set forth in Sherbert v.
Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963) and Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972) and
to guarantee its application in all cases where free exercise of religion is
substantially burdened; and
(2) to provide a claim or defense to persons whose religious exercise is
substantially burdened by government.
SEC. 3. FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION PROTECTED.
(a) In General: Government shall not substantially burden a
person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of
general applicability, except as provided in subsection (b).
(b) Exception: Government may substantially burden a person's
exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to
the person--
(1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and
(2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling
governmental interest.
(c) Judicial Relief: A person whose religious exercise has been
burdened in violation of this section may assert that violation as a claim or
defense in a judicial proceeding and obtain appropriate relief against a
government. Standing to assert a claim or defense under this section shall be
governed by the general rules of standing under article III of the
Constitution.
SEC. 4. ATTORNEYS FEES.
(a) Judicial Proceedings: Section 722 of the Revised Statutes (42
U.S.C. 1988) is amended by inserting 'the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of
1993,' before 'or title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964'.
(b) Administrative Proceedings: Section 504(b)(1)(C) of title 5,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking 'and' at the end of clause (ii);
(2) by striking the semicolon at the end of clause (iii) and inserting
', and'; and
(3) by inserting '(iv) the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993;'
after clause (iii).
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
(1) the term 'government' includes a branch, department, agency,
instrumentality, and official (or other person acting under color of law) of
the United States, a State, or a subdivision of a State;
(2) the term 'State' includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, and each territory and possession of the United
States;
(3) the term 'demonstrates' means meets the burdens of going forward
with the evidence and of persuasion; and
(4) the term 'exercise of religion' means the exercise of religion under
the First Amendment to the Constitution.
SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY.
(a) In General.--This Act applies to all Federal and State law, and
the implementation of that law, whether statutory or otherwise, and whether
adopted before or after the enactment of this Act .
(b) Rule of Construction.--Federal statutory law adopted after the
date of the enactment of this Act is subject to this Act unless such law
explicitly excludes such application by reference to this Act .
(c) Religious Belief Unaffected.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to authorize any government to burden any religious belief.
SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE UNAFFECTED.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect, interpret, or in any way
address that portion of the First Amendment prohibiting laws respecting the
establishment of religion (referred to in this section as the 'Establishment
Clause'). Granting government funding, benefits, or exemptions, to the extent
permissible under the Establishment Clause, shall not constitute a violation
of this Act . As used in this section, the term 'granting', used with respect
to government funding, benefits, or exemptions, does not include the denial of
government funding, benefits, or exemptions.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.Vice President of the United States
and President of the Senate.