[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4230 Reported in House (RH)]

                                                 Union Calendar No. 366

103d CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 4230

                          [Report No. 103-675]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To amend the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to provide for the 
 traditional use of peyote by Indians for religious purposes, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             August 5, 1994

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed





                                                 Union Calendar No. 366
103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4230

                          [Report No. 103-675]

 To amend the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to provide for the 
 traditional use of peyote by Indians for religious purposes, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 14, 1994

Mr. Richardson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

                             August 5, 1994

        Additional sponsors: Mr. Pastor and Mr. Lewis of Georgia

                             August 5, 1994

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 
                               14, 1994]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to provide for the 
 traditional use of peyote by Indians for religious purposes, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``American Indian Religious Freedom 
Act Amendments of 1994''.

SEC. 2. TRADITIONAL INDIAN RELIGIOUS USE OF THE PEYOTE SACRAMENT.

    The Act of August 11, 1978 (42 U.S.C. 1996), commonly referred to 
as the ``American Indian Religious Freedom Act'', is amended by adding 
at the end thereof the following new section:
    ``Sec. 3. (a) The Congress finds and declares that--
            ``(1) for many Indian people, the traditional ceremonial 
        use of the peyote cactus as a religious sacrament has for 
        centuries been integral to a way of life, and significant in 
        perpetuating Indian tribes and cultures;
            ``(2) since 1965, this ceremonial use of peyote by Indians 
        has been protected by Federal regulation;
            ``(3) while at least 28 States have enacted laws which are 
        similar to, or are in conformance with, the Federal regulation 
        which protects the ceremonial use of peyote by Indian religious 
        practitioners, 22 States have not done so, and this lack of 
        uniformity has created hardship for Indian people who 
        participate in such religious ceremonies;
            ``(4) the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case 
        of Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990), held that 
        the First Amendment does not protect Indian practitioners who 
        use peyote in Indian religious ceremonies, and also raised 
        uncertainty whether this religious practice would be protected 
        under the compelling State interest standard; and
            ``(5) the lack of adequate and clear legal protection for 
        the religious use of peyote by Indians may serve to stigmatize 
        and marginalize Indian tribes and cultures, and increase the 
        risk that they will be exposed to discriminatory treatment.
    ``(b)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the use, 
possession, or transportation of peyote by an Indian for bona fide 
traditional ceremonial purposes in connection with the practice of a 
traditional Indian religion is lawful, and shall not be prohibited by 
the United States or any State. No Indian shall be penalized or 
discriminated against on the basis of such use, possession or 
transportation, including, but not limited to, denial of otherwise 
applicable benefits under public assistance programs.
    ``(2) This section does not prohibit such reasonable regulation and 
registration by the Drug Enforcement Administration of those persons 
who cultivate, harvest, or distribute peyote as may be consistent with 
the purposes of this Act.
    ``(3) This section does not prohibit application of the provisions 
of section 481.111(a) of Vernon's Texas Health and Safety Code 
Annotated, in effect on the date of enactment of this section, insofar 
as those provisions pertain to the cultivation, harvest, and 
distribution of peyote.
    ``(4) Nothing in this section shall prohibit any Federal department 
or agency, in carrying out its statutory responsibilities and 
functions, from promulgating regulations establishing reasonable time 
limitations on the use or ingestion of peyote prior to performance of 
official duties by active duty military personnel, sworn law 
enforcement officers, or personnel directly involved in public 
transportation or any other safety-sensitive positions where the 
performance of such duties may be adversely affected by such use or 
ingestion, nor shall this section prohibit affected departments or 
agencies from establishing reasonable limitations on the transportation 
of peyote on military bases or overseas. Such regulations shall be 
adopted only after consultation with representatives of traditional 
Indian religions for which the sacramental use of peyote is integral to 
their practice. Any regulation promulgated pursuant to this section 
shall be subject to the balancing test set forth in section 3 of the 
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (Public Law 103-141; 42 U.S.C. 
2000bb-1).
    ``(c) For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `Indian' means a member of an Indian tribe;
            ``(2) the term `Indian tribe' means any tribe, band, 
        nation, pueblo, or other organized group or community of 
        Indians, including any Alaska Native village (as defined in, or 
        established pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 
        Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), which is recognized as eligible 
        for the special programs and services provided by the United 
        States to Indians because of their status as Indians;
            ``(3) the term `Indian religion' means any religion--
                    ``(A) which is practiced by Indians, and
                    ``(B) the origin and interpretation of which is 
                from within a traditional Indian culture or community; 
                and
            ``(4) the term `State' means any State of the United 
        States, and any political subdivision thereof.
    ``(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as abrogating, 
diminishing, or otherwise affecting--
                    ``(1) the inherent rights of any Indian tribe;
                    ``(2) the rights, express or implicit, of any 
                Indian tribe which exist under treaties, executive 
                orders, and laws of the United States;
                    ``(3) the inherent right of Indians to practice 
                their religions; and
                    ``(4) the right of Indians to practice their 
                religions under any Federal or State law.''.