[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 219 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 219

 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the issuance under title 
   VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 of administrative guidelines 
           applicable to religious harassment in employment.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 7, 1994

Mr. Brown submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                 Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the issuance under title 
   VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 of administrative guidelines 
           applicable to religious harassment in employment.

Whereas the liberties protected by our Constitution include religious liberty 
        protected by the first amendment;
Whereas citizens of the United States profess the beliefs of almost every 
        conceivable religion;
Whereas Congress has historically protected religious expression even from 
        governmental action not intended to be hostile to religion;
Whereas the Supreme Court has written that ``the free exercise of religion 
        means, first and foremost, the right to believe and profess whatever 
        religious doctrine one desires'';
Whereas the Supreme Court has firmly settled that under our Constitution the 
        public expression of ideas may not be prohibited merely because the 
        content of the ideas is offensive to some;
Whereas Congress enacted the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to 
        restate and make clear again our intent and position that religious 
        liberty is and should forever be granted protection from unwarranted and 
        unjustified government intrusions and burdens;
Whereas the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has written proposed 
        guidelines to title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, published in 
        the Federal Register on October 1, 1993, that expand the definition of 
        religious harassment beyond established legal standards set forth by the 
        Supreme Court, and that may result in the infringement of religious 
        liberty; and
Whereas such guidelines do not appropriately resolve issues related to religious 
        liberty and religious expression in the workplace: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that, for purposes of 
issuing final regulations under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 in connection with the proposed guidelines published by the Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission on October 1, 1993 (58 Fed. Reg. 
51266), the Commission should withdraw religion as a category covered 
by the proposed guidelines, hold public hearings, and receive 
additional public comment before issuing similar new regulations.

                                 <all>