[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2034 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2034

   To protect the free exercise of religion by prohibiting religious 
                        coercion in our schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 1995

  Mr. Nadler introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
          Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To protect the free exercise of religion by prohibiting religious 
                        coercion in our schools.
    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 ``Schoolhouse Religious Freedom Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) various proposals have been made to amend the 
        Constitution and enact laws that would establish government-
        sponsored school prayer;
            (2) any law, regulation, or practice that coerces a person 
        to pray, or to pray in a certain manner, contrary to that 
        person's religious beliefs or practices, or to refrain from 
        praying, is inconsistent with the Constitutional guarantee of 
        religious liberty;
            (3) circumstances that single out, or call attention to, 
        elementary or secondary school-age children with religious 
        beliefs or practices different from the majority of other 
        persons present, will generally have a coercive effect on those 
        children; and
            (4) circumstances in which a student's classmates recite, 
        as a group, a prayer or other liturgical reading from a 
        religious tradition that differs from the student's religious 
        tradition, will generally have a coercive effect on that 
        student.

SEC. 3. COERCION PROHIBITED.

    (a) Generally.--Neither the United States, nor any State may coerce 
any student at, or employee in, any public elementary or secondary 
school to pray or refrain from praying.
    (b) Time, Place, and Manner Regulation Permitted.--Nothing in this 
section shall be construed to prevent reasonable regulations as to the 
time, place, and manner of voluntary prayer.
    (c) Coercion by Employees and Students Deemed Government 
Coercion.--Coercion by employees or students of Public Elementary or 
Secondary Schools that is encouraged or permitted by the authorities in 
charge of a school shall be deemed to be coercion by those authorities 
for the purposes of this section.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act--
            (1) the term ``coercion'', with respect to prayer, means--
                    (A) penalizing or withholding a benefit from an 
                individual because that individual engaged in or failed 
                to engage in prayer;
                    (B) the selection or composition of the prayer by a 
                public authority;
                    (C) taking any action that calls attention to an 
                individual who wishes to pray in a particular manner or 
                to refrain from praying;
                    (D) requiring or permitting organized group prayer, 
                or the reading of a prayer aloud, at any time when 
                students of a public elementary or secondary school are 
                present for a school sponsored activity;
            (2) the term ``prayer'' means any religious text, liturgy, 
        or musical composition used for the purpose of religious 
        practice;
            (3) the term ``State'' includes the District of Columbia, 
        Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the 
        United States; and
            (4) the term ``elementary or secondary school'' means an 
        ``elementary school'' or a ``secondary school'' as those terms 
        are defined in section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).
                                 <all>