[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2660 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2660

 To affirm the religious freedom of taxpayers who are conscientiously 
opposed to participation in war, to provide that the income, estate, or 
 gift tax payments of such taxpayers be used for nonmilitary purposes, 
  to create the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund to receive such tax 
    payments, to improve revenue collection, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 9, 1997

Mr. Lewis of Georgia (for himself, Ms. Carson, Mr. Leach, Mr. Dellums, 
       Mr. Payne, Ms. Furse, Mr. Towns, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Frank of 
  Massachusetts, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Oberstar, Ms. Rivers, Mr. Brown of 
   California, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Markey, Mr. Owens, and Mr. Hinchey) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To affirm the religious freedom of taxpayers who are conscientiously 
opposed to participation in war, to provide that the income, estate, or 
 gift tax payments of such taxpayers be used for nonmilitary purposes, 
  to create the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund to receive such tax 
    payments, to improve revenue collection, 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 ``Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the framers of the United States Constitution, 
        recognizing free exercise of religion as an unalienable right, 
        secured its protection in the First Amendment of the 
        Constitution; and Congress reaffirmed it in the Religious 
        Freedom Restoration Act of 1993;
            (2) taxpayers who are conscientious objectors recognize and 
        affirm their civic and legal responsibilities to pay their full 
        share of Federal taxes, and seek to do so without violation of 
        their moral, ethical, or religious beliefs;
            (3) for more than 25 years, these taxpayers have sought 
        legal relief from either having their homes, automobiles, and 
        other property seized, bank accounts attached, wages garnished, 
        fines imposed, and threat of imprisonment for failure to pay, 
        or violating their consciences;
            (4) conscientious objection to participation in military 
        service based upon moral, ethical, or religious beliefs is 
        recognized in Federal law, with provision for alternative 
        service; and
            (5) the Joint Committee on Taxation in 1992 and 1994 has 
        certified that a tax trust fund, providing for conscientious 
        objector taxpayers to pay their full taxes for non-military 
        purposes, would increase Federal revenues.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Designated Conscientious Objector.--For purposes of this Act, 
the term ``designated conscientious objector'' means a taxpayer who is 
opposed to participation in war in any form based upon the taxpayer's 
deeply held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs or training (within 
the meaning of the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 450 
et seq.)), and who has certified these beliefs in writing to the 
Secretary of the Treasury in such form and manner as the Secretary 
provides.
    (b) Military Purpose.--For purposes of this Act, the term 
``military purpose'' means any activity or program which any agency of 
the Government conducts, administers, or sponsors and which effects an 
augmentation of military forces or of defensive and offensive 
intelligence activities, or enhances the capability of any person or 
nation to wage war, including the appropriation of funds by the United 
States for--
            (1) the Department of Defense;
            (2) the Central Intelligence Agency;
            (3) the National Security Council;
            (4) the Selective Service System;
            (5) activities of the Department of Energy that have a 
        military purpose;
            (6) activities of the National Aeronautics and Space 
        Administration that have a military purpose;
            (7) foreign military aid; and
            (8) the training, supplying, or maintaining of military 
        personnel, or the manufacture, construction, maintenance, or 
        development of military weapons, installations, or strategies.

SEC. 4. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PEACE TAX FUND.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish 
an account in the Treasury of the United States to be known as the 
``Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund'', for the deposit of income, gift, 
and estate taxes paid by or on behalf of taxpayers who are designated 
conscientious objectors. The method of deposit shall be prescribed by 
the Secretary of the Treasury in a manner that minimizes the cost to 
the Treasury and does not impose an undue burden on such taxpayers.
    (b) Use of Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund.--Funds in the 
Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund shall be allocated annually to any 
appropriation not for a military purpose.
    (c) Report.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall report to the 
Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
Senate each year on the total amount transferred into the Religious 
Freedom Peace Tax Fund during the preceding fiscal year and the 
purposes for which such amount was allocated in such preceding fiscal 
year. Such report shall be printed in the Congressional Record upon 
receipt by the Committees.
    (c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that any 
increase in revenue to the Treasury resulting from the creation of the 
Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund shall be allocated in a manner 
consistent with the purposes of the Fund.
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