[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8720 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8720

   To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and the 
 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to prohibit preferential Federal grant 
         treatment for atheist groups, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 2024

Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Banks, Mr. Hern, Mr. Duncan, 
 Ms. Salazar, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. Self, Mr. Weber of Texas, 
Mr. Babin, Mr. Cline, and Mr. Bishop of North Carolina) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and the 
 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to prohibit preferential Federal grant 
         treatment for atheist groups, 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 and Fairness 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT OF 1998.

    (a) Findings.--Section 2(a) of the International Religious Freedom 
Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(a)) is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (6) to read as follows:
            ``(6) Targeting of non-theists, humanists, and atheists 
        because of their beliefs occurs around the world.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Decreasing religiosity and increasing secularization 
        has, in some parts of the world, led to some practicing theists 
        facing greater discrimination, harassment, and threats.''.
    (b) High-Level Contacts With Nongovernmental Organizations.--
Section 105 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 
U.S.C. 6414) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``United States chiefs of mission shall'' 
        and inserting ``(a) In General.--United States chiefs of 
        mission shall'';
            (2) by striking ``United States chiefs of mission and 
        Foreign Service officers abroad shall'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(b) Other Meetings.--United States chiefs of mission and Foreign 
Services officers abroad shall''; and
            (3) in subsection (a) (as so designated)--
                    (A) by striking ``to provide'' and inserting ``to--
            ``(1) provide'';
                    (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting 
                ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) organize, participate in, and attend high-level 
        meetings to understand, document, and report to the Department 
        of State's Office of International Religious Freedom any 
        perceived or actual anti-religious or anti-theist funding 
        concerns, in the Department of State's programs and grant 
        awards.''.
    (c) Programs and Allocations of Funds by United States Missions 
Abroad.--Section 106 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
(22 U.S.C. 6415) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``It is the sense of Congress'' and 
        inserting ``(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of 
        Congress'';
            (2) in subsection (a) (as so designated)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) in allocating or recommending the allocation of funds 
        for programs and grants funded by the United States Government, 
        the Department of State and United States diplomatic missions 
        shall ensure that the programs and grants do not--
                    ``(A) promote or advance non-theist or humanist 
                ideologies or beliefs; or
                    ``(B) aim to expand the membership of non-theist 
                groups.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Limitations on Funds.--
            ``(1) Other limitations.--No funds allocated for programs 
        or grants funded by the United States Government as described 
        in subsection (a) may be used to provide funding to--
                    ``(A) any entity or close affiliate of such entity 
                that has made public statements disparaging, infringing 
                upon, or otherwise denigrating theistic belief; or
                    ``(B) any atheist, agnostic, humanist, or other 
                non-theist group in a foreign country unless the 
                Department of State and United States diplomatic 
                mission to that country also provide proportional 
                funding to other religious groups in that country over 
                the same time period, taking into account the severity 
                and number of violations of religious freedom of the 
                various religious groups and the population and 
                financial capacity of the various religious groups.''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961.

    Section 116(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2151n(e)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(e)'' and inserting ``(e)(1)'';
            (2) by striking ``None of these funds'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(2)(A) None of these funds''; and
            (3) in paragraph (2) (as so designated), by adding at the 
        end the following:
    ``(B) None of these funds may be used, directly or indirectly, to--
            ``(i) promote or advance non-theist or humanist ideologies 
        or beliefs; or
            ``(ii) directly aim to expand the membership of non-theist 
        groups.
    ``(C) None of these funds may be provided to--
            ``(i) any entity or close affiliate of such entity that has 
        made public statements disparaging, infringing upon, or 
        otherwise denigrating theistic belief; or
            ``(ii) any atheist, agnostic, humanist, or other non-theist 
        group in a foreign country unless the Department of State and 
        United States diplomatic mission to that country also provide 
        proportional funding to other religious groups in that country 
        over the same time period, taking into account the severity and 
        number of violations of religious freedom of the various 
        religious groups and the population and financial capacity of 
        the various religious groups.''.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Office of 
International Religious Freedom, in coordination with the Department of 
State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes a list 
of all grants, cooperative agreements, and programs funded by the 
Department in the previous fiscal year that have been provided to 
religious, atheist, agnostic, and humanist groups worldwide.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The list include in the report 
required by subsection (a)--
            (1) shall be disaggregated by country, dollar amount, name 
        of implementing partner;
            (2) shall include a brief description of what objectives 
        the grant was intended to achieve, what metrics suggest those 
        objectives were met, and what national interests were advanced; 
        and
            (3) how programming comports with both the Free Exercise 
        Clause and the Establishment Clause of the United States 
        Constitution.
    (c) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) may be submitted 
in classified form if necessary.
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