[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 29, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11647-S11648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
        Hutchinson, and Ms. Mikulski):
  S. 1668. A bill to amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to 
establish provisions with respect to religious accommodation in 
employment, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.


                    WORKPLACE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT

 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I am introducing today a bipartisan 
bill, together with Senator Brownback of Kansas. This is the Workplace 
Religious Freedom Act of 1999.
  This bill would protect workers from on-the-job discrimination 
related to religious beliefs and practices. It represents a milestone 
in the protection of the religious liberties of all workers.
  In 1972, Congress amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require 
employers to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious practice or 
observance unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the 
employer. This 1972 amendment, although completely appropriate, has 
been interpreted by the courts so narrowly as to place little restraint 
on an employer's refusal to provide religious accommodation. The 
Workplace Religious Freedom Act will restore to the religious 
accommodation provision the weight that Congress originally intended 
and help assure that employers have a meaningful obligation to 
reasonably accommodate their employees' religious practices.
  The restoration of this protection is no small matter. For many 
religiously observant Americans the greatest peril to their ability to 
carry out their religious faiths on a day-to-day basis may come from 
employers. I have heard accounts from around the country about a small 
minority of employers who will not make reasonable accommodation for 
employees to observe the Sabbath and other holy days or for employees 
who must wear religiously-required garb, such as a yarmulke, or for 
employees to wear clothing that meets religion-based modesty 
requirements.
  The refusal of an employer, absent undue hardship, to provide 
reasonable accommodation of a religious practice should be seen as a 
form of religious discrimination, as originally intended by Congress in 
1972. And religious discrimination should be treated fully as seriously 
as any other form of discrimination that stands between Americans and 
equal employment opportunities. Enactment of the Workplace Religious 
Freedom Act will constitute an important step toward ensuring that all 
members of society, whatever their religious beliefs and practices, 
will be protected from an invidious form of discrimination.
  It is important to recognize that, in addition to protecting the 
religious freedom of employees, this legislation protects employers 
from an undue burden. Employees would be allowed to take time off only 
if their doing so does not pose a significant difficulty or expense for 
the employer. This common sense definition of undue hardship is used in 
the ``Americans with Disabilities Act'' and has worked well in that 
context.
  We have little doubt that this bill is constitutional because it 
simply clarifies existing law on discrimination by private employers, 
strengthening the required standard for employers. This bill does not 
deal with behavior by State or Federal Governments or substantively 
expand 14th amendment rights.
  I believe this bill should receive bipartisan support. This bill is 
endorsed by wide range of organizations including the American Jewish 
Committee, Christian Legal Society, Family Research Council, General 
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, National Council of the Churches 
of Christ in the U.S.A., and the Southern Baptist Convention.
  I want to thank Senator Brownback for joining me in this effort. I 
look forward working with him to pass this legislation so that all 
American workers can be assured of both equal employment opportunities 
and the ability to practice their religion.
 Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, today I am pleased to stand with 
concerned colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, as well as 
concerned citizens, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs 
among many other faiths. We come together in support of a simple 
proposition. America is distinguished internationally as a land of 
religious freedom. It should be a place where no person is forced to 
choose between keeping their faith and keeping their job. That is why I 
am joining

[[Page S11648]]

with Senators Kerry, Hutchinson, Lieberman and Mikulski in introducing 
the Workplace Religious Freedom Act.
  This legislation provides a skilled reconciling of religion in the 
workplace. It recognizes that work and religion can be reconciled 
without undue hardship. Americans continue to be a religious people, 
with a deep personal faith commitment. With this commitment comes 
personal religious standards which govern personal activity. For 
example, some Americans don't work on Saturdays, while others don't 
work on Sundays. Not because they're lazy or frivolous, but because 
their faith convictions call for a Sabbath day, requiring a day to be 
set aside as holy.
  Similarly, some Americans need to wear a skullcap to work, or a head 
covering, or a turban. As a nation whose great strength rests in 
diversity, surely we can protect such diverse yet simple and 
unobtrusive expressions of personal faith. Surely we're still generous 
enough, and God-respecting enough as a nation, to support others in the 
genuine expressions of their faith. I am particularly anxious for the 
religious minorities, for the Muslims and the Jews and the others who 
are very small in number but great in conviction. In our increasingly 
secular society, many remain among us who still hold by ancient, heart-
felt principles governed by a deep personal belief. I submit to you 
they deserve the decency of respect which includes our protection in 
preserving their peaceful religious expressions. This is a core 
principle which cannot be compromised, because it speaks to the essence 
of who we are as a people committed to preserving freedom.
  In this land of religious freedom, one would hope that employers 
would spontaneously accommodate the religious needs of their employees 
whenever reasonable. That is, after all, what we do here in Congress. 
For example, we don't conduct votes or hearings on certain holidays so 
that Members and staff can observe their religious holy days. While 
most private employers also extend this simple but important decency to 
their workers, others unfortunately do not.
  Historically, title VII of the Civil Rights Act was meant to address 
conflicts between religion and work. On its face it requires employers 
to ``reasonably accommodate'' the religious needs of their employees as 
long as this does not impose an ``undue hardship'' on the employer. The 
problem is that our federal courts have essentially read these lines 
out of the law by ruling that any hardship is an undue hardship. This 
is not right, nor does it hold with the spirit of this great nation 
which was founded as a refuge for religious freedom.

  Thus, a Maryland trucking company can try to force a devout Christian 
truck driver to take a Sunday shift. A local sheriff's department in 
Nevada can tell a Seventh Day Adventist that she must work a Saturday 
shift if she wants to continue with them.
  The Workplace Religious Freedom Act will re-establish the principle 
that employers must reasonably accommodate the religious needs of 
employees such as these. This legislation is carefully crafted and 
strikes an appropriate balance between religious accommodation, while 
ensuring that an undue burden is not forced upon American businesses. 
It is flexible and case-oriented on an individual basis. Thus, a 
smaller business with less resources and personnel would not be asked 
to accommodate religious employees in exactly the same fashion as would 
a large manufacturing concern.
  I am proud of the fact that this is a bi-partisan effort, I am proud 
that this legislation is supported by such a broad spectrum of groups 
ranging from the Christian Legal Society and the Union of Orthodox 
Jewish Congregations, to the Family Research Council, the National 
Council of Churches, the North American Council for Muslim Women, and 
the American Jewish Committee.
  America is a great nation because we honor the free exercise of 
belief, which includes the very precious, fundamental freedom of 
religion. This liberty, known as the ``first freedom,'' is worthy of 
our continued vigilance. it properly demands support from all quarters, 
both the public and private sectors. It properly finds it here in this 
legislation which re-establishes the right balance between the 
competing concerns of business and faith.
 Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I am proud to join Senators 
Brownback, Kerry, and others in introducing this important legislation 
today. America is a deeply religious nation, and fostering a society in 
which all Americans can worship according to the dictates of their 
conscience has been of prominent importance to this country since its 
beginning. Indeed, the Founders of this great Nation saw preserving 
Americans' ability to worship freely as so important that they 
enshrined it in the Bill of Rights' very first amendment.
  Unfortunately, a number of Americans today are not able to take full 
advantage of America's promise of religious freedom. They are instead 
being forced to make a choice no American should face: one between the 
dictates of their faith and the demands of their job. Whether by being 
forced to work on days their religion requires them to refrain from 
work or by being denied the right to wear clothing their faith mandates 
they wear, too many Americans of faith are facing an unfair choice 
between their job and their religion.
  This legislation would provide much needed help for those confronted 
with that choice. It would require employers to provide reasonable 
accommodations to an employee's religious observance or practice, 
unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. The 
bill would not, it is worth emphasizing, give employees a right to 
dictate the conditions of their job, because it does not demand that 
employers accede to unreasonable requests. Instead, it requires only 
that an employer grant a religiously based request for an accommodation 
to an employee's religious belief or practice if the accommodation 
would not impose significant difficulty or expense on the employer.
  Mr. President, this legislation is long overdue. I hope that we can 
see it enacted into law soon.

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