[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 70 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2161-S2162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       COVID-19 HATE CRIMES ACT-

 Mr. LEE. Mr. President, over the past 13 months, Americans 
have endured extraordinary constraints on one of the most precious 
rights guaranteed by our Constitution: the right to freely exercise 
their religion. There is, perhaps, no freedom more intertwined with our 
nation's history. It was religious freedom that drove persecuted 
settlers from England to America just over 400 years ago. And they were 
not the last. Over the centuries, countless religious minorities from 
across the world have come to America, seeking refuge from religious 
warfare and bigotry.
  To be clear, we haven't always lived up to this ideal. Members of the 
church to which I belong were forced to flee across the country due to 
religious persecution, to name just one example. Despite these 
aberrations, however, no nation in the history of the world has 
protected and preserved the rights of religion and conscience like the 
United States.And that's not an accident. The First Congress recognized 
the profound importance of religious freedom by protecting it in the 
very first sentence of the Bill of Rights. That provision--called the 
First Amendment--states that ``Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'' 
The Supreme Court has applied this prohibition to State and local 
governments through the 14th Amendment.
  So what does this mean, practically? First, governments cannot 
discriminate against religion or single it out for worse treatment than 
similar nonreligious activities. But, second, if a government does 
treat religion differently than other similar activities, it must 
'pass'' the ``strict scrutiny'' test. That means that the government 
must show that there was absolutely no other way to achieve an 
extremely important goal than restricting the religious activity in 
question.
  The First Amendment is clear. Religious exercise must be protected. 
Nevertheless, over the course of the pandemic, governments throughout 
the country have placed heavy-handed restrictions on this fundamental 
freedom, restricting Americans' freedom to gather for worship, to meet 
in smaller groups for religious purposes, or even to sing.
  At first, Americans accepted these restrictions. We understood the 
extraordinary difficulties facing our leaders as they struggled to 
grapple with a new and deadly virus. And we were assured that these 
restrictions would be temporary, lasting no longer than necessary. But 
as the weeks and months dragged on and the prohibitions on religious 
exercise continued, we began to see a startling trend. As restrictions 
on restaurants, casinos, and museums began to thaw, in many states, 
synagogues, churches, temples, mosques, and other religious gatherings 
were left out in the cold.
  In May 2020, the Governor of California allowed some restaurants and 
retail businesses to operate indoors with up to 50 Percent capacity. 
Meanwhile, all indoor religious services--of

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any size, and even with identical precautions--were outright banned.
  California was not alone. In Nevada, the Governor allowed gambling 
establishments to reopen in June, 2020. As thousands flooded into 
casinos along the Las Vegas strip, religious gatherings in Nevada 
remained strictly limited to 50 people. Likewise, in New York, houses 
of worship were explicitly singled out for worse treatment. In some 
areas, religious gatherings were restricted to only 10 people, while 
train stations, acupuncture facilities, and factories in that same area 
could allow entry to as many as they wished.
  And I could go on. Again, and again, COVID lookdown rules left 
religious Americans on the outside looking in.
  Despite several opportunities to overturn these clear, discriminatory 
restrictions, for most of 2020, the Supreme Court failed to intervene. 
In South Bay v. Newsom, five Justices--without explanation-declined to 
halt California's ban on all religious services. Likewise, in Calvary 
Chapel v. Sisolak, the Supreme Court left Nevada's discriminatory ban 
on houses of worship in place. And again, they did so without 
explanation.
  The pandemic stretched on. Some States eased restrictions, allowing 
worshippers to gather. Others did not. During that time, countless 
weddings, baptisms, holy days, and, perhaps most heartbreakingly--
funerals--were observed in isolation from family, friends, and 
community. Or not at all.
  Finally, in November of last year--after over 8 months of lockdowns--
a ray of light broke through. In Roman Catholic Diocese v. Cuomo, the 
Court held that ``even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put 
away and forgotten. [New York's] restrictions . . . strike at the very 
heart of the First Amendment's guarantee of religious liberty.'' 
Subsequent decisions earlier this year resurrected the First 
Amendment's robust protections of religious liberty. Just a few weeks 
ago, in Tandon v. Newsom, the Supreme Court resoundingly affirmed 
religious freedom, summarily rejecting California's discriminatory 
restrictions. Thanks to God, the First Amendment lives.
  It's been a long road to get here. But we can't ignore the lessons of 
the past 13 months. That's why I offered an amendment to S.937, the 
COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which would require the Attorney General to 
create a report detailing the restrictions imposed on religious 
exercise imposed during the pandemic.
  This amendment directs the Department of Justice to look into: first, 
whether governments applied the same rules to religious groups that 
they applied to similar nonreligious organizations and businesses, and, 
second, whether those restrictions complied with the First Amendment. 
The goal here is simple-we need to understand and remember how 
Americans in 2020 lost their religious freedoms in order to ensure that 
it never happens again.

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