[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3902 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3902
To prohibit agencies from maintaining or sharing information relating
to religious affiliation, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 22, 2022
Mr. Marshall (for himself, Mr. Braun, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Daines, Mrs. Hyde-
Smith, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Wicker, and
Mr. Rubio) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit agencies from maintaining or sharing information relating
to religious affiliation, 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 ``Prohibiting Religious Exemption and
Accommodations Databases Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.
It is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the freedoms of the First Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States, including the right to free exercise of
religion, are among the pre-eminent blessings of liberty
guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, and that
religious freedom need not be sacrificed in service to our
Government, but must be respected by law; and
(2) immediate steps must be taken to prevent unwarranted
dissemination of information on religious exemptions or
accommodations sought or provided by or to any individual in
conformance with principles of both section 552a of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy Act of
1974''), in particular subsection (e)(7) of such section, as
well as the guidance issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission on December 14, 2021.
SEC. 3. MAINTENANCE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO RELIGIOUS
ACCOMMODATIONS.
(a) Amendments to the Privacy Act of 1974.--Section 552a of title
5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy Act of 1974'')
is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(7)--
(A) by striking ``means, with'' and inserting ``--
``(A) means, with'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), as so designated, by
adding ``and'' at the end; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) does not include the sharing, disclosure, or
dissemination of information concerning a religious
accommodation beyond the minimum necessary for the
purpose;'';
(2) in subsection (c)(1)--
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A),
strike ``except for disclosures made under subsections
(b)(1) or (b)(2) of this section,'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(C) in subparagraph (B), by adding ``and'' at the
end; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) a disclosure made under subsection (b)(1) or
(b)(2) only if the disclosure concerns or describes how
any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First
Amendment, including as related to a religious
accommodation under any Federal law;'';
(3) in subsection (o), by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no record
relating to the religious affiliation of an individual that is
contained in a system of records may be disclosed to a recipient agency
or non-Federal agency for use in a computer matching program.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(x) Religious Accommodation.--For purposes of subsection (e)(7),
an individual voluntarily requesting, or providing any information
relating to, any religious accommodation, including to a COVID-19
vaccine requirement, shall not constitute an express authorization for
an agency to maintain a record of any information related to the
religious beliefs, identity, or affiliation of the individual.''.
(b) FOIA Exemption.--Section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code
(commonly known as the ``Freedom of Information Act'') is amended--
(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
``(10) related to the religious affiliation of an
individual that is provided to or collected by an agency (as
defined in section 552a(a) of this title), including for
purposes of a religious accommodation to a COVID-19 vaccine
requirement.''.
(c) Privacy of Information.--An agency (as defined in section
552a(a) of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy
Act of 1974'')) that collects or is provided any information relating
to the religious beliefs, identity, or affiliation of an individual for
purposes of a religious accommodation, including to a COVID-19 vaccine
requirement--
(1) shall maintain and use the information--
(A) in a manner that protects the confidentiality
of the information and privacy of the individual to the
maximum extent practicable; and
(B) separate from any other record of an individual
relating to a religious exemption or accommodation
request; and
(2) may not disclose the information with any person
outside of the agency, including any other Federal or non-
Federal agency or private organization.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act or the amendments
made by this Act shall be construed to impede or authorize a delay in
the timely processing of a request made by an individual to an agency
(as defined in section 552a(a) of title 5, United States Code (commonly
known as the ``Privacy Act of 1974'')) for a religious accommodation.
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