Federal Disaster Assistance NonProfit Fairness Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, over two years ago the House came together in the wake of Superstorm Sandy and overwhelmingly supported and passed the Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act. Because the Senate failed to take action before the close of the 113th Congress, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has continued to deny houses of worship access to otherwise generally available disaster relief funds.
Today, along with my colleagues Grace Meng and Pete King, I am reintroducing this important legislation to achieve fairness and nondiscrimination in the manner by which FEMA distributes federal disaster assistance.
Houses of worship are foundational pillars of our communities. In the aftermath of disasters, they help feed, comfort, clothe, and shelter thousands of victims--yet when it comes to federal relief, they continue to be left out and left behind. While FEMA has a policy in place to aid nonprofit facilities damaged in disasters, it has excluded houses of worship from such support. This policy is patently unfair, unjustified, and discriminatory and may even suggest hostility to religion.
Plain and simple, it is wrong--and it is time that Congress ensures fundamental fairness for these essential private nonprofits. The bipartisan Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2015 will ensure that houses of worship are eligible for federal disaster aid administered by FEMA. It is important to note that FEMA's discriminatory policy of exclusion is not prescribed by any law. There is nothing in the Stafford Act that precludes funds to repair, replace, or restore houses of worship.
Further, congressional precedent favors enactment of this legislation, as there are several pertinent examples of public funding being allocated to houses of worship. In 1995, federal grants were explicitly authorized and provided to churches damaged by the Oklahoma City terrorist attack. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) provides funding to houses of worship for security upgrades. The Department of the Interior (DOI) proves funding to grants for historically significant properties, including active churches and active synagogues. The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides low-interest loans to houses of worship.
A controlling Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memorandum explains in detail the legal principles that make the Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act constitutional. In a 2002 written opinion, the OLC concluded it was constitutional for Congress to provide disaster relief and reconstruction funds to a religious Jewish school, along with all sorts of other organizations, following a devastating earthquake. The same principles apply to protect religious organizations following other natural disasters, such as devastating hurricanes or tornadoes.
As the OLC memo concluded, ``we believe that provision of disaster assistance to the religious school cannot be materially distinguished from aid programs that are constitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent establishing that religious institutions are fully entitled to receive generally available government benefits and services, such as fire and police protection.''
This bipartisan legislation exhibits no government preference for or against religion, or any particular religion, as it merely permits houses of worship to receive the same type of generally available assistance. It not only passes the test of constitutionality, but the test of basic decency--permitting houses of worship to receive the same type of generally available assistance as many other similarly situated nonprofits in picking up the pieces after devastation.
As Professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School concluded in his 2013 analysis of the bill, ``once FEMA has the policy in place to aid various nonprofit organizations with their building repairs, houses of worship should not be excluded from receiving this aid on the same terms. This is all the more appropriate given the neutral role we have witnessed houses of worship play, without regard to the religion of those affected, in the wake of Sandy and countless previous disasters. Federal disaster relief aid is a form of social insurance and a means of helping battered communities get back on their feet. Churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship are an essential part of the recovery process.''
Similarly, Professor Douglas Laycock of the University of Virginia School of Law concluded that ``charitable contributions to places of worship are tax deductible, without significant controversy, even though the tax benefits to the donor are like a matching grant from the government. These deductions have been uncontroversial because they are included without discrimination in the much broader category of all not-for-profit organizations devoted to charitable, educational, religious, or scientific purposes. The neutral category here is equally broad. To include houses of worship in disaster relief is neutral; to exclude them would be affirmatively hostile. There is no constitutional obstacle to including them.''
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This legislation is supported by a broad coalition of organizations who believe that the recovery of houses of worship is essential to the recovery of neighborhoods, towns, and States. Houses of worship are critical public institutions within our communities, and they must not be denied the equal treatment they deserve. I urge my colleagues to move swiftly and pass this much needed legislation.

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