S.B.

115th Congress
2nd Session

IN THE U.S. SENATE

INTRODUCED BY
Christian San Nicolas-Democrat, WA
7/1/19

A BILL
To separate religious participation and activities within the government
from states

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United

States of America in Congress assembled.
SECTION 1: SHORT TITLE.
Separation of Church and State Act
SECTION 2: FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS –
I. When the Constitution was first written, there was a lot that was
up for interpretation. The first section of the first amendment
states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free excursive
thereof”. The problem with this is that it just states the
government cannot set up any rules restricting/preventing the
free practice of religion, but has nothing about the government’s
influence on the states. Because of the wording of the
Constitution, there’s this sense of confusion. In order to address
this problem, we must establish a new bill that will determine the
 amount of government participation/influence it has over the
states, as well as government funded, religious organizations.
II. As of today, there are Catholic schools that are funded by the
US’s federal and state governments (The Conversation,
paragraph 17). Our tax money is going to schools that are
religiously structured, specifically Christianity. This shows a
favoring of one religion over another in a country that claims
they won’t interfere with or restrict someone’s practices.
Enacting this bill would allow equality between all religions.
III. Even though this was never stated in the Constitution clearly,
what’s meant by Jefferson’s saying is that the government and
religion should have no interaction with each other. In order to
establish this clear rule, we need a law stating that government
should have no interaction with religion to clear up the confusing
wording our constitution currently has.
(b) PURPOSES –
I. As of right now, our first amendment is unclear with broad rules.
It’s unclear what the government is supposed to do with
religious intervention. Passing this bill will allow clarification for
the first amendment—Having a cleared up set of rules with
religious participation within the government will help both the
people and a clear understanding of where the government
should be.
II. Cutting government spending would allow our tax money to go
towards other purposes. Showing support towards one religion
denies that equality of specific religious practices.
SECTION 3:
Bill will clarify the first section of the 1st Amendment: “Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
excursive thereof”, adding to it to include restricting the influence and
participation of the government in religion. The Under Secretary for Civilian
Security, Democracy, and Human Rights to be involved in its enforcement. No
funding is necessary.
SECTION 4: Any government branches and members cannot participate in
religious activities, events, and practices while on government property.
SECTION 5: Government funds will not show any interest in religious schools. As
of right now, our tax money goes towards catholic schools—the only funded
religiously based school.
ENACTMENT: Bill will go into effect on 1/1/2020