History and Tradition Protection Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2224 To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to prevent the use of the legal system in a manner that extorts money from State and local governments, and the Federal Government, and inhibits such gov- ernments’ constitutional actions under the first, tenth, and fourteenth amendments. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2021 Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. POSEY, Mr. BACON, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. PERRY, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. NOR- MAN, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. BABIN, Mr. GROTHMAN, and Mr. GOH- MERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to prevent the use of the legal system in a manner that extorts money from State and local governments, and the Federal Government, and inhibits such governments’ constitutional actions under the first, tenth, and four- teenth amendments. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2224.IH H2224 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2224 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘History and Tradition 2 Protection Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN LAWSUITS AGAINST 4 STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS. 5 (a) CIVIL ACTION FOR DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS.— 6 Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States 7 (42 U.S.C. 1983) is amended— 8 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before the first sentence; 9 and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(b) The remedies with respect to a claim under this 12 section are limited to injunctive and declaratory relief 13 where the deprivation consists of a violation of a prohibi- 14 tion in the Constitution against the establishment of reli- 15 gion, including, but not limited to, a violation resulting 16 from— 17 ‘‘(1) any monument, memorial, statue, or other 18 figure containing religious words, imagery, or sym- 19 bolism; 20 ‘‘(2) a public building containing religious 21 words, imagery, or symbolism; 22 ‘‘(3) the presence of religious words, imagery, 23 or symbolism in the official seals and flags of the 24 several States and the political subdivision thereof; 25 or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2224.IH H2224 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2224 IH ‘‘(4) religious expression in the context of the 1 proceedings of any deliberative body or division of 2 any State or deliberative body or division of the sev- 3 eral States.’’. 4 (b) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—Section 722(b) of the Re- 5 vised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) 6 is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘However, 7 no fees shall be awarded under this subsection with re- 8 spect to a claim described in subsection (b) of section nine- 9 teen hundred and seventy nine.’’. 10 SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN LAWSUITS AGAINST THE 11 UNITED STATES AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 13 sion of law, a court shall not award reasonable fees and 14 expenses of attorneys to the prevailing party on a claim 15 of injury consisting of the violation of a prohibition in the 16 Constitution against the establishment of religion brought 17 against the United States or any agency or any official 18 of the United States acting in his or her official capacity 19 in any court having jurisdiction over such claim, and the 20 remedies with respect to such a claim shall be limited to 21 injunctive and declaratory relief. 22 (b) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 23 ‘‘a claim of injury consisting of the violation of a prohibi- 24 tion in the Constitution against the establishment of reli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2224.IH H2224 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2224 IH gion’’ includes, but is not limited to, a claim of injury re- 1 sulting from— 2 (1) any monument, memorial, statue, or other 3 figure containing religious words, imagery, or sym- 4 bolism; 5 (2) a Federal building containing religious 6 words, imagery, or symbolism; 7 (3) the presence of religious words, imagery, or 8 symbolism in the official seal of the United States 9 and in its currency and official Pledge; or 10 (4) religious expression in the context of the 11 proceedings of any deliberative body or division of 12 the Legislative or Executive branches of the United 13 States. 14 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 15 This Act and the amendments made by this Act take 16 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and apply 17 to any case that— 18 (1) is pending on such date of enactment; or 19 (2) is commenced on or after such date of en- 20 actment. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2224.IH H2224 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS