HR 1450 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

Do No Harm Act

Introduced Feb 28, 2019 Originated House Sponsor Joseph P. Kennedy III D-MA

Latest action · Apr 8, 2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedFeb 28, 2019
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Do No Harm Act

This bill prohibits the application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) to specified federal laws or the implementation of such laws. Currently, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means.

Under the bill, RFRA is inapplicable to laws or the implementation of laws that

protect against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity (e.g., the Civil Rights Act of 1964);
require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave;
protect collective activity in the workplace;
protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or
provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service.

The bill prevents RFRA from being used to deny (1) goods or services the government has contracted, granted, or made an agreement to provide to a beneficiary; or (2) a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation.

In order for a person to assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.

Cosponsors 215

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 28, 2019 to Oct 16, 2020; 52 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-VA	A. Donald McEachin	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Adam B. Schiff	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-WA	Adam Smith	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NY	Adriano Espaillat	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-FL	Alcee L. Hastings	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-MN	Betty McCollum	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-IL	Bobby L. Rush	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NJ	Bonnie Watson Coleman	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-MI	Brenda L. Lawrence	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-PA	Conor Lamb	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-MI	Debbie Dingell	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NM	Debra A. Haaland	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-WA	Derek Kilmer	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CO	Diana DeGette	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-OR	Earl Blumenauer	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-DC	Eleanor Holmes Norton	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Eric Swalwell	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NJ	Frank Pallone, Jr.	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Grace F. Napolitano	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NY	Grace Meng	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Jackie Speier	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-MA	James P. McGovern	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-MD	Jamie Raskin	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-IL	Janice D. Schakowsky	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Jared Huffman	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NY	Jerrold Nadler	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Jimmy Panetta	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NY	Jose E. Serrano	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-OH	Joyce Beatty	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Julia Brownley	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-MA	Katherine M. Clark	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NY	Kathleen M. Rice	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Katie Porter	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-WI	Mark Pocan	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-PA	Mary Gay Scanlon	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-IL	Mike Quigley	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NY	Nydia M. Velázquez	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-OR	Peter A. DeFazio	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-VT	Peter Welch	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-IL	Raja Krishnamoorthi	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Ro Khanna	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-VA	Robert C. "Bobby" Scott	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-WI	Ron Kind	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CT	Rosa L. DeLauro	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-NY	Sean Patrick Maloney	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-MA	Seth Moulton	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-TX	Sheila Jackson Lee	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-MA	Stephen F. Lynch	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-TN	Steve Cohen	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-PA	Susan Wild	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-OR	Suzanne Bonamici	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-FL	Val Butler Demings	Original	Feb 28, 2019
D-CA	Alan S. Lowenthal		Mar 6, 2019
D-NH	Ann M. Kuster		Mar 6, 2019
D-IL	Bill Foster		Mar 6, 2019
D-PA	Brendan F. Boyle		Mar 6, 2019
D-RI	David N. Cicilline		Mar 6, 2019
D-FL	Debbie Wasserman Schultz		Mar 6, 2019
D-CA	John Garamendi		Mar 6, 2019
D-MA	Lori Trahan		Mar 6, 2019
D-OH	Marcia L. Fudge		Mar 6, 2019
D-CA	Susan A. Davis		Mar 6, 2019
D-HI	Tulsi Gabbard		Mar 6, 2019
D-FL	Charlie Crist		Mar 12, 2019
D-MD	David J. Trone		Mar 12, 2019
D-CA	Doris O. Matsui		Mar 12, 2019
D-IN	Peter J. Visclosky		Mar 12, 2019
D-CA	Scott H. Peters		Mar 12, 2019
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren		Mar 12, 2019
D-MD	C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger		Mar 13, 2019
D-NY	Carolyn B. Maloney		Mar 13, 2019
D-NH	Chris Pappas		Mar 13, 2019
D-CA	Jim Costa		Mar 13, 2019
D-NY	Thomas R. Suozzi		Mar 13, 2019
D-IL	Bradley Scott Schneider		Apr 2, 2019
D-TN	Jim Cooper		Apr 2, 2019
D-CA	Karen Bass		Apr 2, 2019
D-FL	Lois Frankel		Apr 2, 2019
D-MN	Angie Craig		Apr 3, 2019
D-CA	Anna G. Eshoo		Apr 8, 2019
D-NY	Eliot L. Engel		Apr 8, 2019
D-GA	Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.		Apr 8, 2019
D-CA	Ted Lieu		Apr 8, 2019
D-FL	Al Lawson, Jr.		Apr 22, 2019
D-NJ	Donald M. Payne, Jr.		Apr 22, 2019
D-MI	Elissa Slotkin		Apr 22, 2019
D-CT	James A. Himes		Apr 22, 2019
D-KY	John A. Yarmuth		Apr 22, 2019
D-WA	Suzan K. DelBene		Apr 22, 2019
D-VA	Donald S. Beyer, Jr.		Apr 30, 2019
D-FL	Donna E. Shalala		Apr 30, 2019
D-HI	Ed Case		Apr 30, 2019
D-FL	Kathy Castor		Apr 30, 2019
D-CA	Lucille Roybal-Allard		Apr 30, 2019
D-PA	Matt Cartwright		Apr 30, 2019
D-MI	Daniel T. Kildee		May 8, 2019
D-VA	Jennifer Wexton		May 8, 2019
D-CA	Mark DeSaulnier		May 8, 2019
D-FL	Darren Soto		May 14, 2019
D-AZ	Raúl M. Grijalva		May 14, 2019
D-MS	Bennie G. Thompson		May 15, 2019
D-NY	Gregory W. Meeks		May 15, 2019
D-CA	Linda T. Sánchez		May 15, 2019
D-IL	Robin L. Kelly		May 15, 2019
D-NM	Ben Ray Luján		Jun 4, 2019
D-CA	Brad Sherman		Jun 4, 2019
D-ME	Chellie Pingree		Jun 4, 2019
D-CA	J. Luis Correa		Jun 4, 2019
D-CA	Salud O. Carbajal		Jun 4, 2019
D-MD	Elijah E. Cummings		Jun 13, 2019
D-VA	Gerald E. Connolly		Jun 13, 2019
D-CA	Judy Chu		Jun 13, 2019
D-CA	Norma J. Torres		Jun 18, 2019
D-AZ	Ruben Gallego		Jun 18, 2019
D-IL	Sean Casten		Jun 18, 2019
D-FL	Theodore E. Deutch		Jun 18, 2019
D-CA	Tony Cárdenas		Jun 18, 2019
D-NY	Joseph D. Morelle		Jun 19, 2019
D-NY	Brian Higgins		Jun 25, 2019
D-NC	David E. Price		Jun 25, 2019
D-WA	Denny Heck		Jun 25, 2019
D-MI	Haley M. Stevens		Jun 25, 2019
D-MN	Ilhan Omar		Jun 25, 2019
D-CA	Mark Takano		Jun 26, 2019
D-CA	Ami Bera		Jul 10, 2019
D-MD	Anthony G. Brown		Jul 10, 2019
D-FL	Frederica S. Wilson		Jul 10, 2019
D-CT	Jahana Hayes		Jul 10, 2019
D-MI	Andy Levin		Jul 17, 2019
D-CA	Pete Aguilar		Jul 25, 2019
D-NY	Nita M. Lowey		Aug 27, 2019
D-TX	Sylvia R. Garcia		Aug 27, 2019
D-CT	Joe Courtney		Sep 18, 2019
D-NC	Alma S. Adams		Oct 4, 2019
D-NV	Susie Lee		Oct 4, 2019
D-NJ	Albio Sires		Oct 11, 2019
D-CA	Nanette Diaz Barragán		Oct 11, 2019
D-MA	William R. Keating		Oct 11, 2019
D-NY	Yvette D. Clarke		Oct 11, 2019
D-RI	James R. Langevin		Oct 15, 2019
D-PA	Dwight Evans		Oct 18, 2019
D-CA	Jerry McNerney		Oct 18, 2019
D-PA	Michael F. Doyle		Oct 18, 2019
D-AZ	Ann Kirkpatrick		Oct 21, 2019
D-IL	Cheri Bustos		Oct 21, 2019
D-TX	Filemon Vela		Oct 21, 2019
D-CA	Jimmy Gomez		Oct 21, 2019
D-CA	Barbara Lee		Oct 28, 2019
D-CA	Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr.		Oct 28, 2019
D-DE	Lisa Blunt Rochester		Oct 28, 2019
D-TX	Vicente Gonzalez		Oct 28, 2019
D-NC	G. K. Butterfield		Oct 30, 2019
D-WA	Kim Schrier		Oct 30, 2019
D-CA	Maxine Waters		Oct 30, 2019
D-NJ	Donald Norcross		Nov 8, 2019
D-CT	John B. Larson		Nov 8, 2019
D-WA	Rick Larsen		Nov 8, 2019
D-NY	Paul Tonko		Nov 13, 2019
D-FL	Stephanie N. Murphy		Nov 13, 2019
D-OH	Tim Ryan		Nov 13, 2019
D-IA	David Loebsack		Dec 3, 2019
D-CO	Ed Perlmutter		Dec 3, 2019
D-NY	Hakeem S. Jeffries		Dec 3, 2019
D-TX	Joaquin Castro		Dec 3, 2019
D-OR	Kurt Schrader		Dec 3, 2019
D-CA	Mike Levin		Dec 3, 2019
D-WA	Pramila Jayapal		Dec 12, 2019
D-MO	Wm. Lacy Clay		Dec 12, 2019
D-GA	David Scott		Dec 19, 2019
D-IL	Jesús G. "Chuy" García		Jan 9, 2020
D-CA	Raul Ruiz		Jan 17, 2020
D-AZ	Greg Stanton		Feb 11, 2020
D-KS	Sharice Davids		Feb 11, 2020
D-MA	Ayanna Pressley		Feb 26, 2020
D-PA	Chrissy Houlahan		Jun 4, 2020
D-TX	Veronica Escobar		Aug 4, 2020
D-NJ	Andy Kim		Aug 22, 2020
D-LA	Cedric L. Richmond		Aug 22, 2020
D-MN	Dean Phillips		Aug 22, 2020
D-FL	Debbie Mucarsel-Powell		Aug 22, 2020
D-CO	Joe Neguse		Aug 22, 2020
D-PA	Madeleine Dean		Aug 22, 2020
D-NY	Max Rose		Aug 22, 2020
D-CA	Tj Cox		Aug 22, 2020
D-NJ	Tom Malinowski		Aug 22, 2020
D-AZ	Tom O'Halleran		Aug 22, 2020
D-IN	André Carson		Sep 1, 2020
D-NV	Dina Titus		Sep 1, 2020
D-TX	Eddie Bernice Johnson		Sep 1, 2020
D-CA	Harley Rouda		Sep 1, 2020
D-MD	John P. Sarbanes		Sep 1, 2020
D-CA	Juan Vargas		Sep 1, 2020
D-TX	Lloyd Doggett		Sep 1, 2020
D-CA	Mike Thompson		Sep 1, 2020
D-MI	Rashida Tlaib		Sep 1, 2020
D-TX	Colin Z. Allred		Sep 4, 2020
D-CO	Jason Crow		Sep 4, 2020
D-NJ	Josh Gottheimer		Sep 4, 2020
D-IA	Abby Finkenauer		Sep 11, 2020
D-TX	Al Green		Sep 11, 2020
D-NY	Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez		Sep 11, 2020
D-IA	Cynthia Axne		Sep 11, 2020
D-MO	Emanuel Cleaver		Sep 11, 2020
D-GA	Lucy McBath		Sep 11, 2020
D-TX	Marc A. Veasey		Sep 11, 2020
D-NV	Steven Horsford		Sep 11, 2020
D-VA	Abigail Davis Spanberger		Sep 14, 2020
D-NJ	Bill Pascrell, Jr.		Sep 14, 2020
D-SC	James E. Clyburn		Sep 14, 2020
D-NY	Antonio Delgado		Sep 16, 2020
D-IL	Danny K. Davis		Sep 16, 2020
D-NJ	Mikie Sherrill		Sep 21, 2020
D-MA	Richard E. Neal		Sep 21, 2020
D-MD	Steny H. Hoyer		Sep 21, 2020
D-CA	Josh Harder		Oct 16, 2020

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Judiciary Committee	Referred Feb 28, 2019
	Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee	Referred Apr 8, 2019

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

Apr 8, 2019Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
Feb 28, 2019Introduced in House
Feb 28, 2019Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 (relating to the power of Congress to provide for the general welfare of the United States) and Clause 18 (relating to the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the powers vested in Congress).

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 165, no. 37, February 28, 2019, page H2316.

Printed hearings 1

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

Number	Hearing	Committee	Held
Serial No. 116-24	DO NO HARM: EXAMINING THE MISAPPLICATION OF THE 'RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RESTORATION ACT'350 pages	Education and Workforce Committee	Jun 25, 2019

CRS reports 1

Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.

Cite it 1

Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.

Product	Title	Kind	Published
R45928	The Federal Contraceptive Coverage Requirement: Past and Pending Legal Challenges Archived	Report	Apr 28, 2020

Related bills 2

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
S 593	Do No Harm Act	Related bill	Feb 28, 2019
HR 3222	Do No Harm Act	Reintroduction of	Aug 3, 2017

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To amend the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to protect civil rights and otherwise prevent meaningful harm to third parties, and for other purposes.
Short Title(s) as Introduced: Do No Harm Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Feb 28, 2019Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.