By Talton H.C.R. No. 190 77R7826 RVH-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The religious freedom clauses of the First Amendment 1-2 of the United States Constitution provide that "Congress shall make 1-3 no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the 1-4 free exercise thereof"; and 1-5 WHEREAS, The establishment clause prohibits the federal 1-6 government from passing legislation to establish an official 1-7 religion or preferring one religion over another; the free exercise 1-8 clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from 1-9 interfering with a person's practice of religion; and 1-10 WHEREAS, However, questions of national concern have arisen 1-11 regarding the application of the general tax laws and other general 1-12 regulatory laws of the government of the United States to the 1-13 churches of this nation; and 1-14 WHEREAS, Many religious organizations have been structured as 1-15 nonprofit legal entities and qualify for statutory tax exemptions 1-16 under Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code, but 1-17 for churches that have not chosen to organize themselves 1-18 specifically as tax-exempt entities the applicability of federal 1-19 tax laws and regulations is unclear; now, therefore, be it 1-20 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 1-21 hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to 1-22 declare its intent that the general tax laws and other general 1-23 regulatory laws of the government of the United States of America 1-24 shall not apply to the churches of this nation, including those 2-1 that are not explicitly structured as tax-exempt nonprofit 2-2 corporations; and, be it further 2-3 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 2-4 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 2-5 the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of 2-6 the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of 2-7 the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 2-8 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 2-9 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.