United States HR 8769: Military Chaplains Modernization Act of 2026

Bill Text

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119TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. 8769
To amend title 10, United States Code, to define the purpose, role, duties,
and professional qualification requirements for chaplains in the Armed
Forces, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 12, 2026
Mr. SELF (for himself and Mr. HARRIGAN) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to define the pur-
pose, role, duties, and professional qualification require-
ments for chaplains in the Armed Forces, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Chaplains 4
Modernization Act of 2026’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress makes the following findings: 7
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(1) Religion and religious liberty have always 1
served an essential role in society, culture, and mili-2
tary service, making them necessary for good demo-3
cratic governance and a strong military. 4
(2) George Washington, as a young colonel, rec-5
ognized the importance of religious practice for his 6
soldiers, repeatedly requesting chaplains for his 7
troops and periodically performing religious duties 8
himself. 9
(3) When the Second Continental Congress es-10
tablished the Continental Army in June 1775, it rec-11
ommended ‘‘all officers and soldiers diligently to at-12
tend Divine Service’’. 13
(4) In 1775, at the behest of George Wash-14
ington, then General of the Continental Army, the 15
Second Continental Congress established the Federal 16
chaplaincy that is in existence to this day, making 17
it one of the oldest military services provided for 18
American troops. 19
(5) From their earliest days, military chaplains 20
have existed to provide pastoral care, meeting the re-21
ligious needs of members of the Armed Forces and 22
their families. 23
(6) In 1775, the Continental Congress, under-24
standing the significance of chaplaincy, similarly in-25
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structed its fledgling navy that, ‘‘The commanders 1
of the ships of the Thirteen United Colonies are to 2
take care that divine services be performed twice a 3
day on board, and a sermon preached on Sundays, 4
unless bad weather or other extraordinary accidents 5
prevent it.’’. 6
(7) John Adams instructed his Secretary of the 7
Navy on the influence of a Navy chaplaincy, stating, 8
‘‘I know not whether the commanders of our ships 9
have given much attention to this subject [chap-10
lains], but in my humble opinion, we shall be very 11
unskillful politicians as well as bad Christians and 12
unwise men if we neglect this important office in our 13
infant Navy.’’. 14
(8) In 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt also ac-15
knowledged the importance of the chaplaincy by 16
vowing to ‘‘never fail to provide for the spiritual 17
needs of our officers and men under the Chaplains 18
of our armed forces’’, and during World War II, 19
President Roosevelt had Bibles printed and provided 20
to troops in the field. 21
(9) Understanding the importance of religion 22
not only to the members of the United States mili-23
tary, but also to the United States as a whole, the 24
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Founders ratified the First Amendment to the 1
United States Constitution in 1791. 2
(10) Under the First Amendment, which ap-3
plies to the Armed Forces, the Federal Government 4
has a constitutional duty to provide for the religious 5
exercise of members of the Armed Forces, an obliga-6
tion to which the chaplain corps is essential. 7
(11) The Supreme Court stated, in Kennedy v. 8
Bremerton School District, 597 U.S. 507 (2022), 9
that the court is ‘‘aware of no historically sound un-10
derstanding of the Establishment Clause that begins 11
to ‘mak[e] it necessary for government to be hostile 12
to religion’. . .’’. 13
(12) In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 14
the Supreme Court further explained that ‘‘the Es-15
tablishment Clause does not include anything like a 16
‘modified heckler’s veto, in which . . . religious ac-17
tivity can be proscribed’ based on ‘perceptions’ or 18
‘discomfort’ ’’ and that the Clause does not ‘‘ ‘compel 19
the government to purge from the public sphere’ 20
anything an objective observer could reasonably infer 21
endorses or ‘partakes of the religious’ ’’. 22
(13) The Supreme Court made clear in Parker 23
v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733 (1974) that chaplains in the 24
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