[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E596-E597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO THE COTTON BOLL AREA GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JO ANN EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 21, 1998

  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago, in rural Southern Missouri, 
a small group of individuals banded together and decided that there 
needed to be an organization for young girls in Missouri's Bootheel. 
Today, I rise to pay tribute to the more than 146,000 girls and young 
women who heard the call and who have been a part of the Girl Scouts in 
this most Southern area of the State.
  Thanks to the hard work and tireless dedication of the Cotton Boll 
Area Girl Scout Council, today the hard work of the past 50 years is a 
bright and shining reality for Southern Missouri's young women. 
Officially chartered in 1948, the Council serves girls from 
kindergarten through high school in a nine-county region including: 
Scott, New Madrid, Mississippi, Pemiscot, Dunklin, Stoddard, Butler, 
Ripley and Carter Counties. In fact, two of my staff members are 
veterans of the Cotton Boll Area Girl Scouts.

[[Page E597]]

  The direct involvement of the Girl Scouts is reflected in the daily 
lives of individuals from throughout Southern Missouri. The young women 
who have been involved in the program exemplify the qualities of truth, 
loyalty, helpfulness, courtesy, purity, kindness, obedience, 
cheerfulness, and thriftiness that the National Girl Scouts of America 
were founded upon.
  Those qualities, which were found in the first Girl Scout, are ever 
present today. The standards of excellence and commitment have inspired 
young girls for the last five decades to aspire to highest ideals of 
character, patriotism and conduct that are attainable. I am confident 
that the standards and ideals of the Girl Scouts of America will 
continue to be the standard which future generations will strive to 
achieve.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask all of my colleagues 
to join me and the entire Cotton Boll Area Girl Scout Council on 
Sunday, April 26, as they celebrate their Golden Anniversary. One thing 
is certain, while some things may have changed throughout the years, 
the heart of the Girl Scouting program has remained the same. And as 
one of my local Girl Scouts once said, ``Our past is what connects us 
to the future--a bright and golden future for today and tomorrow's 
girls.''
  That is so true. Happy 50th Anniversary!

                          ____________________