[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 20, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H1076-H1077]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMENDING LOCAL UNITED WAY CHAPTERS FOR CONTINUING SUPPORT OF THE BOY 
                           SCOUTS OF AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend the 97 
percent of all local United Way chapters which continue to support the 
Boy Scouts of America despite the national campaign to demonize this 
wonderful organization.
  The pressure to abandon the Boy Scouts has been just as intense as 
the pressure on the scouts themselves to abandon their moral standards 
and to take God out of the scout oath. Powerful business interests and 
Hollywood moguls like Steven Spielberg have severed their links with 
the scouts, and the taxpayer-funded public broadcasting system have 
attacked them as well. However, an overwhelming majority of the United 
Way chapters and the American people themselves have not cowered and 
have stood tall against this disgraceful campaign of intimidation.
  In my own constituency, for instance, the Orange County United Way 
Chapter has given local scout troops and organizations $1.3 million 
over the last 3 years and has no sign of letting up. Just recently, the 
City of Huntington Beach, for example, has named itself the Tree City 
USA for its greenery. Many of those trees in Huntington Beach were 
planted by local boy scout troops doing their good deeds and community 
service.
  The United Way chapters that did cave into the pressure were mostly

[[Page H1077]]

from liberal university towns where ordinary decency is often treated 
with scorn and derision, but in the American heartland, in communities 
where families jealously guard virtues like loyalty and bravery and 
reverence, the support for the Boy Scouts has remained steadfast, and I 
would encourage every American to inquire as to what their local United 
Way is doing in this controversy.
  One of the supreme ironies with this campaign against the scouts is 
that local Americans, ordinary Americans have stepped up and stepped 
into the breach to support the scouts when the United Way has pulled 
its support. This overwhelming backing for the scouts has exposed the 
opposition for what it is, marginal and well financed and vocal but a 
vitriolic minority nonetheless.
  Mainstream America obviously believes that the Boy Scouts have the 
right to set their own moral standards and to include God in the scout 
oath. By the way, the Girl Scouts of America, which have many wonderful 
programs and are celebrating an anniversary this year, gave in to 
political correctness when it came to God and their scout oath. It is 
no longer required for Girl Scouts to acknowledge God in the scout 
oath. This is especially sad when young girls need a spiritual 
foundation to cope with the challenges and the temptations faced by 
today's young people.
  The argument of those attacking the scouts has been that the scouts 
are being discriminatory. Well, yes, but they have a right to base 
their organization on certain beliefs like in God or in certain 
standards of behavior, sexual or otherwise. It is called freedom of 
association, and to those who call this discrimination, I ask, is this 
not what gay groups and even AIDS organizations do, discriminate? Some 
ask what do I mean?
  Well, does anyone doubt that Christian fundamentalists are being 
excluded from these organizations, from homosexual and AIDS 
organizations because these religious fundamentalists might want to 
preach at these people? Is this not a discrimination against those 
people's religion? Well, of course, it is a discrimination against 
their religion, but those groups, just like the scouts, have a right to 
have associations based on shared values.
  When gays were targeted by police for personal abuse and victimized 
by hatemongers, their rights were obviously being violated, and good 
people stood up. They united to end this injustice.
  Today, it is the right of people with more traditional values, like 
the scouts, who are being under attack simply for trying to live their 
own lives with their own moral standards. The scouts in Orange County, 
for example, have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees 
in order to protect their right to have God in the scout oath. This is 
intolerable and the scouts are not the only ones facing this stupid 
political correctness.
  Recently the Red Cross in Orange County canceled an appearance of a 
local school chorus before one of their meetings because the songs that 
were planned to be sung at that meeting mentioned God, like America the 
Beautiful. Well, later on the Red Cross apologized but only after a 
hailstorm of criticism.
  What is going on here? Americans have a right not to be forced to 
participate in what they do not believe, but do not people with 
religious persuasions have a right to have their own standards? Wake 
up, America. It can get worse and it will get worse unless we stand 
tall and we stand together against this kind of nonsense.

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