[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3836-S3837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONGRATULATING STEVE McGOWAN

 Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, today I wish to congratulate my 
friend Steve McGowan for receiving this year's Silver Buffalo Award 
from the Boy Scouts of America. This is the highest commendation 
Scouting extends to individuals for their distinguished service to the 
organization, and I am so proud that the Boy Scouts have honored Steve 
for his extraordinary efforts on their behalf.
  Steve McGowan is a very successful lawyer in Charleston, WV, with the 
law firm of Steptoe & Johnson. And even though his law practice is 
demanding, Steve has devoted countless hours to the Boy Scouts of 
America as a volunteer. This should come as no surprise to anyone who 
knows Steve. He was, after all, an Eagle Scout long before he ever was 
a lawyer.
  The Boy Scouts of America inaugurated the Silver Buffalo Award in 
1926, and in its 87-year history only 732 awards have been presented. 
This year, Steve is one of 12 Americans chosen to receive the award--
and the first ever from West Virginia to be so honored. And in 
receiving the Silver Buffalo Award, Steve now holds all three of the 
Boy Scouts highest commendations for

[[Page S3837]]

adult Scout leaders and volunteers, having already been awarded the 
Silver Beaver and Silver Antelope Awards.
  Steve's background in Scouting was one of the reasons I reached out 
to him in 2007 when the Boy Scouts decided to move their National 
Jamboree from a Virginia military base to a permanent location. As 
Governor, I assembled a team of government officials and private 
volunteers to identify the best site in West Virginia and market it to 
the Boy Scouts. I called the group the West Virginia Project Arrow Task 
Force, and it was headed by Steve McGowan.
  The competition with other States was tough. Proposals were submitted 
for 82 sites in 28 States. But with Steve as its chief, the West 
Virginia Project Arrow Task Force hit the bull's eye. The Boy Scouts 
chose a home in West Virginia--a 10,600-acre site in the New River 
Gorge, with easy access to whitewater rafting, hiking, bicycling and 
rock climbing.
  And this July, this permanent new home for the National Jamboree, the 
Summit Bechtel National Family Scout Reserve, will welcome more than 
40,000 Boy Scouts and their leaders from all across the country to 
their 10-day long gathering of Scouts. This is going to be a wonderful 
experience for the Scouts. But it's also going to be an unprecedented 
opportunity for the entire world to see West Virginia hospitality at 
its best.
  Steve McGowan helped to make all of this happen. And on Friday, when 
he accepts his Silver Buffalo Award at the Boy Scouts of America 
National Annual Meeting in Dallas, I hope he will take a well-deserved 
bow for all his contributions to Scouting. The Boy Scouts oath begins 
with a promise to do one's best and to do one's duty to God and 
country, and that is a promise Steve McGowan has kept every day.
  Again, I extend my sincerest congratulations to him on being honored 
with the Silver Buffalo Award, and I thank him for all he has done for 
the Boy Scouts of America, for God and country and for the great State 
of West Virginia.

                          ____________________