[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 20, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING EAGLE SCOUT SAM JONES

  (Ms. STRICKLAND asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an exemplary 
man, Mr. Sam Jones, and to right a historic wrong.
  Mr. Speaker, yesterday, on June 19, the second celebration of the 
national holiday for Juneteenth, Mr. Jones was finally recognized by 
the Boy Scouts of America, Pacific Harbor Council, as an Eagle Scout, 
the highest honor you can earn as a Boy Scout.
  This recognition is long overdue. Mr. Jones should have received this 
honor in 1962 when he was 15 years old. I am pleased to have this 
opportunity to recognize his accomplishments today, 61 years later.
  Mr. Jones was raised in Rochester, New York, by a single mother and 
joined the Boy Scouts shortly after he turned 11 years old. He earned 
25 merit badges and was the first person in his troop to qualify for 
the rank of Eagle Scout.
  Sadly, when this young man asked the nonprofit that sponsored the 
troop why he was not going to receive a ceremony for this prestigious 
honor, he was told, a Scout raised by a single mother didn't match the 
model Black youth the nonprofit wanted to promote.
  While Mr. Jones could have allowed this setback to affect his future, 
he continued to serve his country and his community.
  He graduated from the University of Michigan, joined the Naval 
Reserve Officers Training Corps, served the Navy for his entire career, 
and retired in 1991 with the rank of commander.
  He moved to Puyallup, Washington, in 2015 to be closer to his family, 
and is now a mentor at Mountain View Lutheran Church in Edgewood, 
Washington.
  It is my honor to recognize Mr. Sam Jones on the floor of the U.S. 
House of Representatives today as he celebrates the long-overdue 
recognition of achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

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