[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25804]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KATHERINE HARRIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 10, 2005

  Ms. HARRIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, as a Girl Scout, First Class, 
to congratulate the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida on the recent 
opening of its new regional headquarters in Sarasota, Florida.
  The Searcy S. Koen Regional Girl Scout campus, located on 12-acres, 
designed around protected wetlands, focuses on conserving energy and 
protecting our environment. Notably, the facility is Sarasota County's 
second project certified for Leadership in Environmentally Engineered 
Design.
  The new Wetlands Learning Habitat, plus the Council Headquarters and 
Gulf Coast Event and Conference Center will create and enhance 
opportunities for Girl Scouts throughout Southwest Florida. The Girl 
Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, with over 9,700 registered girls, 
continues to build character, courage and confidence in girls who will 
strive to make the world a better place.
  Having experienced scouting for twelve years, I well know the 
extraordinary opportunities offered to these girls, from camping in 
Florida's beautiful State parks, to earning badges representing a 
plethora of skills and knowledge acquired. Attaining the Eagle 
Equivalent as a Girl Scout ``First Class'' was an extremely meaningful 
achievement for me as a young woman.
  In today's world, I believe we would all do well to reflect upon the 
Girl Scout Promise: ``On my honor, I will try: to serve God and my 
country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law 
. . . I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, 
considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what 
I say and do; and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use 
resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to 
every Girl Scout.''

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