[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1932-1933]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2015

             100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today actually in celebration of the recognition 
of the 100th anniversary of a great, value-laden, principle-driven 
organization, the Boy Scouts of America. It was 100 years ago this 
month that led to the formal organization of the Boy Scouts of America. 
And that came from an event actually that happened across the sea, in 
London.

[[Page 1933]]

  A businessman from Chicago, William D. Boyce, was traveling there, 
and on a foggy night was lost, and was guided by the selfless act of a 
young man who stopped to not just offer directions, but take the 
businessman, lead him where he needed to be. And at the end of that 
journey, Mr. Boyce offered to pay the man, pay the young lad for that 
selfless service, that kind act. And the response was, ``Sir, I am a 
Scout. We do good turns, and not for pay.''
  That led to Mr. Boyce returning and partnering with individuals in 
this country, and ultimately within the next year led to the forming of 
the Boy Scouts of America that has served this country and served the 
youth of this country for 100 years.
  Scouting was described by its earlier founder, Lord Baden-Powell, 
when he founded Scouting in England, as a game with a purpose. It 
certainly is. That purpose is value-driven. And those values are 
lasting to this day 100 years later in the United States of America as 
citizenship, and leadership, and service, and character that builds 
lives.
  The Boy Scouts of America today through the Cub, the Boy Scouting, 
the Venture program, the Scouting program serves both boys and girls. 
The Scout promise that is recited every week throughout this country at 
troop meetings includes those three parts of duty to God and duty to 
country, duty to self, and duty to others.
  Prior to coming to this Chamber 14 months ago, I served for 30 years 
as a Scoutmaster. And in that time I saw that Scouting made a 
difference in the lives of kids, kids from all walks of life, kids that 
came from intact families and very challenged circumstances. I saw how 
Scouting made a difference in terms of putting them on the path for 
successful careers to become community leaders, to actually become life 
savers, and had Scouts that applied their skills that they had learned 
to save lives. And as patriots and serving their country as members of 
our Armed Services, as firefighters, EMTs, and as becoming loving 
spouses and parents themselves.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise to talk about, additionally, the oldest 
existing, continuously registered, non-merged Boy Scout Council in 
America: The Chief Cornplanter Council based in Warren County, 
Pennsylvania. It was founded in July 1913.
  In this 100th year of the establishment of Scouting, it is a pleasure 
to point out to my colleagues that the Chief Cornplanter Council was 
the 17th council to receive a charter from the Boy Scouts of America. 
But the first 16 have either disbanded or merged with other councils. 
So it holds onto the distinction as the oldest.
  Originally chartered as the Warren County Council, the group was 
renamed Chief Cornplanter Council in 1954 to honor a local Seneca 
chief. The council office in Warren has a museum that features 
historical items, including a photo of five Scouts from 1914 with their 
badges sewn to their sleeves and their hats that remind us more of a 
World War I doughboy.
  In 3 years, the Cornplanter Council will celebrate 100 years of 
continuous scouting in an area that is dedicated to Scouting and its 
ideals. Local Scout executive Kevin Bonner said the area serves 60 
percent of all Cub Scout-age youth, while the national average is about 
20 percent. At any given time they have about 1,000 youth involved in 
their program.
  I commend this council for its longevity, its service to Scouting, 
and the difference that it, as well as other Scouting programs across 
this Nation, make in the lives of our future leaders.

                          ____________________