I think the thing about our country that you must understand is that one of the most valuable aspects of America is that people can choose church or not church, and they're equally American. That is a vital part of our society. President George Bush, August 2004 in Beaverton Oregon.
The following is an excerpt from
Newsweek "Scouts Divided" July 29, 2001 In order to win the
Supreme Court case, the Boy Scouts argued that they are not a
public accommodation open to all, as many had presumed, but a
private "expressive" association restricted to like-minded
individuals. The court bought the distinction-but that gave
Scouts a new problem: since they receive millions in state and
federal funding-some of it spent on the jamboree-did they now
still have a right to the assistance? Despite an executive
order prohibiting discrimination in federal education and
training programs, well over $5 million in taxpayers' money was
spent on last week's extravaganza, according to Scout sources.
After the court ruling, government compliance officers looked
into the legal conundrum. On Sept. 1, 2000, Attorney General
Janet Reno issued a proclamation declaring the jamboree was not
federally directed training per se, but a private event to
which the government was providing logistical support-perfectly
allowable, therefore, even for an organization that
discriminates.
A closer look at the jamboree reveals a different picture.
Federal employees are indeed teaching skills and lessons. In
fact, the Department of the Interior is spending hundreds of
thousands of dollars to stock a trout pond and sent several
hundred staffers to teach courses the Scouts must pass in
order to receive selected merit badges, including
fly-fishing. Department officials defend their presence,
saying anybody driving past the jamboree is welcome to
attend.... But at Fort A.P. Hill, Ben Jelsema, chairman of
the fishing program for the jamboree, was turning away
non-Scouts, saying those areas "are not open to the
public."
"Sponsoring a Scout troop can put schools on thin legal
ice." American School Board Journal, "Be Prepared", April 2001
(v188 n4 p34-37).
Examples of Department of Commerce involvement with BSA
programs.
An employeed of the National Weather Service of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration taught four
weather merit badge classes during the 1997 Jamboree.
Various merit badge classes were taught by federal
employees from a number of different federal agencies.
In 1997, an employee of the National Oceanic and
Atmopheric Administration completed a two part series for
the Boy Scout Weather Merit Badge for two classes at the
Knox Trail Council Merit Badge College in Marlborough,
MA
Example of Department of Energy involvement with BSA
programs.
Brookhaven Lab has a Boy Scouts Atomic Energy merit badge program.
Examples of Bureau of Land Management involvement with BSA
programs.
2001 National Scout Jamboree Conservation Area Operating Plan Microsoft Word document. This BLM document identifies federal and state government agency contacts in the Department of Interior for Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, Minerals Management Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation. The Department of Agriculture for U.S. Forest Service, and Natural Resource Conservation Service. The Department of Defense for
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Environmental Center, the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion & Preventive Medicine volunteers. Also the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
State Government Agencies contacts include Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Space Center
Houston: Boy Scouts. The Boy Scout camp-ins are
designed to meet the essential components of the Space
Exploration Merit Badge. Official Visitor's Center of
NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Langley Research Center July 19, 1997 Open House press
release issued July 1 says "Participating Boy Scouts who
arrive at the NASA picnic area by 10 a.m. can earn their
space exploration merit badge."
Examples of assistance provided to BSA by the Housing and
Urban Development.
Verdugo Hills Council, Boy Scouts of America. To assist
in the implementation of a Cub Scout mentoring program
using parent volunteers in lower income Burbank areas. $
500 from a $1,689,311 Community Development Block Grant in
FY 1996 to the City of Burbank, California
Public Housing Authorities that assist or sponsor Boy
Scouts units as part of their program sometimes recieve
Drug Eliminate Grants and other HUD money.
Arizona: City of Tucson HA
Florida: Jacksonville HA
Georgia: Rome HA. Lawrenceville HA, Athens HA,
Columbus HA, Augusta HA
Kentucky: Falmouth HA , Central City HA
Mississippi: West Point HA ,Corinth HA
Nevada: City of Reno HA
North Carolina: Burlington HA
Ohio: Butler Metropolitan HA, Jefferson
Metropolitan HA
Community Development Block Grant funding sometimes
goes to BSA programs:
The city of Alton Boy Scouts program in Madison
County Illinois.
Connecticut Valley Boy Scouts in Hartford
Verdugo Hills Council, Boy Scouts of America in
California ($35,216 in 1999)
The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher in the Fort
Fisher State Recreation Area offers several patch and merit
badge programs for scouts of all ages.
Deleware Division of Water Resources 1997 Annual Report
lists "Teaching the Soil and Water Conservation merit badge to
a local Boy Scout troop." as one of its accomplishments.
