Florida Senate - 2013                            (NP)    SR 1856
       
       
       
       By Senator Flores
       
       
       
       
       37-03573C-13                                          20131856__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution commending the Florida councils of the
    3         Boy Scouts of America for their distinguished service
    4         to Florida and the nation.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, the Boy Scouts movement was started in England in
    7  1907 by Lord Robert Baden-Powell and today serves over 30
    8  million Scouts and their leaders in 155 countries around the
    9  globe, and
   10         WHEREAS, a group of visionary Americans led by William D.
   11  Boyce founded the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) on February 8,
   12  1910, in Washington, D.C.; the United States Congress chartered
   13  the BSA on June 15, 1916; and through its programs, policies,
   14  and standards, the organization enthusiastically inspires and
   15  promotes ethical principles, moral values, and civic virtue in
   16  the youth of America to this day, and
   17         WHEREAS, the mission of the BSA is to prepare young people
   18  to make ethical and moral choices in their lives by teaching
   19  them the timeless values enshrined in the Scout Oath and Scout
   20  Law, including the commitment to do their best to do their duty
   21  to God and their country, and to keep themselves physically
   22  strong, mentally awake, and morally straight, and
   23         WHEREAS, the nine BSA councils in the State of Florida, the
   24  Central Florida Council, the Gulf Coast Council, the Gulf Stream
   25  Council, the Gulf Ridge Council, the North Florida Council, the
   26  South Florida Council, the Southwest Florida Council, the
   27  Suwannee River Area Council, and the West Central Florida
   28  Council, serve hundreds of thousands of young Floridians between
   29  the ages of 7 and 20 in the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturing,
   30  Exploring, and Learning for Life programs, and
   31         WHEREAS, Scouting programs emphasize character development
   32  by affording young people unique and increasing opportunities to
   33  exercise leadership and responsibility and by the direct example
   34  of cheerful service provided by thousands of volunteer adult
   35  leaders, and
   36         WHEREAS, Scouts and their leaders nationwide, through the
   37  2012 Journey to Excellence, contributed more than 13.4 million
   38  community service hours, providing $293 million of value in
   39  service to communities across America, through projects such as
   40  Scouting for Food, Good Turn for America, Habitat for Humanity,
   41  Litter Cleanup, Community Beautification, Armed Forces
   42  Appreciation, and other unit and individual service projects,
   43  and
   44         WHEREAS, former Boy Scouts have excelled in their chosen
   45  professions, with more than half of all NASA astronauts having
   46  been Scouts and 39 of the total 181 having earned Scouting’s
   47  pinnacle of achievement, the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout,
   48  and
   49         WHEREAS, BSA can rightfully boast that former Boy Scouts
   50  account for more than a third of U.S. Military Academy cadets,
   51  nearly 15 percent of whom reached Eagle Scout; nearly a quarter
   52  of U.S. Air Force Academy cadets, 12 percent of whom reached
   53  Eagle Scout; 25 percent of U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis)
   54  midshipmen, 11 percent of whom reached Eagle Scout; 206 members
   55  of the 112th Congress, who participated as youth or adult
   56  leaders, 29 of whom reached Eagle Scout; and 15 current U.S.
   57  governors who participated as youth or adult volunteers, 4 of
   58  whom reached Eagle Scout, and
   59         WHEREAS, as one of the nation’s largest and most prominent
   60  values-based youth development organizations, the BSA enjoys a
   61  sustained record of proven success in producing leaders for our
   62  state and our nation who are trustworthy, loyal, helpful,
   63  friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave,
   64  clean, and reverent, NOW, THEREFORE,
   65  
   66  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   67  
   68         That we commend the Florida councils of the Boy Scouts of
   69  America for their distinguished service to Florida and the
   70  nation and for their commitment to building a more
   71  conscientious, responsible, and productive society.