Florida Senate - 2015                            (NP)    SR 1600
       
       
        
       By Senator Thompson
       
       
       
       
       
       12-01791-15                                           20151600__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution commending the Boy Scouts of America for
    3         its distinguished service to Florida and the nation.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, the Scout Movement was founded in England in 1907
    6  by Lord Robert Stephenson Baden-Powell, a military hero and
    7  expert on wilderness survival who wrote a nature skills manual
    8  entitled “Scouting for Boys,” and today serves more than 40
    9  million Scouts and their leaders in 161 countries around the
   10  globe, and
   11         WHEREAS, a group of American visionaries led by William D.
   12  Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) on February
   13  8, 1910, in Washington, D.C.; the United States Congress granted
   14  a federal charter to the BSA on June 15, 1916; and through its
   15  programs, policies, and standards, the organization continues to
   16  enthusiastically inspire and promote ethical principles, moral
   17  values, and civic virtue in the youth of America, and
   18         WHEREAS, the mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to
   19  prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices by
   20  teaching the timeless values enshrined in the Scout Oath and the
   21  Scout Law, including the commitment to do their duty to God and
   22  their country and to keep themselves physically strong, mentally
   23  awake, and morally straight, and
   24         WHEREAS, nine Boy Scout councils in this state — Central
   25  Florida, Gulf Coast, Gulf Stream, Gulf Ridge, North Florida,
   26  South Florida, Southwest Florida, Suwannee River Area, and West
   27  Central Florida — serve hundreds of thousands of young
   28  Floridians between the ages of 7 and 20 in Cub Scouts, Boy
   29  Scouts, Venturing, and Exploring and Learning for Life programs,
   30  and
   31         WHEREAS, Scouting programs emphasize character development
   32  by affording young people unique opportunities to exercise
   33  leadership and responsibility, and by the direct example of
   34  cheerful service provided by thousands of volunteer adult
   35  leaders, and
   36         WHEREAS, in 2013, Scouts nationwide contributed more than
   37  17 million community service hours, and Scouts and their leaders
   38  provided more than $377 million of service to communities across
   39  America through such projects as Scouting for Food, Good Turn
   40  for America, Habitat for Humanity, Litter Cleanup, Community
   41  Beautification, Military Appreciation Month, and other unit and
   42  individual service projects, and
   43         WHEREAS, numerous NASA astronauts, United States Military
   44  Academy cadets, United States Air Force Academy cadets, United
   45  States Naval Academy midshipmen, members of the 114th United
   46  States Congress, and current state governors participated in
   47  Scouting as youths, many of whom earned Scouting’s pinnacle of
   48  achievement, the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout, and
   49         WHEREAS, as one of the nation’s largest and most prominent
   50  values-based youth development organizations, the Boy Scouts of
   51  America enjoys a sustained record of proven success in producing
   52  leaders for both this state and the United States who are
   53  trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind,
   54  obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent, NOW,
   55  THEREFORE,
   56  
   57  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   58  
   59         That in recognition of the 105th anniversary of the Boy
   60  Scouts of America, the Florida councils of the Boy Scouts of
   61  America are commended for their service to the youth and
   62  citizens of this state.
   63         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   64  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to the Scouting
   65  executive of each Florida council of the Boy Scouts of America
   66  as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida Senate.