Bill Delahunt: “Mr. Chairman, let us be clear. This amendment does nothing, nothing for the Boy Scouts. They are already well protected…”

“Mr. Chairman, let us be clear. This amendment does nothing, nothing for the Boy Scouts. They are already well protected, not by some statute, but by the Constitution. That constitutional principle is already well established. Under the first amendment, they cannot be denied for the use of any public forum that is made available to other groups. For example, back in 1968, a Federal Court of Appeals upheld the right of the Ku Klux Klan to use a high school gym for a Klan meeting. In this past March, a Federal District Court applied the same principle to the Boy Scouts when a school board in Florida attempted to deny them the use of school facilities. So my colleagues do not have to worry about the Boy Scouts. They are well protected now. The reality is that this amendment is not about the Boy Scouts. It is about a conservative social agenda that holds passionate views about sexual orientation. The Boy Scouts' policy on sexual orientation is well known. That is fine. The gentleman is entitled to his views, and the Boy Scouts' are entitled to their views. But they ought not to be entitled to use the Congress of the United States to make a political statement that promotes intolerance and discrimination. Vote no on the Hilleary amendment.”