W. Todd Akin: “I am the cochair, with the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), and I rise in support of this good amendment of the…”

“I am the cochair, with the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), and I rise in support of this good amendment of the gentlewoman from Virginia. I am a father of four Eagle Scouts, and I have to say I am a little proud of that. I have had a chance to work with Eagle Scouts and Boy Scouts now for a good many years, more than I would care to publicly admit. I have to say that this is an institution just as American and just as fine as any American tradition. I have seen so many young Boy Scouts come in, and they hardly know their right hand from their left hand, and after a couple years of scouting, they emerge as young leaders. It is always an encouragement to work with them. Now, what the Jo Ann Davis of Virginia amendment would do would be to reaffirm the Boy Scouts' long-standing partnership with the Department of Defense. I was really opposed to and offended by the fact that the Department of Defense gave instruction to its bases worldwide that precluded official sponsorship of Boy Scout troops. While this policy allows military personnel to sponsor scouting events and troops in a private capacity, this unsound policy was reached as a partial settlement to a lawsuit filed against the Department of Defense in 1999 by the ACLU, because the ACLU did not like the scouting oath of allegiance to God.…”