Scouting has friends on Capitol Hill

Congress

Requirement 8 of the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge
asks boys to write a letter about an important issue to their U.S.
congressperson.

Just think of it. Thousands of Boy Scouts each year send
these letters to elected officials who are probably too busy to care about a
letter written by a boy working on an Eagle-required merit badge, right? Think
again. Scouting's status in Washington, D.C., has always been strong, and that continues in 2009.

Some new research by the BSA reveals that nearly 41 percent
of the members of the U.S. Congress have some type of Scouting involvement.
That means that we Scouters have friends in some pretty high places.

In all, 47 different states are represented on this new
list, available here. Check it out and see if your local Senator
or Representative is there.

You’ll find both Republicans and Democrats on the list, and
you’ll see that some were involved as Scouts, some as volunteer leaders, and
some as both. You’ll even see a special column indicating if the congressman is
an Eagle Scout. A grand total of 219 of the 535 Senators and Representatives of
the 111th Congress are on the list—pretty impressive indeed.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.