Scouts present Report to the Nation to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

After presenting the Report to the Nation to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday, the youth delegates delivered their report to the other side of the aisle on Wednesday.

The seven Scouts, one Venturer and one Explorer handed their report to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who devoted more than 15 minutes to the young people.

She began by informing the delegates — of whom seven are Eagle Scouts — that one of her staffers is also an Eagle Scout.

Michael Long, Pelosi’s senior advisor, told the group he’s been in Scouting since age 9. In addition to earning Boy Scouting’s highest honor, he’s a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow and a former OA Section Chief.

National Venturing President Edward Abraham, who lives near Pelosi’s district in California, handed the representative the report, which highlights Scouting’s contributions in 2015.

“I’ll accept it with great pride and admiration for the work that is done by the Boy Scouts of America,” she said.

She acknowledged the fact that in 1916 — a century ago — President Woodrow Wilson signed a charter incorporating the Boy Scouts of America and requiring the BSA to make an annual report to Congress.

“I’m glad that 100 years ago, Congress had the wisdom to connect us to the work that you do,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi accepted some gifts from the Scouts, asked them questions and heard about their incredible trip so far, which has included stops at the White House, Arlington National Cemetery and U.S. Naval Academy.

She challenged them to internalize all the great history they witnessed this week to help them into the future.

“When you’re in D.C., you go around and see all the statues and paintings and monuments to the past. And that’s wonderful that we honor our legacy,” she said. “We should be inspired by the past but recognize the future. I hope that you all who are taking responsibility by being good Scouts recognize that it’s your future. We’re blessed by all of you to take us into that future.”

Pelosi left on that inspiring note — but not before taking a selfie with the Scouts. She later shared the selfie with her 750,000 Twitter followers.

Nancy-Pelosi-takes-selfie-with-Sean

2015 Report to the Nation

Read more coverage from the 2015 Report to the Nation, happening Feb. 27 to March 3, 2016, right here. And see more photos here.


Photos by Michael Roytek and Randy Piland


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