Senate votes to withhold funds from schools that discriminate against Boy Scouts
By The Associated Press
06.15.01
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WASHINGTON — The Senate voted narrowly yesterday to withhold federal funds from school districts that deny use of their facilities to the Boy Scouts because of the organization's exclusion of homosexuals.
By 51-49, the Senate approved a proposal by Jesse Helms, R-N.C., to strip federal funding from any school district that discriminates against the Scouts or similar groups that "prohibit the acceptance of homosexuals." Opponents countered by winning swift approval of an amendment by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., barring schools from denying access to any youth group, Boy Scouts included, on the basis of their views on sexual orientation.
The fight over the Scouts provided a noisy conclusion to weeks of generally cordial debate on President Bush's education legislation, which the Senate passed later in the day by a 91-8 vote.
Helms' amendment was triggered by last year's Supreme Court ruling that upheld a national Boy Scouts policy to ban gay members and leaders. The House approved a similar amendment last month.
Michael Resnick, associate executive director of the National School Boards Association, said the measure means school districts could lose the right to decide who uses their facilities.
"Now we have a piece of legislation in which the Congress is dictating to school districts and school principals all across the United States which groups should have access to their campus," he said. "That should be a locally determined decision. This is congressional micromanagement at its worst."
Citing numerous examples in which local schools or school districts excluded Scouts from the use of facilities, Helms said his amendment was meant to combat "the organized lesbians and homosexuals in this country of ours."
Democrats angrily denounced it, saying it would bind the hands of school boards trying to juggle access and scout sponsorship with their states' anti-discrimination laws.
"Think of the situation we are creating here," said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. "Imagine sitting on a school board, with no pay, under these circumstances. ... I have to tell you: As I consider this amendment, it is a complete disaster."
The vote came after several hours of debate over the Boy Scouts' mission and history, complete with senators on both sides of the aisle fondly recalling their scouting days. Several Republicans stood to read or recite the Boy Scout oath.
"I have never been prouder in my entire political life than I am to stand here today with Senator Jesse Helms and support this amendment," said Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H.
Democrats spoke in bitter opposition to the amendment, saying it was redundant in light of the Supreme Court's access ruling.
"I believe this amendment is unnecessarily gratuitous," Boxer said. "It's hurtful to a group of people — it divides us again in this country."
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said the amendment would force school districts to make "a terrible choice."
"They could either disregard their own conscience or they could follow their conscience and lose millions of dollars that their schools and their children need," he said. "We believe in principled compromise, but we cannot compromise on the fundamental issues of civil rights."
According to Boy Scouts of America Web site, about 3.4 million children were enrolled as Boy Scouts in 2000, a 1.2% drop from 1999.
USA TODAY reported today that presidents of eight major metropolitan Scout councils had urged the Boy Scouts of America to abandon its no-gays policy. The eight are among the largest of the nation's 315 Scout councils, the newspaper reported.
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