Support Our Scouts Act


The Support Our Scouts Act of 2005 was passed as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006 to prevent Local, State and Federal agencies from reducing their support for the Boy Scouts of America. The bill was passed in the wake of a number of controversies involving the Boy Scouts of America, such as their exclusion of gays and atheists, and subsequent attempts to limit government support of the organization.

Legislative language

In particular, the bill states:
In October 2005, the Senate agreed to include the proposed legislation as an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006 by unanimous consent and, after holding a joint conference with the House to reconcile differences with each of their own versions of the appropriations bill, passed the Senate 93 - 0 in December 2005 .
SOSA was signed into law along with the entire Appropriations bill by President George W. Bush on December 30, 2005.

Impact

Scout leaders welcomed the legislation because it protected them "against constant attempts to exclude the organization from the public realm." Since the enactment of the act, no new restrictions on Boy Scout access to public facilities have been reported to have been initiated. And in the Appellate Decision regarding Winkler v. Rumsfeld, the Appellate Court cited the act as showing the will of Congress to allow Boy Scouts continued access.