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Amidst Financial Crisis, Senate Passes Boy Scout Subsidy

Washington, DC - At the height of high stakes negotiations to solve the nation's mounting financial crisis, the Senate found time to vote on and pass an obscure bill to help raise money for the Boy Scouts of America. The Secular Coalition for America, which represents atheists and other nontheistic Americans, has lobbied against this bill because the Boy Scouts exclude that constituency from participation.

The "Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act" (H.R. 5872) was fast-tracked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for a floor vote, and passed by unanimous consent on Saturday, September 27, 2008.

The bill mandates that the U.S. Mint create and sell as many as 350,000 one dollar coins commemorating the Scouts' centennial in the year 2010. A ten dollar surcharge on each coin goes directly to the Boy Scouts of America, who will net as much as $3.5 million in the deal.

The controversial bill, which could have still met minting deadlines had it been taken up in the next Congress, supports a private organization which discriminates in hiring, volunteer opportunities, and membership based on both religion and sexual orientation. Specifically, the Boy Scouts exclude people they categorize as "atheists, agnostics, or avowed homosexuals".

"It is outrageous that Congress took time out to fill the coffers of a private and discriminatory group with our tax dollars when they clearly have more pressing issues to deal with," said Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America. The legislation, a version of which passed the House in May, was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate, so no individual Senator is on record as supporting or opposing it.

The bill came out of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the same committee responsible for the Wall Street crisis. Its Senate sponsor is Jeff Sessions (R- AL), one of 48 current Senators who have participated in the Boy Scouts. The bill has 78 Senate co-sponsors.

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The Secular Coalition for America represents nine national coalition partners who share the view that a secular government offers the best guarantee for freedom of thought and belief for all Americans. It works to protect the civil rights of nontheistic Americans, and lobbies the U.S. Congress on issues of concern to its constituents. The Coalition’s website is www.secular.org.