VOLuntarilyConservative

Kudos to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for his work yesterday on the Senate floor. First, Senator Frist introduced an amendment, the "Support Our Scouts Act of 2005," that would recognize Pentagon support of the Boy Scouts Jamborees as assisting a youth organization and not a religious one. This amendment is in response to an erroneous federal court ruling that banned the Boy Scouts from using federal and state lands because such actions establishes a state or national religion. An e-mail from Senator Frist states the following:

"This is an organization -- the Boy Scouts of America -- whose motto reads (in part): "On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country ..." They gather -- as I once did, as my three sons did, as more than 40 members of the United States Senate and 150 members of the House of Representatives did -- to talk about principles. Principles like honesty, integrity, and character. My friends, the Boy Scouts of America produce good kids ... the true leaders of tomorrow. They've been doing it proudly since 1910. And it's a sad day when we need to enact legislation to enable them to keep doing it ... particularly at a time when we face such unprecedented challenges at home and abroad."

Senator Frist also vowed on the Senate floor yesterday that he would bring Senate Bill 397 to a vote prior to the August recess. S397 is the measure that protects gun manufacturers from frivolous lawsuits brought by municipalities looking for a scapegoat for their own inadequacies in dealing with criminal activity. It is an important bill because one irresponsible jury verdict could lead to the worst form of gun control - where no one is able to make firearms for fear of a lawsuit. Hopefully, Senators Kerry, Kennedy, Durbin, and Clinton won't be able to torpedo the bill with poison pill amendments like they did last summer.