Clinton/Gore Split Over Executive Order that Could Revoke Boy Scouts Charter
By WebToday Midwest bureau staff writers
CHICAGO, September 1, 2000 (WebToday)-- An executive order signed by President Clinton on June 23, 2000 may be the source of a significant split in policy and philosophy between President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.
The U.S. Department of the Interior is investigating whether a June 23 Executive Order forbids Boy Scouts from camping in federal parks due to the Scouts' alleged discriminatory practices against homosexuals.
An internal memo from the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation revealed that the Federal government is planning a probe of an upcoming Boy Scout Jamboree, scheduled to be conducted at Fort A.P. Hill in Bowling Green, Virginia.
Department of the Interior Director of Communications Mike Gauldin told WebToday, "The issue is whether we spend taxpayer money to support the Jamboree. Each year we send about 100 park rangers there. We've asked for guidance from the Justice Department. We're trying to find out what we can legitimately do and stay within the law."
The probe is to determine if the Boy Scouts receive direct or indirect monetary assistance from the federal government. It so, the Scouts could "rangerless" for their next Jamboree, if they are even allowed to have one.
WebToday contacted both Al Gore's White House office, and his Tennessee campaign office to get an answer to the simple question "Do you support President Clinton's June 23 Executive Order that can ban camping by Boy Scouts on Federal Land?' Gore's White House Director of Communications Jim Kennedy ducked the call, needing time to get back to us with an answer.
WebToday then spoke with Kim Rubey, Midwest Press Coordinator for the Gore for President campaign. She declined comment, saying, "I'll get back to you." Later, when she didn't get back with us, we called back and spoke Grant, who said he was aware of the National Park/Boy Scouts issue, but declined comment, saying, "I'm not allowed to say."
Later we spoke with Mr. Ches Johnson, who said he was not officially speaking for Gore, but said, "He (Gore) supports this executive order."
After another no eventful hour or so, we phoned Phil in the Gore press office, who said he wasn't allowed to give his out his last name, and transferred us to Ms. Rubey's voice mail.
So we uploaded the article showing the Vice President's evasiveness. We also emailed an earlier version to about a thousand news reporters.
Update:
Editor's Note: Late breaking news: A new Bush commercial just began airing that shows Gore shaking hands with a Buddhist Monk. And low and behold, it appears that now Mr. Gore may be wanting a positive image change.
In search of a more positive image, Chief Gore spokesman Jim Kennedy finally (after several hours) returned the call to WebToday.
We asked Kennedy the above question: "Does Al Gore support President Clinton's June 23 Executive Order that can ban camping by Boy Scouts on Federal Land?
Kennedy answered, "I have no information regarding the Jamboree. I know the Vice President supports the Executive Order that bans discrimination in Federal education and and training programs."
When asked specifically how the Vice President stands on whether Rangers should be allowed to attend the upcoming Scout Jamboree, he said, "I don't have any application of the Executive Order. If the Justice Department determines--I'm not going to answer a hypothetical question about a future application of any Executive Order."
When asked if Al Gore would invite to Boy Scouts to the White House, he said, "I'm confident that he will be happy to meet with Boy Scouts at the White House."
Our final question to Kennedy was: Does Al Gore consider meeting with the Boy Scouts at the White House during this 'post-June 23 Executive Order era' to be an act of 'civil disobedience'?
Kennedy snapped, "It's speculative since it hasn't been interpreted by the Justice Dept."
WebToday then called the headquarters of Boy Scouts of America to see if they would be willing to accept Vice President's warm invitation for a White House visit.
The chain of events surrounding the Boy Scout dilemma continue to move quickly. On June 23 Clinton signed his Executive Order. Four days later the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Boy Scouts' right to ban homosexuals from becoming Scouts. The Boy Scout organization issued a June 28 written that read, "We are very pleased with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Dale case. This decision affirms our standing as a private association with the right to set its own standards for membership and leadership. This decision allows us to continue our mission of providing character-building experiences for young people, which has been our chartered purpose since our founding."
CONTACTS: U.S. Department of the Interior, 202-208-6416; Al Gore campaign press office: 615-340-3251; Boy Scouts of America: 972-580-2000, Spokesman Greg Shields: 214-443-7580.
4.9¢ long distance from WebToday: Online sign-up takes 30 seconds
Return to WebToday
http://www.888webtoday.com
Permission granted to publish or broadcast this article with attribution to WebToday.
©2000 WebToday