Recognizing Eagle Scout Sam Jones

Floor Speech

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Ms. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an exemplary man, Mr. Sam Jones, and to right a historic wrong.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, on June 19, the second celebration of the national holiday for Juneteenth, Mr. Jones was finally recognized by the Boy Scouts of America, Pacific Harbor Council, as an Eagle Scout, the highest honor you can earn as a Boy Scout.

This recognition is long overdue. Mr. Jones should have received this honor in 1962 when he was 15 years old. I am pleased to have this opportunity to recognize his accomplishments today, 61 years later.

Mr. Jones was raised in Rochester, New York, by a single mother and joined the Boy Scouts shortly after he turned 11 years old. He earned 25 merit badges and was the first person in his troop to qualify for the rank of Eagle Scout.

Sadly, when this young man asked the nonprofit that sponsored the troop why he was not going to receive a ceremony for this prestigious honor, he was told, a Scout raised by a single mother didn't match the model Black youth the nonprofit wanted to promote.

While Mr. Jones could have allowed this setback to affect his future, he continued to serve his country and his community.

He graduated from the University of Michigan, joined the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, served the Navy for his entire career, and retired in 1991 with the rank of commander.

He moved to Puyallup, Washington, in 2015 to be closer to his family, and is now a mentor at Mountain View Lutheran Church in Edgewood, Washington.

It is my honor to recognize Mr. Sam Jones on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today as he celebrates the long-overdue recognition of achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

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