News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 30, 1997
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Governor speaks on patriotism and leadership at national Boy Scouts of America meeting

OLYMPIA - Gov. Gary Locke today addressed the Boy Scouts of America at its national annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. Locke was the keynote speaker at their Americanism Breakfast event where he also received the honor and rank of Distinguished Eagle Scout.


Locke spoke to a crowd of more than seven hundred volunteer and professional leaders in Boy Scouts from Washington state and across the country on patriotism and leadership. Locke said leadership is simply patriotism in action. "Patriotism flows from a genuine love of our country - a love for the ideals of liberty and opportunity, for the promises of its constitution and for the land that both nourishes and inspires us."


Locke added for much of the 20th century the word "patriotism" evoked the commitment to counter external threats, but today the most dangerous threats to the nation come from within our borders, and from within our hearts.


"When our children do not receive a world-class education, that is a threat to our country," Locke said. "Today, the moral renewal of America requires a new call to arms. The arms in which we hold our children; the arms and hands we extend in partnership; the arms in which we carry groceries to the hungry, books to the children who are learning to read, and medicine to the sick."


Locke said the key to success in meeting this new challenge is an old familiar strategy of working together and taking care of each other. "To renew America, we must focus on the values we share: the value of real, hand-in-hand partnerships between government, business, labor, community groups and individual citizens.

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