Editing Scouting America (section)

===Federally chartered corporation===
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|quote = The purposes of the corporation are to promote, through organization, and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to train them in [[scoutcraft]], and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues, using the methods that were in common use by boy scouts on June 15, 1916.
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|source = {{USC|36|30902}}
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Scouting America holds one of the comparatively rare [[congressional charter]]s under [[Title 36 of the United States Code]].{{r|Title36}}{{r|36Corps}} On behalf of Scouting America, Paul Sleman, Colin H. Livingstone, Ernest S. Martin, and James E. West successfully lobbied Congress for a federal [[charter]], which President Woodrow Wilson signed on June 15, 1916. One of the principal reasons for seeking a congressional charter was to deal with competition from other Scout organizations including the [[American Boy Scouts|United States Boy Scouts]] and the [[Lone Scouts of America]].{{r|pett8}} The 1916 statute of incorporation established this institution among a small number of similarly chartered patriotic and national organizations,{{r|FedCharter}} such as the [[Girl Scouts of the USA|Girl Scouts]], [[Civil Air Patrol]], the [[American Legion]], the [[Red Cross]], [[Little League Baseball]], and the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]]. The federal incorporation was originally construed primarily as an honor; however, it does grant the chartered organization some special privileges and rights, including freedom from antitrust and monopoly regulation and complete control over the organization's symbols and insignia, {{r|bsatitle36}} though it neither implies nor accords Congress any special control over Scouting America, which remains free to function independently.{{r|CongressionalCharter}}