Wasilla Republican lawmaker cites Web rumors in delaying Girl Scouts honor

Source: Anchorage Daily News

To Sen. Bettye Davis, her resolution honoring 100 years of Girl Scouts and celebrating the Year of the Girl was such an obvious, apple-pie issue that she asked her student intern to present the measure Thursday to the House State Affairs Committee.

All started smoothly for Katya Wassillie, 21, a senior at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A Democratic representative mentioned that his mother and wife had been Girl Scouts. A Republican talked about how his wife serves as a Girl Scout official on the Kenai Peninsula. Both praised Davis for authoring the resolution and Wassillie for her delivery.

Then came Rep. Wes Keller, the conservative Wasilla Republican filling in as chair of the committee. He had seen something on the Internet about the Girl Scouts, he said, and suddenly Wassillie found herself in the crossfire of the culture wars.

"I'm sure you are aware of the information that's floating around the Internet, and I'd like to give you the opportunity to respond to your connection, the Girl Scout connection, with Planned Parenthood and the activist role in that -- is there a connection? Is there not? Frankly, I haven't looked into it but I see it's out there. I just wondered if you want to make a statement on that," Keller said.

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2012/04/05/2409758/wasilla-representative-delays.html