Presidential Visit to Scouts Jamboree Is Postponed

Gregg Shields, a Boy Scouts national spokesman, said he could not confirm whether the four Scout leaders killed were asked by contractors to help set up the canopy. Family members of some of the troop leaders have contended that is what happened.

Military officials and other Scoutmasters said most troops had hired contractors to erect the largest tents. That, however, would not have stopped a troop leader from pitching in, said Scoutmaster Jim Carson of Idaho Falls, Idaho.

"You're going to jump in and help," he said. The Alaskan troops might have been trying to save money by hiring only a few contractors, he added, meaning the leaders would need to assist.

On Wednesday, most of the 32,000 Scouts from around the world went about their regular activities. And that included enduring a beastly, oppressive heat that prompted troops to bristle when putting on their uniforms, neckerchief and all, for the Bush visit.

And looming in the backdrop is the threat that the Jamboree might not take place again after a recent federal court ruling that Defense Department contributions -- about $8 million -- to fund the event are unconstitutional because the organization requires members to affirm a belief in God.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who spoke to the Scouts on Wednesday, said he would ensure federal funding for future Jamborees. "Scouts of tomorrow deserve the exact same opportunity that you are having now to forge skills and forge friendships," he said.

Scout officials have rolled out statistics to lend perspective to the demands of a 10-day outdoor extravaganza: The youths will deplete enough electrolytes when carving wood and running obstacle courses to require 169,000 gallons of energy drink.

Staff writer Clarence Williams contributed to this report.