 On behalf of the BSA , Paul <unk> , Colin H. Livingstone , Ernest S. Martin and James E. West successfully lobbied Congress for a federal charter for the BSA which President Woodrow Wilson signed on June 15 , 1916 . One of the principal reasons for seeking a Congressional Charter was as a way to deal with competition from other Scout organizations including the United States Boy Scouts and the Lone Scouts of America , The Congressional Charter reads , in part , : 
