ladies and gentlemen, the governor of the state of missouri, jay nixon. [applause] [applause] >> thank you to the legislative leaders, judges of our supreme court, lt. governor kinder, state officials, all the members of the general assembly, and members of my cabinet and my fellow missourians, it is an honor to be here this morning joined by missouri's outstanding first lady, gorganne nixon. [applause] we are joined also by members of the family that are throughout the gallery. now over the last year, many of the communities have braved unthinkable hardships. and none more so than joplan, toughest town on god's green earth. time and again, the people of missouri have met those challenges with unwavering strength and determination. a few months ago on the first day of school in joplin, i met a remarkable young man named quinton anderson. quinton is a senior at joplin high school. he's an excellent student, a science whiz. he hopes someday to create new vaccines. graduation day this year will have a very special meaning for quinton, as it well for so many