I will always consider myself fortunate to have served with both you and your respective members. Speaking of, mississippian, my favorite one is hundred me. She has work to improve the lives of all our citizens, particularly our children, and for 41 years has lovingly and patiently put up with me. Ladies and gentlemen, the first lady of the state of mississippi and my wonderful wife, debra. [applause] to the members of house and senate and other elected officials here tonight. Thank you for your attendance. Do not take your kind attention for granted. Thank you for allowing me to stand in our beautiful capitol and highlight all we have achieved, and to offer my continued vision for how we can reach even Greater Heights together. I realize that many of us here tonight, and to those watching and listening, theres sometimes seem to be two mississippis occupying the same time and space. The proverbial critics would have you believe that this is one of a declining state, whose people are suffering mightily. They search for problems as if there was reward for finding them. When im even mildly agitated by this i remember Theodore Roosevelt who said is it not the critic who counts, not the one who opinions out our a strong man stumbles. The credit belongs to man and i might add to the woman in the arena. And the colonel or tr would have little patience for the days of cynical climate, headlines daily, sometimes hourly, trumpets failure supposed misdeeds and where an alternate or compliance review turned into an investigation. Any study from any source that labels mississippi last or least is blasted across the front page. Fortunately the other mississippi is filled with progress. It is inhabited with carrying, hardworking people of all races and ages who strive valiantly every day to make this wonderful state a better place to live and raise all our children. Many of these dedicated mississippians are in this chamber tonight. You serve your state as a citizen legislator, a leader in your community. Most of you have very busy careers, a family and all the responsibilities that accompany our lives as public servants. I know that each of you believe in his or her own way that we are making a difference, and i can assure you here tonight that indeed we are. Now, i know we still have much work to do, but theres so many accomplishments to be celebrated and to be proud of. Twice last year the Unemployment Rate in mississippi fell to 4. 9 , and was 4. 8 in november. That is the lowest since unemployment levels began to be recorded in 1979. [applause] i believe, i believe every mississippian deserves an equal opportunity for a good job, and im working hard to make this belief a reality. As Ronald Reagan once said, the best social program. Is a job. Now, thats a program we have been very successful in expanding, and in the past mississippi has had people looking for jobs. Today we have more than 40,000 jobs looking for people. Since we began this expansion, we have add more than 60,000 jobs and billions of dollars of foreign and domestic investment here in mississippi industry. Im also encouraged to report that existing industry continues to grow. For example, milwaukee tool just added 660 new jobs to the 1400 team members already working in in advanced manufacturing in jackson and greenwood and a Distribution Center has been added in olive branch, mississippi. A Corporate Investment of 33. 4 million. [applause] i can assure you, milwaukee tools makes the best power tools in the world, and im proud to say theyre made in america and perfected in mississippi. [applause] i am honored to have in the gallery tonight the manager of milwaukee tool plant in greenwood, mississippi, hi friend, jack. Where are you . [applause] thank you, jack. Currently 70 of the United States navys combat surface vessels protecting americas interests hundred high seas are made at ingalls in pascagoula, mississippi win. The expansion of the ship regard and range ohm of the shore, inning ales is where the nave where bills the warships that keep america free and secure. Now the nations most productive shipyard. Rocksle expanded a second plant in marshall county, aiding additional employers and a 40 million investment. North trupp grumman added 60 new Aerospace Jobs and made a 3. 7 million Corporate Investment at its uav assembly plant. Warner with an additional investment of a quarter Million Dollars and adding 75 jobs to the water valley plant. These and so many other projects and expansions are proof that when government creates a tax and regulatory climates and gets out of the way, our economy thrives. Mother of our citizens experience the dignity and affirmation of a goodpaying job and our state is made stronger. [applause] i could continue with many more businesses, large and small, that have expanded, but in the interests of time, i will tell you simply that the numbers are impressive and encouraging, and they are growing. By now all of us know the amazing story of continental tire. The tire Company Coming to mississippi and investing 1. 45 billion. It will be one of the most respected and successful plant in mississippis history because its one of the most respected Tire Companies in the world. It is the stateoftheart plant that will be more than 1 million square feet, spread over 900 acres. It will be the most sophisticated plant ever constructed by continental tire. [applause] this facility is scheduled to open late next year and will ultimately employ 2500 mississippians. It was identified as a Top Economic Development project for 2016, and led to another milestone, area attempt magazine awarded mississippi our first gold shovel for excellence in Economic Development. Because of these and many other successes, mississippi now ranks in the top ten states in the nation for Economic Development opportunities. [applause] working together, we have also made it easier for entrepreneurs to pursue the American Dream, ridding our occupational, licensing system of red tape that, for too long, happenings served as nothing more than a barrier to market entrance. Other states are just now moving to adopt our plan to reduce Regulatory Burden on professional services. It has become known across the United States simply as, the mississippi model. This session i will have some other recommendations to reduce more government regulations and unleash the independent spirit that will make mississippi the most jobfriendly state in america. [applause] i want to say how sincerely grateful many of us are for your approval last session of a knew Trooper School. If your help we bow stillerred Public Safety by putting more Highway Patrol officers on the arrivedll ask you for another Trooper School this year in order to meet the enforce. Needs and save lives on hour highways. If we accomplish this goal, we could have more troopers on the road by next year than any time in the history of the mississippi Highway Patrol. Like most of other states, mississippi is struggling with an opioid and illicit drug epidemic. In december of 2016, i issued an executive order creating the governors opioid and Heroin Task Force to address the problem. Law enforcement positions, pharmacists and Mental Health professionals tame together and began to attack these killers have the have taken the lives of over 200 mississippians in just the last 12 months. Im proud to say that the recommendations and resulting actions by the Task Force Members were swift and courageous. The path toward a solution was not easy, nor was it popular in some instances. Fortunately i have an extremely competent director at both the department of Public Safety and Mississippi Bureau of narcotics, who were at once courageous and compassionate. Theyve done an outstanding job, and im proud to have the commissioner of the department of Public Safety, Marshal Fisher and the director of the mississippi bury of narcotics, john doubty, with us here today. Thank you for your work in law enforcement. Now at the rusk afaithing her stat thus among her coworker the media i walk want could recognize a reporter who has done an outstanding result job of we should all thank teresa april of shining the light on the horne consequences of this behavior. You have made a difference as a journalist. Thank you. [applause] our educational system, to the far from perfect, is clearly better than it has ever been before. For the first time in mississippi history, 90 of hour thirdgraders have passed the reading exam and our High School Graduation rate has risen above 80 . [applause] more than a hundred Million Dollars has been directed to teacher pay raises. We ended the election of superintendents and dyslexia identification and response have become a reality. Charter schools, Early Learning and School Choice for special Needs Children all exist today because of the difficult decisions made by many of you here tonight. Still, we have far too many failing schools, whose students lag behind their counterparts across the nation. The reasons are systemic. And are often related to variety of conditions, poverty, abuse, neglect, lack of leadership, can all be listed. To address these issues we created the Governors StateEarly Childhood advisory council, ccac is composed of state and National Experts in education and health care, child welfare, Mental Health, and in Early Childhood learning. The council has become the central meeting praise for stakeholders in mississippis Early Learning system. Its familybased system is the new blueprint for managing the spectrum of problems affecting children and for ultimately finding solutions. Working with the Mississippi Department of Human Services and our Community Colleges, the council began a program where child careworkers will be receiving training to provide a learning component in daycare centers. Now, remember, most of our children will spend an average of 12,000 hours of their most formative years in child cair or a custodial environment. Ccac provides help where it is needed with health care, workforce training and even additional Educational Opportunities for the parents themselves. Our next generation of leaders are today in a child care facility. Mississippi is looking to the to make shire thaw he the skills needed to succeed. You should know, mississippi spends 97 million per year on federally funded daycare through the department of Human Services and 199 million of federal funds on Head Start Centers across the state. Jobs for mississippi graduates spends another 3. 4 million on the states only dropout prevention program. Last year, 800,000 of jmgs total came from the general fund. Much of the reminder was racessed from private donation from concerned corporations such as at t and energy. I will ask you to return funding for jobs for mississippi graduates to 2016 level, to help increase the Graduation Rates to the National Average and build our work force. Over 90 of these atrisk students graduate, and 80 of those find jobs or go on to higher education, combined, these programs represent more than 300 million in Public Education investment that is rarely, if ever, reported. It is time we began to maximize the use of these federal and private funds and demand evidencebased results for every taxpayer dollar. [applause] it should be no surprise to anyone that i am a strong supporter of updating the adequate Education Funding formula. I believe it should serve as a road map to success for every child in mississippis public schools. It should not be a political prop used to allege someones failure to support education. That old trick has not worked in the past and wont work this year. [applause] by the way, most of us want more than just an adequate Education System in mississippi. We want a great one. [applause] thank you. We want a great one. [applause] one thing im certain of, that greatness will not be possible without every classroom having the right teacher. We must do all in our power to allow good teachers to become great ones. This should include continuing to fund the highest level, teach for america and nationally boardcertified teachers. Data proves these defend indicated teachers in most every instance produce better results we have so many Great Teachers across the state, and i know, like me, you are very proud of them all. I will expand s ask you to expand School Choice, offering more scholarships to more students. I continue to believe that parents should have the freedom to use their tax dollars to send their child to the school of their choice, not one decided by the government. [applause] i want to thank you again for creating the department of Child Protection services to attend to our foster children. Nothing we do here will be more important than caring for them. I am forever grateful to former Supreme Court justice Jess Dickenson for azulling leadership of the agency. I will remind you that jesus admonished the disciples, let the little children come unto me. For the kingdom of god belongs to such as these. I will implore you to provide for the least of these again this year, as the children now come under all of us. Our Community Colleges are the center of work force development. Thousands of mississippians have been taught the skills that will allow them to get a good job and live the American Dream right here in mississippi. We could do more to help our Community Colleges bridge the skills gap that exists today. Theres little doubt our employers consider an educated and skilled work force as their top priority. To meet this demand, we have targeted Certain Industries and emphasized training for the needs. For example, we have created a Furniture Academy in northeast mississippi, two coding academies in jackson and columbus, our Community Colleges and universities continue their work to provide the Skilled Labor needed in our robust automotive and aerospace industries. With your help we have invested millions of dollars from the mississippi works fund. That revenue has been generated by savings in the mississippi Unemployment Compensation fund due to the record growth in employment. This has been a great resource when recruiting new industries and expanding our existing ones. We must do more. I will ask you create the mississippi Work Scholarship Fund to provide more opportunity for Mississippi College students, Community College students who qualify for targeted workforce and training. We must increase our workforce and we must do it now. [applause] working together, we have also built a new world class medical school at the university of mississippi Medical Center. It will train the physicians so desperately needed in a state underserved by medical professionals. Because of your help were well on our way to achieving our goal of adding a thousand new positions by 2025. The medical profession is an economic driver, has become a reality in mississippi. Physicians today are responsible for more than 51,000 jobs and have a total economic output of over 8 billion annually. Our beloved Childrens Hospital in jackson has announced 180 million expansion. The medical corridor ive long hoped to establish is becoming a reality. It stretches from the medical mall in jackson to new clinics, medical Specialty Centers and even medical Device Manufacturers located just across the river. The leadership of the first lady, university of Medical Center and the department of Human Services, we will soon begin construction on a longterm Palliative Care unit in jacksons medical zone. [applause] this center will offer a homelife treatment for the medically fragile children who are now living there. This will be a lifealtering experience for those patients and their families. If there is ever a mission of mercy we can achieve, it is this Palliative Care medical home for the children of blair. [applause] we have an additional opportunity in jacksons medical zone. I believe real potential exists to move the department of Public Safety headquarters. We have a good location in the county near the state crime lab. The current building located in heart of the medical corridor was constructed in the 1970s and is in deplorable condition, a new medical Conference Center could be construct in it place. This facility would become the gateway of the medical corridor, medical city is rising out of the piney woods of hairson county harrison county, complete with a new pharmacy school, Nursing Center and the National Obesity and Diabetes Research center. It is the result of partnership between William Terry university and the cleveland clinic, one of the top rate medical entities in the world. This partnership and tradition will help us fight obesity and diabetes often associated with it. With the help of the cleveland clinic, this is a fight i expect to win. [applause] even with all this progress, the health of our population continues to lag behind most of the nation. Unfortunately many of these problems are of our own making. We have an overwhelming tendency to be our own worst enemy when it comes to obesity and Substance Abuse and sexually transmitted diseases if we if we for solve the problems we must face the uncomfortable fact and then take the necessary steps to assist those suffering, while encouraging them to be more responsible for their own Preventive Health care. The Poor Health Care choices have resulted in higher mortality rates and treatment of even more disabling illnesses. Consequencely, medicaid costs have continued to increase, straining our state and federal budgets. Frankly, we have spent far too many years believing that funding for medicaid is unlimited, and should be unquestioned. We must change that way of thinking. We must also insist that positive Health Care Outcomes be the first responsibility of medicaid recipients. [applause] patients, providers and managed Care Companies should realize a new normal will exist from this day forward. Our goal will be to prevent Poor Health Care from getting worse and to get medicaid patients well. [applause] as you know, i have requested a work force requirement for able bodied adults from the center of medicaid and medicare services. This is not, as some would have you believe, punitive action aimed at recipients. It will actually help the population reap the rewards of a good job and receive health care connell from their employer, not the state or federal government. Recently, i tasked the department of Human Services and medicaid to Work Together to identify needs for beneficiaries and address them in a more proactive and effective manner. I have contemplated moving Medicaid Eligibility to dhs. Something that is done in 46 other states. However, with the change in leadership of the division of medicaid, i now believe it would be prudent to delay such a transfer until a complete review of it benefits to providers and beneficiaries can be completed. I believe the current leadership at these two agencies can create a Seamless Service mad can be implated. We must not only mapping medicaid for todays need but assure sustainability for future demands. Those in extended care facility should not be told we cannot continue to fund their very existence. If we manage the system properly and eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse, we can assure a better quality of life for those truly in need. Your assistants in properly framing the medicaid technical amendments act will make all the difference in maintaining an effective and Sustainable Medicaid Program for years to come. [applause] i am honored to report to you that mississippi has completed an amazing yearlong celebration of our bicentennial. A record 23 Million People visit mississippi. [applause] hundreds of events took place across the state. Many including music, the arts and Educational Opportunities. The grand finale of this once in a lifetime celebration was the opening of the museum of mississippi history, and the mississippi civil rights museum. I am thankful to the president of the United States of america who came to jackson, mississippi, to honor the opening of our two great museums. [applause] i am told some 20 Million People watched the president s tour and remarks that day at the civil rights museum. It seemed the entire world was watching as mississippi told our own story. To quote the i was proud of the state of my birth. His kind and gentle soul was captured in inspiring speech he delivered that cold and snowy day on the bluff. That remarkable event, mississippians of every color and persuasion came together with an understanding of the tragedies and violence perpetrated on innocent people who simply wanted to exercise their right to vote. It lies in the museum put away hope we never witnessed again. [applause] all of us anticipating that they experienced something very special, the anger and fear fell away, political agendas melted in the morning snow. We saw what mississippi could be when all are common bonds overpower our differences and we accept the reality that we can disagree without being disagreeable. We. Into mississippis soul. We saw that it was cleansed of any deceit or malice and that the soul of mississippi now contained the love for all its people, its traditions and most of all, our future. My dear friend and civil rights legend, doctor john perkins said, it all comes down to love and love will be our final fight. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to this chamber my dear friend and someone who loves mississippi doctor john perkins. [applause] each year i ask you to set aside your political agendas and focus solely on what would be best for mississippi. Understanding that we may have different paths for a better tomorrow but remaining hopeful that we can at least agree on the direction the destination for our state. This year the plea to Work Together will be no different, however, i have a renewed faith in the outcome. I have seen the results of the mutual efforts and know they far surpass and proceed the temporary game of political posturing. I have witnessed two worldclass museums open in the capital city. I have seen dramatic improvement in mississippis Public Education system and i have worked to turn our state into a leader in healthcare and Economic Development and when we press Forward Together we can and have achieved greatness. Mississippi is to make a permanent leap to good to great we must all have a dedication to achievement. We must inform our people that destructive contagious is contagious and it will cause our state to struggle. Individual responsibility get Better Outcomes and success for all of us. After 200 years of trials and tribulations, wars and reconstruction, storms and recession, we continue to persevere. With your help i believe this legislative session can be the best ever. It can be the year become together in a common bond of commitment to our peoples best interest and i promise you my door will always be open. I will always listen to your concerns and be on offended by mutual disagreements. In closing, i wish to thank you again for this opportunity to reflect on the state of the state and rededicate myself to being governor for all the people. Now, let us go from disappointed time and place committed to serving the people of mississippi and making this wonderful land a better place for tomorrows generation. May god bless you, the great state of mississippi, and may god bless the United States of america. Thank you and good night. [applause] on tuesday generate 30, president of his first state of the Union Address before a joint session of congress. Cspans pre speech coverage begins at 8 00 eastern time and the president s remarks are scheduled to start at 9 00. After the speech will bring reaction for members of congress. What our live coverage on cspan and cspan. Org or listen live on your phone or with the cspan radio app. Sunday on cspans q a, author and wall street journal contributor hh boehm with his book the accidental president , Harry S Truman and the four months that change the world. Roosevelts funeral was saturday and sunday. Truman wasnt terrified to give the speech. He talks about it the night before he laid in his bed prayed to god that he would not mess it up. He climbed the stairs, for stairs to the public, it looks out and sees his wife in the crowd and she is crying. She is crying because roosevelt is dead, the nation is in shock, and she never wanted to be the first lady and never wanted her husband to be president. She is frightened and fight for him. Meanwhile, he is to g