And it has to start with teachers, parents and families. We expect our schools to produce children with strong and healthy minds. Yet despite the great prosperity of our state, many of our young people still lack access to basic health care that will ensure a strong and healthy body. This isn't welfare. This is an opportunity to expand a program funded primarily by the federal government to bring basic and adequate health care to children who really need it and whose parents can not afford it even though they work for a living.
Children are Missouri's greatest natural resource.
Access to basic health care is not the only issue that concerns the young people of our state. The public health is threatened by a new and dangerous drug called methamphetamine. Meth is very powerful, is highly addictive and, unlike other drugs that must pass through protected borders, it can be manufactured in dangerous makeshift labs here in Missouri. Often these makeshift labs are located in our neighborhoods and near our schools. The horror stories surrounding the meth problem in Missouri are frightening.