NIXON MAKES COMMITMENT TO HELP VETERANS, YOUTH

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon told a group of veterans in Cape Girardeau Sunday that the jobs of law enforcement and the military were similar in that they both tried to preserve freedom and protect society.

Nixon made a brief stop in the city to speak before a gathering of the state executive committee of AmVETS, meeting over the weekend at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. He is running as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Nixon told the veterans the best way for society to fight crime is to work to combat the culture of violence among youth.

Recalling the "Four Freedoms" speech of Franklin Roosevelt, Nixon reminded veterans that the third freedom of which FDR spoke was the freedom from fear.

Unlike Roosevelt's day, where the greatest fear was from outside threats, the fears experienced by today's youth come from within the country -- at school, on the streets and even at home, Nixon said.

"Government can only do so much," he said.

"All of us as a society have a responsibility to reach down and help out in any way we can the troubled kids of our society," he said.

In addition, Nixon reiterated his commitment to veterans' issues, particularly protecting veterans and veterans' groups from consumer fraud and continuing to support health care concerns for veterans.

"We don't need to balance the budget on the backs of the people who supported and defended our country," Nixon said.

Nixon, in his sixth year as the attorney general, is seeking his party's nomination for U.S. senator. If he wins the nomination, as he is favored to do, he will most likely face incumbent Sen. Kit Bond in the November election.

AmVETS is an organization of American Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.