ELECTION 1992: ATTORNEY GENERAL; DAVID STEELMAN VS. JAY NIXON

Missouri's next attorney general must do five things: 1) Reduce crime; 2) Clean up government corruption; 3) fight for consumer rights; 4) Protect the environment; and 5) End government intrusion into the private lives of Missourians.

In the Missouri Senate, I have consistently voted to toughen penalties for criminals. I support mandatory prison sentences and I support the death penalty. It is time to take on the drug trade directly from the attorney general's office. Modern drug dealers are highly organized and sophisticated. We have to approach the problem by utilizing the best skills and the most modern technology available to law enforcement.

Drug Prosecution Strike Force

More than a year ago, I testified before the Governor's Commission on Crime about my unique proposal for a Drug Prosecution Strike Force to provide specialized investigative and courtroom assistance to local prosecutors and law enforcement personnel. It will guarantee that local prosecutors are backed by the best professionals and expertise available.

Drug dealers must be told that we will fight them with the full force of the state no matter where they commit their crimes. We will provide the assistance local officials need to put and keep drug dealers behind bars.

My clear record on law enforcement has earned the endorsement of the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police, which is the largest police organization in Missouri, and the St. Louis Police Officers' Association.

I've also fought to put teachers and parents back in charge of our schools. Busing is a failed social experiment and federal court-ordered desegregation payments currently cost the state more than $400 million a year. The state's current approach is taking needed money away from school districts, especially in rural areas where programs are being dropped, teachers are being cut and schools are forced to use outdated equipment.

It's time for a change.

I will take a two-pronged approach to solve the problem: 1) aggressively litigate cases where we can't reach a favorable settlement; and 2) work with communities and the courts to end day-to-day involvement of the courts in our schools.

My plan will return us to our original goal of improving schools across the state, improving education in every community and giving our children a real chance to move ahead in the world.

My plan also saves us millions.

Right now, hundreds of thousands of tax dollars are lining the pockets of politically connected lawyers embroiled in the Second Injury Fund scandal. I will end the corruption and clean house. I will stand up to special interests, as I've done in the past, and fight for the rights of consumers.

I will be the people's lawyer.

I will clean the environment. I am committed to ensuring that our children can safely eat the fish from every lake and river, drink clean water from every well and breathe clean air in every community. My record on the environment has earned recognition from the Missouri Conservation Federation and I will continue working to make Missouri a cleaner and healthier place to live.

As attorney general, I will fight to remove government from the private lives of Missourians. Modern technology makes it possible to keep terminally ill coma patients technically alive. However, such decisions belong with the family and not with government bureaucrats. The state has no right to interfere and make families suffer even more.

The omnipresent responsibility of the attorney general is to protect the citizens of this state; protect them from criminals, corrupt bureaucrats, polluters, dishonest businesses and government intrusion into private lives. I want to return the Missouri attorney general's office to Missourians so we can solve our problems together and move our state into the next century.