[ applause ] thank you, guys. Please be seated. Lt. Governor ivey, speaker hubbard, president marsh, distinguished guests, members of the alabama legislature, chief justice moore, justices of the Alabama Supreme Court and my fellow alabamians. The poorest county in the United States of america is located just 73 miles from where we sit tonight. If we were to drive a little over an hour from this historic hall we would find ourselves in Wilcox County where the Median Household Income is below that of any other county in this nation. 11thousand of our fellow alabamians live in Wilcox County where the Unemployment Rate is chronically in double digits and consistently ranks above the national average. Everyone in this room knows alabama is one of the poorest states in america, where one in four children live in poverty. Nearly 1million of our fellow alabamians are dependent on food stamps. The statistics are sobering. The facts are indisputable. Never ending cycles of a need for jobs, bett
Please be seated. Lt. Governor ivey, speaker hubbard, president marsh, distinguished guests, members of the alabama legislature, chief justice moore, justices of the Alabama Supreme Court and my fellow alabamians. The poorest county in the United States of america is located just 73 miles from where we sit tonight. If we were to drive a little over an hour from this historic hall we would find ourselves in Wilcox County where the Median Household Income is below that of any other county in this nation. 11thousand of our fellow alabamians live in Wilcox County where the Unemployment Rate is chronically in double digits and consistently ranks above the national average. Everyone in this room knows alabama is one of the poorest states in america, where one in four children live in poverty. Nearly 1million of our fellow alabamns are dependent on food stamps. The statistics are sobering. The facts are indisputable. Never ending cycles of a need for jobs, better job skills and better educati