To name just a few statistics:

• Our productive work force, our ongoing reputation of being one of the best places to live in America, and our freedom from broad based sales and income taxes make New Hampshire great.

• The NAEP (National Assessment of Education Progress) student achievement ranked us second in 4th grade reading and math tests, and second and seventh in 8th grade reading and math.

• The US Department of Justice shows the violent crime in our state at 149 per 100,000 people. The US average is 475 and this puts us at number 48 out of the 50 states.

• In property crime, we are the lowest of the states, at number 50 with 2,054 occurrences per 100,000 people where the US average is 3,588.

Time, however, has silently eroded much of what we stand for here in New Hampshire without many of us even realizing it. As we go about building our financial security and leading our increasingly busy lives, the backdrop of the New Hampshire that we know and love is changing. Constant vigilance is needed to keep what we have grown here in New Hampshire and even more vigilance is needed to enhance things from here.

Threats of income taxes, activist judges, infringement on property rights of citizens, increased government spending and excess control of our lives are thriving and well here in the Granite State. Erosion of our freedoms and increased public dependence on government are goals of some. In many areas we see threats of increased government control; taxes, smoking, gun ownership, and health insurance, just to name a few. Additionally, promotion of the demise of the American family unit for economic benefit, complexity in public policy, unhealthy futures for children and hidden agendas of many special interest groups are challenging the moral and social fabric of our great state. Our state motto, "Live Free or Die" is at risk. We have work to do together to keep it!