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The Missouri House has approved legislation requiring employers to check potential employees' legal resident status. Missouri already requires public and private employers that receive state money to participate in a federal work authorization program. The bill would extend the requirement to all Missouri employers.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- This year's NFL draft is heavy on size and light on glamour.

There's no high-profile quarterback destined to go No. 1 and instantly become the face of a downtrodden franchise. There's not even a running back or wide receiver worthy of the top overall pick, someone with the kind of swagger that wins over fans weary of losing.

Nope, there's just beef. And lots of it.

There's 6-foot-6, 306-pound Luke Joeckel, the offensive tackle from Texas A&M whom the Kansas City Chiefs are expected to select first overall. There's also Eric Fisher of Central Michigan and Lane Johnson of Oklahoma, two more 300-pounders who could be snapped up in the first 10 picks.

Even the defensive side of the ball is big on bigness: Florida's Sharrif Floyd, Utah's Star Lotulelei and Sylvester Williams of North Carolina are considered premium space eaters.

Utilitarian? Sure. Flashy? Not so much.

"There are a lot of good football players there," Broncos President John Elway insisted. "It's kind of a matter of what kind of flavor you like, but there are plenty of defensive linemen - not only defensive ends but defensive linemen - in this draft, and it's deeper than most."

Only twice since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 has an offensive tackle been chosen first overall, but the Chiefs figure to make it three when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reads off the name of the league's newest millionaire shortly after 8 p.m. EDT at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Joeckel is considered the surest thing in a draft full of uncertainty.

He protected the blind side of Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel last season, won the Outland Trophy as college football's top interior lineman, and wowed just about everyone at the NFL's annual scouting combine with his speed, agility and, yes, his size.

"I think this year, the offensive line position has some true prospects in it," Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said. "Every draft has its own unique set of characteristics. Last year's draft had its own unique set of characteristics. This year's draft has its unique characteristics."

Last year's draft made for must-see TV.

One of the deepest quarterback crops in recent years stoked the passions of fan bases in several NFL cities, including Indianapolis, which took Andrew Luck with the first overall pick.

It was the fourth straight year that a quarterback went No. 1.

The run of signal-callers didn't stop there, either. The Redskins traded up to select Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III at No. 2, and two more quarterbacks went in the first round.

West Virginia's Geno Smith is expected to go in the first round this year, perhaps as early as No. 2 to Jacksonville. But outside the strong-armed but erratic quarterback, the market at the NFL's most critical position is weak. That means a handful of teams in need - Oakland, Buffalo, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Arizona among them - might wait until later in the draft to make their move.

That's all assuming that no trades are made on the opening night.

Quarterbacks who could still be on the board when the draft resumes with the second round Friday night include USC's Matt Barkley, Florida State's E.J. Manuel and Ryan Nassib of Syracuse.

"This is really a meat-and-potatoes draft, certainly early in the first couple of rounds with linemen, which is exciting," said Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who will pick fourth.

"It may not be the flashiest thing, but it's exciting," he said. "It's hard to find big guys who can move, play with power, and there are lot of guys in this draft."

Guys who can protect those expensive quarterbacks.

Joeckel may be the top offensive tackle available, but Fisher and Johnson are both expected to go early in the draft. And they'll probably spend their careers lining up against a slew of players on the defensive side of the ball who could be picked early in the first round, too.

The Oakland Raiders, who pick third, have had their eye on Floyd and Lotulelei, among others, and defensive ends Dion Jordan of Oregon, Ziggy Ansah of BYU and Barkevious Mingo of LSU should have their names called in the first couple hours Thursday night.

Defensive back Dee Milliner is a trendy choice to go in the top 10, and offensive linemen D.J. Fluker and Chance Warmack - Milliner's teammates from national champion Alabama - also are expected to go early in a draft that is more wide open than any in recent history.

"You can go and ask every scout in the room and you'd probably get a favorite player that differs from the other," Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie said. "But that's the fun part of this job is trying to get all those opinions and come to a common goal to choose one."

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DALLAS (AP) -- All the living American presidents past and present are gathering in Dallas, a rare reunion to salute one of their own at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Profound ideological differences and a bitter history of blaming each other for the nation's woes will give way - if just for a day - to pomp and pleasantries Thursday as the five members of the most exclusive club in the world appear publicly together for the first time in years. For Bush, 66, the ceremony also marks his unofficial return to the public eye four years after the end of his deeply polarizing presidency.

On the sprawling, 23-acre university campus north of downtown Dallas housing his presidential library, museum and policy institute, Bush will be feted by his father, George H.W. Bush, and the two surviving Democrats, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. President Barack Obama, fresh off a fundraiser for Democrats the night before, will also speak.

In a reminder of his duties as the current Oval Office inhabitant, Obama will travel to Waco in the afternoon for a memorial for victims of last week's deadly fertilizer plant explosion.

Key moments and themes from Bush's presidency - the harrowing, the controversial and the inspiring - won't be far removed from the minds of the presidents and guests assembled to dedicate the center, where interactive exhibits invite scrutiny of Bush's major choices as president, such as the financial bailout, the Iraq War and the international focus on HIV and AIDS.

On display is the bullhorn that Bush, near the start of his presidency, used to punctuate the chaos at ground zero three days after 9/11. Addressing a crowd of rescue workers amid the ruins of the World Trade Center, Bush said: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."

"Memories are fading rapidly, and the profound impact of that attack is becoming dim with time," Bush told The Associated Press earlier this month. "We want to make sure people remember not only the lives lost and the courage shown, but the lesson that the human condition overseas matters to the national security of our country."

More than 70 million pages of paper records. Two hundred million emails. Four million digital photos. About 43,000 artifacts. Bush's library will feature the largest digital holdings of any of the 13 presidential libraries under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration, officials said. Situated in a 15-acre urban park at Southern Methodist University, the center includes 226,000 square feet of indoor space.

A full-scale replica of the Oval Office as it looked during Bush's tenure sits on the campus, as does a piece of steel from the World Trade Center. In the museum, visitors can gaze at a container of chads - the remnants of the famous Florida punch card ballots that played a pivotal role in the contested 2000 election that sent Bush to Washington.

Former first lady Laura Bush led the design committee, officials said, with a keen eye toward ensuring that her family's Texas roots were conspicuously reflected. Architects used local materials, including Texas Cordova cream limestone and trees from the central part of the state, in its construction.

The public look back on the tenure of the nation's 43rd president comes as Bush is undergoing a coming-out of sorts after years spent in relative seclusion, away from the prying eyes of cameras and reporters that characterized his two terms in the White House and his years in the Texas governor's mansion before that. As the library's opening approached, Bush and his wife embarked on a round-robin of interviews with all the major television networks, likely aware that history's appraisal of his legacy and years in office will soon be solidifying.

An erroneous conclusion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, a bungling of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina and a national debt that grew much larger under his watch stain the memory of his presidency for many, including Obama, who won two terms in the White House after lambasting the choices of its previous resident. But on Wednesday, Obama staunchly defended Bush's commitment to the America's well-being while addressing Democratic donors.

"Whatever our political differences, President Bush loves this country and loves his people and shared that same concern, and is concerned about all people in America," Obama said. "Not just some. Not just those who voted Republican."

There's at least some evidence that Americans are warming to Bush's presidency four years after he returned to his ranch in Crawford, even if they still question his judgment on Iraq and other issues. While Bush left office with an approval rating of 33 percent, that figure has climbed to 47 percent - about equal to Obama's own approval rating, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released ahead of the library opening.

Bush pushed forcefully but unsuccessfully for the type of sweeping immigration overhaul that Congress, with Obama's blessing, is now pursuing. And his aggressive approach to counterterrorism may be viewed with different eyes as the U.S. continues to be touched by acts of terrorism.

Although museums and libraries, by their nature, look back on history, the dedication of Bush's library also offers a few hints about the future, with much of the nation's top political brass gathered in the same state. Clinton's wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, stoked speculation about her own political future Wednesday in a Dallas suburb when she delivered her first paid speech since stepping down as secretary of state earlier this year. And Bush talked up the presidential prospects of his brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in an interview that aired Wednesday on ABC.

"He doesn't need my counsel, because he knows what it is, which is, `Run,'" Bush said.

Obama, too, may have his own legacy in mind. He's just a few years out from making his own decision about where to house his presidential library and the monument to his legacy.

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Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter: HTTP://TWITTER.COM/JOSHLEDERMANAP

© 2013 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED. Learn more about our PRIVACY POLICY and TERMS OF USE.