VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE IN ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA

(continued page 2)

GORE: We have a plan to balance the budget while protecting Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment, creating millions of new jobs, including one million new jobs in America's inner cities.

I'm excited about the chance to talk about this plan and even more excited about the chance to work on it if you, the people of this country, will give Bill Clinton and me the privilege of doing so for four more years.

LEHRER: Mr. Kemp?

KEMP: I've really got only two differences with Bill Clinton, President Clinton, and Vice President Gore: foreign policy and domestic policy.

(LAUGHTER)

Our foreign policy is ambivalent, confusing. It is sending strong signals to the wrong people. And we have learned over the years that weakness is provocative.

The domestic economy is not doing what it can do. This president believes we're at our capacity. Bob Dole and I believe we can do a lot better.

It's about the potential of the American people to lift themselves up and not have their lives controlled by the United States government in Washington.

LEHRER: Mr. Vice President, what do you see as the political philosophy differences in a general way between you and President Clinton on the one hand, and Mr. Kemp and Senator Dole on the other?

GORE: The differences are very clear. We have a positive plan based on three principles. We want to provide opportunity for all Americans.

GORE: We insist on responsibility being accepted in turn by everyone. And we want to strengthen our communities and their ability to support families and individuals in our common effort to create a bright future.

Here's how we plan to do that. We have a balanced budget plan that has targeted tax cuts for middle-income families. We've already given tax cuts to 15 million of the hardest-pressed working families in America.

Our plan for the next four years features a $1,500 tax credit, called a Hope Scholarship, for tuition at community college, junior college or college; a $10,000 tax deduction for college tuition, for those who go further, so that in essence, no American family will ever be taxed on the money they spend for college tuition.

Also, tax relief for first-time home buyers, tax encouragement for savings, and help in paying health care expenses. And a tax break -- actually, the elimination of capital gains taxes on the profits from the sale of a home.

All of this is within a balanced budget plan which protects Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment.

KEMP: Jim, this economy is over-taxed, over-regulated. There are too many people suing each other. There's too much litigation. Our education is not up to the standards that the American family and the American people want for their children.

And clearly, the welfare system is a disgrace to our Judeo-Christian principles.

MORE