For the Record - current events - Brief Article - Column

-- President Bush in Illinois: "I've made up my mind. The tax-relief plan we passed, which you're now beginning to feel the effects of, is going to be permanent." . . . Bush, in New Orleans: "I like to remind people: Those who shut down [free] trade aren't confident. They're not confident in the American worker. They're not confident in the American entrepreneur. They're not confident in American products." . . . Bush schedules China visit for February 21-22. . . . In Bloomberg poll, Bush tops Al Gore in 2004 matchup, 64 percent to 27 percent. . . . In Fox News poll, 83 percent approve of Bush's job performance and 49 percent say they would vote for him if 2004 election "were held today."

-- Sen. Zell Miller (D., Ga.): "I had watched in great disappointment when we did nothing after the terrorists first attacked the World Trade Center in 1993, killing six and injuring more than 1,000 Americans. Then again, when 16 U.S. servicemen were killed in the bombing of the Khobar Towers in 1996 and we still did nothing. I watched when U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Nairobi were attacked in 1998, killing 263 persons, and the only response we made was firing a few missiles on an empty terrorist camp. It was a wimpy response so totally inadequate I was ashamed." . . . In CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 47 percent rate Bill Clinton's handling of terrorism as good or very good, 48 percent call it poor or very poor, and 58 percent say their opinion of him has remained the same. . . . Clinton chief of staff Maggie Williams, in USA Today: "Is he [Clinton] aggressive about making certain that the ideas he's tried to move forward get a flagpole in history? You betcha." . . . Bush adviser Karl Rove, in New York Times: "A president who says, 'I'm focused on my legacy, how's history going to see me?' and lets that become the driver of their actions is somebody who is going to be badly rewarded by history."

-- Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.): "We can and should postpone a portion of the future tax cuts." . . . Democrat pollster Celinda Lake, in New York Times: "We don't have that much credibility on taxes." . . . White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, in Washington Post: "Kennedy has done the nation a service by making explicit the Democrats' economic plan: increase taxes." . . . Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, in Washington Post: "If the 2002 election is about raising taxes, we will have a Republican Senate." . . . Gore: "I am concerned about the economy. I was the first one laid off."

-- Attorney general John Ashcroft on U.S.-born Taliban warrior John Walker: "Youth is not absolution for treachery, and personal self- discovery is not an excuse to take up arms against one's country. Misdirected Americans cannot seek direction in murderous ideologies and expect to avoid the consequences." . . . Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert on Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, in Miami Herald: "These are not nice people. Several have publicly stated here that they intend to kill an American before they leave Guantanamo Bay. We will not give them that satisfaction." . . . Homeland security director Tom Ridge floats idea of combining Border Patrol, Coast Guard, and Customs Service into single border-enforcement agency. . . . Milken Institute says 9/11 attacks will have cost 1.8 million jobs by end of this year. . . . In Fox News poll, 86 percent say airport security screeners should be U.S. citizens and 83 percent say they should have high-school diplomas.

-- NBC's Tim Russert to Pat Buchanan: "Are you done with elective politics?" Buchanan: "I think the American people have spoken pretty clearly to that issue." . . . Texas won't have majority race or ethnicity by 2006 and Hispanics will become majority by 2030s, says state demographer. . . . "People say that Bobby Byrd has used his clout in the Senate to send West Virginia world-record amounts of money," says Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D., R.I.). "But on a per capita basis, I'm the real champ, and I don't hesitate to boast about it."

-- Worldwatch Institute president Christopher Flavin: "If the lofty social and ecological goals of the [1992] Rio Earth Summit had been achieved, it is possible that the crisis of the last year would not have occurred." . . . Stanford history professor Barton Bernstein on why his school eliminated ROTC a generation ago, in university alumni magazine: "Basically the curriculum was awful." . . . Stanford senior Gary Hernandez replies: "I don't see why I can get credit for posture and hip-hop but not military navigation." . . . MTV and Showtime plan new cable channel for gays. . . . NBC executive Scott Sassa on family- friendly shows, in Associated Press: "We don't see them as really the kinds of shows that are in our wheelhouse." . . . ABC News anchor Peter Jennings: "You know, Americans are pretty insular for the most part."

-- CIA report says China may have 100 long-range nuclear missiles aimed at United States by 2015. . . . State Department spokesman Philip Reekder: "The policies that the [Robert] Mugabe government [of Zimbabwe] has taken have led the country to economic and political rack and ruin, and it's time for them to think about the future of their country, the future of their people, and focus on democracy."