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| THE 3RD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE | |
 October 17, 2000  |
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In the third part of the final presidential debate, Vice President Gore and Governor Bush examines Middle East policy, the use of American forces and the gun issue.
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Middle East policy and leadership | |||||||||||||||||||
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MR. LEHRER: Speaking of keeper's of the score card, that's what I'm trying to do here, Mr. Vice President -- (laughter) -- VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Yeah. MR. LEHRER: -- Governor Bush. We're going to -- we're going to have to move on. All right, there were 12 questions on foreign and military matters, and the first one that we're going to ask will be directed to you, Governor Bush, and David Norwood is going to ask it. Mr. Norwood, where are you? There you are. DAVID NORWOOD: What would you make -- what would make you the best candidate in office during the Middle East crisis? GOV. BUSH: I've been a leader. I've been a person who has to set a clear vision and convince people to follow. I've got a strategy for the Middle East And first, let me say that our nation now needs to speak with one voice during this time, and I applaud the president for working hard to defuse tensions. Our nation needs to be credible and strong. When we say we're somebody's friend, everybody's got to believe it. Israel's our friend, and we'll stand by Israel. We need to reach out to modern Arab nations as well, to build coalitions to keep the peace. I also need to -- the next leader needs to be patient. We can't put the Middle East peace process on our timetable. It's got to be on the timetable of the people that we're trying bring to the peace table. We can't dictate the terms of peace, which means that we have to be steady. Can't worry about polls or focus groups. Got to have a clear vision. That's what a leader does. A leader also understands that the United States must be strong to keep the peace. Saddam Hussein still is a threat in the Middle East. Our coalition against Saddam is unraveling. Sanctions are loosened. I -- the man who may be developing weapons of mass destruction, we don't know because inspectors aren't in. So to answer you question, it requires a clear vision, a willingness to stand by our friends, and the credibility for people both friend and foe to understand when America says something, we mean it. MR. LEHRER: Vice President Gore? VICE PRESIDENT GORE: I see a future when the world is at peace, with the United States of America promoting the values of democracy and human rights and freedom all around the world. Even in Iran, they have had an election that began to bring about some change. We stand for those values, and we have to be willing to assert them. Right now, our military is the strongest in the entire history of the world. I will -- I pledge to you, I will do whatever is necessary to make sure that it stays that way. Now, what can I bring to that challenge? When I was a young man, my father was a senator opposed to the Vietnam War. When I graduated from college, there were plenty of fancy ways to get out of going and being a part of that. I went and I volunteered, and I went to Vietnam I didn't do the most or run the greatest risk, by a long shot, but I learned what it was like to be an enlisted man in the United States Army. In the Congress, in the House of Representatives, I served on the House Intelligence Committee, and I worked hard to learn the subject of nuclear arms control and how we can defuse these tensions and deal with nonproliferation and deal with the problems of terrorism and these new weapons of mass destruction. Look, we're going to face some serious new challenges in the next four years. I've worked on that long and hard. When I went to the United States Senate, I asked for an assignment to the Arms Services Committee, and while I was there, I worked on a bipartisan basis -- as I did in the House. I worked with former President Reagan on the modernization of our strategic weaponry. In the Senate, I was one of only 10 Democrats, along with Senator Joe Lieberman, to support Governor Bush's dad in the Persian Gulf War Resolution. And for the last eight years, I've served on the -- MR. LEHRER: Mr. Vice President -- VICE PRESIDENT GORE: -- National Security Council. Could I say just one other thing here? MR. LEHRER: No, sir. We'll get that -- I'm going to gear -- the next question is to you -- VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Fine, I'll wait. |
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| Using America's power | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MR. LEHRER: -- and it's a related -- it's a related question and it's going to asked by Kenneth Allen. Mr. Allen? VICE PRESIDENT GORE: I think that he gets a -- Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. Go ahead. MR. LEHRER: Mr. Allen? Right there. KENNETH ALLEN: Mr. Vice President, today our military forces are stretched thinner and doing more than they've ever done before during peacetime. VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Hm. KENNETH ALLEN: I'd like to know what you -- I think we'd all like to know what you, as president, would do to ensure proper resourcing for the current mission, and/or more selectively choosing the time and place that our forces will be used around the world. VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Thank you, sir. Just to finish briefly. I started to say that for the last eight years I've been on the National Security Council. And last week I broke -- I suspended campaigning for two days, or parts of two days, to go back and participate in the meetings that charted the president's summit meeting that he just returned from earlier today. And our team over -- our country's team over there did a -- did a great job. It's a difficult situation. The United States has to be strong in order to make sure that we can help promote peace and security and stability, and that means keeping our military strong. Now, I said earlier that we are the strongest military. But we need to continue improving readiness and making sure that our military personnel are adequately paid and that the combination of their pay and their benefits and their retirement as veterans is comparable to the stiff competition that's coming in this strong economy from the private sector. And I have supported the largest pay raise in many a year, and I support another one now. I also support modernization of our strategic and tactical weaponry. The governor has proposed skipping a generation of technology. I think that's -- I think that would be a mistake, because I think one of the ways we've been able to be so successful in Kosovo and Bosnia and Haiti and in other places is by having the technological edge. You know, we won that conflict in Kosovo without losing a single human life in combat -- a single American life in combat. Now, readiness. The trends before we -- before I got my current job, were on the decline. The number of divisions were reduced. I argued that we should reverse that trend and take it back up. And I'm happy to tell you that we have. Now, in my budget for the next -- for the next 10 years, I propose $100 billion this purpose; the governor proposes $45 billion. I propose more than twice as much because I think it's needed. MR. LEHRER: Governor Bush, two minutes. GOV. BUSH: If this were a spending contest, I'd come in second. (Laughter.) I readily admit, I'm not going to grow the size of the federal government like he is. Your question was deployment. It must be in the national interests. It must be in our vital interest whether we every send troops. The mission must be clear. Soldiers must understand why are we going. The force must be strong enough so that the mission can be accomplished. And the exit strategy needs to be well-defined. I'm concerned that we're over-deployed around the world. See, I think the mission has somewhat become fuzzy. Should I be fortunate enough to earn you confidence, the mission of the United States military will be to be prepared and ready to fight and win war, and therefore prevent war from happening in the first place. There may be some moments when we use our troops as peacekeepers, but not often. The vice president mentioned my view of the long-term for the military. I want to make sure the equipment for our military is the best it can possibly be, of course. But we have an opportunity. We have an opportunity to use our research and development capacities, the great technology of the United States, to make our military lighter, harder to find, more lethal. We have an opportunity really, if you think about it, if we're smart and have got a strategic vision and a leader who understands strategic planning to make sure that we change the terms of the battlefield of the future so we can make -- keep the peace. This is a peaceful nation, and I intend to keep the peace. Spending money is one thing. But spending money without a strategic plan can oftentimes be wasted. The first thing I'm going to do is ask the Secretary of Defense to set up a plan so we're making sure we're not spending our money on political projects, but on projects to make sure our soldiers are well paid, well housed, and have the best equipment in the world. |
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| The gun issue | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MR. LEHRER: Governor Bush, another kind of gun question. It'll be asked by Robert Lutz (sp). Mr. Lutz (sp)? ROBERT LUTZ (sp): Governor Bush -- GOV. BUSH: Yes, sir? MR. LUTZ (sp): -- we'd just like to know what is your opposition to the Brady handgun bill? GOV. BUSH: Could you -- I'm sorry. I didn't hear that. MR. LUTZ (sp): We'd like to know why you object to the Brady handgun bill, if you do object to it, because on a recent TV ad, it showed that the National Rifle Association says if you are elected, that they will be working out of your office. GOV. BUSH: Well -- (chuckles) -- MR. LUTZ (sp): I can just see Charlton Heston -- GOV. BUSH: I don't think the National Rifle Association ran that ad. But let me just tell you my position on guns in general, sir, if you don't mind. MR. LEHRER: I'm not -- excuse me. I'm not sure he's finished with his question, Governor. GOV. BUSH: Oh, I'm sorry. MR. LUTZ (sp): Well, that kind of bothers me -- you know, when I see an ad like that. I wonder if you can explain that ad to me. MR. LEHRER: Oh, that's fine. GOV. BUSH: Well, I don't think I ran the ad. I think somebody who doesn't want me to be president might have run that ad. It's -- that wasn't my ad, and I think it might have been one of my opponent's ads. Here's what I believe, sir. I believe law-abiding citizens ought to be allowed to protect themselves and their families. I believe that we ought to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them. That's why I'm for instant background checks at gun shows. I'm for trigger locks. I think that makes sense. Matter of fact, we distributed free trigger locks in the state of Texas, so that people can get them and put them on their guns, to make their guns more safe. I think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun But I also believe strongly that we need to enforce laws on the books, that the best way to make sure that we keep our society safe and secure is to hold people accountable for -- for breaking the law. If we catch somebody illegally selling a gun, there needs to be a consequence. If we keep -- somebody, you know, illegally using a gun, there needs to be a consequence, enforcement of the law. And the federal government can help. There's a great program called Project Exile in Richmond, Virginia, where they focused federal taxpayers money and federal prosecutors and went after people who were illegally using guns to me that's how you make society the safest it can be, and so, yes, sometimes I agree with some of these groups in Washington and sometimes I don't. I'm a pretty independent thinker. But one thing I'm for is a safe society, and I'm for enforcing laws on the books, and that's what's going to happen should I earn your confidence. MR. LEHRER: Vice President Gore? VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Well, one of -- it was not one of my ads, either, Governor, but I am familiar with the statement, and it was made by one of the top-ranking officials of that organization. Let me tell you my position. I think that some commonsense gun safety measures are certainly needed with the flood of cheap handguns that have sometimes been working their way into the hands of the wrong people. But all of my proposals are focused on that problem, gun safety. None of my proposals would have any effect on hunters or sportsmen or people who use rifles. They are aimed at the real problem -- let's make our schools safe, let's make our neighborhoods safe, let's have a three-day waiting period, a cooling off so we can have a background check to make sure that criminals and people who really shouldn't have Guns that don't get them. But I'd like to use my remaining time on this exchange, Jim, to respond to an exchange that took place just a moment ago because a couple of times the governor has said that I am for a bigger government. Governor, I'm not. And let me tell you what the record shows. For the last eight years, I have had the challenge of running the streamlining program called Reinventing Government. And if there are any federal employees in this group, you know what that means. The federal government has been reduced in size by more than 300,000 people, and it's now the smallest number that we have had since -- the smallest in size since John Kennedy's administration. During the last five years, Texas' government has gone up in size. The federal government has gone down. Texas' government has gone up. Now, my plan for the future, I see a time when we have smaller, smarter government where you don't have to wait in line because you can get services online -- cheaper, better faster. We can do that. |
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