DEMOCRATIC DEBATE WHO: Vice President Al Gore, former Sen. Bill Bradley. WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 26, 9-10 p.m. EST. WHERE: WMUR studio, Manchester, N.H. MODERATOR: CNN's Bernard Shaw and WMUR's Karen Brown. SPONSORS: WMUR-TV and CNN. MORE COVERAGE Bradley questions Gore's integrity Truth Squad: Candidates adrift on abortion, welfare reform Causes vie to be heard on street Crowds, cars create chaos in town Excerpts from the debate Republican debate

Excerpts from the Democratic presidential debate Wednesday between Vice President Al Gore and Bill Bradley, as transcribed by the Federal Document Clearing House.

On education.

BRADLEY: This morning I was in Manchester at the Y, at an early child care program. The first three years of life are decisive in terms of early brain formation. That's why I think you begin investing in education in those first three or four years. I think then it's important to increase the Head Start slots by 400,000, because that prepares kids to go to school.

And then I think it's very important to -- when you get to elementary and secondary (school), that the biggest thing that the federal government can do in the next decade, is to try to put 600,000 new, qualified teachers in classrooms in this country, and 2,000 after-school programs for kids.

On Internet taxes.

GORE: I strongly support a moratorium preventing any taxation of the Internet as negotiations are encouraged between the state and local jurisdictions and the Internet service providers ... I think that we need to let these negotiations continue ... it's completely unfair to subject the Internet to thousands of different taxing jurisdictions.

On negative campaigning.

GORE: Senator Bradley is the only one who has been forced by the media to apologize for negative attacks in this campaign, and he is the one who brought Willie Horton into the campaign, so ... if you're going to talk about a higher standard, you need to live by it.

BRADLEY: Well, let me just say, when Al accuses me of negative campaigning, it reminds me of the story about Richard Nixon. It said Richard Nixon's the kind of politician who would chop down a tree and stand on the stump and give a speech about conservation.

On abortion.

GORE: I've always supported Roe vs. Wade. I have always supported a woman's right to choose. And let me say that, if you entrust me with the presidency, I will guarantee that a woman's right to choose is protected.

Now it's true that early in my career I wrestled with the question of what kinds of exceptions should be allowed to the general rule that Medicaid should also pay for this procedure. I have come to the strong view that all women, regardless of their income, must have the right to choose. And that's my position.

BRADLEY: I can understand why you wouldn't answer the question, because when you were in the Congress, you had an 84 percent right-to-life voting record.

On welfare reform.

GORE: ... We have moved 7 million people from welfare to work, cutting the rolls in half. You voted against it in the United States Senate and I'm wondering why.

BRADLEY: ... I'm wondering why you think it's working so well when, because of welfare reform, there are 1 million children in this country today who don't have health insurance -- who've lost their health insurance because of welfare reform.

I also think that, although the welfare rolls have dropped, that people in deep poverty have increased. And when I look at this vote, and I say that this vote really was a gamble with kids for re-election. I'm not saying it was a mistake to vote for welfare reform. I'm saying that we need to reform the reform. And, indeed, legal immigrants were excluded; now they're included.

In addition to that, I think that if a father is forced to pay child support, that that child support ought to go to the mother. How do you expect the family who is -- a mother trying to support a child to be able to do that when you take the money that comes from the father and give it to the state instead of the child? ... We've got to do something about 1 million children who don't have any health care in this country because they lost it when they were kicked off of welfare.

On Medicare.

GORE: My plan provides health care for every single child in this country. It provides a prescription drug benefit for seniors under Medicare which -- unlike your provision, Bill, your provision requires them to spend up to $900 of their own money before they get a penny of benefits. More than half of seniors under your plan would have to pay $300 a year in premiums and not get a penny in help for purchasing their prescription drugs.

I provide a tax credit for the small business employers who have more than half of all the uninsured work force and for individuals to purchase their own health insurance. I also deal with the issue of long-term care to give help to those who are bearing that burden ... I give the medical decisions back to the doctors and the nurses and take them away from the insurance companies and the HMOs.

BRADLEY: ... You nibble around the edges, and indeed you have nothing in your budget for the next 10 years to get to universal health insurance. And yet you assert that you want to do that.

In terms of the Medicare drug benefit, let me say the difference between our plans are this. I saw a woman in Des Moines the other day. She had -- just let me finish -- $10,000 in pharmaceutical costs. My plan would have cost -- would have paid $7,500 of that. Al's plan would have paid $1,000.

On Saddam Hussein in the Middle East

BRADLEY: ... The fact is that he has the capacity now, in OPEC, to reduce production, which increases price. That's precisely what's happened now. And that means that prices for New Hampshire residents for home heating oil go up -- about $1.74 now.

I see there are things that an administration could do here to stop that. One would be to let oil out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve ... That'll keep prices down.

The second thing that's important for us to do now is to tell Kuwait and Saudi Arabia -- two countries that we protected in 1990-91 -- to increase their oil production. If they increase their oil production, the prices would then drop.

And with Saddam Hussein specifically, I think the most important thing is to diplomatically isolate him. I would not let sanctions go.

On reactions to campaign finance.

BRADLEY: ... how can you be fighting for the people when you're working hand-in-love with the special interests who essentially are fighting against the people?

GORE: Well, I'm not working hand-in-glove as you have attacked there. If that's not negative, I don't what it is.

You know, I have never been afraid to stand up to the special interests. I have fought against the oil lobby for home heating oil assistance here in New Hampshire and for protection against drilling off the coast. I have fought against the pharmaceutical companies to get more competition from generic companies to bring drug prices down. I fought you when you were pushing that amendment on behalf of the pharmaceutical companies.

I have fought against those who have tried to eliminate the right to organize in the work place. I have fought for working people against every lobby that exists in Washington.

For 23 years now, I have fought for the people, and the whole basis of my campaign here is that I want to fight for the people of New Hampshire and I intend to do just that if you will entrust me with the presidency.

BRADLEY: Well, all I can say is it's politics as usual. And that's a thousand promises and a thousand attacks. That's what's been your campaign -- a thousand promises, a thousand attacks. A promise to every little special interest group; attack, attack, attack every day. That's been the nature of it.

And quite frankly, I think the people are fed up with it. But from your standpoint nothing has changed. Lobbyists are still in charge in Washington.

BRADLEY: What your wrong about, and how you've mischaracterized this, is saying New Hampshire would have $150. That's where you're wrong. New Hampshire will have more.

I'm not going to do a health care program that doesn't give people who are on Medicaid now, largely adults, access to several plans in every state. The legislation will be written, that's what will happen. The figure of $150 does not apply to New Hampshire, it applies to other states.

Let's take, for example, what you've done on Medicaid. Since -- over the last seven years Medicaid HMOs in this country have gone from 14 percent to 54 percent of all Medicaid recipients. And what -- the average of the Medicaid recipient, all of them, has a fee of under $150. Under $150. So this can easily be done.

The big difference is here, by raising this issue you are trying to get away from facing up to the fact that I've offered a proposal that would provide access to quality affordable health care for all Americans; would provide a Medicare drug benefit for the elderly that's much more generous than yours, much bigger than yours; and would indeed guarantee all children health coverage in this country

GORE: Well, let me say again, Senator Ted Kennedy took a careful look at both plans and said mine is clearly the best way to advance the cause of universal health insurance. But if New Hampshire's going to get more than $150 a month, you're changing your plan ...

BRADLEY: ... You know what you're saying is not true. And quite frankly, I wonder whether if you're running a campaign, that is saying untrue things, whether you'll be able to be a president that gets people's trust. If you're running a campaign that's divisive, that's the kind of presidency that you will also have.

GORE: Look, Bill, we have had some heated disagreements in this campaign. Let's keep it to the substance of the issues. I haven't accused you of lying. We can have a disagreement on the substance of the issues without you making negative personal attacks.

Look, the people out there are tired of that. They want to talk about the substance of the issues. And if you feel like you're on the defensive on the substance of the issues, then change your plan.