Excerpts from the Republican presidential debate among Gary Bauer, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Steve Forbes, Alan Keyes and Sen. John McCain, as transcribed by the Federal Document Clearing House.

REPUBLICAN DEBATE WHO: Gary Bauer, George W. Bush, Steve Forbes, Alan Keyes, John McCain. WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 26, 7-8:30 p.m. EST. WHERE: WMUR studio, Manchester, N.H. MODERATOR: CNN's Judy Woodruff and WMUR's Tom Griffith. SPONSORS: WMUR-TV and CNN. MORE COVERAGE Bush, McCain spar on taxes, education Truth Squad: Having it two ways in GOP debate Keyes criticized for falling into mosh pit Candidates detail views of government-funded 'Net access Causes vie to be heard on street Crowds, cars create chaos in town Excerpts from the debate Democratic debate

On a patient's bill of rights and health care.

BAUER: My 76-year-old mother has to deal with an HMO. Why in the world would somebody think it's a conservative idea or a Republican idea to say that she shouldn't have the right to get redress if she's the victim of a medical malpractice.

I think we need to do something on long-term care and on prescription drugs. And what I would do is let older Americans buy into the really nice health care plan that politicians in Washington, D.C., have. They've got a great plan that covers them and federal employees. They get to pick among 200 policies that cover things like long-term care and prescription drugs. We can let older Americans buy into that plan and end up saving tens of billions of dollars in Medicare while providing better coverage for more Americans ... I think it's outrageous that we are closing veterans hospitals.

My father was in a veterans hospital for two years ... These men kept their end of the bargain. And now we're making them stand in line, hat in hand, to beg for the benefits that are theirs.

KEYES: We have to take an approach that empowers those who are out there looking for health care services, to be the ones who can make the choices and make the decisions that will enforce, within that system, a relationship between the money you pay, and the quality you get.

We should voucherize the federal programs, so that individuals will have a stake in making the right judgments about how they get their health care. We need to set up medical savings accounts and other mechanisms that will allow people to build up what they need in order meet their health care needs.

On abortion.

BUSH: I'm a pro-life candidate, and I've been a pro-life governor. I have set the tone in my state to bring people together. I fought for and signed the first parental notification bill in my state's history. I brought Democrats and Republicans together to value life. This is a bill that will reduce the number of abortions in the state of Texas.

I also worked with both Democrats and Republicans to encourage adoptions in my state of Texas.

McCAIN: I'm proud of my pro-life record in public life. I'm the only one here who has gone to the floor of the Senate and voted in the preservation of the life of the unborn. I have worked very hard for the ban of partial-birth abortion. I have sought for approval and legislation requiring parental consent and parental notification.

On taxes.

KEYES: ... We have surrendered control of our income to the government, giving them a pre-emptive claim that they then determine the extent of over our money.

I support a fair tax proposal that is out there on the table, that would replace both the income tax and the payroll tax. The rate would probably have to be for that purpose around 20 to 23 percent. It would be on the retail sales. That is, it's not a tax on production.

You want to end tax on consumption of retail sales, excluding a certain market basket of goods and services that represent the essential necessities of life so that the poor and those on fixed incomes would be able to exempt themselves from taxation through their own judicious use of the proper choice, and others who feel that they cannot bear the burden of the income tax, would be able by following that frugality track to do the same thing.

On the military.

McCAIN: ... I think it's an absolute disgrace that there's 15,000 -- 12,000 proud, brave, young enlisted families that are on food stamps in the military ... This is the first administration with the president of the United States and the secretary of defense and the secretary of state that have never spent one minute wearing the uniform of the armed services of the United States, and I promise you that won't happen on my watch.

Q: Should our national dialogue drop the words minority, majority?

BUSH: I'm from a state where over 50 percent of the kindergarten students are Hispanic, and we view each other as Texans.

KEYES: I think one of the things that has been done by quotas and other approaches that people say are to benefit minorities is that in fact we have retained the categories of racial discrimination and racial consciousness. And if there are people in this society that need help, we should give them that help based on their need, based on the scars that they have suffered, perhaps, from past abuse and discrimination, not based on race and minority background of that kind.

BAUER: Winston Churchill referred to us as the American race. Very interesting phrase. It obviously wasn't a reference to the color of our skins. He knew that there was an idea that defined Americans ...

On campaign finance reform.

Bauer: There is something terribly wrong when big unions and big corporations can dump $4 million, $5 million, $6 million into the coffers of the two political parties.

Now, reform is important. I want to make sure it doesn't hurt just our party. That's not acceptable. But when Teddy Roosevelt and the early reformers said that big unions and big business should not be able to buy that kind of access, they knew what they were talking about. And as president, I would do away with that kind of soft money in campaigns ... Why is the party of Ronald Reagan confused about most-favored-nation status? Very simple reason: Because there are some big corporations giving a lot of money to the Republican National Committee and pulling strings on that issue.

On China having most favored nation status.

FORBES: We'd make it clear that they cannot run us out of Asia as they're trying to do now. And they cannot use force against Taiwan.

On human rights abuses, we will criticize them in every international forum possible. Dissidents in China have told me and others how important that is to put the spotlight on.

In terms of trade, of course we want trade with China. But it has to be two way.

And if China wishes to pass technology on to rogue states like North Korea or to Pakistan, we should put sanctions on specific Chinese companies, particularly those controlled by the People's Liberation Army.

On tax plans.

McCAIN: Well, I think maybe President Clinton's looks too much like mine. He looked too much like me when he signed the Welfare Reform Act. He looked too much like me in a number of shifts that he made to the center for political expediency.

Look, we all know we've got a ticking time bomb out there, and it's called the Social Security trust fund, Bernie. And starting in 2014 there will be more money going out than in. According to Senator Gregg, Governor Bush's campaign chairman here in New Hampshire, there's a $5 trillion unfunded liability out there in the form of the Social Security trust fund ... More young Americans believe Elvis is alive than they believe that they'll ever see a Social Security check. I want to lift the 15 percent tax bracket up to couples making $70,000 a year.

BUSH: I'll tell you what I'm going to do. If I'm the president and you're a senator, you can come in my office and you can outline all the different corporate loopholes you think are wrong, and we can pick and choose.

I'm selling my tax cut plan, without claiming I'm going to close some kind of a corporate loophole. I believe we've got $4 trillion over 10 years; $2 trillion of which will go to save Social Security and pay down debt; $1 trillion available for debt repayment and other programs; and $1 trillion over a 10-year period, for a meaningful, substantial, real tax cut to the people.

Your plan uses so-called corporate loopholes to pay for it; I use cash to pay for it. And if the money stays in Washington -- my problem with your plan is that it's going to be spent on bigger government.

McCAIN: George, you seem to depict the role of the president as a hapless bystander.

On funding for Mars exploration.

FORBES: ... You're going to see a lot more involvement by the private sector. Thanks to technology this is becoming, in effect, cheaper and cheaper. They're finding new ways to get these rocket ships up, and they should bear the risks when they don't work instead of American taxpayers.

So NASA has a role as prodder, with doing exploration, getting information. But I want the private sector to be more aggressively involved. Just as we did exploring the Earth, we can do now, thanks to technology, the same thing with space.

On oil prices and reserves.

BUSH: I used to be in the oil business. I was little oil -- really little oil. I understand what can happen in the marketplace.

I think it's very important for us, though, to recognize that our country better become less dependent on foreign crude. That's why I am for the exploration of ANWR. That's why I'm for the exploration of natural gas, which is hemispheric. It's not subject to price.

If the president does his job, the president will earn capital in the Middle East, and the president should have good standing with those nations. It's important for the president to explain, in clear terms, what high energy prices will not only do to our economy, but what high energy prices will do to the world economy.

On the death penalty.

KEYES: I believe that there are certain circumstances in which the death penalty is in fact essential to our respect for life. If we do not in our law send the message to everybody that by calculatedly, coldly taking a human life in a way that, for instance, assaults the structures of law in a society, or shows a cold-blooded and studied disregard for the value of that life, if we are not willing to implement the death penalty in those circumstances, then we are actually sending a message of contempt for human life.

Q: Should lying under oath be a felony?

BAUER: ... This president sat in that office and we know what he did. In fact, he was on the phone with a member of Congress, talking about sending our sons to Bosnia, while he was in the middle of a disgusting act with a White House intern. This brings shame to our country.

McCAIN: I voted to convict the president of the United States on grounds that he lied under oath. In fact, there was a discussion at the time as to whether we expect the same standards of a member of the military as the president of the United States. No, we don't expect the same standards, we expect a higher standard from members -- from the president of the United States than members of the military.