GORE ANNOUNCES CRIME PACKAGE, CRITICIZES BUSH

ATLANTA, May 2 - Vice President Gore today proposed a range of
crime-fighting initiatives - from mandatory drug testing and treatment for
prisoners to expanding the number of new federally funded police officers -
and attacked the crime fighting record of his GOP rival, Texas Gov. George
W. Bush.

In doing so, the vice president sought to bask in the glow of seven
straight years of falling crime rates and hold on to an issue that once
belonged to Republicans. He also sought to steal a page out of Bush's
recent strategy by presenting himself as a politician eager to reach out
across party lines to create common-sense policies.

Gore praised the Clinton administration's anti-crime model as a model of
bipartisanship that embraced elements of conservative get-tough-on-crime
ideology with liberal fight-the-causes-of-crime ideology. While promoting a
greater federal role in crime fighting, he used the biblical story of Cain
and Abel to underscore the need for greater personal and parental
responsibility.

Surrounded by scores of local politicians and law enforcement officers,
Gore pledged that as president he would "launch a sweeping anti-crime
strategy" and intensify the effort "against crime, drugs and disorder in
our communities. If you give me the chance, I will be a law-and-order
president."

The Gore campaign billed today's speech as an opportunity for the candidate
to expound on his own vision of crime fighting, but it was equally an
opportunity to go after Bush, much as Gore has been doing in recent days on
foreign and economic policy and social security. Gore saved the final five
minutes of his 45-minute speech to attack Bush for paying scant attention
to crime on the campaign trail, for offering a tax cut plan that would
endanger efforts to put more police on the streets and for failing to deal
with issues such as drug addiction in his own state.

"From what we have seen it is already clear that there are serious
philosophical differences between us," Gore said. "He seems to believe that
there is no national responsibility to help fight crime. I believe it is
one of our greatest national responsibilities and as communities we should
not have to go it alone."

The vast majority of the dozens of proposals Gore made today or said he
supported were not new. But some, such as a plan to allow all off-duty and
retired police officers to carry concealed weapons as long as they pass a
regular recertification test, were.

The most significant is a proposal that would cost $500 million in the
first year and that is aimed at curbing illegal drug use and drug crime.
Gore said drug addiction was a major cause of the nation's high recidivism
rates. He said access to drugs in jail, combined with prisoners' lack of
access to drug treatment programs, virtually ensured the continued cycle of
crimes. And he accused Bush of slashing drug treatment in Texas prisons.

Gore spokesman Chris Lehane said drug treatment had been slashed to $188
million a year under Bush from $380 million a year under his predecessor,
Democrat Ann Richards. He said that the national recidivism rate was 33
percent, while in Texas it was up from 40 percent under Richards to 50
percent under Bush - a number the Bush campaign said was unsubstantiated.
Later, when pressed, Lehane said the 50 percent figure came from news
reports, and he did not know the original source.

Under Gore's anti-drug proposal the federal government would provide grants
to states to test and treat targeted prisoners, as well as those on
probation and parole. Failure to stay drug-free could result in return to
prison or a longer sentence. He also proposed expanding drug courts,
providing police with technology to determine and fight high-priority drug
zones, and tougher penalties for people to who sell drugs to children.

Bush's campaign responded angrily that Gore had misconstrued the governor's
record. Spokesman Ari Fleischer said the $380 million figure Gore used
represented a proposed budget from Richards that never passed, and that
Bush increased spending on drug treatment in prisons from $101 million in
1994 to $144 million now. "Al Gore invents numbers just like he invented
the Internet," Fleischer said.

Bush's campaign also released a list of the governor's crime fighting
accomplishments, claiming, among other things, that violent crime in Texas
is at a 20-year low, that the parole approval rate is the lowest in more
than 20 years and that spending on drug treatment, prevention and
enforcement programs has risen substantially.

Gore's proposal to allow all off-duty and retired police officers to carry
concealed weapons as long as they pass a regular recertification test would
preempt local and state laws and extend to all law enforcement officers the
same rights as federal officers to carry their weapons off duty.

Gore reiterated his support for a 10-year, $1.3 billion proposal he first
offered last year to add 50,000 new officers to the 100,000 officers
approved by Congress in 1994 along with a handful of other crime-fighting
initiative. Gore also said he would push for toughening the laws for
violent crimes committed in the presence of children.