For the Record - quotations from recent political and news events - Brief Article

- In New York Daily News, Rep. Jose Serrano (D., N.Y.) describes conversati tion with Hillary Clinton adviser Harold Ickes about First Lady's tardy opposition to White House clemency for Puerto Rican terrorists: "I said, 'Listen, don't insult me by telling me that it was done because of a philosophical position, because she didn't have that position three weeks ago.'" . . . Hillary refuses to say whether she supports clemency for convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, now serving life sentence. . . . Vice President Al Gore, addressing terrorism in 1996: "If you plot terror or act on those designs, within our borders or without, against American citizens, we will hunt you down and stop you cold." . . . Gore on Clinton's FALN order: "I'm not going to stand in judgment of his decision." . . . Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.): "The burden of proof is on the administration to prove why clemency should be granted. I have repeatedly requested information on these cases. I have been given no such information." . . . Robert Lichter of Center for Media and Public Affairs: "It used to be that Washington admired Hollywood for its sex and Hollywood admired Washington for its power. . . . These days, Washington admires Hollywood for its power and Hollywood admires Washington for its sex."

- In 20/20 interview, Sam Donaldson asks Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) if he he used to be a "womanizer." McCain: "Well, yes. Well, I certainly pursued the fairer sex, and I had some modicum of success, yes." . . . Gary Bauer, Pat Buchanan, and McCain recommend backing out of Panama Canal handover, scheduled for Dec. 31. . . . U.S. Public Interest Research Group reports 82 percent of Bill Bradley's fundraising comes in checks for $1,000, the maximum individual limit. Rate is 74 percent for George W. Bush and 66 percent for Gore. . . . Syndicated columnist Joseph Sobran runs for vice president on Constitution Party ticket. . . . Liberal environmental group Friends of the Earth endorses Bradley. . . . In ABC News interview, George Stephanopoulos asks Bradley if he agrees with Gore statement last year calling Clinton one of America's greatest presidents. Bradley: "Frankly, I'd pick Lincoln, probably Washington, FDR, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Thomas Jefferson, James K. Polk." . . . Three former members of Grateful Dead perform at Gore fundraiser. . . . Jimmy Carter tells Emory University audience he was "thrilled" to learn Elvis Presley was a sixth cousin.

- As N.J. Gov. Christie Todd Whitman (R.) abandons 2000 Senate race, Sen. M Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) asks: "Why doesn't Steve Forbes go for it?" Filing deadline for candidacy is next April. . . . "Republicans will pick up 10 or 11 [House] seats in Texas, without even doing any dramatic gerrymandering after the next census," says GOP consultant Craig Murphy in The Hill. . . . Former Rep. Bob Dornan (R., Calif.) plans to challenge Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Calif.) for his House seat. . . . "I hate the IRS!" writes Fla. governor Jeb Bush (R.) in e-mail message, according to St. Petersburg Times. . . . Senate adds $4 million to budget for National Endowment for the Arts. . . . Rep. Christopher Shays (R., Conn.) tells Environmental News: "I would love it if 60 percent of Connecticut were owned by the government or in wilderness."

- Immigrants were 9.3 percent of U.S. population last year, up from 7.9 per ercent in 1990, says Census Bureau. . . . Young America's Foundation surveys college course catalogs and identifies most politically biased. University of Michigan, currently target of lawsuit over racial-preference policies, offers course titled "Affirmative Action," whose "objective is to begin the process of cogent action and to develop the language to articulate affirmative action as a right and not a benefit." . . . Former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young at NAACP event: "I think the public-school system has had a monopoly that's gotten a little stodgy and it needs to be shaken up." . . . Willie Breazell resigns as president of NAACP's Colorado Springs chapter following criticism from national office for his support of school choice. . . . Gov. John Engler (R.) names former NR contributing editor Stephen J. Markman to Mich. supreme court. . . . Project for All Deliberate Speed, headed by Clint Bolick, Linda Chavez, Ward Connerly, and Edwin Meese, sends letter to all 50 state attorneys general urging compliance with Supreme Court rulings on racial preferences. . . . On recent conference announcement from Washington University School of Law, Hon. Vojtech Cepl, a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, includes among accomplishments: "Listed on Secret Register as Enemy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, 1971-89."

- U.N. special envoy Carl Bildt: "There is no exit strategy for us . . . in in the Balkans. . . . We are in there for a very long time." . . . Russian money-laundering stories explode in press, but come as no surprise to readers of NR's late "Gekko" column. . . . Many Russians believe terrorist Osama bin Laden visited Chechnya and may be financing Moscow bombings. . . . Greece expresses support for Turkey's EU membership for first time. . . . U.N. admits Pacific states of Kiribati, Nauru, and Tonga, raising number of member countries to 188. . . . Swiss launch $10 million publicity campaign to show there is more to their country than "greedy banks, Heidi, and chocolate."