Clinton Takes His School Plan to Iowa

Saying that he is not a candidate but acting like he is, President Clinton boasted about his administration’s record Friday while a crowd of Republican White House hopefuls scoured Iowa for votes.

“You folks should be glad to see me in Iowa,” Clinton told several hundred people in a sweltering school gymnasium. “I’m the only guy that’s been here in weeks that’s not running for anything.” The audience laughed and cheered.

On the heels of a two-day Iowa visit by Vice President Al Gore, Clinton competed for attention with tours by Texas Gov. George W. Bush, publishing magnate Steve Forbes and former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, rivals for the GOP presidential nomination.

“The Clinton-Gore administration is not running out the clock, hoping the good times will last,” Clinton said. “We are trying to push the ball down the field.”

The president came to Amos Hiatt Middle School, built in 1925, to promote his initiative to modernize classrooms.

He challenged Republicans in Congress to take advantage of good economic times to invest in education before promising tax cuts.

“It all comes down to this: What do you want to do with this moment of prosperity?” Clinton said.

The president’s school visit preceded a pair of fund-raisers for a major ally during Clinton’s impeachment trial: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who expected to collect $175,000 from Clinton’s appearances. Clinton also met with farmers suffering from historically low commodity prices.

A centerpiece of Clinton’s education initiative would provide tax breaks to investors who buy municipal bonds to back school construction and rehabilitation.

The program, which would provide $3.7 billion in federal tax breaks over five years, could support up to $25 billion in school modernization, according to administration estimates. The tax break would make the low-rate bonds more attractive to investors.