For the Record.(current events)(Brief Article)(Column)

-- President Bush in Illinois: "I've made up my mind. The tax-relief plan we passed, which you're now beginning to feel the effects of, is going to be permanent." . . . Bush, in New Orleans: "I like to remind people: Those who shut down [free] trade aren't confident. They're not confident in the American worker. They're not confident in the American entrepreneur. They're not confident in American products." . . . Bush schedules China visit for February 21-22. . . . In Bloomberg poll, Bush tops Al Gore in 2004 matchup, 64 percent to 27 percent. . . . In Fox News poll, 83 percent approve of Bush's job performance and 49 percent say they would vote for him if 2004 election "were held today."

-- Sen. Zell Miller (D., Ga.): "I had watched in great disappointment when we did nothing after the terrorists first attacked the World Trade Center in 1993, killing six and injuring more than 1,000 Americans. Then again, when 16 U.S. servicemen were killed in the bombing of the Khobar Towers in 1996 and we still did nothing. I watched when U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Nairobi were attacked in 1998, killing 263 persons, and the only response we made was firing a few missiles on an empty terrorist camp. It was a wimpy response so totally inadequate I was ashamed." . . . In CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 47 percent rate Bill Clinton's handling of terrorism as good or very good, 48 percent call it poor or very poor, and 58 percent say their opinion of him has remained the same. . . . Clinton chief of staff Maggie Williams, in USA Today: "Is he [Clinton] aggressive about making certain that the ideas he's tried to move forward get a flagpole in history? You betcha." . . . Bush adviser Karl Rove, in New York Times: "A president who says, 'I'm focused on my legacy, how's history going to see me?' and lets that become the driver of their actions is somebody who is going to be badly rewarded by history."

-- Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.): "We can and should postpone a portion of the future tax cuts." . . . Democrat pollster Celinda Lake, in New York Times: "We don't have that much credibility on taxes." . . . White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, in Washington Post: "Kennedy has done the nation a service by making explicit the Democrats' economic plan: increase taxes." . . . Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, in Washington Post: "If the 2002 election is about raising taxes, we will have a Republican Senate." . . . Gore: "I am concerned about the economy. I was the first one laid off."

-- Attorney general John Ashcroft on U.S.-born Taliban warrior John Walker: "Youth is not absolution for treachery, and personal self- discovery is not an excuse to take up arms ...