The following is an edited transcript of a chat conducted on Tuesday, March 9, 1999 with Lamar Alexander, former Governor of Tennessee, who has announced his candidacy for president in 2000.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander: What do you offer the Republican voters and the country that the other candidates do not?

Lamar Alexander: Number one, a commitment to putting education first and helping parents raising children. Two, more experience than the others in the new generation of presidential candidates. Some of them have never been elected to public office. Some of them have not served for very long. I have been a governor, a university president, a cabinet secretary and I've helped to start a company which is today the largest provider of worksite daycare in America.

Chat Participant: What do you think went wrong in 1996, and how do you plan to change that in 2000?

Lamar Alexander: I needed about 3800 more votes in New Hampshire which was how much Bob Dole beat me there. General Eisenhower was the last Republican who made it to the White House the first time he tried. I will push education harder this time, which is what I care the most about and know the most about.

Chat Participant: Lamar, I am a college student in Texas. Because my parents are middle class, I don't get financial aid; however, I have to pay for college on my own. What would your administration do as far as financial resources for college students, and where would you like to see our public university systems go in the next century?

Lamar Alexander: I have a son who is a freshman at the University of Texas. Tuition there is less than $2,000 per year for in-state Texas students. That's about the best investment in the United States. I would like to see more help for low income students, better loan terms for middle income students and I would double university research to help make our colleges and universities even better.

Chat Participant: With the recent revelations of Chinese espionage in the United States, and their track record of human rights violations, how, if at all, would you change our policy of engagement toward China?

Lamar Alexander: The spy at Los Alamos who gave the Chinese nuclear secrets is a major threat to every American citizen. We should first find out why the White House--who learned about this in April 1996--didn't tell us until now. Second, we should make it clear to the Chinese that we will absolutely not tolerate Chinese spy rings in our country and, at the same time, engage in normal trading relations with them.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, are you going to pick up President Reagan's agenda of reducing the size of the federal government? How will you do that?

Lamar Alexander: I would cut federal regulations exactly in half. I would ask Congress to pass a two-year budget, and then, every other year, spend most of their time reviewing and repealing laws and regulations. The new beatitude would be: "’tis more blessed to repeal than enact."

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, how do you intend to overcome the advantage currently held by Texas Governor George W. Bush?

Lamar Alexander: First show that I am ready to be president and that he is untested. Second, show that I know what it takes to put education first. And third, defeat him in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first primaries.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, if the Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq situations are still at the forefront after inauguration day, what do you plan on doing about them?

Lamar Alexander: I would not send ground troops to Kosovo. This is an opportunity for European countries--Germany, France, the United Kingdom--to take more leadership. The United States should sort out our responsibilities with our allies. We are the only ones who can deal with Korea and China, for example. Let the Europeans take more responsibility for Kosovo.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander: What is your position about immigration? How would the Alexander Administration deal with the most pressing immigration issues for the new millennium?

Lamar Alexander: We should have a generous immigration policy. We are a nation of immigrants. But once new citizens come to our country, we should help them be able to say "I am an American." That means give them a choice of a good, safe neighborhood school, and help their children learn English from the first day in school. And make them this promise: We will never label you based on your racial or ethnic background.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, I am a lifelong Republican, who is now very disenchanted with the GOP. The religious right has the party in a stranglehold and is killing it. I know you are not a "compassionate conservative", but how closely are you aligned with the religious right? This will be a very important factor in my vote in 2000.

Lamar Alexander: I do not believe any group has a stranglehold on the Republican Party. My message about improving education, lowering taxes to help parents, and strengthening defense against terrorism is a message for all Americans, and, I believe, a winning message for the Republican Party.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, Governor Ventura has a similar approach to cutting government (i.e. repealing laws, not enacting). What influence do you think Ventura is having on the national scene?

Lamar Alexander: Ventura’s causing all of us politicians to go to the gymnasium more often! He also is reminding us that plain talk helps encourage more people to vote and be interested in politics.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, do you believe the Y2K problem is really a major issue, or has the government taken all the necessary steps to prevent major problems?

Lamar Alexander: It is a major issue and the two areas where I'm most concerned about is with our government and with foreign countries. I believe the private sector in the United States has done a good job.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander: Do you plan to accept matching funds from the government to subsidize your campaign, or do you plan to try to go head to head with Bush and Forbes with regard to spending?

Lamar Alexander: Well, I would like to go head to head with Forbes, but no one left me that much money! So, yes, I do plan to accept the matching funds and I will be surprised if Governor Bush refuses matching funds.

Chat Participant: Mr.Alexander, without directly engaging in the politics of personal destruction, do you think that a candidate’s past alcohol use or gambling addiction should or could reflect on his ability to hold office competently?

Lamar Alexander: Well, yes, it could.

Chat Participant: Governor Alexander, what qualifications and credentials would you seek in appointing justices to the Supreme Court? Which individuals in the legal and political worlds exemplify those qualities?

Lamar Alexander: One, good character. Two, high intelligence. Three, a commitment to interpret the constitution as it is written. Among the justices I admire is Justice Scalia.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, what is your opinion towards making English the official language of the United States?

Lamar Alexander: My goal is to help every child learn English, and I would do that by replacing the so-called federal bilingual education programs which have failed miserably to help children learn English with new programs that immerse children in English on their first day of school.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander…how many people are with you right now helping you answer these questions?

Lamar Alexander: I am sitting in my hotel room by myself, watching my presidential announcement on C-SPAN and answering the questions you are asking me while someone is typing in my answers!

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, will the "plaid shirt campaign" be visible again in your run for the White House? Do you think it helped or hurt you in your last campaign?

Lamar Alexander: I know it helped and I hope lots of my supporters wear their plaid shirts this time. I'm going to wear my suit and hope that my message about education gets to be as well known this time as my plaid shirt did last time!

Chat Participant: How do you plan to heal the wounds left from the Clinton scandal?

Lamar Alexander: Look to the future, try to bring out the best in our country, show respect for the presidency, and for the people who I hope will put me in that office.

Chat Participant: Will you promise to run a positive, non-mudslinging campaign as you did in '96?

Lamar Alexander: The answer is yes. But I will run an aggressive campaign on the issues. I did not engage in any personal attacks in 1996 and don't plan to do that this time, except to defend myself if necessary.

Chat Participant: Most people of my generation don't believe Social Security will be there for us. What are your plans for its solvency?

Lamar Alexander: First, I do believe that Social Security will be there for you. The chances are very very high that it will be there. Two, Congress should make it solvent and then give younger workers some options to invest their own retirement funds.

Chat Participant: Governor, do you still think that the federal government should disband the Department of Education?

Lamar Alexander: No, I would change the Department of Education by sending the bureaucrats home and sending the money to local school boards, classrooms and parents in the form of 'hope' scholarships for children which parents could spend at the school of their choice.

Chat Participant: Since you are campaigning on the issue of education, how do you feel about school prayer?

Lamar Alexander: I believe that voluntary prayer should be allowed in public schools.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander...what do you plan to do about the rising crime rate among juveniles?

Lamar Alexander: The best way to reduce juvenile crime is strong families and good schools. So I would create 'hope' scholarships to give every child a choice of a good safe neighborhood school. And I would triple the tax deduction for each child to $8,000, which would help parents raising children.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, politicians and talking heads always decry the "cynicism" of the American public. Please explain why we should trust a single one of you, and isn't it true that politicians would much prefer a more gullible electorate?

Lamar Alexander: The answer is no. One of the most important things the new president can do is restore respect for the office by plain talk, telling the truth, and setting a good example.

Chat Participant: If the decision would be up to you, would you keep the independent counsel in the Justice Department?

Lamar Alexander: No, I would abolish the independent counsel.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, what is your view on a flat tax or overhauling the federal tax code?

Lamar Alexander: I favor a new, simpler tax code with two low rates. That includes an $8,000 tax deduction for each child, as well as the charitable deduction and the mortgage interest deduction.

Chat Participant: What does your family think of your decision to run?

Lamar Alexander: It depends on who you ask! They support me. They've been very patient and supportive, and I'm very grateful to them for that because politics is an imposition on a family.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, tell us about your position on a woman's right to choose whether she has a baby or not.

Lamar Alexander: I believe a good society is a society with the fewest possible abortions. Therefore, I do not think the federal government should support abortion and I would move state by state to change our culture and our laws to discourage abortion. I do not believe a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade is the right way today to get from where we are to where we want to go.

Chat Participant: Mr. Alexander, what is your opinion of all the lawsuits against gun manufacturers? Do you think they are responsible for the deaths and inner city crime in cities like Chicago?

Lamar Alexander: Generally speaking, I believe individuals should take responsibility for their own actions and there should be fewer lawsuits.

Chat Participant: Any final comments?

Lamar Alexander: I would like to thank you very much for your questions and for your interest! For those who are interested, my new web site is up today, http://www.lamaralexander.com, and there is an insider's report which includes my personal journal talking about my appearance on Meet the Press on Sunday.

CNN Host: Thanks Mr. Alexander, and thanks to all our guests for the great questions!