Mr. Kerry has called for increasing spending on the program.

Mr. Kerry called them "a front for the Bush campaign" - a charge the campaign denied.

Mr. Kerry called him "disingenuous" in defending his 1973 statement.

It said the tax increases Mr. Kerry had called for would raise about $700 billion over the same period, leaving a $1 trillion gap.

Mr. Kerry has also called for a larger active-duty Army and "a new era of alliances" in the fight against terrorism.

To emphasize this connection, Mr. Kerry calls their visits there a "homecoming."

Mr. Kerry called the matter "a cruel game of Washington budgeting."

Mr. Kerry called for a greater sense of urgency on the part of the Government.

Mr. Kerry called that same night to apologize.

And Mr. Kerry now calls his own campaign a cause.