ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
Steve Forbes drew cheers from students at the Rev. Jerry Falwell's college with attacks on abortion laws and assisted suicide.
``Life begins at conception and ends at natural death,'' Forbes told about 4,000 people Monday at Liberty University.
Forbes said it's too early to decide whether he'll run for president again in 2000. But the magazine publisher has established a tax-exempt organization to promote the goals he set during the 1996 Republican primaries, including a flat income tax and a private Social Security system.
He sounded like a candidate Monday.
He called abortion ``a national tragedy'' and said he supports a ban on partial-birth abortions and legislation that requires teen-agers to notify their parents before getting an abortion.
``America needs a change of attitude to get rid of abortion,'' he said. ``We need to change the culture by changing the law.''
Falwell, founder and chancellor of the private college, introduced Forbes as a staunch conservative, ``a man of ideas and vision.''
Forbes said his foundation, called Americans for Hope, Growth and Opportunity, will promote the ideas of his unsuccessful presidential campaign.
``In America, we are blessed with knowledge; in America, we are blessed with the tools to get ahead,'' Forbes said. ``We should be able to advance materially as well as spiritually.''
Forbes said the biggest obstacle the country faces is a federal income tax code that puts a heavy financial burden on families and is too complicated.
``Families pay more in taxes than in food, clothing and shelter combined,'' he said.
The reason members of Congress have avoided tax reform isn't because they fear a loss in revenue, he said. ``They fear a loss of power.''
LENGTH: Short : 43 linesby CNB