***** Reformatted. Please distribute CLINTON/GORE ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY We can never again allow the corrupt do-nothing values of the 1980's to mislead us. Never again can we allow Washington to reward those who speculate in paper, instead of those who put people first. Never again can we sit by idly while the plight of hard-working Americans is ignored. Never again can we pass our debts to our children while their futures slip silently through our fingers. The average CEO at a major American corporation is paid 100 times more than the average worker. Our government rewards that excess with a tax break for executive pay, no matter how high it is, no matter what performance it reflects. And then the government hands out tax deductions to corporations that shut down their plants here and ship our jobs overseas. Bill Clinton's National Economic Strategy will reward the people who work hard and play by the rules - the people who create new jobs, start new businesses and invest in our people and our plants here at home. It's time to do right by the working people who make America work. Linking pay and performance * Eliminate tax deductions for excessive executive pay. * Encourage firms to reward workers for their performance and share profits with all employees by restricting companies' ability to deduct special payments if they are limited to top executives. Companies will be allowed to deduct bonuses tied to profits for top executives only if other employees also receive bonuses. * Restore the link between pay and performance by encouraging companies to provide for employee ownership and profit-sharing for all employees, not just executives. * Allow companies to deduct "golden parachute" payments to managers only if they also provide severance packages for other employees. * Permit shareholders to determine the compensation of top executives, and require public corporations to provide understandable information on executive compensation to their stockholders. Investing in America for a change * Eliminate tax breaks for American companies that shut down their American plants and ship our jobs overseas. * Crack down on foreign companies in America that prosper by manipulating our tax laws to their advantage. * Provide a targeted investment tax credit to encourage investment in the new plants and productive equipment here at home that we need to compete in the global economy. * Help small businesses and entrepreneurs by offering a 50 percent tax exclusion to those who take risks by making long-term investments in new businesses. * Make permanent the research and development tax credit to reward companies that invest in ground-breaking technologies. Making polluters pay * Get tough on environmental crime by holding companies and polluters responsible for their behavior. When corporations deliberately violate environmental laws, they'll pay the price -- and, if necessary, polluters will go to jail. * Create incentives for corporations to curb industrial and toxic emissions and reward those who control pollutants and recycle. Reorganizing the workplace * Encourage greater cooperation between labor and management; set an example in the federal government by eliminating unnecessary layers of bureaucracy and putting more decision making authority in the hands of front-line workers. * Sign into law the Family and Medical Leave Act, which would give American workers the right to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave in order to care newborn children or sick family members -- a right enjoyed by workers in ever other advanced industrial nation. * Require all employers to spend 1.5 percent of payroll for continuing educations and training, and make them provide that training to all workers, not just executives. * Create a national health care plan to ensure that all businesses can will provide health coverage for their coverage.