President George W Bush and Senator John Kerry have held their third and final live televised debate of the 2004 US election campaign.
Here are key quotes on various issues from the contest at Arizona State University.
ECONOMY
John Kerry: This president has taken a $5.6 trillion surplus and turned it into deficits as far as the eye can see. Health-care costs for the average American have gone up 64%; tuitions have gone up 35%; gasoline prices up 30%; Medicare premiums went up 17% a few days ago; prescription drugs are up 12% a year.
But guess what, America? The wages of Americans have gone down.
George W Bush: He talks to the workers. Let me talk to the workers. You've got more money in your pocket as a result of the tax relief we passed and he opposed. If you have a child, you got a $1,000 child credit. That's money in your pocket. If you're married, we reduced the marriage penalty... We created a 10% bracket to help lower-income Americans...
It's your money. The way my opponent talks, he said, "We're going to spend the government's money." No, we're spending your money. And when you have more money in your pocket, you're able to better afford things you want.
HEALTHCARE
John Kerry: This president has turned his back on the wellness of America. And there is no system... Children across our country don't have health care. We're the richest country on the face of the planet, the only industrialised nation in the world not to do it. I have a plan to cover all Americans. We're going to make it affordable and accessible.
George W Bush: A plan is not a litany of complaints, and a plan is not to lay out programmes that you can't pay for. He just said he wants everybody to be able to buy in to the same plan that senators and congressmen get. That costs the government $7,700 per family. If every family in America signed up, like the senator suggested, if would cost us $5 trillion over 10 years. It's an empty promise. It's called bait and switch.
FUNDING SOCIAL SECURITY
George W Bush: I want to warn my fellow citizens: The cost of doing nothing, the cost of saying the current system is OK, far exceeds the costs of trying to make sure we save the system for our children.
John Kerry: You just heard the president say that young people ought to be able to take money out of Social Security and put it in their own accounts. Now, my fellow Americans, that's an invitation to disaster.
HOMELAND SECURITY
John Kerry: Will we ever be safe and secure again? Yes. We absolutely must be. That's the goal. Now, how do we achieve it is the most critical component of it.
I believe that this president, regrettably, rushed us into a war, made decisions about foreign policy, pushed alliances away. And, as a result, America is now bearing this extraordinary burden where we are not as safe as we ought to be.
George W Bush: Yes, we can be safe and secure, if we stay on the offence against the terrorists and if we spread freedom and liberty around the world...
My opponent just this weekend talked about how terrorism could be reduced to a nuisance, comparing it to prostitution, illegal gambling. I think that attitude and that point of view is dangerous. I don't think you can secure America for the long run if you don't have a comprehensive view as to how to defeat these people.
GUN CONTROL
George W Bush: I believe law-abiding citizens ought to be able to own a gun. I believe in background checks at gun shows or anywhere to make sure that guns don't get in the hands of people that shouldn't have them. But the best way to protect our citizens from guns is to prosecute those who commit crimes with guns.
John Kerry: I am a hunter. I'm a gun owner... and I respect the Second Amendment [permitting citizens to bear arms] and I will not tamper with the Second Amendment. But I'll tell you this. I'm also a former law enforcement officer... And most of the law enforcement agencies in America wanted that assault weapons ban. They don't want to go into a drug bust and be facing an AK-47.
IS HOMOSEXUALITY A CHOICE?
George W Bush: I don't know. I just don't know. I do know that we have a choice to make in America and that is to treat people with tolerance and respect and dignity... But as we respect someone's rights, and as we profess tolerance, we shouldn't change - or have to change - our basic views on the sanctity of marriage.
John Kerry: We're all God's children. And I think if you were to talk to [Vice-President] Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not choice...
The president and I share the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman... [but] you can't discriminate in the rights that you afford people.
FAITH
John Kerry: My faith affects everything that I do, in truth... And I think that everything you do in public life has to be guided by your faith, affected by your faith, but without transferring it in any official way to other people.
George W Bush: My faith is... very personal. I pray for strength. I pray for wisdom. I pray for our troops in harm's way. I pray for my family. I pray for my little girls. But I'm mindful in a free society that people can worship if they want to or not. You're equally an American if you choose to worship an almighty and if you choose not to...
Prayer and religion sustain me. I receive calmness in the storms of the presidency.
ABORTION
John Kerry: I believe that choice is a woman's choice. It's between a woman, God and her doctor. And that's why I support that. Now, I will not allow somebody to come in and change Roe v Wade [the case that legalised abortion].
The president has never said whether or not he would do that. But we know from the people he's tried to appoint to the court he wants to. I will not. I will defend the right of Roe v Wade.
George W Bush: I believe the ideal world is one in which every child is protected in law and welcomed to life. I understand there's great differences on this issue of abortion, but I believe reasonable people can come together and put good law in place that will help reduce the number of abortions.
REUNITING POLARISED COUNTRY
John Kerry: In those days after 9/11, I thought the president did a terrific job... [There were] no Democrats, no Republicans, we were all just Americans. That's where we were. That's not where we are today.
I regret to say that the president who called himself a uniter, not a divider, is now presiding over the most divided America in the recent memory of our country... We have to change that. And as president, I am committed to changing that. I don't care if the idea comes from the other side or this side. I think we have to come together and work to change it.
George W Bush: My biggest disappointment in Washington is how partisan the town is. I had a record of working with Republicans and Democrats as the governor of Texas, and I was hopeful I'd be able to do the same thing...
But Washington is a tough town. And the way I view it is there's a lot of entrenched special interests there.
SOUNDBITES
John Kerry: Being lectured by the president on fiscal responsibility is a little bit like Tony Soprano talking to me about law and order in this country.
George W Bush: You know, there's a mainstream in American politics and you sit right on the far-left bank.
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