Mouseover links in Firefox vs IE

My sample page, http://www.collegeessaybootcamp.com/essay.html

displays exactly how I want it in Firefox, but in IE, when I mouse off the "over the lazy dogs" link, it stays red. How do I get it to behave like it does in Firefox?

My code follows:
.class1 a {COLOR:black; background:#FFFFCC; text-decoration: none}
.class1 a:visited {COLOR:black; background:#FFFFCC; text-decoration: none}
.class1 a:hover       {COLOR:black; background:#FFFF66; TEXT-DECORATION: none; font-weight:bold}

.class2 a {COLOR:black; text-decoration: none}
.class2 a:visited {COLOR:black;text-decoration: none}
.class2 a:hover {COLOR:black; background:white TEXT-DECORATION: none;}