Bush defends economy in radio address

CRAWFORD, Texas, May 3 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush Saturday used the economic downturn as an occasion to renew his push to make tax cuts permanent and expand U.S. oil production.

In his weekly radio address from Crawford, Texas, the president admitted that the GNP's rate of growth is "not nearly as high as we would like" and that "April was the fourth month in a row in which our economy lost jobs."

However, he said, his administration had "been taking decisive action" -- in particular, the economic growth package, passed by Congress, which included the tax rebates that nearly 7.7 million Americans have already received this past week.

The president said there are "several additional steps that Congress needs to take to ease the burdens of an uncertain economy."

He specified that Congress should allow energy exploration in northern Alaska and remove obstacles to the use of nuclear energy. He urged Congress to reject "a massive farm bill" and to modernize the Federal Housing Administration.

Bush also said Congress should make permanent the current tax cuts.