President Wants Anthem Sung in English

President Bush is joined by top economic advisers Edward P. Lazear, left, and Allan B. Hubbard at a news conference to discuss recent economic news. (By Gerald Herbert -- Associated Press)

With the hurricane season about a month away, Bush reacted coolly to a bipartisan congressional plan to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency and replace it with a more powerful organization. He said it is important to focus on the storm season ahead.

"We're much more ready this time than last time. And we're taking very seriously the lessons learned from Katrina," he said. "I've looked at all suggestions, but my attitude is, let's make it work."

On the escalating conflict between Western nations and Iran, Bush cautioned that the United States is in the early stages of using diplomacy to keep Tehran from becoming a nuclear power. He spoke shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran has enriched uranium, and after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in his latest defiant stand, said the U.N. Security Council could not make Iran give up its nuclear program.

The world, Bush said, "is united and concerned about their desire to have not only a nuclear weapon but the capacity to make a nuclear weapon or the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon."

But it was immigration -- an issue that has sharply divided his party on Capitol Hill and in many regions of the country -- on which Bush had to tread most delicately.

The president renewed his call for changes in the immigration system that would provide tighter border security and better enforcement of current laws, and provide the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States with a pathway to citizenship.

To prevail on what Republicans consider the biggest domestic issue of the year, Bush is trying to appeal both to conservative activists who oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants and to the fast-growing Hispanic population, which is demanding comprehensive changes with a citizenship option. With Congress locked in heated debate over the issue, Bush is pushing for a middle-ground deal that would allow illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship, but only if they pay a stiff penalty, learn English and go to "the back of the line," as he put it at yesterday's appearance.

On the national anthem controversy, Bush, who speaks Spanish, was pulled into the debate after British music producer Adam Kidron released the Spanish version yesterday. Kidron said he wanted to honor U.S. immigrants.

In a statement released after Bush spoke, Kidron said: "The intention of recording 'Nuestro Himno' (Our Anthem) has never been to discourage immigrants from learning English and embracing American culture."