NEW ORLEANS - President George W. Bush on Tuesday trumpeted trade as a way out of recession, urging lawmakers to set aside party politics in an election year and push through his free trade and tax cut agenda.

"This isn't a Republican issue. This isn't a Democrat issue," Bush told workers at campaign-style rally at the Port of New Orleans.

"Trade is a jobs issue and the United States Senate needs to hear the voices of the working people and get me a bill I can sign," Bush said, stepping up pressure on the Democrat-led Senate to pass trade promotion authority, which would give him the power to negotiate trade agreements that Congress could approve or reject but not amend.

Supporters of so-called "fast track" authority say foreign countries would hesitate to negotiate seriously with Washington if Congress could amend the terms of trade deals. The bill was approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives by one vote in December 2001, but the Senate has yet to act.

Showing no after-effects from a fainting spell at the White House on Sunday night, Bush used his two-day, three-state trip to the America heartland to trace the movement of goods along the Mississippi River en route to overseas markets.

Bush also used the trip to rally the nation behind a protracted war on terrorism, launched in retaliation for the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "Some in our coalition may get tired of this effort, or some in our country may tire, but I can assure you, I'm not, because I view this as ... a defining moment in history," Bush said.

The last stop of president's two-day trip was the sprawling Port of New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi, which supports 107,000 jobs and serves as a transit point for vessels loaded with steel, coffee, rubber and other products.

"The people loading these ships load them because we're trading around the world. The farmers who are selling products can sell more if we trade," said Bush, who was surrounded by giant shipping containers and cranes. "I'm worried about jobs and I believe if you trade more there are more jobs available for hard working Americans."

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, has promised a vote early this year on the trade bill, but stressed it must be accompanied by a major expansion of U.S. assistance for American workers who lose their jobs as a result of increased imports.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer expressed hope the trade bill would pass. "Unless there's political mischief, the votes appear to be th???," he said aboard Air Force One.

The president also used his tour to press for passage of his economic`???ge, which Democrats have bottled up in the Senate. Bush's stimulus plan includes tax breaks for businesses and individuals, assistance for the unemployed and a new tax credit to help laid-off workers buy health insurance.

But Democrats who oppose it say the package is larded with benefits for corporations and tax breaks for rich people.

Bush, who has spent most of his time since the Sept. 11 attacks working on the anti-terror campaign and the war in Afghanistan, used his trip to Illinois, Missouri and Louisiana to send an election-year message that he is not neglecting Americans hit by the recession and struggling to find work.

Democrats, solidly behind the war on terrorism, see Bush and his fellow Republicans as vulnerable on the economy. Unemployment hit 5.8 percent last month, the highest level since April 1995.

Bush defended his prescription for the ailing economy and vowed not to let Democrats roll back his 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut, which Congress passed in 2001. Given renewed federal budget deficits, some Democrats say the long-term cuts should be delayed.

"I don't know what economic textbook they've been reading, but it's not the one that most Americans have read. They understand tax relief is the best way to encourage an economic recovery in America," Bush said, two days after choking on a pretzel and blacking out in the White House family quarters.

Bush joked about the incident in New Orleans, saying he should have listened to his mother, "Who told me, 'Chew your pretzels before you swallow.'" Bush, who watched as containers were lifted onto a ship by a towering blue crane, told reporters earlier that he felt "great." Nampa-Reuters