"We can't have our hands tied," Bush said, rejecting the objections of some Senate Democrats who say the administration wants to undermine workers' rights in the proposed new department by ignoring civil service protections.

Speaking against the backdrop of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, Bush criticized the Senate version of the homeland security bill, saying it would limit his ability to run the department, which is expected to have about 170,000 employees.

"It is important in times of war to have flexibility. I need flexibility to be able to run this department," Bush said.

He called the department critical to winning the war on terrorism. "This generation has got challenges to meet, and we're going to meet those challenges head on," he said. "We got the challenge of fighting and winning a war against terrorists, and we're going to win that war against terrorists."

Bush hit on themes he outlined in earlier speeches in Iowa and Wisconsin: a call for fiscal responsibility, a crackdown on corporate corruption, the need for terrorism insurance, permanent tax cuts, increased minority home ownership, limit on medical liability lawsuits and a US energy policy less dependent on international oil.

Bush first stopped in Wisconsin and then went to Iowa, two states he narrowly lost in the 2000 presidential election. The president is helping raise funds for his fellow Republicans for November mid-term elections in the three Midwest states.

(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2002)