With oil prices close to record levels and Exxon reporting record profits of $10.7 billion, Bush will highlight the need to improve technologies in order to reduce US oil imports.

"America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world," Bush said in the excerpts. "The best way to break this addiction is through technology."

The president's speech will be delivered to a joint session of the US Congress, where Democrats seeking gains in midterm elections have been criticizing Bush on a range of issues that include the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina relief and a domestic spying program.

He is coming off one of the toughest stretches of his presidency, and his job approval ratings hover in the high 30s to low 40s in most polls.

Bush argued the United States should shape events abroad rather than being shaped by them and that under his leadership there will be no pulling back. He warned against the temptation to take "the road of isolationism and protectionism," saying it ends in "danger and decline."

"In a time of testing, we cannot find security by abandoning our commitments and retreating within our borders. If we were to leave these vicious attackers alone, they would not leave us alone. They would simply move the battlefield to our own shores," he said.

The comments amount to a rejection of those Democrats and others who argue US policies in Iraq and in the war on terrorism are doing more harm than good abroad.

Bush said the United State must improve its economic competitiveness to take on challenges from such competitors as China and India.

"The American economy is pre-eminent, but we cannot afford to be complacent," he said.

Sweeping proposals along the lines of his big Social Security revamp - which fizzled after its high-profile roll-out a year ago - were not expected in the annual speech before millions watching on television.

Bush is seeking to boost his standing after a year in which his popularity hit an all-time low as the public grew increasingly concerned about the Iraq war, angry about high gasoline prices and disappointed by an influence-peddling scandal involving Jack Abramoff, a major Republican fund-raiser.

The scandal has implicated a least one Republican member of Congress.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted Jan. 26-29 of 1,011 adults showed Bush's approval rating at 39 percent, unchanged from last month.

Bush will follow the speech by travelling to sell his agenda to the public. Later this week he will visit Tennessee and Minnesota - states that have tight, contested Senate races - followed by a stop in New Mexico, and then spend the weekend at his Crawford, Texas, ranch.

Bush's challenge is to outline a plan that Republicans who control Congress can use to try to avoid what has been the historical norm - the party in power loses seats in midterm elections, election years in which a president is not chosen.

"It is very important that the president thematically shows where we're going in terms of the vision and an agenda," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said told CNN.

The Tennessee Republican predicted his party would maintain control - and perhaps even gain seats - if he and his colleagues "follow and deliver meaningful solutions to the real challenges of the American people."

Bush also will focus on initiatives to address the soaring cost of health care by expanding the use of tax-preferred savings accounts and giving tax breaks to Americans without employer-provided health insurance.

The speech went through more than 30 drafts and ran 38 minutes in practice sessions without applause.

"I hope the president, in his State of the Union, will really try to do what he said he's going to do for five years: that is, be a uniter, not a divider," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said on CNN. "Everything that he's done is just the opposite of what he has said."