WASHINGTON - Hampered by huge budget deficits and an unpopular war, President Bush on Tuesday called for training 70,000 math and science teachers to improve the nation's competitiveness and declared that America must break its dependence on Mideast oil.

“America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world,” Bush said as he sought to drive the election-year agenda in his annual State of the Union address.

He declared that the “the state of our union is strong” despite Americans' anxieties about the war in Iraq, the economy, soaring energy costs and rising energy prices. Oil prices are inching toward $70 a barrel, throwing a cloud over the economy and pinching Americans' pocketbooks.

Bush called for increased federal research into alternative fuels such as ethanol made from weeds or wood chips instead of corn.