Kernersville, N.C. ? President Bush said Monday that American companies must honor promises to their retired workers, and he urged Congress to pass tough legislation so retirees don’t see their pension checks slashed.

“In our society, we’ve had some companies – big companies – go bankrupt, and workers at those companies know what I’m talking about,” Bush said. “And so my message to corporate America is: You need to fulfill your promises.”

With millions of baby boomers approaching retirement age, there is growing anxiety about the security of workers’ pensions and the prospect that taxpayers will get stuck with a massive bill for bailing out failed pension funds in the airline and steel industries.

Automakers say that they, too, are being hammered by high labor, pension and health care costs.

Bush sought to relieve economic anxieties in a speech at a Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery plant near Greensboro, where workers gave him a warm reception.

“This economy is strong, and the best days are yet to come for the American economy,” said Bush, facing low poll ratings on his handling of the economy despite positive, upward trends. The administration is frustrated that the pessimism has not been dispelled by good economic news. Bush said nearly 4.5 million new jobs have been added since May 2003, including 215,000 in November.

President Bush tightens a hose with the help of Jesse Bland, left, during his tour of the John Deere-Hitachi Machinery Corp. in Kernersville, N.C. Bush, seeking to calm Americans' anxieties about the economy, is trying to prod U.S companies to live up to their pension promises to workers.

He led an unsuccessful campaign this year to remake the Social Security retirement program through creation of personal accounts. However, legislation failed to reach the floor of either the House or the Senate because of near-unanimous Democratic opposition and polls showing voter unhappiness with the president’s plan. His speech Monday marked an attempt to build momentum for protecting private pension systems.

Bush said federal rules governing pension plans are “confusing and misleading” and let companies technically abide by the rules while not really fulfilling the promises they make to workers. In the end, taxpayers wind up footing the bill because the federal government insures many pension plans.

The White House says legislation emerging from Senate negotiations would relax rather than strengthen funding rules for pensions, while a bill moving through the House was weakened by the long transition period it allows before tighter funding requirements take effect.

“I’m not going to sign a bill that weakens pension funding for the American workers,” Bush said.

Bush also called on Congress to pass long-pending health and energy legislation and to extend tax cuts that are due to expire. “It’s not permanent,” he said. “It can go away. And unless Congress acts, you’re going to get a big tax hike when that happens.”

Bush’s speech was the top event of a public relations offensive to bolster the president’s record on the economy. Treasury Secretary John Snow and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez plan to give speeches trumpeting recent gains later this week.