Associated Press President Bush speaks during an address about the volunteer Citizen Corps at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium yesterday in Knoxville, Tenn. Citizen Corps is a network of everyday Americans pitching in on community-level police, emergency-response and counter-terrorism efforts.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - President Bush revived his appeal for Americans to do their part against terrorism yesterday by volunteering with police and emergency crews.

"We need this participation from our citizenry," he said.

The president toured a citizen's police academy there and talked with mayors about expanding funds for the Citizen Corps to augment local emergency response.

Bush said he would ask Congress for $50 million this year for the campaign and urged the public to sign up through a toll-free number - 800-USA-CORPS - and a special Internet site, www.citizencorps.gov. "This is a good way to help in your community if you're interested in helping," Bush said.

He noted that Knoxville's police chief said the department relies heavily on volunteers who answer phones or offer general help. "I would say the vast majority of police departments need volunteer labor to make their departments function," Bush said.

Hecklers interrupted three times as Bush elaborated on his terrorism response plans, including an increase in military spending, during his speech at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium. At one point, he tried to drown out chanting hecklers by speaking louder and got some help from counter-shouters when one man called out, "We won't fight your racist war." That man was led away by security.

"You probably got a sense of my strong feelings about the enemy. I believe they're evil," Bush said. "The best way to fight evil at home is to do some good. The best way to fight them abroad is to unleash the military."

After returning to the White House yesterday afternoon, Bush planned to address labor leaders and call on the Senate to pass legislation designed to bring rising premiums on terrorism insurance under control.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said a resort planned in Nevada that would generate 1,600 jobs is on hold because of a lack of terrorism insurance. The Miami Dolphins and New York Giants football teams have lost coverage, and the Mall of America saw its premiums increase tenfold.

"It's a real vulnerability in our safety net," Fleischer said.

Senate leaders failed to agree yesterday on how best to expedite action on the legislation. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the second-ranked Democrat, proposed that the Senate accept a Democratic version, sending the measure to a House-Senate conference for negotiations. Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma, the No. 2 Republican, instead suggested that both parties offer one amendment to the bill passed by the House last November.

The House measure would commit the government, for at least a year, to cover 90 percent of losses from any major terror attack; insurance companies would pay the rest and insurers would eventually reimburse the government. The Senate Democratic approach would have insurers paying the first $10 billion in the first year and the first $15 billion in the second year, with the government covering anything above that.

The president proposed spending $230 million in 2003 to establish Citizen Corps councils in local communities, including the $50 million he announced yesterday. The program is an element of the USA Freedom Corps that Bush announced in his State of the Union address in January.

While Congress has yet to approve this money, Bush said he is confident that lawmakers will see the need to recruit volunteers.

"We're willing to fund. But ... we can't hire people," Bush said. "You've got to step up in the Citizens Corps. The money is meant to enable. You're meant to provide the manpower."

Mayors Anthony Williams of the District of Columbia and James Hahn of Los Angeles, both Democrats, flew with Bush aboard Air Force One and took part in a closed discussion with Bush and mayors of Chattanooga; Laredo, Texas; Redondo Beach and Placentia, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Tucson, Ariz.

Bush was announcing that more than 40 communities are forming councils to coordinate their local Citizen Corps efforts.

As he rallied Americans at home to lend their energy to the anti-terror cause, Bush also asked Arab leaders a world away to take a stronger stand against terrorism in the Middle East. And he demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon start pulling Israeli forces out of Palestinian territories.

"I meant what I said to the prime minister of Israel," Bush said. "And I also meant what I said to the Arab world. ... There is a mutual responsibility to achieve peace."