COLUMBIA, S.C. - President Bush's cross-country tour aimed at generating public support to restructure Social Security is expected to head to Columbia next week.

Three Republicans on Wednesday confirmed Bush planned to address a joint assembly of the Legislature, but spoke only on condition that their names not be used.

Other Republican leaders inside and outside the Statehouse referred questions to the same White House spokesman, Taylor Gross, who would not comment about a South Carolina visit.

Gross said travel plans for the president, who is about halfway through a 60-day tour, would not be released before Friday.

Still, there was buzz at the Statehouse about a presidential visit to South Carolina.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison, R-Columbia, said he heard that Bush "may be coming to the Statehouse next Thursday."

Bush would not be the first president to address the South Carolina General Assembly.

Sen. John Courson, R-Columbia, recalls addresses from Presidents Richard Nixon in 1972 and George H.W. Bush in 1989. The elder Bush used the visit to talk about his budget and the need for a presidential line-item veto.

The younger Bush "would be coming to a friendly state and would be well received," Courson said.

Bush has been a regular visitor to South Carolina since he campaigned for his first term.

In the state's 2000 GOP presidential primary, Bush rebounded from a loss in New Hampshire to beat U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona. His first presidential visit came in December 2001 as he gave a military policy speech at The Citadel in Charleston.

In his second term, Bush has launched efforts to put Social Security on firmer financial footing. It's a goal he shares with U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint and Gov. Mark Sanford, who served three terms in the U.S. House.

"If President Bush comes down, the senator will be there," said DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton. On Tuesday, DeMint is set to discuss Bush's Social Security plan for individual investment accounts on the U.S. Senate floor.

Spokesmen for Graham and Sanford would not discuss Bush's travel plans.

Graham could use a boost from a presidential visit.

A conservative Washington-based economic group, Club for Growth, began airing ads targeting the Republican this week. Graham has tried to strike a deal between Republicans and Democrats on Social Security. The proposal includes raising the income cap to $150,000 from $90,000 to help pay for the hefty costs of creating private Social Security accounts.

Graham's office released a statement Monday pointing out his support for changing Social Security has been known since before he was elected to the Senate in 2002.