By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-861603.mp3
Albany, NY – President Barack Obama visited Hudson Valley Community College in Troy to speak about the importance of community colleges to the economic recovery... Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
It's the first time a sitting president has visited the Capital Region since former President Bill Clinton campaigned in the area during the mid-1990s. Air Force One touched down ahead of schedule at Albany International Airport, where Barack Obama was welcomed by Governor David Paterson, Congressman Paul Tonko, Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings... and Congressman Scott Murphy.
Obama spoke at Williams Hall ... he toured a classroom prior to his talk with Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden and a teacher at a community college in the Washington, DC, area... In his remarks to a hand-picked audience of about 200, Obama clarified his vision for incorporating education in the long-term recovery of the American economy, saying colleges like HVCC hold the tools for reviving America's manufacturing base. He noted that by 2020 America will again have the world's highest proportion of college graduates. The president also spoke out in support of new rules coming soon from the Federal Communications Commission requiring Internet providers to provide "net neutrality" -- that is, give all Web traffic the same access to the Internet.
When Obama's motorcade brought him back to the Albany Airport tarmac, he dashed out of his limousine and bounded up the stairs to reboard Air Force One, on to New York City, where tonight he becomes the first sitting U.S. president to appear on David Letterman's "Late Show".