Oak Ridge Today

Obama’s visit: Education, manufacturing, a chance to see the president

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President Barack Obama at Pellissippi State Community College

President Barack Obama announces a proposal to offer two years of free community college to responsible students during a half-hour speech at Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley on Friday. (Photo by Rob Welton)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 15.

HARDIN VALLEY—It was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for some, a chance to shake hands with the president of the United States of America or wave at his heavily guarded motorcade as it passed by on a local roadway.

For others, it was a chance to hear about a presidential proposal modeled after a Tennessee program that would make the first two years of community college free to students who maintain at least a 2.5 grade point average. That proposal, officially announced at Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley on Friday, expands on the 20th century idea that all children in the United States are entitled to a public education. In the 21st century economy, the White House said, 12 years of school is no longer enough.

For a much-smaller group, Friday’s visit by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and his wife Jill Biden offered an opportunity to hear an in-person announcement of a new advanced manufacturing hub, the country’s fifth, that will be led by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and have Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a founding partner. That announcement at Techmer PM in Clinton was highlighted by a 3-D printed carbon fiber replica of a Shelby Cobra that the president joked about receiving for his birthday. [Read more…]

Pellissippi State transcript: Obama proposes free community college for two years

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President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON AMERICA’S COLLEGE PROMISE

This is a transcript of remarks made by President Barack Obama at Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley in west Knox County on Friday, January 9. The president was at Pellissippi State to announce a proposal that would make community college free for two years to responsible students across the country. The proposal is modeled on the relatively new Tennessee Promise.

Friday’s visit was the first by a president to Pellissippi State.

Pellissippi State Community College

Knoxville, Tennessee

2:05 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  (Applause.)  Hey!  Thank you!  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Thank you.  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  Everybody, please have a seat.  Please have a seat.  Well, it is good to be back in Tennessee.  I hope you guys aren’t getting tired of me.  I’ve been coming around a lot lately, because there’s a lot of good stuff happening here.

I want to begin by thanking Joe and Jill Biden.  They’re not just good friends and good partners, but they really believe in the power of education and they really believe in creating those kinds of ladders of opportunity that gave all three of us and Michelle the chances, the incredible opportunities that we’ve had today.  And they understand the promise of America’s community colleges.  Well, Jill really understands it, and Joe — (laughter) — he doesn’t really have a choice.

Before I get into the reason that I’m here today, I want to begin by saying just a few words about the tragic events that we’ve watched unfold in France over the last several hours and days.  And because events have been fast-moving this morning, I wanted to make sure to comment on them. [Read more…]

Photos: Air Force One at McGhee Tyson

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Air Force One at McGhee Tyson Airport

Air Force One is pictured at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

 

Air Force One landed at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa at about noon Friday, carrying President Obama and three Republican legislators from Tennessee: senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Representative John Duncan. It left at about 5:30 p.m. Air Force Two, carrying Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill, followed.

The three visited Pellissippi State Community College in west Knox County and Techmer PM in Clinton to announce education and manufacturing proposals. It was the first visit by any president to Pellissippi State and Clinton, and it was Obama’s first visit to the Knoxville area.

Here are four pictures of Air Force One and President Obama by Julio Culiat. [Read more…]

Making history: Corker the first Tennessee senator to serve as Foreign Relations chair

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

U.S. Senator Bob Corker is the first Tennessee senator to serve as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to his office and committee records.

Corker was elected chairman by committee members, and his appointment was expected to be confirmed Thursday during a meeting of Senate Republicans, his office said Tuesday.

A Chattanooga Republican, Corker also will be serving on the Senate Banking Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Aging Committee.

See previous story here.

Updated: Corker elected chair of Senate Foreign Relations Committee

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

Note: This story was updated at 1:15 p.m.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker has been elected chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee by committee members, and his appointment will be confirmed Thursday during a meeting of Senate Republicans, his office said Tuesday.

Corker had a conference call with Tennessee reporters Wednesday morning to discuss his appointment, his goals for the committee, and this year in Congress.

A Chattanooga Republican, Corker also will be serving on the Senate Banking Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Aging Committee. [Read more…]

Alexander, Corker announce committee assignments

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker have announced their committee assignments for the new Congress.

Alexander will serve on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Appropriations; Energy and Natural Resources; and Rules and Administration.

Corker will serve on Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Budget; and Special Committee on Aging.

Alexander and Corker are both Tennessee Republicans. [Read more…]

Tennessee legislators request support for TennCare waiver extension

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

Submitted

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Nine members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation sent a letter this month to Marilyn Tavenner, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, requesting an extension of TennCare’s waiver approval from earlier this year.

Because Tennessee does not receive funding through the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital, or DSH, program that every other state participates in, the lawmakers are requesting continuing funds to support Tennessee hospitals that help tens of thousands of low-income patients receive medical coverage they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. Just last year, these hospitals provided $950 million in charity care and $720 million in unreimbursed medical services to low-income Tennesseans.

Unlike hospitals in every other state, Tennessee hospitals are unable to offset these expenses with the help of the Medicaid DSH program. [Read more…]

Senate passes Manhattan Project park bill that includes Oak Ridge

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Manhattan Project Park Sites

Note: This story was last updated at 11 a.m. Dec. 14.

House approved bill last week; legislation now headed to President Obama

After years of work, the U.S. Senate has passed a bill to set up a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that includes Oak Ridge, a once-secret city that played a key role in ending World War II. The legislation passed the U.S. House last week, and it now goes to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it into law.

Besides Oak Ridge, the park will include Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington. Those two cities were also part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to develop the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. [Read more…]

U.S. House passes Manhattan Project park bill that includes Oak Ridge

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 p.m.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would create a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include Oak Ridge, federal officials said Thursday afternoon.

Passage of the bill, pursued for years by historic preservationists, was announced by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander and Representative Chuck Fleischmann, both Tennessee Republicans. It was an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which passed in a 300-119 vote.

The bill would designate three sites that were part of the World War II-era Manhattan Project. Besides Oak Ridge, the sites include Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington. The U.S. Senate is expected to pass the 2015 NDAA legislation without amendments before adjourning for the Christmas recess, perhaps as early as next week, according to the Atomic Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that has helped lead efforts to establish the park for more than a decade.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs. Oak Ridge sites that would be included in the park are the Beta-3 racetracks and Alpha Calutron magnets at Y-12 National Security Complex and the K-25 Building site at the East Tennessee Technology Park. [Read more…]

Corker dampens presidential speculation, calls ISIS ‘demonic’

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Senator Bob Corker at ETEC

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, right, downplayed speculation of a possible presidential run during a visit to Oak Ridge on Friday, but he also didn’t rule out a campaign. At center is Jim Haynes, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security, the new managing and operating contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 

He’s been asked the question before, and on Friday, U.S. Senator Bob Corker answered it again: Are you considering running for president in 2016?

Corker didn’t say “no,” but he did dampen the discussion. The Tennessee Republican pointed out that if he were a candidate, he would likely be making trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, key early stops in presidential campaigns, rather than visiting Oak Ridge and East Tennessee.

Still, after a short speech to the East Tennessee Economic Council on Friday, Corker, a Tennessee Republican, said every senator involved in policy decisions and helping to solve the nation’s problems probably thinks about a presidential run “from time to time.”

Corker was the guest speaker at ETEC’s weekly Friday morning meeting. During his talk, he bemoaned the nation’s lack of vision, saying the chief executive needs to have one but President Obama doesn’t lead toward one.

“Without vision, people bicker,” Corker said. The question is: Who is going to create the national vision? the senator said. The nation may need three priorities, he said. [Read more…]

Corker travels across Tennessee, with stop in Oak Ridge on Friday

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, is traveling across the Volunteer State this week, and he’ll be in Oak Ridge on Friday morning.

Corker is scheduled to talk to the East Tennessee Economic Council at 7:30 a.m. Friday. The speech is in the Homer Fisher Room at the University of Tennessee Outreach Center at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Starting Wednesday, Corker, who is in his second term in the U.S. Senate, will also visit Hamilton, Sevier, Sullivan, Greene,and Knox counties. This week’s visits follow a seven-county swing through Middle and West Tennessee last week, a media advisory said.

Photos: SL Tennessee expansion

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SL Tennessee Tail Light Hot Weld

SL Tennessee employee Ricky Bean at a hot plate welding station in the assembly area for Cadillac tail lights.

 

CLINTON—Tennessee officials and SL Tennessee executives on Friday announced 1,000 new auto parts manufacturing jobs as part of a $80.5 million expansion in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park in Clinton. It could be the largest expansion of industrial employment in Anderson County since World War II.

The South Korean company plans to invest $80.5 million to build a 250,000-square-foot plant on Frank L. Diggs Drive in the industrial park. It will be SL Tennessee’s LLC third building in the park, and the company’s fifth expansion since locating in Clinton in 2001. The new building will manufacture automobile head lights and tail lamps for General Motors.

Construction on the new building in Clinton will begin in August, and the new plant could be operating by April 2015.

Here is a collection of photos from Friday’s event. [Read more…]