President Barack Obama this afternoon capped his three-day swing-state road trip with a stop at a fire house in Chesterfield County, where he reiterated his push for the American Jobs Act.
"It is great to be in Virginia. It is great to be here at Fire Station No. 9 with some of Chesterfield's finest," he said.
The president reiterated his message that many Virginians are struggling economically and that it will take time to rebuild an America in which "everybody has a fair shot, everybody is paying their fair share."
The president said he will continue fighting until there is an economy "that works for everybody, and not just some."
He said his jobs act features things that America can do right now to put jobless people back to work.
"I don't care what party you belong to -- we're all Americans and we're all in this together," the president said.
"A majority think it's a good idea to keep firefighters on the job," he added, drawing applause in the fire house.
The president said that the private sector has seen job growth for the last 19 months, but many state and local governments are laying off workers such as firefighters and teachers.
"So the provisions that we've got in the bill are ones that most people support," he said, referring to aspects such as incentives for small businesses to hire workers, including military veterans.
Last week Senate Republicans voted to defeat the president's $447 billion jobs act in its entirety. The president is now seeking piecemeal votes on provisions.
Obama said the first vote that he will seek this week is on a provision that he said would put thousands of firefighters and teachers back to work.
"Now, Chesterfield has been lucky -- it isn't facing layoffs right now," but many firefighters have seen their pay frozen, the president said.
Obama said he did not think members of Congress would want to tell Chesterfield firefighters that their jobs aren't worth saving.
"Some of these guys are pretty big," the president said.
The president asked the firefighters to help him send a message to Congress.
"Now, they can do the right thing in Congress and put people back to work right now and reopen firehouses," he said. "But I'm going to need your help. I need you -- and that's the reason I'm here.
"It's wonderful to have a chance to see everybody and shake hands and take pictures. But the main reason I'm here is I want you to send a message to Congress that this is important."
Obama said it takes special bravery to be a firefighter.
"When that bell rings, it takes a special kind of courage to answer the call and rush, at great risk to yourself, to help your fellow citizens," he said.
"And you know what, that's the same kind of spirit that I believe embodies America -- looking out for one another, helping each other, being willing to make sacrifices for the greater good. When our friends and neighbors are hurting, we don't cross our arms and just do nothing. We roll up our sleeves and we say we're going to help; we'll figure out how to solve this problem.
"We are not people who sit idly by and ignore our challenges. We step up and we meet those challenges. And that's the opportunity we have right now."
Obama's visit was his third trip in 13 months to the district of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th. While Obama criticized the GOP opposition to his plan, he did not mention Cantor by name.
(End of Update.)
2:10 P.M.
Roughly 200 people are standing on both sides of Midlothian Turnpike outside the Buford
Shopping Center waiting for President Barack Obama's motorcade to pass on its way to a fire house in Chesterfield County.
A significant number of the people are holding anti-Obama signs and identify themselves as tea party members, although Obama supporters are on hand, too.
Signs include slogans such as "Un-Occupy the White House" and "We want 'regime' change."
One sign in favor of the president says "Obama! Obama! Obama! Yes!" One woman and her young son and daughter are holding a cardboard sign expressing their love for the president that includes a heart decorated like an American flag .
(End of update)
In Chesterfield, County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier is at fire station No. 9 awaiting the president's arrival.
"One can only hope that someone in Washington. in choosing this location, recognized that Chesterfield is an example of what America is capable of, he said. "They might see some of what we're doing right here and run it."
(End of Update.)
As the president's entourage motored through Hampton, White House press secretary Jay Carney spoke with reporters and pushed back against reports that Virginia Democrats are reluctant to appear with the president.
"One, I'm not aware of any schedule changes -- not my department," he said of claims by state GOP officials that the president changed his Virginia itinerary because legislators in tight contests are worried about their prospects.
"But the fact of the matter is there have been Democrats as well as Republicans, including just now (in Hampton) Governor McDonnell, at some of these events the president has done," Carney said.
"Secondly, as we have made clear, the president is out here talking about the need for Congress to pass the elements of the American Jobs Act, the provisions from that act that will help put Americans back to work and grow the economy. That is the urgent matter at hand, and that is why he is out here in North Carolina and Virginia, talking to the citizens of these states, and trying to put pressure on Congress to take up that legislation now piece by piece and pass it, because there is no higher priority.
"So he is not out here campaigning for himself or for other candidates. Secondly, some of that reporting has been a little off base. I mean, I saw something about Governor (Timothy M.) Kaine that seemed to miss the fact that we were just in Richmond a few weeks ago and Governor Kaine spoke at an event with the president."
Kaine, formerly Obama's hand-picked chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is the front-runner for Virginia Democrats' U.S. Senate nomination in 2012.
(End of Update.)
In Chesterfield County, where President Barack Obama will speak at Fire Station 9 this afternoon, a group of people are standing along Buford Road holding signs and one man is carrying a Gadsden Flag on a pole.
The flag, which features a coiled rattlesnake and the words "Don't Tread On Me" is a popular emblem among supporters of the tea party. One sign shows a boot, marked TEA, kicking a donkey.
Another group are sitting in chairs huddled under umbrellas near the entrance to the fire station. One person is clutching an American flag.
Inside the firehouse, firefighters and emergency medical technicians and a couple of elected officials from Chesterfield are assembled, waiting to hear from the president. It's a cozy setting, with a small stage set up in front of a shiny yellow fire truck and an American flag hanging to the side.
(End of Update.)
Earlier, the president and first lady stopped for lunch in Hampton to sip sweet tea with four veterans at Anna’s Pizza and Italian Kitchen.
The restaurant is located in a modest Hampton strip mall -- three doors down from the "Keep it Real Ministries," according to a report filed by a journalist traveling with the president's entourage.
The reporter, allowed in for three minutes or so -- overheard one of vets refer to the difficulties of getting employers to look at his resume.
The president nodded intently and said "That's why we need" the new vet-employment program.
The veterans at the table were Amanda Leigh, an Army veteran from Denmark, Wis.; Brian Sullivan, Army veteran from Foxboro, Mass.; Jill Ann Lynch, a Navy veteran from, Butternut, Wis., and Patrick L. Burrows, a Navy veteran from Union City, Pa.
At about 11:30 a.m. the president and the first lady, riding on the recreational vehicle dubbed Ground Force One, stopped at a roadside farmer’s market in Hampton called “Wood’s Orchard Farm Market,” which was chock full of pumpkins, according to a report from reporters who are traveling with the bus tour.
Owners Billy and Betty Wood said they have been in business for 60 years, married for 51, and working at this location on East Mercury Blvd. since the 1940s. A billboard read: “Pumpkin Patch Open Hayrides” and had hours of the rides on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Another sign read: “No credit cards under $10.”
The president and the first lady spent about 20 minutes inspecting pumpkins, as well as some other goods, such as fruit, jams and honey. Billy Wood informed the president that there are eight varieties of sweet potatoes. A handmade sign on a pillar read: “Pie pumpkins $3.00 each.”
“You know Michelle does a good job promoting produce,” Obama replied. “She tries to get everyone to eat their vegetables.”
The president talked a to the shopkeepers, while the first lady was busy inspecting pumpkins. She seemed very interested in oversized white-colored ones, which Betty Wood later explained were called “full moon pumpkins.” Michelle Obama picked one up by wrapping both arms around it to load it into a metal rolling cart with a long metal handle. Betty Wood later estimated the pumpkin could weigh 70 pounds.
The president quipped: “Don’t hurt yourself now.” .. He yelled out to an aide: “Where are we going to put it? In the back of the bus?”
Michelle Obama loaded more into the cart. “How many are you going to buy?” the president asked. “You want anything else?”
“No, we’ll have enough trouble getting these back,” she said.
The president approached the cash register. They had about 10 pumpkins, including two of the full moons. He also had two red apples, a bag of peanuts and a jar of yellow-colored syrup that appeared to possibly be honey. He handed Billy Wood some $20 bills.
Obama asked if they would take a picture together and also promised to send photos of the pumpkins back to the store.
“We’re going to send pictures of the pumpkins outside the White House,” he said, shortly before they carried the pumpkins back onto Ground Force One and the caravan rolled onward.
(END OF UPDATE)
At Joint Base Langley-Eustis, President Barack Obama urged businesses to hire veterans, telling the troops present: "the last thing you should have to do is fight for a job when you come home."
He noted that he had challenged businesses to hire 100,000 veterans and their spouses by the end of 2013 and that America is a quarter of the way to the goal.
In introducing the president, first lady Michelle Obama had announced that members of the American Logistics Association, like ConAgra, in conjunction with the Joining Forces Initiative, will hire 25,000 veterans or family members of service members by the end of 2013.
"They do not want to miss out on your potential," the first lady said. "They want America's businesses to have the best, most talented, most hardworking employees around."
This commitment includes 270 companies of all shapes and sizes, which makes it the largest coordinated effort by the private sector to hire veterans that we've seen in years, Mrs. Obama said.
Businesses who hire veterans are showing that they care about the country and those who serve it, the president said, in an address to a crowd of 2,400 people, according to an estimate from Miles Brown, chief of public affairs, Joint Base Langley-Eustis.
"Just think about how many veterans have led their comrades on life-and-death missions by the time they were 25. That's the kind of responsibility every business in America should want to take advantage of. Those are the Americans every company should want to hire," the president said.
"Now, of course, as Michelle mentioned, there are far too many veterans who are coming home and having to struggle to find a job worthy of their talents. There are too many military spouses who have a hard time finding work after moving from base to base and city to city.
"That's not right. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make sense for our veterans. It doesn't make sense for our businesses. It doesn't make sense for our families. And it doesn't make sense for America.
"If you can save a life in Afghanistan, you can save a life in a local hospital or in a local ambulance. If you can oversee millions of dollars of assets in Iraq, you can help a business balance its books here at home. If you can juggle the demands of raising a family while a husband or wife are at war, you can juggle any demands of any job in the United States of America.
"We ask our men and women in uniform to leave their families -- our Guardsmen and Reservists to leave their jobs. We ask you to fight, to sacrifice, to risk your lives for our country. The last thing you should have to do is fight for a job when you come home. Not here. Not in the United States of America."
In praising the first lady's efforts, the president said: "She does all this and she looks cute."
Various representatives from the companies participating in the military hiring were seated behind the president under an "American Jobs Act" banner.
The president touted his jobs bill in whole, and focused specifically on his "Returning Heroes" proposal, which would provide tax credits from $5,600 to $9,600 for companies who hire unemployed military veterans.
"So far the Congress hasn't acted on this proposal, but I want you to know that I'm pushing a little bit," he said.
Senior Master Sgt. Jay Builler with the Virginia Air National Guard said he appreciated the focus of the president's remarks.
"I like the fact that they're looking into the health and welfare benefits of veterans after their commitments with the armed services," he said. "I think that's long overdue."
"I'm glad they're out there challenging local companies to hire veterans, to train veterans, I think that's a very positive thing to do and a very right thing to do," added Builler, who commutes to Langley-Eustis from his home in Mechanicsville.
Early in his remarks, the president acknowledged Gov. Bob McDonnell and Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell for attending the event.. He also noted that Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-3rd, is in attendance.
The McDonnells met privately with the Obamas for approximately 10 minutes in what was described as a "friendly visit" by McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin.
The conversation ranged from Louisa County disaster aid to a park designation for Fort Monroe to the focus of the event, veterans.
McDonnell and the first lady welcomed the Obamas to Virginia and the governor thanked the president for making the hiring of veterans a priority.
"The governor let the president know that there is much common ground to be had on this important issue and he looks forward to hearing the president's proposals on the matter," Martin wrote in an e-mail. "Ensuring that our veterans who have selflessly served our nation can find the good paying jobs they deserve is a top priority of the McDonnell administration."
McDonnell also made the case again for federal disaster aid for Louisa County residents who had property damage from the August earthquake, and the two discussed Virginia's planned appeal of the initial rejection by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
McDonnell also spoke to Obama "about the strong support in this community and across the commonwealth for making Fort Monroe a National Park, and his strong personal support of such a designation."
Other politicians present included Hampton Mayor Molly Ward, Newport News Mayor McKinley Price,
Dels. Mamye E. BaCote, D-Newport News and Jeion A. Ward, D-Hampton and state Sens. John C. Miller, D-Newport News and Mamie E. Locke, D-Hampton.
In introducing the president, Mrs. Obama said: "It is my honor to introduce a man who is fighting for you every day." She added: "Get your cameras ready!"
The president took the stage and thanked various military personnel after his wife.
"I hate following Michelle," he said. "She's so good."
The president recognized many groups in attendance, including the Tuskegee Airmen, who earned huge applause.
Gov. Bob McDonnell said after the event that he approved of the president’s message in Hampton.
“I really liked what he had to say today – the fact that he’s focusing on getting veterans back to work,” the governor said. “It’s critically important for Virginia. We’ve got more veterans than any other state, 830,000.”
McDonnell said that he saw “common ground in a lot of the areas” of the jobs bill like veterans hiring and small business tax credits, but objected to many others.
“My problem is really many of the other provisions, which are just more spending,” McDonnell said. “It’s more stimulus, it’s more short-term gain but not anything that’s going to create a sustained economic recovery.”
McDonnell also criticized the president’s what he termed the president's original all-or-nothing approach to selling the plan.
“I wish that he had not taken the approach that he did in August, which is, ‘Here’s my bill, pass the bill. If you don’t pass the whole thing, I’ll go campaign against you.’ That didn’t sit well with Republicans or Democrats and the president’s been in this business for 10 years, he knows better than to throw down a gauntlet like that.”
McDonnell said Obama, who in 2008 became the first Democratic presidential nominee in 44 years to carry the state, would have a hard time winning Virginia again next year. McDonnell said the key is independent voters, whom the governor says the president has alienated.
“I think he’s gotten much more partisan, much more negative and much more hostile to the job creators,” he said. “I think we’ve got a blame surplus and we have a results and leadership deficit. That’s the problem.”
Regarding Virginia’s push for the recently shuttered Fort Monroe to be made a national monument, McDonnell said: “I’m hopeful that that’s something that’s going to happen. He didn’t make any commitments, but I think he understands the issue and understands that there’s broad community support."
(END OF UPDATE.)
President Barack Obama's event in Hampton is under way, with first lady Michelle Obama honoring the daily sacrifices of military families
Mrs. Obama announced that the American Logistics Association is committing to hiring 25,000 military veterans and military spouses in the next two years.
The first lady, dressed casually in a striped shirt, took the stage followed closely by President Barack Obama, who took a seat to allow his wife to speak first.
"Hey everyone!" she said. "I never get to do anything with my husband. I haven't seen him in three days."
The Obamas were introduced by Melissa Lee, an Army Reserve officer and corporate lawyer for Tysons Foods.
Tysons is one of the 270 companies under the American Logistics Association.
The commitment by the American Logistics Association is part of the first Lady and Jill Biden's Joining Forces initiative to support veterans and military families.
Those jobs amount to a quarter of the president's challenge to the private sector to hire or train 100,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013.
The frst lady touted the announcement as the largest coordinated effort to hire military veterans in many years.
"This is huge enough that you need to be involved," she said to her husband, who laughed.
Ahead of the president's event in Hampton, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, chairman of Mitt Romney's Virginia presidential campaign, issued a satement about Obama's visit to Virginia.
"It is always a pleasure to have the president visit our state, and we hope he has a wonderful time in Virginia," Bolling said. "However, at a time when millions of Americans are suffering as a result of his failed leadership and failed policies, I wish the president would spend more time in Washington, working to create jobs for the American people, rather than spending three days on a campaign tour that is being financed by taxpayers and is designed to save his own job."
On the third day of his bus tour, President Barack Obama will focus on hiring veterans at a private event this morning at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton
On Tuesday in Emporia, he pitched his jobs plan — and the cash it could direct to teachers, police and firefighters — and criticized Republican efforts to block the package.
After this morning's event in Hampton, Obama will head to the Richmond area, where he will visit a Chesterfield County fire station in House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's district.
Inside the 94th Fighter Squadron Hangar at Langley, a brass band played while a crowd of hundreds formed in front of a stage awaiting Obama.
First Lady Michelle Obama will join the president today for the first time on his bus tour and is expected to announce a commitment by the American Logistics Association, a trade group of 270 private companies, to hire 25,000 veterans and their spouses by the end of 2013.
Obama in August set a goal of hiring 100,000 veterans and spouses by 2014. So far, 12,000 have been hired under the Joining Forces initiative led by the First Lady and Dr. Jill Biden.
Gov. Bob McDonnell is expected to join the Obamas here today. McDonnell is slated to meet with President Obama for about 20 minutes prior to event.
Most attendees not wearing camouflage are sporting a darker shade of green as a show of solidarity for a bipartisan push to make part of the recently shuttered Fort Monroe a national park.
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb, D-Va., have introduced legislation that would accomplish exactly that.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled today. If approved, the legislation would make a portion of the fort, built in 1819, a national monument and part of the National Park Service.
Hampton Mayor Molly Ward canceled her trio to D.C. for the hearing today to meet with the president and make a case for the economic advantages for the city and region.
The Governor and First Lady Maureen McDonnell will present the President and First Lady Michelle Obama with a bottle of Barboursville Chardonnay as part of a small gift basket to include homemade cookies from the governor's mansion and two wine glasses.
(END OF UPDATE)
Emporia, a majority African-American city in Southside Virginia, was among the localities that went for Obama in 2008 and helped him become the first Democratic presidential nominee in 44 years to carry the state.
At Greensville County High School on Tuesday, Obama bounded up to the podium before a hand-picked crowd that was vocal and supportive. An estimated 1,300 people gathered in the school's gymnasium, mainly students, parents, invited guests — and teachers who haven't had a raise in at least four years.
"It doesn't seem like your voices are heard enough in Washington," Obama said. "They don't seem to be listening," he said, mocking Senate Republicans for scuttling the $447 billion jobs measure last week by refusing to debate it.
"All over the country, including here in Virginia, budget cuts are forcing schools to lay off teachers in disturbing numbers," the president said. "Here in Greensville County, you've lost some teachers. You could lose more if we don't pass this jobs bill, and that's not right."
He told the audience that his plan would mean nearly 11,000 education jobs in Virginia.
"So I need all of you to tell the Senate 'Put those teachers back to work.' "
Virginia would receive more than $740 million of the $30 billion in the American Jobs Act to prevent teacher layoffs, which would support 10,800 jobs in the state, according to White House figures. The Greensville County school system would receive about $1.6 million of that.
Greensville biology teacher Jami Clements drew huge applause during her introduction of the president when she mentioned teachers' frustration that they hadn't seen a raise in years.
Cynthia Barnes, a 21-year-veteran special-education teacher at a Greensville County elementary school, said after the speech that she has gone without a raise for roughly five years.
The plan, she said, "sounded good, but whether he can do it or not is something else."
Linda Edwards of Emporia walked out of the speech hoping people would get on board with the president's plan.
"He just needs the Republicans to work with him," she said. "Everybody needs to work with him — support the jobs act."
Obama could take a similar message today to Cantor's district on the second day of his trip.
Republicans painted the trip as a taxpayer-funded, campaign-style tour through two battleground states — North Carolina and Virginia — that the president won three years ago and is making a play for again.
In an interview Monday with a Charlotte TV station, Obama said, "My intention is to win North Carolina again like we did last time."
"It will be close because obviously folks are frustrated with the challenges that we still face in the economy," he said.
In Virginia, that frustration contributed to the president's 52 percent job disapproval rating in an early October state poll by Quinnipiac University.
Although some Virginia Democrats in tough legislative races have distanced themselves from the president, several Democratic lawmakers were in the Emporia audience, including Sens. Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond, and L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Dels. Roslyn C. Tyler, D-Sussex, and Rosalyn R. Dance, D-Petersburg. Brian Moran, chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, also was present.
As his entourage crossed the North Carolina border into Virginia on Tuesday afternoon, the president received a mixed welcome, according to reports filed by journalists who are traveling on the bus tour.
Crowds flocked to the side of the road in South Boston to watch the motorcade pass by. Three men stood in a truck bed holding signs that read "Job?" and "liar." A sign at a bowling alley offered: "Presidents bowl free," while near Clarksville, a woman stood in a front yard and held a large Confederate flag.
On the way to Emporia, Obama stopped at Bluestone High School in Skipwith, south of Chase City, to tour a robotics classroom, marveling at "Skrappy," a 5-foot-tall, trapezoidal robot.
Obama's travels then took him along U.S. 58, past Parkview High School, where students, including the football team, lined the road. One group held an American flag and a Virginia state flag, with the state flag held at an angle to salute the president.
The president's entourage made an unannounced stop in Brodnax, where Obama shook hands with people waiting by the road.
Virginia State Police reported that a state trooper on a motorcycle, who was securing the roadway for the president's Emporia stop, suffered minor injuries in a crash on southbound Interstate 95.
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