Correction: A Thursday Tulsa World story incorrectly identified the Texas city in which Air Force One landed on Wednesday before President Barack Obama spoke at Durant High School. Air Force One landed in Denison, Texas. This story has been corrected.
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DURANT — Broadband Internet and young American Indians were on President Barack Obama’s mind when he visited southeastern Oklahoma on Wednesday evening.
Obama spoke publicly at Durant High School for about 30 minutes, but he met privately for nearly an hour with 20 Indian teenagers. Afterward, Obama singled out one of the young people — 16-year-old Kelsey Janway of Heavener, a participant in the administration’s Generation Indigenous program whose avowed goal is the White House itself.
“I’m just keeping the seat warm for her,” the president said in his speech.
Obama said Janway is an example of the sort of young person who will benefit from his administration’s efforts to bring greater Internet access to schools and a new phase in that policy, formally announced Wednesday, to make broadband affordable to more households.
Janway’s home and school, Obama said, have “spotty” Internet service that puts her and other young people at a disadvantage.
“There are amazing young people like Kelsey all across the country. I meet them every day,” Obama said. “Talented, smart people … just poised to succeed.
“They’re willing to work through all sorts of obstacles to make things happen. But we’ve got to have an interest in making sure they have the opportunity to achieve those dreams.
“Ultimately,” Obama said, “that’s what America’s about. … And not just thinking about taking care of our own. I know (his daughters) Sasha and Malia will be fine. But I want to make sure Kelsey is fine. I want to make sure all of your kids are fine.
“I want to make sure some kid stuck in the inner city somewhere — that he has a shot. I can’t do it for them, but I want to make sure they’ve got a shot.”
The pilot program announced Wednesday, called Connect Home, builds on an earlier initiative called Connect Ed. Working through Internet providers and other private businesses, the administration plans to provide free or subsidized high-speed Internet service to low-income households in 27 communities nationally and the Choctaw Nation.
Administration officials say Connect Home will not use federal tax dollars, except for a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the Choctaw Nation.
USDA Rural Development has already invested millions of dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on connectivity in southeastern Oklahoma with good results, officials said Wednesday.
Obama said Internet access “is not a luxury; it’s a necessity,” without which children in low-income households are at a long-term disadvantage.
“It starts with a homework gap,” he said.
“And that translates into a learning gap, which is then translated into a science gap or a math gap. And that eventually becomes an economic gap.
“And that’s not what America’s about. America doesn’t guarantee success. But what America does say — has to say — is that if you’re willing to work hard and take responsibility, you can succeed.”
Obama arrived in Durant by helicopter shortly after 5 p.m. and stayed about two hours. He returned to Denison, Texas, where he had landed in Air Force One on Wednesday afternoon, and flew to Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, landing about 8:30 p.m.
Obama was greeted by Gov. Mary Fallin and first gentleman Wade Christiansen. Fallin thanked Obama for extending authorization for the state’s Insure Oklahoma program and for federal disaster aid in the wake of spring and summer floods, and she presented him with an Oklahoma City Thunder T-shirt.
World Capitol Bureau Reporter Barbara Hoberock contributed to this story.
