 Sen. Hillary Clinton chose PCC to make her case to North Carolina Democrats prior to Tuesday's primary. |
WINTERVILLE�Seeking to generate support among North Carolinians in her bid to become the Democratic Party�s presidential nominee, Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke on the campus of Pitt Community College Monday morning. Though Clinton�s visit was not announced until Saturday evening, several hundred still came out to PCC�s Charles Coburn Center to hear the former First Lady and current New York senator speak. Clinton�s remarks touched on a variety of issues, including suspending the federal gas tax this summer. She said she would offset the cost of such a measure by taxing the record profits oil companies are currently enjoying. Clinton said the next president will have to make difficult decisions and not just speeches. �The problems that the next president is going to have to solve are some of the most serious that any president has had to deal with in decades,� she said. �I had a historian tell me that not since Harry Truman has there been so many consequential, serious problems awaiting the next president.� With soaring gas prices, Clinton stressed the need to develop alternative energy sources, adding that North Carolina could play a significant role in that process. �North Carolina can be a leader in taking what we grow and turning it into what we need to fuel our vehicles and trucks,� she said. Clinton also emphasized the need to improve the country�s health care system. Under her plan, she said, Americans would receive the same health care benefits that U.S. Congress members and millions of federal employees currently receive. �(Gov. Mike Easley) told me that Pitt Community College has the largest nursing program in the State of North Carolina,� Clinton said. �I am so proud that the American Nurses Association endorsed me, because nurses get it�they know we have to have quality and affordable health care for every single American.� Gov. Easley and his son, Michael Easley Jr., accompanied Clinton on her PCC stop. Shortly after the visit, the three made a campaign stop in High Point before Clinton moved on to Indiana, which is also holding a primary election today. Clinton is battling Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the right to represent the Democratic Party in the race for president this fall. Her speech at PCC came less than 24 hours before polls opened for the North Carolina primary.
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