Reuters: President Barack Obama, saying he was committed to a strong U.S. auto industry, announced on Thursday the government would buy 17,600 new fuel-efficient vehicles from ailing American automakers by June 1. Obama said the vehicles, part of the U.S. government fleet, would be purchased from General Motors, Chrysler and Ford, all of which had an existing contract with the federal government’s General Services Administration. The president said the GSA would spend about $285 million …