奥巴马国情咨文演说(中英文对照)
2013-02-18 10:49
America’s energy sector is just one part of an aging infrastructure badly in need of repair. Ask any CEO where they’d rather locate and hire -- a country with deteriorating roads and bridges, or one with high-speed rail and Internet; high-tech schools, self-healing power grids. The CEO of Siemens America -- a company that brought hundreds of new jobs to North Carolina -- said that if we upgrade our infrastructure, they’ll bring even more jobs. And that’s the attitude of a lot of companies all around the world. And I know you want these job-creating projects in your district. I’ve seen all those ribbon-cuttings. (Laughter.)
美国的能源领域不过是我国继续改革的日益落伍的基础设施中的一部分。向任何首席执行官提问,他们想落户哪里或者在哪里招募人员——是选择一个公 路和桥梁日益恶化的国家,还是选择一个具有高铁和互联网、拥有高科技学校和自给自足电网的国家。美国西门子公司——一个给北卡罗来纳州数百份新工作的公司 ——它的首席执行官说,如果我们提升我们的基础设施建设,他们将会创造更多的就业岗位。那才是全世界很多工资的态度。而且我知道你们想在你们的小区看到这 些创造就业岗位的工程。我可是看见了全部的那些剪彩仪式哦。(笑声)
So tonight, I propose a “Fix-It-First” program to put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country. (Applause.) And to make sure taxpayers don’t shoulder the whole burden, I’m also proposing a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private capital to upgrade what our businesses need most: modern ports to move our goods, modern pipelines to withstand a storm, modern schools worthy of our children. (Applause.) Let’s prove that there’s no better place to do business than here in the United States of America, and let’s start right away. We can get this done.
所以今天晚上,我提议一个“先修补”的项目,让人们去那些最需要修补的地方工作,比如那些7万个已经损失构造的桥梁。(掌声)而且要确保纳税人 不能承担所有的重担。我还提议设立一个“重建美国伙伴”,以吸引私人投资,用以提升我们商业机构最需要的东西: 搬运我们货物的现代港口、经受得住风暴的 现代管道,以及让我们孩子感觉物有所值的现代学校。(掌声)让我们证明世界上没有哪个地方比在美国做生意更好。让我们现在就开始。我们可以完成。
And part of our rebuilding effort must also involve our housing sector. The good news is our housing market is finally healing from the collapse of 2007. Home prices are rising at the fastest pace in six years. Home purchases are up nearly 50 percent, and construction is expanding again.
我们重建计划的一部分也必须包含房地产领域。好小时是,我们的房地产市场正在从2007年的垮塌中复苏。住房价格正在飙升,这在过去6年中速度是最快的。购房者上升了50%,房屋建筑又开始有拓展的迹象。
But even with mortgage rates near a 50-year low, too many families with solid credit who want to buy a home are being rejected. Too many families who never missed a payment and want to refinance are being told no. That’s holding our entire economy back. We need to fix it.
但即使是抵押率接近50年来的最低点,太多拥有良好信誉的家庭想要买一套房子还是会被拒绝。太多从未拒绝交账单的并且想要再次筹钱的家庭被告知不可以。这让我们整个经济都得不到发展。我们必须改革。
Right now, there’s a bill in this Congress that would give every responsible homeowner in America the chance to save $3,000 a year by refinancing at today’s rates. Democrats and Republicans have supported it before, so what are we waiting for? Take a vote, and send me that bill. (Applause.) Why would we be against that? (Applause.) Why would that be a partisan issue, helping folks refinance? Right now, overlapping regulations keep responsible young families from buying their first home. What’s holding us back? Let’s streamline the process, and help our economy grow.
就在现在,在国会有个议案将会提供给美国每一个负责任的房产所有者一个机会,通过再次筹钱,给每个家庭节约每年3000美元的资金。民主党员们 和共和党员们以前支持过,那么为什么现在我们在等待呢?投票,然后递给我让我签署生效。(掌声)我们为什么会反对呢?(掌声)为什么那会是一个党派的问题,以帮助民众再次筹钱?现在,一些重叠的法规让负责任的家庭不能购买他们的首套房子。让我们不这样做的理由是什么?让我们把流程变得简单化,帮助我们的经济增长。
These initiatives in manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, housing -- all these things will help entrepreneurs and small business owners expand and create new jobs. But none of it will matter unless we also equip our citizens with the skills and training to fill those jobs. (Applause.)
这些在建造、能源、基础设施、房地产领域的倡议——这所有的一切都将帮助企业家和小企业拥有者扩张发展领域,创造新的就业岗位。但除非我们也对他们进行岗位培训,这些也都不会有用。(掌声)。
And that has to start at the earliest possible age. Study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road. But today, fewer than 3 in 10 four year-olds are enrolled in a high-quality preschool program. Most middle-class parents can’t afford a few hundred bucks a week for a private preschool. And for poor kids who need help the most, this lack of access to preschool education can shadow them for the rest of their lives. So tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America. (Applause.) That’s something we should be able to do.
这必须在最早的阶段实施。一次又一次的科学研究证实,一个孩子越早接受教育,他或者她就越平稳上路。但是现在,只有不到30%的4岁孩子可以享 受高质量的学前教育。大多数中产阶级父母不能支付私立学前教育每周上百美元的学费。而对那些最需要帮助的穷孩子来说,这种缺失学前教育的状况可以影响到他 们日后的生活。因而今晚,我提及和各州一道,让美国的每一个孩子都能享受到高质量的学前教育。(掌声)那是一些我们应该能够做到的事情。
Every dollar we invest in high-quality early childhood education can save more than seven dollars later on -- by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime. In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children, like Georgia or Oklahoma, studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind. Let’s give our kids that chance. (Applause.)
我们在高质量学前教育领域投入的每1美元,可以为我们节省以后在提升毕业率、降低未成年人怀孕率,甚至削减犯罪率的地方将会用到的7美元。在那 些以教育最小的儿童为优先任务的州,比如佐治亚州或者亚拉巴马州,研究报告称学生长大后会更加有能力阅读和做数学、从高中毕业、找到工作、建立他们自己更 稳定的家庭。我们知道这如何运转。因而让我们开始这么做,以确保我们,当我们已经在生命的领域落后的时候,没有一个孩子不开始起跑。让我们给我们的孩子提 供那样的机会。(掌声)
Let’s also make sure that a high school diploma puts our kids on a path to a good job. Right now, countries like Germany focus on graduating their high school students with the equivalent of a technical degree from one of our community colleges. So those German kids, they’re ready for a job when they graduate high school. They’ve been trained for the jobs that are there. Now at schools like P-Tech in Brooklyn, a collaboration between New York Public Schools and City University of New York and IBM, students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in computers or engineering.
让我们确保高中学历可以让我们的孩子走上一条拥有好工作的道路。现在,像德国这样的国家开始在和高中生等同的我们的一个高中生的技术学位上做投 入。所以那些德国孩子们,他们在高中毕业就准备好了可以工作。他们训练成为可以干那些工作的人。现在,就像那些在纽约布鲁克林区的“通往早期技术的大学高 中学校”一样,在一个纽约公立学校和城市大学以及IBM公司的一种新的合作办学模式下,学生毕业后,不仅能拿到高中学历,而且还能拿到在电脑或者工程学领域的专科毕业证书。
We need to give every American student opportunities like this. (Applause.)
我们需要给每一个美国学生提供这样的机会。(掌声)