馬總演講稿(15篇)

第1篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在安賽樂米塔爾集團(tuán)克利夫蘭鋼鐵廠英語演講稿

the president: hello, ohio! (applause.) it is good to be backin cleveland. the last timei was herewas about a year ago, in the final days of the campaign. i know how much you misshearing how iapprove this message every night on your tv. (laughter.) i will say it is niceto behere when the only real battle for ohio is the browns-bengals game thissunday. (applause.)he’s got the browns shirt right here, brownscap. (laughter.)

i want to thank scotty for thatterrific introduction. give him a biground of applause. (applause.) he is a natural. i want to thank your ceo, lakshmi mittal, forinvesting in americaand the cleveland area. we appreciate him. (applause.) and i want to thankall of you forhaving me here today.

along with me, there are a coupleof people i just want to acknowledge. first of all,america’s secretary of energy, ernie moniz, is here. right there. (applause.) andcongresswomanmarcy kaptur is here. give marcy a biground of applause. (applause.) fightingfor working people every day.

and earlier this afternoon i hada chance to see your mayor, frank jackson; your countye_ecutive, edfitzgerald. and even though they’re nothere, i want to thank them for the greatwork they’re doing on behalf ofworking people throughout the region. (applause.)

and then, finally, i want tothank mark and gary for showing me one of the biggest steelplants inamerica. and they told me that folks areproud to have been making steel right here fora century -- 100 years -- righthere. (applause.) and they e_plained that, today, the steelyoumake in cleveland is some of the strongest you’ll find anywhere in theworld. it’s one of themost productiveplants in the world. best workers in theworld. (applause.)

and what’s remarkable is, whenyou think about it, go back to where this plant was just afew years ago. the economy was in free fall, auto industryon the brink of collapse. and thatmeantdemand for steel had dried up. the blastfurnaces went quiet. about 1,200steelworkerspunched out for what might have been the last time. and that all came at the end of a decadewhenthe middle class was already working harder and harder just to get by, andnearly one inthree american manufacturing jobs had vanished -- a lot of themgoing overseas. and that couldhavedevastated this community for good.

but we rolled up our sleeves, wemade some tough choices. we rescued andretooled theamerican auto industry; it saved more than a million jobs. we bet on american ingenuity andamericanworkers. (applause.) and assembly lines started humming again, andautomakersstarted to make cars again. and just a few months after this plant shutdown, your plantmanager got the call: fire those furnaces back up, get those workers back on the job. and overthe last four years, you’ve madeyourselves one of the most productive steel mills not just inamerica, but inthe world. in the world. (applause.)

so you retooled to make thestronger steel that goes into newer, better american cars andtrucks. you created new partnerships with schools andcommunity colleges to make sure thatfolks who work here have the high-techskills they need for the high-tech jobs -- because i waslooking around thisfactory, and there’s a whole bunch of computer stuff going on.

one of your engineers -- and iwant to make sure i get margaret’s name right here --margaret krolikowski. did i get that right, margaret? (applause.) where’s margaret? whereisshe? there is she is, back there. so i’m going to quote you -- i’m going toquote you. here’swhat margaretsaid: “when we came back, we wanted tomake sure we were in a position wherewe never shut down again.” never shut down again. and that means making sure that workershereare constantly upgrading their skills and investments being made in thestate-of-the-arttechnology.

and it was interesting, when iwas meeting a number of the folks who were giving me thetour -- folks who havebeen here 30 years, 40 years -- but obviously the plant has changed, andsoduring that period they’ve had to upgrade their skills. and that’s what’s happened. and thestory of this plant is the story ofamerica over the last five years. wehaven’t just beenrecovering from a crisis. what we’ve been trying to do is rebuild a new foundation for growthandprosperity to protect ourselves from future crises. and because of the grit and resilienceandoptimism of the american people, we’re seeing comeback stories like yours allacrossamerica.

over the last 44 months, ourbusinesses have created 7.8 million new jobs. last month,another 200,000 americans went back to work. (applause.) and a lot of those jobs are inmanufacturing. so now we’ve got more work to do to get thoseengines of the economy churningeven faster. but because we’ve been willing to do some hard things, not just kick thecan downthe road, factories are reopening their doors, businesses are hiringnew workers, companies thatwere shipping jobs overseas, they’re starting totalk about bringing those jobs back to america.we’re starting to see that.

and let me give you an e_ample,because we were talking about this -- mr. mittal and otherswere talking aboutwhat’s different now. take a look atwhat we’ve done with american energy.for years, folks have talked about reducing our dependence on foreignoil -- but we didn’t reallydo it. andwe were just importing more and more oil, sending more and more moneyoverseas.gas prices keep on going upand up and up. we finally decided wewere going to do somethingabout it.

so we invested in new americantechnologies to reverse our addiction to foreign oil,double wind power, doublesolar power, produce more oil, produce more natural gas, and do itall in a waythat is actually bringing down some of our pollution, making our entireeconomymore energy-efficient. today, we generatemore renewable energy than ever.weproduce more natural gas than anybody in the world. just yesterday, we learned that for thefirsttime since 1995, the united states of america produces more of our own oil hereat homethan we buy from other countries. first time since 1995. (applause.) and that’s a big deal.that’s what america has done these past fiveyears.

and that is a huge competitiveadvantage for us. part of the reasoncompanies now want tomove -- we were just talking about it -- this plant, ifit’s located in germany, energy costs aredouble, maybe triple; same injapan. so this gives us a big edge. but this is also important: wereached the milestone not just because we’reproducing more energy, but also we’re wastingless energy. and this plant is a good e_ample of it. we set new fuel standards that doublethedistance our cars and trucks go on a gallon of gas by the middle of the ne_tdecade. thatsaves the average driver,everybody here, more than $8,000 at the pump over the life of a newcar. you like that? (applause.) we launched initiatives to put people to work upgrading ourhomes, andour businesses, and our factories so we’re wasting less energy. all that savesbusinesses money on theirenergy bills. your plant is one of thehundreds to answer that call.and if you’resaving money on energy costs, that means you can invest in equipment, investinworkers, hire more people, produce more products.

and here’s another thing: between more clean energy, less wastedenergy, the carbonpollution that’s helping to warm the planet, that actuallystarts going down. and that’s goodnewsfor anybody who cares about leaving a planet to our kids that is as beautifulas the one wegot from our parents and our grandparents. (applause.) so it’s a win-win. our economykeepsgrowing, creating new jobs, which means that strengthening our energysecurity and increasingenergy efficiency doesn’t have to be a choice betweenthe environment and the economy --we can do both.

so we’ve tackled the way we useenergy. that’s making america morecompetitive in order toattract good jobs. we’ve also tackled our deficits. a lot of people have been concerned aboutdeficits. since i took office, we cut them inhalf. that makes america more attractivewhen itcomes to business investment decisions.

and we’ve tackled a broken healthcare system. obviously, we’re not doneyet. (applause.)obviously, we’re not done yet. but over the last three years, health carecosts have grown at theslowest pace on record. and this is a great place to work thanks to a great steelworkersunionand cooperation between management and labor. (applause.) but just keep in mindthatif businesses’ health care costs are growing at about one-third the ratethat they were a decadeago, that makes america a more affordable place to dobusiness, and it also means that theinvestors here, if they’re putting lessmoney into health care costs, they can put more money interms of hiring moreworkers and making sure that they’re getting good pay.

so that’s what all these toughdecisions are about: reversing theforces that have hurt themiddle class for a long, long time, and building aneconomy where anybody, if you work hard,you can get ahead. that’s what plants like this have always beenabout. it’s not that it’seasywork. but it means if you work hard, you’vegot a chance to buy a home, you’ve got achance to retire, you’ve got a chanceto send your kids to school, you have a chance to maybetake a little vacationonce in a while. that’s what peoplestrive for. and that’s what will makethe21st century an american century, just like the last century was.

but i didn’t run for president togo back to where we were. i want us togo forward. i want usto go towards thefuture. (applause.) i want us to get us to where we need tobe. i want tosolve problems, not justput them off. i want to solveproblems. and we’ve got to do moretocreate more good, middle-class jobs like the ones folks have here.

that means we’ve got to doeverything we can to prepare our children and our workers forthe competitionthat they’re going to face. we should bedoing everything we can to help putsome sort of advanced education withinreach for more young people. noteverybody has got togo to a four-year college, but just looking at theequipment around here, you’ve got to have alittle bit of advancedtraining. it may come through acommunity college or it may come througha technical school, but we’ve got tomake sure you can get that education, your kids can getthat education withoutgoing broke -- without going broke, without going into debt. (applause.)so we’re working on that.

another thing we should beworking on: fi_ing a broken immigrationsystem. (applause.)when you think about this whole region, a lotof folks forget, but almost everybody who workedin that plant 100 years agocame from someplace else. and so we’vegot now a new generation ofhopeful, striving immigrants; we’ve got to makesure that they come legally and that we dowhat we need to secure our borders,but we’ve also got to make sure that we’re providing themopportunity just likeyour parents, grandparents, great-grandparents received when theyarrived atthis plant. and that’s important. (applause.) and, by the way, it will help oureconomy grow because then they’repaying ta_es and helping to invest and build here inamerica.

we should do everything we can torevitalize american manufacturing. manufacturing is --that’s the hub of our economy. when our manufacturing base is strong, theentire economy isstrong. a lot ofservice jobs depend on servicing manufacturing jobs. and, typically,manufacturing jobs pay alittle bit better. so that’s been apath, a ticket to the middle class.sowhen we make steel and cars, make them here in america, that helps. like i said, the workmay be hard but itgives you enough money to buy a home and raise a kid, retire and send yourkidsto school.

and those kinds of jobs also tellus something else. it’s not just howmuch you get in yourpaycheck, it’s also a sense of, “i’m making something andi’m helping to build this country.”ithelps establish a sense of -- that we’re invested in this country. (applause.) it tells us whatwe’re worth as a community. one of your coworkers, mike longa -- where’smike?

audience member: back here.

the president: is he back here? that’s mike right there. mike grew up here. his momand dad worked at this plant. this plant helped put mike and four brothersand/or sistersthrough college. and oncethis plant started growing again, mike got his chance to be asteelworker here,and provide for his own two young kids. so it’s a generational thing, and iwant to keep that going.

in my state of the union address,i talked about how we created america’s firstmanufacturing innovationinstitute right here in ohio. marcykaptur has been a big proponentof this, because she knows how importantmanufacturing is. i want to create moreof them --places where businesses are working with universities and they’repartnering to figure out whatare the new manufacturing techniques that keep usat the cutting edge so that china orgermany don’t get ahead of us in terms ofthe equipment that’s being invested. wewant to beat the cutting edge, so what we’re producing is always the beststeel, it’s always the best cars.butthat requires research and investment.

and your senator, sherrod brown,helped us to create that first manufacturing hub inyoungstown. and he’s now leading a bipartisan effort --(applause) -- he’s now leading abipartisan effort with senator blunt ofmissouri to move more of these manufacturinginnovation hubs all across thecountry. and congress should passsherrod’s bill. we should bedoingeverything we can to guarantee the ne_t revolution in manufacturing happensright herein cuyahoga, happens right here in ohio, happens right here inamerica. (applause.)

and let me make one lastpoint. we have to do everything we canto make sure everyamerican has access to quality, affordable health care,period. (applause.) you may have readwe had some problems lastmonth with websites. i’m not happy aboutthat. and then i had apress conferencetoday and i said, you know what, we fumbled the ball in terms of the rollout.

but we always knew this was goingto be hard. there’s a reason why folkshad tried to do itfor 100 years and hadn’t done it. and it’s complicated. there are a lot of players involved. thestatus quo is entrenched. and so, yes, there’s no question the rollouton the affordable careact was much tougher than we e_pected. but i want everybody here to understand, i amgoingto see this through. (applause.) i want millions of americans to make surethat they’re notgoing broke when they get sick and they can go to a doctorwhen their kids get sick. and we’renotapologizing for that. we are going toget this done. (applause.)

so we’re going to get the websiteworking the way it’s supposed to. theplans are already outthere that are affordable and people can get ta_credits. we’re going to help folks whoseoldplans have been canceled by the insurers -- many of them weren’t very good-- and we’re goingto make sure that they can get newer, better options.

but we’re not going to go back tothe old system, because the old system was broken. andevery year, thousands of americans wouldget dropped from coverage or denied their medicalhistory or e_posed tofinancial ruin. you guys are lucky thatyou work at a company with astrong union that gives you good healthbenefits. (applause.) but you know friends and familymembers whodon’t have it, and you know what it’s like when they get sick. you know how scaryit is for them when theyget sick. or some of them have healthinsurance -- they think they do --and they get sick, and suddenly theinsurance company says, oh, i’m sorry, you owe $50,000.that’s not covered. or they jack up your premium so you can’tafford it because you had somesort of pree_isting condition. that happens every day.

so we’re not going to let thathappen. we’re not going to let folks whopay their premiumson time get jerked around. and we’re not going to walk away from the 40 million americanswithouthealth insurance. (applause.) we are not going to gut this law. we will fi_ what needsto be fi_ed, but we’regoing to make the affordable care act work. and those who say they’reopposed to it and can’t offer a solution, we’llpush back. (applause.)

i got to give your governor alittle bit of credit. john kasich, alongwith a lot of statelegislators who are here today, they e_panded medicaidunder the affordable care act. andthinkabout that. just that one step means asmany as 275,000 ohioans are going to have healthinsurance. and it doesn’t depend on a website. that’s already happening because oftheaffordable care act. (applause.)

and i think it’s fair to say thatthe governor didn’t do it because he just loves me so much. (laughter.) we don’t agree on much, but he saw, well, this makes sense -- why wouldn’twe dothis? why wouldn’t we make surethat hundreds of thousands of people right here in ohio havesomesecurity? it was the right thing todo. and, by the way, if every republicangovernor didwhat kasich did here rather than play politics about it, you’dhave another 5.4 million americanswho could get access to health care ne_tyear, regardless of what happens with the website.that’s their decision not to do it. and it’s the wrong decision. they’ve got to go ahead andsign folks up.

so the bottom line is sometimeswe just have to set aside the politics and focus on what’sgood forpeople. what’s good to grow our middleclass? what’s going to help keep planslike thisgrowing? what’s going to makesure we’re putting more people back to work? what’s going toreally make a difference in terms of our kids getting agreat education?

and, look, we’ve done itbefore. that’s the good news. the good news is that america is --look, wemake mistakes. we have ourdifferences. our politics get screwed upsometimes.websites don’t worksometimes. (laughter.) but we just keep going. we didn’t become thegreatest nation on earthby accident. we did it because we didwhat it took to make sure ourfamilies could succeed, make sure our businessescould succeed, make sure our communitiescould succeed. and if you don’t believe me, listen to one ofyour coworkers.

so sherrod brown, earlier thisyear, brought a special guest along with him to the state ofthe union address-- one of your coworkers, cookie hall. where’s cookie? is cookie here?

audience member: no, she’s back at the hall.

the president: she’s back at the hall working. (laughter.) well, let me say somethingnice about her behind her back. (laughter.) so cookie said, one of -- let me make sure i canfind this. she said -- that night she said, “if i get achance to meet president obama, i’ll tellhim my greatest pride is in our 2022production record at cleveland works. we’rethe mostproductive steelworkers in the world.” (applause.) more than a ton ofsteel produced for everysingle one of the workers at this plant. that’s pretty good. that’s pretty good. (applause.)

so all of you are an e_ample ofwhat we do when we put our minds to it. this plant wasclosed for a while. we go through hard times. and alot of our friends are still going throughhard times. but when we work at it, we know we can get toa better place, and we can restoresome security to a middle class that wasforged in plants just like this one, and keep givingladders of opportunity forfolks who were willing to work hard to get into the middle class.that’s what i’m about. that’s what this plant is about. i’m proud to be with you.

and as long as i have the honorof being your president, i’m going to be waking up everysingle day thinkingabout how i can keep on helping folks like the ones who work in thisplant. (applause.)

god bless you. thank you. god bless you, and god bless the united states of america.thank you.

第2篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)就美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)和外交政策發(fā)布會(huì)演講稿

good afternoon, everybody. happy friday. i thought i’d take somequestions, but first, let me say a few words about the economy.

this morning, we learned that our economy created over 200,000 new jobs in july. that’s ontop of about 300,000 new jobs in june. so we are now in a si_-month streak with at least200,000 new jobs each month. that’s the first time that has happened since 1997. over thepast year, we’ve added more jobs than any year since 2022. and all told, our businesses havecreated 9.9 million new jobs over the past 53 months. that’s the longest streak of privatesector job creation in our history.

and as we saw on wednesday, the economy grew at a strong pace in the spring. companies areinvesting. consumers are spending. american manufacturing, energy, technology, autos -- allare booming. and thanks to the decisions that we’ve made, and the grit and resilience of theamerican people, we’ve recovered faster and come farther from the recession than almost anyother advanced country on earth.

so the good news is the economy clearly is getting stronger. things are getting better. ourengines are revving a little bit louder. and the decisions that we make right now can sustainand keep that growth and momentum going.

unfortunately, there are a series of steps that we could be taking to maintain momentum, andperhaps even accelerate it; there are steps that we could be taking that would result in morejob growth, higher wages, higher incomes, more relief for middle-class families. and so far, atleast, in congress, we have not seen them willing or able to take those steps.

i’ve been pushing for common-sense ideas like rebuilding our infrastructure in ways that aresustained over many years and support millions of good jobs and help businesses compete.i’ve been advocating on behalf of raising the minimum wage, making it easier for working folksto pay off their student loans; fair pay, paid leave. all these policies have two things incommon: all of them would help working families feel more stable and secure, and all of themso far have been blocked or ignored by republicans in congress. that’s why myadministration keeps taking whatever actions we can take on our own to help working families.

now, it’s good that congress was able to pass legislation to strengthen the va. and i want tothank the chairmen and ranking members who were involved in that. it’s good that congresswas able to at least fund transportation projects for a few more months before leaving town --although it falls far short of the kind of infrastructure effort that we need that would actuallyaccelerate the economy. but for the most part, the big-ticket items, the things that wouldreally make a difference in the lives of middle-class families, those things just are not gettingdone.

let’s just take a recent e_ample: immigration. we all agree that there’s a problem that needsto be solved in a portion of our southern border. and we even agree on most of the solutions.but instead of working together -- instead of focusing on the 80 percent where there isagreement between democrats and republicans, between the administration and congress --house republicans, as we speak, are trying to pass the most e_treme and unworkable versionsof a bill that they already know is going nowhere, that can’t pass the senate and that if it wereto pass the senate i would veto. they know it.

they’re not even trying to actually solve the problem. this is a message bill that they couldn’tquite pull off yesterday, so they made it a little more e_treme so maybe they can pass it today-- just so they can check a bo_ before they’re leaving town for a month. and this is on an issuethat they all insisted had to be a top priority.

now, our efforts administratively so far have helped to slow the tide of child migrants trying tocome to our country. but without additional resources and help from congress, we’re just notgoing to have the resources we need to fully solve the problem. that means while they’re outon vacation i’m going to have to make some tough choices to meet the challenge -- with orwithout congress.

and yesterday, even though they’ve been sitting on a bipartisan immigration bill for over ayear, house republicans suggested that since they don’t e_pect to actually pass a bill that i cansign, that i actually should go ahead and act on my own to solve the problem. keep in mindthat just a few days earlier, they voted to sue me for acting on my own. and then when theycouldn’t pass a bill yesterday, they put out a statement suggesting i should act on my ownbecause they couldn’t pass a bill.

第3篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)每周電臺(tái)英語演講稿

hi, everybody. this week, america came together tosalute our veterans – to e_press our appreciationto all who served so that we might live free. but ourgratitude should e_tend beyond what our veteranshave done for us in the past. it should remind us ofour responsibilities to serve them as well as theyhave served us. it should compel us to keep ourveterans central to the ongoing work of this nation.

in recent years, we've made historic investments toboost the va budget, e_pand veterans' benefits,and improve care for our wounded warriors. we've now slashed the disability claims backlog bynearly 90 percent from its peak. we're reducing the outrage of veterans' homelessness andwe've helped tens of thousands of veterans get off the streets. the veterans' unemploymentrate is down to 3.9 percent – even lower than the national average.

of course, we're not satisfied. we've still got more work to do – and i've directed myadministration to keep doing everything it can to fulfill our promise to our veterans. but thisisn't just a job for government alone. we all have a role to play. less than one percent ofamericans are serving in uniform. so it's true most americans don't always see andappreciate the incredible skills and assets that our veterans can offer. but every americanshould know that our veterans are some of the most talented, capable people in the world.they've mastered skills and technologies and leadership roles that are impossible to teach offthe battlefield. they know how to get stuff done.

and as our veterans will tell you themselves, they're not finished serving their country. they'reteachers and doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs, social workers and community leaders.they serve in statehouses across the country and in congress. as i tell small business ownersand ceos on a regular basis, if you want to get the job done, hire a vet. every sector, everyindustry, every community in this country can benefit from the incredible talents of ourveterans.

our troops and veterans give us their very best. that's what a soldier named captain florentgroberg proved. three years ago, on patrol in afghanistan, flo saw a suicide bomber comingtoward his unit. without hesitating, flo grabbed him by his vest and helped push him to theground. when the bomb went off, flo was badly injured, and four of his comrades were killed.but many more were saved because of flo's sacrifice. flo represents the very best of america –and this week, i was proud to present him with the medal of honor for his actions.

veterans like flo, they deserve our undying gratitude. they deserve the chance to keepserving the country they risked everything to defend. and so we must come together to keepgiving them that chance, not just on veterans day, but on every single day of the year. maygod bless all those who serve and all who have given their lives for our country. and may godbless the united states of america.

第4篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)、第一夫人米歇爾·奧巴馬2022年圣誕節(jié)英語演講稿

the president: hello everybody, and happy holidays.

the first lady: we know how busy this time of year is for everyone, so we’re not going totake much of your time.

but we did want to take a moment to wish you all a merry christmas, from our family to yours.

the president: this is a season for millions of americans to be together with family, tocontinue long-held holiday traditions, and to show our gratitude to those we love. and alongthe way, some of us might even watch a little basketball or eat some christmas cookies, too.

the first lady: here at the white house, over the past few weeks, we’ve had about 70,000people from all across the country come visit us and look at our holiday decorations.

this year’s theme was “gather around: stories of the season.”

and in every room of the house, we tried to tell a story about who we are as americans and howwe celebrate the holidays together.

and we made certain to highlight some of the most powerful stories we know—the stories ofour outstanding troops, veterans, and military families and their service and sacrifice for ourcountry.

the president: our e_traordinary men and women in uniform are serving so that therest of us can enjoy the blessings we cherish during the holidays. but that means many of ourtroops are far from home and far from family. they’re spending some e_tra time on the phonewith their loved ones back home. or they’re setting up video chats so they can watch as thepresents are opened. so today, we want all of our troops to know that you’re in our thoughtsand prayers this holiday season.

and here’s the good news: for many of our troops and newest veterans, this might be the firsttime in years that they’ve been with their families on christmas. in fact, with the iraq war overand the transition in afghanistan, fewer of our men and women in uniform are deployed inharm’s way than at any time in the last decade.

the first lady: and that’s something we all can be thankful for.

and with more and more of our troops back here at home, now it’s our turn to serve—it’s ourturn to step up and show our gratitude for the military families who have given us so much.

and that’s why jill biden and i started our joining forces initiative—to rally all americans tosupport our military families in ways large and small.

and again and again, we have been overwhelmed by the response we’ve gotten as folks fromacross the country have found new ways to give back to these families through their schools,businesses, and houses of worship.

the president: that’s the same spirit of giving that connects all of us during the holidays.so many people all across the country are helping out at soup kitchens, buying gifts for childrenin need, or organizing food or clothing drives for their neighbors. for families like ours, thatservice is a chance to celebrate the birth of christ and live out what he taught us – to love ourneighbors as we would ourselves; to feed the hungry and look after the sick; to be our brother’skeeper and our sister’s keeper. and for all of us as americans, regardless of our faith, those arevalues that can drive us to be better parents and friends, better neighbors and better citizens.

the first lady: so as we look to the new year, let’s pledge ourselves to living out thosevalues by reaching out and lifting up those in our communities who could use a hand up.

the president: so merry christmas, everyone. and from the two of us, as well as malia,sasha, grandma, bo…

the first lady: and sunny, the newest obama.

the president: we wish you all a blessed and safe holiday season.

the first lady: happy holidays everybody, and god bless.

第5篇 2022年奧巴馬總統(tǒng)競(jìng)選演講稿

four years ago as i had the privilege to travel all across the country and meet americans from all walks of life. i decided nobody else should have to endure the heartbreak of a broken health care system. no one in the wealthiest nation on earth should go because they get sick. nobody should have to tell their daughters or sons the decisions they can and cannot make for themselves are constrained because of some politicians in washington.

四年前我有幸周游了全國(guó)，遇到了各行各業(yè)的人們。我下定了決心不讓任何人由于醫(yī)療保健系統(tǒng)的不健全而心碎，不讓這個(gè)世界上最富有的的國(guó)家的任何人因?yàn)榧膊《F困潦倒。不讓任何人需要告訴自己的子女，他們能做什么，不能做什么，會(huì)由華盛頓的某些政客而左右。

and thanks to you, we’ve made a difference in people’s lives. thanks to you. there are folks that i meet today who have gotten care and their cancer’s been caught. and they’ve got treatment. and they are living full lives and it happened because of you.

感謝你們，人們的生活才有了更多不同。感謝你們，讓今天的我遇到的很多人得到了關(guān)懷，得到了治療。他們能夠繼續(xù)完整地生活，這些都離不開你們。

we've come too far to turn back now. we've got too much work to do to implement health care. we've got too much work to do to create good jobs. we've got too many teachers that we've got to hire. we've got too many schools that we've got to rebuild. we've got too many students who still need affordable higher education.

我們已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷了那么多，現(xiàn)在不該回頭。要落實(shí)醫(yī)療改革，要?jiǎng)?chuàng)造就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，我們還有太多要做。有太多老師等著我們?nèi)フ骷刑鄬W(xué)校需要我們?nèi)ブ亟?，有太多學(xué)生需要讓他們負(fù)擔(dān)得起的大學(xué)。

there's more homegrown energy to generate. there are more troops that we've got to bring home. there are more doors of opportunity we've got to open to anybody who is willing to work hard and walk through those doors. we've got to keep building an economy. or no matter what you look like or where you come from, you can make it here if you try. and you can leave something behind for the ne_t generation. that's what at stake right now in colorado. that's why i'm running for president of the united states of america. that's why i'm asking for your vote.

有太多本土能源要去生產(chǎn)，有更多的軍隊(duì)需要回歸祖國(guó)，有更多的機(jī)會(huì)之門需要我們?nèi)ゴ蜷_，讓那些愿意努力工作的人們有機(jī)會(huì)成功。我們要繼續(xù)發(fā)展經(jīng)濟(jì)。做到無論你是何種膚色，來自何方，只要你努力就可以成功。你就可以為下一代創(chuàng)造更好的條件。這是我們?cè)诳屏_拉多州要爭(zhēng)奪的。這是為什么我要競(jìng)選美國(guó)總統(tǒng)。這是為什么我希望你們投票給我。

i still believe in you. and if you still believe in me, and if you're willing to stand with me, and knock on some doors with me, and make some phone calls with me, and talk to your neighbors and friends about what's at stake, we will win this election. we will finish what we started. and we'll remind the world why america is the greatest nation on earth.

我依舊相信你們。如果你們依舊相信我，如果你們?cè)敢庵С治?，和我一起去叩門拜訪，和我一起打電話，告訴你的鄰居和朋友們，我們?cè)跔?zhēng)取什么，那我們就能在這場(chǎng)競(jìng)選中獲得勝利。我們就會(huì)像上次那樣贏得最終勝利。

god bless you and god bless the united states of america.

上帝護(hù)佑你，上帝護(hù)佑美利堅(jiān)合眾國(guó)。

第6篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在2022年《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》ceo理事會(huì)年會(huì)英語演講稿

the president: thank you so much. (applause.) everybody, please have a seat. thankyou.

well, it is wonderful to be here,and i always look forward to an opportunity to speak tosome of our topbusinesses across the country who are hiring people, investing inamerica,making the economy run. and many of youi’ve had a chance to interact with before. asyou know, oftentimes when i do something like this, i want to spendmore time answeringquestions and having a conversation than giving any formalremarks. let me just provide alittlebit of an introduction.

obviously, over the last coupleof months, most of the o_ygen in this town has beenconsumed with two things --one, the government shutdown and the possibility of default thatwas ultimatelyresolved; and the second has been the rollout of the affordable care act andthefact that my website is not working the way it’s supposed to. and it’s entirely legitimate thatthose havebeen issues of great concern.

the impact of the shutdown andthe threat of default i think not only did some significantdamage to theeconomy at a time when we didn’t need self-inflicted wounds, but it also spoketosome of the larger problems we’ve seen here in washington, and the sense ofdysfunction andthe seeming incapacity of both parties in congress to worktogether to advance an agendathat’s going to help us grow.

with respect to the affordablecare act, i think people are legitimately concerned becausewe have a majorproblem with health care in this country -- 41 million people withouthealthinsurance, a lot of people underinsured. and once again, how we fi_ a health care systemthat’s been broken fortoo many people for too long i think ends up speaking to how muchconfidence wehave in government and whether we still have the capacity, collectively, tobringabout changes that are going to be good for our economy, good for ourbusinesses, good for theamerican people.

i do want to say, though, thatbeyond the headlines, we have made real progress in theeconomy, and sometimesthat hasn’t gotten enough attention. some of the tough decisions thatwe made early on have paid off --decisions that helped us not only recover from a crisis, butbegin to lay astronger foundation for future growth.

we refocused on manufacturinge_ports, and today, our businesses sell more goods andservices made in americathan ever before around the world. aftera decade of shedding jobs,our manufacturing sector has now added about half amillion new jobs, and it’s led by anamerican auto industry that has comeroaring back after decades of decline.

we decided to reverse ourdependence on foreign oil, and today, we generate morerenewable energy thanever before and more natural gas than anybody in the world. and for thefirst time in nearly 20 years,america now produces more of our own oil than we buy from othercountries.

when i took office, we invested afraction of what other countries did in wirelessinfrastructure, and today, it’sup nearly 50 percent, helping companies unleash jobs,innovation and a boomingapp economy that’s created more than 500,000 jobs. when i tookoffice, only 5 percent of theworld’s smartphones ran on american operating systems. today,more than 80 percent do.

and it’s not just in thehigh-tech economy that we’re seeing progress. for e_ample,american farmers are on pace to have one of their bestyears in decades, and they haveconsistently been able to e_port more, makemore profits and help restore rural economiesthan when we came into office.

and, yes, we decided to take on abroken health care system. and even though the rollout ofthe new health caremarketplace has been rough, to say the least, about half a millionamericansare now poised to gain health care coverage beginning january 1st. that’s after onlya month of sign-up. we also have seen health care costs growingat the slowest rate in 50 years.employer-based health costs are growing at about one-third of the rateof a decade ago, andthat has an impact on your bottom line.

and after years oftrillion-dollar deficits, we reined in spending, wound down two wars, andbeganto change a ta_ code that i believe was too skewed towards the wealthiest amongus atthe e_pense of the middle class. and since i took office, we have now cut our deficits by morethan half.

add it all up, and businesseslike yours have created 7.8 million new jobs over the past 44months. we’ve gone farther and recovered faster thanmost other advanced nations. and so inalot of ways, america is poised for a breakout. we are in a good position to compete aroundthe world in the 21stcentury.

the question is, are we going torealize that potential? and that meansthat we’ve still gotsome more work to do. our stock markets and corporate profits are soaring, but we’ve gottomake sure that this remains a country where everyone who works hard can getahead. andthat means we’ve still got toaddress long-term unemployment. we stillhave to addressstagnant wages and stagnant incomes.

and frankly, we’ve got to stopgoverning by crisis here in this town. because if it weren’t forwashington’s dysfunction, i think all of usagree we’d be a lot further along. theshutdown andthe threat of default harmed our jobs market, they cost oureconomy about $5 billion, andeconomists predict it will slow our gdp growththis quarter -- and it didn’t need to happen. itwas self-inflicted. we shouldnot be injuring ourselves every few months. we should be investingin ourselves. and in a sensible world, that starts with a budget that cuts what we don’tneed,closes wasteful loopholes, and helps us afford to invest in the thingsthat we know will helpbusinesses like yours and the economy as a whole --education, infrastructure, basic researchand development.

we would have a grand bargain formiddle-class jobs that combines ta_ reform with afinancing mechanism that letsus create jobs, rebuilding infrastructure that your businessesdepend on, butwe haven’t gotten as much take-up from the other side as we’d like to see sofar.we have the opportunity forbipartisan authority to negotiate the best trade deals possible sobusinessesand workers can take advantage of new markets that are opening up aroundtheworld. we haven’t seen the kind oftake-up from the other side that we’d like to see so far.

we’ve got the opportunity to fi_a broken immigration system that strengthens oureconomy and our nationalsecurity. the good news here is thesenate has already passed abipartisan bill that economists say would grow oureconomy by $1.4 trillion and shrink ourdeficits by nearly a trillion over thene_t two decades. you wouldn’t turn downa deal that good,and congress shouldn’t either. so i’m hoping that speaker boehner and thehouse ofrepresentatives can still work with us to get that done.

and we need to be going all outto prepare our kids and our workers for the demands of a21st-centuryeconomy. i’ve proposed giving everychild an early start at success by making high-quality preschool available toevery four-year-old in america. we knowthat you get more bangfor the buck when it comes to early childhood educationthan just about anything else, andyou’ve got great e_amples around thecountry, oftentimes in red states, that are doing just that.we need to make that same investment.

we’re working to bring down thecosts of a college degree so more young people can get ahigher education. and one thing that i’m very e_cited about --and this has been a goode_ample of a public-private partnership -- is the ideaof redesigning our high schools to makesure that more young people gethands-on training and develop the skills that they need,particularly in math,science and engineering, that businesses are looking for. and in fact, todaywe’re announcing acompetitive grant program that will encourage more high schools topartner withcolleges and local businesses to better prepare our kids for college or acareer. andin december, i’ll bebringing together college presidents and other leaders to figure out waystohelp more low-income students attend and to succeed in college.

so just to sum up, my basicmessage is this: we know what thechallenges are. we knowwhat thesolutions are. some of them are tough,but what’s holding us back is not a lack of goodpolicy ideas or even what usedto be considered good bipartisan policy ideas. we just have tobreak through the stubborn cycle of crisis politics andstart working together. moreobstruction,more brinkmanship won’t help anybody. it doesn’t help folks politically. my understanding isnobody in this town isdoing particularly well at the moment when it comes to the opinions oftheamerican people, but it certainly doesn’t help anybody economically.

on many of the issues, i thinkyou and i would agree, and i want you to know that i’mrooting for yoursuccess, and i look forward to making sure that we are able in theremainingthree years that i’m president to work together to not only improve thebusinessclimate, but also improve the prospects for americans all across thecountry who have beentreading water, feel like they’re losing ground, arean_ious about the future and their children’sfutures, but i think are stillhopeful and still possess that fundamental american optimism. ifthey see leadership working across theboard on their behalf, then i’m confident that we canmake enormous progress.

so with that, why don’t we getjerry up here and i’ll start answering his questions. i hope headds some input. (laughter.) if he starts asking me about whathappened to the kansas citychiefs, i’m not sure i’ll have a good answer forthat one. (applause.)

well, thank you, mr. president. let me start by thanking you officially forjoining us today. ithink you probablysee a lot of familiar faces out there, most friendly, most of them. and i wouldalso note that you’re gettinghere a little late. congressman paulryan is coming later. he isgoing to gethere a little early. so if you guysoverlap a little bit, maybe we can just get someproblems solved righthere. what do you think?

the president: let’s do it. (laughter.) let’s do it.

it’s your chance. we have talked amongst ourselves or tried tosort of take the sense of theroom. so i’mgoing to try to reflect some of the conversations that have been going on hereinthe questions i’m going to ask you. you’ll not be stunned that i’m going to ask you abouthealth care first.

you indicated there and you’veindicated publicly quite clearly that the rollout has beendifficult. what do you think you’ve learned from thise_perience about the government’s abilityto do this sort of thing, about thelaw itself, or about your own administration?

the president: well, there are a couple of things. number one is that this has been abigproblem for a very long time and so it was always going to be challenging notjust to pass alaw, but also to implement it. there’s a reason why, despite a century of talking about it,nobody hadbeen able to successfully try to deal with some of the underlying problems inthehealth care system.

the good news is that many of theelements of the affordable care act are already in placeand are workinge_actly the way they’re supposed to. somaking sure that consumers who haveemployer-based health insurance are gettinga better deal and that are protected from some ofthe fine print that left themin the lurch when they actually got sick -- that’s in place. makingsure that young people under the ageof 26 can stay on their parents’ plan -- that’s helped 3million childrenalready. that’s making adifference. helping seniors to getbetter prescriptiondrug prices -- that’s already helped millions of seniorsand billions of dollars in savings. rebatesfor people who see insurance companies who are not spendingenough on actual care, more onadministrative costs or profits, they’re gettingrebates. they may not know it’s theaffordablecare act that’s giving them rebates, but it’s happening. so there were a number of things thatwerealready in place over the last three years that got implemented effectively.

the other thing that hasn’t beentalked about a lot is cost. there was a lot of skepticismwhen we passed theaffordable care act that we were going to be giving a lot of people care butweweren’t doing anything about the underlying costs. and, in fact, over the last three years,we’veseen health care costs grow at the slowest pace in 50 years. and that affects the bottomlines ofeverybody here.

and there are a lot of smartdelivery system reforms that slowly across the system are beingimplemented andthey’re making a big difference. andthat’s saving us money. that’s why, bytheway, some of the projections that in terms of what the affordable care actwould do to deficitshave actually proved even better than we had originallye_pected.

what i have learned, though, withrespect to setting up these marketplaces -- which areessentially mechanismswhere people who are currently in the individual market or don’t havehealthinsurance at all can join together, shop, and insurance companies will competefor theirbusiness -- setting those things up is very challenging justmechanically.

the good news is that choice andcompetition has actually worked and insurers came in withbids that were evenlower than people e_pected -- about 16 percent lower than had originallybeenprojected.

the challenge has been justmaking sure that consumers are actually able to get on awebsite, see thosechoices, and shop. and i think that weprobably underestimated thecomple_ities of building out a website that neededto work the way it should.

there is a larger problem that iprobably -- speak personally, but also as theadministration -- could haveidentified earlier, and that is the way the federal government doesprocurementand does it is just generally not very efficient. in fact, there’s probably no biggergapbetween the private sector and the public sector than it.

and we’ve seen that in, fore_ample, the va and the department of defense trying to dealwith electronicmedical records for our servicemen as they move into civilian life. most of thatstuff is still done on paper. we’ve spent billions of dollars -- i’m notsaying “we” as in myadministration, i mean we’ve now had about a decade ofe_perimentation, spent billions ofdollars and it’s still not working the wayit should.

so what we probably needed to doon the front end was to blow up how we procure for it,especially on a systemthis complicated. we did not do thatsuccessfully. now, we are gettingitfi_ed, but it would have been better to do it on the front end rather than theback end.

and the last point i’ll make isthat in terms of e_pectation setting, there’s no doubt that inan environmentin which we had to fight tooth and nail to get this passed, it ended upbeingpassed on a partisan basis -- not for lack of trying, because i met with anawful lot ofrepublicans to try to get them to go along -- but because therewas just ideological resistanceto the idea of dealing with the uninsured andpeople with pree_isting conditions. there was aprice to that, and it was that what was already going to behard was operating within a verydifficult political environment. and we should have anticipated that thatwould create arockier rollout than if democrats and republicans were bothinvested in success.

one of the problems we’ve had isone side of capitol hill is invested in failure, and thatmakes, i think, thekind of iterative process of fi_ing glitches as they come up and fine-tuningthe law more challenging. but i’moptimistic that we can get it fi_ed.

well, that’s the question i was going toask ne_t. is it possible you’ve lostenough time hereand enough potential customers in the e_changes that you’renot going to reach the criticalmass of signups that you need to make themarketplace work? is that a danger thatyou have toworry about right now?

the president: well, it’s something that we have to payattention to. but keep in mindthat thismodel of marketplaces was based on what was done in massachusetts, andthee_perience in massachusetts was that in the first month, 153 or 163 people signedup out ofan ultimate 36,000. it wasless than 1 percent signed up in that first month -- partly becausebuyinginsurance is a complicated process for a lot of people. when they have more choices, itmeans thatthey’re going to take more time.

there’s no doubt that we’ve lostsome time, but the website is getting better each week. bythe end of this month, it will befunctioning for the majority of people who are using it. they’llbe able to shop, see what theirchoices are. the prices are good. the prices are not changingduring the openenrollment period that goes out until march. and so i think that we’re going tohave time to catch up.

what’s also been e_pressed as aconcern is the mi_ of people that sign up. so we mightend up having millions of people sign up; they’re happy withtheir new coverage, but we’ve gotmore people who are older, more likely to getsick than younger and healthier. we’vegot tomonitor that carefully. we alwaysanticipated, though, that younger folks would be the last folksin, justbecause -- it’s been a while since you and i were young -- but as i recall, youdon’t thinkthat you’re going to get sick at that time.

so, look, i am confident that themodel that we’ve built, which works off of the e_istingprivate insurancesystem, is one that will succeed. we aregoing to have to, a, fi_ the website soeverybody feels confident aboutthat. we’re going to have to obviouslyre-market and re-brand,and that will be challenging in this politicalenvironment.

but keep in mind, in the firstmonth we also had 12 million people visit the site. thedemand is there. there are 41 million people who don’t havehealth insurance. the folks intheindividual market, many of them are going to get a much better deal in themarketplaces.and so we’ve just got tokeep on improving the customer e_perience and make sure that we’refending offefforts not to fi_ the problem -- because if somebody wants to help us fi_ it,i’m allgame, but fending off efforts to completely undermine it.

let me turn to the economy, the broadereconomy, probably the predominant concern ofpeople in this room. we seem to be stuck in an economic growthpattern of okay, but not greatgrowth. your friend, larry summers, was here earlier today and said essentiallythe problem orone of the problems is that the system can’t do two things atonce. it can’t cut deficits andspurgrowth. it needs to do one or the otherright now. it needs to spur growth,should not worryso much about deficits. do you agree? and if you doagree, how do you make that happen?

the president: actually, larry and i, and most of myeconomic team -- in fact, all of myeconomic team -- have consistentlymaintained that there is a way to reconcile the concernsabout debt anddeficits with the concerns about growth.

what we know is, is that ourfiscal problems are not short-term deficits. our discretionarybudget, that portion of the federal budget that isn’tdefense or social security or medicare ormedicaid, the entitlement programs,is at its smallest level in my lifetime, probably since dwighteisenhower. we are not lavishly spending on a whole bunchof social programs out there. andin many ways, a lot of these programs havebecome more efficient and pretty effective.

defense, we spent a lot from 2022to 2022, but generally we are stabilizing. and thepentagon, working with me, have come up with plans that allow usto meet our security needswhile still bringing down some of the costs ofdefense, particularly after having ended the war iniraq and on the brink ofending the war in afghanistan.

so when we talk about our deficitand debt problems, it is almost entirely health care costs.you eliminate the delta, the differencebetween what we spend on health care and what everyother country -- advancedindustrialized nation spends on health care, and that’s our long-termdebt. and if we’re able to bend the costcurve, we help solve the problem.

now, one way to do that is justto make health care cheaper overall. that’s i think the bestway to do it, and that’s what we’ve been doingthrough some of the measures in the affordablecare act. there are some other provisions that we couldtake that would maintain ourcommitment to seniors, medicare, social security,the disabled, and medicaid, while stillreducing very modestly the costs ofthose programs.

if we do those things, thatsolves our real fiscal problem, and we could take some of thatmoney, a verymodest portion on the front end, and invest in infrastructure that putspeopleback to work, improve our research and development.

so the idea would be do somethings in the short term that focus on growth; do some thingsin the long termthat deal with the long-term debt. that’swhat my budget reflects. that’s whatamultiple series of negotiations with john boehner talked about, the so-calledgrand bargain. wecouldn’t quite getthere in the end, mainly because republicans had a great deal of difficultywiththe idea of putting in more revenue to balance out some of the changesthat were made onentitlements.

i would guess a lot of people in this roomwould say another way to make some of thosethings happen would be to fi_ thecorporate ta_ code that everybody agrees is a mess. you’vegot some companies that pay way toomuch compared to their international competitors; somecompanies don’t pay atall. it’s not a good system. it’s not anefficient system, everybody agrees,but it doesn’t ever seem to change. can you make it change? and can you do something aboutrepatriationof u.s. assets overseas?

the president: well, here is the good news, is that both myadministration andrepublicans have talked about corporate ta_ reform. and paul ryan, who is going to becoming afterme, said he’s interested in corporate ta_ reform. and we’ve reached out to himand we’ve saidlet’s get to work. we put forward a veryspecific set of proposals that would lowerthe corporate ta_ rate, broaden thebase, close some loopholes. and in termsof internationalcompanies and competitiveness, what we’ve said is rather thana whole bunch of tangled lawsthat incentivize folks to keep money overseas,let’s have a modest but clear global minimumta_, get rid of some of the hugefluctuations that people e_perience. itwill save companiesmoney, make them more competitive and, in terms oftransitioning to that system, actuallyallow some people to bring back moneyand, in a one-time way, help us finance infrastructureand some other projectsthat need to get done.

i don’t e_pect republicans toadopt e_actly the proposal that we’ve put forward. butthere’s not that much separation betweenwhat democrats are talking about -- i know chairmanma_ baucus put outsomething today, the chairman of the finance committee -- what davecamp overin the house has talked about. thisshould be bridgeable.

the one thing i would caution is-- and i’ve said this to the business roundtable and othercorporate leaderswho i’ve talked to -- people like the idea of corporate ta_ reform intheory.in practice, if you want to makethe corporate ta_ reform deficit-neutral, then you actuallyhave to close someloopholes. and people like the idea of asimpler ta_ system until it’s theirparticular loophole that’s about to getclosed.

and what we can’t afford to do isto keep all the loopholes that are currently in place andlower the corporateta_ rate. we would then blow anotherhole in the deficit that would have tobe filled. and what i’m not willing to do is to havehigher rates on the middle class in order topay for that.

some of the ceos here had a working groupearlier today, the mission of which was toaddress the question of how do youstay competitive. interestingly, atleast to me, their firstpriority -- first priority -- was this: immigration reform. the u.s. needs immigration reformto retaintalented workers educated in the u.s. and attract talent to the u.s. immigrationreform could provide an instantjolt to the u.s. economy which we need.

i know you agree with thatstatement, but it’s hard to see that happening right now. you’vegot the senate off on one track -- it’spassed a comprehensive bill the house won’t even agreeto take up. democrats want to do comprehensivereform. republicans want to do step-by-stepreform. it’s a poisonous politicalatmosphere. can you make it happen?

the president: i am actually optimistic that we’re going toget this done. i am acongenitaloptimist. i would have to be -- i’m named barack obama and i ran forpresident. (laughter.)

and won.

the president: and won twice. (laughter.)

so, look, keep in mind, first ofall, that what the ceos here said is absolutely right. this isa boost to our economy. everywhere i go, i meet with entrepreneursand ceos who say, i’vegot these terrific folks, they just graduated fromcaltech or mit or stanford, they’re ready to dobusiness here, some of themhave these amazing new ideas that we think we can commercialize-- but they’rebeing dragged back to their home countries, not because they want to gobutbecause the immigration system doesn’t work.

the good news is that the senatebill was a bipartisan bill and we know what thecomponent parts of thisare. we’ve got to have strong bordersecurity. we’ve got to havebetterenforcement of e_isting laws. we’ve gotto make sure that we have a legal immigrationsystem that doesn’t cause peopleto sit in the queue for 5 years, 10 years, 15 years -- in somecases, 20years. we should want to immediately sayto young people who we’ve helped toeducate in this country, you want to stay,we want you here.

and we do have to deal with about11 million folks who are in this country, most of themjust seekingopportunity; they did break the law by coming here or overstaying their visa,andthey’ve got to earn their way out of the shadows -- pay a fine, learnenglish, get to the back ofthe line, pay their back ta_es -- but giving them amechanism whereby they can get right by oursociety. and that’s reflected in the senate bill.

now, i actually think that thereare a number of house republicans -- including paul ryan, ithink, if you askhim about it -- who agree with that. they’re suspicious of comprehensivebills, but if they want to chop thatthing up into five pieces, as long as all five pieces get done, idon’t carewhat it looks like as long as it’s actually delivering on those core valuesthat we talkabout.

but democrats have been pretty suspiciousthat all five pieces won’t get done.

the president: and that’s the problem. i mean, the key is -- what we don’t want todois simply carve out one piece of it -- let’s say agricultural jobs, which are important, but iseasier,frankly, or the high-skilled jobs that many in your audience here wouldimmediately wantto do -- but leave behind some of the tougher stuff that stillneeds to get done. we’re not goingtohave a situation in which 11 million people are still living in the shadows andpotentiallygetting deported on an ongoing basis.

so we’re going to have to do itall. in my conversations with therepublicans, i actually thinkthe divide is not that wide. so what we just have to do is find a pathwaywhere republicans inthe house, in particular, feel comfortable enough aboutprocess that they can go ahead andmeet us.

this, by the way, jerry, i thinkis a good e_ample of something that’s been striking meabout our politics for awhile. when you go to other countries, the political divisions are so muchmorestark and wider. here in america, thedifference between democrats and republicans, we’refighting inside the 40-yardline, maybe in --

you’ve fooled most people on that in thelast few months, i’d say. (laughter.)

the president: well, no, no. i would distinguish between the rhetoric and the tacticsversus theideological differences. i mean, in most countries you’ve got -- people call measocialist sometimes, but, no, you’ve got to meet real socialists.(laughter.) you’ll have a sense ofwhata socialist is. (laughter.)

i’m talking about lowering thecorporate ta_ rate. my health carereform is based on theprivate marketplace. the stock market is looking pretty good last time i checked. and it is truethat i’m concerned aboutgrowing inequality in our system, but nobody questions theefficacy of marketeconomies in terms of producing wealth and innovation and keepinguscompetitive.

on the flip side, mostrepublicans, even the tea party -- one of my favorite signs during thecampaignwas folks hoisting a sign, “government, keep your hands off my medicare.” (laughter.)think about that. (laughter.) i mean, ideologically, they did not like the idea of thefederalgovernment, and yet they felt very protective about the basic social safety netthat hadbeen structured.

so my simple point is this: if we can get beyond the tactical advantagesthat partiesperceive in painting folks as e_treme and trying to keep an eyealways on the ne_t election,and for a while at least, just focus on governing,then there is probably 70 percent overlap on awhole range of issues. a lot of republicans want to getinfrastructure done, just like i do. alot ofthem believe in basic research, just like i do. a lot of them want to reform entitlementstomake sure that they’re affordable for the ne_t generation; so do i. a lot of them say theywant to reform our ta_system; so do i.

there are going to be differenceson the details, and those details matter and i’ll fight veryhard forthem. but we shouldn’t think thatsomehow the reason we’ve got these problems isbecause our policy differencesare so great.

well, the details are obviously importantenough to shut down the government just a coupleof weeks ago. and everybody knows we’re headed back towardshowdowns again -- january,budget; february, debt ceiling. jack lew was here earlier, your treasurysecretary, and said hethought maybe the system crossed a threshold in octoberand has realized it doesn’t want to goback and do that again. are you confident it’s not going to go backand do that again? and bythe way, theoecd, the organization of economic cooperation and development, suggestedtodaythat the u.s. just get rid of the debt ceiling entirely. would you be in favor of that?

the president: i think that the way our system is set up islike a loaded gun, and oncepeople thought we can get leverage on policydisputes by threatening default, that was ane_traordinarily dangerousprecedent. and that’s a principle that ihad to adhere to, not just forme but for the ne_t president -- that you’re notgoing to be able to threaten the entire u.s. orworld economy simply becauseyou disagree with me about a health care bill.

i’d like to believe that therepublicans recognize that was not a good strategy, and we’reprobably betteroff with a system in which that threat is not there on a perpetual basis. i donot foresee what we saw in october beingrepeated in january. but the broaderpoint is one thati think all of us have to take to heart. we have to be able to disagree on policyissues withoutresorting to the kinds of e_treme tactics that end up hurtingall of us.

and that’s been my maindisagreement with a lot of my republican friends. and frankly, theamerican people agree withthat. they don’t e_pect us to march inlockstep. there’s a reasonwhy we’ve gottwo parties in this country. they doe_pect that we are constantly thinking abouthow are we making sure they canfind a job that pays well, that their kids can go to college andafford it,that we are growing and competitive, that we are dealing with our fiscalposition in asensible way. and if wekeep them in mind consistently, then i think we’re going to besuccessful.

one thing -- you’ve got someinternational ceos here, and i think they’ll confirm this --when i travel, what’sstriking to me is people around the world think we’ve got a really goodhand.you just take the e_ample of energy. they say america is poised to change ourgeopolitics entirely because ofthe advances we’ve made in oil production and natural gasproduction. it means manufacturing here is much moreattractive than it used to be. that’sahuge competitive advantage.

we’ve got the most productiveworkers just about in the world, and our workers havebecome more and moreproductive, and a lot of companies look at that and say we wish we hadworkerswho were able to operate the way these folks do.

our university systems, ourresearch infrastructure -- all those things are the envy of theworld. and one of the great things about america --sometimes we get worried that we’re losingtraction and the sky is falling, andback in the ‘80s, japan was about to take over, and thenchina, and obviouslybefore that, the soviet union -- and we usually come out okay because wechangeand we adapt. i just want everybody toremember that we’re in a very strong position tocompete as long as ourpolitical system functions. it doesn’thave to be outstanding. this issort oflike winston churchill, two cheers for democracy. and it’s always going to be messy. butit’s got to function better than it has.

i’m in the red zone on the clock here, butlet me -- i do want to ask a question aboutinternational affairs. you’ve mentioned the world and the u.s.position in it. there’s thepossibilitythis week of an agreement with iran, a preliminary, limited agreement in whichtheywould free some of their nuclear activities in return for some relief onsanctions. your israelifriends havebeen arguing, along with some of your friends as well as your foes in congress,thatif you give the iranian regime any relief on sanctions, the sanctionsregime will fall apart;countries that don’t want to be there in the firstplace will head for the e_its; it will all comeapart -- and that’s the dangerof what you’re negotiating right now.

i know you talked to somesenators about this very topic today. isthere going to be a deal?and why canyou ease sanctions without having them fall apart?

the president: well, just by way of background, when i cameinto office, we had a tradeembargo; the u.s. had done some thingsunilaterally. we did not have a strong,enforceableinternational mechanism to really put the squeeze on iran aroundits nuclear program, despitethe fact that it had violated a range of u.n. andnonproliferation treaty requirements.

so we built, we constructed, withthe help of congress, the strongest sanctions regimeever. and it has put a bite on the iranianeconomy. they have seen a 5 percentcontraction thelast year in their economy. it’s projected to be another contraction this year. and in partbecause the sanctions have beenso effective, we were able to get iran to seriously come to thetable and lookat how are they going to give assurances to the international communitythatthey are, in fact, not pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

i don’t know if we’ll be able toclose a deal this week or ne_t week. wehave been very firmwith the iranians even on the interim deal about what wee_pect. and some of the reportingoutthere has been somewhat inaccurate, understandably, because the p5-plus-1, themembersof the -- permanent members of the security council in addition to --and germany as well --have kept the negotiations fairly tight.

but the essence of the deal wouldbe that they would halt advances on their nuclearprogram; they would roll backsome elements that get them closer to what we call breakoutcapacity, wherethey can run for -- a weapon before the international community has a chancetoreact; that they would subject themselves to more vigorous inspections eventhan the onesthat are currently there, in some cases, daily inspections.

in return, what we would do wouldbe to open up the spigot a little bit for a very modestamount of relief thatis entirely subject to reinstatement if, in fact, they violated any part ofthisearly agreement. and it wouldpurchase a period of time -- let’s say, si_ months -- during whichwe could seeif they could get to the end state of a position where we, the israelis,theinternational community could say with confidence iran is not pursuing anuclear weapon.

now, part of the reason i haveconfidence that the sanctions don’t fall apart is because we’renot doinganything around the most powerful sanctions. the oil sanctions, the bankingsanctions, the financial servicessanctions -- those are the ones that have really taken a bigchunk out of theiranian economy. so oil production andoil sales out of iran have dropped bymore than half since these sanctions wereput in place. they’ve got over $100billion of oilrevenue that is sitting outside of their country. the rial, their currency, hasdroppedprecipitously. and all those sanctionsand the architecture for them don’t go anywhere.

essentially, what we do is weallow them to access a small portion of these assets that arefrozen. keep in mind, though, that because the oiland banking sanctions stay in place, they willactually still be losing moneyeven during this si_-month period relative to the amount of oilsales they hadback in 2022.

so what we are suggesting both tothe israelis, to members of congress here, to theinternational community, butalso to the iranians, is, let’s look, let’s test the proposition thatover thene_t si_ months we can resolve this in a diplomatic fashion, while maintainingtheessential sanctions architecture, and, as president of the united states,me maintaining alloptions to prevent them from getting nuclear weapons. i think that is a test that isworthconducting.

and my hope and e_pectation isnot that we’re going to solve all of this just this week inthis interim phase,but rather that we’re purchasing ourselves some time to see how serioustheiranian regime might be in re-entering membership in the world community andtakingthe yoke of these sanctions off the backs of their economy.

well, mr. president, with that, let me justthank you again for joining us. iappreciate it verymuch. (applause.)

the president: i enjoyed it. thank you very much. (applause)

第7篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在白宮玫瑰園就《平價(jià)醫(yī)療法案》英語演講稿

the president: everybody, have a seat.

ms. baker: hello. my name is janice baker. i havethe privilege to say that i'm the firstperson in the state of delaware to enrollfor health insurance through the new marketplace. (applause.) like many consumers out there, it took me a number of frustratingattempts beforei could apply for and select my plan. i kept trying because i needed access to thenew healthcare options.

i had applied to three privateinsurance companies only to be rejected due to pree_istinghealthconditions. i am too young for medicare,but i'm too old not to have some health issues. iwas able to find a policy i am thrilled with, saving $150 a month, andmuch lower deductiblesthan my previous policy that i held through my smallbusiness.

i'm here today to encourage otherpeople like me who needs access to quality, affordableinsurance, and to tellthem to have patience with such a new system. without this ability toget this insurance, iknow that a single hospital stay could have bankrupted me and mybusiness.

thank you all. and i am now honored to introduce thepresident of the united states. (applause.)

the president: great job.

ms. baker: thank you. thank you.

the president: thank you. (applause.) thank you,everybody. well, thank you, janice.and thanks to everybody here for coming onthis beautiful day. welcome to the whitehouse.

about three weeks ago, as thefederal government shut down, the affordable care act'shealth insurancemarketplaces opened for business across the country. well, we've now gottenthe government backopen for the american people, and today i want to talk about how we'regoing toget the marketplaces running at full steam, as well. and i'm joined today by folks whohave eitherbenefited from the affordable care act already, or who are helping theirfellowcitizens learn about what this law means for them and how they can get covered.

of course, you've probably heardthat healthcare.gov –- the new website where people canapply for healthinsurance, and browse and buy affordable plans in most states –- hasn'tworkedas smoothly as it was supposed to work. and the number of people who have visitedthe site has beenoverwhelming, which has aggravated some of these underlying problems.

despite all that, thousands ofpeople are signing up and saving money as we speak. manyamericans with a pree_isting condition,like janice, are discovering that they can finally gethealth insurance likeeverybody else.

so today, i want to speak toevery american who's looking to get affordable healthinsurance. i want you to know what's available to youand why it may be a good deal for you.and for those who've had some problems with the website, i want to tellyou what we're doingto make it work better and how you can sign up to getcovered in other ways.

but before i do that, let meremind everybody that the affordable care act is not just awebsite. it's much more. for the vast majority of americans -- for 85percent of americanswho already have health insurance through your employer ormedicare or medicaid -– you don'tneed to sign up for coverage through awebsite at all. you've already gotcoverage. what theaffordable care actdoes for you is to provide you with new benefits and protections that havebeenin place for some time. you may not knowit, but you're already benefiting from theseprovisions in the law.

for e_ample, because of theaffordable care act, young people like jasmine jennings, andjessica ugalde,and ezra salop, all of whom are here today, they've been able to stay ontheirparents' plans until they're 26. millions of other young people are currently benefiting fromthat part ofthe law. (applause.) another part of the affordable care act isproviding seniors withdeeper discounts on their prescription medicine. billions of dollars have been saved byseniorsalready. that's part of thelaw. it's already in place. it's happening right now.

already, because of theaffordable care act, preventive care like mammograms and birthcontrol are freethrough your employers. that's part ofthis law. (applause.) so there are a widerange of consumerprotections and benefits that you already have if you've got healthinsurance.you may not have noticedthem, but you've got them, and they're not going anywhere. andthey're not dependent on a website.

here's another thing that theaffordable care act does. in stateswhere governors andlegislatures have wisely allowed it, the affordable careact provides the opportunity for manyamericans to get covered under medicaidfor the first time. so in oregon, fore_ample, that'shelped cut the number of uninsured people by 10 percent just inthe last three weeks. thinkaboutthat. that's 56,000 more americans whonow have health care. (applause.) that doesn'tdepend on a website.

now, if you're one of the 15percent of americans who don't have health insurance -- eitherbecause you can'tafford it or because your employer doesn't offer it, or because you're asmallbusinessperson and you have to go out on the individual market and buy it onyour ownand it's just too e_pensive -- october 1st was an important date. that's when we opened thenew marketplaceswhere people without health insurance, or who can't afford healthinsurance, orwho aren't part of a group plan, can finally start getting affordable coverage.

and the idea is simple. by enrolling in what we're calling thesemarketplaces, you becomepart of a big group plan -- as if you were working fora big employer -- a statewide group planthat spreads risk between sick peopleand healthy people, between young and old, and thenbargains on your behalf forthe best deal on health care. what we'vedone is essentially create acompetition where there wasn't competitionbefore. we created these big groupplans, and nowinsurers are really interested in getting your business. and so insurers have created new healthcareplans with more choices to be made available through these marketplaces.

and as a result of this choiceand this competition, prices have come down. when you addthe new ta_ credits that many people are eligible forthrough the law, then the prices comedown even further. so one study shows that through new optionscreated by the affordable careact, nearly 6 in 10 uninsured americans willfind that they can get covered for less than $100 amonth. think about that. (applause.)

through the marketplaces, you canget health insurance for what may be the equivalentof your cell phone bill oryour cable bill, and that's a good deal.

so the fact is the product of theaffordable care act for people without health insurance isquality healthinsurance that's affordable. and thatproduct is working. it's reallygood. and itturns out there's a massivedemand for it. so far, the nationalwebsite, healthcare.gov, has beenvisited nearly 20 million times. twenty million times. (applause.) and there's great demand atthe state level as well, because there are abunch of states that are running their ownmarketplaces.

we know that nearly one-third ofthe people applying in connecticut and maryland, fore_ample, are under 35years old. they understand that they canget a good deal at low costs,have the security of health care, and this is notjust for old folks like me -- that everybodyneeds good quality healthinsurance. and all told, more than halfa million consumers across thecountry have successfully submitted applicationsthrough federal and state marketplaces. andmany of those applications aren't just for individuals, it's fortheir entire families. so evenmorepeople are already looking to potentially take advantage of the high quality,affordableinsurance that is provided through the affordable care act.

so let me just recap here. the product is good. the health insurance that's being providedisgood. it's high quality and it'saffordable. people can save money,significant money, bygetting insurance that's being provided through thesemarketplaces. and we know thatthedemand is there. people are rushing tosee what's available. and those who havealready hada chance to enroll are thrilled with the result. every day, people who were stuck withsky-highpremiums because of pree_isting conditions are getting affordableinsurance for the first time, orfinding, like janice did, that they're savinga lot of money. every day, women arefinally buyingcoverage that doesn't charge them higher premiums than men forthe same care. (applause.)every day, people are discovering that newhealth insurance plans have to cover maternitycare, mental health care, freepreventive care.

so you just heard janice's story-- she owns her own small business. sherecently became thefirst woman to enroll in coverage through delaware'se_change. and it's true, it took her afewtries, but it was worth it after being turned down for insurance threetimes due to minorpree_isting conditions. so now she'll be covered, she'll save 150 bucks a month, and shewon'thave to worry that one illness or accident will cost her her business that she'sworked sohard to build.

and janice is not alone. i recently received a letter from a womannamed jessica sanford inwashington state. and here's what she wrote: “i ama single mom, no child support, self-employed, and i haven't had insurance for15 years because it's too e_pensive. myson hasadhd and requires regular doctor visits and his meds alone cost $250per month. i have had anongoingtendinitis problem due to my line of work that i haven't had treated. now, finally, weget to have coverage becauseof the aca for $169 per month. i wascrying the other day when isigned up. somuch stress lifted.”

now, that is not untypical for alot of folks like jessica who have been struggling withouthealthinsurance. that's what the affordablecare act is all about. the point is, theessence of thelaw -- the health insurance that's available to people -- isworking just fine. in somecases,actually, it's e_ceeding e_pectations -- the prices are lower than we e_pected,the choice isgreater than we e_pected.

but the problem has been that the website that'ssupposed to make it easy to apply for andpurchase the insurance is not workingthe way it should for everybody. andthere's nosugarcoating it. the websitehas been too slow, people have been getting stuck during theapplicationprocess. and i think it's fair to saythat nobody is more frustrated by that than i am -- precisely because theproduct is good, i want the cash registers to work. i want the checkoutlines to be smooth. so i want people to be able to get this greatproduct. and there's no e_cusefor theproblems, and these problems are getting fi_ed.

but while we're working out the kinks in thesystem, i want everybody to understand thenature of the problem. first of all, even with all the problems athealthcare.gov, the website isstill working for a lot of people -- just not asquick or efficient or consistent as we want. andalthough many of these folks have found that they had to wait longerthan they wanted, oncethey complete the process they're very happy with thedeal that's available to them, just likejanice's.

second, i want everybody toremember that we're only three weeks into a si_-month openenrollment period,when you can buy these new plans. (applause.) keep in mind theinsurancedoesn't start until january 1st; that's the earliest that theinsurance can kick in. no one whodecidesto purchase a plan has to pay their first premium until december 15th. and unlike theday after thanksgiving salesfor the latest playstation or flat-screen tvs, the insurance plansdon't runout. they're not going to sell out. they'll be available through the marketplace-- (applause) -- throughout the open enrollment period. the prices that insurers have set willnotchange. so everybody who wants insurancethrough the marketplace will get insurance,period. (applause.) everybody who wants insurance through the marketplace will getinsurance.

third, we are doing everything wecan possibly do to get the websites working better, faster,sooner. we've got people working overtime, 24/7, toboost capacity and address the problems.e_perts from some of america's top private-sector tech companies who, bythe way, have seenthings like this happen before, they want it to work. they're reaching out. they're offering tosend help. we've had some of the best it talent in theentire country join the team. andwe'rewell into a “tech surge” to fi_ the problem. and we are confident that we will get all theproblems fi_ed.

number four -- while the websitewill ultimately be the easiest way to buy insurancethrough the marketplace, itisn't the only way. and i want toemphasize this. even as weredouble ourefforts to get the site working as well as it's supposed to, we're alsoredoubling ourefforts to make sure you can still buy the same quality,affordable insurance plans availableon the marketplace the old-fashioned way-- offline, either over the phone or in person.

and, by the way, there are a lotof people who want to take advantage of this who are morecomfortable workingon the phone anyway or in person. so letme go through the specifics as tohow you can do that if you're having problemswith the website or you just prefer dealing witha person.

yesterday, we updated the website'shome page to offer more information about the otheravenues to enroll inaffordable health care until the online option works for everybody. so you'llfind information about how to talkto a specialist who can help you apply over the phone or toreceive adownloadable application you can fill out yourself and mail in.

we've also added more staff tothe call centers where you can apply for insurance over thephone. those are already -- they've beenworking. but a lot of people havedecided first to go tothe website. butkeep in mind, these call centers are already up and running. and you can getyour questions answered byreal people, 24 hours a day, in 150 different languages. the phonenumber for these call centers is1-800-318-2596. i want to repeat that --1-800-318-2596. waittimes have averagedless than one minute so far on the call centers, although i admit that thewaittimes probably might go up a little bit now that i've read the number out loudon nationaltelevision. (laughter.)

but the point is the call centersare available. you can talk to somebodydirectly and theycan walk you through the application process. and i guarantee you, if one thing is worththewait, it's the safety and security of health care that you can afford, orthe amount of moneythat you can save by buying health insurance through themarketplaces. (applause.)

once you get on the phone with atrained representative, it usually takes about 25minutes for an individual toapply for coverage, about 45 minutes for a family. once you applyfor coverage, you will becontacted by email or postal mail about your coverage status.

but you don't have to just gothrough the phone. you can also apply inperson with the helpof local navigators -– these are people specially trainedto help you sign up for health care, andthey e_ist all across the country, oryou can go to community health centers and hospitals. justvisit localhelp.healthcare.gov to findout where in your area you can get help and apply forinsurance in person.

and finally, if you've alreadytried to apply through the website and you've been stucksomewhere along theway, do not worry. in the coming weeks,we will contact you directly,personally, with a concrete recommendation forhow you can complete your application,shop for coverage, pick a plan thatmeets your needs, and get covered once and for all.

so here's the bottom line. the product, the health insurance isgood. the prices are good.it is a good deal. people don't just want it; they're showing upto buy it. nobody is madder thanmeabout the fact that the website isn't working as well as it should, which meansit's going toget fi_ed. (laughter andapplause.)

第8篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在巴黎氣候變化大會(huì)上英語演講稿

奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在巴黎氣候變化大會(huì)上說了什么?想必大家也想了解吧!以下是小編整理推薦的，歡迎大家閱讀!

president hollande, mr. secretary general, fellow leaders,

we have come to paris to show our resolve.

we offer our condolences to the people of france for the barbaric attacks on this beautiful city. we stand united in solidarity not only to deliver justice to the terrorist network responsible for those attacks but to protect our people and uphold the enduring values that keep us strong and keep us free. and we salute the people of paris for insisting this crucial conference go on – an act of defiance that proves nothing will deter us from building the future we want for our children. what greater rejection of those who would tear down our world than marshaling our best efforts to save it?

nearly 200 nations have assembled here this week – a declaration that for all the challenges we face, the growing threat of climate change could define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other. what should give us hope that this is a turning point, that this is the moment we finally determined we would save our planet, is the fact that our nations share a sense of urgency about this challenge and a growing realization that it is within our power to do something about it.

our understanding of the ways human beings disrupt the climate advances by the day. fourteen of the fifteen warmest years on record have occurred since the year 2022 – and 2022 is on pace to be the warmest year of all. no nation – large or small, wealthy or poor – is immune to what this means.

this summer, i saw the effects of climate change firsthand in our northernmost state, alaska, where the sea is already swallowing villages and eroding shorelines; where permafrost thaws and the tundra burns; where glaciers are melting at a pace unprecedented in modern times. and it was a preview of one possible future – a glimpse of our children's fate if the climate keeps changing faster than our efforts to address it. submerged countries. abandoned cities. fields that no longer grow. political disruptions that trigger new conflict, and even more floods of desperate peoples seeking the sanctuary of nations not their own.

that future is not one of strong economies, nor is it one where fragile states can find their footing. that future is one that we have the power to change. right here. right now. but only if we rise to this moment. as one of america's governors has said, “we are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change, and the last generation that can do something about it.”

i've come here personally, as the leader of the world's largest economy and the second-largest emitter, to say that the united states of america not only recognizes our role in creating this problem, we embrace our responsibility to do something about it.

over the last seven years, we've made ambitious investments in clean energy, and ambitious reductions in our carbon emissions. we've multiplied wind power threefold, and solar power more than twentyfold, helping create parts of america where these clean power sources are finally cheaper than dirtier, conventional power. we've invested in energy efficiency in every way imaginable. we've said no to infrastructure that would pull high-carbon fossil fuels from the ground, and we've said yes to the first-ever set of national standards limiting the amount of carbon pollution our power plants can release into the sky.

the advances we've made have helped drive our economic output to all-time highs, and driveour carbon pollution to its lowest levels in nearly two decades.

but the good news is this is not an american trend alone. last year, the global economy grewwhile global carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels stayed flat. and what this means can'tbe overstated. we have broken the old arguments for inaction. we have proved that strongeconomic growth and a safer environment no longer have to conflict with one another; theycan work in concert with one another.

and that should give us hope. one of the enemies that we'll be fighting at this conference iscynicism, the notion we can't do anything about climate change. our progress should give ushope during these two weeks – hope that is rooted in collective action.

earlier this month in dubai, after years of delay, the world agreed to work together to cut thesuper-pollutants known as hfcs. that's progress. already, prior to paris, more than 180countries representing nearly 95 percent of global emissions have put forward their ownclimate targets. that is progress. for our part, america is on track to reach the emissionstargets that i set si_ years ago in copenhagen – we will reduce our carbon emissions in therange of 17 percent below 2022 levels by 2022. and that's why, last year, i set a new target:america will reduce our emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2022 levels within 10 years from now.

so our task here in paris is to turn these achievements into an enduring framework forhuman progress – not a stopgap solution, but a long-term strategy that gives the worldconfidence in a low-carbon future.

here, in paris, let's secure an agreement that builds in ambition, where progress paves theway for regularly updated targets – targets that are not set for each of us but by each of us,taking into account the differences that each nation is facing.

here in paris, let's agree to a strong system of transparency that gives each of us theconfidence that all of us are meeting our commitments. and let's make sure that the countrieswho don't yet have the full capacity to report on their targets receive the support that theyneed.

here in paris, let's reaffirm our commitment that resources will be there for countries willingto do their part to skip the dirty phase of development. and i recognize this will not be easy.it will take a commitment to innovation and the capital to continue driving down the cost ofclean energy. and that's why, this afternoon, i'll join many of you to announce an historicjoint effort to accelerate public and private clean energy innovation on a global scale.

here in paris, let's also make sure that these resources flow to the countries that need helppreparing for the impacts of climate change that we can no longer avoid. we know the truththat many nations have contributed little to climate change but will be the first to feel its mostdestructive effects. for some, particularly island nations – whose leaders i'll meet withtomorrow – climate change is a threat to their very e_istence. and that's why today, in concertwith other nations, america confirms our strong and ongoing commitment to the leastdeveloped countries fund. and tomorrow, we'll pledge new contributions to risk insuranceinitiatives that help vulnerable populations rebuild stronger after climate-related disasters.

and finally, here in paris, let's show businesses and investors that the global economy is on afirm path towards a low-carbon future. if we put the right rules and incentives in place, we'llunleash the creative power of our best scientists and engineers and entrepreneurs to deployclean energy technologies and the new jobs and new opportunities that they create all aroundthe world. there are hundreds of billions of dollars ready to deploy to countries around theworld if they get the signal that we mean business this time. let's send that signal.

that's what we seek in these ne_t two weeks. not simply an agreement to roll back thepollution we put into our skies, but an agreement that helps us lift people from povertywithout condemning the ne_t generation to a planet that's beyond its capacity to repair. here,in paris, we can show the world what is possible when we come together, united in commoneffort and by a common purpose.

and let there be no doubt, the ne_t generation is watching what we do. just over a week ago, iwas in malaysia, where i held a town hall with young people, and the first question i receivedwas from a young indonesian woman. and it wasn't about terrorism, it wasn't about theeconomy, it wasn't about human rights. it was about climate change. and she asked whether iwas optimistic about what we can achieve here in paris, and what young people like her coulddo to help.

i want our actions to show her that we're listening. i want our actions to be big enough to drawon the talents of all our people – men and women, rich and poor – i want to show herpassionate, idealistic young generation that we care about their future.

for i believe, in the words of dr. martin luther king, jr., that there is such a thing as being toolate. and when it comes to climate change, that hour is almost upon us. but if we act here, ifwe act now, if we place our own short-term interests behind the air that our young people willbreathe, and the food that they will eat, and the water that they will drink, and the hopes anddreams that sustain their lives, then we won't be too late for them.

and, my fellow leaders, accepting this challenge will not reward us with moments of victorythat are clear or quick. our progress will be measured differently – in the suffering that isaverted, and a planet that's preserved. and that's what's always made this so hard. ourgeneration may not even live to see the full realization of what we do here. but the knowledgethat the ne_t generation will be better off for what we do here – can we imagine a more worthyreward than that? passing that on to our children and our grandchildren, so that when they lookback and they see what we did here in paris, they can take pride in our achievement.

let that be the common purpose here in paris. a world that is worthy of our children. a worldthat is marked not by conflict, but by cooperation; and not by human suffering, but byhuman progress. a world that's safer, and more prosperous, and more secure, and more freethan the one that we inherited.

let's get to work. thank you very much.

第9篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在加拿大國(guó)會(huì)演講稿

前任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)奧巴馬是政壇名人，憑著一次演講聞名全美走上總統(tǒng)之路。他的很多演講是非常優(yōu)秀的演講，下面小編為大家分享奧巴馬的演講稿。

美國(guó)總統(tǒng)奧巴馬就巴黎恐怖襲擊事件發(fā)表講話

the president: good evening, everybody. i just want to make a few brief comments about the attacks across paris tonight. once again, we've seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. this is an attack not just on paris, it's an attack not just on the people of france, but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share.

we stand prepared and ready to provide whatever assistance that the government and the people of france need to respond. france is our oldest ally. the french people have stood shoulder to shoulder with the united states time and again. and we want to be very clear that we stand together with them in the fight against terrorism and e_tremism.

paris itself represents the timeless values of human progress. those who think that they can terrorize the people of france or the values that they stand for are wrong. the american people draw strength from the french people's commitment to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. we are reminded in this time of tragedy that the bonds of liberté and égalité and fraternité are not only values that the french people care so deeply about, but they are values that we share. and those values are going to endure far beyond any act of terrorism or the hateful vision of those who perpetrated the crimes this evening.

we're going to do whatever it takes to work with the french people and with nations around the world to bring these terrorists to justice, and to go after any terrorist networks that go after our people.

we don't yet know all the details of what has happened. we have been in contact with french officials to communicate our deepest condolences to the families of those who have been killed, to offer our prayers and thoughts to those who have been wounded. we have offered our full support to them. the situation is still unfolding. i've chosen not to call president hollande at this time, because my e_pectation is that he's very busy at the moment. i actually, by coincidence, was talking to him earlier today in preparation for the g20 meeting. but i am confident that i'll be in direct communications with him in the ne_t few days, and we'll be coordinating in any ways that they think are helpful in the investigation of what's happened.

this is a heartbreaking situation. and obviously those of us here in the united states know what it's like. we've gone through these kinds of episodes ourselves. and whenever these kinds of attacks happened, we've always been able to count on the french people to stand with us. they have been an e_traordinary counterterrorism partner, and we intend to be there with them in that same fashion.

i'm sure that in the days ahead we'll learn more about e_actly what happened, and my teams will make sure that we are in communication with the press to provide you accurate information. i don't want to speculate at this point in terms of who was responsible for this. it appears that there may still be live activity and dangers that are taking place as we speak. and so until we know from french officials that the situation is under control, and we have for more information about it, i don't want to speculate.

thank you very much.

奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在加拿大國(guó)會(huì)演講稿

thank you so much. thank you. please, everyone have a seat.

good evening. bonjour. mr. prime minister, mr. speaker, members of the house, members of the senate, distinguished guests, people of canada -- thank you for this e_traordinary welcome, which temps me to just shut up and leave.

because it can't get any better than this.

obviously i'm grateful for the warm welcome. i'm e_traordinarily grateful for the close working relationship and friendship with your outstanding prime minister, justin trudeau, and his e_traordinary wife, sophie.

but i think it's fair to say that much of this greeting is simply a reflection of the e_traordinary alliance and deep friendship between canadians and americans.

justin, thank you for your very kind words, and for the new energy and hope that your leadership has brought to your nation as well as to the alliance. my time in office may be nearing an end, but i know that canada -- and the world -- will benefit from your leadership for years to come.

so canada was the very first country that i visited as president. it was in february.

it was colder.

i was younger.

michelle now refers to my hair as the great white north.

and on that visit, i strolled around the byward market, tried a “beaver tail” - which is better than it sounds.

and i was struck then, as i am again today, by the warmth of the canadians. i could not be more honored to be joining you in this historic hall -- this cathedral of freedom. and we americans can never say it enough -- we could not ask for a better friend or ally than canada.

we could not. it’s true. it is true. and we do not take it for granted.

that does not mean we don't have our differences. as i understand it, one of the reasons the queen chose this site for parliament was that it was a safe distance from america’s border.

and i admit, in the war of 1812, american troops did some damage to toronto. i suspect that there were some people up here who didn’t mind when the british returned the favor and burned down the white house.

it was the grit of pioneers and prospectors who pushed west across a forbidding frontier. the dreams of generations -- immigrants, refugees -- that we’ve welcomed to these shores. the hope of run-away slaves who went north on an underground railroad. “deep in our history of struggle,” said dr. martin luther king, jr., “canada was the north star… the freedom road links us together.”

we’re bound as well by the service of those who’ve defended us -- at flanders field, the beaches of normandy, in the skies of the balkans, and more recently, in the mountains of afghanistan, and training bases in iraq. their sacrifice is reflected in the silent rows of arlington and in the peace tower above us. today we honor those who gave their lives for all of us.

we’re linked together, as well, by the institutions that we’ve built to keep the peace: a united nations to advance our collective aspirations. a nato alliance to ensure our security. norad, where americans and canadians stand watch side by side -- and track santa on christmas eve.

we’re linked by a vast web of commerce that carries goods from one end of this continent to another. and we're linked by the ties of friendship and family -- in my case, an outstanding brother-in-law in burlington.

had to give burlington a shout out.

our relationship is so remarkable precisely because it seems so unremarkable -- which is why americans often are surprised when our favorite american actor or singer turns out to be canadian!

the point is we see ourselves in each other, and our lives are richer for it.

as president, i’ve deepened the ties between our countries. and because of the progress we’ve made in recent years, i can stand before you and say that the enduring partnership between canada and the united states is as strong as it has ever been, and we are more closely aligned than ever before.

and yet, we meet at a pivotal moment for our nations and for the globe. from this vibrant capital, we can look upon a world that has benefited enormously from the international order that we helped to build together’ but we can see that same order increasingly strained by the accelerating forces of change. the world is by most every measure less violent than ever before; but it remains riven by old divisions and fresh hatreds. the world is more connected than ever before; but even as it spreads knowledge and the possibility of greater understanding between peoples, it also empowers terrorists who spread hatred and death -- most recently in orlando and istanbul.

the world is more prosperous than ever before, but alongside globalization and technological wonders we also see a rise in inequality and wage stagnation across the advanced economies, leaving too many workers and communities fearful of diminishing prospects, not just for themselves, but more importantly, for their children.

and in the face of such rising uncertainty, it is not enough to look at aggregate growth rates, or stock prices, or the pace of digital innovation. if the benefits of globalization accrue only to those at the very top, if our democracies seem incapable of assuring broad-based growth and opportunity for everyone, then people will push back, out of anger or out of fear. and politicians -- some sincere, and some entirely cynical -- will tap that anger and fear, harkening back to bygone days of order and predictability and national glory, arguing that we must rebuild walls and disengage from a chaotic world, or rid ourselves of the supposed ills brought on by immigrants -- all in order to regain control of our lives.

we saw some of these currents at work this past week in the united kingdom’s referendum to leave the european union. despite some of the initial reactions, i am confident that the process can be managed in a prudent, orderly way. i e_pect that our friends on both sides of the channel will develop a workable plan for how to move forward. and i’m equally confident that the transatlantic values that we all share as liberal, market-based democracies are deeper and stronger than any single event.

but while the circumstances of bre_it may be unique to the united kingdom, the frustrations people felt are not. the short-term fallout of bre_it can be sensibly managed, but the long-term trends of inequality and dislocation and the resulting social division -- those can't be ignored. how we respond to the forces of globalization and technological change will determine the durability of an international order that ensures security and prosperity for future generations.

and fortunately, the partnership between the united states and canada shows the path we need to travel. for our history and our work together speak to a common set of values to build on --proven values, values that your prime minister spoke of in his introduction -- values of pluralism and tolerance, rule of law, openness; global engagement and commerce and cooperation, coupled with equal opportunity and an investment in our people at home. as prime minister pierre trudeau once said, “a country, after all, is not something you build as the pharaohs build the pyramids, and then leave standing there to defy eternity. a country is something that is built every day out of certain basic shared values.” what is true of countries is true of the world. and that's what i want to talk about today -- how to strengthen our institutions to advance these commitments in a rapidly changing world.

let me start with our shared economic vision. in all we do, our commitment to opportunity for all of our people has to be at the centerpiece of our work. we are so fortunate because both of our countries are so well-positioned to succeed in the 21st century. our two nations know firsthand the awesome power of free markets and innovation. canadians help run some of silicon valley’s most innovative companies. our students study at each other’s world-class universities. we invest in research and development, and make decisions based on science and evidence. and it works. it's what’s created these e_traordinary economies of ours.

but if the financial crisis and recent recession taught us anything, it’s that economies do better when everyone has a chance to succeed. for a long time, it was thought that countries had to choose between economic growth or economic inclusion. but it turns out that’s a false choice. if a ceo makes more in a day than a typical employee makes in a year, that kind of inequality is not just bad for morale in the company, it turns out it’s bad for the economy -- that worker is not a very good customer for business.

if a young man in ohio can’t pay his student loans, or a young woman in ontario can’t pay her bills, that has ramifications for our economy. it tamps down the possibilities of growth. so we need growth that is broad and that lifts everybody up -- including ta_ policies that do right by working families, and robust safety nets for those who fall on hard times. as john kenneth galbraith once said, “the common denominator of progress” is our people. it's not numbers, it's not abstractions, it's how are our people doing.

of course, many who share this progressive, inclusive vision can be heard now arguing that investments in our people, protection for our workers, fair ta_ policies, these things are not enough. for them, globalization is inherently rigged towards the top one percent, and therefore, what’s needed is an end to trade agreements and various international institutions and arrangements that integrate national economies.

and i understand that vision. i know why it's tempting. it seems as if we draw a line around our borders that it will give us more control, particularly when the benefits of trade and economic integration are sometimes hard to see or easy to take for granted, and very specific dislocations are obvious and real.

there’s just one problem: restricting trade or giving in to protectionism in this 21st century economy will not work.

it will not work. even if we wanted to, we can't seal ourselves off from the rest of the world. the day after bre_it, people looked around and said, oh!

how is this going to work? the drag that economic weakness in europe and china and other countries is having on our own economies right now speaks to the degree to which we depend -- our economies depend, our jobs, our businesses depend -- on selling goods and services around the world.

very few of our domestic industries can sever what is now truly a global supply chain. and so, for those of us who truly believe that our economies have to work for everybody, the answer is not to try and pull back from our interconnected world; it is rather to engage with the rest of the world, to shape the rules so they’re good for our workers and good for our businesses.

and the e_perience between our two nations points the way. the united states and canada have the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship in the world -- and we are stronger for it.

it means a company in quebec can create jobs in north carolina. and a start-up in toronto can attract investment from te_as. now, the problem is that some economies in many of the fastest-growing regions of the world -- particularly the asia pacific region -- don’t always abide by the same rules. they impose unfair tariffs; or they suppress workers’ rights; or they maintain low environmental standards that make it hard for our businesses to compete fairly.

with the trans-pacific partnership, we have the ability to not only open up these markets to u.s. and canadian products and eliminate thousands of these unfair tariffs -- which, by the way, we need to do because they’re already selling here under e_isting rules, but we're not selling as much as we should over there -- but it also affords us the opportunity to increase protections for workers and the environment, and promote human rights, including strong prohibitions against human trafficking and child labor. and that way our workers are competing on a level playing field, and our businesses are less prone to pursue a race to the bottom. and when combined with increased investments in our own people’s education, and skills and training, and infrastructure and research and development and connectivity, then we can spur the kind of sustained growth that makes all of us better off.

all of us.

the point is we need to look forward, not look backward. and more trade and more people-to-people ties can also help break down old divides. i thank canada for its indispensable role in hosting our negotiations with the cuban government, and supporting our efforts to set aside half a century of failed policies to begin a new chapter with the cuban people.

i know a lot of canadians like going to cuba -- (laughter) -- maybe because there haven’t been americans crowding the streets and the beaches. but that’s changing.

and as more americans engage with the cuban people, it will mean more economic opportunity and more hope for ordinary cubans.

we also agree, us americans and canadians, that wealthy countries like ours cannot reach our full potential while others remain mired in poverty. that, too, is not going to change in this interconnected world; that if there is poverty and disease and conflict in other parts of the world, it spills over, as much as we’d like to pretend that we can block it out.

so, with our commitment to new sustainable development goals, we have the chance to end the outrage of e_treme poverty.

we can bring more electricity to africa, so that students can study at night and businesses can stay open. we can banish the scourge of malaria and zika. we can realize our goal of the first aids-free generation.

we can do that. it's within our grasp. and we can help those who are working to replace corruption with transparent, accountable institutions that serve their people.

as leaders in global development, the united states and canada understand that development is not charity -- it’s an investment in our future prosperity.

because not only do such investments and policies help poor countries, they’re going to create billions of customers for u.s. and canadian products, and they’ll make less likely the spread of deadly epidemics to our shores, and they’ll stabilize parts of the word that threaten the security of our people.

in fact, both the united states and canada believe our own security -- and not just prosperity -- is enhanced when we stand up for the rights of all nations and peoples to live in security and peace.

and even as there are times when unilateral action is necessary to defend our people, we believe that in a world where wars between great powers are far less likely but transnational threats like terrorism know no boundaries, our security is best advanced when nations work together. we believe that disputes that do arise between nations should be, wherever possible, resolved peacefully, with diplomacy; that international organizations should be supported; that multilateralism is not a dirty word.

and certainly, we’re more secure when we stand united against terrorist networks and ideologies that have reached to the very doorstep of this hall. we honor all those taken from us by violent e_tremists, including canadians john ridsdel and robert hall.

with canada’s additional contributions, including training iraqi forces, our coalition is on the offensive across iraq, across syria. and we will destroy the terrorist group isil.

we will destroy them.

we’ll continue helping local forces and sharing intelligence, from afghanistan to the philippines, so that we're pushing back comprehensively against terrorist networks. and in contrast to the hatred and the nihilism of terrorists, we’ll work with partners around the world, including, particularly, muslim communities, to offer a better vision and a path of development, and opportunity, and tolerance.

because they are, and must be, our partners in this effort.

meanwhile, when nations violate international rules and norms -- such as russia’s aggression against ukraine -- the united states and canada stand united, along with our allies, in defense of our collective security.

doing so requires a range of tools, like economic sanctions, but it also requires that we keep our forces ready for 21st century missions, and invest in new capabilities. as your ally and as your friend, let me say that we’ll be more secure when every nato member, including canada, contributes its full share to our common security.

because the canadian armed forces are really good -- (applause) -- and if i can borrow a phrase, the world needs more canada. nato needs more canada.

we need you. we need you.

just as we join together in our common defense, so must we work together diplomatically, particularly to avert war. diplomacy results are rarely quick, but it turns out even the most intractable conflicts can be resolved. here in our own hemisphere, just in the last few weeks, after half a century of war, colombia is poised to achieve an historic peace.

and the nations of north america will be an important partner to colombia going forward, including working to remove landmines.

around the world, canadian and american diplomats working together can make a difference. even in syria, where the agony and the suffering of the syrian people tears at our hearts, our two nations continue to be leaders in humanitarian aid to the syrian people. and although a true resolution of this conflict so far has eluded us, we know that the only solution to this civil war is a political solution, so that the syrian people can reclaim their country and live in peace. and canadians and americans are going to work as hard as we can to make that happen.

i should add that here in the nation of lester pearson, we reaffirm our commitment to keep strengthening the peacekeeping that saves lives around the world.

there is one threat, however, that we cannot solve militarily, nor can we solve alone -- and that is the threat of climate change. now, climate change is no longer an abstraction. it's not an issue we can put off for the future. it is happening now. it is happening here, in our own countries. the united states and canada are both arctic nations, and last year, when i became the first u.s. president to visit the arctic, i could see the effects myself. glaciers -- like canada’s athabasca glacier -- are melting at alarming rates. tundra is burning. permafrost is thawing. this is not a conspiracy. it's happening. within a generation, arctic sea ice may all but disappear in the summer.

and so skeptics and cynics can insist on denying what’s right in front of our eyes. but the alaska natives that i met, whose ancestral villages are sliding into the sea -- they don't have that lu_ury. they know climate change is real. they know it is not a hoa_. and from bangladesh to the pacific islands, rising seas are swallowing land and forcing people from their homes. around the world, stronger storms and more intense droughts will create humanitarian crises and risk more conflict. this is not just a moral issue, not just a economic issue, it is also an urgent matter of our national security.

thank you very much. merci beaucoup.

奧巴馬就兒童教育發(fā)表演講：決定孩子未來的到底是什么？

hello, everybody! (applause.) well, it is great to be in georgia! (applause.) great to be in decatur! (applause.)

i can’t imagine a more romantic way to spend valentine’s day -- (laughter) -- than with all of you, with all the press here. actually, michelle says hello. (applause.) she made me promise to get back in time for our date tonight. (laughter.) that's important. that's important. i've already got a gift, got the flowers. (applause.) i was telling folks the flowers are a little easier, though, because i've got this rose garden. (laughter.) lot of people keeping flowers around.

i want to acknowledge a few people who are here -- first of all, congressman hank johnson is here. where’s hank? (applause.) your mayor, jim baskett, is here. (applause.) another mayor you may know -- kasim reed snuck in here. (applause.) i want to acknowledge the decatur school board, who i had a chance to meet and has helped to do so much great work around here. (applause.) folks right here.

and of course, i want to thank mary for the wonderful introduction and for teaching me how to count earlier today. (laughter.) i've got to tell you it was wonderful to be there. i want to thank all the teachers and the parents and the administrators of decatur city schools, because behind every child who is doing great there is a great teacher, and i’m proud of every single one of you for the work that you do here today. (applause.)

now, on tuesday, i delivered my state of the union address. and i laid out a plan for reigniting what i believe is the true engine of america’s economic growth, and that is a thriving, growing, rising middle class. and that also means ladders for people to get into the middle class. and the plan i put forward says we need to make smart choices as a country -- both to grow our economy, shrink our deficits in a balanced way by cutting what we don’t need but then investing in the things that we do need to make sure that everybody has a chance to get ahead in life.

what we need is to make america a magnet for new jobs by investing in manufacturing, and energy, and better roads and bridges and schools. we’ve got to make sure hard work is rewarded with a wage that you can live on and raise a family on.

we need to make sure that we've got shared responsibility for giving every american the chance to earn the skills and education that they need for a really competitive, global job market.

as i said on tuesday night, that education has to start at the earliest possible age. and that’s what you have realized here in decatur. (applause.) study after study shows that the earlier a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road. but here’s the thing: we are not doing enough to give all of our kids that chance. the kids we saw today that i had a chance to spend time with in mary's classroom, they're some of the lucky ones -- because 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 private preschool. and for the poor children who need it the most, the lack of access to a great preschool education can have an impact on their entire lives. and we all pay a price for that. and as i said, this is not speculation. study after study shows the achievement gap starts off very young. kids who, when they go into kindergarten, their first day, if they already have a lot fewer vocabulary words, they don’t know their numbers and their shapes and have the capacity for focus, they're going to be behind that first day. and it's very hard for them to catch up over time.

and then, at a certain point -- i bet a lot of teachers have seen this -- kids aren't stupid. they know they’re behind at a certain point, and then they start pulling back, and they act like they're disinterested in school because they're frustrated that they're not doing as well as they should, and then you may lose them.

and that’s why, on tuesday night, i proposed working with states like georgia to make high-quality preschool available to every child in america. every child. (applause.)

every dollar we invest in high-quality early education can save more than seven dollars later on -- boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, reducing violent crime. in states like georgia that have made it a priority to educate our youngest children, states like oklahoma, students don’t just show up in kindergarten and first grade more prepared to learn, they're also more likely to grow up reading and doing math at grade level, graduating from high school, holding a job, even forming more stable families.

hope is found in what works. this works. we know it works. if you are looking for a good bang for your educational buck, this is it right here. (applause.)

that’s why, even in times of tight budgets, states like georgia and oklahoma have worked to make a preschool slot available for nearly every parent who is looking for one for their child. and they're being staffed with folks like mary -- qualified, highly educated teachers. this is not babysitting. this is teaching. (applause.)

so at the age that our children are just sponges soaking stuff in, their minds are growing fastest, what we saw in the classroom here today was kids are taught numbers, they’re taught shapes, but also how to answer questions, discover patterns, play well with others. and the teachers who were in the classroom, they’ve got a coach who’s coming in and working with them on best practices and paying attention to how they can constantly improve what they’re doing.

and that whole playing well with others, by the way, is a trait we could use more in washington. (applause.) so maybe we need to bring the teachers up -- (applause) -- every once in a while have some quiet time. (laughter.) time out. (laughter.)

so at the college heights early childhood learning center that i visited earlier today, nearly 200 little kids are spending full days learning in classrooms with highly qualified teachers. (applause.) and so i was working with them to build towers and replicate sculptures and sing songs. and, look, i’ve got to admit, i was not always the fastest guy on some of this stuff. (laughter.) the kids were beating me to the punch. but through this interactive learning, they’re learning math, writing, how to tell stories.

and one of the things that you’ve done here in decatur that’s wonderful also is, is that you’ve combined kids from different income levels; you’ve got disabled kids all in the same classroom, so we’re all learning together. (applause.) and what that means is, is that all the kids are being leveled up, and you’re not seeing some of that same stratification that you see that eventually leads to these massive achievement gaps.

so before you know it, these kids are going to be moving on to bigger and better things in kindergarten, and they’re going to be better prepared to succeed. and what’s more, i don’t think you’ll find a working parent in america who wouldn’t appreciate the peace of mind that their child is in a safe, high-quality learning environment every single day. (applause.)

michelle and i remember how tough it can be to find good childcare. i remember how e_pensive it can be, too. the size of your paycheck, though, shouldn’t determine your child’s future. (applause.) so let’s fi_ this. let’s make sure none of our kids start out the race of life already a step behind. let’s make it a national priority to give every child access to a high-quality early education. let’s give our kids that chance.

now, i do have to warn the parents who are here who still have young kids -- they grow up to be, like, 5’10” -- (laughter) -- and even if they’re still nice to you, they basically don’t have a lot of time for you during the weekends. (laughter.) they have sleepovers and -- dates. (laughter.) so all that early investment -- (laughter) -- just leads them to go away. (laughter.)

now, what i also said on tuesday night is that our commitment to our kids’ education has to continue throughout their academic lives. so from the time our kids start grade school, we need to equip them with the skills they need to compete in a high-tech economy. that’s why we’re working to recruit and train 100,000 new teachers in the fields of the future -- in science and technology, and engineering and math where we are most likely to fall behind.

we’ve got to redesign our high schools so that a diploma puts our kids on a path to a good job. (applause.) we want to reward schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and employers, and create classes that focus on science and technology, and engineering and math -- all the things that can help our kids fill those jobs that are there right now but also in the future.

and obviously, once our kids graduate from high school, we’ve got to make sure that skyrocketing costs don’t price middle-class families out of a higher education -- (applause) -- or saddle them with unsustainable debt. i mean, some of the younger teachers who are here, they’ve chosen a career path that is terrific, but let’s face it, you don't go into teaching to get rich. (laughter.) and it is very important that we make sure that they can afford to get a great education and can choose to be a teacher, can choose to be in a teaching profession. (applause.)

so we’ve worked to make college more affordable for millions of students and families already through ta_ credits and grants and loans that go farther than before. but ta_payers can’t keep subsidizing ever-escalating price tags for higher education. at some point you run out of money. so colleges have to do their part. and colleges that don’t do enough to keep costs in check should get less federal support so that we’re incentivizing colleges to think about how to keep their costs down.

and just yesterday, we released what we’re calling a new “college scorecard” that gives parents and students all the information they need to compare schools by value and affordability so that they can make the best choice. and any interested parent, by the way, who’s out there can check it out at whitehouse.gov. (applause.)

now, in the end, that's what this is all about -- giving our kids the best possible shot at life; equipping them with the skills, education that a 21st century economy demands; giving them every chance to go as far as their hard work and god-given potential will take them.

that’s not just going to make sure that they do well; that will strengthen our economy and our country for all of us. because if their generation prospers, if they’ve got the skills they need to get a good job, that means businesses want to locate here. and it also means, by the way, they’re well-equipped as citizens with the critical thinking skills that they need in order to help guide our democracy. we’ll all prosper that way. that’s what we’re fighting for. they’re the ones who are going to write that ne_t great chapter in the american story, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re providing that investment.

i am so proud of every single teacher who is here who has dedicated their lives to making sure those kids get a good start in life. i want to make sure that i’m helping, and i want to make sure that the country is behind you every step of the way.

thank you, everybody. god bless you. god bless america. (applause.

第10篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在聯(lián)合國(guó)埃博拉疫情防控高級(jí)別會(huì)議英語演講稿

mr. secretary-general, thank you for bringing us together today to address an urgent threatto the people of west africa, but also a potential threat to the world. dr. chan, heads of stateand government, especially our african partners, ladies and gentlemen: as we gather heretoday, the people of liberia and sierra leone and guinea are in crisis. as secretary-general banand dr. chan have already indicated, the ebola virus is spreading at alarming speed.thousands of men, women and children have died. thousands more are infected. ifunchecked, this epidemic could kill hundreds of thousands of people in the coming months.hundreds of thousands.

ebola is a horrific disease. it’s wiping out entire families. it has turned simple acts of love andcomfort and kindness -- like holding a sick friend’s hand, or embracing a dying child -- intopotentially fatal acts. if ever there were a public health emergency deserving an urgent,strong and coordinated international response, this is it.

but this is also more than a health crisis. this is a growing threat to regional and globalsecurity. in liberia, in guinea, in sierra leone, public health systems have collapsed. economicgrowth is slowing dramatically. if this epidemic is not stopped, this disease could cause ahumanitarian catastrophe across the region. and in an era where regional crises can quicklybecome global threats, stopping ebola is in the interest of all of us.

the courageous men and women fighting on the front lines of this disease have told us whatthey need. they need more beds, they need more supplies, they need more health workers, andthey need all of this as fast as possible. right now, patients are being left to die in the streetsbecause there’s nowhere to put them and there’s nobody to help them. one health worker insierra leone compared fighting this outbreak to “fighting a forest fire with spray bottles.” butwith our help, they can put out the blaze.

last week, i visited the centers for disease control and prevention, which is mounting thelargest international response in its history. i said that the world could count on america tolead, and that we will provide the capabilities that only we have, and mobilize the world the waywe have done in the past in crises of similar magnitude. and i announced that, in additionto the civilian response, the united states would establish a military command in liberia tosupport civilian efforts across the region.

today, that command is up and it is running. our commander is on the ground in monrovia,and our teams are working as fast as they can to move in personnel, equipment and supplies.we’re working with senegal to stand up an air bridge to get health workers and medicalsupplies into west africa faster. we’re setting up a field hospital, which will be staffed bypersonnel from the u.s. public health service, and a training facility, where we’re gettingready to train thousands of health workers from around the world. we’re distributing suppliesand information kits to hundreds of thousands of families so they can better protectthemselves. and together with our partners, we’ll quickly build new treatment units acrossliberia, guinea and sierra leone, where thousands will be able to receive care.

meanwhile, in just the past week, more countries and organizations have stepped up theirefforts -- and so has the united nations. mr. secretary-general, the new un mission for ebolaemergency response that you announced last week will bring all of the u.n.’s resources tobear in fighting the epidemic. we thank you for your leadership.

so this is all progress, and it is encouraging. but i want us to be clear: we are not moving fastenough. we are not doing enough. right now, everybody has the best of intentions, but peopleare not putting in the kinds of resources that are necessary to put a stop to this epidemic.there is still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be. we know frome_perience that the response to an outbreak of this magnitude has to be fast and it has to besustained. it’s a marathon, but you have to run it like a sprint. and that’s only possible ifeverybody chips in, if every nation and every organization takes this seriously. everybody herehas to do more.

international organizations have to move faster, and cut through red tape and mobilize partnerson the ground as only they can. more nations need to contribute critical assets andcapabilities -- whether it is air transport, or medical evacuation, or health care workers, orequipment, or treatment. more foundations can tap into the networks of support that theyhave, to raise funds and awareness. more businesses, especially those who already have apresence in the region, can quickly provide their own e_pertise and resources, from access tocritical supply chains to telecommunications. and more citizens -- of all nations -- can educatethemselves on this crisis, contribute to relief efforts, and call on their leaders to act. soeverybody can do something. that’s why we’re here today.

and even as we meet the urgent threat of ebola, it’s clear that our nations have to do more toprevent, detect and respond to future biological threats -- before they erupt into full-blowncrises. tomorrow, in washington, i’ll host 44 nations to advance our global health securityagenda, and we are interested in working with any country that shares this commitment.

just to emphasize this issue of speed again. when i was down at the cdc -- and perhaps thishas already been discussed, but i want to emphasize this -- the outbreak is such where at thispoint more people will die. but the slope of the curve, how fast we can arrest the spread ofthis disease, how quickly we can contain it is within our control. and if we move fast, even ifimperfectly, then that could mean the difference between 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 deathsversus hundreds of thousands or even a million deaths. so this is not one where there should bea lot of wrangling and people waiting to see who else is doing what. everybody has got to movefast in order for us to make a difference. and if we do, we’ll save hundreds of thousands of lives.

stopping ebola is a priority for the united states. i’ve said that this is as important a nationalsecurity priority for my team as anything else that’s out there. we’ll do our part. we willcontinue to lead, but this has to be a priority for everybody else. we cannot do this alone. wedon’t have the capacity to do all of this by ourselves. we don’t have enough health workers byourselves. we can build the infrastructure and the architecture to get help in, but we’re goingto need others to contribute.

to my fellow leaders from liberia, sierra leone and guinea, to the people of west africa, to theheroic health workers who are on the ground as we speak, in some cases, putting themselvesat risk -- i want you to know that you are not alone. we’re working urgently to get you the helpyou need. and we will not stop, we will not relent until we halt this epidemic once and for all.

so i want to thank all of you for the efforts that are made. but i hope that i’m properlycommunicating a sense of urgency here. do not stand by, thinking that somehow, because ofwhat we’ve done, that it’s taken care of. it’s not. and if we don’t take care of this now we aregoing to see fallout effects and secondary effects from this that will have ramifications for a longtime, above and beyond the lives that will have been lost.

i urge all of you, particularly those who have direct access to your heads of state, to make surethat they are making this a top priority in the ne_t several weeks and months.

thank you very much.

第11篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)夫婦在2022年白宮＂兒童國(guó)宴＂英語演講稿

mrs. obama: i see tears. i do. wow, abby, amazing. we're so proud of you. man, good stuff!very good stuff.

you guys, welcome to the white house. let's say that again – welcome to the white house!

this is the whole house's favorite event – the kids' state dinner. look at this place. do youknow how many people put time and effort into making this as amazing as it can be for you? solet's give everyone who helped put this event together a wonderful round of

and i want to again thank abby for her amazing introduction, but more importantly, forlistening to what i said about paying it forward. i thank you. i need you to talk to my children.listen to me. abby, great job. so proud of you, babe, really.

i also want to thank pbs and wgbh boston for their tremendous generosity in sponsoring ourkids' state dinner and our healthy lunchtime challenge. so i want to give them another roundof

and, of course, to tanya. tanya, this is just a great partnership. you are amazing. there youare. the work you do is amazing. and it's always so much fun seeing you here at this event.thank you for everything that you do year after year.

i also want to acknowledge all the folks from the department of education and thedepartment of agriculture. they make a fabulous set of partners on so much of the work thatwe do. and i know we have representatives from those departments here, so i want to thankyou all for the great work that you do. well done.

and how about we give a shout-out to the parents and siblings and grandparents who – yes – (– who got you all here today. let's give them a round of we want to say officially thank you,families, for encouraging these young people – even when they made a mess in the kitchen.but i'm sure they cleaned up, too. right? thank you all. thank you for raising and being part ofraising such wonderful young men and women. and it's wonderful to have you all here. theycouldn't do it without you and without that support. so we are celebrating you all as well.

and finally, most of all, congratulations to all of this year's 55 healthy lunchtime challengewinners! that's you! and you, and you! yes! just so that our press understands – welcomepress – (– all our young press people. this is the only time we let kids in the press pool. youguys do your jobs. do your jobs over there. don't let the grown-ups push you out of the way.

nearly 1,000 kids entered this contest – 1,000! right? this was a real competition. but aftercountless hours of prepping and taste-testing your recipes, our panel of distinguished judges– some of whom are here today, including deb – she ate every bite – (– decided that yourmeals were the healthiest, tastiest, and most fun dishes to cook and to eat!

so you had many hurdles to overcome. it had to be healthy, tasty, and good to eat, and youdid it! yes! fabulous! and you look so good! you all are so handsome and gorgeous. so you cancook and your smart and you look great, and you're here at the white house. it's justwonderful.

you blew the judges away with your talent and creativity. you included fruits and veggies fromevery color of the rainbow in your recipes. you used all kinds of ingredients – fla_ seed – doany of the adults even know what fla_ seed is? cumin, and we have yellow miso paste that wasincluded in one of the recipes – pretty sophisticated.

and you came up with some of the catchiest recipe names imaginable – one of my favorites,mango-cango chicken. who is our mango – where is our mango-cango young man? there youare. mango-cango. we had fizzle sizzle stir fry. who created fizzle sizzle stir fry? where isour – there you go! and then, sam's southern savoring salmon supreme – or s to the 5thpower. sam, was that you? and so many more. you guys have the menus. we're tasting just afew of them. one is the mic-kale obama slaw – what is that? i love that one.

and your reasons for creating these dishes were as varied as the ingredients, as tanya said.some of you play sports and you realize that you need good nutrition to be able to compete.as hannah betts – where's hannah? hannah, where are you? hannah! this is what hannahbetts, our winner from connecticut, said – this is her quote – she said, “i do gymnastics andswimming, so i need food that is going to fill me up and give me lots of energy.” outstanding.

for some of you, cooking is a way to bond with your families and relive happy memories fromwhen you were little. and that's why feli_ gonzalez – feli_, where are you? there you go, thereyou go. you told me this story in the photo line. he's from puerto rico. he created his “wrap itup” chicken wrap – and this is his quote – he said, “i decided to make this dish as a wrapbecause i was thinking about the fun times when my dad wrapped me up as a burrito – (– witha blanket when i was a small child.” yeah, cool, dude. cool.

some of you became interested in cooking because you were worried about your friends'unhealthy eating habits. something that i try to work with my friends on all the time. now,izzy washburn from kentucky actually did – this is izzy – raise your hand. izzy right there. shedid a science e_periment comparing school lunches to the lunches her friends brought fromhome, and the school lunches turned out to be healthier, according to your e_periment.

and that wasn't always the case. we all know that we've seen some tremendous improvementsin our school lunches over these years. and it actually took a whole lot of work by people in yourschool cafeterias to actually accomplish this goal.

back in 2022, based on some advice that we got from doctors and nutritionists and scientists inthis country, we realized that we needed to improve the quality of school meals by addingfruits and veggies and whole grains. and it required a lot – a little energy to make that happen,a little pushing back. but right now, today, 95 percent of schools in this country are nowmeeting those new standards. and that's a wonderful achievement.

so now tens of millions of kids are now getting better nutrition every single day. just like abbypointed out, there are many kids who go to school and they don't have breakfast, and breakfastis the most important meal of the day. so you imagine, now the schools all over this country areproviding that kind of nutrition so kids who might not get that nutrition at home are gettingit at school. this is an important step forward. and i know you guys all agree because youunderstand the importance of healthy eating.

so i know that izzy certainly believes so. this is her quote – she said, “it's important to teachmy friends what good choices look like and how what fuel they choose for their bodies affectshow they perform throughout their day.” very wise for such a little-bitty person.

and that's why we created let's move and started hosting these kids' state dinners – because,as abby said in her remarks, we want you guys to be ambassadors and to talk about healthyeating in your schools and in your communities.

so that's really one of the things – one of the things you will do to pay for this opportunity isthat you're going to pay it forward, and hopefully when you go back, you'll not only share thise_perience with your friends and family, but you'll also talk about why we're doing this. becausea lot of kids don't understand that food is fuel in a very fundamental way. and sometimesthey don't listen to grown-ups, and they don't listen to the first lady. but many of them willlisten to you because you're living proof of that reality.

so i want you to kind of think about how you can move this issue forward in your communities.what more can you do when you get back home to continue this conversation and to engagemore young people in the work that you all do. that's the only thing that i ask of you – and justto keep being the amazing, wonderful human beings that you are.

we developed this really cool – we worked with a pr firm to develop this really cool campaignfor fruits and vegetables called fnv. and it's being piloted in certain parts of the country. theidea behind the campaign is very simple: if unhealthy foods can have all kinds ofadvertisements and celebrity endorsements, then why can't we do that for fruits andvegetables? right?

so we've got jessica alba involved, and colin kaepernick, and nick jonas, and steph curry. ijust saw a full-page ad in a paper with steph in a suit and a basketball, talking about theimportance of veggies. and so many other athletes and celebrities have signed up to show theirsupport for fruits and vegetables.

and now we need you guys to sign up. you can get involved in this campaign. it involves t-shirts and fans and sweat bands, and there are things that you can do to be engaged – lot offun. all you have to do is go to fnv.com to check it out and figure out how you can join thefnv team. and you guys will be among the first ambassadors through fnv. so, soon as you getout of here – don't pull out any phones right now. go to fnv and check it out. and then tell uswhat you think – because we want your feedback.

so really, there's so many ways that you guys can be leaders in your communities and help usbuild a healthier country for generations to come.

and with your award-winning recipes, you're already well on your way. and i'm so proud ofeverything you all are doing. the president is so proud of everything you all are doing. and ijust want you all to keep going, have fun.

and now we get to eat. we get to try some of the – yes, we get to eat. so bon appétit,everyone. let's get going! let's eat!

oh, wait! wait! (the president enters.) we have one more thing – i'm sorry. i know you'rehungry, but i'd like to introduce to you guys the president of the united states.

第12篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在加州著名動(dòng)畫公司＂夢(mèng)工廠＂的英語演講稿

the president: hello, everybody! (applause.) oh, it is good to be in l.a.! (applause.)it is colder in d.c.at the moment, colder in chicago, and 70-degree weather is something tobethankful for.

and it is great to be atdreamworks animation. i would like towork here. (laughter.) i haveasked jeffrey. the only concern i had was the lights werekind of dim in the offices and -- (laughter) -- i’m pretty sure i’d fallasleep. but there’s a natural connectionbetween me anddreamworks. i don’t knowif you know this, but my ears were one of the inspirations for “shrek.” (laughter.) that’s true. true story.

mellody was being very modestwhen she said she had a front-row seat. mellody was one ofmy earliest supporters back when nobody couldpronounce my name. and her and johnrogers atarial capital helped to co-chair some of my first fundraisers. andthey’d have to drag somestraggly group in, kicking and screaming, and write acheck and listen to this young senatorwho had a lot of ideas but notnecessarily any realistic prospects to win. and she went througha lot of ups and downs with me and my career and isjust a great, great friend. so i wanttothank her publicly for all the support that she’s given us. (applause.)

we’ve got some folks here who arefighting for the people of southern california every singleday and i just wantto acknowledge them. we’ve got the mayorof glendale, dave weaver. (applause.) we’vegot three of your outstanding members of congress -- brad sherman, adamschiff,karen bass. they are all doing a greatjob. (applause.)

i want to thank all of you forbeing here. and i want to thank yourceo, jeffrey katzenberg,for inviting me. (applause.) jeffrey, like mellody, has been a friend and a supporterthroughthick and thin. and i think hisplace in the entertainment industry is legendary -- i don’t needto puff him uptoo much. (laughter.) he has a healthy sense of self. (laughter.) but he is agreat friend and somebody whose counsel and advice i value.and i’m incredibly grateful to behere at this wonderful institution that hehelped to build

and i’ve come here today becausethis is one of america’s economic engines. not justdreamworks, but this whole cluster of companies thatgenerations have grown up knowing --disney and warner and universal andothers. when you think about it, whatfinance is to newyork, what the auto industry is to the midwest, what technologyis to northern california,entertainment is to this part of the country.

and most of us have spent a lotof time thinking about our favorite movies or tv shows, butwe don’t oftenthink about the entire infrastructure and industry behind the scenes. hundreds ofthousands of middle-class jobs --they’re not always on the marquee -- jobs for electricians, andcarpenters, andsound mi_ers, and makeup artists, and designers, and animators depend onthisincredible industry here in southern california.

entertainment is one of america’sbiggest e_ports. and every day, you sella product that’smade in america to the rest of the world. every time somebody buys movie tickets, ordvds, ordistribution rights to a film, some of that money goes back to thelocal economy right here.

and believe it or not,entertainment is part of our american diplomacy. it’s part of whatmakes us e_ceptional, partof what makes us such a world power. youcan go anywhere on theplanet and you’ll see a kid wearing a “madagascar”t-shirt. (laughter.) you can say, “maytheforce be with you” -- they know what you’re talking about. (laughter.)

hundreds of millions of peoplemay never set foot in the united states, but thanks to you,they’ve e_perienceda small part of what makes our country special. they’ve learned somethingabout our values. we have shaped a world culture through you.

and the stories that we telltransmit values and ideals about tolerance and diversity andovercomingadversity, and creativity that are part of our dna. and as a consequence of whatyou’ve done, youhelped shape the world’s culture in a way that has made the world better.

they might not know thegettysburg address, but if they’re watching some old movie,maybe “guess who’scoming to dinner,” or “the mary tyler moore show,” or “will and grace”and“modern family,” they’ve had a front-row seat to our march towards progress,even if theirown nations haven’t made that progress yet. and young people in countries all around theworldsuddenly make a connection and have an affinity to people who don’t looklike them and maybeoriginally they might have been fearful of, and nowsuddenly they say, oh, this person is likeme -- which is one of the powers ofart, but that’s what you transmit.

and that is a remarkablelegacy. now, it’s also a bigresponsibility. when it comes toissueslike gun violence, we’ve got to make sure that we’re not glorifying it, becausethe storiesyou tell shape our children’s outlook and their lives. earlier this year, leaders from this townsatdown with vice president biden to talk about what hollywood could do to helpkeep our kidssafe. this was in the wakeof sandy hook. and those conversationsneed to continue. the storieswe tellmatter. and you tell stories morepowerfully than anybody else on the earth.

but i want to make clear, even aswe think long and hard about the messages we send, weshould never waver fromour commitment to the freedom that allows us to tell those storiessowell. protecting our first amendmentrights are vital to who we are. and it’salso goodbusiness, because in the global race for jobs and industries, thething we do better thananybody else is creativity. that’s something that can’t be copied. it’s one of the reasons whyeven with newmarkets and new technologies, there’s still no better place to make moviesandtelevision and music than right here in the united states.

entertainment is one of thebright spots of our economy. the gapbetween what we can doand what other countries can do is enormous.

audience member: woo!

the president: yes, that’s worth cheering for. (applause.) and that means that we’vegot todo what it takes to make sure that this industry, and every great americanindustry, keepsthat competitive edge so that more folks can find career pathslike many of you have, and getgood middle-class jobs that allow you to supporta family and get ahead.

nothing is more important thanthat right now. and as mellodymentioned, when i came intooffice, we were going through a severe crisis. five years later, america has largely foughtourway back. we’ve made the toughchoices required not just to help the economy recover, but torebuild it on anew foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth.

we refocused on manufacturing ande_ports, and today, our businesses sell more goods andservices made in thiscountry to the rest of the world than ever before. our manufacturers areadding jobs for thefirst time since the 1990s, led by an american auto industry that’scomeroaring back. american cars are reallygood now. (laughter.)

we decided to reverse ourdependence on foreign oil. so today, wegenerate more renewableenergy than ever -- doubled our renewable energy --more natural gas than anybody. for thefirsttime in nearly 20 years, america now produces more of our own oil than webuy from othercountries. it’s goodnews. (applause.)

when i took office, americainvested far less than countries like china did in wirelessinfrastructure andwe’ve now narrowed that gap, and we have helped companies unleash jobsandinnovation and become a booming app economy that’s created hundreds ofthousands ofjobs. si_ years ago, only 5percent of the world’s smartphones ran on american operatingsystems. today, more than 80 percent do. (applause.)

and, yes, we decided to fi_ abroken health care system. (applause.) and it’s interesting-- iwas talking to some of the studio e_ecs here, and i said, look, therollout of the new health caremarketplace was rough and nobody was morefrustrated about the problems with our websitethan i am. and yet, here in southern california and hereacross this state, there are thousandsof people every single day who are gettinghealth care for the first time -- for the first time --because of this. (applause.) and, by the way, the website is continually working better, socheck itout. (laughter.)

but as a country, we’re nowpoised to gain health coverage for millions of americans,starting on january1st, and that includes more than 350,000 here in california who havealreadysigned up. and thanks in part to theaffordable care act, health care costs are growing atthe slowest rate in 50years. employer-based health care costsare growing at about one-third therate of a decade ago. and that means that if the studios here oryour employers aren’t havingto spend as much on health care, they can hiremore folks and reinvest more in the business,and come up with those cooltechnologies that -- i don’t e_actly understand how they work, but--(laughter) -- were really neat to look at. (laughter.)

and, by the way, we’ve done allthis while bringing down our deficits. (applause.) after yearsoftrillion-dollar deficits, we reined in spending. you would think sometimes listening to folksinwashington that we haven’t made any progress on that front. we wound down two wars. wechanged a ta_ code that was too skewedtowards the wealthiest americans at the e_pense of themiddle class. you add it all up, we’ve cut our deficits bymore than half, and they continue to godown faster than any time since worldwar ii. (applause.)

so all told, our businessescreated 7.8 million new jobs over the past 44 months. americahas gone farther, recovered fasterthan most other industrialized nations. but, as mellody said,we’ve got more work to do. the stock market is doing great, corporateprofits soaring, but toomany americans aren’t sharing in that success. and everybody here who works at dreamworks--a really good place to work. i’m goingto ask jeff if maybe i can work here. (applause.) but allof you havefriends and family and neighbors who aren’t as lucky. and you know there are still alot of folkswho are struggling out there. and my top priority is making sure that thiscountryremains a country where everybody who is willing to work hard can getahead.

and we’d be a lot further alongwithout some of the dysfunction and obstruction we’veseen in washington. (applause.) we would be a lot further along if we could just get folks to actwithsome sense -- (laughter) -- if we didn’t have one wing of one party that was alittle lessobsessed with repealing health care for 40 million people, moreconcerned with making surethe law works. if they hadn’t spent 40 votes trying to repeal the affordable care act,theymight have actually taken some votes on rebuilding our infrastructure, orinstituting earlychildhood education for young people across this country, orinvesting more money in basicresearch that helps to create the amazingtechnologies that many of you utilize. any of theserious proposals i’ve put forward that would be creatingjobs right now, they could have beentaking votes on that.

instead of rooting for failure,or refighting old battles, republicans in congress need to workwith us toimprove those things about the affordable care act that aren’t working as wellas theyshould, and implement policies to strengthen the middle class andcreate jobs. (applause.)

a couple of weeks ago, houserepublican leaders handed out a piece of paper to theirmembers and on the topit said, “agenda 2022.” i’m not makingthis up. below that, it wasblank. (laughter.) it was a blank sheet of paper -- nothing to create jobs or grow theeconomyor strengthen the middle class.

and i’ve put forward my plans tocreate new jobs and even the odds for the middle class.and i’ve put forward plans that gives somerepublicans some of the things that they want ine_change for ideas that willcreate good jobs right now. and so far,they won’t consider them.

some people have heard me say mylist of top five movies -- “the godfather,” one and two,have to be on it. but it turns out marlon brando had it easy,because when it comes to congress,there’s no such thing as an “offer they can’trefuse.” (laughter.) i mean, i just keep on comingback. (laughter.) i’m going to keep on trying, though. (laughter.) i am, because we’vegot nochoice. (applause.)

the american people agree with usthat jobs, growing the economy should be our number-one priority. and we’ve got to make some investments tomake that happen. and we’ve got togivea better bargain to the middle class and everybody who is working to join themiddle class.and that means building onthose cornerstones of what makes for a strong middle class -- goodjobs, a goodeducation, a home of your own, health care when you get sick, a secureretirementeven if you’re not rich. sowe can help manufacturers bring more jobs back to america byinvesting inamerican clean-energy technology, and putting people to work building roadsandbridges and schools and high-speed broadband networks that attract businessesfrom aroundthe world.

we can prepare our children andour workers for the global competition that they’ll face --e_pandinghigh-quality preschool education, redesigning our high schools, investingincommunity colleges and job training, and tackling rising college costs, so thatyoung peoplecan afford it. we can helpresponsible homeowners afford a mortgage or refinancing at today’slow rates,help build a rock-solid housing system for decades to come, instead of boom andbust.

we can bring the promise of asecure retirement back to reach for middle-class families,finding new ways tomake it easier for workers to save, and strengthening social security,andgetting immigration reform done so that undocumented workers are paying theirfair shareof ta_es, but they’re not living in the shadows -- (applause) -- andwe’re attracting the best andthe brightest from all around the world.

as i was getting a tour ofdreamworks, i didn’t ask, but just looking at faces, i could tellthere weresome folks who are here not because they were born here, but because they wanttobe here and they bring e_traordinary talents to the united states. and that’s part of whatmakes americaspecial. and that’s part of what, by theway, makes california special, because it’salways been this magnet of dreamersand strivers. and people coming fromevery directionsaying to themselves, you know, if i work hard there i can havemy piece of the americandream.

we’re going to continue to makeprogress on all those fronts. and, yes,we are going tocontinue to implement the health care law. the product is good. people want it. and we shouldnot live in a country wherepeople are going bankrupt just because they get sick. and anybodywho is going to keep on pushingagainst that, they will meet my resistance, because i amwilling to fi_ anyproblems that there are, but i’m not going to abandon people to make surethatthey’ve got health insurance in this country. that is not something we’re going to do. (applause.) and the good news is,as i said, thousands of californians are already signing up.

i read a really powerful storyover the weekend i just want to mention about uninsured folksin kentucky whoare signing up in droves in one of the poorest counties in the country. some ofthem can’t imagine what having healthinsurance would be like. and you read thesestories andyou realize how important it is for folks in kentucky -- a state,by the way, that did not vote forme -- (laughter) -- and if kentucky can doit, than every state should be able to do it.

we should be able to e_pandmedicaid all across the country. there are millions of peoplewho, right now,even under the law, may not get health care that they deserve becausetheirgovernors have refused to do it just for political reasons -- e_pandingmedicaid. fortunately,california,obviously, is not one of them. but thisis a fight that we’re going to keep fighting,because it’s worth fighting. and that’s what mellody referred to.

it’s true. i’m not an ideological guy, but there aresome things i really believe in. andpart ofwhat i believe in is that the essence of this country, what makes thisplace special, is this ideathat hollywood is glorified and held up, but iactually think it’s true that here, more thananyplace else, no matter what youlook like, where you come from, what your last name is, whoyou love, youshould be able to make it if you’re willing to work hard. that’s what i believe. (applause.)

and there’s certain values thatmake that a reality. i have my critics,obviously, but sincewere here in hollywood, i want to think about somethingthat the late, great chicago film critic,robert [roger] ebert said -- and iwas fortunate to get to know roger ebert and was alwaysinspired by how hehandled some really tough stuff. “kindness,” he wrote, “covers all of mypolitical beliefs.” kindness covers all of my political beliefs.

and when i think about what i’mfighting for, what gets me up every single day, thatcaptures it just about asmuch as anything. kindness; empathy --that sense that i have astake in your success; that i’m going to make sure,just because malia and sasha are doingwell, that’s not enough -- i want yourkids to do well also. and i’m willing tohelp to build goodschools so that they get a great education, even if mine arealready getting a great education.

and i’m going to invest ininfrastructure and building things like the golden gate bridgeand the hooverdam and the internet -- (laughter) -- because i’m investing for thene_tgeneration, not just this one. and that’swhat binds us together, and that’s how we’vealways moved forward, based on theidea that we have a stake in each other’s success. andthat’s what drives me. and that’s what will continue to drive me.

i believe that every kid shouldhave opportunity. i believe ourdaughters should have thesame opportunities as our sons. i believe that jeffrey’s kids should be ableto aspire to whateverthey can dream of, but i also want to make sure that theperson who’s cleaning up jeffrey’soffice, that their kid has that samepossibility.

and we may have different ideasand different policies on how to do things, but thatshouldn’t negate that thatcore vision is what we’re fighting for, and we should be able to sitdowntogether and to keep dreaming and keep working, and to make sure that theamericandream that’s been described here in southern california is sustainedfor generations to come.

and what’s stopping us is notpolicy details; it’s not technical issues. it’s to summon thecourage to put politics aside once in a while and rememberthat we’ve got more in common thanour politics would suggest. and as long as i’ve got the privilege ofserving as your president,that’s what i’m going to keep on making sure that ido -- to put politics aside once in a whileand work on your behalf. (applause.)

so, thank you, dreamworks, forwhat you do. (applause.) thank you, jeffrey, foryourhospitality. god bless you. god bless america. (applause.) can’t wait to see your ne_tmovie. (applause.)

第13篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在2022年＂總統(tǒng)自由勛章＂頒發(fā)儀式英語演講稿

the president: good morning! (applause.) good morning,everybody! everybody,please have aseat. have a seat.

well, on behalf of michelle andmyself, welcome to the white house. thisis one of myfavorite events every year, especially special this year, as ilook at this e_traordinary group ofindividuals and our opportunity to honorthem with our nation’s highest civilian honor -- thepresidential medal offreedom.

and this year, it’s just a littlemore special because this marks the 50th anniversary ofpresident kennedyestablishing this award. we’re honored,by the way, today to have with us oneof my favorite people -- ethel kennedy --and a pretty good basketball player, presidentkennedy’s grandson, jack. (applause.)

this medal has been bestowed onmore than 500 deserving people. tonight,i’m lookingforward to joining some of these honorees, as well as members ofthe kennedy family, as we paytribute to these 50 years of e_cellence. and this morning, we’re honored to add 16 newnamesto this distinguished list.

today, we salute fiercecompetitors who became true champions. in the sweltering heat of achicago summer, ernie banks walked into thecubs locker room and didn’t like what he saw. “everybody was sitting around, heads down, depressed,” he recalled. so ernie piped up andsaid, “boy, what agreat day! let’s play two!” (laughter.) that’s “mr. cub” -- a man who cameup through the negro leagues, making$7 a day, and became the first black player to suit up forthe cubs and one ofthe greatest hitters of all time. and inthe process, ernie became known asmuch for his 512 home runs as for his cheerand his optimism and his eternal faith thatsomeday the cubs would go all theway. (laughter.)

and that's serious belief. (laughter.) that is something that even a white so_ fan like mecan respect. (laughter.) but he is just a wonderful man and a great icon of my hometown.

speaking of sports, dean smith isone of the winningest coaches in college basketballhistory, but his successesgo far beyond _s and os. even as he won78 percent of his games, hegraduated 96 percent of his players. the first coach to use multiple defenses in agame, hewas the pioneer who popularized the idea of “pointing to the passer”-- after a basket, playersshould point to the teammate who passed them theball. and with his first national titleon theline, he did have the good sense to give the ball to a 19-year-old kidnamed michael jordan. (laughter.) although they used to joke that the onlyperson who ever held michael under 20 wasdean smith. (laughter.)

while coach smith couldn’t joinus today due to an illness that he’s facing withe_traordinary courage, we alsohonor his courage in helping to change our country -- herecruited the firstblack scholarship athlete to north carolina and helped to integratearestaurant and a neighborhood in chapel hill. that's the kind of character that he representedon and off the court.

we salute innovators who pushedthe limits of science, changing how we see the world --and ourselves. and growing up, sally ride read about thespace program in the newspaperalmost every day, and she thought this was “thecoolest thing around.” when she was aphdcandidate at stanford she saw an ad for astronauts in the student newspaperand she seizedthe opportunity. as thefirst american woman in space, sally didn’t just break thestratospheric glassceiling, she blasted through it. andwhen she came back to earth, shedevoted her life to helping girls e_cel infields like math, science and engineering. “young girlsneed to see role models,” she said, “you can’t be what youcan’t see.” today, our daughters --includingmalia and sasha -- can set their sights a little bit higher because sally rideshowedthem the way.

now, all of us have moments whenwe look back and wonder, “what the heck was ithinking?” i have that -- (laughter) -- quite abit. psychologist daniel kahneman hasmade thatsimple question his life’s work. in a storied career in israel and america, he basically inventedthestudy of human decision-making. he’shelped us to understand everything from behavioraleconomics to “does living incalifornia make people happy?” it’s aninteresting question. he’salso beencalled an e_pert on irrational behavior -- so i'm sure that he could shed somelight onwashington. (laughter.)

but what truly sets daniel apartis his curiosity. guided by his beliefthat people are“endlessly complicated and interesting,” at 79 he’s stilldiscovering new insights into how wethink and learn, not just so we understandeach other, but so we can work and live togethermore effectively.

dr. mario molina’s love of sciencestarted as a young boy in me_ico city, in a homemadelaboratory in a bathroomat home. and that passion for discoveryled mario to become one ofthe most respected chemists of his era. he was awarded the nobel peace prize -- orthe nobelprize, rather, not only for his path-breaking research, but also forhis insistence that when weignore dangerous carbon emissions we riskdestroying the ozone layer and endangering ourplanet. and thanks to mario’s work, the world cametogether to address a common threat, andtoday, inspired by his e_ample, we’reworking to leave our planet safer and cleaner for futuregenerations.

we also have to salute musicians,who bring such joy to our lives. lorettalynn was 19 thefirst time she won the big -- she won big at the localfair. her canned vegetables broughthome17 blue ribbons -- (laughter) -- and made her “canner of the year.”(laughter.) now, that’simpressive. (laughter.)

for a girl from butcher hollow,kentucky, that was fame. fortunately forall of us, shedecided to try her hand at things other than canning. her first guitar cost $17, and with itthiscoal miner’s daughter gave voice to a generation, singing what no one wanted totalk aboutand saying what no one wanted to think about. and now, over 50 years after she cut herfirstrecord -- and canned her first vegetables -- (laughter) -- loretta lynnstill reigns as the rule-breaking, record-setting queen of country music.

as a young man in cuba, arturosandoval loved jazz so much it landed him in jail. it wasthe cold war, and the only radiostation where he could hear jazz was the voice of america,which was dangerousto listen to. but arturo listenedanyway. later, he defected to theunitedstates knowing he might never see his parents or beloved homeland again. “withoutfreedom,” he said, “there is nolife.” and today, arturo is an americancitizen and one of the mostcelebrated trumpet players in the world. “there isn’t any place on earth where thepeopledon’t know about jazz,” he says, and that’s true in part becausemusicians like him havesacrificed so much to play it.

we salute pioneers who pushed ournation towards greater justice and equality. a baptistminister, c.t. vivian was one of dr. martin luther king, jr.’sclosest advisors. “martin taught us,”hesays, “that it’s in the action that we find out who we really are.” and time and again,reverend vivian was amongthe first to be in the action: in 1947,joining a sit-in to integrate anillinois restaurant; one of the first freedomriders; in selma, on the courthouse steps toregister blacks to vote, for whichhe was beaten, bloodied and jailed. rosaparks said of him, “even after things had supposedly been taken care of and wehad our rights, he was still outthere, inspiring the ne_t generation,including me,” helping kids go to college with a programthat would becomeupward bound. and at 89 years old,reverend vivian is still out there, still inthe action, pushing us closer toour founding ideals.

now, early in the morning the dayof the march on washington, the national mall was farfrom full and some in thepress were beginning to wonder if the event would be a failure. butthe march’s chief organizer, bayardrustin, didn’t panic. as the story goes,he looked down at apiece of paper, looked back up, and reassured reportersthat everything was right on schedule.the only thing those reporters didn’t know was that the paper he washolding was blank. (laughter.) he didn’t know how it was going to work out,but bayard had an unshakableoptimism, nerves of steel, and, most importantly,a faith that if the cause is just and people areorganized, nothing can standin our way.

so, for decades, this greatleader, often at dr. king’s side, was denied his rightful place inhistorybecause he was openly gay. no medal canchange that, but today, we honor bayardrustin’s memory by taking our place inhis march towards true equality, no matter who we areor who we love. (applause.)

speaking of game-changers,disrupters, there was a young girl names gloria steinem whoarrived in new yorkto make her mark as a journalist, and magazines only wanted to writearticleslike “how to cook without really cooking for men.” (laughter.) gloria noticed things likethat. (laughter.) she’s been called a “championnoticer.” she’s alert to all the ways,large andsmall, that women had been and, in some cases, continue to be treatedunfairly just becausethey’re women.

as a writer, a speaker, anactivist, she awakened a vast and often skeptical public toproblems likedomestic violence, the lack of affordable child care, unfair hiringpractices. andbecause of her work,across america and around the world, more women are afforded the respectandopportunities that they deserve. but shealso changed how women thought aboutthemselves. and gloria continues to pour her heart intoteaching and mentoring. her one pieceofadvice to young girls is -- i love this -- “do not listen to my advice. listen to the voice insideyou and follow that.”

when patricia wald’s law firmasked if she’d come back after having her first child, she saidshe’d like sometime off to focus on her family -- devoted almost 10 years to raisingfivechildren. but patricia never lost theitch to practice law. so while herhusband watched thekids at home, she’d hit the library on weekends. at the age 40, she went back to thecourtroomto show the “young kids” a thing or two. as the first female judge on the d.c. circuit,patricia was a topcandidate for attorney general. afterleaving the bench, her idea of retirementwas to go to the hague to presideover the trials of war criminals. patricia says she hopesenough women will become judges that “it’s notworth celebrating” anymore. but today,wecelebrate her. and along with gloria,she shows there are all kinds of paths listening to yourown voice.

we salute communicators whoshined a light on stories no one else was telling. a veteran ofworld war ii and more than adozen pacific battles, ben bradlee brought the same intensityand dedication tojournalism. since joining the washingtonpost 65 years ago, he transformedthat newspaper into one of the finest in theworld. with ben in charge, the postpublished thepentagon papers, revealing the true history of america’sinvolvement in vietnam; e_posedwatergate; unleashed a new era of investigativejournalism, holding america’s leadersaccountable and reminding us that ourfreedom as a nation rests on our freedom of the press.when ben retired, senator daniel patrickmoynihan put the admiration of many into a poem: “o rare ben bradlee/his reign has ceased/buthis nation stands/its strength increased.”

and i also indicated to ben hecan pull off those shirts and i can't. (laughter.) he alwayslooks socool in them. (laughter.)

early in oprah winfrey’s career,her bosses told her she should change her name to susie. (laughter.) i have to pause here to say i got the same advice. (laughter and applause.) theydidn't say i should be named “susie,”but they suggested i should change my name. (laughter.)people can relate tosusie, that's what they said. it turnedout, surprisingly, that people couldrelate to oprah just fine.

in more than 4,500 episodes ofher show, her message was always, “you can.” “you can doand you can be and you can grow and it can be better.” and she was living proof, rising fromachildhood of poverty and abuse to the pinnacle of the entertainmentuniverse. but even with40 emmys, thedistinction of being the first black female billionaire, oprah’s greateststrengthhas always been her ability to help us discover the best inourselves. michelle and icountourselves among her many devoted fans and friends. as one of those fans wrote, “i didn’tknow ihad a light in me until oprah told me it was there.” what a great gift.

and, finally, we salute publicservants who’ve strengthened our nation. daniel inouye wasa humble man and didn’t wear his medal of honor veryoften. instead, he liked to wear apinrepresenting the good conduct medal he earned as a teenage private. “to behave yourselftakes special effort,” hesaid, “and i did not want to dishonor my family.” danny always honoredhis family and hiscountry, even when his country didn’t always honor him.

after being classified as an “enemyalien,” danny joined a japanese american unit thatbecame one of the mostdecorated in world war ii. and as thesecond-longest serving senatorin american history, he showed a generation ofyoung people -- including one kid with a funnyname growing up in hawaii whonoticed that there was somebody during some of those hearingsin washingtonthat didn't look like everybody else, which meant maybe i had a chance todosomething important, too. he taught allof us that no matter what you look like or where youcome from, this countryhas a place for everybody who’s willing to serve and work hard.

a proud hoosier, dick lugar hasserved america for more than half a century, from a youngnavy lieutenant to arespected leader in the united states senate. i’ll always be thankful to dickfor taking me -- a new, junior senator-- under his wing, including travels together to reviewsome of his visionarywork, the destruction of cold war arsenals in the former soviet union --something that doesn’t get a lot of publicnotice, but was absolutely critical to making us saferin the wake of the coldwar.

now, i should say, traveling withdick you get close to une_ploded landmines, mortar shells,test tubes filledwith anthra_ and the plague. (laughter.) his legacy, though, is the thousandsofmissiles and bombers and submarines and warheads that no longer threaten usbecause of hise_traordinary work. andour nation and our world are safer because of this statesman. and in atime ofunrelenting partisanship, dick lugar’s decency, his commitment tobipartisanproblem-solving, stand as a model of what public service ought to be.

now, last, but never least, wehonor a leader who we still remember with suche_traordinary fondness. he still remembers as a child waving goodbyeto his mom -- tears inher eyes -- as she went off to nursing school so shecould provide for her family. and ithinklifting up families like his own became the story of bill clinton’slife. he remembered what hismom had todo on behalf of him and he wanted to make sure that he made life better andeasierfor so many people all across the country that were struggling in thosesame ways and had thosesame hopes and dreams. so as a governor, he transformed education so more kids couldpursuethose dreams. as president, he provedthat, with the right choices, you could grow theeconomy, lift people out ofpoverty. we could shrink our deficitsand still invest in our families,our health, our schools, science,technology. in other words, we can gofarther when we look outfor each other.

and as we’ve all seen, aspresident, he was just getting started. he doesn’t stop. he’s helpedleadrelief efforts after the asian tsunami, hurricane katrina, the haiti earthquake. hisfoundation and global initiative havehelped to save or improve the lives of literally hundredsof millions ofpeople. and, of course, i am mostgrateful for his patience during the endlesstravels of my secretary ofstate. (laughter.)

so i’m grateful, bill, as wellfor the advice and counsel that you’ve offered me on and offthe golfcourse. (laughter.) and most importantly, for your lifesavingwork around the world,which represents what’s the very best in america. so thank you so much, president clinton. (applause.)

so these are the recipients ofthe 2022 presidential medal of freedom. these are the menand women who in their e_traordinary lives remind usall of the beauty of the human spirit,the values that define us as americans,the potential that lives inside of all of us. i could notbe more happy and more honored to participate in thisceremony here today.

with that, what i would like todo is invite our honorees to just sit there and let all of usstand and giveyou a big round of applause. (applause.)

i guess we should actually givethem the medals, though. (laughter.) where are my --herewe go. lee, you want to hit it?

military aide: presidential medal of freedom recipients.

ernie banks. (applause.) with an unmatched enthusiasm for america’s pastime, erniebanks slugged,sprinted and smiled his way into the record books. known to fans as “mr. cub,”he played ane_traordinary 19 seasons with the chicago cubs, during which he was named to11all-star teams, hit over 500 home runs, and won back-to-back most valuableplayer honors.ernie banks was electedto the baseball hall of fame in 1977, and he will forever be known asone ofthe finest power hitters and most dynamic players of all time. (applause.)

benjamin crowninshieldbradlee. (applause.) a titan of journalism, benjamincrowninshieldbradlee is one of the most respected newsmen of his generation. after servingour nation in world war ii, benbradlee went on to defend liberty here at home. testing thelimits of a freepress during his tenure as e_ecutive editor of the washington post, heoversawcoverage of the watergate scandal and successfully challenged the federalgovernmentover the right to publish the pentagon papers. his passion foraccuracy and unyielding pursuitof truth continue to set the standard forjournalism. (applause.)

the honorable william j.clinton. (applause.) among the finest public servants of ourtime,president william j. clinton argued cases for the people of arkansas, servedhis state in thegovernor’s mansion, and guided our nation into a newcentury. as the 42nd president oftheunited states, bill clinton oversaw an era of challenge and change, prosperityand progress.his work after leavingpublic office continues to reflect his passionate, unendingcommitment toimproving the lives and livelihoods of people around the world. in respondingto needs both at home andabroad, and as founder of the clinton foundation, he has shown thatthroughcreative cooperation among women and men of goodwill, we can solve eventhemost intractable problems. (applause.)

irene hirano inouye, accepting onbehalf of her husband, the honorable daniel k. inouye. (applause.) a true patriot and dedicated public servant, daniel k. inouye understoodthepower of leaders when united in common purpose to protect and promote thetenets wecherish as americans. as amember of the revered 442nd regimental combat team, danielinouye helped freeeurope from the grasp of tyranny during world war ii, for which he receivedthemedal of honor. representing the peopleof hawaii from the moment the islands joined theunion, he never lost sight ofthe ideals that bind us across the 50 states. senator inouye’sreason and resolve helped make our country what it is today,and for that, we honor him. (applause.)

dr. daniel kahneman. (applause.) daniel kahneman’s groundbreaking work earned him anobel prize ineconomic sciences for his research developing prospect theory. after escapingfrom nazi-occupied france as ayoung boy and later joining the israel defense forces, dr.kahneman grewinterested in understanding the origins of people’s beliefs. combiningpsychology and economic analysis,and working alongside dr. amos tversky, dr. kahnemanused simple e_periments todemonstrate how people make decisions under uncertaincircumstances, and heforever changed the way we view human judgment. (applause.)

the honorable richard g.lugar. (applause.) representing the state of indiana for overthreedecades in the united states senate, richard g. lugar put country aboveparty and self toforge bipartisan consensus. throughout his time in the senate, he offered effective solutionsto ournational and international problems, advocating for the control of nuclear armsand otherweapons of mass destruction. working with senator sam nunn, richard lugar establishedthe nunn-lugarcooperative threat reduction program, one of our country’s mostsuccessfulnational security initiatives, helping to sustain american leadership andengagenations in collaboration after decades of confrontation. he remains a strong voice on foreignpolicyissues, and his informed perspective will have broad influence for years tocome. (applause.)

loretta lynn. (applause.) born a coal miner’s daughter, loretta lynn has followed a boldpath tobecome a legend in country music. asinger, songwriter, and author, she has writtendozens of chart-topping songs,released scores of albums, and won numerous accolades.breaking barriers in country music andentertainment, she opened doors for women not only bywinning tremendousachievements, but also by raising issues few dared to discuss. fearlesslytelling her own stories withcandor and humor, loretta lynn has brought a strong female voiceto mainstreammusic, captured the emotions of women and men alike, and revealed thecommontruths about life as it is lived. (applause.)

dr. mario molina. (applause.) the curiosity and creativity that inspired mario molina toconvert hisfamily’s bathroom into a laboratory as a child have driven him through decadesofscientific research. born in me_ico,dr. molina’s passion for chemistry brought him to the unitedstates, where hisinvestigations of chlorofluorocarbons led to breakthroughs in ourunderstandingof how they deplete the ozone layer. theimpact of his discoveries e_tends farbeyond his field, affecting environmentalpolicy and fostering international awareness, as wellas earning him the 1995nobel prize in chemistry. today, dr.molina remains a global leader,continuing to study air quality, climatechange, and the environment that connects us all. (applause.)

tam o’shaughnessy accepting onbehalf of her life partner, dr. sally k. ride. (applause.)thirty years ago, dr.sally k. ride soared into space as the youngest american and first womantowear the stars and stripes above earth’s atmosphere. as an astronaut, she sought to keepamericaat the forefront of space e_ploration. as a role model, she fought tirelessly to inspireyoung people --especially girls -- to become scientifically literate and to pursue careersinscience, technology, engineering, and math. at the end of her life, she became aninspiration for those battlingpancreatic cancer, and for the lesbian, gay, bise_ual, andtransgendercommunity. the tale of a quiet hero,sally ride’s story demonstrates that the sky isno limit for those who dream ofreaching for the stars. (applause.)

walter naegle accepting on behalfof his partner, bayard rustin. (applause.) bayard rustinwas agiant in the american civil rights movement. openly gay at a time when many had tohide who they loved, hisunwavering belief that we are all equal members of a “single humanfamily” tookhim from his first freedom ride to the lesbian, gay, bise_ual, and transgenderrightsmovement. thanks to hisunparalleled skills as an organizer, progress that once seemedimpossibleappears, in retrospect, to have been inevitable. fifty years after the march onwashington heorganized, america honors bayard rustin as one of its greatest architectsforsocial change and a fearless advocate for its most vulnerable citizens. (applause.)

arturo sandoval. (applause.) arturo sandoval is one of the world’s finest jazz musicians.born into poverty in cuba and held back byhis government, he risked everything to share hisgifts with the world --eventually defecting with help from dizzy gillespie, his mentorandfriend. in the decades since, thisastonishing trumpeter, pianist, and composer hasinspired audiences in everycorner of the world and awakened a new generation of greatperformers. he remains one of the best ever to play. (applause.)

linnea smith, accepting on behalfof her husband, dean e. smith. (applause.) dean e.smith spent36 seasons taking college basketball to new heights. as head coach at theuniversity of northcarolina at chapel hill, he led his team to 11 final fours, two nationaltitles,and 879 victories, retiring as the winningest men’s college basketballcoach in history. deansmith brought thesame commitment to supporting his players off the court. he helped morethan 96 percent of hislettermen graduate. and in an era ofdeep division, he taught players toovercome bigotry with courage andcompassion. he will forever stand as oneof the greatestcoaches in college basketball history. (applause.)

gloria steiner. (applause.) a trailblazing writer and feminist organizer, gloria steinem hasbeen atthe forefront of the fight for equality and social justice for more than fourdecades.instrumental to a broad rangeof initiatives and issues, from establishing ms. magazine and takeourdaughters to work day, to pushing for women’s self-empowerment and an end tose_trafficking. she has promotedlasting political and social change in america and abroad.through her reporting and speaking, she hasshaped debates on the intersection of se_ and race,brought critical problemsto national attention, and forged new opportunities for women inmedia. gloria steinem continues to move us all totake up the cause of reaching for a more justtomorrow. (applause.)

reverend c.t. vivian. (applause.) equipped only with courage and an overwhelmingcommitment to socialjustice, the reverend c.t. vivian was a stalwart activist on the marchtowardracial equality. whether at a lunchcounter, on a freedom ride, or behind the bars of aprison cell, he wasunafraid to take bold action in the face of fierce resistance. by pushingchange through nonviolentdemonstration and advocacy, c.t. vivian established and lednumerousorganizations to support underserved individuals and communities. his legacy ofcombating injustice will shineas an e_ample for generations to come. (applause.)

patricia mcgowan wald. (applause.) patricia mcgowan wald made history as the first womanappointed to theunited states court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit. rising tochief judge of the court, shealways strove to better understand the law and fairly apply it.after leaving federal service, judge waldhelped institute standards for justice and the rule oflaw at the internationalcriminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia in the hague. hailed as amodel judge, she laid afoundation for countless women within the legal profession and helpedunveilthe humanity within the law. (applause.)

oprah g. winfrey. (applause.) oprah g. winfrey is a global media icon. when she launchedthe oprah winfrey show in 1986, there were few women-- and even fewer women of color --with a national platform to discuss theissues and events shaping our times. butover the 25years that followed, oprah winfrey’s innate gift for tapping intoour most fervent hopes anddeepest fears drew millions of viewers across everybackground, making her show the highest-rated talk show in televisionhistory. off screen, oprah winfrey hasused her influence to supportunderserved communities and to lift up the livesof young people -- especially young women --around the world. in her story, we are reminded that no dreamcan be deferred when we refuseto let life’s obstacles keep us down. (applause.)

the president: the medal of freedom honorees -- please. (applause.)

well, that concludes the formalpart of today’s ceremony. i want tothank all of you forbeing here. obviously,we are deeply indebted to those who we honor here today. and we’regoing to have an opportunity totake some pictures with the honorees and their familymembers.

the rest of you, i understand thefood here is pretty good. (laughter.) soi hope you enjoythe reception, and i hope we carry away from this a reminderof what jfk understood to be theessence of the american spirit -- that it’srepresented here. and some of us may belesstalented, but we all have the opportunity to serve and to open people’shearts and minds inour smaller orbits. so i hope everybody has been as inspired, as i have been, participatingandbeing with these people here today.

thank you very much,everybody. (applause.)

第14篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)黑人同盟晚宴上英語演講稿

hello, cbc! (applause.) thank you so much. everybody, have a seat. it is good to be with you here tonight. if it wasn’t black tie i would have worn my tan suit. (laughter.) i thought it looked good. (laughter.)

thank you, chaka, for that introduction. thanks to all of you for having me here this evening. iwant to acknowledge the members of the congressional black caucus and chairwoman marciafudge for their outstanding work. (applause.) thank you, shuanise washington, and the cbcfoundation for doing so much to help our young people aim high and reach their potential.

tonight, i want to begin by paying special tribute to a man with whom all of you have workedclosely with; someone who served his country for nearly 40 years as a prosecutor, as a judge,and as attorney general of the united states: mr. eric holder. (applause.) throughout his longcareer in public service, eric has built a powerful legacy of making sure that equal justice underthe law actually means something; that it applies to everybody -- regardless of race, or gender,or religion, or color, creed, disability, se_ual orientation. he has been a great friend of mine.he has been a faithful servant of the american people. we will miss him badly. (applause.)

this year, we’ve been marking the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act. we honor giants likejohn lewis -- (applause); unsung heroines like evelyn lowery. we honor the countlessamericans, some who are in this room -- black, white, students, scholars, preachers,housekeepers, patriots all, who, with their bare hands, reached into the well of our nation’sfounding ideals and helped to nurture a more perfect union. we’ve reminded ourselves thatprogress is not just absorbing what has been done -- it’s advancing what’s left undone.

even before president johnson signed the civil rights act into law, even as the debate draggedon in the senate, he was already challenging america to do more and march further, to builda great society -- one, johnson said, “where no child will go unfed, and no youngster will gounschooled. where no man who wants work will fail to find it. where no citizen will be barredfrom any door because of his birthplace or his color or his church. where peace and security iscommon among neighbors and possible among nations.” “this is the world that waits for you,”he said. “reach out for it now. join the fight to finish the unfinished work.” to finish theunfinished work.

america has made stunning progress since that time, over the past 50 years -- even over thepast five years. but it is the unfinished work that drives us forward.

some of our unfinished work lies beyond our borders. america is leading the effort to rally theworld against russian aggression in ukraine. america is leading the fight to contain andcombat ebola in africa. america is building and leading the coalition that will degrade andultimately destroy the terrorist group known as isil. as americans, we are leading, and wedon’t shy away from these responsibilities; we welcome them. (applause.) that’s what americadoes. and we are grateful to the men and women in uniform who put themselves in harm’sway in service of the country that we all love. (applause.)

so we’ve got unfinished work overseas, but we’ve got some unfinished work right here athome. (applause.) after the worst economic crisis since the great depression, our businesseshave now created 10 million new jobs over the last 54 months. this is the longest uninterruptedstretch of job growth in our history. (applause.) in our history. but we understand our work isnot done until we get the kind of job creation that means everybody who wants work can a findjob.

we’ve done some work on health care, too. i don’t know if you’ve noticed. thanks to theaffordable care act, we’ve seen a 26 percent decline in the uninsured rate in america. (applause.) african americans have seen a 30 percent decline. and, by the way, the cost ofhealth care isn’t going up as fast anymore either. everybody was predicting this was all going tobe so e_pensive. we’ve saved $800 billion -- (applause) -- in medicare because of the work thatwe’ve done -- slowing the cost, improving quality, and improving access. despite unyieldingopposition, this change has happened just in the last couple years.

but we know our work is not yet done until we get into more communities, help more uninsuredfolks get covered, especially in those states where the governors aren’t being quite ascooperative as we’d like them to be. (applause.) you know who you are. it always puzzles mewhen you decide to take a stand to make sure poor folks in your state can’t get healthinsurance even though it doesn’t cost you a dime. that doesn’t make much sense to me, but iwon’t go on on that topic. (applause.) we’ve got more work to do.

it’s easy to take a stand when you’ve got health insurance. (laughter and applause.) i’mgoing off script now, but -- (laughter) -- that’s what happens at the cbc.

our high school graduation rate is at a record high, the dropout rate is falling, more youngpeople are earning college degrees than ever before. last year, the number of children living inpoverty fell by 1.4 million -- the largest decline since 1966. (applause.) since i took office,the overall crime rate and the overall incarceration rate has gone down by about 10 percent.that’s the first time they’ve declined at the same time in more than 40 years. fewer folks injail. crime still going down. (applause.)

but our work is not done when too many children live in crumbling neighborhoods, cyclingthrough substandard schools, traumatized by daily violence. our work is not done whenworking americans of all races have seen their wages and incomes stagnate, even as corporateprofits soar; when african-american unemployment is still twice as high as whiteunemployment; when income inequality, on the rise for decades, continues to hold backhardworking communities, especially communities of color. we’ve got unfinished work. and weknow what to do. that’s the worst part -- we know what to do.

we know we’ve got to invest in infrastructure, and manufacturing, and research anddevelopment that creates new jobs. we’ve got to keep rebuilding a middle class economy withladders of opportunity, so that hard work pays off and you see higher wages and higherincomes, and fair pay for women doing the same work as men, and workplace fle_ibility forparents in case a child gets sick or a parent needs some help. (applause.) we’ve got to buildmore promise zones partnerships to support local revitalization of hard-hit communities. we’vegot to keep investing in early education. we want to bring preschool to every four-year-old inthis country. (applause.) and we want every child to have an e_cellent teacher. and we want toinvest in our community colleges and e_pand pell grants for more students. and i’m going tokeep working with you to make college more affordable. because every child in america, nomatter who she is, no matter where she’s born, no matter how much money her parents have,ought to be able to fulfill her god-given potential. that’s what we believe. (applause.)

so i just want everybody to understand -- we have made enormous progress. there’s almostno economic measure by which we are not better off than when i took office. (applause.)unemployment down. deficits down. uninsured down. poverty down. energy production up.manufacturing back. auto industry back. but -- and i just list these things just so if you have adiscussion with one of your friends -- (laughter) -- and they’re confused. stock market up.corporate balance sheet strong. in fact, the folks who are doing the best, they’re the ones whocomplain the most. (laughter and applause.) so you can just point these things out.

but we still have to close these opportunity gaps. and we have to close the justice gap -- howjustice is applied, but also how it is perceived, how it is e_perienced. (applause.) eric holderunderstands this. (applause.) that’s what we saw in ferguson this summer, when michaelbrown was killed and a community was divided. we know that the unrest continues. and ericspent some time with the residents and police of ferguson, and the department of justice hasindicated that its civil rights investigation is ongoing.

now, i won’t comment on the investigation. i know that michael’s family is here tonight. (applause.) i know that nothing any of us can say can ease the grief of losing a child so soon.but the anger and the emotion that followed his death awakened our nation once again to thereality that people in this room have long understood, which is, in too many communitiesaround the country, a gulf of mistrust e_ists between local residents and law enforcement.

too many young men of color feel targeted by law enforcement, guilty of walking while black,or driving while black, judged by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness.we know that, statistically, in everything from enforcing drug policy to applying the deathpenalty to pulling people over, there are significant racial disparities. that’s just the statistics.one recent poll showed that the majority of americans think the criminal justice systemdoesn’t treat people of all races equally. think about that. that’s not just blacks, not justlatinos or asians or native americans saying things may not be unfair. that’s most americans.

and that has a corrosive effect -- not just on the black community; it has a corrosive effect onamerica. it harms the communities that need law enforcement the most. it makes folks whoare victimized by crime and need strong policing reluctant to go to the police because theymay not trust them. and the worst part of it is it scars the hearts of our children. it scars thehearts of the white kids who grow unnecessarily fearful of somebody who doesn’t look likethem. it stains the heart of black children who feel as if no matter what he does, he will alwaysbe under suspicion. that is not the society we want. it’s not the society that our childrendeserve. (applause.) whether you’re black or white, you don’t want that for america.

it was interesting -- ferguson was used by some of america’s enemies and critics to deflectattention from their shortcomings overseas; to undermine our efforts to promote justicearound the world. they said, well, look at what’s happened to you back home.

but as i said this week at the united nations, america is special not because we’re perfect;america is special because we work to address our problems, to make our union more perfect.we fight for more justice. (applause.) we fight to cure what ails us. we fight for our ideals, andwe’re willing to criticize ourselves when we fall short. and we address our differences in theopen space of democracy -- with respect for the rule of law; with a place for people of everyrace and religion; and with an unyielding belief that people who love their country can changeit. that’s what makes us special -- not because we don’t have problems, but because we work tofi_ them. and we will continue to work to fi_ this.

and to that end, we need to help communities and law enforcement build trust, buildunderstanding, so that our neighborhoods stay safe and our young people stay on track. andunder the leadership of attorney general eric holder, the justice department has launched anational effort to do just that. he’s also been working to make the criminal justice systemsmarter and more effective by addressing unfair sentencing disparities, changing departmentpolicies on charging mandatory minimums, promoting stronger reentry programs for thosewho have paid their debt to society. (applause.)

and we need to address the unique challenges that make it hard for some of our young peopleto thrive. for all the success stories that e_ist in a room like this one, we all know relatives,classmates, neighbors who were just as smart as we were, just as capable as we were, bornwith the same light behind their eyes, the same joy, the same curiosity about the world -- butsomehow they didn’t get the support they needed, or the encouragement they needed, orthey made a mistake, or they missed an opportunity; they weren’t able to overcome theobstacles that they faced.

and so, in february, we launched my brother’s keeper. (applause.) and i was the first one toacknowledge government can’t play the only, or even the primary, role in the lives of ourchildren. but what we can do is bring folks together, and that’s what we’re doing --philanthropies, business leaders, entrepreneurs, faith leaders, mayors, educators, athletes, andthe youth themselves -- to e_amine how can we ensure that our young men have the tools theyneed to achieve their full potential.

and ne_t week, i’m launching my brother’s keeper community challenge, asking everycommunity in the country -- big cities and small towns, rural counties, tribal nations -- topublicly commit to implementing strategies that will ensure all young people can succeed,starting from the cradle, all the way to college and a career. it’s a challenge to local leaders tofollow the evidence and use the resources on what works for our kids. and we’ve already got100 mayors, county officials, tribal leaders, democrats, republicans signed on. and we’re goingto keep on signing them up in the coming weeks and months. (applause.) but they’re going toneed you -- elected leaders, business leaders, community leaders -- to make this effortsuccessful. we need all of us to come together to help all of our young people address thevariety of challenges they face.

and we’re not forgetting about the girls, by the way. i got two daughters -- i don’t know if younoticed. (laughter.) african american girls are more likely than their white peers also to besuspended, incarcerated, physically harassed. black women struggle every day with biases thatperpetuate oppressive standards for how they’re supposed to look and how they’re supposedto act. too often, they’re either left under the hard light of scrutiny, or cloaked in a kind ofinvisibility.

so in addition to the new efforts on my brother’s keeper, the white house council for womenand girls has for years been working on issues affecting women and girls of color, fromviolence against women, to pay equity, to access to health care. and you know michelle hasbeen working on that. (applause.) because she doesn’t think our daughters should be treateddifferently than anybody else’s son. i’ve got a vested interest in making sure that our daughtershave the same opportunities as boys do. (applause.)

so that’s the world we’ve got to reach for -- the world where every single one of our childrenhas the opportunity to pursue their measure of happiness. that’s our unfinished work. andwe’re going to have to fight for it. we’ve got to stand up for it. and we have to vote for it. wehave to vote for it. (applause.)

all around the country, wherever i see folks, they always say, oh, barack, we’re praying for you-- boy, you’re so great; look, you got all gray hair, you looking tired. (laughter.) we’re prayingfor you. which i appreciate. (laughter.) but i tell them, after president johnson signed thecivil rights act, he immediately moved on to what he called “the meat in the coconut” -- avoting rights act bill. and some of his administration argued that’s too much, it’s too soon.but the movement knew that if we rested after the civil rights act, then all we could do waspray that somebody would enforce those rights. (applause.)

so whenever i hear somebody say they’re praying for me, i say “thank you.” thank you -- ibelieve in the power of prayer. but we know more than prayer. we need to vote. (applause.)we need to vote. that will be helpful. it will not relieve me of my gray hair, but it will help mepass some bills. (laughter.)

because people refused to give in when it was hard, we get to celebrate the 50th anniversaryof the voting rights act ne_t year. until then, we’ve got to protect it. we can’t just celebrateit; we’ve got to protect it. because there are people still trying to pass voter id laws to makeit harder for folks to vote. and we’ve got to get back to our schools and our offices and ourchurches, our beauty shops, barber shops, and make sure folks know there’s an electioncoming up, they need to know how to register, and they need to know how and when to vote.

we’ve got to tell them to push back against the cynics; prove everybody wrong who says thatchange isn’t possible. cynicism does not fi_ anything. cynicism is very popular in americasometimes. it’s propagated in the media. but cynicism didn’t put anybody on the moon.cynicism didn’t pass the voting rights act. hope is what packed buses full of freedom riders.hope is what led thousands of black folks and white folks to march from selma to montgomery.hope is what got john lewis off his back after being beaten within an inch of his life, and choseto keep on going. (applause.)

cynicism is a choice, but hope is a better choice. and our job right now is to convince thepeople who are privileged to represent to join us in finishing that fight that folks like johnstarted. get those souls to the polls. e_ercise their right to vote. and if we do, then iguarantee you we’ve got a brighter future ahead.

thank you, god bless you. keep praying. but go out there and vote. god bless america. (applause.)

第15篇 奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在密爾沃基勞動(dòng)節(jié)集會(huì)上英語演講稿

the president: hello, milwaukee! (applause.) thank you! oh, it’s good to be back inmilwaukee. give chris a big round of applause for that great introduction. (applause.)

happy labor day, everybody. happy labor day. (applause.) today is a day that belongs to you–- the working men and women who make america the greatest country on earth. so thank youto the working folks who are here today, and the unions who’ve always had your back. (applause.) thank you to the milwaukee area labor council, to the wisconsin afl-cio. (applause.)

it’s good to be back at laborfest. i hope you don’t mind, i brought a friend with me, somebodywho is fighting for american workers every day -- america’s secretary of labor, tom perez, is inthe house. (applause.) and i just found out tom’s wife is from milwaukee, so his father-in-law ishere. so i just told his father-in-law he’s doing a really good job, because you always want tomake a guy look good in front of his father-in-law. (laughter.)

we’ve got some other friends i want to acknowledge. first of all, your congresswoman, gwenmoore, is here. (applause.) your mayor, tom barrett, is in the house. (applause.) we’ve got oneof my favorites, mary kay henry from the seiu. (applause.) newly elected lily garcia from nea. (applause.) my pal -- not a packers fan, he’s a steelers fan, but he’s a good guy anyway -- leogerard from usw, steelworkers. (applause.) billy hite from ua; joe hansen from ufcw. (applause.)

to all the other labor leaders who are here, we are so glad to have you. and we’re here becauseof the things all too often we take for granted. anybody who’s got a seat, feel free to sit down. idon’t want anybody fainting; it’s all hot out here. i might get you back up on your feet at somepoint.

but we’re here to celebrate something that sometimes the american people take for granted --the 40-hour workweek, overtime pay, a minimum wage, weekends like this one. all that didn’thappen by accident. it happened because america’s workers organized for it, fought for it.history shows that working families can get a fair shot in this country, but only if we’re willingto fight for it.

now, the first time i came to laborfest was -- i was still a candidate back in 2022. (applause.)and during that campaign, i promised if you sent me to the white house, i’d stand with youin that fight. (applause.) now, two weeks later, our financial system collapsed. a recessionalmost became a depression. and in the years since, our country has faced a choice. there aresome folks who wanted to place an even bigger bet on top-down economics, the kind ofeconomics that helped cause the crisis in the first place -– more ta_ cuts for those at the top,fewer rules for big banks and corporations, this blind faith that maybe prosperity would finallytrickle down on the rest of us if folks up at the top just kept on doing better and better.

but, you know what, milwaukee, i didn’t run for president to double down on top-downeconomics. i ran for president because i believed in bottom-up economics. i believed in middle-out economics. i placed a bet on you. i placed a bet on america’s workers. (applause.) i put mymoney on american workers and the belief that our economy grows best when everybody hasgot a shot -- when folks who are willing to work hard can get into the middle class and stay inthe middle class. and i’ve come back to laborfest to say that because of your hard work,because of what we’ve been through together, that bet is starting to pay off.

america is stronger because of the decisions we made to rescue our economy and rebuild it ona new foundation asking the simple question, is this good for ordinary americans, is this goodfor working people -- not just a few, but for everybody. and over the past 53 months, ourbusiness have created nearly 10 million new jobs. (applause.) we’re on a streak where, the lastsi_ months, we’ve created more than 200,000 jobs each month -– that’s the first time that’shappened since 1997. (applause.)

construction is rebounding. energy and technology are booming. american manufacturing issteadily creating jobs for the first time since the 1990s. our businesses e_port more goodsmade right here in america to the rest of the world than ever before. (applause.)

america is stronger because we saved the american auto industry and more than one millionjobs that depend on the auto industry. (applause.) today, our workers are building more carsthan any time since 2022 -- and, by the way, they’re really good cars. the auto industry isadding jobs at the strongest rate since the 1990s.

america is stronger because we invested in homegrown energy. the world’s number-one oil andgas producer -- it’s not russia, it’s not saudi arabia -- it’s the u.s. of a. we are the largestproducer. (applause.) and for the first time in nearly 20 years, america now produces more oilthan we buy from other countries. but we’re also producing more clean energy, putting folksback to work. we’ve tripled the amount of wind power that creates energy. we’ve increased by10 times the amount of solar power we create. and all of that is creating tens of thousands ofgood jobs all across the country. (applause.)

america is stronger because we set our schools on a race to the top. we helped more middle-class families afford college. today, thanks to outstanding teachers, our high school graduationrate is at a record high. (applause.) more young people are earning their college degrees thanever before. (applause.)

america is stronger because we helped millions of responsible homeowners stay in their homes,and we got some of biggest banks who sold deceptive mortgages to help make things right --they’re ponying up billions of dollars to do right by folks who got cheated. we changed a ta_code that was skewed too much to the wealthy at the e_pense of working families. we madesure, you know what, you guys have got to pay a little more. and as a consequence, we cutour deficits by more than half. (applause.)

and yes, milwaukee, america is stronger because millions more americans have the peace ofmind of quality, affordable health insurance that they can count on. yes, we did that. (applause.)

so i just want everybody to understand -- because you wouldn’t always know it from watchingthe news -- (laughter) -- by almost every measure, the american economy and americanworkers are better off than when i took office. (applause.) we’re better off by almost everymeasure. but, look, none of this progress has come easy. every inch of it we have had to fightfor. every inch of it we’ve had to work against a lockstep opposition that is opposed toeverything we do.

but it was worth it. every gray hair is worth it. (applause.) every gray hair is worth it -- and atleast i’ve still got some hair. (applause.)

audience member: and you look good!

the president: oh, i look good -- see, i like that. thank you. (applause.) whenever folkssay -- whenever they see me they say, you know what, you look okay -- like they’re surprised. (laughter.) and then sometimes they say i look taller than i do on tv. (laughter.) i say, yes, ilook -- that’s because the tv is small. it makes me look smaller. (laughter.)

look, it is thanks to the grit, to the resilience of working americans that this country we love,it’s recovered faster, it’s come farther than almost any other advanced economy. for the firsttime in more than a decade, business leaders around the world, when you ask them, where doyou want to invest, what’s the number-one place to invest, they don’t say china, they don’t saygermany -- they say the united states of america. and our lead is growing. (applause.) u.s.a!

audience: u.s.a! u.s.a! u.s.a!

the president: so, look, i’m saying all this just because sometimes, if you’re watching tvor something, it’s just kind of a whole downer. (laughter.) we’ve got struggles. we’ve got workto do. but there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about america.

more folks are working. the economy’s growing stronger. the engines are revving a little louder.and the question now is, are we going to make the right decisions to accelerate this progress?are we going to continue to focus on working families? are we going to continue to make surethat a growing economy gives everybody rising incomes and wages? are we going to make surethat we’re helping the middle class and everybody who is trying to get into the middle class?

it’s a good thing that corporate profits are high; i want american businesses to succeed. it’s agood thing that the stock market is booming; a lot of folks have 401ks in there, i want them tofeel good. but i also want to see the guy who’s breaking his back on two eight-hour shifts sohe’s got enough money to send his kids to college, i want to make sure that guy is getting abreak. i want to make sure he’s getting some help. (applause.) i want to see that woman who’sworked for 40 years be able to retire with some dignity and some respect. (applause.) that’show i measure progress -- not just by how well the economy is doing overall but how it’sdoing for folks who are working so hard doing everything right, just want a fair shot, and didn’thave anything handed to them in their lives, weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

and the reason that’s who i’m thinking about is because that’s the family i grew up in. that’sthe family michelle’s family grew up in. this country gave me a chance. it gave michelle achance. i believe in the american dream because i have lived it. (applause.) and i ran for thisoffice to restore it for everybody so no matter what you look like, and no matter where youcame from, no matter how you started, you can make it in america if you try. (applause.)

so that’s what’s at stake right now. that’s what’s at stake: making sure the economy works foreverybody. i’ve got a vision of an economy where opportunity is open to everybody who’swilling to work hard. i want an economy where new, long-term investments in americanenergy and american infrastructure and american manufacturing and american innovation areunleashing new jobs in new industries right here in wisconsin, right here in milwaukee; aneconomy where our workers have the chance to earn new skills that lead to that good job;where children graduate from school fully prepared for the global competition they’re goingto face.

i want an economy where your hard work pays off with higher wages, and higher incomes, andfairer pay for women, and workplace fle_ibility for parents, and affordable health insurance,and decent retirement benefits. (applause.) i’m not asking for the moon, i just want a gooddeal for american workers. (applause.)

sometimes when i talk about this stuff to some of my folks on the other side of the aisle,they’re all like, well, why are you stirring up class resentments? i’m not stirring up classresentment.

let me tell you something, working families, they’re fine that folks are rich. the average person,they’re not looking for a yacht. they’re not looking for their own plane. they’re not looking fora mansion. they don’t need to be vacationing in st. bart’s. all they’re looking for is that if theywork hard, they can pay the bills; that they can send their kids to school; they can retire withsome dignity, maybe take a vacation once in a while -- go to wisconsin dells or something.they ain’t looking for nothing fancy. (applause.) that’s where michelle and i used to take maliaand sasha. we’d be in that water so long, fingers all pruned up. and there were a lot of littlekids in there, which made you a little suspicious about the water. (laughter.) i’m just saying.that was not in the prepared remarks. (laughter.)

now, most of the policies i’m talking about have two things in common: they’re going to helpmore working families get ahead, and the republicans who run our congress oppose almost allof them.

audience: booo --

the president: don’t boo, vote. (applause.) don’t boo, vote. it’s easy to boo -- i want youto vote. don’t boo, vote. they oppose almost everything. i’m not making that up; i’m justtelling the truth. it’s just the facts.

in fact, they oppose stuff they used to be for. no, it’s true. i mean, they used to be forbuilding roads and bridges and all that -- now, suddenly, no, we can’t build roads. well, whynot? because you oppose -- because you proposed it. i am just telling the truth. the sky isblue today. milwaukee brats are delicious. the brewers are tied for first place. (applause.) andrepublicans in congress love to say no. those are just facts, they’re facts of life. they say no toeverything.

if we had a congress that cared about policies that actually helped working people, i promiseyou we could get everything done that we’ve talked about doing. but until we have thatcongress, it’s up to us to fight for these policies.

so wherever i can, i’ve acted on my own. i acted on my own to make sure more women had theprotections they needed to fight for fair pay on the workplace -- because i think when womensucceed, america succeeds. (applause.) i was raised by a single mom, so know how hard it isfor a lot of women out there. and, by the way, men, you should want your wife to get paid fair.she’s bringing that money home. that’s not a women’s issue, that’s your issue. (applause.)that’s money out of your family’s pocket.

that’s why i took action on my own to give millions of americans the chance to cap theirstudent loan payments at 10 percent of their incomes. (applause.) i don’t want young peoplesaddled with debt when they’re just starting out in life. that’s why i acted on my own to makesure companies that receive federal contracts, that they pay their workers a fair wage of at least$10.10 an hour. if you work full time in america, you shouldn’t be living in poverty, youshouldn’t be trying to support a family in poverty. (applause.)

and in the year and a half since i first asked congress to raise the minimum wage -- of course,the republicans in congress have blocked it -- but more and more americans are doing theirpart to make it happen. this is why i stay optimistic, even with some of the nonsense thatgoes on in washington. you’ve seen business leaders at companies like the gap that raisedbase wages for tens of thousands of workers because they knew it was good for business.you’ve seen mayors across the country doing their part, and today, on labor day, the mayor oflos angeles is announcing a plan to raise his city’s minimum wage.

you’ve seen -- here’s a good story. last month, the president of kentucky state university, hegave himself a $90,000 pay cut so that he could raise wages for his lowest-paid employees. (applause.) thirteen states, district of columbia -- they’ve raised their minimum wages. fourmore states are putting minimum wage initiatives on the ballot in november.

and you know what, here’s the best part -- you’ll hear opponents, they’ll say, well, minimumwage, they’re going to kill jobs. e_cept it turns out, the states where the minimum wage hasgone up this year had higher job growth than the states that didn’t raise the minimum wage.that’s the facts. (applause.)

all across the country right now, there’s a national movement going on made up of fast foodworkers organizing to lift wages so they can provide for their families with pride and dignity.there is no denying a simple truth: america deserves a raise. folks are doing very well on wallstreet, they’re doing very well in the corporate board rooms -- give america a raise. (applause.)

and i think, eventually, congress is going to hear them. we’ll break those folks down. we’lljust stay on them. we’ll just keep at it. that’s how i got michelle to marry me -- i just wore herdown. (laughter.) persistence -- you just stay at it. because the only thing more powerful thanan idea whose time has come is when millions of people are organizing around an idea whosetime has come. millions of people are voting for an idea whose time has come. (applause.)

i know it gets frustrating, though, when it feels like your voices aren’t heard in washington. ipromise you i share that frustration. after all that unions have done to build and protectworking americans, i know it’s frustrating when people have the gall to blame you for theproblems facing working americans. i know you’ve got some e_perience with that around here. (applause.)

but you know what, if i were looking for a good job that lets me build some security for myfamily, i’d join a union. (applause.) if i were busting my butt in the service industry andwanted an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, i’d join a union. if i were a firefighter orpolice officer risking my life and helping to keep my community safe, and wanted to make surei came home safely to my family, i’d join a union. (applause.) i’d want a union looking out forme.

and if i cared about these things, i’d also want more democrats looking out for me. i’m justsaying. (applause.) because when the rest of the country is working to raise wages, butrepublicans in congress won’t, it ain’t right. not only is it not right, it ain’t right. (laughter.)when the rest of the country is working to open up more businesses, but republicans incongress block investments that would help more businesses grow, it ain’t right. when unionsand ceos, when law enforcement and the evangelical community, when folks who usuallydon’t agree on anything agree that we should be fi_ing our broken immigration system, but therepublicans in the house of representatives have been sitting on a bill for more than a year, itain’t right.

so that’s why we have to keep fighting. at the beginning of the last century, people foughtagainst the idea of a 40-hour workweek, they fought against weekends, they fought againstworkplace safety laws. 80 years ago, people fought against the idea of social security. 50 yearsago, people fought against the idea of medicare. but guess what? we won those fights. (applause.)

and just like in the past, today, you’ve still got people fighting against the right for health carefor everybody, or the right to fair wages, or they even fight against equal pay for equal work.but we will win those fights, too. i promise. and i know that because america is the story ofprogress. it can be slow, yes. it can be frustrating. sometimes you get half a loaf where youwanted the whole loaf -- sometimes you might just get a quarter of a loaf.

but if you look at our history, the story is progress. and that’s because there have always beenamericans who have had the courage to march and to organize and to fight for themselves,but then also to fight for each other. and i’m asking you to do the same thing. i asked you thesame thing back in 2022.

i’m asking you to believe not just in my ability to bring about the change we need, i’m askingyou to believe in yours. i’m asking you to believe in you. because even when our politics justain’t right, there’s a whole lot that is right with america.

america is that dad who punches in every morning to put food on the table. america is themom who’s working the graveyard shift to provide for her kids. america is the child whodreams of being the first in his family to go to college. america is the teacher who stays afterwork and dips into her own pocket for supplies to help that child get there. america is theautoworker who thought she’d never make another car again, and now she can’t make themfast enough. america is the construction worker who’s helping build more homes andbusinesses to get solar panels on the top. america is on the move. america is on the move. (applause.)

america is not the party we belong to, but the values we share. america is hard work. americais responsibility. america is sacrifice. america is looking out for one another. let’s embracesome economic patriotism that says we rise or fall together as one nation, as one people.

don’t reward companies that ship jobs and profits overseas; reward companies that areinvesting right here in milwaukee. (applause.) let’s make sure our fellow citizens have access togood childcare and preschool and college and health care. let’s make sure women get fair pay.let’s make sure working moms and dads can get a day off if their child is sick or their parentsare having a tough time. let’s make sure nobody who is working full time is raising their familyin poverty. (applause.) these ideas are not un-american, they’re how we built america --together.

i’ll tell you, milwaukee, the hardest thing in life is changing a stubborn status quo. and it’seven harder when it seems like some of the folks in power, all they care about is keeping power.but there are plenty of folks who count on you to get cynical and not vote because you don’tthink you can make a difference. that’s how they’re going to stay in power. they believe youwon’t get involved. they believe you won’t organize. they believe you won’t vote. and thatway, the special interests stay in power. and they will try to divide us, and they’ll try todistract you, and they’ll try to run the okey-doke on you, and bamboozle you, and hoodwinkyou -- don’t buy it. don’t buy it.

because despite the cynics, america is on the move. it’s making progress. despite all theopposition, there are workers who have jobs now who didn’t have them before. there arefamilies with health insurance who didn’t have them before. there are students going tocollege who couldn’t afford it before. there are troops who were in afghanistan who are cominghome. (applause.)

cynicism is fashionable these days, but cynicism didn’t put anybody on the moon. cynicismnever won a war, it never cured a disease, it never started a business, it never fed a youngmind, it never built a road or a bridge.

cynicism is a bad choice. hope is the better choice. hope is what gives us courage. hope is whatgave soldiers courage to storm a beach. hope is what gives young people the strength to marchfor women’s rights, and worker’s rights, and civil rights, and voting rights, and gay rights, andimmigration rights. (applause.)

hope, the belief that there are better days ahead; the belief that together, we can build up ourmiddle class and hand down something better to our kids -- that’s what built america. andamerica’s best days are still ahead. i believe it. you need to believe it, too. let’s get to work.

thank you. god bless you. god bless the united states of america. (applause.)