您好,欢迎来到新东方!免费注册

奥巴马就美国信用评级问题发表的讲话(视频)

2011-11-24 13:23  作者:  来源:口译网  字号:T|T

摘要:奥巴马就美国信用评级问题发表的讲话

US President Obama’s Remarks on U.S. Credit Rating
August 8, 2011


美国总统奥巴马就美国信用评级问题发表的讲话
2011年8月8日


 


 

Good afternoon, everybody. On Friday, we learned that the United States received a downgrade by one of the credit rating agencies — not so much because they doubt our ability to pay our debt if we make good decisions, but because after witnessing a month of wrangling over raising the debt ceiling, they doubted our political system’s ability to act. The markets, on the other hand, continue to believe our credit status is AAA. In fact, Warren Buffett, who knows a thing or two about good investments, said, “If there were a quadruple-A rating, I’d give the United States that.” I, and most of the world’s investors, agree.

诸位下午好。上星期五,我们获悉某信用评级机构下调了美国的等级——并非主要因为他们怀疑我们在作出良好决策的情况下偿付债务的能力,而是因为看到有关提高债务上限问题的争论持续了一个月,他们怀疑我们的政治制度付诸行动的能力。另一方面,市场继续相信我们的信用等级为AAA。事实上,在何谓好的投资问题上颇有见地的沃伦?巴菲特说:“如果有4A这一等级的话,我会将美国评为4A。”我,以及全世界大多数投资者都同意。

That doesn’t mean we don’t have a problem. The fact is, we didn’t need a rating agency to tell us that we need a balanced, long-term approach to deficit reduction. That was true last week. That was true last year. That was true the day I took office. And we didn’t need a rating agency to tell us that the gridlock in Washington over the last several months has not been constructive, to say the least. We knew from the outset that a prolonged debate over the debt ceiling — a debate where the threat of default was used as a bargaining chip — could do enormous damage to our economy and the world’s. That threat, coming after a string of economic disruptions in Europe, Japan and the Middle East, has now roiled the markets and dampened consumer confidence and slowed the pace of recovery.

这并不是说我们没有问题。事实是,我们并不需要评级机构告诉我们,降低赤字必须采取平衡、长期的做法。上个星期是这样,去年是这样,在我就职的时候就是这样。我们并不需要评级机构告诉我们,华盛顿过去几个月的僵持局面至少谈不上具有建设性。我们从一开始就知道围绕债务上限问题的长时间争论——以债务违约相威胁作为筹码——可能对美国经济和世界经济带来巨大的破坏。这种威胁紧随欧洲、日本和中东一系列经济混乱之后,现在已经造成市场的不安,降低了消费者的信心,减缓了经济复苏的步伐。

So all of this is a legitimate source of concern. But here’s the good news: Our problems are imminently [eminently] solvable. And we know what we have to do to solve them. With respect to debt, our problem is not confidence in our credit — the markets continue to reaffirm our credit as among the world’s safest. Our challenge is the need to tackle our deficits over the long term.

因此,这些情况都是引发忧虑的合理根源。但有一条好消息:很明显,我们面临的各种问题完全是可以解决的。我们知道,为了解决这些问题,我们必须做些什么。在债务问题上,我们面临的问题并非对我们信用的信心——市场继续确认我们的信用属全世界最安全之列。我们面临的挑战是需要长期解决我们的赤字问题。

Last week, we reached an agreement that will make historic cuts to defense and domestic spending. But there’s not much further we can cut in either of those categories. What we need to do now is combine those spending cuts with two additional steps: tax reform that will ask those who can afford it to pay their fair share and modest adjustments to health care programs like Medicare.

上星期,我们达成了一项协议,对我们的防务和国内开支实施历史性的削减。但这两个方面已经没有多少可削减的余地了。我们现在需要做的是,把这些方面的开支削减与另外两个步骤相结合:税务改革,要求有能力承担税负的人公平地分担自己的一份责任;以及对联邦医疗照顾计划之类的医保项目作出适度的调整。

Making these reforms doesn’t require any radical steps. What it does require is common sense and compromise. There are plenty of good ideas about how to achieve long-term deficit reduction that doesn’t hamper economic growth right now. Republicans and Democrats on the bipartisan fiscal commission that I set up put forth good proposals. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate’s Gang of Six came up with some good proposals. John Boehner and I came up with some good proposals when we came close to agreeing on a grand bargain.

进行这些改革不要求采取任何激进的步骤。所要求的是常识和妥协。对于如何在不妨碍目前经济增长的情况下长期降低赤字的问题,有很多好的设想。我建立的两党财政委员会的共和党人和民主党人提出了良好的建议。参议院“六人帮”的共和党人和民主党人提出了一些良好的建议。在我们接近达成重大协议时,约翰·博纳和我提出了一些良好的建议。

So it’s not a lack of plans or policies that’s the problem here. It’s a lack of political will in Washington. It’s the insistence on drawing lines in the sand, a refusal to put what’s best for the country ahead of self-interest or party or ideology. And that’s what we need to change.

所以这里的问题不是因为没有计划和政策,而是因为华盛顿缺乏政治意愿,是因为坚持以人为的方式画地为牢,拒绝把国家最高利益置于自身利益或政党或意识形态之上。这就是我们需要改变的。

I realize that after what we just went through, there’s some skepticism that Republicans and Democrats on the so-called super committee, this joint committee that’s been set up, will be able to reach a compromise, but my hope is that Friday’s news will give us a renewed sense of urgency. I intend to present my own recommendations over the coming weeks on how we should proceed. And that committee will have this administration’s full cooperation. And I assure you, we will stay on it until we get the job done.

我认识到,在我们刚刚经历了这些事态之后,有些人怀疑,在这个所谓的超级委员会里,成立这个联合委员会,共和党人和民主党人能否达成妥协。但我的希望是,周五的新闻将给我们一种新的紧迫感。我打算在未来几周内,对我们应该如何推进提出我自己的建议。委员会将得到本届政府的充分合作。我向你们保证,我们会坚持不懈,直到这项工作完成。

Of course, as worrisome as the issues of debt and deficits may be, the most immediate concern of most Americans, and of concern to the marketplace as well, is the issue of jobs and the slow pace of recovery coming out of the worst recession in our lifetimes.

当然,尽管债务和赤字问题令人担忧,大多数美国人最直接的忧虑??,也是市场的忧虑,是就业问题和我们有生以来最严重的经济衰退复苏缓慢。

And the good news here is that by coming together to deal with the long-term debt challenge, we would have more room to implement key proposals that can get the economy to grow faster. Specifically, we should extend the payroll tax cut as soon as possible, so that workers have more money in their paychecks next year and businesses have more customers next year.

其中的好消息是,通过我们共同应对长期债务的挑战,我们将有更大的空间实施可加速经济增长的重大建议。具体来说,我们应尽快延长工资所得税减税措施,明年员工的工资支票上就能有更多的钱,明年工商业也能得到更多的顾客。

We should continue to make sure that if you’re one of the millions of Americans who’s out there looking for a job, you can get the unemployment insurance that your tax dollars contributed to. That will also put money in people’s pockets and more customers in stores.

我们应该继续保证,如果你是数以百万计到处寻找工作的美国人中的一员,你可以得到你用税款缴纳的失业保险。这也会让人们的口袋里有钱,使更多的顾客走进商店。

In fact, if Congress fails to extend the payroll tax cut and the unemployment insurance benefits that I’ve called for, it could mean 1 million fewer jobs and half a percent less growth. This is something we can do immediately, something we can do as soon as Congress gets back.

事实上,如果国会不延长我呼吁的工资所得税减税措施和失业保险福利,那可能意味着丧失1百万个就业机会和半个百分点的增长率。这是我们可以马上进行的工作,是国会一复会我们就可以做的事。

We should also help companies that want to repair our roads and bridges and airports, so that thousands of construction workers who’ve been without a job for the last few years can get a paycheck again. That will also help to spur economic growth.

我们也应该帮助希望参加修复道路、桥梁和机场的公司,使过去几年成千上万失业的建筑工人可以再次拿到工资支票。这也有助于刺激经济增长。

These aren’t Democratic proposals. These aren’t big government proposals. These are all ideas that traditionally Republicans have agreed to, have agreed to countless times in the past. There’s no reason we shouldn’t act on them now. None.

这些不是民主党的建议。这些不是大政府的建议。这些都是共和党人传统上表示同意的想法,过去曾无数次表示同意。现在,我们没有任何理由不采取这些行动。绝对没有任何理由。

I know we’re going through a tough time right now. We’ve been going through a tough time for the last two and a half years. And I know a lot of people are worried about the future. But here’s what I also know: There will always be economic factors that we can’t control — earthquakes, spikes in oil prices, slowdowns in other parts of the world. But how we respond to those tests — that’s entirely up to us.

我知道我们目前正在经历艰难的时期。过去两年半,我们面临艰难的时日。我知道很多人都担心未来。我也知道,总会出现我们无法控制的经济因素——地震、油价上涨、世界其他地区的增长放缓等。但是,我们如何经受这些考验——完全取决于我们自己。

Markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America. No matter what some agency may say, we’ve always been and always will be a AAA country. For all of the challenges we face, we continue to have the best universities, some of the most productive workers, the most innovative companies, the most adventurous entrepreneurs on Earth. What sets us apart is that we’ve always not just had the capacity, but also the will to act — the determination to shape our future; the willingness in our democracy to work out our differences in a sensible way and to move forward, not just for this generation but for the next generation.

市场有起有伏,但这里是美利坚合众国。不管某些机构会怎末说,我们历来是,并将始终是AAA国家。尽管我们面临诸多挑战,我们仍继续有最好的大学、一些生产力最强的工人、最具有创新能力的公司、全球最有胆识的企业家。我们与众不同的是,我们不仅始终有这份能力,也有采取行动的意愿——决定我们未来的意志;我们的民主制度要求以理性的方式消弭我们的分歧并取得进展,不仅为我们这一代,而且也为了下一代。

And we’re going to need to summon that spirit today. The American people have been through so much over the last few years, dealing with the worst recession, the biggest financial crisis since the 1930s, and they’ve done it with grace. And they’re working so hard to raise their families, and all they ask is that we work just as hard, here in this town, to make their lives a little easier. That’s not too much to ask. And ultimately, the reason I am so hopeful about our future — the reason I have faith in these United States of America — is because of the American people. It’s because of their perseverance, and their courage, and their willingness to shoulder the burdens we face — together, as one nation.

我们今天需要发扬这种精神。过去几年来,美国人民经历了如此多的艰辛,需要应对最严重的萧条,经历了自上世纪30年代以来最大的金融危机,他们有尊严地面对这一切。为了赡养家庭,他们如此辛勤地工作。他们惟一的要求是,我们也应该在这座城市同样尽心尽力,使他们的日子好过一些。这个要求并不过分。归根结底,我对我国的未来如此充满希望—我对美利坚合众国充满信心,原因就在于美国人民,是因为他们坚韧不拔,他们勇敢坚定,他们希望全国万众一心,共同肩负我们的重担。

One last thing. There is no one who embodies the qualities I mentioned more than the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. And this weekend, we lost 30 of them when their helicopter crashed during a mission in Afghanistan. And their loss is a stark reminder of the risks that our men and women in uniform take every single day on behalf of their county. Day after day, night after night, they carry out missions like this in the face of enemy fire and grave danger. And in this mission — as in so many others — they were also joined by Afghan troops, seven of whom lost their lives as well.

最后一点,没有人比美国武装部队的男女成员更能体现我所提到的那些品质。这个周末,我们失去30名军人,他们乘坐的直升机在阿富汗执行任务时不幸坠毁。他们的牺牲很尖锐地提醒我们,男女军人们为了国家每天都面临着危险。他们冒着敌人的炮火和极大的危险,日日夜夜都在这样执行任务。如同执行其他许多任务一样,阿富汗部队也与他们一起参加了这次行动,其中7人也不幸牺牲。

So I’ve spoken to our generals in the field, as well as President Karzai. And I know that our troops will continue the hard work of transitioning to a stronger Afghan government and ensuring that Afghanistan is not a safe haven for terrorists. We will press on. And we will succeed.

我已与我们的战地将领以及卡尔扎伊总统通了话。我知道,我们的军队将继续从事艰巨的工作,向能力更强的阿富汗政府进行移交,保证阿富汗不再成为恐怖主义分子的庇护所。我们将勇往直前。我们必定成功。

But now is also a time to reflect on those we lost, and the sacrifices of all who serve, as well as their families. These men and women put their lives on the line for the values that bind us together as a nation. They come from different places, and their backgrounds and beliefs reflect the rich diversity of America.

然而,此时此刻,我们也缅怀我们失去的这些人员,追忆所有为国效力的人及其家属作出的牺牲。这些男女军人出生入死,捍卫使全国团结一心的价值观。他们来自四面八方,他们的背景和信仰体现了美国丰富的多样性。

But no matter what differences they might have as individuals, they serve this nation as a team. They meet their responsibilities together. And some of them — like the 30 Americans who were lost this weekend — give their lives for their country. Our responsibility is to ensure that their legacy is an America that reflects their courage, their commitment, and their sense of common purpose.

无论他们个人有多大的差异,他们都同心同德为国效力。他们共同承担责任。有些人,如本周末刚牺牲的30名美国人,为自己的国家献出了生命。我们的责任是坚决完成他们的遗愿,让美国继续弘扬他们的勇敢精神、他们的坚定意志、他们肩负共同使命的责任感。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢诸位。

实习生:李帅男

    更多栏目文章推荐

    更多奥巴,马,就,美国,信用,评级,问题发,表,的,留学考试 标签相关文章导读

    热点排行

    • 托福
    • 雅思
    • 中考
    • 高考

    精彩推荐