Weekly Address: President Obama Hails Successes of the Restructuring of the Auto Industry, Calls on GOP Leaders to Stop Blocking Aid for Small Businesses
每周电视讲话：奥巴马总统为汽车工业的重建成就喝彩，同时呼吁共和党领导人停止阻挠对小企业的援助
WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Obama praised the successes of the auto industry restructuring. When his administration decided to invest in the American car companies, some said such a move was bound to fail. But since GM and Chrysler have emerged from bankruptcy, the auto industry has added 55,000 jobs – the strongest growth in 10 years – and for the first time since 2004, all three companies are operating at a profit. The President also called on Republican leaders in the Senate to stop blocking a vote on a bill helping small businesses. Even though this bill will help the recovery, and has been endorsed by groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, the Republican Senate leadership continues to hold it hostage to politics by denying an up-or-down vote on the bill.
华盛顿消息：在本周的讲话中，奥巴马总统赞扬了汽车工业的重建成就。当时在政府决定为美国汽车企业投资时，一些人就说这样的行动注定要失败。但自从通用汽车和克莱斯勒脱离破产边缘以来，汽车工业已增加了55,000个工作岗位——这是10年来最强劲的增长——而且自2004年以来，三家汽车公司首次全部盈利。总统也号召参议院的共和党领导人停止阻挠对援助小企业法案的投票。尽管该法案将帮助经济复苏，而且也得到了诸如全国总商会和全国独立商业协会的赞同，但参议院的共和党领导层依然将其作为政治筹码，阻挠对该法案进行投票表决。
Hello everyone. I’m speaking to you from the GM auto plant here in Detroit, Michigan, where a hopeful story is unfolding in a place that’s been one of the hardest hit in America.
大家好。我在密歇根州底特律市的通用汽车工厂向大家发表演讲，这里是美国（在本次危机中）遭受重创的地方，但现在，这里正在展开一个充满希望的故事。
In the twelve months before I took office, American auto companies lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Sales plunged 40 percent. Liquidation was a very real possibility. Years of papering over tough problems and failing to adapt to changing times – combined with a vicious economic crisis – brought an industry that’s been the symbol of our manufacturing might for a century to the brink of collapse.
在我主政前的十二个月里，美国的汽车公司有数十万人失业。销售也跳水40%。当时，倒闭清盘是一个很现实的选择。多年掩盖突出问题和不能适应时代变化的要求——再遭遇这次凶猛的经济危机——使得这个一个世纪以来曾是我们制造业标志的产业濒临崩溃的边缘。
We didn’t have many good options. On one hand, we could have continued the practice of handing out billions of taxpayer dollars to the auto industry with no real strings attached. On the other hand, we could have walked away and allowed two major auto companies to go out of business – which could have wiped out one million American jobs.
我们并没有太多好的选择。一方面，我们可以不带任何附加条件地给汽车工业分发数十亿纳税人的援助款。另一方面，我们可以不管不问，让两家最大的汽车公司关门歇业——这将导致一百多万美国人失业。
I refused to let that happen. So we came up with a third way. We said to the auto companies – if you’re willing to make the hard decisions necessary to adapt and compete in the 21st century, we’ll make a one-time investment in your future.
我拒绝让这些发生。因此我们选择了第三种方案。我们当时就对这些汽车公司说——如果你们愿意下决心做出调整改变，参与21世纪的竞争，我们将为你们的未来做一次性的投资。
Of course, if some folks had their way, none of this would be happening at all. This plant might not exist. There were leaders of the “just say no” crowd in Washington who argued that standing by the auto industry would guarantee failure. One called it “the worst investment you could possibly make.” They said we should just walk away and let these jobs go.
当然，如果有人有别的方案，这些也都不会发生了。这项计划也就不存在了。那些反对派的领头人们聚集在华盛顿，声称援助汽车工业注定要失败。有人甚至称其为“你们所能做的投资里面最糟糕的”。他们说我们就应该不管，让失业顺其自然的发生。
Today, the men and women in this plant are proving these cynics wrong. Since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, our auto industry has added 55,000 jobs – the strongest period of job growth in more than ten years. For the first time since 2004, all three American automakers are operating at a profit. Sales have begun to rebound. And plants like this that wouldn’t have existed if all of us didn’t act are now operating maximum capacity.
今天，工厂里的男男女女们证明这些嘲笑者错了。自从通用汽车和克莱斯勒脱离破产以来，我们的汽车工业增加了55,000个岗位——这是10多年来最强劲的就业增长期。自2004年以来，三家汽车生产商也是首次都盈利了。销售也开始反弹。像这样的工厂如果当时我们什么都不做可能就不会存在了，现在它们正在满负荷运转。
What’s more, thanks to our investments, a lot of these auto companies are reinventing themselves to meet the demands of a new age. At this plant, they’re hard at work building the high-quality, fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow – cars like the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt that can run 40 miles before taking a sip of gasoline. Throughout Michigan, an advanced battery industry is taking root that will power clean electric cars – an industry that produced only 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries last year, but will now be able to produce as much as 40 percent in a little over five years. That’s real progress.
更重要的是，有了我们的投资，大量的汽车公司开始重塑自己的形象来满足新时代的要求。在这家工厂，人们正在努力生产未来的高品质节能汽车——像Chevy Volt这样的可充电混合动力汽车只要加一点点油就可以跑40英里（约64公里）。在密歇根州，为电动汽车提供清洁动力的先进电池工业在此扎根——该产业去年还只能生产全球2%的先进电池，但5年以后将能达到全球产量的40%。这是真正的进步。
There’s no doubt that we have a long way to go and a lot of work to do before folks here and across the country can feel whole again. But what’s important is that we’re finally beginning to see some of the tough decisions we made pay off. And if we had listened to the cynics and the naysayers – if we had simply done what the politics of the moment required – none of this progress would have happened.
毫无疑问，在全国人民再次找回安宁富足的感觉之前，我们还有很长的路要走还有很多工作要做。但重要的是我们已经开始看到我们所做出的艰难的抉择开始有了回报了。如果我们当时听从了嘲讽者和反对者们的——如果我们只是简单的按当时政策所要求的去做——是不会有这样的进步发生的。
Still, even as these icons of American industry are being reborn, we also need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with America’s small businessmen and women, as well -- particularly since they’re the ones who create most of the new jobs in this country.
尽管这些美国的标志产业获得重生，我们还是要与美国的小企业和妇女们肩并肩站在一起，当然，部分原因就是他们为这个国家创造了最多的新增就业。
As we work to rebuild our economy, I can’t imagine anything more common-sense than giving additional tax breaks and badly-needed lending assistance to America’s small business owners so they can grow and hire. That’s what we’re trying to do with the Small Business Jobs Act – a bill that has been praised as being good for small businesses by groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business. It’s a bill that includes provision after provision authored by both Democrats and Republicans. But yesterday, the Republican leaders in the Senate once again used parliamentary procedures to block it. Understand, a majority of Senators support the plan. It’s just that the Republican leaders in the Senate won’t even allow it to come up for a vote.
在我们重建经济的过程中，我不能想象还有什么比为美国的小企业主提供额外的税收减免和急需贷款援助更为常识性的东西，这些能帮助他们保持增长和雇佣人力。这是我们通过小企业就业法案要努力达到的——该法案被全国总商会和全国独立商业协会这样的团体称之为小企业的福音。该法案包含了民主党和共和党共同授权的持续的援助供应。但昨天，参议院的共和党领导人再一次利用国会议事程序阻挠该法案。要知道，大多数的参议员都支持该法案。只是这些参议院共和党的领导人们不给该法案一个参与投票表决的机会。
That isn’t right. And I’m calling on the Republican leaders in the Senate to stop holding America’s small businesses hostage to politics, and allow an up-or-down vote on this small business jobs bill.
这是不对的。我在此号召参议院的共和党领导人停止以劫持美国小企业为政治筹码，给该项小企业就业法案一个投票表决的机会。
At a time when America is just starting to move forward again, we can’t afford the do-nothing policies and partisan maneuvering that will only take us backward. I won’t stand here and pretend everything’s wonderful. I know that times are tough. But what I also know is that we’ve made it through tough times before. And we’ll make it through again. The men and women hard at work in this plant make me absolutely confident of that.
当美国再一次刚刚启动向前的时候，我们不能承受无所事事的政策和党派内斗，这只会使我们后退。我不能站在这儿假装一切都很美好。我知道现在很艰难。但我知道我们以前共同度过了艰难时期。而我们也将再一次度过这次的艰难时期。在这家工厂勤劳工作的人们使我坚信这一点。
So to all the naysayers out there, I say this: Don’t ever bet against the American people. Because we don’t take the easy way out. That’s not how we deal with challenge. That’s not how we build this country into the greatest economic power the world has ever known. We did it by summoning the courage to persevere, and adapt, and push this country forward, inch by inch. That’s the spirit I see in this plant today, and as long as I have the privilege of being your President, I will keep fighting alongside you until we reach a better day.
所以对于那些反对者们，我要说：永远也不要拿反对美国人民来做赌注。因为我们不会寻求捷径。那不是我们面对挑战的解决方法。那也不是我们将这个国家建设成为世界上最强大的经济大国的途径。我们通过鼓足勇气，坚持不懈，不断调整，将国家一寸一寸的不断推向前进。这是我今天在这家工厂所见到的精神。而且只要我还在总统位置上，我就会一直与你们站在一起并肩战斗直到我们迎来更加美好的明天。
Thanks.
谢谢！
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