The U.S. Senate has approved a bill aimed at helping the country's small businesses, giving President Barack Obama a political victory in his effort to revive the country's economy.
The Senate passed the bill Thursday with the help of two key votes from opposition Republicans. It now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives, which is expected to pass the bill and send it to the president to become law.
President Obama says U.S. exports had a bigger-than-expected increase during the past year, which he says will help fight unemployment.
奥巴马总统说，过去一年来美国的出口增长超过预期，这会帮助降低美国的失业率。
"Obviously working off a low baseline, given the crisis last year, exports are expected to be up, but we are very pleased to see that they are up 18 percent, to where they were a year ago," Mr. Obama said. "And manufacturing exports are up 20 percent, and that is helping put a lot of our people back to work."
奥巴马说：“我们的起点显然很低，尤其是在去年发生经济危机的情况下，出口预期会增加。但出口一下子增长了18%，并恢复到一年前的水平，这让我们非常高兴。特别是制造业的出口增长了20%，这会让很多美国民众重新就业。”
The U.S. unemployment rate remains mired at 9.6 percent, which has depressed Mr. Obama's public approval ratings and hampered candidates from his Democratic Party.
美国失业率继续维持在9.6%的水平，这影响到奥巴马总统的公众支持率，并影响到民主党籍候选人的选情。
The president says one way out of the recession is to sell more American goods and services in other countries.
奥巴马总统说，摆脱经济衰退的一个途经就是向海外出口更多的美国产品和服务。
"The more American companies export, the more they produce," the president said. "And the more they produce, the more people they hire. And that means more jobs - good jobs that often pay as much as 15 percent more than average."
他说：“美国公司出口越多，生产就会越多。生产越多，新聘雇员就会越多。这就意味着会创造更多的就业，而且是薪酬不错的工作，经常比平均工薪高出15%。”
Mr. Obama spoke Thursday at a meeting of his recently formed export council.
奥巴马是星期四出席他新近成立的出口委员会会议时说这番话的。
He said his administration is working to resolve outstanding issues on free-trade agreements with South Korea and other countries, and seek congressional approval as soon as possible.
他说，他领导的政府正努力解决同韩国等国签署自由贸易协议所面临的悬而未决的问题，并尽早要求国会批准。
The United States signed free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama during the presidency of George W. Bush, but Congress has not approved them.
布什政府执政时期，美国与韩国、哥伦比亚和巴拿马分别签署了自由贸易协议，但是国会没有批准。
Earlier this year, President Obama called for the United States to double its exports within five years. He says that goal can be met.
今年早些时候，奥巴马总统要求五年内将美国的出口翻一番。他说，这个目标可以实现。
"These are some of the steps we will pursue to double America's exports over the next five years," Mr. Obama said. "When I made this initial announcement some were skeptical, but the truth of the matter is that if we are increasing our exports by 14 or 15 percent per year, something that is achievable, then we can meet our goal."
奥巴马说：“未来五年内将美国的出口翻一番，这些就是我们将采取步骤的一部分。我当初宣布这项计划时，有些人持怀疑态度。但事实是，如果美国的出口每年都能增长14%到15%，我们就能实现我们的目标，而美国出口每年是能够增长14%到15%的。”
A government report says the United States can meet its goal by conducting more international trade missions, promoting American exports in emerging markets and making small businesses aware of export opportunities.
一份政府报告说，美国如果能向海外派出更多的贸易代表团，在新兴市场国家推销美国产品，并让小型企业了解有哪些出口的机会，美国出口就能在五年内翻一番。 |