奥巴马Remarks by the President at the 2010 Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit
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奥巴马2012感恩节赦免火鸡仪式讲话时间:2012-11-24 19:22来源:口译网作者:管鑫sam 点击:3215次Remarks by the President at the National Thanksgiving Turkey PardonNovember 21, 2012奥巴马总统感恩节赦免火鸡仪式讲话2012年11月21日点击进入下载页面:视频、音频、文本Well, good afternoon, everybody. (Turkey gobbles.) (Laughter.)各位,下午好!They say that life is all about second chances. And this November, I could not agree more. (Laughter.) So in the spirit of the season, I have one more gift to give, and it goes to a pair of turkeys named Cobbler and Gobbler. The American people have spoken, and these birds are moving forward. (Turkey gobbles.) (Laughter.) I love this bird. (Laughter.)人们说人生之中总会有转机,在这个时节,我万般赞同。
在这节日的气氛里,我还要送出一份厚礼给这对名叫“唧唧喳”和“咯咯哒”的火鸡。
美国人民表达了自己的意愿,这两只鸡将继续前进。
爱死这只大鸟了!Now, I joke, but for the first time in our history, the winners of the White House Turkey Pardon were chosen through a highly competitive online vote. And once again, Nate Silver completely nailed it. (Laughter.) The guy is amazing. He predicted these guys would win.好吧,是开玩笑。
Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on Syria奥巴马总统就叙利亚问题向全国发表讲话East Room, Washington, D.C.东厅,华盛顿哥伦比亚特区September 10, 20132013年9月10日My fellow Americans, tonight I want to talk to you about Syria -- why it matters, and where we go from here.我的美国同胞们,今晚我想对你们谈谈叙利亚问题 -- 为什么此事很重要,从现在开始我们将做些什么。
Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war. Over 100,000 people have been killed. Millions have fled the country. In that time, America has worked with allies to provide humanitarian support, to help the moderate opposition, and to shape a political settlement. But I have resisted calls for military action, because we cannot reso lve someone else’s civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.过去两年来,最初为反对巴沙尔阿萨德专制政权举行的一系列和平示威演变成一场残酷的内战。
奥巴马开学演讲原文(带翻译)奥巴马开学演讲原文(带翻译):REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENTREMARKS BY THE PRESIDENTIN A NATIONAL ADDRESS TO AMERICA'S SCHOOLCHILDREN Wakefield High SchoolArlington, Virginia:06 P.M. EDTTHE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. How is everybody doing today? (Applause.) How about Tim Spicer? (Applause.) I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through th grade. And I am just so glad that all could join us today. And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host. Give yourselves a big round of applause. (Applause.)I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day ina new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now -- (applause) -- with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could've stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived overseas. I lived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother, she didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday. But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:0 in the morning.Now, as you might imagine, I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. And a lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and she'd say,So I know that some of you are still adjusting tobeing back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year. Now, I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked about responsibility a lot.I've talked about teachers' responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn.I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and you get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox.I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, and supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working, where students aren't getting the opportunities that they deserve.But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up tothose schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. That's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.Maybe you could be a great writer -- maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper -- but you might not know it until you write that English paper -- that English class paper that's assigned to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor -- maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine -- but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice -- but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good educationfor every single one of those careers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to train for it and work for it and learn for it. And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends on you. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future. You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make ournation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that -- if you quit on school -- you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.Now, I know it's not always easy to do well in school.I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.I get it. I know what it's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mom who had to work and who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us the things that other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn't fit in.So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did some things I'm not proud of, andI got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.But I was -- I was lucky. I got a lot of second chances, and I had the opportunity to go to college and law school and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, she has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have a lot of money. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country. Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home -- none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cuttingclass, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Neither of her parents had gone to college. But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University -- is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to becoming Dr. Jazmin Perez.I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer -- hundreds of extra hours -- to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind. He's headed to college this fall.And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at a local health care center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs, and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.And Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They face challenges in their lives just like you do. In some cases they've got it a lot worse off than many of you. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That's why today I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education -- and do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids whoare being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, by the way, I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot, and that you stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star. Chances are you're not going to be any of those things.The truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject that you study. You won't click with every teacher that you have. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.That's okay. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. J.K. Rowling's -- who wrote Harry Potter -- her first Harry Potter book was rejected times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said,These people succeeded because they understood that you can't let your failures define you -- you have to let your failures teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time. So if you get into trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to act right. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.No one's born being good at all things. You become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. The same principle applies to yourschoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right. You might have to read something a few times before you understand it. You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength because it shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and that then allows you to learn something new. So find an adult that you trust -- a parent, a grandparent or teacher, a coach or a counselor -- and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you, don't ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country. The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.That's why today I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education -- and do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, by the way, I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot, and that you stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rappingor basketball or being a reality TV star. Chances are you're not going to be any of those things.The truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject that you study. You won't click with every teacher that you have. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.That's okay. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. J.K. Rowling's -- who wrote Harry Potter -- her first Harry Potter book was rejected times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said,These people succeeded because they understood that you can't let your failures define you -- you have to let your failures teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time. So if you get into trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to actright. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.No one's born being good at all things. You become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. The same principle applies to your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right. You might have to read something a few times before you understand it. You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength because it shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and that then allows you to learn something new. So find an adult that you trust -- a parent, a grandparent or teacher, a coach or a counselor -- and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you, don't ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country. The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.It's the story of students who sat where you sit 50 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and they founded this nation. Young people. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 0 years ago who founded Google and Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other. So today, I want to ask all of you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a President who comes here in 0 or 50 or 00 years say about what all of you did for this country?Now, your families, your teachers, and I are doingeverything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books and the equipment and the computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part, too. So I expect all of you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down. Don't let your family down or your country down. Most of all, don't let yourself down. Make us all proud.Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. God bless America. Thank you. (Applause.)END: P.M. EDT弗吉尼亚州,阿林顿市,009年9月8日嗨,大家好!你们今天过得怎么样?我现在和弗吉尼亚州阿林顿郡韦克菲尔德高中的学生们在一起,全国各地也有从幼儿园到高三的众多学生们通过电视关注这里,我很高兴你们能共同分享这一时刻,奥巴马开学演讲原文(带翻译),演讲稿《奥巴马开学演讲原文(带翻译)》()。
美国总统奥巴马在创业峰会上的讲话(中英对照)2010年4月26日,总统倡导的创业峰会(Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship)在华盛顿哥伦比亚特区罗纳德·里根大厦暨国际贸易中心(Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center)举行,奥巴马总统出席会议并发表讲话。
以下是讲话全文:Remarks by the President at the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade CenterWashington, D.C.April 26, 2010美国总统奥巴马在创业峰会上的讲话华盛顿哥伦比亚特区罗纳德·里根大厦暨国际贸易中心2010年4月26日THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Everybody, please have a seat. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Washington.总统:非常感谢。
大家请就坐。
各位晚上好,欢迎光临华盛顿。
In my life, and as President, I have had the great pleasure of visiting many of your countries, and I've always been grateful for the warmth and the hospitality that you and your fellow citizens have shown me. And tonight, I appreciate the opportunity to return the hospitality.在我这一生中以及担任总统期间,我有幸访问过你们所代表的许多国家,对于你们和你们的同胞对我的热烈欢迎和款待,我感激至深。
Remarks by the President at the Consumer Financial Protection BureauConsumer Financial Protection BureauWashington, D.C.12:02 P.M. ESTTHE PRESIDENT: Well, it is wonderful to see all of you. I thought I would just drop by to help your new director move in. (Laughter.) He’s been a little busy. So I thought maybe some boxes, a little plant. (Laughter.)I also just wanted to say hello to all of you who have just been doing extraordinary work in standing up what I think is going to be one of the most important agencies for people that there is. And I know that all of you have devoted enormous amounts of time and energy, and many of you are here making significant sacrifices with your families to make sure that this agency gets up and running really well. And so I just wanted to say thank you to all of you.Let me begin by saying a few words about the latest economic news. This morning, we learned that American businesses added another 212,000 jobs last month. Altogether, more private sector jobs were created in 2011 than any year since 2005. And there are a lot of people that are still -- (applause) -- there are a lot of people that are still hurting out there. After losing more than 8 million jobs in the recession, obviously we have a lot more work to do. But it is important for the American people to recognize that we’ve now added 3.2 million new private sector jobs over the last 22 months -- nearly 2 million jobs last year alone. So after shedding jobs for more than a decade, our manufacturing sector is also adding jobs two years in a row now. So we’re making progress. We’re moving in the right direction.And one of the reasons for this is the tax cut for working Americans that we put in place last year. And when Congress returns, they should extend the middle-class tax cut for all of this year, to make sure that we keep this recovery going. It’s the right thing to do. There should not be delay. There should not be a lot of drama. We should get it done.And the American people I think rightly understand that there are still a lot of struggles that people are going through out there. A lot of families are still having a tough time. A lot of small businesses are still having a tough time. But we’re starting to rebound. We’re moving in the right direction. We hav e made real progress. Now is not the time to stop. So I would urge Congress to make sure that they stay on top of their jobs to make sure that everybody else is able to enjoy hopefully an even more robust recovery in 2012.So the economy is moving in the r ight direction. We’re creating jobs on a consistent basis. We’re not going to let up -- not until everybody who wants to find a good job can find one. But we have a responsibility to do even more than just try to recover from this devastating recession and financial crisis. We have a responsibility to make sure that the economy that we’re rebuilding is one where middle-class families feel like they can get ahead again. A lot of the problems that we’re dealing with are problems thatexisted even before the recession, even before the financial crisis. For a decade or more, middle-class families felt like they were treading water, that they were losing ground.And what we want to do is make sure not just that we’re getting back to the status quo, we want to ma ke sure that we’re dealing with those underlining problems -- getting to a point where middle-class families feel like they can get ahead again. Where hard work pays off again. Where everybody gets a fair shot, and everybody does their fair share, and everybody is playing by the same set of rules.And that’s where all of you come in. Every one of you here has a critical role to play in making sure that everybody plays by the same rules. To make sure that the big banks on Wall Street play by the same rules as community banks on Main Street. To make sure that the rules of the road are enforced, and that a few bad actors in the financial sector can’t break the law, can’t cheat working families, can’t threaten our entire economy all over again.That’s your miss ion –- to make sure that the American people have somebody in their corner. That American consumer have somebody who’s got their back. And you finally got a great director who was tailor made to lead this agency in Richard Cordray. (Applause.)You’ve also got an extraordinary team that is lined up behind me here, who did a great job in getting this agency up and running, and are going to continue to show extraordinary leadership in all the various issues that you’re going to be addressing. And I also want to give a special shout-out to the woman who dreamt up this agency and spent so much time turning it into a reality -- our friend, Elizabeth Warren. (Applause.)Just to be a little more specific, millions of working Americans use financial products like credit cards and student loans and mortgages -- and that’s a good thing. These products have a tremendous potential to make people’s lives better –- to buy products, to earn an education, to afford a home, to raise a family. And we all use them. But when the y’re sold in an irresponsible fashion they can also make life brutally hard on people. They can turn the dreams of a family into a nightmare. Things like hidden fees and traps on credit cards and student loans cost working American billions of dollars. Things like subprime loans and skyrocketing interest that you can’t escape cannot only bring families to their knees but the entire economy to its knees.And Richard just mentioned the example of this elderly couple that we met when we were in Ohio yesterday. These are folks -- the gentleman was a Marine who served in Korea. They had been married for 42 years. He had worked all his life; they had poured their savings into this home.Because of a code violation -- obviously, they’re on a fixed income. They don’t have a lot of money. They thought, well, maybe we can get a loan to make some modest repairs. And what initially was promised as an $8,000 line of credit to make these repairs ended up being an $80,000 debt with no repairs that threatened them going into foreclosure.And those kinds of stories are replicated all across the country. And it not only hurts those individuals, it hurts the entire economy. That shouldn’t happen, not in America. And that’s why we’re here. We’re here to put an end to stories like these.And already, your work is making a difference. The “Know Before You Owe” campaign you’ve been working on for months is doing three big things. It’s making home loan applications more transparent, so that families will know what they owe on their mortgages. It’s making it easier for students to compare financial aid packages and know what they owe each month when they graduate. I could have used that. (Laughter.) It’s making -- in fact, I’ve got a law school classmate here who probably went through the same thing I did. (Laughter.) It’s making credit card agreements shorter and simpler, so that credit card holders will know what they owe and what they’re getting into. And I know that folks all across America have been sending in their stories to help shape these new initiatives.This is not something where it’s just a Washington top-down process. You are gathering the experiences of individual families, seeing how they got hurt, how they might have gotten cheated. And that’s helping to define how you enforce these rules. And that’s vitally important.And now that Richard is your director, you can finally exercise the full power that this agency has been given to protect consumers under the law. Now that he’s here, irresponsible debt collectors and pa yday lenders and independent mortgage servicers and loan providers, they’re all bound by the same rules as everybody else. No longer are consumers left alone to face the risk of unfair or deceptive or abusive practices -- not anymore.So we can make sure t hat folks don’t lose their homes or their life savings just because somebody saw them as an easy target. We can make sure that students don’t start out in life saddled with debt that they can never pay back just because of a lousy deal. We can safeguard families and seniors and veterans from toxic financial products. We can help give everybody the clear and transparent information that they need to make informed financial decisions and have companies compete for their business in an open and honest way.Th at’s Richard’s commitment. That’s my commitment. That’s the commitment of everybody standing on this stage. And that’s your commitment. That’s why this agency is so important.So I want to thank all of you for choosing to serve your country in these challenging times. Your mission is extraordinarily important. It’s vital to the strength of our economy. It’s really important to the security of working families. And I know that it might be personal for some of you. You may know a friend or a family member whose life was turned upside down because of some of these unsavory practices that this agency is designed to root out, and maybe you were then determined to prevent that from happening to somebody else. Now you can. And we’re not going to let those folks do wn all across the country.When I meet Americans all across the country or I read letters that I get every night, they really don’t ask for much; they’re not looking for a handout, they’re not looking for special treatment. They just want a fair shake; they just want a fair deal. And we have a chance to give it to them.So let’s do everything that we can to make sure that middle-class families can regain some of the security that they’ve lost over the last decade. Let’s help to protect what they’ve worked so hard for, and give them the chance to hand it down to their kids. I know you guys are ready to go to work. I am too. I couldn’t be prouder of you.So congratulations. (Applause.)。
奥巴马俄罗斯毕业典礼演讲(中英对照)美国总统奥巴马7日在莫斯科发表演讲时表示,俄罗斯必须尊重格鲁吉亚和乌克兰的主权,在伊朗和朝鲜的核计划问题上也应与国际社会进行合作。
“国际主权应该是国际秩序的奠基石,”奥巴马在莫斯科新经济学院发表演讲时称,就像所有国家都应该有权选择他们的领导人一样,各国也有权巩固边防和制定他们的外交政策。
“任何舍弃这些权利的组织系统都将走向混乱。
这些原则应该运用到所有的国家——其中包括格鲁吉亚和乌克兰。
”而在关于伊朗和朝鲜的核问题上,奥巴马说美国和俄罗斯都不会在他们的核军备竞争中获益,希望俄罗斯能与美国一起阻止朝鲜和伊朗发展核武器,并在相关问题上进行合作。
2009年7月7日奥巴马在俄罗斯新经济学院毕业典礼的演讲(中英对照)REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE NEW ECONOMIC SCHOOL GRADUATIONGostinny DvorMoscow, RussiaJuly 7, 2009美国总统奥巴马在俄罗斯新经济学院毕业典礼上的演讲Gostinny Dvor 会展中心俄罗斯,莫斯科2009年7月7日Thank you so much. Well, congratulations, Oxana. And to the entire Class of 2009, congratulations to you. I don't know if anybody else will meet their future wife or husband in class like I did, but I'm sure that you're all going to have wonderful careers.多谢大家。
祝贺你,奥科萨纳(Oxana)。
2009届全体同学,祝贺你们。
我不知道是否还有其他人像我一样在同窗读书时遇到未来的妻子或丈夫,不过我肯定你们都会有美好的前途。
奥巴马每日发言Remarks by The President to The NAACP...REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT TO THE NAACP CENTENNIAL CONVENTIONNAACP介绍:NAACP:National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 全国有色人种协进会(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)是一个由美国白人和黑人组成的旨在促进黑人民权的全国性组织。
总部设在纽约。
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. What an extraordinary night, capping off an extraordinary week, capping off an extraordinary 100 years at the NAACP. (Applause.)So Chairman Bond, Brother Justice, I am so grateful to all of you for being here. It's just good to be among friends. (Applause.)It is an extraordinary honor to be here, in the city where the NAACP was formed, to mark its centennial. What we celebrate tonight is not simply the journey the NAACP has traveled, but the journey that we, as Americans, have traveled over the past 100 years. (Applause.)It's a journey that takes us back to a time before most of us were born, long before the Voting Rights Act, and the Civil Rights Act, Brown v. Board of Education; back to an America just a generation past slavery. It was a time when Jim Crow was a way of life; when lynchings were all too common; when race riots were shaking cities across a segregated land.It was in this America where an Atlanta scholar named W.E.B. Du Bois -- (applause) -- a man of towering intellect and a fierce passion for justice, sparked what became known as the Niagara movement; where reformers united, not by color, but by cause; where an association was born that would, as its charter says, promote equality and eradicate prejudice among citizens of the United States.From the beginning, these founders understood how change would come -- just as King and all the civil rights giants did later. They understood that unjust laws needed to be overturned; that legislation needed to be passed; and that Presidents needed to be pressured into action. They knew that the stain of slavery and the sin of segregation had to be lifted in the courtroom, and in the legislature, and in the hearts and the minds of Americans.They also knew that here, in America, change would have to come from the people. It would come from people protesting lynchings, rallying against violence, all those women who decided to walk instead of taking the bus, even though they were tired after a long day of doing somebody else's laundry, looking after somebody else's children. (Applause.) It would come from men and women of every age and faith, and every race and region -- taking Greyhounds on Freedom Rides; sitting down at Greensboro lunch counters; registering voters in rural Mississippi, knowing they would be harassed, knowing they would be beaten, knowing that some of them might never return. Because of what they did, we are a more perfect union. Because Jim Crow laws were overturned, black CEOs today run Fortune 500 companies. (Applause.) Because civil rights laws were passed, black mayors, black governors, and members of Congress served in places where they might once have been able [sic] not just to vote but even take a sip of water. And because ordinary people did such extraordinary things, because they made the civil rights movement their own, even though there may not be a plaque or their names might not be in the history books -- because of their efforts I made a little trip to Springfield, Illinois, a couple years ago -- (applause) -- where Lincoln once lived, and race riots once raged -- and began the journey that has led me to be here tonight as the 44th President of the United States of America. (Applause.)Because of them I stand here tonight, on the shoulders of giants. And I'm here to say thank you to those pioneers and thank you to the NAACP. (Applause.)And yet, even as we celebrate the remarkable achievements of the past 100 years; even as we inherit extraordinary progress that cannot be denied; even as we marvel at the courage and determination of so many plain folk -- we know that too many barriers still remain.We know that even as our economic crisis batters Americans of all races, African Americans are out of work more than just about anybody else -- a gap that's widening here in New York City, as a detailed report this week by Comptroller Bill Thompson laid out. (Applause.)We know that even as spiraling health care costs crush families of all races, African Americans are more likely to suffer from a host of diseases but less likely to own health insurance than just about anybody else.We know that even as we imprison more people of all races than any nation in the world, an African American child is roughly five times as likely as a white child to see the inside of a prison. We know that even as the scourge of HIV/AIDS devastates nations abroad, particularly in Africa, it is devastating the African American community here at home with disproportionate force. We know these things. (Applause.)These are some of the barriers of our time. They're very different from the barriers faced by earlier generations. They're very different from the ones faced when fire hoses and dogs were being turned on young marchers; when Charles Hamilton Houston and a group of young Howard lawyers were dismantling segregation case by case across the land.But what's required today -- what's required to overcome today's barriers is the same as what was needed then. The same commitment. The same sense of urgency. The same sense of sacrifice. The same sense of community. The same willingness to do our part for ourselves and one another that has always defined America at its best and the African American experience at its best. (Applause.)And so the question is, where do we direct our efforts? What steps do we take to overcome these barriers? How do we move forward in the next 100 years?The first thing we need to do is make real the words of the NAACP charter and eradicate prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination among citizens of the United States. (Applause.) I understand there may be a temptation among some to think that discrimination is no longer a problem in 2009. And I believe that overall, there probably has never been less discrimination in America than there is today. I think we can say that.But make no mistake: The pain of discrimination is still felt in America. (Applause.) By African American women paid less for doing the same work as colleagues of a different color and a different gender. (Laughter.) By Latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. (Applause.) By Muslim Americans viewed with suspicion simply because they kneel down to pray to their God. (Applause.) By our gay brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights. (Applause.)On the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination cannot stand -- not on account of color or gender; how you worship or who you love. Prejudice has no place in the United States of America. That's what the NAACP stands for. That's what the NAACP will continue to fight for as long as it takes. (Applause.)But we also know that prejudice and discrimination -- at least the most blatant types of prejudice and discrimination -- are not even the steepest barriers to opportunity today. The most difficultbarriers include structural inequalities that our nation's legacy of discrimination has left behind; inequalities still plaguing too many communities and too often the object of national neglect. These are barriers we are beginning to tear down one by one -- by rewarding work with an expanded tax credit; by making housing more affordable; by giving ex-offenders a second chance. (Applause.) These are barriers we're targeting through our White House Office on Urban Affairs, through programs like Promise Neighborhoods that builds on Geoffrey Canada's success with the Harlem Children's Zone -- (applause) -- that foster a comprehensive approach to ending poverty by putting all children on a pathway to college, and giving them the schooling and after-school support that they need to get there. (Applause.)I think all of us understand that our task of reducing these structural inequalities has been made more difficult by the state and structure of our broader economy; an economy that for the last decade has been fueled by a cycle of boom and bust; an economy where the rich got really, really rich, but ordinary folks didn't see their incomes or their wages go up; an economy built on credit cards, shady mortgage loans; an economy built not on a rock, but on sand.That's why my administration is working so hard not only to create and save jobs in the short-term, not only to extend unemployment insurance and help for people who have lost their health care in this crisis, not just to stem the immediate economic wreckage, but to lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity that will put opportunity within the reach of not just African Americans, but all Americans. All Americans. (Applause.) Of every race. Of every creed. From every region of the country. (Applause.) We want everybody to participate in the American Dream. That's what the NAACP is all about. (Applause.)Now, one pillar of this new foundation is health insurance for everybody. (Applause.) Health insurance reform that cuts costs and makes quality health coverage affordable for all, and it closes health care disparities in the process. Another pillar is energy reform that makes clean energy profitable, freeing America from the grip of foreign oil; putting young people to work upgrading low-income homes, weatherizing, and creating jobs that can't be outsourced. Another pillar is financial reform with consumer protections to crackdown on mortgage fraud and stop predatory lenders from targeting black and Latino communities all across the country. (Applause.)All these things will make America stronger and more competitive. They will drive innovation, they will create jobs, they will provide families with more security. And yet, even if we do all that, the African American community will still fall behind in the United States and the United States will fall behind in the world unless we do a far better job than we have been doing of educating our sons and daughters. (Applause.)I hope you don't mind -- I want to go into a little detail here about education. (Applause.) In the 21st century -- when so many jobs will require a bachelor's degree or more, when countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow -- a world-class education is a prerequisite for success.There's no two ways about it. There's no way to avoid it. You know what I'm talking about. There's a reason the story of the civil rights movement was written in our schools. There's a reason Thurgood Marshall took up the cause of Linda Brown. There's a reason why the Little Rock Nine defied a governor and a mob. It's because there is no stronger weapon against inequality and no better path to opportunity than an education that can unlock a child's God-given potential. (Applause.)And yet, more than half a century after Brown v. Board, the dream of a world-class education isstill being deferred all across the country. African American students are lagging behind white classmates in reading and math -- an achievement gap that is growing in states that once led the way in the civil rights movement. Over half of all African American students are dropping out of school in some places. There are overcrowded classrooms, and crumbling schools, and corridors of shame in America filled with poor children -- not just black children, brown and white children as well.The state of our schools is not an African American problem; it is an American problem. (Applause.) Because if black and brown children cannot compete, then America cannot compete. (Applause.) And let me say this, if Al Sharpton, Mike Bloomberg, and Newt Gingrich can agree that we need to solve the education problem, then that's something all of America can agree we can solve. (Applause.) Those guys came into my office. (Laughter.) Just sitting in the Oval Office -- I kept on doing a double-take. (Laughter and applause.) So that's a sign of progress and it is a sign of the urgency of the education problem. (Applause.) All of us can agree that we need to offer every child in this country -- every child --AUDIENCE: Amen!。
2009-09-22 奥巴马在联合国气候变化问题首脑会议上的讲话(节选)Remarks By the U.S. President at United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's ClimateChange SummitUnited Nations HeadquartersSeptember 22, 2009美国总统奥巴马在联合国秘书长潘基文主持的气候变化问题首脑会议上的讲话联合国总部(交传版参考译文)2009年9月22日Thank you very much. Good morning. I want to thank the Secretary General for organizing this summit, and all the leaders who are participating. That so many of us are here today is a recognition that the threat from climate change is serious, it is urgent, and it is growing. Our generation's response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it -- boldly, swiftly, and together -- we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe.多谢诸位。
早上好。
我对组织这次首脑会议的联合国秘书长以及在座的各位领导人表示感谢。
今天有如此众多的代表到会,这表明人们认识到气候变化构成的威胁有多么严重,认识到威胁迫在眉睫,也认识到威胁正日益增长。
奥巴马总统9月8日开学演讲(中英对照)早晨偶然在报纸上看到了9月8日美国开学日的时候,奥巴马总统给全国从幼儿园到高中生做的一个开学演讲,非常感动.想把这个东西与大家分享一下,于是上网找到了中英文全文两个版本.我对照了一下,翻译得基本上做到了信、达、雅。
奥巴马总统讲演的风格很口语化,讲道理深入浅出,很有感染力.????????论坛里的朋友相信有很多都是已经为人父母了,我的孩子上周也进入小学一年级,踏上了漫长的求学之路.如何教育孩子,激励孩子,可能是每个家长最头痛的问题.我建议你亲自给你的孩子读一下这篇讲演,跟他(她)讨论一下,让孩子理解一下他(她)身上所承担的对自己,对国家的责任.????????发这个贴之前,踌躇再三,毕竟讲教育的主题跟股市的主旨有些不合,但我觉得从投资角度而言,教育上面花费的时间、精力,金钱的投资,不管是投向自己,还是孩子,都是我们一生中所能做出的最好的,永远都不会后悔的投资选择之一.毕竟,一个更好的未来,一个更强大的国家,一个更美,更和谐的世界愿景都要依靠我们的孩子们去实现.????????弗吉尼亚州,阿林顿市,2009年9月8日????????嗨,大家好!你们今天过得怎么样?我现在和弗吉尼亚州阿林顿郡韦克菲尔德高中的学生们在一起,全国各地也有从幼儿园到高三的众多学生们通过电视关注这里,我很高兴你们能共同分享这一时刻。
????我知道,对你们中的许多人来说,今天是开学的第一天,你们中的有一些刚刚进入幼儿园或升上初高中,对你们来说,这是在新学校的第一天,因此,假如你们感到有些紧张,那也是很正常的。
我想也会有许多毕业班的学生们正自信满满地准备最后一年的冲刺。
不过,我想无论你有多大、在读哪个年级,许多人都打心底里希望现在还在放暑假,以及今天不用那么早起床。
????我可以理解这份心情。
小时候,我们家在印度尼西亚住过几年,而我妈妈没钱送我去其他美国孩子们上学的地方去读书,因此她决定自己给我上课——时间是每周一到周五的凌晨4点半。
Remarks by the PresidentEast Room1:08 P.M. ESTTHE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. (Applause.) Thank you very much, everybody. Everybody, please have a seat. (Applause.)Well, good afternoon, everybody. Now that those of us on the campaign trail have had a chance to get a little sleep -- (laughter) -- it’s time to get back to work. And there is plenty of work to do.As I said on Tuesday night, the American people voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in that spirit, I’ve invited leaders of both parties to the White House next week, so we can start to build consensus around the challenges that we can only solve together. And I also intend to bring in business and labor and civic leaders from all across the country here to Washington to get their ideas and input as well.At a time when our economy is still recovering from the Great Recession, our top priority has to be jobs and growth. That’s the focu s of the plan I talked about during the campaign. (Applause.) It’s a plan to reward small businesses and manufacturers that create jobs here, not overseas. It’s a plan to give people the chance to get the education and training that businesses are looking for right now. It’s a plan to make sure this country is a global leader in research and technology and clean energy, which will attract new companies and high-wage jobs to America. It’s a plan to put folks back to work, including our veterans, rebuilding our roads and our bridges, and other infrastructure. And it’s a plan to reduce our deficit in a balanced and responsible way.Our work is made that much more urgent because at the end of this year, we face a series of deadlines that require us to make major decisions about how to pay our deficit down -- decisions that will have a huge impact on the economy and the middle class, both now and in the future. Last year, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to cut a trillion dollars’ worth of spendin g that we just couldn’t afford. I intend to work with both parties to do more -- and that includes making reforms that will bring down the cost of health care so we can strengthen programs like Medicaid and Medicare for the long haul.But as I’ve said before, we can’t just cut our way to prosperity. If we’re serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue -- and that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes. (Applause.) That’s how we did i t in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was President. That’s how we can reduce the deficit while still making the investments we need to build a strong middle class and a strongeconomy. That’s the only way we can still afford to train our workers, or help our kids pay for college, or make sure that good jobs in clean energy orhigh-tech manufacturing don’t end up in countries like China.Now, already, I’ve put forward a detailed plan that allows us to make these investments while reducing our deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade. I want to be clear -- I’m not wedded to every detail of my plan. I’m open to compromise. I’m open to new ideas. I’m committed to solving our fiscal challenges. But I refuse to accept any approach that isn’t balanced. I am not going to ask students and seniors and middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me, making over $250,000, aren’t asked to pay a dime more in taxes. I'm not going to do that. (Applause.)And I just want to point out this was a central question during the election. It was debated over and over again. And on Tuesday night, we found out thatthe majority of Americans agree with my approach -- and that includes Democrats, independents, and a lot of Republicans across the country, as well as independent economists and budget experts. That’s how you reduce the deficit -- with a balanced approach.So our job now is to get a majority in Congress to reflect the will of the American people. And I believe we can get that majority. I was encouraged to hear Speaker Boehner agree that tax revenue has to be part of this equation -- so I look forward to hearing his ideas when I see him next week.And let me make one final point that every American needs to hear. Right now, if Congress fails to come to an agreement on an overall deficit reduction package by the end of the year, everybody’s taxes will automatically go up on January 1st -- everybody’s -- including the 98 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000 a year. And that makes no sense. It would be bad for the economy and would hit families that are already struggling to make ends meet.Now, fortunately, we shouldn’t need long negotiations or drama to solve that part of the problem. While there may be disagreement in Congress over whether or not to raise taxes on folks making over $250,000 a year, nobody -- not Republicans, not Democrats -- want taxes to go up for folks making under$250,000 a year. So let’s not wait. Even as we’re negotiating a broa der deficit reduction package, let’s extend the middle-class tax cuts rightnow. Let's do that right now. (Applause.)That one step -- that one step -- would give millions of families -- 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses -- the certainty that they need going into the new year. It would immediately take a huge chunk of the economic uncertainty off the table, and that will lead to new jobs and faster growth. Business will know that consumers, they're not going to see a big tax increase. They'll know that most small businesses won't see a tax increase. And so a lot of the uncertainty that you're reading about, that will be removed.In fact, the Senate has already passed a bill doing exactly this, so all we need is action from the House. And I’ve got the pen ready to sign the bill right away. I'm ready to do it. (Applause.) I'm ready to do it. (Applause.)The American people understand that we’re going to have differences and disagreements in the months to come. They get that. But on Tuesday, they said loud and clear that they won’t tolerate dysfunction. They won’t tolerate politicians who view compromise as a dirty word. Not when so manyAmericans are still out of work. Not when so many families and small business owners are still struggling to pay the bills.What the American people are looking for is cooperation. They're looking for consensus. They're looking for common sense. Most of all, they want action. I intend to deliver for them in my second term, and I expect to find willing partners in both parties to make that happen. So let’s get to work.Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. (Applause.)END1:15 P.M. ESTBlog posts on this issue∙November 19, 2012 5:00 PM ESTFirst Lady Honors National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award RecipientsFirst Lady Michelle Obama honors 12 of the n ation’s most outstanding arts and humanities programs for young people.∙November 19, 2012 3:00 PM ESTShop Small on Saturday, November 24th 2012Small Business Saturday is a date set aside to support the smallbusinesses that play a vital role in creating jobs and economicopportunities across the country.∙November 19, 2012 1:16 PM ESTPresident Obama Promises Support for the People of BurmaPresident Obama arrives in Rangoon and becomes the first sittingpresident ever to visit Burma.∙view all related blog postsStay Connected ∙Facebook∙Twitter∙Flickr∙Google+∙YouTube∙Vimeo∙iTunes∙LinkedIn。
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Please, please have a seat. Thank you.Well, I am just thrilled to be here tonight with some of the most brilliant, accomplished, influential women in this country. As Michelle Obama’s husband, I feel very much at home. (Laughter.)I have three tall, good-looking, strong-willed women. That’s just on the second floor. Then I’ve got my mother-in-law on the third floor. (Laughter.)So it’s a thrill to be here. I want to thank Ann for that kind -- and brief -- introduction -- (laughter) -- and for her extraordinary leadership. And I want to thank all the people who helped to organize this spectacular event.And I’m especially pleased to see the young people who are here. We are thrilled -- thrilled to have you. (Applause.)I also see that my friend Warren Buffett is here. (Applause.) I understand that even though he is a man, he has been invited back year after year –- (laughter) –- because he knows that the surest path to success is to surround yourself with brilliant women. (Applause.) He’s a smart guy.I happen to share that belief. And I’m pleased to see some of the extraordinary women in my administration who are also here tonight, because I rely on their wise advice every single day, and I’m tremendously grateful for their service.But being here isn’t just meaningful to me as President. It’s also meaningful to me personally. As some of you know, I was raised in part by my grandmother. She just passed away a couple of years ago. When I was born, she got a job as a secretary to help provide for our family. Now, she only had a high school education. She had grown up in a generation where women weren’t necessarily encouraged to pursue a college degree, and certainly not after they had gotten married and had had a child. But she had an incredible mind and sound judgment. And so over the years she worked her way up -- without a college degree, just a high school degree -- to become one of the first woman bank vice presidents in the state of Hawaii. And that was an amazing accomplishment, but that position was also her glass ceiling. For nearly two decades, she watched as men no more qualified than she was -- in fact, usually men who she had trained would get promoted up the corporate ladder ahead of her.Now, I know that if given the chance, she would have run that bank better than anybody. But she never got that opportunity. And she never complained. She hardly ever took a vacation. She just kept getting up and giving her best every single day.So tonight, I’m inspired to be with s o many women who have reached the pinnacles of their professions. That’s a credit to all of you and your individual drive and fortitude, because I knowyou’ve overcome plenty of obstacles of your own. And while we still have a ways to go, it’s also a tes tament to the progress that we’ve made as a country -- certainly since my grandmother was a young woman.The 75 young leaders who are here tonight are another testament to that progress, because as you know -- (applause) -- as you know, these young women went through a citywide selection process to attend this event. And on their applications, they were asked to list their career aspirations. And I’ve got a list of what they said. See, we’ve got “cultural anthropologist.” (Applause.) That’s a good choice. My mother was an anthropologist, so thumbs up on that. “Classical singer.” (Applause.) “U.S. senator.” (Applause.) There’s some people saying like, “Oh, I don’t know.” (Laughter.) “Professional race car driver.” One stated that she intend s to become “the next Bill Gates.” I don’t know why Buffett was skipped over, but -- (laughter.)Another wrote “environmental scientist and work on ways to find new fuel resources.” Important. And one -- this is my favorite -- one said, “doctor, lawyer and an engineer.” (Applause.) This young lady said, “I know this is ambitious but not impossible.” (Laughter.)So when we talk about the theme of this year’s conference -- “building a legacy” -- that’s exactly what we’re talking about. That’s what’s at stake. That spark. That passion. All those ambitions and aspirations expressed by these young people.And the question is, what are we doing to nurture that promise? How do we ensure that 10 or 20 or 30 years from now, these young women will be sitting where all of you are sitting tonight, with their own mentees, passing the torch to a next generation? What are we doing to build a dynamic, competitive, opportunity-rich economy so that they have successful lives and careers of their own?Now, as some of our nation’s top business leaders and nonprofit leaders and leaders in so many different fields, the answers to these questions are going to be largely determined by you, because as part of the competitiveness of America’s economy, the richness of its cultural life, it’s always depended on the innovation and enterprise of American businesses and American institutions and organizations -- on the products you develop and the jobs you create and the growth that you drive.Now, this doesn’t relieve government of its responsibility to create the conditions for businesses to succeed. That’s what government does best -- those things that no individual or business will do on their own, but that create an environment where everybody can compete. So that means funding the basic research that drives new discoveries and sparks new industries. It means upgrading our infrastructure -- including things like high-speed rail and Internet -- so that you can get your products and services to your customers. It means promoting exports, because the more our businesses export, the more they produce -- and the more jobs they create.And it means making sure that our people have what it takes to actually do those jobs.That’s what we’ve been discussing during the conference today, and it’s what I’d like to focus on tonight, because you know, as I do, that our businesses, our institutions, our economy cannot compete unless our workforce can compete -- unless we harness the potential of every American and ensure that their skills match up to the work of the future.And that starts with education -- especially in fields like science and technology and engineering and math. We cannot sustain -- oops -- was that my? (Laughter.) Oh, goodness. That’s all right. (Laughter.) All of you know who I am. (Laughter and applause.) But I’m sure there’s somebody back there that’s really nervous right now. (Laughter.) Don’t you think? They’re sweating bullets back there right now. (La ughter.)Where were we? (Laughter.) We cannot sustain high-tech, high-wage jobs here in America when our young people are lagging far behind competitors around the world. That’s one of the reasons we launched a national competition called Race to the Top, designed to raise standards in our schools. And it’s based on a simple idea: Instead of funding the status quo, we’re only going to invest in reform.And with the help of business leaders like Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox, we’ve created a new partnership called “Change the Equation,” which is a coalition of more than 100 CEOs from our nation’s largest companies who’ve committed to bringing innovative math and science programs to at least 100 high-need communities over the course of the next year. And it includes a special focus on girls, who are often underrepresented in our scientific fields. (Applause.) And I know, by the way, from talking to Malia and Sasha, it’s just a matter of giving them a little bit of confidence, and they will thrive and succeed in math and science. But somebody’s got to be there to say to them, you know what, you can do this.We also know that in today’s economy, every American will need more than a high school diploma. And back when I took office, I set a goal: By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. That’s why we’ve increased student aid and tuition tax credits, and we’ve eliminated tens of billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies, and we’re now using that money to make college more affordable to millions of students. We’ve made historic investments in community colleges, which are a pathway to opportunity not just for children of so many working families, but for millions of women returning to the workforce or who are raising children of their own and so need some flexibility in terms of a course of study and advancing careers.And just yesterday, we launched a new initiative called Skills for America’s Future to connect students looking for jobs with businesses looking to hire. And the idea is very simple: Businesses and community colleges work together to match the curricula in the classroom with the needs of the boardroom. Companies then hire the graduates, who show up on their first d ay with precisely the skills that you need, and that they need, to succeed. We’ve already got businesses from PG&E to United Technologies to the Gap who are supporting this initiative, as have business leaders like my friend who is helping to spearhead this, Penny Pritzker, and the Aspen Institute’s Walter Isaacson. So we want to get these partnerships going in all 50 states --and I hope that companies that are represented here all decide to be a part of this program.Now, let’s not forget that most of your businesses did not start out as national or multinational corporations. They began as tiny startups, dreamed up in garages and around kitchen tables by folks who were willing to take a chance on an idea. So when we’re talking about building a mo re competitive workforce, that doesn’t just mean developing more competitive workers. It also means developing more competitive entrepreneurs. It means helping them translate those good ideas into successful businesses that create jobs and strengthen our economy.And as any entrepreneur will tell you, one of the biggest roadblocks they face is access to capital. It turns out that’s particularly true for women. A recent study by the Kauffman Foundation found that women high-tech entrepreneurs raised nearly 70 percent less capital when starting their firms than men did. For all we know, one of those women could have the idea for the next Google or Apple or HP. But that doesn’t mean much if she can’t get the cash to bring the idea to market.So Theresa Daytner knows what that’s like. She’s one of the entrepreneurs that you’re honoring this year. Is she here? Theresa? Where are you? (Applause.) Way back there. Hey, you. I love Theresa’s story. She struggled at first to get capital for he r construction company, partly because she was providing for her six kids and caring for her aging parents. So eventually she ran out of options. She applied for a home equity loan. And this resonates with me, this story. She handed her husband the app lication, and she said to him, “Here, honey, sign this but don’t read it.” (Laughter.)Now, her company took off, bringing in more than $16 million in revenue so far this year. (Applause.) So we’re very proud of what you’ve accomplished. But fo lks like Theresa, they shouldn’t have to mortgage their family home to build their family business. That’s why we’re working to help entrepreneurs like Theresa with new tax cuts and more loans.Yesterday, the White House Council on Women and Girls h osted a Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit to seek solutions to some of the challenges that women face. And I’m pleased that the Small Business Administration, under the leadership of Karen Mills, has announced a new effort to level the playing field for women entrepreneurs in industries where they’re underrepresented -- from computer technology to telecommunications to scientific research.So we’re working to support our entrepreneurs. We’re working to better train and educate our workers. But as we s eek to harness the talents and skills of the American people, there’s another factor that I believe is too often overlooked, and that’s the structure of our workplaces -- whether our workplaces are mobile and flexible and accommodating enough to give people the opportunities they need to contribute and raise a family.And I want to talk to all of you about this, not as women, not as women business leaders,but simply as business leaders, because while this issue may disproportionately affect women, I d on’t think it makes sense to label it as a woman’s issue. Not just because plenty of men wish they had flexibility to be better fathers to their kids or better sons to their aging parents, but because we know that companies with flexible work arrangements can actually have lower turnover and absenteeism and higher productivity. So this is not just a woman’s issue. It’s not just a work-family balance issue. It’s an economic competitiveness issue.That’s why so many of your companies are already leading the way, embracing things like telecommuting and flextime and onsite childcare. And my administration is committed to supporting efforts like these. Not just by investing in paid leave programs and childcare tax credits, but also by making the federal government a model for the policies that we’re encouraging.We’re creating mobile workplaces and flexible work schedules, and we’re judging employees by the results they get, not the face time they log, because this doesn’t just provide a better experience for our employees, it helps us attract and retain the top talent and provide better service for the American people.In the end, that’s really our goal here -- to get all our people doing the very best work that they can. That’s how we’ve always moved forward in this country: breaking down barriers, being inclusive, setting aside the outdated assumptions that keep us from appreciating what each of us has to offer.And obviously t hat work’s not finished. I’m not naïve about that. But I also know that thanks to decades of struggle and sacrifice, a lot of it quiet, a lot of it behind the scenes, many of the obstacles that my grandmother faced no longer exist.Today, women make up half of America’s workforce. They are primary or co-breadwinners in two-thirds of our families. Their contributions are vital to the success of our economy. Today, girls like my daughters, young women like the ones at this dinner, have opportunities that my grandmother never dreamed of for herself.So I want to conclude by telling you a little bit about one of these young women -- I believe she may be here, Markela Izlar. Is Markela here? She’s a senior -- well, stand up, wave. (Applause.) S he’s a senior at Ballou High School.Now, Markela has faced some pretty serious challenges in her life. Her father was killed in an act of violence before she was born. And in her essay, she wrote, “Life growing up in Southeast D.C. hasn’t been easy.” She says, “I recently lost count of how many friends and family members I had to say goodbye to before it seemed like it was time.”But it turns out Markela loves math -- and I hear you’re pretty good at math. And she is determined to one day become either an engineer or an algebra teacher. And she concluded her essay by saying, “When I think about the disadvantages I have in my life, it motivates me tobe successful. Because I understand that in life” -- (applause) -- she says, “I understand that in life everyone has a purpose and a plan, and every day, I see myself getting closer and closer to college, and one day, a career.”So, Markela, we are proud of you. We’re proud of all the young women who are here in this room. And I want to make sure that our legacy to them is an America where they can fulfill every last bit of their promise, and pursue every last one of their dreams, and become powerful, accomplished women. And so many of you are setting such a great example for them.So thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. Thank you. (Applause.)END 8:20 P.M. EDT。