At this moment, our nation is facing a host of big and difficult challenges. And more than anything else, what’s required to meet those challenges right now is a sense of cooperation and common purpose among our leaders.  What we need is a willingness in Washington to put the public’s interests first – a willingness to score fewer political points so that we can start solving more problem.

此刻,我们国家正面临诸多重大而困难的挑战。而且尤为重要的是,面对这些挑战我们需要的是领导层的合作协调和目标一致。我们需要的是华盛顿将公众利益放在第一位的意愿—不为抢得政治筹码而着手解决实际问题的意愿。

That’s why I was disappointed this week to see a dreary and familiar politics get in the way of our ability to move forward on a series of critical issues that have a direct impact on people’s lives.

这也是为什么本周我如此失望的原因:无聊的政治手段故技重施,阻碍我们在一系列直接关系人民生活的重大问题上取得进展。

In the United States Senate, we have legislation that would boost our economic recovery and help Americans who’ve been affected by the worst recession in generations.  We’ve certainly made progress since we were losing 750,000 jobs per month around the time I took office.  Our economy is growing again, and we’ve added jobs for five straight months.   But there are still millions of Americans out of work, and millions more who are struggling to pay the bills.  The legislation in the Senate right now would extend unemployment benefits to those workers who lost their job through no fault of their own.  It would provide relief to struggling states that would help save the jobs of thousands of teachers and cops and firefighters.  There are also provisions in this legislation that would extend the tax credit for first-time homebuyers, as well as tax cuts to keep research and development jobs here in the United States.

在美利坚合众国参议院,我们为振兴经济和帮助受几代人以来最严重衰退影响的美国人民渡过难关制定了法案。自我执政之初每月有75万人失业到现在,我们取得了很大的进步。我们的经济又开始增长,就业也连续五个月呈现增长。但依然有数百万美国人处在失业中,无数人还在为日常开销而挣扎。该法案现在将为失业人员提供的救济金扩展到非个人原因而失业的工人。它通过保留数千教师、警察以及消防员的工作岗位为就业压力大的州减轻压力。同时该法案也为首次买房者提供税收抵免以及为把研发岗位留在美国而提供减税政策。

Unfortunately, the Republican leadership in the Senate won’t even allow this legislation to come up for a vote.  And if this obstruction continues, unemployed Americans will see their benefits stop.  Teachers and firefighters will lose their jobs.  Families will pay more for their first home.

不幸的是,参议院共和党领导层甚至不给该法案一个投票表决的机会。如果这种情况继续下去,美国的失业者将失去他们的福利。教师和消防员们将失去他们的工作。无数家庭将为首套住房支付更多的钱。

All we ask for is a simple up or down vote.  That’s what the American people deserve.  Just like they deserve an up or down vote on legislation that would hold oil companies accountable for the disasters they cause – a vote that is also being blocked by the Republican leadership in the Senate.  Right now, the law places a $75 million cap on the amount oil companies must pay to families and small businesses who suffer economic losses as a result of a spill like the one we’re witnessing in the Gulf Coast.  We should remove that cap.  But the Republican leadership won’t even allow a debate or a vote.

我们需要的仅仅是一个同意或不同意的表决。这是美国人民应该得到的。如同就石油公司为他们造成的灾难负责的法案进行投票一样是他们应得的—这项投票现在也被参议院的共和党领导层所阻挠。现在,这项法律为石油公司赔付墨西哥海湾沿岸家庭和小企业在这场我们目睹的石油泄漏中遭受的经济损失设定了7500万美元的上限。我们应该取消这个上限。但共和党的领导层甚至不让就此进行辩论或者投票。

And as we speak today, 136 men and women who I’ve nominated for key positions in the federal government are awaiting a vote on the floor of the Senate.  All are highly qualified.  Very few are controversial.  The vast majority already have support from both parties.  But most of them are seeing their nominations intentionally delayed by Republican leaders, or even blocked altogether.  They cannot get a vote.  What this means is that, at a moment when our country is facing so many challenges – a time when we need all hands on deck – we cannot get the qualified people we need to start the jobs they were appointed to do.

如我今天所说,我为联邦政府的关键职位提名的136人正在参议院等待投票表决。他们都是非常合适的人选。几乎没有有争议的人选。绝大多数都得到了两党的支持。但他们当中的大多数正目睹共和党领导层故意推延甚至阻止他们的任命。他们不能获得投票通过,就意味着在我们国家面临如此众多挑战的时候——一个我们需要准备大量人手的时候——我们不能得到合适的人选来开展委派给他们的工作。

Look, the nature of our democracy is that we’ll always have disagreements and debates -- even heated ones.  That’s healthy and it’s important.  But let’s argue over genuine differences – over ideas and policies.  And let’s go into those debates with an open mind – a willingness to find common ground and a conviction that, in the end, one way or another, we will have a vote to decide them.  Next week, I’ll be meeting with a bipartisan group of Senators to discuss how we can transition away from our dependence on fossil fuels and embrace a clean energy future.  I don’t expect that we’ll agree on a solution right away.  In fact, I know that there will be plenty of disagreement and different ideas.  But at least it shows that Republicans and Democrats can still sit down together in an attempt to tackle the big challenges facing our nation.

看,我们民主的天性就是我们总是有大量的争执和辩论,甚至是非常激烈的。这是健康的也是重要的。但我们应该就真正的异见而辩论——例如不同的想法和政策。让我们以一种开放的头脑进入辩论—一种为寻求共同立场的意愿,以及一种信念,最后,无论如何,我们都要进行投票来决定。下周,我将会见参议院的两党联合工作组来讨论我们如何从现在依赖石化燃料过渡到未来的清洁能源。我不寄希望能马上就一个解决方案达成共识。实际上,我知道肯定会有大量的争执和不同的想法。但这至少表明共和党人和民主党人能坐下来为解决我们国家面临的挑战而一起进行尝试。

I know the political season is upon us in Washington.  But gridlock as a political strategy is destructive to the country.  Whether we are Democrats or Republicans, we’ve got an obligation that goes beyond caring about the next election.  We have an obligation to care for the next generation.  So I hope that when Congress returns next week, they do so with a greater spirit of compromise and cooperation.  America will be watching.

我知道华盛顿马上要迎来政治热季(即中期选举)。但将这种僵持作为一种政治策略是对国家的伤害。无论是民主党还是共和党,我们都有超越关注接下来的选举的责任。我们都有关心下一代的责任。所以,我希望国会下周的工作能以更加相互妥协和合作的精神来进行。美国拭目以待。


Notes:
a host of: 大量,许多,一大群
例如:
A host of friends meet him at the railroad station.
一大群朋友在火车站迎接他。

take office: 就职;上任。
例如:
He took office at a difficult time.
他是在困难时刻就职的。

all hands on deck
: An order, on board ship, for all seamen of all watches to muster on deck immediately; normally shortened to "All hands",全体船员集合。这里指,全员上阵。

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