奥巴马总统发表任内最后一次国情咨文英语演讲稿.doc

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1、此资料由网络收集而来，如有侵权请告知上传者立即删除。资料共分享，我们负责传递知识。奥巴马总统发表任内最后一次国情咨文英语演讲稿Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans:Tonight marks the eighth year I've come here to report on the State of the Union. And for thisfinal one, I'm going to try to make it shorter. I know some o

2、f you are antsy to get back to Iowa.I also understand that because it's an election season, expectations for what we'll achievethis year are low. Still, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach you and theother leaders took at the end of last year to pass a budget and make tax cut

3、s permanent forworking families. So I hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminaljustice reform, and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse. We just mightsurprise the cynics again.But tonight, I want to go easy on the traditional list of proposals for

4、the year ahead. Don'tworry, I've got plenty, from helping students learn to write computer code to personalizingmedical treatments for patients. And I'll keep pushing for progress on the work that still needsdoing. Fixing a broken immigration system. Protecting our kids from gun violence

5、. Equal payfor equal work, paid leave, raising the minimum wage. All these things still matter tohardworking families; they are still the right thing to do; and I will not let up until they getdone.But for my final address to this chamber, I don't want to talk just about the next year. I wantto

6、focus on the next five years, ten years, and beyond.I want to focus on our future.We live in a time of extraordinary change – change that's reshaping the way we live, the waywe work, our planet and our place in the world. It's change that promises amazing medicalbreakthroughs, but also

7、 economic disruptions that strain working families. It promiseseducation for girls in the most remote villages, but also connects terrorists plotting an oceanaway. It's change that can broaden opportunity, or widen inequality. And whether we like itor not, the pace of this change will only accel

8、erate.America has been through big changes before – wars and depression, the influx ofimmigrants, workers fighting for a fair deal, and movements to expand civil rights. Each time,there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes onchange, promising to

9、restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that wasthreatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears. We did not, inthe words of Lincoln, adhere to the “;dogmas of the quiet past.”; Instead we thought anew, andacted anew. We made change work for us, always extending

10、 America's promise outward, to thenext frontier, to more and more people. And because we did – because we saw opportunitywhere others saw only peril – we emerged stronger and better than before.What was true then can be true now. Our unique strengths as a nation – our optimism

11、andwork ethic, our spirit of discovery and innovation, our diversity and commitment to the ruleof law – these things give us everything we need to ensure prosperity and security forgenerations to come.In fact, it's that spirit that made the progress of these past seven years possible. It&#

12、39;s how werecovered from the worst economic crisis in generations. It's how we reformed our health caresystem, and reinvented our energy sector; how we delivered more care and benefits to ourtroops and veterans, and how we secured the freedom in every state to marry the person welove.But such p

13、rogress is not inevitable. It is the result of choices we make together. And we facesuch choices right now. Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear, turning inward asa nation, and turning against each other as a people? Or will we face the future withconfidence in who we are, what we st

14、and for, and the incredible things we can do together?So let's talk about the future, and four big questions that we as a country have to answer –regardless of who the next President is, or who controls the next Congress.First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and securit

15、y in this new economy?Second, how do we make technology work for us, and not against us – especially when it comesto solving urgent challenges like climate change?Third, how do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman?And finally, how can we make our politics refl

16、ect what's best in us, and not what's worst?Let me start with the economy, and a basic fact: the United States of America, right now, hasthe strongest, most durable economy in the world. We're in the middle of the longest streakof private-sector job creation in history. More than 14 mill

17、ion new jobs; the strongest two yearsof job growth since the ‘90s; an unemployment rate cut in half. Our auto industry just had itsbest year ever. Manufacturing has created nearly 900,000 new jobs in the past six years. Andwe've done all this while cutting our deficits by almost three-quar

18、ters.Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction. What is true – andthe reason that a lot of Americans feel anxious – is that the economy has been changing inprofound ways, changes that started long before the Great Recession hit and haven't let up.To

19、day, technology doesn't just replace jobs on the assembly line, but any job where work canbe automated. Companies in a global economy can locate anywhere, and face toughercompetition. As a result, workers have less leverage for a raise. Companies have less loyaltyto their communities. And more a

20、nd more wealth and income is concentrated at the very top.All these trends have squeezed workers, even when they have jobs; even when the economy isgrowing. It's made it harder for a hardworking family to pull itself out of poverty, harder foryoung people to start on their careers, and tougher f

21、or workers to retire when they want to. Andalthough none of these trends are unique to America, they do offend our uniquely Americanbelief that everybody who works hard should get a fair shot.For the past seven years, our goal has been a growing economy that works better for everybody.We've made

22、 progress. But we need to make more. And despite all the political arguments we'vehad these past few years, there are some areas where Americans broadly agree.We agree that real opportunity requires every American to get the education and training theyneed to land a good-paying job. The bipartis

23、an reform of No Child Left Behind was animportant start, and together, we've increased early childhood education, lifted high schoolgraduation rates to new highs, and boosted graduates in fields like engineering. In the comingyears, we should build on that progress, by providing Pre-K for all, o

24、ffering every student thehands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one, and weshould recruit and support more great teachers for our kids.And we have to make college affordable for every American. Because no hardworking studentshould be stuck in the red. We've al

25、ready reduced student loan payments to ten percent of aborrower's income. Now, we've actually got to cut the cost of college. Providing two years ofcommunity college at no cost for every responsible student is one of the best ways to do that,and I'm going to keep fighting to get that sta

26、rted this year.Of course, a great education isn't all we need in this new economy. We also need benefits andprotections that provide a basic measure of security. After all, it's not much of a stretch tosay that some of the only people in America who are going to work the same job, in the sam

27、eplace, with a health and retirement package, for 30 years, are sitting in this chamber. Foreveryone else, especially folks in their forties and fifties, saving for retirement or bouncing backfrom job loss has gotten a lot tougher. Americans understand that at some point in theircareers, they may ha

28、ve to retool and retrain. But they shouldn't lose what they've alreadyworked so hard to build.That's why Social Security and Medicare are more important than ever; we shouldn't weakenthem, we should strengthen them. And for Americans short of retirement, basic benefitsshould be just

29、as mobile as everything else is today. That's what the Affordable Care Act is allabout. It's about filling the gaps in employer-based care so that when we lose a job, or go backto school, or start that new business, we'll still have coverage. Nearly eighteen million havegained coverage s

30、o far. Health care inflation has slowed. And our businesses have created jobsevery single month since it became law.Now, I'm guessing we won't agree on health care anytime soon. But there should be other waysboth parties can improve economic security. Say a hardworking American loses his job

31、 – weshouldn't just make sure he can get unemployment insurance; we should make sure thatprogram encourages him to retrain for a business that's ready to hire him. If that new jobdoesn't pay as much, there should be a system of wage insurance in place so that he can stillpay his bi

32、lls. And even if he's going from job to job, he should still be able to save forretirement and take his savings with him. That's the way we make the new economy workbetter for everyone.I also know Speaker Ryan has talked about his interest in tackling poverty. America is aboutgiving everybod

33、y willing to work a hand up, and I'd welcome a serious discussion aboutstrategies we can all support, like expanding tax cuts for low-income workers without kids.But there are other areas where it's been more difficult to find agreement over the last sevenyears – namely what role the g

34、overnment should play in making sure the system's not rigged infavor of the wealthiest and biggest corporations. And here, the American people have a choiceto make.I believe a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy. I think there are outdatedregulations that need to be changed,

35、and there's red tape that needs to be cut. But after yearsof record corporate profits, working families won't get more opportunity or bigger paychecksby letting big banks or big oil or hedge funds make their own rules at the expense of everyoneelse; or by allowing attacks on collective barga

36、ining to go unanswered. Food Stamp recipientsdidn't cause the financial crisis; recklessness on Wall Street did. Immigrants aren't the reasonwages haven't gone up enough; those decisions are made in the boardrooms that too often putquarterly earnings over long-term returns. It's sure

37、 not the average family watching tonightthat avoids paying taxes through offshore accounts. In this new economy, workers and start-upsand small businesses need more of a voice, not less. The rules should work for them. And thisyear I plan to lift up the many businesses who've figured out that do

38、ing right by their workersends up being good for their shareholders, their customers, and their communities, so that wecan spread those best practices across America.In fact, many of our best corporate citizens are also our most creative. This brings me to thesecond big question we have to answer as

39、 a country: how do we reignite that spirit ofinnovation to meet our biggest challenges?Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space, we didn't deny Sputnik was up there.We didn't argue about the science, or shrink our research and development budget. We built aspace program almost o

40、vernight, and twelve years later, we were walking on the moon.That spirit of discovery is in our DNA. We're Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers andGeorge Washington Carver. We're Grace Hopper and Katherine Johnson and Sally Ride. We'reevery immigrant and entrepreneur from Boston to Aus

41、tin to Silicon Valley racing to shape abetter world. And over the past seven years, we've nurtured that spirit.We've protected an open internet, and taken bold new steps to get more students and low-income Americans online. We've launched next-generation manufacturing hubs, and online to

42、olsthat give an entrepreneur everything he or she needs to start a business in a single day.But we can do so much more. Last year, Vice President Biden said that with a new moonshot,America can cure cancer. Last month, he worked with this Congress to give scientists at theNational Institutes of Heal

43、th the strongest resources they've had in over a decade. Tonight, I'mannouncing a new national effort to get it done. And because he's gone to the mat for all of us,on so many issues over the past forty years, I'm putting Joe in charge of Mission Control. Forthe loved ones we've

44、all lost, for the family we can still save, let's make America the countrythat cures cancer once and for all.Medical research is critical. We need the same level of commitment when it comes todeveloping clean energy sources.Look, if anybody still wants to dispute the science around climate chang

45、e, have at it. You'll bepretty lonely, because you'll be debating our military, most of America's business leaders, themajority of the American people, almost the entire scientific community, and 200 nationsaround the world who agree it's a problem and intend to solve it.But even if

46、the planet wasn't at stake; even if 2020 wasn't the warmest year on record – until2020 turned out even hotter – why would we want to pass up the chance for Americanbusinesses to produce and sell the energy of the future?Seven years ago, we made the single biggest investment in cl

47、ean energy in our history. Hereare the results. In fields from Iowa to Texas, wind power is now cheaper than dirtier,conventional power. On rooftops from Arizona to New York, solar is saving Americans tens ofmillions of dollars a year on their energy bills, and employs more Americans than coal &ndas

48、h; in jobsthat pay better than average. We're taking steps to give homeowners the freedom to generateand store their own energy – something environmentalists and Tea Partiers have teamed up tosupport. Meanwhile, we've cut our imports of foreign oil by nearly sixty percent, and cut carb

49、onpollution more than any other country on Earth.Gas under two bucks a gallon ain't bad, either.Now we've got to accelerate the transition away from dirty energy. Rather than subsidizethe past, we should invest in the future – especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels.That's why I'm going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so thatthey better reflect the costs they impose on taxp