Today, after almost a century of trying -- 今天，在经历了将近一个世纪的努力之后——
Today, after over a year of debate -- 今天，在经历了一年多的辩论之后——
Today, after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America -- today. 今天，在所有的选票都已统计完毕之后，医疗保险改革在美国正式成为法律——就是今天。
It is fitting that Congress passed this historic legislation this week. For as we mark the turning of spring, we also mark a new season in America. In a few moments, when I sign this bill, all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform. 国会本周通过这项历史性立法正合其时。因为当我们标示春季的来临之际，我们也同时标示着美国一个新时代的到来。再过片刻，当我签署这项法案，所有围绕改革的过热言辞终将直面改革的现实。
And while the Senate still has a last round of improvements to make on this historic legislation -- and these are improvements I'm confident they will make swiftly -- the bill I'm signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for, and marched for, and hungered to see. 虽然参议院仍需对这项历史性立法做最后一轮修订——我相信他们会迅速完成这些修订——但我即将签署的法案将启动一代又一代美国人长期以来为之奋斗、为之游行、为之渴望的改革。
It will take four years to implement fully many of these reforms, because we need to implement them responsibly. We need to get this right. But a host of desperately needed reforms will take effect right away. 许多改革措施需要四年时间才能全面实施，因为我们必须负责任地推进。我们必须把这件事做对。但一批迫切需要的改革将立即生效。
This year, we'll start offering tax credits to about 4 million small businessmen and women to help them cover the cost of insurance for their employees. That happens this year. 今年，我们将开始向约四百万小企业主提供税收抵免，帮助他们支付员工保险的费用。这将在今年实现。
This year, tens of thousands of uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions, the parents of children who have a preexisting condition, will finally be able to purchase the coverage they need. That happens this year. 今年，数以万计患有既存疾病且无保险的美国人，以及孩子患有既存疾病的父母，终于能够购买他们所需的保险。这将在今年实现。
This year, insurance companies will no longer be able to drop people's coverage when they get sick. They won't be able to place lifetime limits or restrictive annual limits on the amount of care they can receive. 今年，保险公司再也不能在人们生病时取消他们的保险。他们再也不能对病人所能获得的医疗设置终身限额或严格的年度限额。
This year, all new insurance plans will be required to offer free preventive care. And this year, young adults will be able to stay on their parents' policies until they're 26 years old. That happens this year. 今年，所有新保险计划都必须提供免费的预防性医疗服务。同样在今年，年轻人可以留在父母的保险单上，直到他们年满二十六岁。这将在今年实现。
And this year, seniors who fall in the coverage gap known as the doughnut hole will start getting some help. They'll receive 250 dollars to help pay for prescriptions, and that will, over time, fill in the doughnut hole. And I want seniors to know, despite what some have said, these reforms will not cut your guaranteed benefits. In fact, under this law, Americans on Medicare will receive free preventive care without co-payments or deductibles. That begins this year. 今年，那些落入被称为"甜甜圈洞"保险缺口的老年人将开始获得帮助。他们将获得两百五十美元用于支付处方药费用，长远来看，这将填补"甜甜圈洞"。我也想向老年人说明，尽管有人这样说，这些改革不会削减你们应得的保障。事实上，根据这项法律，享受医疗保险的美国人将无需自付额或共付额即可获得免费的预防性医疗服务。这将从今年开始。
Once this reform is implemented, health insurance exchanges will be created, a competitive marketplace where uninsured people and small businesses will finally be able to purchase affordable, quality insurance. They will be able to be part of a big pool and get the same good deal that members of Congress get. 改革实施后，将建立医疗保险交易所——一个竞争性市场，无保险人群和小企业终于能够购买负担得起、有质量的保险。他们将能够加入一个大型保险池，获得与国会议员同样优惠的待遇。
That's what's going to happen under this reform. And when this exchange is up and running, millions of people will get tax breaks to help them afford coverage, which represents the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in history. That's what this reform is about. 这就是这项改革将要带来的变化。当交易所投入运行后，数百万人将获得税收减免以帮助他们负担保险费用，这是历史上规模最大的针对中产阶级的医疗减税。这就是这项改革的核心所在。
This legislation will also lower costs for families and for businesses and for the federal government, reducing our deficit by over one trillion dollars in the next two decades. It is paid for. It is fiscally responsible. And it will help lift a decades-long drag on our economy. That's part of what all of you together worked on and made happen. 这项立法还将降低家庭、企业和联邦政府的成本，在未来二十年内将赤字削减超过一万亿美元。它的资金有着落。它在财政上负责任。它还将有助于消除困扰我国经济数十年的拖累。这一切正是大家共同努力、共同推动的成果。
That our generation is able to succeed in passing this reform is a testament to the persistence --- and the character -- of the American people, who championed this cause; who mobilized; who organized; who believed that people who love this country can change it. 我们这一代人能够成功推动这项改革，是对美国人民坚韧不拔精神与品格的证明——他们捍卫这一事业，组织动员，坚信热爱这个国家的人能够改变这个国家。
It's also a testament to the historic leadership -- and uncommon courage -- of the men and women of the United States Congress, who've taken their lumps during this difficult debate. 这也是对美国国会男女议员们历史性领导力与非凡勇气的证明，他们在这次艰难的辩论中承受了诸多非难。
Audience Member: Yes, we did. 听众：是的，我们做到了。
President Obama: You know, there are few tougher jobs in politics or government than leading one of our legislative chambers. In each chamber, there are men and women who come from different places and face different pressures, who reach different conclusions about the same things and feel deeply concerned about different things. 奥巴马总统：要知道，无论在政治还是政府领域，领导国会任何一个议院都是最艰难的工作之一。每个议院中，议员们来自不同的地方，面对不同的压力，对相同的问题得出不同的结论，深切关注着不同的事情。
By necessity, leaders have to speak to those different concerns. It isn't always tidy; it is almost never easy. But perhaps the greatest -- and most difficult -- challenge is to cobble together out of those differences the sense of common interest and common purpose that's required to advance the dreams of all people -- especially in a country as large and diverse as ours. 出于必然，领导者必须回应那些不同的关切。这并不总是井然有序，也几乎从不轻松。但也许最伟大、也最艰难的挑战，是从这些差异中拼凑出共同的利益感与共同的目标感——这是推进所有人梦想所必需的，尤其是在像我们这样幅员辽阔、多元复杂的国家。
And we are blessed by leaders in each chamber who not only do their jobs very well but who never lost sight of that larger mission. They didn't play for the short term; they didn't play to the polls or to politics: One of the best speakers the House of Representatives has ever had, Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 我们庆幸每个议院都有这样的领导者：他们不仅把工作做得出色，而且从未忘记那更宏大的使命。他们不为短期利益行事，不向民调或政治算计低头——众议院有史以来最优秀的议长之一，南希·佩洛西议长。
Audience: Nancy! Nancy! Nancy! Nancy! 听众：南希！南希！南希！南希！
President Obama: One of the best majority leaders the Senate has ever had, Mr. Harry Reid. 奥巴马总统：参议院有史以来最优秀的多数党领袖之一，哈里·瑞德先生。
To all of the terrific committee chairs, all the members of Congress who did what was difficult, but did what was right, and passed health care reform -- not just this generation of Americans will thank you, but the next generation of Americans will thank you. 致所有出色的委员会主席、所有议员，你们做了艰难但正确的事，通过了医疗保险改革——不仅这一代美国人会感谢你们，下一代美国人也会感谢你们。
And of course, this victory was also made possible by the painstaking work of members of this administration, including our outstanding Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius -- and one of the unsung heroes of this effort, an extraordinary woman who led the reform effort from the White House, Nancy-Ann DeParle. Where's Nancy? 当然，这一胜利也得益于本届政府成员的辛勤工作，包括我们杰出的卫生与公众服务部部长凯瑟琳·西贝利乌斯，以及这项努力中一位无名英雄——一位从白宫领导改革工作的杰出女性，南希-安妮·德帕尔。南希在哪里？
Today, I'm signing this reform bill into law on behalf of my mother, who argued with insurance companies even as she battled cancer in her final days. 今天，我代表我的母亲签署这项改革法案，她在生命最后的日子里一边与癌症抗争，一边还要与保险公司争辩。
I'm signing it for Ryan Smith, who's here today. He runs a small business with five employees. He's trying to do the right thing, paying half the cost of coverage for his workers. This bill will help him afford that coverage. 我为瑞安·史密斯签署这项法案，他今天也在场。他经营着一家有五名员工的小企业。他努力做正确的事，为员工支付一半的保险费用。这项法案将帮助他负担得起保险。
I'm signing it for 11-year-old Marcelas Owens, who's also here. Marcelas lost his mom to an illness. And she didn't have insurance and couldn't afford the care that she needed. So in her memory he has told her story across America so that no other children have to go through what his family has experienced. 我为十一岁的马塞拉斯·欧文斯签署这项法案，他今天也在场。马塞拉斯的母亲因病去世。她没有保险，无法负担所需的医疗。为了纪念她，他走遍美国讲述她的故事，希望没有其他孩子再经历他家庭所经历的一切。
I'm signing it for Natoma Canfield. Natoma had to give up her health coverage after her rates were jacked up by more than 40 percent. She was terrified that an illness would mean she'd lose the house that her parents built, so she gave up her insurance. Now she's lying in a hospital bed, as we speak, faced with just such an illness, praying that she can somehow afford to get well without insurance. Natoma's family is here today because Natoma can't be. And her sister Connie is here. Connie, stand up. 我为纳托玛·坎菲尔德签署这项法案。纳托玛在保费被提高超过百分之四十后，不得不放弃医疗保险。她害怕一旦生病就会失去父母建造的房子，所以放弃了保险。如今，她正躺在医院病床上，正面对着这样的疾病，祈祷自己能在没有保险的情况下设法康复。纳托玛的家人今天到场，因为纳托玛本人无法前来。她的姐姐康妮也在这里。康妮，请站起来。
I'm signing this bill for all the leaders who took up this cause through the generations -- from Teddy Roosevelt to Franklin Roosevelt, from Harry Truman, to Lyndon Johnson, from Bill and Hillary Clinton, to one of the deans who's been fighting this so long, John Dingell. To Senator Ted Kennedy. And it's fitting that Ted's widow, Vicki, is here -- it's fitting that Teddy's widow, Vicki, is here; and his niece Caroline; his son Patrick, whose vote helped make this reform a reality. 我为历代接过这一事业的领导人签署这项法案——从西奥多·罗斯福到富兰克林·罗斯福，从哈里·杜鲁门到林登·约翰逊，从比尔和希拉里·克林顿，到长期为此奋斗的元老之一约翰·丁格尔。也致特德·肯尼迪参议员。特德的遗孀维基今天在场，正合其时；他的侄女卡罗琳，他的儿子帕特里克——正是帕特里克的投票使这项改革得以成真——也都在这里。
I remember seeing Ted walk through that door in a summit in this room a year ago -- one of his last public appearances. And it was hard for him to make it. But he was confident that we would do the right thing. 我记得一年前，特德在这个房间的一次峰会上走过那扇门——那是他最后几次公开露面之一。他来一趟很不容易。但他坚信我们会做正确的事。
Our presence here today is remarkable and improbable. With all the punditry, all of the lobbying, all of the game-playing that passes for governing in Washington, it's been easy at times to doubt our ability to do such a big thing, such a complicated thing; to wonder if there are limits to what we, as a people, can still achieve. It's easy to succumb to the sense of cynicism about what's possible in this country. 今天我们能聚在这里，既了不起，又显得不太可能。面对华盛顿那些 punditry、各种游说、那些被当作治理的权谋博弈，我们有时很容易怀疑自己能否完成这样一件大事、这样一件复杂的事；很容易想知道我们作为人民还能取得多大的成就。也很容易对这个国家可能实现的事情陷入犬儒主义。
But today, we are affirming that essential truth -- a truth every generation is called to rediscover for itself -- that we are not a nation that scales back its aspirations. We are not a nation that falls prey to doubt or mistrust. We don't fall prey to fear. We are not a nation that does what's easy. That's not who we are. That's not how we got here. 但今天，我们重申一个根本真理——每一代人都被召唤去重新发现这一真理——我们不是一个会收缩抱负的国家。我们不是一个会被怀疑或不信任所征服的国家。我们不会被恐惧所征服。我们不是一个专做容易之事的国家。那不是我们。那不是我们走到今天的方式。
We are a nation that faces its challenges and accepts its responsibilities. We are a nation that does what is hard. What is necessary. What is right. Here, in this country, we shape our own destiny. That is what we do. That is who we are. That is what makes us the United States of America. 我们是一个直面挑战、承担责任的民族。我们是一个做艰难之事的民族。做必要之事。做正确之事。在这里，在这个国家，我们塑造自己的命运。这就是我们的所为。这就是我们的本质。这就是我们之所以为美利坚合众国的原因。
And we have now just enshrined, as soon as I sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care. And it is an extraordinary achievement that has happened because of all of you and all the advocates all across the country. 而在我签署这项法案之际，我们刚刚确立了一项核心原则：每个人都应在医疗方面享有某种基本保障。这是一项非凡的成就，正是因为你们所有人、全国各地所有的倡导者才得以实现。
So, thank you. Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States. Thank you. Thank you. 所以，谢谢你们。谢谢你们。愿上帝保佑你们，愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。谢谢你们。谢谢你们。
All right, I would now like to call up to stage some of the members of Congress who helped make this day possible, and some of the Americans who will benefit from these reforms. And we're going to sign this bill. 好的，现在我想邀请一些促成今天这一天的国会议员，以及一些将从这些改革中受益的美国人上台。我们将签署这项法案。
This is going to take a little while. I've got to use every pen, so it's going to take a really long time. I didn't practice. 这要花一点时间。我每支笔都得用上，所以要花很长时间。我没有练习过。
We are done. 我们完成了。