Well, to begin with, I just want to say thank you to the outstanding officials behind me who have been on the ground, working 24/7 since this flood happened. It begins with outstanding leadership from the top -- with Governor John Bel Edwards. And we very much appreciate all the outstanding work he’s done. His better half, the First Lady of Louisiana, I know has been by his side every step of the way, and we are grateful for her. I know they’ve got their own cleaning-up to do because the Governor’s Mansion was flooded as well. 首先，我要感谢我身后这些杰出的官员们，自从这场洪水发生以来，他们一直奋战在一线，夜以继日地工作。这始于最高层的杰出领导——约翰·贝尔·爱德华兹州长。我们非常感谢他所做的一切出色工作。他的另一半，路易斯安那州的第一夫人，我知道她一直陪伴在他身边，我们对她心存感激。我知道他们自己也有清理工作要做，因为州长官邸也被淹了。
In addition, I want to acknowledge Senator Bill Cassidy; Senator David Vitter; Representative Garret Graves; Representative Cedric Richmond; the Mayor of Baton Rouge, Kip Holden; and somebody who I can't brag enough about, one of the best hires I made as President -- the Administrator of FEMA, Craig Fugate, who has done such an outstanding job not just in dealing with this particular incident, but has really rebuilt FEMA so that there’s a change of culture. 此外，我要感谢比尔·卡西迪参议员；戴维·维特参议员；加勒特·格雷夫斯众议员；塞德里克·里士满众议员；巴吞鲁日市长基普·霍尔登；还有一位我怎么夸都不为过的人，我作为总统做出的最明智的任命之一——联邦紧急事务管理局局长克雷格·富盖特，他不仅在应对这次事件中表现出色，而且真正重塑了FEMA，带来了文化上的改变。
And everybody knows that when a disaster happens, FEMA is going to be there on the ground, cooperating with state and local officials rapidly and with attention to detail, and keeping the families who’ve been affected uppermost in their minds. So we very much appreciate everything Craig has done. 每个人都知道，当灾难发生时，FEMA会第一时间出现在现场，与州和地方官员迅速合作，细致入微地开展工作，并将受影响的家庭放在首位。因此，我们非常感谢克雷格所做的一切。
It's hard, by the way, for Craig to be here because he’s a Florida Gator -- and he’s been seeing a lot of LSU T-shirts as we've been passing by. 顺便说一句，克雷格来这里挺不容易的，因为他是佛罗里达大学短吻鳄队的球迷——而我们一路走来，看到的全是路易斯安那州立大学老虎队的T恤。
I just had a chance to see some of the damage from the historic floods here in Louisiana. I come here, first and foremost, to say that the prayers of the entire nation are with everybody who lost loved ones. We are heartbroken by the loss of life. There are also people who are still desperately trying to track down friends and family. We’re going to keep on helping them every way that we can. 我刚有机会查看了路易斯安那州这里历史性洪水造成的部分破坏。我来到这里，首先也是最重要的，是要说全国人民的祈祷与所有失去亲人的人们同在。我们对生命的逝去感到心碎。还有一些人仍在拼命寻找亲友。我们将继续尽一切可能帮助他们。
As I think anybody who can see just the streets, much less the inside of the homes here, people’s lives have been upended by this flood. Local businesses have suffered some terrible damage. Families have, in some cases, lost homes. They’ve certainly lost possessions, priceless keepsakes. I was just speaking to a young woman whose husband died shortly after the birth of her second child, and she was talking about how her daughter was trying to gather all the keepsakes that she had in her bedroom, but reminded her of her father. 我想任何人只要看看街道，更不用说这里房屋的内部，就会明白人们的生活被这场洪水彻底颠覆了。当地企业遭受了严重损失。在某些情况下，家庭失去了家园。他们肯定失去了财产，失去了无价的纪念品。我刚才和一位年轻女子交谈，她的丈夫在第二个孩子出生后不久就去世了，她谈到女儿如何努力收集卧室里所有让她想起父亲的纪念物。
And that gives you some sense that this is not just about property damage. This is about people’s roots. 这让你意识到，这不仅仅是财产损失。这关乎人们的根。
You also have a situation where there are a lot of kids who are supposed to start a new school year, and they’re going to need some special help and support for a while. 还有一个情况是，很多孩子本应开始新学年，他们在一段时间内将需要一些特殊的帮助和支持。
Sometimes when these kinds of things happen, it can seem a little bit too much to bear. But what I want the people of Louisiana to know is that you’re not alone on this. Even after the TV cameras leave, the whole country is going to continue to support you and help you until we get folks back in their homes and lives are rebuilt. 有时当这类事情发生时，似乎让人难以承受。但我想让路易斯安那州人民知道的是，你们并不孤单。即使在电视镜头离开之后，全国人民都会继续支持你们、帮助你们，直到我们让人们重返家园、生活得以重建。
And the reason I can say that with confidence is because that's what Americans do in times like this. I saw it when I visited displaced Louisianans when I came down here as a senator after Katrina. I saw it when I visited New Orleans for the 10th anniversary last year. I know how resilient the people of Louisiana are, and I know that you will rebuild again. And what I've seen today proves it. 我能有信心这么说的原因是，这就是美国人在这种时刻的所作所为。我在卡特里娜飓风后以参议员身份来到这里，看望流离失所的路易斯安那人时，就看到了这一点。去年我在新奥尔良参加十周年纪念活动时也看到了这一点。我知道路易斯安那州人民有多么坚韧，我知道你们会再次重建家园。而我今天所看到的一切证明了这一点。
I want to thank all the first responders, the National Guard, all the good neighbors who were in a boat, going around and making sure people were safe, showing extraordinary heroism -- in some cases, risking their own lives. Governor Edwards, the state of Louisiana, the city, the parish governments, they’ve all stepped up under incredibly difficult circumstances. 我要感谢所有的急救人员、国民警卫队，还有所有驾着小船四处奔波、确保人们安全的好邻居们，他们展现了非凡的勇气——在某些情况下，甚至冒着生命危险。爱德华兹州长、路易斯安那州、这座城市、各个教区政府，都在极其困难的情况下挺身而出。
I just want to thank the people on this block. As I was walking down, one woman at the end, elderly, she was on her own. She had just lost her daughter. But you had a young man next door who was helping out his father, but had also offered to help out that neighbor, so that she could salvage as much as she could and start the process of rebuilding. 我要感谢这个街区的人们。我一路走来时，街尾有一位年长的女士，她孤身一人。她刚刚失去了女儿。但隔壁有一位年轻人，他正在帮助自己的父亲，同时也主动提出帮助那位邻居，让她能够尽可能多地抢救物品，开始重建的进程。
With respect to the federal response, over a week ago I directed the federal government to mobilize and do everything we could to help. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate arrived here a week ago to help lead that effort. Secretary of Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson visited last week to make sure state and local officials are getting what they need. 关于联邦政府的响应，一周多以前我就指示联邦政府动员起来，尽我们所能提供帮助。FEMA局长克雷格·富盖特一周前就抵达这里，领导这项工作。国土安全部部长杰·约翰逊上周也访问了这里，确保州和地方官员获得他们需要的支持。
To give you a sense of the magnitude of the situation here, more than 100,000 people have applied for federal assistance so far. As of today, federal support has reached $127 million. That’s for help like temporary rental assistance, essential home repairs, and flood insurance payments. 让大家了解一下这里灾情的严重程度，到目前为止已有超过10万人申请了联邦援助。截至今天，联邦援助已达1.27亿美元。这些援助用于临时租赁补助、基本房屋维修和洪水保险赔付等。
FEMA is also working with Louisiana around the clock to help people who were displaced by floods find temporary housing. And any Louisiana family that needs help, you can find your nearest disaster recovery center by visiting FEMA.gov, or calling 1-800-621-FEMA. I’m going to repeat that: FEMA.gov, or 1-800-621-FEMA. FEMA还在夜以继日地与路易斯安那州合作，帮助因洪水流离失所的人们找到临时住房。任何需要帮助的路易斯安那州家庭，都可以通过访问FEMA.gov或拨打1-800-621-FEMA找到最近的灾难恢复中心。我再重复一遍：FEMA.gov，或1-800-621-FEMA。
Now, federal assistance alone is not going to be enough to make people’s lives whole again. So I’m asking every American to do what you can to help get families and local businesses back on their feet. If you want help -- if you want to help, Governor Edwards put together some ways to start at VolunteerLouisiana.gov. That’s VolunteerLouisiana.gov. 然而，仅靠联邦援助不足以让人们的生活恢复如初。因此，我呼吁每一位美国人尽你们所能，帮助家庭和当地企业重新站起来。如果你想提供帮助——爱德华兹州长在VolunteerLouisiana.gov上整理了一些参与方式。就是VolunteerLouisiana.gov。
And the reason this is important is because even though federal money is moving out, volunteer help actually helps the state because it can offset some of its costs. Obviously, private donations are going to be extremely important, as well. We want to thank the Red Cross for everything they’re doing, but there are a lot of private, philanthropic organizations, churches, parishes around the state and around the country who want to help, as well. And that how we’re going to make sure that everybody is able to get back on their feet. 这一点很重要的原因是，尽管联邦资金正在拨付，但志愿者的帮助实际上能为州政府分担一部分成本。显然，私人捐款也将极其重要。我们要感谢红十字会所做的一切，但还有很多私人慈善组织、教堂、教区遍布全州和全国，他们也愿意提供帮助。这就是我们确保每个人都能重新站起来的方式。
So let me just remind folks: Sometimes once the floodwaters pass, people’s attention spans pass. This is not a one-off. This is not a photo op issue. This is, how do you make sure that a month from now, three months from now, six months from now, people still are getting the help that they need. I need all Americans to stay focused on this. If you’re watching this today, make sure that you find out how you can help. You can go to VolunteerLouisiana.gov, or you can go to FEMA.gov. We’ll tell you, we’ll direct you -- you can go to WhiteHouse.gov, and we’ll direct you how you can help. 所以让我提醒大家：有时候洪水退去后，人们的注意力也随之消退了。这不是一次性事件。这不是摆拍作秀的问题。关键在于，如何确保一个月后、三个月后、六个月后，人们仍然能得到所需的帮助。我需要所有美国人持续关注这件事。如果你今天正在观看，请务必了解你能如何提供帮助。你可以访问VolunteerLouisiana.gov，或者FEMA.gov。我们会告诉你，我们会指引你——你也可以访问WhiteHouse.gov，我们会告诉你如何提供帮助。
But we’re going to need to stay on this, because these are some good people down here. We’re glad that the families I had a chance to meet are safe, but they’ve got a lot of work to do, and they shouldn’t have to do it alone. 但我们需要持续关注这件事，因为这里的人们都是善良的人。我们很高兴我有机会见到的这些家庭都平安无事，但他们还有很多工作要做，他们不应该独自面对这一切。
All right? Thank you very much, everybody. God bless. 好吗？非常感谢大家。上帝保佑。
Question: With the damage you’ve seen, what more help may they need from Congress in terms of emergency spending? 记者问：鉴于你所看到的破坏，他们在紧急支出方面还需要国会提供哪些更多帮助？
President Obama: You know, we discussed that on the way down here. What you have is the Stafford Act provides a certain match. A lot of the homes have flood insurance, but a lot of homes don’t. And what Craig Fugate is doing, what I instructed him to do from the start, is let’s get money out as fast as we can. Because we know that there’s going to be a certain amount of assistance that’s going to be forthcoming, so there’s no point in waiting. We kind of make initial estimates and we start pushing stuff out. That helps us and helps the Governor and all these officials here do their jobs. 奥巴马总统：你知道，我们在来这里的路上讨论了这个问题。根据《斯塔福德法案》，联邦政府会提供一定比例的配套资金。很多房屋有洪水保险，但也有很多房屋没有。克雷格·富盖特正在做的，也是我从一开始就指示他做的，就是让我们尽快把钱拨出去。因为我们知道会有一定数额的援助到位，所以没有必要等待。我们先做初步估算，然后开始拨付资金。这有助于我们开展工作，也有助于州长和这里所有官员履行职责。
And then what we have to do is, as we fine-tune exactly what’s needed -- when we know, for example, how much permanent housing is going to have to be built, when we have a better sense of how much infrastructure has been damaged, what more we need to do in terms of mitigation strategies -- that’s when Congress I think may be called upon to do some more. 然后我们需要做的是，随着我们精确调整所需的具体内容——例如，当我们知道需要建造多少永久性住房时，当我们更清楚地了解基础设施受损程度时，当我们确定在减灾策略方面还需要做些什么时——到那时，我认为可能需要国会提供更多帮助。
Now, the good news is, is that you’ve got four members of Congress right here, and a number of them happen to be in the majority, so I suspect that they may be able to talk to the Speaker and talk to Mitch McConnell. But in part because of the fine stewardship at FEMA and, frankly, because we’ve been a little lucky so far -- and I’m going to knock on some wood -- in terms of the amount of money that’s gone out this year, FEMA has enough money for now to cover the costs that can be absorbed. 好消息是，这里正好有四位国会议员，其中不少人刚好在多数党，所以我想他们或许能和议长谈谈，和米奇·麦康奈尔谈谈。但部分原因是FEMA的出色管理，坦白说，也因为我们到目前为止还算幸运——我得敲敲木头——就今年拨付的资金数额而言，FEMA目前有足够的资金来支付可以消化的成本。
The issue is going to be less what we need to do in terms of paying for the short term; it’s going to be the medium-term and the long-term rebuilding. Congress should be back in session right after Labor Day. By that time we’ll probably have a better assessment. And in the meantime, lawyers at FEMA will be examining what statutory flexibility we’ve got. And I know the Governor has been right on top of making sure that Louisiana gets everything that it can get in order to help rebuild. 问题不在于我们短期内需要支付多少费用；而在于中期和长期的重建。国会应该在劳动节后立即复会。到那时我们可能会有更准确的评估。同时，FEMA的律师们正在研究我们有哪些法定权限。我知道州长一直在密切关注，确保路易斯安那州获得一切可能的援助来帮助重建。
Question: Mr. President, do you worry about that process becoming politicized and the trip here becoming politicized? 记者问：总统先生，您是否担心这个过程会被政治化，以及这次访问会被政治化？
President Obama: No, I don’t. First of all, one of the benefits of being five months short of leaving here is I don’t worry too much about politics. 奥巴马总统：不，我不担心。首先，还有五个月就要离任的好处之一就是，我不太担心政治。
The second thing I have seen, historically, is that when disasters strike, that’s probably one of the few times where Washington tends not to get political. I guarantee you nobody on this block, none of those first responders, nobody gives a hoot whether you’re Democrat or Republican. What they care about is making sure they’re getting the drywall out and the carpet out, and there’s not any mold building, and they get some contractors in here and they start rebuilding as quick as possible. That’s what they care about. That’s what I care about. 其次，从历史上看，当灾难来袭时，那可能是华盛顿少数不会变得政治化的时刻之一。我向你保证，这个街区的人、那些急救人员，没有人在乎你是民主党人还是共和党人。他们关心的是确保把石膏板和地毯清理出去，确保不发霉，确保承包商进来尽快开始重建。这才是他们关心的。这也是我关心的。
So we want to make sure that we do it right. We want to make sure that we do it systematically. But the one thing I just want to repeat is how proud I am of FEMA. Because if you think about the number of significant natural disasters that have occurred since my presidency began, you’d be hard-pressed to find a local official anywhere in the country, including those in the other party, who wouldn’t say that Craig Fugate and his team have been anything less than exemplary and professional. 所以我们希望确保我们做得正确。我们希望确保我们有条不紊地进行。但我想重申的一点是，我为FEMA感到多么自豪。因为如果你想想自我就任总统以来发生的重大自然灾害的数量，你很难在全国找到任何一位地方官员，包括其他政党的官员，会说克雷格·富盖特和他的团队不是堪称典范、专业高效的。
And one of the things I did when I walked through each of these homes was ask, have you contacted FEMA? Have you filed? And uniformly they said that they had been in touch with FEMA; they had acted professionally; some of them had already been out here for inspections. 我走过每一户人家时做的一件事就是问，你们联系FEMA了吗？你们申请了吗？他们无一例外地说，他们已经联系了FEMA；FEMA的工作人员很专业；有些人已经来这里做过检查了。
And I think that does indicate why it’s important for us to take the federal government seriously, federal workers seriously. There’s a tendency sometimes for us to bash them and to think that they’re these faceless bureaucrats. But when you get into trouble, you want somebody who knows what they’re doing who’s on the ground working with outstanding officials. And that’s true whatever party. And I could not be prouder of the work that FEMA has done. 我认为这确实表明了为什么我们要认真对待联邦政府，认真对待联邦工作人员。有时我们倾向于抨击他们，认为他们是些没有面孔的官僚。但当你遇到麻烦时，你希望有一个懂行的人在现场与杰出的官员们合作。无论哪个政党都是如此。我为FEMA所做的工作感到无比自豪。
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to still be folks who need more help, and that we’re not going to have some constraints statutorily, and Congress isn’t going to have to step up. But it does mean that the basic backbone, the basic infrastructure and architecture that we have in terms of disaster response I think has been high quality. And I’m very proud of them for that. And I want to publicly acknowledge that at the moment. 这并不意味着不会有人需要更多帮助，也不意味着我们不会有一些法定限制，也不意味着国会不需要挺身而出。但这确实意味着，我们在灾难响应方面的基本骨干、基础架构和机制，我认为一直是高质量的。我为此感到非常自豪。我想在此公开承认这一点。
Thank you, guys. 谢谢各位。
