Good afternoon, everybody. Clearly, this is not the most important event that's taking place in the White House today. There is a screening of Star Wars for Gold Star families and children coming up. So I'll try to be relatively succinct. Let me say a few words about the year behind us and the year ahead, and then I’ll take a few questions. 大家下午好。显然，这不是今天白宫最重要的活动。稍后将为金星家庭和孩子们放映《星球大战》。所以我会尽量简洁一些。让我先谈谈过去的一年和未来的一年，然后回答几个问题。
As I look back on this year, one thing I see is that so much of our steady, persistent work over the years is paying off for the American people in big, tangible ways. Our early actions to rescue the economy set the stage for the longest streak of private sector job growth on record, with 13.7 million new jobs in that time. The unemployment rate has been cut in half -- down to 5 percent. And most importantly, wages grew faster than at any time since the recovery began. So, over the course of this year, a lot of the decisions that we made early on have paid off. 回顾这一年，我看到的是，我们多年来稳步、坚持不懈的工作正在以巨大而切实的方式惠及美国人民。我们早期为拯救经济采取的行动为有记录以来最长的私营部门就业增长奠定了基础，在此期间新增了1370万个就业岗位。失业率已减半——降至5%。最重要的是，工资增长速度是经济复苏开始以来最快的。所以，在这一年里，我们早期做出的许多决定都取得了成效。
Years of steady implementation of the Affordable Care Act helped to drive the rate of the uninsured in America below 10 percent for the first time since records were kept on that. Health care prices have grown at their lowest levels in five decades; 17 million more Americans have gained coverage, and we now know that six million people have signed up through HealthCare.gov for coverage beginning on January 1st -- 600,000 on Tuesday alone. New customers are up one-third over last year. And the more who sign up, the stronger the system becomes. 多年来稳步推行的平价医疗法案帮助美国的未参保率首次降至10%以下，这是有记录以来的第一次。医疗保健价格涨幅处于五十年来的最低水平；又有1700万美国人获得了医保，我们现在知道有600万人通过HealthCare.gov注册了从1月1日开始的保险——仅周二一天就有60万人。新客户比去年增加了三分之一。注册的人越多，这个系统就越强大。
And that's good news for every American who no longer has to worry about being just one illness or accident away from financial hardship. 这对每个美国人来说都是好消息，他们不再需要担心一场疾病或意外就会陷入经济困境。
On climate, our early investment in clean energy ignited a clean energy industry boom. Our actions to help reduce our carbon emissions brought China to the table. And last week, in Paris, nearly 200 nations forged an historic agreement that was only possible because of American leadership. 在气候方面，我们早期对清洁能源的投资点燃了清洁能源产业的繁荣。我们帮助减少碳排放的行动促使中国加入谈判。上周，在巴黎，近200个国家达成了一项历史性协议，而这之所以成为可能，正是因为美国的领导作用。
Around the world -- from reaching the deal to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, to reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, to concluding a landmark trade agreement that will make sure that American workers and American businesses are operating on a level playing field and that we, rather than China or other countries, are setting the rules for global trade -- we have shown what is possible when America leads. 在世界各地——从达成防止伊朗发展核武器的协议，到恢复与古巴的外交关系，再到签署一项具有里程碑意义的贸易协定，确保美国工人和美国企业在公平的竞争环境中运营，确保由我们而非中国或其他国家来制定全球贸易规则——我们已经证明，当美国发挥领导作用时，一切皆有可能。
And, after decades of dedicated advocacy, marriage equality became a reality in all 50 states. 经过几十年的不懈倡导，婚姻平等在全美50个州成为现实。
So, I just want to point out -- I said at the beginning of this year that interesting stuff happens in the fourth quarter -- and we are only halfway through. 所以，我只想指出——我在今年年初说过，精彩的事情总是发生在第四节——而我们现在才刚到一半。
I do want to thank Congress for ending the year on a high note. I got to sign an education bill that is going to fix some of the challenges that we had with No Child Left Behind, and promises to invest more in high-quality early childhood education. We signed a transportation bill that, although not as robust as I think we need, still allows states and local governments to plan and actually get moving, putting people back to work rebuilding our roads and our bridges. We got Ex-Im Bank back to work supporting American exports. 我确实要感谢国会以高姿态结束这一年。我签署了一项教育法案，它将解决我们在《不让一个孩子掉队》法案中遇到的一些挑战，并承诺加大对高质量幼儿教育的投入。我们签署了一项交通法案，尽管它不如我认为的那样有力，但仍然允许各州和地方政府进行规划并真正行动起来，让人们重返工作岗位，重建我们的道路和桥梁。我们让进出口银行重新运作，支持美国出口。
And today they passed a bipartisan budget deal. I’m not wild about everything in it -- I’m sure that’s true for everybody -- but it is a budget that, as I insisted, invests in our military and our middle class, without ideological provisions that would have weakened Wall Street reform or rules on big polluters. 今天他们通过了一项两党预算协议。我不是对其中的每一项都满意——我相信每个人都是如此——但这是一份我所坚持的预算，它投资于我们的军队和中产阶级，没有包含会削弱华尔街改革或对大型污染企业监管的意识形态条款。
It’s part of an agreement that will permanently extend tax credits to 24 million working families. It includes some long-sought wins like strengthening America’s leadership at the IMF. And because it eliminates the possibility of a shutdown for the first time -- or for the first nine months of next year, Congress and I have a long runway to get some important things done on behalf of the American people. 这是一项协议的一部分，该协议将永久延长对2400万工薪家庭的税收抵免。它包括一些长期寻求的成果，比如加强美国在国际货币基金组织的领导地位。因为它首次消除了政府关门的可能性——或者说明年的前九个月，国会和我有充足的时间为美国人民完成一些重要的事情。
Now, there’s still a lot of work to do. For example, there’s still a lot more that Congress can do to promote job growth and increase wages in this country. I still want to work with Congress -- both Democrats and Republicans -- to reform our criminal justice system. And earlier today I commuted the sentences of 95 men and women who had served their debt to society, another step forward in upholding our fundamental ideals of justice and fairness. 现在，还有很多工作要做。例如，国会在促进就业增长和提高工资方面还有很多可以做的。我仍然希望与国会——民主党和共和党——合作，改革我们的刑事司法系统。今天早些时候，我为95名已经偿还了对社会债务的男女减刑了，这是维护我们正义与公平基本理念的又一步。
And, of course, our most important job is to keep Americans safe. I've had a lot to say about that this week, but let me reiterate, the United States continues to lead a global coalition in our mission to destroy ISIL. ISIL has already lost about 40 percent of the populated areas it once controlled in Iraq, and it’s losing territory in Syria. As we keep up the pressure, our air campaign will continue to hit ISIL harder than ever -- taking out their leaders, their commanders and their forces. We’re stepping up our support for partners on the ground as they push ISIL back. 当然，我们最重要的工作是保障美国人的安全。本周我已经谈了很多，但让我重申，美国继续领导一个全球联盟，执行摧毁伊斯兰国的使命。伊斯兰国已经失去了它在伊拉克曾经控制的约40%的人口聚居区，它在叙利亚也正在失去领土。随着我们持续施压，我们的空袭行动将继续以比以往更猛烈的方式打击伊斯兰国——消灭他们的领导人、指挥官和武装力量。我们正在加大对地面伙伴的支持，帮助他们击退伊斯兰国。
Our men and women in uniform are carrying out their mission with trademark professionalism and courage. And this holiday season, all of us are united in our gratitude for their service, and we are thankful to their families, as well, because they serve alongside those who are actually deployed. 我们的男女军人正以标志性的专业精神和勇气执行任务。在这个节日季，我们所有人都团结一心，感谢他们的服务，我们也感谢他们的家人，因为他们与那些实际部署的人一同奉献。
Squeezing ISIL’s heart -- its core in Syria and Iraq -- will make it harder for them to pump their terror and propaganda to the rest of the world. At the same time, as we know from San Bernardino, where I’ll visit with families later today, we have to remain vigilant here at home. Our counterterrorism, intelligence, homeland security, and law enforcement communities are working 24/7 to protect our homeland. And all of us can do our part by staying vigilant, by saying something if we see something that is suspicious, by refusing to be terrorized, and by staying united as one American family. 挤压伊斯兰国的心脏——其在叙利亚和伊拉克的核心——将使他们更难向世界其他地区输送恐怖主义和宣传。与此同时，正如我们从圣贝纳迪诺事件中了解到的那样——我今天晚些时候将去看望那里的家属——我们必须在国内保持警惕。我们的反恐、情报、国土安全和执法部门正在24小时不间断地保护我们的家园。我们所有人都可以尽自己的一份力量，保持警惕，看到可疑的事情就说出来，拒绝被恐吓，作为一个美利坚大家庭团结在一起。
In short, for all the very real progress America has made over the past seven years, we still have some unfinished business. And I plan on doing everything I can with every minute of every day that I have left as President to deliver on behalf of the American people. Since taking this office, I’ve never been more optimistic about a year ahead than I am right now. And in 2016, I’m going to leave it out all on the field. 简而言之，尽管美国在过去七年中取得了非常切实的进展，但我们仍有一些未竟的事业。我计划在我作为总统的每一天每一分钟里尽我所能，为美国人民服务。自上任以来，我从未像现在这样对未来一年充满乐观。在2016年，我将全力以赴。
So with that, let me take some questions. I'll start with Roberta Rampton of Reuters. 那么，让我来回答一些问题。先请路透社的罗伯塔·兰普顿提问。
Question: Mr. President, you're going to California today. And as you said earlier this week, you told the nation that there’s no specific or credible threat of a similar attack. But how is it really possible to know? I mean, aren’t similar plots going to be just as hard to detect beforehand? And some lawmakers are saying that your government should review the social media of all people applying for visas to come to this country. What do you think of that idea? Should that be mandatory? 问：总统先生，您今天要去加利福尼亚。正如您本周早些时候所说，您告诉全国人民，没有具体或可信的威胁表明会发生类似的袭击。但怎么可能真正确定呢？我的意思是，类似的阴谋不是同样很难事先察觉吗？一些议员说，您的政府应该审查所有申请签证来美国的人的社交媒体。您怎么看这个想法？这应该是强制性的吗？
President Obama: Well, Roberta, you’re absolutely right that it is very difficult for us to detect lone wolf plots -- or plots involving a husband and wife, in this case -- because despite the incredible vigilance and professionalism of all our law enforcement, homeland security, et cetera, it’s not that different from us trying to detect the next mass shooter. You don’t always see it. They’re not always communicating publicly, and if you’re not catching what they say publicly, then it becomes a challenge. 奥巴马总统：嗯，罗伯塔，你说得完全正确，我们很难发现独狼式的阴谋——或者在这个案例中涉及一对夫妻的阴谋——因为尽管我们所有的执法部门、国土安全部门等都保持着高度的警惕和专业精神，但这与我们试图发现下一个大规模枪击者没有太大区别。你不总能察觉得到。他们并不总是公开交流，如果你没有捕捉到他们公开说的话，那就会成为一个挑战。
We are continuing to work at every level to make sure that there’s no slip between information-sharing among agencies. We’re continuing to strengthen our information-sharing with foreign countries. And because, in part, of the tragedy in Paris, I think you’re seeing much greater cooperation from our European partners on these issues. 我们正在各级层面继续努力，确保各机构之间的信息共享没有疏漏。我们正在继续加强与外国的信息共享。在某种程度上，由于巴黎的悲剧，我认为你会看到我们的欧洲伙伴在这些问题上开展更多的合作。
But this is a different kind of challenge than the sort that we had with an organization like al Qaeda that involved highly trained operatives who are working as cells or as a network. Here, essentially, you have ISIL trying to encourage or induce somebody who may be prey to this kind of propaganda. And it becomes more difficult to see. It does mean that they’re less likely to be able to carry out large, complex attacks. But as we saw in San Bernardino, obviously, you can still do enormous damage. 但这与我们对付基地组织那样的组织所面临的挑战不同，基地组织涉及训练有素的特工，他们以小组或网络的形式运作。而在这里，本质上是伊斯兰国试图鼓励或诱使那些可能受这种宣传影响的人。这就更难发现了。这确实意味着他们不太可能实施大规模、复杂的袭击。但正如我们在圣贝纳迪诺看到的那样，显然，他们仍然可以造成巨大的伤害。
The issue of reviewing social media for those who are obtaining visas I think may have gotten garbled a little bit, because there may be -- it’s important to distinguish between posts that are public -- social media on a Facebook page -- versus private communications through various social media or apps. And our law enforcement and intelligence professionals are constantly monitoring public posts, and that is part of the visa review process, that people are investigating what individuals have said publicly and questioned about any statements that they maybe made. 审查签证申请人社交媒体的问题，我认为可能有点被混淆了，因为可能有必要区分公开的帖子——比如Facebook页面上的社交媒体——与通过各种社交媒体或应用程序进行的私人通信。我们的执法和情报专业人员一直在监控公开帖子，这是签证审查程序的一部分，调查人员会调查个人公开发表的言论，并就他们可能发表的任何声明提出质疑。
But if you have a private communication between two individuals, that’s harder to discern, by definition. And one of the things we’ll be doing is engaging with the high-tech community to find out how we can, in an appropriate way, do a better job if we have a lead to be able to track a suspected terrorist. But we’re going to have to recognize that no government is going to have the capacity to read every single person’s text or emails or social media. 但如果是两个人之间的私人通信，顾名思义就更难察觉了。我们将做的一件事是与高科技社区合作，了解在有线索的情况下，我们如何以适当的方式更好地追踪疑似恐怖分子。但我们必须认识到，没有哪个政府有能力阅读每个人的短信、电子邮件或社交媒体。
If it’s not posted publicly, then there are going to be feasibility issues that are probably insurmountable at some level, and it raises questions about our values. 如果不是公开发布的，那么就会存在在某种程度上可能无法克服的可行性问题，而且这会引发关于我们价值观的问题。
I mean, keep in mind it was only a couple of years ago where we were having a major debate about whether the government was becoming too much like Big Brother. And overall, I think we’ve struck the right balance in protecting civil liberties and making sure that U.S. citizens’ privacy is preserved, that we are making sure that there’s oversight to what our intelligence agencies do. But we’re going to have to continue to balance our needs for security with people’s legitimate concerns about privacy. 我的意思是，请记住，就在几年前，我们还在就政府是否变得太像"老大哥"进行一场重大辩论。总的来说，我认为我们在保护公民自由和确保美国公民隐私得到保护之间取得了适当的平衡，我们确保对情报机构的行为进行监督。但我们必须继续在安全需求与人们对隐私的合理关切之间取得平衡。
And because the Internet is global and communication systems are global, the values that we apply here oftentimes are ones that folks who are trying to come into the country are also benefitting from because they’re using the same technologies. But this is precisely why we’re working very hard to bring law enforcement, intelligence, and high-tech companies together. Because we’re going to have to really review what we can do both technically as well as consistent with our laws and our values in order to try to discern more rapidly some of the potential threats that may be out there. 由于互联网是全球性的，通信系统是全球性的，我们在这里适用的价值观往往也会让那些试图进入这个国家的人受益，因为他们使用的是同样的技术。但这正是为什么我们非常努力地将执法部门、情报部门和高科技公司聚集在一起。因为我们必须认真审视我们在技术上能做什么，以及如何在符合我们的法律和价值观的前提下，更快地发现可能存在的潜在威胁。
David Jackson. 大卫·杰克逊。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. A Gitmo question. Congress has made it pretty clear that they’re just not going to let you transfer prisoners to the United States for trial. But some people think you already have the executive authority to transfer those prisoners and close Gitmo itself next year. My question is, do you believe you have that authority and are you willing to exercise it to close that place? 问：谢谢您，总统先生。一个关于关塔那摩的问题。国会已经非常明确地表示，他们不会让您将囚犯转移到美国受审。但有些人认为您已经拥有行政权力来转移这些囚犯并在明年关闭关塔那摩本身。我的问题是，您认为您拥有这种权力吗？您愿意行使这种权力来关闭那个地方吗？
President Obama: Well, first of all, we’ve been working systematically -- another example of persistence -- in reducing the population. We have a review process. Those who are eligible for transfer we locate in countries that have accepted some of these detainees. They monitor them, and it’s been determined that they can be transferred. And my expectation is by early next year, we should have reduced that population below 100. And we will continue to steadily chip away at the numbers in Guantanamo. 奥巴马总统：嗯，首先，我们一直在系统地努力——这是坚持不懈的又一个例子——减少在押人数。我们有一个审查程序。对于那些符合转移条件的人，我们会在已经接受部分被拘留者的国家为他们找到安置地。这些国家会对他们进行监控，并且已经确定可以转移他们。我的预期是，到明年初，我们应该已经将在押人数减少到100人以下。我们将继续稳步缩减关塔那摩的人数。
There’s going to come to a point where we have an irreducible population -- people who pose a significant threat, but for various reasons, it’s difficult for us to try them in an Article III court. Some of those folks are going through a military commission process. But there’s going to be a challenge there. 总有一天会出现一个不可缩减的在押人群——那些构成重大威胁的人，但由于各种原因，我们很难在联邦第三条宪法法院对他们进行审判。其中一些人正在通过军事委员会程序。但这将是一个挑战。
Now, at that stage, I’m presenting a plan to Congress about how we can close Guantanamo. I’m not going to automatically assume that Congress says no. I’m not being coy, David. I think it’s fair to say that there’s going to be significant resistance from some quarters to that. But I think we can make a very strong argument that it doesn’t make sense for us to be spending an extra $100 million, $200 million, $300 million, $500 million, a billion dollars, to have a secure setting for 50, 60, 70 people. 到那个阶段，我将向国会提交一份关于我们如何关闭关塔那摩的计划。我不会自动假设国会会说不。大卫，我不是在故作含糊。我认为可以公平地说，某些方面会对此表示强烈反对。但我认为我们可以提出一个非常有力的论点，即我们花费额外的1亿、2亿、3亿、5亿甚至10亿美元来为50、60、70个人提供一个安全的场所是不合理的。
And we will wait until Congress has definitively said no to a well-thought-out plan with numbers attached to it before we say anything definitive about my executive authority here. I think it’s far preferable if I can get stuff done with Congress. 我们将等到国会对一份附有具体数字的周密计划明确说不之后，再就我在此事上的行政权力发表任何明确的声明。我认为，如果能与国会合作完成事情，那就好得多了。
Question: So actually you could -- right -- on your own? 问：所以实际上您可以——对吧——自己行动？
President Obama: David, as I said -- and I think you’ve seen me on a whole bunch of issues like immigration -- I’m not going to be forward-leaning on what I can do without Congress before I’ve tested what I can do with Congress. And every once in a while, they’ll surprise you, and this may be one of those places -- because I think we can make a really strong argument. Guantanamo continues to be one of the key magnets for jihadi recruitment. 奥巴马总统：大卫，正如我所说——而且我认为你已经看到我在移民等一系列问题上的做法——在我尝试了与国会合作能做什么之前，我不会在无需国会就能做什么的问题上采取超前立场。而且每隔一段时间，他们就会给你惊喜，这可能就是其中之一——因为我认为我们可以提出一个非常有力的论点。关塔那摩仍然是圣战分子招募的主要磁石之一。
To Roberta’s question earlier about how do they propagandize and convince somebody here in the United States who may not have a criminal record or a history of terrorist activity to start shooting -- this is part of what they feed, this notion of a gross injustice, that America is not living up to its professed ideals. We know that. We see the Internet traffic. We see how Guantanamo has been used to create this mythology that America is at war with Islam. 关于罗伯塔早些时候提出的问题，即他们如何进行宣传并说服美国国内那些可能没有犯罪记录或恐怖活动历史的人开始开枪——这就是他们所灌输的内容之一，即存在一种严重的不公正，美国没有践行其宣称的理想。我们知道这一点。我们看到了互联网流量。我们看到关塔那摩如何被用来制造美国与伊斯兰开战的神话。
And for us to close it is part of our counterterrorism strategy that is supported by our military, our diplomatic, and our intelligence teams. 而关闭它是我们反恐战略的一部分，得到了我们军方、外交和情报团队的支持。
So when you combine that with the fact that it’s really expensive that we are essentially at this point detaining a handful of people and each person is costing several million dollars to detain, when there are more efficient ways of doing it, I think we can make a strong argument. 所以，当你把这一点与以下事实结合起来考虑时——即关押少数人的费用极其高昂，每个人的关押成本高达数百万美元，而且还有更高效的方式——我认为我们可以提出有力的论据。
But I’ll take your point that it will be an uphill battle. Now, every battle I’ve had with Congress over the last five years has been uphill. But we keep on surprising you by actually getting some stuff done. Sometimes that may prove necessary, but we try not to get out ahead of ourselves on that. 但我同意你的看法，这将是一场硬仗。过去五年里，我与国会的每一场战斗都是硬仗。但我们一直在通过实际完成一些事情给你带来惊喜。有时候那可能是必要的，但我们尽量不操之过急。
Julie Pace. 朱莉·佩斯。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to ask you about some of the broader challenges in the Middle East. Some of the Republicans who are running for President have argued that the Mideast and the United States would be safer if we hadn’t had regime change in places like Iraq, Libya, and Egypt. And having gone through the experience of the Arab Spring and the aftermath, I wonder what you now see the U.S. role in the Middle East in terms of trying to push dictators out of power. Would you advise future presidents to call for authoritarian leaders to step down as you did? 问：谢谢您，总统先生。我想请教您关于中东更广泛挑战的一些问题。一些正在竞选总统的共和党人认为，如果我们没有在伊拉克、利比亚和埃及等地推动政权更迭，中东和美国会更安全。在经历了阿拉伯之春及其后果之后，我想知道您现在如何看待美国在中东推动独裁者下台方面的作用。您会建议未来的总统像您那样呼吁威权领导人下台吗？
And just specifically on Syria, at this point, is it your expectation that Bashar Assad’s presidency will outlast yours? 具体到叙利亚，目前您预计巴沙尔·阿萨德的总统任期会比您的任期更长吗？
President Obama: There’s been a lot of revisionist history, sometimes by the same people making different arguments depending on the situation. So maybe it’s useful just for us to go back over some of these issues. 奥巴马总统：有很多修正主义的历史说法，有时候是同一批人根据不同情况提出不同的论点。所以也许我们有必要回顾一下其中的一些问题。
We did not depose Hosni Mubarak. Millions of Egyptians did, because of their dissatisfaction with the corruption and authoritarianism of the regime. We had a working relationship with Mubarak. We didn't trigger the Arab Spring. And the notion that somehow the U.S. was in a position to pull the strings on a country that is the largest in the Arab world I think is mistaken. 我们没有推翻胡斯尼·穆巴拉克。是数百万埃及人做的，因为他们对政权的腐败和威权不满。我们与穆巴拉克保持着工作关系。我们没有引发阿拉伯之春。那种认为美国有能力操纵这个阿拉伯世界最大国家的看法，我认为是错误的。
What is true is that at the point at which the choice becomes mowing down millions of people, or trying to find some transition -- we believed, and I would still argue that it was more sensible for us to find a peaceful transition to the Egyptian situation. 事实是，当选择变成要么屠杀数百万人，要么试图找到某种过渡方式时——我们认为，而且我仍然认为，为埃及局势找到和平过渡方案更加明智。
With respect to Libya, Libya is sort of a alternative version of Syria in some ways, because by the time the international coalition interceded in Syria, chaos had already broken out. You already had the makings of a civil war. You had a dictator who was threatening and was in a position to carry out the wholesale slaughter of large numbers of people. And we worked under U.N. mandate with a coalition of folks in order to try to avert a big humanitarian catastrophe that would not have been good for us. 关于利比亚，利比亚在某些方面可以说是叙利亚的另一个版本，因为当国际联盟介入叙利亚时，混乱已经爆发。内战已经在酝酿之中。当时有一个独裁者威胁着并且有能力对大量民众进行大规模屠杀。我们在联合国授权下与一个国家联盟合作，试图避免一场对我们也不利的重大人道主义灾难。
Those who now argue, in retrospect, we should have left Qaddafi in there seem to forget that he had already lost legitimacy and control of his country, and we could have -- instead of what we have in Libya now, we could have had another Syria in Libya now. The problem with Libya was the fact that there was a failure on the part of the entire international community -- and I think that the United States has some accountability for not moving swiftly enough and underestimating the need to rebuild government there quickly -- and as a consequence, you now have a very bad situation. 那些现在事后辩称我们当初应该让卡扎菲留在台上的人，似乎忘记了他已经失去了合法性和对国家的控制。我们本来可能——不是现在的利比亚局势，而是可能在利比亚出现另一个叙利亚。利比亚的问题在于整个国际社会都有失败——我认为美国也有一定的责任，因为我们行动不够迅速，低估了在那里快速重建政府的必要性——因此，你现在看到了一个非常糟糕的局面。
And as far as Syria goes, I think it is entirely right and proper for the United States of America to speak out on behalf of its values. And when you have an authoritarian leader that is killing hundreds of thousands of his own people, the notion that we would just stand by and say nothing is contrary to who we are. And that does not serve our interests -- because, at that point, us being in collusion with that kind of governance would make us even more of a target for terrorist activity, would -- 就叙利亚而言，我认为美利坚合众国代表其价值观发声是完全正确和恰当的。当你有一个独裁领导人杀害数十万本国人民时，那种我们应该袖手旁观、一言不发的想法与我们是谁背道而驰。而且这不符合我们的利益——因为在那种情况下，我们与那种治理方式同流合污，只会让我们成为恐怖主义活动更大的目标，会——
Question: Do you think that government can cope -- try to stop extremists from -- 问：您认为那个政府能够应对——试图阻止极端分子——
President Obama: The reason that Assad has been a problem in Syria is because that is a majority-Sunni country and he had lost the space that he had early on to execute an inclusive transition -- peaceful transition. He chose instead to slaughter people. And once that happened, the idea that a minority population there could somehow crush tens of millions of people who oppose him is not feasible. It’s not plausible. Even if you were being cold-eyed and hard-hearted about the human toll there, it just wouldn’t happen. 奥巴马总统：阿萨德在叙利亚一直是个问题，原因在于这是一个逊尼派占多数的国家，而他很早就失去了实现包容性过渡——和平过渡——的空间。他选择了屠杀人民。一旦发生这种情况，认为那里的少数人口能够以某种方式镇压数千万反对他的人的想法是行不通的。这是不现实的。即使你对那里的人员伤亡冷眼旁观、铁石心肠，这也不会发生。
And as a consequence, our view has been that you cannot bring peace to Syria, you cannot get an end to the civil war unless you have a government that is recognized as legitimate by a majority of that country. It will not happen. 因此，我们的观点是，你无法为叙利亚带来和平，你无法结束内战，除非你有一个得到该国多数人承认为合法的政府。这是不可能实现的。
And this is the argument that I’ve had repeatedly with Mr. Putin, dating five years ago, at which time his suggestion -- as I gather some Republicans are now suggesting -- was Assad is not so bad, let him just be as brutal and repressive as he can, but at least he’ll keep order. I said, look, the problem is that the history of trying to keep order when a large majority of the country has turned against you is not good. And five years later, I was right. 这就是我五年来一直与普京先生争论的问题，五年前他的建议——据我了解，现在一些共和党人也在这样建议——是阿萨德还不错，就让他想多残暴就多残暴、想多镇压就多镇压吧，至少他能维持秩序。我说，问题在于，当一个国家的大多数人都反对你时，试图维持秩序的历史并不看好。五年后，事实证明我是对的。
So we now have an opportunity -- and John Kerry is meeting as we speak with Syria and Turkey and Iran and the Gulf countries and other parties who are interested -- we now have an opportunity not to turn back the clock -- it’s going to be very difficult to completely overcome the devastation that’s happened in Syria already -- but to find a political transition that maintains the Syrian state, that recognizes there are a bunch of a stakeholders inside of Syria, and hopefully, 所以我们现在有一个机会——约翰·克里此刻正在与叙利亚、土耳其、伊朗以及海湾国家和其他有关各方会面——我们现在有机会不是让时光倒流——要完全消除叙利亚已经遭受的破坏将非常困难——而是找到一个政治过渡方案，维持叙利亚国家的完整，承认叙利亚境内有众多利益相关者，并希望
to initiate a ceasefire that won’t be perfect but allows all the parties to turn on what should be our number-one focus, and that is destroying Daesh and its allies in the region. 发起一场不会完美的停火，但能让所有各方把注意力转向我们的首要任务，那就是摧毁达伊沙及其在该地区的盟友。
And that is going to be a difficult process. It’s going to be a painstaking process. But there is no shortcut to that. And that’s not based on some idealism on my part; that’s a hard-headed calculation about what’s going to be required to get the job done. 这将是一个艰难的过程。这将是一个艰苦的过程。但没有捷径可走。这不是基于我的某种理想主义；而是基于对完成这项工作所需条件的冷静计算。
Question: Do you think that Assad, though, potentially could remain in power a year from now? 问：不过，您认为阿萨德有可能在一年后仍然掌权吗？
President Obama: I think that Assad is going to have to leave in order for the country to stop the bloodletting and for all the parties involved to be able to move forward in a non-sectarian way. He has lost legitimacy in the eyes of a large majority of the country. 奥巴马总统：我认为阿萨德必须下台，这样国家才能停止流血冲突，所有相关各方才能以非宗派的方式向前发展。他已经在该国大多数人的眼中失去了合法性。
Now, is there a way of us constructing a bridge creating a political transition that allows those who are allied with Assad right now -- allows the Russians, allows the Iranians to ensure that their equities are respected, that minorities like the Alawites are not crushed or retribution is not the order of the day -- I think that’s going to be very important as well. 现在，我们是否能够构建一座桥梁，创造一个政治过渡，让那些目前与阿萨德结盟的人——让俄罗斯人、让伊朗人——确保他们的利益得到尊重，像阿拉维派这样的少数群体不会被镇压，也不会出现报复性的局面——我认为这也非常重要。
And that’s what makes this so difficult. Sadly, had Assad made a decision earlier that he was not more important personally than his entire country, that kind of political transition would have been much easier. It’s a lot harder now. But John Kerry has been doing some excellent work in moving that process forward. And I do think that you’ve seen from the Russians a recognition that, after a couple of months, they’re not really moving the needle that much, despite a sizeable deployment inside of Syria. 这就是为什么这件事如此困难。可悲的是，如果阿萨德早些时候做出决定，认为他个人不如整个国家重要，那么这种政治过渡就会容易得多。现在要困难得多。但约翰·克里在推动这一进程方面做了一些出色的工作。我确实认为，你已经从俄罗斯人那里看到了一种认识，即经过几个月的时间，尽管他们在叙利亚境内部署了相当规模的兵力，但他们实际上并没有取得太大进展。
And of course, that’s what I suggested would happen -- because there’s only so much bombing you can do when an entire country is outraged and believes that its ruler doesn’t represent them. 当然，这正是我之前预料到的——因为当整个国家都感到愤怒，认为统治者不代表他们时，你能做的轰炸也就那么多。
Cheryl Bolen. 谢丽尔·博伦。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. I’d like to ask you about the surprising Congress. Specifically, what are your top legislative priorities for next year? And how has the new Speaker, Paul Ryan, changed the dynamic with you and Capitol Hill? And can you be more ambitious next year, doing things like maybe completing the Transatlantic Trade Partnership, or even getting tax reform? 问：谢谢您，总统先生。我想请教您关于令人惊讶的国会的问题。具体来说，您明年的首要立法优先事项是什么？新议长保罗·瑞安如何改变了您与国会山的互动格局？明年您能否更有雄心，比如完成跨大西洋贸易伙伴关系，甚至实现税收改革？
President Obama: Well, first of all, it’s important to give some credit where credit is due. John Boehner did a favor to all of us, including now Speaker Ryan, by working with us to agree on a topline budget framework. That was the basis for subsequent negotiations. He was able to do that because he was going out the door, and was then given, I think, a little more room to maneuver than he previously had. 奥巴马总统：嗯，首先，该肯定的地方要肯定。约翰·博纳为我们所有人做了一件好事，包括现在的议长瑞安，他与我们合作达成了一个总体预算框架。这是后续谈判的基础。他之所以能够做到这一点，是因为他即将离任，因此我认为他比以前有了更多的回旋余地。
Having said that, I also want to give Speaker Ryan credit. I called both him and Mitch McConnell, as well as Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, for the orderly way in which they actually negotiated a budget -- the way Congress is historically and typically supposed to work. I mean, we’ve gotten kind of used to last-minute crises and shutdown threats, and so forth. And this is a messy process that doesn’t satisfy everybody completely, but it’s more typical of American democracy. And I think that Speaker Ryan deserves a role in that. 话虽如此，我也想肯定瑞安议长的功劳。我给他和米奇·麦康奈尔，以及南希·佩洛西和哈里·里德都打了电话，感谢他们以有序的方式谈判预算——这是国会历史上和通常应该有的运作方式。我的意思是，我们已经有点习惯了最后时刻的危机和关门威胁等等。这是一个混乱的过程，不能让每个人都完全满意，但这更符合美国民主的常态。我认为瑞安议长在其中发挥了作用。
I will say that in his interactions with me, he has been professional, he has reached out to tell me what he can do and what he cannot do. I think it’s a good working relationship. We recognize that we disagree on a whole bunch of other stuff and have fundamentally different visions for where we want to move the country. But perhaps because even before he was elected he had worked on Capitol Hill, I think he is respectful of the process and respectful of how legislation works. So kudos to him, as well as all the leaders and appropriators who were involved in this process. 我要说的是，在与我的互动中，他一直很专业，他主动告诉我他能做什么、不能做什么。我认为这是一种良好的工作关系。我们认识到我们在很多其他问题上存在分歧，对国家的发展方向有着根本不同的愿景。但也许因为在当选之前他就曾在国会山工作，我认为他尊重程序，尊重立法的运作方式。所以向他致敬，也向参与这一过程的所有领导人和拨款委员致敬。
Now, I just want to repeat -- because sometimes we take for granted what’s happened -- I said early on in this process that I wasn’t going to sign a budget that did not relieve sequester, this artificial austerity that was making it difficult for us to invest in things like education and our military. And I said I would not accept a lot of ideological riders that were attached to a big budget deal. And we met our goals. 现在，我想重申——因为有时候我们会把已经发生的事情视为理所当然——我在这个过程开始时就说过，我不会签署一份不解除自动减赤的预算，这种人为的紧缩政策使我们难以在教育和军队等方面进行投资。我说过我不会接受附加在大型预算协议上的许多意识形态附加条款。我们实现了我们的目标。
And because of some terrific negotiations by the Democrats up on Capitol Hill and I think some pretty good work by our legislative staff here, we’re going to be able to fund environmental protection. We’re going to be able to make sure that we’re investing in things like early childhood education and making college more affordable. We’re going to be able to implement the Clean Power Plan rule. We’re going to be able to continue to invest in clean energy that spurs on innovation. 由于国会山民主党人的出色谈判，以及我认为我们这里立法团队的出色工作，我们将能够资助环境保护。我们将能够确保投资于幼儿教育等领域，并让大学更容易负担得起。我们将能够实施清洁电力计划规则。我们将能够继续投资于推动创新的清洁能源。
We’re going to be able to make sure that our military gets the equipment and the training that it needs in order to be effective in fighting ISIL and other threats around the world. 我们将能够确保我们的军队获得所需的装备和训练，以便在打击伊斯兰国和世界各地的其他威胁时保持有效。
So it was a good win. And there are some things in there that I don't like, but that's the nature of legislation and compromise. And I think the system worked. 所以这是一场漂亮的胜利。其中有些内容我并不喜欢，但这就是立法和妥协的本质。我认为这个系统运转了。
That gives me some optimism that next year, on a narrow set of issues, we can get some more work done. Now, as David said, it’s an election year. And obviously a lot of the legislative process is going to be skewed by people looking over their shoulders, worrying about primaries, trying to position themselves relative to the presidential candidates. So that makes it harder. But I think there are going to be a handful of areas where we can make real progress. 这让我有些乐观，认为明年在少数几个议题上，我们可以完成更多工作。现在，正如大卫所说，这是一个选举年。显然，很多立法过程都会受到人们瞻前顾后的影响，他们担心初选，试图根据总统候选人来定位自己。所以这会让事情变得更难。但我认为会有少数几个领域我们可以取得真正的进展。
One of them you already mentioned -- Trans-Pacific Partnership, which now has been out, Congress has had a chance to review. And it meets the bar that I set. It is consistent with what I promised, which is the most pro-labor, pro-environment, progressive trade deal in history, that eliminates just about every tariff on American manufacturing goods in countries that up until this point have charged a tax, essentially, on anything that American workers and American businesses sell in these areas. 其中一个你已经提到了——跨太平洋伙伴关系协定，现在已经公布，国会有机会进行审查。它达到了我设定的标准。它符合我所承诺的，即历史上最有利于劳工、最有利于环境、最进步的贸易协定，它几乎取消了那些国家对美国制造业商品征收的所有关税——到目前为止，这些国家基本上对美国工人和美国企业在这些地区销售的任何产品都征收税费。
It brings those taxes down to zero on basically all American-manufactured products -- a huge win for agriculture, because now the people of Japan are going to be in a better position to enjoy American beef and American pork, which up until this point, even though we're much more efficient producers, has been tagged with a tax that makes our products uncompetitive in Japanese markets. 它将基本上所有美国制造产品的关税降为零——这对农业来说是一个巨大的胜利，因为现在日本人民将有更好的条件享用美国牛肉和美国猪肉，而在此之前，尽管我们的生产效率高得多，但这些产品被征收了关税，使我们的产品在日本市场上缺乏竞争力。
So this is a big deal. And I think Speaker Ryan would like to try to get it done. And there are both proponents and opponents of this in both Democratic and Republican parties, and so it’s going to be an interesting situation where we're going to have to stitch together the same kind of bipartisan effort in order for us to get it done. 所以这是一件大事。我认为瑞安议长愿意努力推动此事。民主党和共和党中都有支持者和反对者，所以这将是一个有趣的局面，我们将不得不组建同样类型的两党联盟才能完成这件事。
A second area that I think is possible is criminal justice reform. There has been sincere, serious negotiations and efforts by Democrats and Republicans to create a criminal justice system that is more fair, more evenhanded, more proportionate, and is smarter about how we reduce crime. And I’ve really been impressed by the dedication of a core group of Democrats and Republicans -- some of them, the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans -- coming together saying this is the right thing to do. 我认为第二个可能的领域是刑事司法改革。民主党和共和党人一直在进行真诚而严肃的谈判和努力，以建立一个更公平、更公正、更适度、更明智地减少犯罪的刑事司法系统。我对民主党和共和党核心小组的奉献精神印象深刻——其中一些是最自由派的民主党人和最保守的共和党人——他们走到一起，说这是正确的事情。
We’ve got a good bill in the Senate that passed with bipartisan support out of committee. My hope is, is that gets to the floor, and that we can pair it up with a good bill out of the House. And this is an area where you potentially can see us save money, reduce recidivism, make sure that people who make a mistake on nonviolent crimes have to pay the price, have to serve time, but are released in a reasonable fashion, that they have more support so that they're less likely to go back into the criminal system subsequently. 我们在参议院有一项很好的法案，已经在委员会获得两党支持通过。我的希望是，它能提交到全院，然后我们可以与众议院的一项好法案配对。在这个领域，你有可能看到我们节省资金、降低再犯率，确保那些犯了非暴力罪行错误的人必须付出代价、必须服刑，但能以合理的方式获释，得到更多支持，从而减少他们后来重新进入刑事系统的可能性。
And that's an area where I think we may be able to make a big difference. 这是一个我认为我们可能能够产生重大影响的领域。
So those are just two examples. We’ll keep on looking for a number of examples like that. And wherever there’s an opportunity, I’m going to take it. 所以这只是两个例子。我们将继续寻找更多这样的机会。只要有机会，我就会抓住它。
Philip Crowther. 菲利普·克劳瑟。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. You mentioned climate change already. And at the time of the signing of the deal in Paris, you said it was potentially a turning point for the world. But this was a deal that is not a legally binding document. And you bypassed Congress pretty much completely. Are you worried at this point that a Republican president who might take over from you in the White House could stop the deal in its tracks entirely? And considering that possibility, are you more interested in campaigning for a Democratic nominee, considering that danger? 问：谢谢您，总统先生。您已经提到了气候变化。在巴黎签署协议时，您说这可能是世界的一个转折点。但这项协议不是一个具有法律约束力的文件。而且您基本上完全绕过了国会。您现在是否担心，一位可能接替您入主白宫的共和党总统可能会让整个协议戛然而止？考虑到这种可能性，您是否更有兴趣为民主党候选人竞选，考虑到这种危险？
President Obama: I think it’s fair to say I was going to be campaigning for a Democratic nominee even without that danger. And I am very confident that we're going to have a terrific Democratic nominee and -- [cellphone rings] -- whose phone is that, guys? Come on, now. Somebody -- you recognize your ring. Don’t be embarrassed. Just turn it off. There you go. Okay. Can I still hear it? I think it’s off now. 奥巴马总统：公平地说，即使没有这种危险，我也会为民主党候选人竞选。我非常有信心，我们将有一位出色的民主党候选人，而且——[手机响了]——这是谁的手机啊，各位？别这样嘛。那位——你认出你的铃声了。别不好意思。关掉就行了。好了。我还能听到吗？我想现在关了。
I think we will have a strong Democratic nominee. I think that Democratic nominee will win. I think I will have a Democratic successor. And I will campaign very hard to make that happen -- for a whole variety of reasons -- because they're far more likely to share my fundamental vision about where America should go. 我认为我们会有一位强有力的民主党候选人。我认为那位民主党候选人会获胜。我认为我会有一位民主党继任者。我将非常努力地竞选以实现这一目标——原因有很多——因为他们更有可能认同我对美国发展方向的基本愿景。
But having said that, what I think people should also feel good about is that the agreement struck in Paris, although not legally binding when it comes to the targets that had been set, does create this architecture in which all around the world, countries are saying, this is where we’re going. We’re going to be chasing after this clean energy future. This is how we’re going to meet our goals. We’re going to double down on solar power. We’re going to double down on wind power. We’re going to invest more heavily in biofuels. We’re going to figure out battery technologies. 但话虽如此，我认为人们也应该感到欣慰的是，在巴黎达成的协议虽然在设定的目标方面不具有法律约束力，但确实建立了这样一个架构，在这个架构中，世界各国都在说，这就是我们前进的方向。我们将追寻这一清洁能源的未来。这就是我们实现目标的方式。我们将加倍投入太阳能。我们将加倍投入风能。我们将加大对生物燃料的投资。我们将攻克电池技术。
And what you saw in this budget, which I think was really significant, was an extension of the solar tax credits and wind tax credits that we had helped to really boost early on in my administration and that resulted in wind power increasing threefold, solar power increasing by twentyfold. 你在这份预算中看到的——我认为这非常重要——是太阳能税收抵免和风能税收抵免的延长，这些抵免政策在我执政初期曾帮助大力推动，结果使风能增长了三倍，太阳能增长了二十倍。
Those tax credits are now going to be extended for five to seven years. And as a consequence, that combination of market signals means that the private sector is going to start investing much more heavily. They know this is coming. And it’s not just coming here -- it’s coming around the world. So you now have a global marketplace for clean energy that is stable and accelerating over the course of the next decade. 这些税收抵免现在将延长五到七年。因此，市场信号的结合意味着私营部门将开始进行更多的投资。他们知道这即将到来。而且这不仅仅发生在这里——这正在全球范围内发生。所以你现在有了一个稳定的、在未来十年加速发展的全球清洁能源市场。
That then creates a different dynamic that is independent of what Congress does, but also helps to shape what Congress does. Because the more people that are now getting jobs in solar installation and production, the more that you have companies who are seeing how American innovation can sell products in clean energy all across the Asia Pacific and in Europe and in Africa, suddenly there’s a big monetary incentive to getting this right. 这就创造了一种不同的动力，它独立于国会的所作所为，但也有助于塑造国会的行为。因为现在在太阳能安装和生产领域找到工作的人越多，就有越多的公司看到美国的创新如何能够在整个亚太地区、欧洲和非洲销售清洁能源产品，突然间，做好这件事就有了巨大的经济激励。
And that’s been the history of environmental progress in this country, and now we’ve exported it around the world. Every time we’ve made a decision, “you know what, we’re going to have clean air,” the predictions were everything would fall apart. And lo and behold, it turns out that American innovation makes getting clean air a lot less expensive than people expected and it happens a lot faster than expected. 这就是这个国家环境进步的历史，现在我们已经把它推广到了世界各地。每次我们做出决定，"你知道吗，我们要有清洁空气"，就有人预言一切都会崩溃。结果呢，事实证明，美国的创新让获得清洁空气的成本比人们预期的低得多，而且速度也快得多。
When we made a decision that we were going to double fuel-efficiency standards on cars, everybody said, oh, this is going to ruin the American auto industry. The American auto industry has been booming over the last couple years. Acid rain -- when George H.W. Bush instituted a system to charge for the emissions that were causing acid rain, everybody said, well, you can’t do that, that’s going to ruin business. And it turned out it was smoother, faster, quicker, better. 当我们决定将汽车燃油效率标准提高一倍时，每个人都说，哦，这会毁了美国汽车业。过去几年，美国汽车业一直在蓬勃发展。酸雨——当乔治·H·W·布什建立了一个对导致酸雨的排放收费的系统时，每个人都说，不行，那会毁了商业。结果却更顺利、更快、更迅速、更好。
And acid rain folks who were born -- I don’t know -- some of you reporters are getting younger, or I’m getting older -- may not remember it, but that was a big deal. Now most folks don’t even remember it anymore, because it got solved. And there’s no reason why the same won’t happen here. 酸雨那件事——我不知道——你们有些记者越来越年轻了，还是我变老了——可能不记得了，但那可是件大事。现在大多数人甚至都不记得了，因为问题已经解决了。同样的事情没有理由不会在这里发生。
Now, do I think that there’s going to be a lot of noise and campaigning next year about how we’re going to stop Paris in its tracks? There will probably be a lot of noise like that. Do I actually think that, two years from now, three years from now, even Republican members of Congress are going to look at it and say, that’s a smart thing to do? I don’t think they will. 现在，我认为明年会不会有很多关于我们要如何让巴黎协议戛然而止的噪音和竞选言论？可能会有很多这样的噪音。我真的认为两年后、三年后，即使是共和党国会议员也会审视它并说，这是一件明智的事情吗？我不认为他们会的。
Keep in mind that, right now, the American Republican Party is the only major party that I can think of in the advanced world that effectively denies climate change. I mean, it’s an outlier. Many of the key signatories to this deal, the architects of this deal come from center-right governments. Even the far-right parties in many of these countries -- they may not like immigrants, for example, but they admit, yes, the science tells us we’ve got to do something about climate change. 请记住，目前，美国共和党是我能想到的发达国家中唯一一个实质上否认气候变化的主要政党。我的意思是，它是一个异类。该协议的许多主要签署国、该协议的缔造者都来自中右翼政府。即使在许多这些国家的极右翼政党——例如，他们可能不喜欢移民——但他们承认，是的，科学告诉我们必须对气候变化采取行动。
So my sense is, is that this is something that may be an advantage in terms of short-term politics and a Republican primary. It’s not something that is going to be a winner for Republicans long term. 所以我的感觉是，这可能在短期政治和共和党初选中是一种优势。但从长远来看，这不会是共和党人的制胜之道。
Question: You mentioned American leadership. Is it embarrassing to you that the other party denies climate change? 问：您提到了美国的领导作用。另一个政党否认气候变化，这让您感到尴尬吗？
President Obama: No -- because, first of all, I’m not a member of that party. Second of all, it didn’t stop us from being the key leader in getting this done. 奥巴马总统：不——因为，首先，我不是那个党的成员。其次，这并没有阻止我们成为达成这项协议的关键领导者。
I mean, this is something I’ve been working on now for five, six years. When I went to Copenhagen, I essentially engaged in 24 hours of diplomacy to salvage from a pretty chaotic process the basic principle that all countries had to participate, that we couldn’t have a rigid division between developed countries and developing countries when it came to solving this problem. 我的意思是，这件事我已经努力了五六年了。我去哥本哈根的时候，基本上进行了24小时的外交斡旋，从一个相当混乱的过程中挽救了所有国家都必须参与的基本原则，即在解决这个问题时，我们不能在发达国家和发展中国家之间划上僵硬的界限。
That was the initial foundation for us then working with other countries, culminating in the joint announcement with China, bringing in India, bringing in Brazil and the other big, emerging countries, working with the Europeans and getting this done. 这是我们随后与其他国家合作的最初基础，最终促成了与中国的联合声明，将印度、巴西和其他新兴大国纳入进来，与欧洲国家合作，最终完成了这项工作。
This would not have happened without American leadership. And, by the way, the same is true for the Iran nuclear deal. The same is true for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The same is true for stamping out Ebola -- something, you guys may recall from last year, which was the potential end of the world. 没有美国的领导，这一切都不会发生。顺便说一句，伊朗核协议也是如此。跨太平洋伙伴关系协定也是如此。遏制埃博拉也是如此——你们可能还记得去年那件事，当时它还可能是世界末日呢。
At each juncture, what we’ve said is, is that American strength and American exceptionalism is not just a matter of us bombing somebody. More often, it’s a matter of us convening, setting the agenda, pointing other nations in a direction that’s good for everybody and good for U.S. interests, engaging in painstaking diplomacy, leading by example. And sometimes the results don’t come overnight, they don’t come the following day, but they come. 在每个关键时刻，我们都说过，美国的力量和美国例外主义不仅仅意味着我们轰炸别人。更多时候，它意味着我们召集各方、设定议程、为其他国家指明既有利于所有人也符合美国利益的方向、开展艰苦卓绝的外交、以身作则。有时候结果不会在一夜之间到来，不会在第二天到来，但终究会到来。
And this year, what you really saw was that steady, persistent leadership on many initiatives that I began when I first came into office. 而今年，你真正看到的是我上任之初就开始的许多倡议所展现出的那种坚定、持久的领导力。
All right. I’ve got April Ryan. 好的。有请艾普丽尔·瑞安。
Question: Mr. President, I want to ask you something on criminal justice, or that something you said also -- something from Julie Pace. Your administration contends the United States is 5 percent of the world population, but 25 percent of the global jailed population. What legislation are you supporting that significantly cuts mass incarceration in this country? And going back to the Assad issue, does Assad have to go to defeat ISIS? 问：总统先生，我想请教您关于刑事司法的问题，或者您刚才也提到了——朱莉·佩斯提到的那个问题。您的政府认为美国占世界人口的5%，但占全球在押人口的25%。您支持哪些立法来大幅减少这个国家的大规模监禁？回到阿萨德的问题，要击败伊斯兰国，阿萨德必须下台吗？
President Obama: Well, we’re going to defeat ISIS, and we’re going to do so by systematically squeezing them, cutting off their supply lines, cutting off their financing, taking out their leadership, taking out their forces, taking out their infrastructure. We’re going to do so in partnership with forces on the ground -- that sometimes are spotty, sometimes need capacity-building, need our assistance, need our training -- but we’re seeing, steadily, progress in many of these areas. And so they’re going to be on the run. 奥巴马总统：嗯，我们将击败伊斯兰国，我们将通过系统地挤压他们、切断他们的补给线、切断他们的资金来源、消灭他们的领导人、消灭他们的武装力量、摧毁他们的基础设施来做到这一点。我们将与地面部队合作来实现这一目标——这些部队有时参差不齐，有时需要能力建设，需要我们的援助，需要我们的训练——但我们在许多这些领域正在稳步取得进展。所以他们将被赶跑。
Now, they are going to continue to be dangerous. So let me just be very clear -- because whenever I say that we have made progress in squeezing the territory that they control, or made real inroads against them, what people will say is, well, if something happens around the world, then obviously that must not be true. But in any battle, in any fight, even as you make progress, there are still dangers involved. 但他们将继续构成危险。所以让我非常清楚地说明——因为每当我说我们在压缩他们控制的领土方面取得了进展，或者在打击他们方面取得了真正的突破时，人们就会说，那么，如果世界各地发生了什么事情，那显然就不是真的。但在任何战斗中、任何斗争中，即使你取得了进展，仍然存在危险。
And ISIL’s capacity both to infiltrate Western countries with people who’ve traveled to Syria or traveled to Iraq, and the savviness of their social media, their ability to recruit disaffected individuals who may be French or British or even U.S. citizens, will continue to make them dangerous for quite some time. But we will systematically go after them. 伊斯兰国既有能力让去过叙利亚或伊拉克的人渗透到西方国家，又精通社交媒体，能够招募心怀不满的个人——这些人可能是法国人、英国人，甚至是美国公民——这将在相当长一段时间内继续使他们具有危险性。但我们将系统地追击他们。
Now, in order for us to stamp them out thoroughly, we have to eliminate lawless areas in which they cannot still roam. So we can disable them, we can dismantle much of their infrastructure, greatly reduce the threat that they pose to the United States, our allies and our neighbors. But, in the same way that al Qaeda is pinned down and has much more difficulty carrying out any significant attacks because of how we’ve systematically dismantled them, they still pose a threat. 现在，为了彻底消灭他们，我们必须消除他们仍然可以横行的无法无天的地区。所以我们可以削弱他们，我们可以摧毁他们的大部分基础设施，大大降低他们对美国、我们的盟友和邻国构成的威胁。但是，就像基地组织被压制、由于我们的系统 dismantling 而难以实施任何重大袭击一样，他们仍然构成威胁。
There are still operatives who are interested in carrying out terrorist attacks because they still operate in areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, or more prominently right now, in Yemen, that are hard to reach. 仍然有一些激进分子有兴趣实施恐怖袭击，因为他们仍然在巴基斯坦和阿富汗之间的地区活动，或者目前更突出的是在也门，这些地区很难到达。
Our long-term goal has to be able to stabilize these areas so that they don’t have any safe haven. And in order for us to do that in Syria, there has to be an end to the civil war, and there has to be an actual government that has a police capacity and a structure in these areas that currently aren’t governed. And it is my firm belief and the belief of the experts in this administration, that so long as Assad is there, we cannot achieve that kind of stability inside of Syria. And I think the history over the last several years indicates as much. 我们的长期目标必须是稳定这些地区，使他们没有任何安全避风港。为了在叙利亚做到这一点，必须结束内战，必须有一个真正的政府，在这些目前无人治理的地区拥有警察能力和架构。我坚信，本届政府的专家们也坚信，只要阿萨德还在，我们就无法在叙利亚实现那种稳定。我认为过去几年的历史也表明了这一点。
So that’s going to continue to be a top priority for us, moving aggressively on the military track and not letting ISIL take a breath, and pounding away at them with our Special Forces and our airstrikes, and the training and advising of partners who can go after them. But we also have to keep very aggressive on this diplomatic track in order for us to bring countries together. 所以这将继续是我们的首要任务，在军事轨道上积极推进，不让伊斯兰国有喘息之机，用我们的特种部队和空袭，以及对能够追击他们的伙伴进行训练和建议，持续打击他们。但我们也必须在外交轨道上保持非常积极的态度，以便将各国聚集在一起。
All right? Everybody -- 好吗？各位——
Question: On criminal justice -- 问：关于刑事司法——
President Obama: Oh, on criminal justice reform, I answered the question. I’m hopeful -- 奥巴马总统：哦，关于刑事司法改革，我已经回答了这个问题。我满怀希望——
Question: On the legislation -- are you supporting the -- mass incarceration? 问：关于立法——您是否支持——大规模监禁？
President Obama: And, April, what I said was, is that I strongly support the Senate legislation that’s already been put forward. I’m hopeful that the House can come up with legislation that follows the same principles, which is to make sure that we’re doing sentencing reform, but we’re also doing a better job in terms of reducing recidivism and providing support for ex-offenders. And if we can get those two bills together in a conference, then I’m somewhat optimistic that we’re going to be able to make a difference. 奥巴马总统：艾普丽尔，我的意思是，我强烈支持已经提出的参议院立法。我希望众议院能够提出遵循同样原则的立法，即确保我们进行量刑改革，同时在减少再犯率和为前罪犯提供支持方面做得更好。如果我们能让这两项法案在协商会议中达成一致，那么我对我们能够有所作为持一定的乐观态度。
Now, keep in mind, April, when you use the term “mass incarceration,” statistically, the overwhelming majority of people who are incarcerated are in state prisons and state facilities for state crimes. We can only focus on federal law and federal crimes. And so there’s still going to be a large population of individuals who are incarcerated even for non-violent drug crimes, because this is a trend that started in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, and accelerated at the state levels. 艾普丽尔，请记住，当你使用"大规模监禁"这个词时，从统计数据来看，绝大多数被监禁的人都在州监狱和州设施中，因为州级犯罪。我们只能专注于联邦法律和联邦犯罪。所以仍然会有大量的人因为非暴力毒品犯罪而被监禁，因为这是始于80年代末和90年代、并在州一级加速的趋势。
But if we can show at the federal level that we can be smart on crime, more cost-effective, more just, more proportionate, then we can set a trend for other states to follow, as well. And that’s our hope. This is not going to be something that’s reversed overnight. 但如果我们能在联邦层面证明我们可以明智地对待犯罪、更具成本效益、更公正、更适度，那么我们也可以为其他州树立榜样。这就是我们的希望。这不是一夜之间就能扭转的事情。
So just to go back to my general principle, April, it took 20 years for us to get to the point we are now. And it will be 20 years, probably, before we reverse some of these major trends. 所以回到我的一般原则，艾普丽尔，我们花了20年才走到今天这一步。可能也需要20年才能扭转其中的一些主要趋势。
Okay, everybody, I got to get to Star Wars. Thank you. Thank you guys. Appreciate you. Merry Christmas, everybody. 好了，各位，我得去看《星球大战》了。谢谢大家。谢谢各位。感谢你们。祝大家圣诞快乐。
Question: Happy New Year, Mr. President. 问：新年快乐，总统先生。
President Obama: Happy New Year to you! 奥巴马总统：也祝你新年快乐！
