Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, fellow citizens: 议长先生、副总统先生、各位国会议员、各位同胞：
Fifty-one years ago, John F. Kennedy declared to this chamber that “the Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress.” “It is my task,” he said, “to report the State of the Union -- to improve it is the task of us all.” 五十一年前，约翰·F·肯尼迪在这个议事厅宣告：“宪法使我们不是权力上的对手，而是进步中的伙伴。”他说：“报告国情是我的职责；改善国情则是我们所有人的职责。”
Tonight, thanks to the grit and determination of the American people, there is much progress to report. After a decade of grinding war, our brave men and women in uniform are coming home. After years of grueling recession, our businesses have created over six million new jobs. We buy more American cars than we have in five years, and less foreign oil than we have in 20. Our housing market is healing, our stock market is rebounding, and consumers, patients, and homeowners enjoy stronger protections than ever before. 今晚，得益于美国人民的坚韧与决心，我们有许多进展可以报告。历经十年艰苦战争后，英勇的男女军人正在回家。经历多年严酷衰退后，我们的企业创造了六百多万个新岗位。我们购买的美国汽车达到五年来最多，使用的外国石油则降至二十年来最少。住房市场正在复苏，股市正在回升，消费者、患者和房主享有的保护比以往任何时候都更有力。
So, together, we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and we can say with renewed confidence that the State of our Union is stronger. 因此，我们共同清除了危机的废墟，并能以重新焕发的信心说：我们的国情更强劲了。
But we gather here knowing that there are millions of Americans whose hard work and dedication have not yet been rewarded. Our economy is adding jobs -- but too many people still can’t find full-time employment. Corporate profits have skyrocketed to all-time highs -- but for more than a decade, wages and incomes have barely budged. 但我们聚集在这里，也知道数以百万计美国人的辛劳与奉献尚未得到回报。经济正在增加岗位，但仍有太多人找不到全职工作。企业利润飙升至历史最高点，但十多年来工资和收入几乎没有增长。
It is our generation’s task, then, to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth -- a rising, thriving middle class. 因此，本代人的任务是重新点燃美国经济增长的真正引擎——一个不断上升、蓬勃发展的中产阶级。
It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country -- the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, no matter what you look like, or who you love. 我们尚未完成的任务，是恢复建成这个国家的基本约定——无论你来自哪里、长什么样、爱谁，只要努力工作、履行责任，就能够向上发展。
It is our unfinished task to make sure that this government works on behalf of the many, and not just the few; that it encourages free enterprise, rewards individual initiative, and opens the doors of opportunity to every child across this great nation. 我们尚未完成的任务，是确保这个政府为多数人而非少数人服务；确保它鼓励自由企业，奖励个人主动性，并向这个伟大国家的每一个孩子打开机会之门。
The American people don’t expect government to solve every problem. They don’t expect those of us in this chamber to agree on every issue. But they do expect us to put the nation’s interests before party. They do expect us to forge reasonable compromise where we can. For they know that America moves forward only when we do so together, and that the responsibility of improving this union remains the task of us all. 美国人民并不期待政府解决所有问题，也不期待本厅的我们在每项议题上达成一致。但他们确实期待我们把国家利益置于党派之上，确实期待我们在可能之处达成合理妥协。因为他们知道，只有我们共同前进，美国才能前进；改善这个联邦的责任仍是我们所有人的任务。
Our work must begin by making some basic decisions about our budget -- decisions that will have a huge impact on the strength of our recovery. 我们的工作必须从就预算作出一些基本决定开始——这些决定将对复苏的强度产生巨大影响。
Over the last few years, both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion -- mostly through spending cuts, but also by raising tax rates on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. As a result, we are more than halfway towards the goal of $4 trillion in deficit reduction that economists say we need to stabilize our finances. 过去几年，两党共同努力，使赤字减少了超过2.5万亿美元——主要靠削减开支，也靠提高最富有的1%美国人的税率。因此，在经济学家认为稳定财政所需的4万亿美元减赤目标上，我们已经走过了一半以上。
Now we need to finish the job. And the question is, how? 现在我们必须完成这项工作。问题是，怎么完成？
In 2011, Congress passed a law saying that if both parties couldn’t agree on a plan to reach our deficit goal, about a trillion dollars’ worth of budget cuts would automatically go into effect this year. These sudden, harsh, arbitrary cuts would jeopardize our military readiness. They’d devastate priorities like education, and energy, and medical research. They would certainly slow our recovery, and cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs. 2011年，国会通过一项法律：若两党不能就实现减赤目标的计划达成一致，今年便会自动生效约1万亿美元的预算削减。这些突然、严厉、任意的削减将危及军队战备，重创教育、能源和医学研究等优先事项，必将拖慢复苏，并让我们失去数十万个工作岗位。
That’s why Democrats, Republicans, business leaders, and economists have already said that these cuts, known here in Washington as the sequester, are a really bad idea. 这就是为什么民主党人、共和党人、商界领袖和经济学家都已表示，这些在华盛顿被称为“自动减支”的削减，是一个极其糟糕的主意。
Now, some in Congress have proposed preventing only the defense cuts by making even bigger cuts to things like education and job training, Medicare and Social Security benefits. That idea is even worse. 现在，国会中有人提议只避免国防削减，却对教育、职业培训、医疗保险和社会保障福利等项目作出更大削减。这个主意更糟。
Yes, the biggest driver of our long-term debt is the rising cost of health care for an aging population. And those of us who care deeply about programs like Medicare must embrace the need for modest reforms -- otherwise, our retirement programs will crowd out the investments we need for our children, and jeopardize the promise of a secure retirement for future generations. 没错，长期债务最大的推动因素，是人口老龄化带来的医疗成本上升。我们这些深切关心医疗保险等项目的人，必须接受温和改革的必要性——否则，退休项目会挤占我们为孩子所需的投资，并危及为后代保障安稳退休的承诺。
But we can’t ask senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden of deficit reduction while asking nothing more from the wealthiest and the most powerful. We won’t grow the middle class simply by shifting the cost of health care or college onto families that are already struggling, or by forcing communities to lay off more teachers and more cops and more firefighters. Most Americans -- Democrats, Republicans, and independents -- understand that we can’t just cut our way to prosperity. 但我们不能要求老年人与工薪家庭承担减赤的全部重担，却不要求最富有、最有权势的人多作一点贡献。我们不会仅靠把医疗或大学教育费用转嫁给本已艰难的家庭，或迫使社区裁掉更多教师、警察和消防员，就壮大中产阶级。大多数美国人——民主党人、共和党人和独立人士——明白，我们不能只靠削减走向繁荣。
They know that broad-based economic growth requires a balanced approach to deficit reduction, with spending cuts and revenue, and with everybody doing their fair share. And that’s the approach I offer tonight. 他们知道，广泛的经济增长需要平衡的减赤方案：既有支出削减，也有收入；每个人都尽其公平份额。这就是我今晚提出的方案。
On Medicare, I’m prepared to enact reforms that will achieve the same amount of health care savings by the beginning of the next decade as the reforms proposed by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission. 在医疗保险方面，我准备实施改革，使我们在下一个十年初实现与两党共同组成的辛普森—鲍尔斯委员会所提改革同等规模的医疗节省。
Already, the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care costs. And the reforms I’m proposing go even further. We’ll reduce taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug companies and ask more from the wealthiest seniors. We’ll bring down costs by changing the way our government pays for Medicare, because our medical bills shouldn’t be based on the number of tests ordered or days spent in the hospital; they should be based on the quality of care that our seniors receive. 《平价医疗法案》已经在帮助放缓医疗成本增长。我提出的改革还会走得更远。我们将减少纳税人对处方药公司的补贴，并要求最富有的老年人承担更多。我们将改变政府支付医疗保险的方式来降低成本，因为医疗账单不应取决于开了多少检查或住院多少天；它们应取决于老年人所获得照护的质量。
And I am open to additional reforms from both parties, so long as they don’t violate the guarantee of a secure retirement. Our government shouldn’t make promises we cannot keep -- but we must keep the promises we’ve already made. 只要不违反保障安稳退休的承诺，我也愿意接受两党的其他改革。政府不应作出无法兑现的承诺——但我们必须履行已经作出的承诺。
To hit the rest of our deficit reduction target, we should do what leaders in both parties have already suggested, and save hundreds of billions of dollars by getting rid of tax loopholes and deductions for the well-off and the well-connected. After all, why would we choose to make deeper cuts to education and Medicare just to protect special interest tax breaks? How is that fair? Why is it that deficit reduction is a big emergency justifying making cuts in Social Security benefits but not closing some loopholes? How does that promote growth? 为完成余下的减赤目标，我们应当按照两党领袖已经提出的办法，通过取消为富裕者和关系深厚者设置的税收漏洞与扣除项，节省数千亿美元。毕竟，为什么为了保护特殊利益的税收减免而选择更深地削减教育和医疗保险？这公平吗？为什么减赤是足以削减社会保障福利的重大紧急事项，却不足以关闭一些漏洞？这如何促进增长？
Now is our best chance for bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform that encourages job creation and helps bring down the deficit. We can get this done. 现在是两党开展全面税制改革、鼓励创造就业并帮助降低赤字的最佳机会。我们能够做到。
The American people deserve a tax code that helps small businesses spend less time filling out complicated forms, and more time expanding and hiring -- a tax code that ensures billionaires with high-powered accountants can’t work the system and pay a lower rate than their hardworking secretaries; a tax code that lowers incentives to move jobs overseas, and lowers tax rates for businesses and manufacturers that are creating jobs right here in the United States of America. That’s what tax reform can deliver. That’s what we can do together. 美国人民理应拥有一套税法：帮助小企业少花时间填写复杂表格，多花时间扩张和招聘；确保雇得起顶尖会计师的亿万富翁不能钻制度空子、缴纳比辛勤工作的秘书更低的税率；减少把工作岗位转移海外的诱因，并降低那些在美国本土创造就业的企业和制造商的税率。这就是税改所能带来的成果，也是我们能够共同做到的事。
I realize that tax reform and entitlement reform will not be easy. The politics will be hard for both sides. None of us will get 100 percent of what we want. But the alternative will cost us jobs, hurt our economy, visit hardship on millions of hardworking Americans. So let’s set party interests aside and work to pass a budget that replaces reckless cuts with smart savings and wise investments in our future. And let’s do it without the brinksmanship that stresses consumers and scares off investors. 我知道，税制改革和福利制度改革不会轻松。两党的政治压力都会很大。我们谁也不会得到自己想要的一切。但替代方案会让我们失去工作、伤害经济，并使数百万勤劳的美国人陷入困境。因此，让我们放下党派利益，努力通过一项预算，用明智的节省和对未来的审慎投资取代鲁莽的削减。让我们在不以边缘政策令消费者焦虑、吓退投资者的情况下做到这一点。
The greatest nation on Earth cannot keep conducting its business by drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next. We can't do it. 地球上最伟大的国家不能继续靠从一场人为制造的危机漂向下一场危机来处理事务。我们不能这样做。
Let’s agree right here, right now to keep the people’s government open, and pay our bills on time, and always uphold the full faith and credit of the United States of America. The American people have worked too hard, for too long, rebuilding from one crisis to see their elected officials cause another. 让我们就在此时此地同意：保持人民的政府运转，按时支付账单，并始终维护美利坚合众国的完全信用与信誉。美国人民在一次危机后重建，已经辛苦了太久、付出了太多；他们不该眼看自己选出的官员再制造另一场危机。
Now, most of us agree that a plan to reduce the deficit must be part of our agenda. But let’s be clear, deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan. A growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs -- that must be the North Star that guides our efforts. Every day, we should ask ourselves three questions as a nation: How do we attract more jobs to our shores? How do we equip our people with the skills they need to get those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living? 现在，我们大多数人同意，减赤计划必须是议程的一部分。但让我们说清楚：单靠减赤不是经济计划。创造优质中产阶级岗位的增长型经济，才必须成为指引我们努力的北极星。作为一个国家，我们每天都应问自己三个问题：怎样把更多工作吸引到美国？怎样让人民具备获得这些工作的技能？怎样确保辛勤工作能带来体面的生活？
A year and a half ago, I put forward an American Jobs Act that independent economists said would create more than 1 million new jobs. And I thank the last Congress for passing some of that agenda. I urge this Congress to pass the rest. But tonight, I’ll lay out additional proposals that are fully paid for and fully consistent with the budget framework both parties agreed to just 18 months ago. Let me repeat -- nothing I’m proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime. 一年半前，我提出了《美国就业法案》，独立经济学家称它将创造一百多万个新岗位。我感谢上一届国会通过了其中一部分，并敦促本届国会通过其余部分。但今晚，我将提出更多建议，它们资金来源完备，并完全符合两党十八个月前同意的预算框架。让我重申：我今晚提出的任何建议都不应使赤字增加一分钱。
It is not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth. That's what we should be looking for. 我们需要的不是更大的政府，而是一个能确定优先事项、投资于广泛增长的更聪明的政府。这才是我们应当追求的。
Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing. After shedding jobs for more than 10 years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three. Caterpillar is bringing jobs back from Japan. Ford is bringing jobs back from Mexico. And this year, Apple will start making Macs in America again. 我们的首要任务，是使美国成为新就业和制造业的磁石。在流失岗位十多年后，过去三年制造商已增加约50万个岗位。卡特彼勒正把岗位从日本带回；福特正把岗位从墨西哥带回；今年，苹果将再次在美国生产麦金塔电脑。
There are things we can do, right now, to accelerate this trend. Last year, we created our first manufacturing innovation institute in Youngstown, Ohio. A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. There’s no reason this can’t happen in other towns. 现在我们就能采取措施，加快这一趋势。去年，我们在俄亥俄州扬斯敦建立了第一家制造业创新研究所。一座一度关闭的仓库如今成为最先进的实验室，新工人在这里掌握3D打印技术；这项技术可能彻底改变我们制造几乎所有产品的方式。没有理由其他城镇不能发生同样的事。
So tonight, I’m announcing the launch of three more of these manufacturing hubs, where businesses will partner with the Department of Defense and Energy to turn regions left behind by globalization into global centers of high-tech jobs. And I ask this Congress to help create a network of 15 of these hubs and guarantee that the next revolution in manufacturing is made right here in America. We can get that done. 所以今晚，我宣布启动另外三个制造业中心，企业将在那里与国防部和能源部合作，把被全球化抛在后面的地区转变为高科技就业的全球中心。我请求国会帮助建立由15个此类中心组成的网络，确保下一场制造业革命在美国本土发生。我们能够做到。
Now, if we want to make the best products, we also have to invest in the best ideas. Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy -- every dollar. Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s. They’re developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs; devising new material to make batteries 10 times more powerful. Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation. Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race. 如果我们要制造最好的产品，也必须投资于最好的创意。我们投入绘制人类基因组的每一美元，为经济带来了140美元回报——每一美元。今天，科学家正在绘制人脑图谱，以解开阿尔茨海默病之谜；他们开发使受损器官再生的药物，研制让电池效能提高十倍的新材料。现在不是削减这些创造就业的科学与创新投资的时候；现在应当把研发提升到自太空竞赛鼎盛时期以来未有的水平。
We need to make those investments. 我们必须作出这些投资。
Today, no area holds more promise than our investments in American energy. After years of talking about it, we’re finally poised to control our own energy future. We produce more oil at home than we have in 15 years. We have doubled the distance our cars will go on a gallon of gas, and the amount of renewable energy we generate from sources like wind and solar -- with tens of thousands of good American jobs to show for it. We produce more natural gas than ever before -- and nearly everyone’s energy bill is lower because of it. 今天，没有任何领域比我们对美国能源的投资更有希望。谈论多年之后，我们终于准备好掌握自己的能源未来。国内石油产量达到十五年来最高；汽车每加仑汽油可行驶的距离翻了一番，风能、太阳能等可再生能源发电量也翻了一番——并由此创造了数以万计优质美国岗位。天然气产量创下历史新高，几乎每个人的能源账单也因此更低。
And over the last four years, our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have actually fallen. 过去四年，威胁地球的危险碳污染排放实际上已经下降。
But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change. Now, it’s true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods -- all are now more frequent and more intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science -- and act before it’s too late. 但为了我们的孩子和未来，我们必须采取更多行动应对气候变化。的确，单一事件不能构成趋势。但事实是，有记录以来最热的十二年全部出现在最近十五年。热浪、干旱、野火、洪水——如今都更频繁、更强烈。我们可以选择相信，“桑迪”超级风暴、数十年来最严重的干旱和一些州经历过的最严重野火，都只是偶然巧合；也可以选择相信科学的压倒性判断——并在为时未晚前行动。
Now, the good news is we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy. 好消息是，我们可以在推动强劲经济增长的同时，在这个问题上取得有意义的进展。我敦促国会团结起来，寻求两党支持、以市场为基础的气候变化解决方案，如约翰·麦凯恩和乔·利伯曼数年前共同推动的方案。但如果国会不尽快为保护后代而行动，我会行动。我将指示内阁提出我们现在和未来可以采取的行政措施，以减少污染、使社区为气候变化后果作好准备，并加快向更可持续能源的转变。
Four years ago, other countries dominated the clean energy market and the jobs that came with it. And we’ve begun to change that. Last year, wind energy added nearly half of all new power capacity in America. So let’s generate even more. Solar energy gets cheaper by the year -- let’s drive down costs even further. As long as countries like China keep going all in on clean energy, so must we. 四年前，其他国家主导着清洁能源市场及其带来的岗位，而我们已经开始改变这一局面。去年，风能占美国新增发电容量近一半。因此，让我们生产更多风能。太阳能每年都在变得更便宜——让我们把成本进一步降下来。只要中国等国家持续全力投入清洁能源，我们也必须如此。
Now, in the meantime, the natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence. We need to encourage that. And that’s why my administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits. That’s got to be part of an all-of-the-above plan. But I also want to work with this Congress to encourage the research and technology that helps natural gas burn even cleaner and protects our air and our water. 与此同时，天然气繁荣带来了更清洁的电力和更大的能源独立性。我们需要鼓励这一点。因此，本届政府将继续削减繁文缛节，加快新的石油和天然气许可。这必须是全面能源计划的一部分。但我也希望同国会合作，鼓励让天然气燃烧得更清洁、保护空气和水的研究与技术。
In fact, much of our new-found energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the public, own together. So tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good. If a nonpartisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals can get behind this idea, then so can we. Let’s take their advice and free our families and businesses from the painful spikes in gas prices we’ve put up with for far too long. 事实上，我们新近获得的许多能源来自公众共同拥有的土地和水域。因此今晚，我提议把部分石油和天然气收入用于资助“能源安全信托基金”，推动新的研究和技术，让汽车和卡车永远摆脱石油。如果由首席执行官、退役将军和海军上将组成的无党派联盟能支持这个想法，我们也能支持。让我们采纳他们的建议，使家庭和企业摆脱我们忍受太久的痛苦油价飙升。
I’m also issuing a new goal for America: Let’s cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next 20 years. We'll work with the states to do it. Those states with the best ideas to create jobs and lower energy bills by constructing more efficient buildings will receive federal support to help make that happen. 我还为美国提出一个新目标：在未来二十年里，把家庭和企业浪费的能源减半。我们将与各州一道实现它。那些在建设更高效建筑、创造就业并降低能源账单方面拥有最佳构想的州，将获得联邦支持来落实这些构想。
America’s energy sector is just one part of an aging infrastructure badly in need of repair. Ask any CEO where they’d rather locate and hire -- a country with deteriorating roads and bridges, or one with high-speed rail and Internet; high-tech schools, self-healing power grids. The CEO of Siemens America -- a company that brought hundreds of new jobs to North Carolina -- said that if we upgrade our infrastructure, they’ll bring even more jobs. And that’s the attitude of a lot of companies all around the world. And I know you want these job-creating projects in your district. 美国能源部门只是亟待修复的老化基础设施的一部分。问问任何一位首席执行官，他们更愿意在哪里设址招聘——道路和桥梁日益破败的国家，还是拥有高速铁路和互联网、高科技学校与可自我修复电网的国家？西门子美国公司的首席执行官——该公司为北卡罗来纳州带来数百个新岗位——说，如果我们升级基础设施，他们会带来更多岗位。世界各地许多公司的态度也是如此。我知道你们希望这些创造就业的项目落在自己的选区。
I’ve seen all those ribbon-cuttings. 我见过所有那些剪彩仪式。
So tonight, I propose a “Fix-It-First” program to put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country. And to make sure taxpayers don’t shoulder the whole burden, I’m also proposing a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private capital to upgrade what our businesses need most: modern ports to move our goods, modern pipelines to withstand a storm, modern schools worthy of our children. 所以今晚，我提议实施“先修复”计划，尽快让人们投入最迫切的修复工作，例如全国近七万座结构存在缺陷的桥梁。为确保纳税人不独自承担全部负担，我还提议建立“重建美国伙伴关系”，吸引私人资本升级企业最需要的设施：运送货物的现代港口、经受风暴的现代管道，以及配得上我们孩子的现代学校。
Let’s prove that there’s no better place to do business than here in the United States of America, and let’s start right away. We can get this done. 让我们证明，没有哪个地方比美利坚合众国更适宜经商；让我们立即开始。我们能够做到。
And part of our rebuilding effort must also involve our housing sector. The good news is our housing market is finally healing from the collapse of 2007. Home prices are rising at the fastest pace in six years. Home purchases are up nearly 50 percent, and construction is expanding again. 我们的重建努力也必须包括住房部门。好消息是，住房市场终于正从2007年的崩盘中复苏。房价正以六年来最快速度上涨，购房量增加近50%，建筑业再次扩张。
But even with mortgage rates near a 50-year low, too many families with solid credit who want to buy a home are being rejected. Too many families who never missed a payment and want to refinance are being told no. That’s holding our entire economy back. We need to fix it. 但即使抵押贷款利率接近五十年来的低位，太多信用良好、希望购房的家庭仍被拒绝。太多从未错过还款、希望再融资的家庭仍被告知不行。这正在拖累整个经济。我们必须解决它。
Right now, there’s a bill in this Congress that would give every responsible homeowner in America the chance to save $3,000 a year by refinancing at today’s rates. Democrats and Republicans have supported it before, so what are we waiting for? Take a vote, and send me that bill. Why would we be against that? Why would that be a partisan issue, helping folks refinance? Right now, overlapping regulations keep responsible young families from buying their first home. What’s holding us back? Let’s streamline the process, and help our economy grow. 现在，国会有一项法案，能让每一位负责任的美国房主按今天的利率再融资、每年节省3,000美元。民主党人与共和党人过去都支持过它，我们还在等什么？表决吧，把法案送给我。我们为什么要反对？帮助人们再融资为什么会成为党派问题？如今，相互重叠的规定阻碍负责任的年轻家庭购买第一套房。是什么在阻碍我们？让我们简化程序，帮助经济增长。
These initiatives in manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, housing -- all these things will help entrepreneurs and small business owners expand and create new jobs. But none of it will matter unless we also equip our citizens with the skills and training to fill those jobs. 制造业、能源、基础设施、住房领域的这些倡议——所有这些都将帮助企业家和小企业主扩张并创造新岗位。但除非我们也使公民具备填补这些岗位的技能和培训，否则这些都不会奏效。
And that has to start at the earliest possible age. Study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road. But today, fewer than 3 in 10 four year-olds are enrolled in a high-quality preschool program. Most middle-class parents can’t afford a few hundred bucks a week for a private preschool. And for poor kids who need help the most, this lack of access to preschool education can shadow them for the rest of their lives. So tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America. 而这必须从尽可能早的年龄开始。一项又一项研究表明，孩子越早开始学习，今后的表现就越好。但今天，每十名四岁儿童中，接受高质量学前教育的不到三名。大多数中产阶级父母负担不起私立幼儿园每周数百美元的费用；对于最需要帮助的贫困儿童，无法获得学前教育的阴影可能伴随其一生。因此今晚，我提议与各州合作，让每一个美国儿童都能获得高质量学前教育。
That's something we should be able to do. 这是我们本应能够做到的事。
Every dollar we invest in high-quality early childhood education can save more than seven dollars later on -- by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime. In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children, like Georgia or Oklahoma, studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind. Let’s give our kids that chance. 我们投资于高质量幼儿教育的每一美元，今后可节省七美元以上——通过提高毕业率、减少少女怀孕，甚至减少暴力犯罪。在把教育最年幼儿童列为优先事项的州，如佐治亚州或俄克拉何马州，研究显示，学生长大后更可能达到年级阅读和数学水平、完成高中学业、拥有工作并建立更稳定的家庭。我们知道这有效。因此让我们做有效的事，确保没有孩子一开始人生赛跑就已落后。让我们给孩子这个机会。
Let’s also make sure that a high school diploma puts our kids on a path to a good job. Right now, countries like Germany focus on graduating their high school students with the equivalent of a technical degree from one of our community colleges. So those German kids, they're ready for a job when they graduate high school. They've been trained for the jobs that are there. 也让我们确保高中文凭能使孩子踏上好工作的道路。目前，德国等国家注重让高中生以相当于美国社区学院技术学位的资格毕业。因此，德国孩子高中毕业时已准备好工作；他们已经接受了现有工作所需的培训。
Now at schools like P-Tech in Brooklyn, a collaboration between New York Public Schools and City University of New York and IBM, students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate's degree in computers or engineering. 如今，在布鲁克林的技术学校等项目中——纽约市公立学校、纽约市立大学和国际商用机器公司共同合作——学生毕业时将同时获得高中文凭和计算机或工程副学士学位。
We need to give every American student opportunities like this. 我们需要让每一个美国学生拥有这样的机会。
And four years ago, we started Race to the Top -- a competition that convinced almost every state to develop smarter curricula and higher standards, all for about 1 percent of what we spend on education each year. Tonight, I’m announcing a new challenge to redesign America’s high schools so they better equip graduates for the demands of a high-tech economy. 四年前，我们启动了“力争上游”计划——一项竞赛，以每年教育支出约1%的成本，说服几乎每个州制定更聪明的课程和更高标准。今晚，我宣布一项新挑战：重新设计美国高中，使其更好地让毕业生满足高科技经济的需求。
And we’ll reward schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and employers, and create classes that focus on science, technology, engineering and math -- the skills today’s employers are looking for to fill the jobs that are there right now and will be there in the future. 我们将奖励那些与学院和雇主建立新伙伴关系、开设聚焦科学、技术、工程和数学课程的学校——这些技能正是当今雇主为填补现有及未来岗位所寻找的。
Now, even with better high schools, most young people will need some higher education. It’s a simple fact the more education you’ve got, the more likely you are to have a good job and work your way into the middle class. But today, skyrocketing costs price too many young people out of a higher education, or saddle them with unsustainable debt. 即使高中办得更好，大多数年轻人仍需要某种高等教育。一个简单事实是：受教育越多，越可能拥有好工作并跻身中产阶级。但今天，飙升的成本使太多年轻人无力接受高等教育，或让他们背上难以承受的债务。
Through tax credits, grants and better loans, we’ve made college more affordable for millions of students and families over the last few years. But taxpayers can’t keep on subsidizing higher and higher and higher costs for higher education. Colleges must do their part to keep costs down, and it’s our job to make sure that they do. 过去几年，通过税收抵免、助学金和更好的贷款，我们让数百万学生和家庭更负担得起大学教育。但纳税人不能继续补贴高等教育越来越高、越来越高、越来越高的成本。大学必须尽到降低成本的责任，而确保它们这样做是我们的职责。
So tonight, I ask Congress to change the Higher Education Act so that affordability and value are included in determining which colleges receive certain types of federal aid. And tomorrow, my administration will release a new “College Scorecard” that parents and students can use to compare schools based on a simple criteria -- where you can get the most bang for your educational buck. 因此今晚，我请求国会修改《高等教育法》，在决定哪些大学获得某些类型联邦援助时，将可负担性和价值纳入考量。明天，本届政府将发布新的“大学记分卡”，父母和学生可据此以一个简单标准比较学校——在哪里能让教育投资获得最大的回报。
Now, to grow our middle class, our citizens have to have access to the education and training that today’s jobs require. But we also have to make sure that America remains a place where everyone who’s willing to work -- everybody who’s willing to work hard has the chance to get ahead. 如今，要壮大中产阶级，公民必须获得当今工作所需的教育和培训。但我们也必须确保，美国仍是一个让每一个愿意工作——每一个愿意努力工作的人都有机会向上发展的地方。
Our economy is stronger when we harness the talents and ingenuity of striving, hopeful immigrants. And right now, leaders from the business, labor, law enforcement, faith communities -- they all agree that the time has come to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Now is the time to do it. Now is the time to get it done. Now is the time to get it done. 当我们发挥奋发、充满希望的移民的才干与创造力时，经济会更强劲。现在，商界、劳工界、执法界和宗教界领袖都同意：通过全面移民改革的时候到了。现在是行动的时候，现在是把它办成的时候，现在是把它办成的时候。
Real reform means strong border security, and we can build on the progress my administration has already made -- putting more boots on the Southern border than at any time in our history and reducing illegal crossings to their lowest levels in 40 years. 真正的改革意味着强大的边境安全，我们能够在本届政府已取得的进展上继续前进——在南部边境部署的人员比历史上任何时候都多，并把非法越境降至四十年来最低水平。
Real reform means establishing a responsible pathway to earned citizenship -- a path that includes passing a background check, paying taxes and a meaningful penalty, learning English, and going to the back of the line behind the folks trying to come here legally. 真正的改革意味着建立负责任的挣得公民身份途径——这条路径包括通过背景审查、缴纳税款和实质性罚款、学习英语，并排在那些试图合法来美者之后等待。
And real reform means fixing the legal immigration system to cut waiting periods and attract the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers that will help create jobs and grow our economy. 真正的改革还意味着修复合法移民制度，缩短等待时间，并吸引高技能企业家和工程师；他们将帮助创造岗位、发展经济。
In other words, we know what needs to be done. And as we speak, bipartisan groups in both chambers are working diligently to draft a bill, and I applaud their efforts. So let’s get this done. Send me a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the next few months, and I will sign it right away. And America will be better for it. Let’s get it done. Let’s get it done. 换言之，我们知道该做什么。此时此刻，两院的两党小组正努力起草法案，我赞赏他们的努力。因此，让我们把它办成。在今后几个月把全面移民改革法案送给我，我会立即签署。美国也会因此变得更好。让我们把它办成，让我们把它办成。
But we can’t stop there. We know our economy is stronger when our wives, our mothers, our daughters can live their lives free from discrimination in the workplace, and free from the fear of domestic violence. Today, the Senate passed the Violence Against Women Act that Joe Biden originally wrote almost 20 years ago. And I now urge the House to do the same. Good job, Joe. And I ask this Congress to declare that women should earn a living equal to their efforts, and finally pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this year. 但我们不能止步于此。当妻子、母亲和女儿能免受职场歧视、免于家庭暴力恐惧地生活时，经济会更强劲。今天，参议院通过了近二十年前由乔·拜登最初起草的《反暴力侵害妇女法》。我现在敦促众议院也这样做。干得好，乔。我也请求国会宣布，女性应获得与其付出相称的收入，并在今年终于通过《薪酬公平法案》。
We know our economy is stronger when we reward an honest day’s work with honest wages. But today, a full-time worker making the minimum wage earns $14,500 a year. Even with the tax relief we put in place, a family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line. That’s wrong. That’s why, since the last time this Congress raised the minimum wage, 19 states have chosen to bump theirs even higher. 当我们以诚实的工资回报诚实的一天劳动时，经济会更强劲。但今天，领取最低工资的全职工人年收入为14,500美元。即便有我们实施的税收减免，一个有两个孩子、领取最低工资的家庭仍处于贫困线以下。这是不对的。这就是为什么自国会上次提高联邦最低工资以来，已有19个州选择把本州最低工资提高得更高。
Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour. We should be able to get that done. 今晚，让我们宣布：在地球上最富有的国家，任何全职工作者都不应生活在贫困中；让我们把联邦最低工资提高到每小时9美元。我们本应能够做到。
This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families. It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their pockets. And a whole lot of folks out there would probably need less help from government. In fact, working folks shouldn’t have to wait year after year for the minimum wage to go up while CEO pay has never been higher. 这一步将提高数百万工薪家庭的收入。它可能意味着杂货还是食物救济站、房租还是被驱逐、勉强维持还是终于能够进步之间的差别。对全国企业而言，它意味着顾客口袋里有更多钱。许多人可能也会少一些对政府的帮助需求。事实上，劳动者不该在首席执行官薪酬从未如此之高时，年复一年等待最低工资上调。
So here’s an idea that Governor Romney and I actually agreed on last year -- let’s tie the minimum wage to the cost of living, so that it finally becomes a wage you can live on. 所以，这里有个罗姆尼州长和我去年实际上都同意的主意——让最低工资与生活成本挂钩，使它终于成为足以维生的工资。
Tonight, let’s also recognize that there are communities in this country where no matter how hard you work, it is virtually impossible to get ahead. Factory towns decimated from years of plants packing up. Inescapable pockets of poverty, urban and rural, where young adults are still fighting for their first job. America is not a place where the chance of birth or circumstance should decide our destiny. And that’s why we need to build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class for all who are willing to climb them. 今晚，我们还要承认，本国有些社区，无论你多么努力，实际上都几乎不可能出头。多年来工厂收拾搬走，令工业城镇满目疮痍；城市和农村都有难以摆脱的贫困聚集区，年轻人仍在为第一份工作奋斗。美国不应是出生的偶然或境遇决定命运的地方。因此，我们需要为所有愿意攀登的人建设通往中产阶级的新阶梯。
Let’s offer incentives to companies that hire Americans who’ve got what it takes to fill that job opening, but have been out of work so long that no one will give them a chance anymore. Let’s put people back to work rebuilding vacant homes in run-down neighborhoods. And this year, my administration will begin to partner with 20 of the hardest-hit towns in America to get these communities back on their feet. We’ll work with local leaders to target resources at public safety, and education, and housing. 让我们激励企业雇用那些有能力填补职位空缺、却失业太久以至无人再愿给机会的美国人。让我们让人们重返工作岗位，修复破败社区里的空置房屋。今年，本届政府将开始与美国受打击最严重的二十个城镇合作，帮助这些社区重新站起来。我们将与地方领袖合作，把资源投向公共安全、教育和住房。
We’ll give new tax credits to businesses that hire and invest. And we’ll work to strengthen families by removing the financial deterrents to marriage for low-income couples, and do more to encourage fatherhood -- because what makes you a man isn’t the ability to conceive a child; it’s having the courage to raise one. And we want to encourage that. We want to help that. 我们将向雇用人员和投资的企业提供新的税收抵免。我们还将通过消除低收入夫妇结婚的经济阻碍来巩固家庭，并更多鼓励父亲承担责任——因为成为男人不在于能否孕育孩子，而在于有没有勇气抚养孩子。我们要鼓励这一点，也要帮助实现这一点。
Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger America. It is this kind of prosperity -- broad, shared, built on a thriving middle class -- that has always been the source of our progress at home. It’s also the foundation of our power and influence throughout the world. 更强的家庭，更强的社区，更强的美国。这种建立在蓬勃中产阶级之上、广泛共享的繁荣，始终是我们国内进步的源泉，也是我们在世界各地力量和影响力的基础。
Tonight, we stand united in saluting the troops and civilians who sacrifice every day to protect us. Because of them, we can say with confidence that America will complete its mission in Afghanistan and achieve our objective of defeating the core of al Qaeda. 今晚，我们团结一致，向每天为保护我们而牺牲的军人和平民致敬。因为有他们，我们可以自信地说，美国将完成阿富汗任务，实现击败“基地”组织核心的目标。
Already, we have brought home 33,000 of our brave servicemen and women. This spring, our forces will move into a support role, while Afghan security forces take the lead. Tonight, I can announce that over the next year, another 34,000 American troops will come home from Afghanistan. This drawdown will continue and by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over. 我们已经让3.3万名英勇男女军人回国。今年春天，美军将转为支援角色，由阿富汗安全部队承担主导。今晚，我可以宣布，未来一年还将有3.4万名美军从阿富汗回国。这一撤军将继续，到明年年底，我们在阿富汗的战争将结束。
Beyond 2014, America’s commitment to a unified and sovereign Afghanistan will endure, but the nature of our commitment will change. We're negotiating an agreement with the Afghan government that focuses on two missions -- training and equipping Afghan forces so that the country does not again slip into chaos, and counterterrorism efforts that allow us to pursue the remnants of al Qaeda and their affiliates. 2014年以后，美国对统一、主权阿富汗的承诺将延续，但承诺的性质会改变。我们正与阿富汗政府谈判一项协议，聚焦两项任务：训练和装备阿富汗部队，防止该国再次陷入混乱；以及开展反恐行动，使我们能够追击“基地”组织残余及其附属组织。
Today, the organization that attacked us on 9/11 is a shadow of its former self. It's true, different al Qaeda affiliates and extremist groups have emerged -- from the Arabian Peninsula to Africa. The threat these groups pose is evolving. But to meet this threat, we don’t need to send tens of thousands of our sons and daughters abroad or occupy other nations. Instead, we'll need to help countries like Yemen, and Libya, and Somalia provide for their own security, and help allies who take the fight to terrorists, as we have in Mali. 今天，9·11袭击我们的组织已不复昔日规模。确实，不同的“基地”组织分支与极端团体已经出现——从阿拉伯半岛到非洲。这些团体构成的威胁正在演变。但应对这一威胁，我们不需要把数以万计的儿女派往海外，也不需要占领其他国家。相反，我们需要帮助也门、利比亚和索马里等国家自行保障安全，并帮助像我们在马里所做那样同恐怖分子作战的盟友。
And where necessary, through a range of capabilities, we will continue to take direct action against those terrorists who pose the gravest threat to Americans. 在必要之处，我们将通过多种能力继续直接打击那些对美国人构成最严重威胁的恐怖分子。
Now, as we do, we must enlist our values in the fight. That's why my administration has worked tirelessly to forge a durable legal and policy framework to guide our counterterrorism efforts. Throughout, we have kept Congress fully informed of our efforts. I recognize that in our democracy, no one should just take my word for it that we’re doing things the right way. 在这样做时，我们必须让价值观参与这场斗争。这就是为什么本届政府不懈努力，建立持久的法律和政策框架来指引反恐工作。始终以来，我们让国会充分了解我们的努力。我承认，在民主制度下，没人应只凭我的话就相信我们做得正确。
So in the months ahead, I will continue to engage Congress to ensure not only that our targeting, detention and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our laws and system of checks and balances, but that our efforts are even more transparent to the American people and to the world. 因此，未来几个月，我将继续与国会合作，确保我们对恐怖分子的定点打击、拘押和起诉不仅符合我们的法律和制衡制度，也确保我们的努力对美国人民和世界更加透明。
Of course, our challenges don’t end with al Qaeda. America will continue to lead the effort to prevent the spread of the world’s most dangerous weapons. The regime in North Korea must know they will only achieve security and prosperity by meeting their international obligations. Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only further isolate them, as we stand by our allies, strengthen our own missile defense and lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats. 当然，我们面临的挑战不止于“基地”组织。美国将继续领导防止世界最危险武器扩散的努力。朝鲜政权必须明白，只有履行国际义务才能获得安全与繁荣。我们昨夜所见那类挑衅，只会令其更加孤立；与此同时，我们将支持盟友、加强导弹防御，并领导世界对这些威胁采取坚定行动。
Likewise, the leaders of Iran must recognize that now is the time for a diplomatic solution, because a coalition stands united in demanding that they meet their obligations, and we will do what is necessary to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon. 同样，伊朗领导人必须认识到，现在是外交解决的时候，因为一个联盟团结一致地要求伊朗履行义务；我们将采取必要行动，防止其获得核武器。
At the same time, we’ll engage Russia to seek further reductions in our nuclear arsenals, and continue leading the global effort to secure nuclear materials that could fall into the wrong hands -- because our ability to influence others depends on our willingness to lead and meet our obligations. 同时，我们将与俄罗斯接触，寻求进一步削减核武库；并继续领导全球努力，确保核材料不会落入错误之手——因为我们影响他人的能力取决于我们是否愿意领导并履行自己的义务。
America must also face the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks. Now, we know hackers steal people’s identities and infiltrate private emails. We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy. 美国也必须面对网络攻击迅速增长的威胁。我们知道，黑客窃取身份信息并侵入私人电子邮件；我们知道，外国和外国公司窃取我们的商业机密。如今，敌人还在寻求破坏电网、金融机构和空中交通管制系统的能力。多年后，我们不能回顾今天，面对真实的安全和经济威胁而追问：为什么当时什么都没做？
And that’s why, earlier today, I signed a new executive order that will strengthen our cyber defenses by increasing information sharing, and developing standards to protect our national security, our jobs, and our privacy. 因此，今天早些时候我签署了一项新的行政命令，通过加强信息共享、制定标准来保护国家安全、就业和隐私，从而强化网络防御。
But now Congress must act as well, by passing legislation to give our government a greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks. This is something we should be able to get done on a bipartisan basis. 但国会现在也必须行动，通过立法赋予政府更大能力保护网络并威慑攻击。这是我们本应能够以两党方式完成的事。
Now, even as we protect our people, we should remember that today’s world presents not just dangers, not just threats, it presents opportunities. To boost American exports, support American jobs and level the playing field in the growing markets of Asia, we intend to complete negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership. And tonight, I’m announcing that we will launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union -- because trade that is fair and free across the Atlantic supports millions of good-paying American jobs. 即使保护人民，我们也应记得，今天的世界带来的不只是危险和威胁，也带来机会。为增加美国出口、支持美国就业，并在亚洲不断增长的市场中创造公平竞争环境，我们打算完成“跨太平洋伙伴关系”谈判。今晚，我还宣布，将与欧盟启动全面“跨大西洋贸易与投资伙伴关系”谈判——因为横跨大西洋的公平自由贸易支持数百万份薪酬优厚的美国工作。
We also know that progress in the most impoverished parts of our world enriches us all -- not only because it creates new markets, more stable order in certain regions of the world, but also because it’s the right thing to do. In many places, people live on little more than a dollar a day. 我们也知道，世界最贫困地区的进步会使所有人受益——不仅因为它创造新市场、使世界某些地区秩序更稳定，也因为这是正确的事。许多地方的人每天生活费只略高于一美元。
So the United States will join with our allies to eradicate such extreme poverty in the next two decades by connecting more people to the global economy; by empowering women; by giving our young and brightest minds new opportunities to serve, and helping communities to feed, and power, and educate themselves; by saving the world’s children from preventable deaths; and by realizing the promise of an AIDS-free generation, which is within our reach. 因此，美国将与盟友一道，力争在未来二十年消除这种极端贫困：让更多人接入全球经济；赋权女性；给我们年轻而最聪慧的人新的服务机会，帮助社区自己获取食物、能源和教育；拯救世界儿童免于可预防的死亡；并实现无艾滋病一代的承诺——这一目标已在我们触手可及的范围内。
You see, America must remain a beacon to all who seek freedom during this period of historic change. I saw the power of hope last year in Rangoon, in Burma, when Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed an American President into the home where she had been imprisoned for years; when thousands of Burmese lined the streets, waving American flags, including a man who said, “There is justice and law in the United States. I want our country to be like that.” 你看，在这个历史性变革时期，美国必须仍是所有寻求自由者的灯塔。去年在缅甸仰光，我看到了希望的力量：昂山素季欢迎一位美国总统进入她被囚禁多年的住所；数千名缅甸人挥舞美国国旗站在街头，其中一人说：“美国有正义和法治。我希望我们的国家也能这样。”
In defense of freedom, we’ll remain the anchor of strong alliances from the Americas to Africa; from Europe to Asia. In the Middle East, we will stand with citizens as they demand their universal rights, and support stable transitions to democracy. 为捍卫自由，我们将继续成为从美洲到非洲、从欧洲到亚洲的强大联盟的支柱。在中东，当公民要求其普遍权利时，我们将与他们站在一起，并支持向民主的稳定过渡。
We know the process will be messy, and we cannot presume to dictate the course of change in countries like Egypt, but we can -- and will -- insist on respect for the fundamental rights of all people. We’ll keep the pressure on a Syrian regime that has murdered its own people, and support opposition leaders that respect the rights of every Syrian. And we will stand steadfast with Israel in pursuit of security and a lasting peace. 我们知道这一过程会很混乱，不能自以为能够规定埃及等国变革的进程；但我们能够、也将坚持所有人的基本权利得到尊重。我们将继续向一个杀害本国人民的叙利亚政权施压，并支持尊重每一位叙利亚人权利的反对派领袖。我们也将坚定与以色列站在一起，追求安全与持久和平。
These are the messages I'll deliver when I travel to the Middle East next month. And all this work depends on the courage and sacrifice of those who serve in dangerous places at great personal risk –- our diplomats, our intelligence officers, and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. As long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we will do whatever we must to protect those who serve their country abroad, and we will maintain the best military the world has ever known. 这些就是我下月访问中东时将传达的信息。而所有这些工作都依赖那些在危险之地冒着巨大个人风险服务者的勇气与牺牲——我们的外交官、情报人员和美国武装部队的男女军人。只要我是三军统帅，我们就会竭尽所能保护在海外为国服务的人，并维持世界所见过的最优秀军队。
We'll invest in new capabilities, even as we reduce waste and wartime spending. We will ensure equal treatment for all servicemembers, and equal benefits for their families -- gay and straight. We will draw upon the courage and skills of our sisters and daughters and moms, because women have proven under fire that they are ready for combat. 即使减少浪费和战时开支，我们仍将投资新能力。我们将确保所有军人得到平等待遇，其家属享有同等福利——无论同性恋还是异性恋。我们将借助姐妹、女儿和母亲的勇气与技能，因为女性已在战火中证明，她们已准备好参加战斗。
We will keep faith with our veterans, investing in world-class care, including mental health care, for our wounded warriors -- supporting our military families; giving our veterans the benefits and education and job opportunities that they have earned. And I want to thank my wife, Michelle, and Dr. Jill Biden for their continued dedication to serving our military families as well as they have served us. Thank you, honey. Thank you, Jill. 我们将信守对退伍军人的承诺，为受伤战士投资世界一流的照护，包括心理健康照护；支持军人家庭；给予退伍军人应得的福利、教育和就业机会。我还要感谢我的妻子米歇尔和吉尔·拜登博士，持续致力于服务军人家庭，就像她们服务我们一样出色。谢谢你，亲爱的。谢谢你，吉尔。
Defending our freedom, though, is not just the job of our military alone. We must all do our part to make sure our God-given rights are protected here at home. That includes one of the most fundamental right of a democracy: the right to vote. When any American, no matter where they live or what their party, are denied that right because they can’t afford to wait for five or six or seven hours just to cast their ballot, we are betraying our ideals. 然而，捍卫自由不只是军队的工作。我们都必须尽己所能，确保上天赋予的权利在国内得到保护。这包括民主最基本的权利之一：投票权。当任何美国人，无论住在哪里、属于哪个党派，仅因负担不起为投票等待五、六或七个小时而被剥夺这一权利时，我们就是在背弃自己的理想。
So tonight, I’m announcing a nonpartisan commission to improve the voting experience in America. And it definitely needs improvement. I’m asking two long-time experts in the field -- who, by the way, recently served as the top attorneys for my campaign and for Governor Romney’s campaign -- to lead it. We can fix this, and we will. The American people demand it, and so does our democracy. 因此今晚，我宣布成立一个无党派委员会，改善美国的投票体验。它确实需要改善。我将请两位长期从事此领域的专家领导该委员会——顺便说，他们最近分别担任我竞选团队和罗姆尼州长竞选团队的首席律师。我们能解决这个问题，也一定会解决。美国人民要求如此，民主制度也要求如此。
Of course, what I’ve said tonight matters little if we don’t come together to protect our most precious resource: our children. It has been two months since Newtown. I know this is not the first time this country has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is different. Overwhelming majorities of Americans -- Americans who believe in the Second Amendment -- have come together around common-sense reform, like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. 当然，如果我们不能团结起来保护最宝贵的资源——孩子们——我今晚所说的一切都意义不大。纽敦事件已经过去两个月。我知道，这并非这个国家第一次讨论如何减少枪支暴力。但这一次不同。压倒多数的美国人——包括相信第二修正案的人——围绕常识性改革团结起来，例如背景审查，使罪犯更难拿到枪支。
Senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our help to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because these police chiefs, they’re tired of seeing their guys and gals being outgunned. 两党参议员正共同制定严厉新法律，防止任何人购买枪支再转卖给罪犯。警察局长要求我们帮助把战争武器和大容量弹匣清出街道，因为这些警察局长厌倦了看到自己手下的男警员和女警员在火力上处于劣势。
Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. Now, if you want to vote no, that’s your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun -- more than a thousand. 这些提案中的每一项都应在国会得到表决。现在，如果你想投反对票，那是你的选择。但这些提案应当得到表决。因为自纽敦以来两个月内，已有一千多个生日、毕业典礼和纪念日被一颗枪弹从我们的生活中夺走——超过一千个。
One of those we lost was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton. She was 15 years old. She loved Fig Newtons and lip gloss. She was a majorette. She was so good to her friends they all thought they were her best friend. Just three weeks ago, she was here, in Washington, with her classmates, performing for her country at my inauguration. And a week later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school, just a mile away from my house. 我们失去的人中，有一个名叫哈迪娅·彭德尔顿的年轻女孩。她15岁，喜欢无花果牛顿饼干和唇彩，是一名啦啦队鼓手。她对朋友非常好，以至于每个人都认为自己是她最好的朋友。仅三周前，她还在华盛顿与同学一道，在我的就职典礼上为国家表演。一周后，她放学后在芝加哥一座公园、离我家仅一英里的地方中枪身亡。
Hadiya’s parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They deserve a vote. They deserve a vote. Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. The families of Newtown deserve a vote. The families of Aurora deserve a vote. The families of Oak Creek and Tucson and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence –- they deserve a simple vote. They deserve a simple vote. 哈迪娅的父母内特和克莱奥今晚就在这个议事厅，还有二十多位生活被枪支暴力撕裂的美国人。他们应得到一次表决。他们应得到一次表决。加比·吉福兹应得到一次表决。纽敦家庭应得到一次表决。奥罗拉家庭应得到一次表决。奥克溪、图森和布莱克斯堡的家庭，以及其他无数被枪支暴力撕裂社区的家庭——他们应得到一次简单的表决。他们应得到一次简单的表决。
Our actions will not prevent every senseless act of violence in this country. In fact, no laws, no initiatives, no administrative acts will perfectly solve all the challenges I’ve outlined tonight. But we were never sent here to be perfect. We were sent here to make what difference we can, to secure this nation, expand opportunity, uphold our ideals through the hard, often frustrating, but absolutely necessary work of self-government. 我们的行动不会阻止本国每一次无意义的暴力行为。事实上，没有任何法律、倡议或行政措施能完美解决我今晚列举的所有挑战。但我们从未被送到这里来追求完美。我们被送到这里，是为了尽己所能产生影响，通过艰苦、常常令人沮丧、却绝对必要的自治工作来保障国家、扩大机会、维护理想。
We were sent here to look out for our fellow Americans the same way they look out for one another, every single day, usually without fanfare, all across this country. We should follow their example. 我们被送到这里，是要像全国各地同胞每天通常不事张扬地彼此照看那样，照看美国同胞。我们应当效法他们。
We should follow the example of a New York City nurse named Menchu Sanchez. When Hurricane Sandy plunged her hospital into darkness, she wasn’t thinking about how her own home was faring. Her mind was on the 20 precious newborns in her care and the rescue plan she devised that kept them all safe. 我们应当效法纽约市护士门楚·桑切斯。飓风“桑迪”令她所在医院陷入黑暗时，她没有想着自己的家状况如何。她心里惦念的是由她照护的二十名珍贵新生儿，以及她制定的、让他们全都安全的救援计划。
We should follow the example of a North Miami woman named Desiline Victor. When Desiline arrived at her polling place, she was told the wait to vote might be six hours. And as time ticked by, her concern was not with her tired body or aching feet, but whether folks like her would get to have their say. And hour after hour, a throng of people stayed in line to support her -- because Desiline is 102 years old. And they erupted in cheers when she finally put on a sticker that read, “I voted.” 我们应当效法北迈阿密女性德西琳·维克托。德西琳到达投票站时，被告知可能要等六个小时才能投票。随着时间流逝，她关心的不是疲惫的身体或酸痛的双脚，而是像她这样的人能否表达自己的声音。一个小时又一个小时，一大群人留在队伍里支持她——因为德西琳已有102岁。当她终于贴上写着“我投票了”的贴纸时，人们爆发出欢呼。
We should follow the example of a police officer named Brian Murphy. When a gunman opened fire on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and Brian was the first to arrive, he did not consider his own safety. He fought back until help arrived and ordered his fellow officers to protect the safety of the Americans worshiping inside, even as he lay bleeding from 12 bullet wounds. And when asked how he did that, Brian said, “That’s just the way we’re made.” 我们应当效法警官布赖恩·墨菲。威斯康星州一座锡克教寺庙遭枪手开火时，布赖恩第一个赶到；他没有考虑自身安全。他反击直到援助到来，并命令同事保护里面礼拜的美国人的安全，尽管他自己身中十二枪、躺在血泊中。有人问他怎样做到的，布赖恩说：“我们天生就是这样的人。”
That’s just the way we’re made. We may do different jobs and wear different uniforms, and hold different views than the person beside us. But as Americans, we all share the same proud title -- we are citizens. It’s a word that doesn’t just describe our nationality or legal status. It describes the way we’re made. It describes what we believe. 我们天生就是这样的人。我们也许从事不同工作、穿着不同制服，持有与身旁人不同的观点；但作为美国人，我们都共享一个自豪的称号——我们是公民。这个词不仅描述国籍或法律身份，也描述我们的本性，描述我们相信什么。
It captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations, that our rights are wrapped up in the rights of others; and that well into our third century as a nation, it remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the next great chapter of our American story. 它概括了一种持久理念：这个国家只有在我们接受对彼此和未来世代的某些义务时才能运作；我们的权利与他人的权利紧密相连；而在作为国家迈入第三个世纪很久之后，我们这些美利坚合众国的公民，仍有任务成为美国故事下一个伟大篇章的作者。
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless these United States of America. 谢谢。愿上帝保佑你们，愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
