Good morning, everybody. Before I introduce America's next Surgeon General, I'd like to say a few words about our ongoing efforts to reform the health care system that she will help oversee. 大家早上好。在我介绍美国的下一任卫生部长之前，我想先谈谈我们正在进行的、她将协助监管的医疗体系改革努力。
We are now closer to the goal of health care reform than we have ever been. Over the last several weeks, key committees in the House and the Senate have made important and unprecedented progress on a plan that will lower costs, provide better care for patients, and curb the worst practices of the insurance companies. 我们现在距离医疗保障改革的目标比以往任何时候都更近了。在过去几周里，众议院和参议院的关键委员会在一项计划上取得了重要且前所未有的进展，该计划将降低成本，为患者提供更好的医疗服务，并遏制保险公司最恶劣的做法。
It's a plan that will not add to our deficit over the next decade. Let me repeat that: It is a plan that will not add to our deficit over the next decade -- and eventually will help lower our deficit by slowing the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid. 这是一项不会在未来十年增加我们赤字的计划。让我再说一遍：这是一项不会在未来十年增加我们赤字的计划——并且最终将通过遏制联邦医疗保险和医疗补助不断飙升的成本，帮助降低我们的赤字。
Even though we are close, I've got no illusions that it's going to be easy to get over the finish line. There are going to be more debates and more disagreements before all is said and done. But health care reform must be done. 尽管我们已接近目标，但我并不幻想能轻松冲过终点线。在一切尘埃落定之前，还会有更多的辩论和分歧。但医疗保障改革势在必行。
I know there are those who believe we should wait to solve this problem, or take a more incremental approach, or simply do nothing. But this is the kind of criticism we heard when the country tried to pass Medicare, a program that is now providing quality care to generations of American seniors. It's the kind of criticism we heard when we tried to pass the Children's Health Insurance Program, which has provided quality care and coverage to millions of kids. 我知道有些人认为我们应该等待解决这个问题，或者采取更加渐进的方式，或者干脆什么都不做。但这正是当年我国试图通过联邦医疗保险计划时所听到的批评，而该计划如今正在为几代美国老年人提供优质的医疗服务。这也是我们试图通过儿童医疗保险计划时所听到的批评，该计划已为数百万儿童提供了优质的医疗服务和保险覆盖。
It's the same Washington thinking that has ignored big challenges and put off tough decisions for decades. And it is precisely that kind of small thinking that has led us into the current predicament. 这正是几十年来忽视重大挑战、推迟艰难决策的华盛顿式思维。也正是这种狭隘思维使我们陷入了当前的困境。
So make no mistake: The status quo on health care is no longer an option for the United States of America. If we step back from this challenge right now, we will leave our children a legacy of debt -- a future of crushing costs that bankrupt our families, our businesses, and because we will have done nothing to bring down the cost of Medicare and Medicaid, will crush our government. 因此，请不要误解：对美国而言，医疗保障的现状已经无法维持。如果我们现在退缩，不去应对这一挑战，我们将给我们的子女留下一笔债务遗产——一个由压垮性成本构成的未来，将使我们的家庭和企业破产，而由于我们未能采取任何行动来降低联邦医疗保险和医疗补助的成本，也将压垮我们的政府。
Premiums will continue to skyrocket -- placing what amounts to another tax on American families struggling to pay bills. The insurance companies and special interests that have killed reform in the past will only continue to benefit even more -- and they'll continue to deny coverage to Americans with pre-existing medical conditions. People will continue to lose health insurance just because they lose their job or they change jobs. 保险费将继续飙升——这无异于对艰难支付账单的美国家庭征收另一项税款。过去扼杀改革的保险公司和特殊利益集团只会继续从中获益更多——他们将继续拒绝为患有既往病史的美国人提供保险覆盖。人们将继续仅仅因为失业或换工作而失去医疗保险。
This is a future that we cannot afford. This country can't afford to have health care premiums rise three times faster than people's wages, as they did over the last decade. We can't afford 14,000 Americans losing their health care every single day. We can't afford a future where our government will eventually spend more on Medicare and Medicaid than what we spend on everything else. 这是一个我们无法承受的未来。这个国家无法承受医疗保险费上涨速度达到人们工资上涨速度三倍的情况，就像过去十年所发生的那样。我们无法承受每天有一万四千名美国人失去医疗保障。我们无法承受这样的未来：我们的政府最终在联邦医疗保险和医疗补助上的支出将超过在其他所有方面的支出总和。
And during the campaign, I promised health care reform that would control costs, expand coverage, and ensure choice. And I promised that Americans making $250,000 a year or less would not pay more in taxes. These are promises that we're keeping as reform moves forward. 在竞选期间，我承诺进行医疗保障改革，控制成本、扩大覆盖范围，并确保选择权。我也承诺年收入在二十五万美元以下的美国人不会缴纳更多的税款。这些都是我们在改革推进过程中正在兑现的承诺。
This is no longer a problem we can wait to fix. This is about who we are as a country. Health care reform is about every family's health, but it's also about the health of the economy. 这已经不再是一个我们可以等待解决的问题。这关乎我们作为一个国家究竟是谁。医疗保障改革关乎每个家庭的健康，但也关乎经济的健康。
So I just want to put everybody on notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone: We are going to get this done. Inaction is not an option. And for those nay-sayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don't bet against us. We are going to make this thing happen, because the American people desperately need it. 所以，我只是想提醒大家，因为在我离开的这一周里有很多闲言碎语：我们一定会完成这件事。无所作为不是选项。对于那些认为这不会发生的反对者和愤世嫉俗者，不要和我们对着干。我们一定会促成此事，因为美国人民迫切需要它。
And even those who are satisfied with their health care right now, they understand that if premiums keep on doubling and if employers keep on shedding health insurance because it's unsustainable and if you look at the trajectory of where Medicare and Medicaid are going, then inaction will create the biggest crisis of all. 即使是那些目前对自己的医疗保障感到满意的人，他们也明白，如果保险费继续翻倍，如果雇主因为无法承受而继续取消医疗保险，如果你看看联邦医疗保险和医疗补助的发展轨迹，那么无所作为将造成最大的危机。
And so I understand people are a little nervous and a little scared about making change. The muscles in this town to bring about big changes are a little atrophied, but we're whipping folks back into shape. We are going to get this done. And if there's anyone who understands the urgency of meeting this challenge in a personal and powerful way, it's the woman who will become our nation's next Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin. 因此，我理解人们对变革有些紧张和害怕。这个城市推动重大变革的肌肉有些萎缩了，但我们正在让人们重新恢复状态。我们一定会完成这件事。如果说有谁能以个人化而有力的方式理解应对这一挑战的紧迫性，那就是即将成为我国下一任卫生部长的雷吉娜·本杰明博士。
The list of qualifications that make Dr. Benjamin an outstanding candidate to be America's leading spokesperson on issues of public health are long indeed. She was in the second class at Morehouse School of Medicine and went on to earn an MD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an MBA from Tulane. She served as Associate Dean for Rural Health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, and in 1995, she became the first physician under 40 and the first African American woman to be named to the American Medical Association's Board of Trustees. 使本杰明博士成为美国公共卫生事务首席发言人杰出人选的资历清单确实很长。她曾就读于莫尔豪斯医学院第二届，随后在伯明翰阿拉巴马大学获得医学博士学位，并在杜兰大学获得工商管理硕士学位。她曾担任南阿拉巴马大学医学院农村卫生事务副院长，1995年，她成为美国医学协会董事会中首位四十岁以下的医生，也是首位被任命进入该董事会的非裔美国女性。
In 2002, she became President of Alabama's State Medical Association. And she has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the MacArthur Genius Award. It's very impressive. 2002年，她成为阿拉巴马州医学协会主席。她还获得了众多奖项和荣誉，包括麦克阿瑟天才奖。这非常令人钦佩。
But of all these achievements and experience, none has been more pertinent to today's challenges or closer to Regina's heart than the rural health clinic that she has built and rebuilt in Bayou La Batre -- did I say that right? Well, tell me how to say it. 但在所有这些成就和经验中，没有什么比她在拜乌拉巴特尔建立并重建的乡村诊所更切合今天的挑战，也更贴近雷吉娜的心——我念得对吗？嗯，告诉我该怎么念。
Dr. Benjamin: Bayou La Batre. 本杰明博士：拜乌拉巴特尔。
President Obama: Bayou La Batre. That's in Alabama, people. 奥巴马总统：拜乌拉巴特尔。各位，那是在阿拉巴马州。
Bayou La Batre is a rural town of about 2,500 people. It's a shrimping town, where a lot of folks work for themselves, scrape by, and can't usually afford health insurance. And by the way, Dr. Benjamin, while we were talking in the Oval Office, described for me the demographics of this town are actually very interesting, because you've got whites, blacks, and Asians in this community. There are a lot of Laotians and Cambodians who have moved there and are part of this shrimping town, so it's a diverse but very poor rural community. 拜乌拉巴特尔是一个约有两千五百人的乡村小镇。这是一个捕虾小镇，许多人独立工作、勉强糊口，通常无法负担医疗保险。顺便说一下，本杰明博士在椭圆形办公室和我交谈时向我描述了这个小镇的人口构成，实际上非常有趣，因为在这个社区里有白人、黑人和亚裔。有许多老挝人和柬埔寨人搬到那里，成为这个捕虾小镇的一部分，所以这是一个多元但非常贫穷的乡村社区。
And like so many other rural communities, doctors and hospitals are hard to come by. And that's why, even though she could have left the state to make more money as a specialist or as a doctor in a wealthier community, Regina Benjamin returned to Alabama and opened a small clinic in Bayou La Batre. 和许多其他乡村社区一样，这里很难找到医生和医院。正因如此，尽管她本可以离开这个州，作为专科医生或在更富裕的社区行医赚取更多收入，雷吉娜·本杰明还是回到了阿拉巴马州，在拜乌拉巴特尔开了一家小诊所。
When people couldn't pay, she didn't charge them. When the clinic wasn't making money, she didn't take a salary for herself. When Hurricane George destroyed the clinic in 1998, she made house calls to all her patients while it was rebuilt. When Hurricane Katrina destroyed it again and left most of her town homeless, she mortgaged her house and maxed out her credit cards to rebuild that clinic for a second time. She tended to those who had been wounded in the storm, and when folks needed medicine, she asked the pharmacist to send the bill her way. 当人们付不起钱时，她不收他们的费用。当诊所入不敷出时，她不给自己发工资。1998年乔治飓风摧毁了诊所时，她在诊所重建期间挨家挨户上门为所有病人看病。当卡特里娜飓风再次摧毁了诊所，并使她所在小镇的大多数人无家可归时，她抵押了自己的房子，刷爆了信用卡，第二次重建了那家诊所。她照顾了在风暴中受伤的人们，当人们需要药物时，她请药剂师把账单寄给她。
And when Regina's clinic was about to open for the third time, and a fire burned it to the ground before it could serve the first patient, well, you can guess what Dr. Benjamin did. With help from her community, she is rebuilding it again. One disabled patient brought her an envelope with $20 inside. Another elderly man said simply, "Maybe I can help. I got a hammer." 当雷吉娜的诊所即将第三次开业，却在接诊第一位病人之前就被大火烧毁时，嗯，你可以猜到本杰明博士做了什么。在社区的帮助下，她正在再次重建诊所。一位残疾病人给她带来了一个装有二十美元的信封。另一位老人只是简单地说："也许我能帮上忙。我有一把锤子。"
For nearly two decades, Dr. Regina Benjamin has seen in a very personal way what is broken about our health care system. She's seen an increasing number of patients who've had health insurance their entire lives suddenly lose it because they lost their jobs or because it's simply become too expensive. She's been a relentless promoter of prevention and wellness programs, having treated too many costly and -- diseases and complications that didn't have to happen. And she's witnessed the shortage of primary care physicians in the rural and underserved areas where she works. 近二十年来，雷吉娜·本杰明博士以非常个人化的方式见证了我国医疗体系的弊端。她看到越来越多一生都享有医疗保险的病人，因失业或保险费用过于昂贵而突然失去保障。她一直不懈地倡导预防和健康项目，因为她治疗了太多本可避免的昂贵疾病和并发症。她也目睹了她所工作的乡村和服务不足地区初级保健医生的短缺。
But for all that she's seen and all the tremendous obstacles that she has overcome, Regina Benjamin also represents what's best about health care in America -- doctors and nurses who give and care and sacrifice for the sake of their patients; those Americans who would do anything to heal a fellow citizen. Through floods and fires and severe want, Regina Benjamin has refused to give up. Her patients have refused to give up. 尽管她见过了这一切，克服了所有这些巨大障碍，雷吉娜·本杰明也代表了美国医疗保障最美好的一面——那些为病人奉献、关爱和牺牲的医生与护士；那些愿意为治愈同胞而付出一切的美国人。历经洪水、火灾和严重匮乏，雷吉娜·本杰明拒绝放弃。她的病人们也拒绝放弃。
And when we were talking in the Oval Office, she said: The one thing I want to do is make sure that this Surgeon General's Office gives voice to patients, that patients have a seat at the table; somebody is advocating for them and speaking for them. 当我们在椭圆形办公室交谈时，她说：我想做的唯一一件事，就是确保卫生部长办公室为病人发声，让病人在决策桌上有一席之地；有人为他们争取权益，为他们代言。
And now we in Washington and across America have to refuse to give up on the goal of health care that is affordable and accessible for every last one of us. We don't have to deal with hurricanes and we don't have to deal with floods and we don't have to deal with fires; all we have to do is pass a bill to make sure that the American people have a decent shot at getting the kind of choice and high-quality health care that's affordable. 现在，我们在华盛顿以及全美国各地都必须拒绝放弃让每一个人都能负担得起、看得起病的目标。我们不必应对飓风，不必应对洪水，也不必应对火灾；我们所要做的就是通过一项法案，确保美国人民有切实机会获得负担得起、可选择且高质量的医疗保障。
And I know that Dr. Benjamin is going to help us get there as the next Surgeon General. And I am truly honored to nominate her for that post, and Secretary Sebelius is equally excited, even though she's just standing here. 我知道本杰明博士作为下一任卫生部长，将帮助我们实现这一目标。我深感荣幸地提名她担任这一职位，西贝利厄斯部长也同样激动，尽管她只是站在那里。
With that, let me introduce the next Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Regina Benjamin. 接下来，请允许我介绍美国的下一任卫生部长，雷吉娜·本杰明博士。