I just want to say a few words about the economy before I take your questions. 在回答各位的问题之前，我只想先就经济说几句话。
There are a lot of folks out there who are still struggling with the effects of the recession. Many people are still looking for work or looking for a job that pays more. Families are wondering how they'd deal with a broken refrigerator or a busted transmission, or how they're going to finance their kids' college education, and they're also worrying about the possibility of layoffs. 仍有许多人在承受经济衰退带来的影响。很多人还在找工作，或者想找一份收入更高的工作。家里的冰箱坏了、汽车变速箱出了故障，他们不知道该怎么应付；也不知道如何负担孩子的大学教育，同时还担心自己可能被裁员。
The struggles of middle-class families were a big problem long before the recession hit in 2007. They weren't created overnight, and the truth is our economic challenges are not going to be solved overnight. But there are more steps that we can take right now that would help businesses create jobs here in America. 早在2007年经济衰退来袭之前，中产阶级家庭面临的困境就已经是个大问题。这些问题并非一夜之间形成，坦率地说，我们的经济挑战也不可能一夜之间解决。但我们现在还可以采取更多措施，帮助企业在美国国内创造就业岗位。
Today, our administration is trying to take those steps, so we're reviewing government regulations so that we can fix any rules in place that are an unnecessary burden on businesses. We're working with the private sector to get small businesses and start-ups the financing they need to grow and expand. And because of the partnership that we've launched with businesses and community colleges, 500,000 workers will be able to receive the right skills and training for manufacturing jobs in companies all across America -- jobs that companies are looking to fill. 今天，本届政府正在努力采取这些措施。我们正在审查政府法规，以便修正那些给企业造成不必要负担的规定。我们正与私营部门合作，帮助小企业和初创企业获得发展壮大所需的融资。我们还与企业和社区学院建立了合作关系，使50万名劳动者能够获得适合的技能和培训，从而胜任美国各地企业的制造业岗位——这些岗位正是企业急需人手填补的。
In addition to the steps that my administration can take on our own, there are also things that Congress could do right now that will help create good jobs. Right now, Congress can send me a bill that would make it easier for entrepreneurs to patent a new product or idea -- because we can't give innovators in other countries a big leg up when it comes to opening new businesses and creating new jobs. That's something Congress could do right now. 除了本届政府可以自行采取的措施，国会现在也能做一些有助于创造优质就业的事情。国会现在就可以把一项法案送到我案头，让创业者更容易为新产品或新创意申请专利——在创办新企业、创造新就业方面，我们不能让其他国家的创新者占得巨大先机。这件事国会现在就能做。
Right now, Congress could send me a bill that puts construction workers back on the job rebuilding roads and bridges -- not by having government fund and pick every project, but by providing loans to private companies and states and local governments on the basis of merit and not politics. That's pending in Congress right now. 国会现在就可以把一项法案送到我案头，让建筑工人重返岗位，重建道路和桥梁——不是由政府出资并挑选每一个项目，而是根据项目本身的优劣、而非政治因素，向私营企业以及州和地方政府提供贷款。这项法案目前就在国会等待审议。
Right now, Congress can advance a set of trade agreements that would allow American businesses to sell more of their goods and services to countries in Asia and South America -- agreements that would support tens of thousands of American jobs while helping those adversely affected by trade. That's pending before Congress right now. 国会现在就可以推进一系列贸易协定，让美国企业向亚洲和南美国家销售更多商品与服务——这些协定既能支撑数以万计的美国就业岗位，也能帮助那些因贸易而受到不利影响的人。这些协定目前就在国会等待审议。
And right now, we could give middle-class families the security of knowing that the tax cut I signed in December will be there for one more year. 而且，我们现在就可以让中产阶级家庭安心，让他们知道我去年12月签署的减税措施将再延续一年。
So there are a number of steps that my administration is taking, but there are also a number of steps that Congress could be taking right now on items that historically have had bipartisan support and that would help put more Americans back to work. 因此，本届政府正在采取多项措施；与此同时，国会现在也可以就一些历来得到两党支持、并能帮助更多美国人重返工作岗位的事项采取多项行动。
Many of these ideas have been tied up in Congress for some time. But, as I said, all of them enjoy bipartisan support, and all of them would help grow the economy. So I urge Congress to act on these ideas now. 这些主张中有许多已经在国会搁置了一段时间。但正如我所说，它们都得到两党支持，也都有助于推动经济增长。因此，我敦促国会立即就这些主张采取行动。
Of course, one of the most important and urgent things we can do for the economy is something that both parties are working on right now -- and that's reducing our nation's deficit. Over the last few weeks, the Vice President has been leading negotiations with Democrats and Republicans on this issue, and they've made some real progress in narrowing down the differences. As of last week, both parties had identified more than 1 trillion dollars worth of spending cuts already. 当然，我们能为经济采取的最重要、最紧迫的措施之一，正是两党目前都在努力推进的事情——削减我国的财政赤字。过去几周，副总统一直牵头与民主、共和两党就此谈判，在缩小分歧方面取得了切实进展。截至上周，双方已经找出了总额超过1万亿美元的支出削减项目。
But everyone also knows that we'll need to do more to close the deficit. We can't get to the 4 trillion dollars in savings that we need by just cutting the 12 percent of the budget that pays for things like medical research and education funding and food inspectors and the weather service. And we can't just do it by making seniors pay more for Medicare. So we're going to need to look at the whole budget, as I said several months ago. And we've got to eliminate waste wherever we find it and make some tough decisions about worthy priorities. 但所有人也都知道，要弥合赤字缺口，我们还必须做得更多。预算中用于医学研究、教育拨款、食品检查员和国家气象局等项目的部分只占12%，仅仅削减这一部分，不可能实现我们所需的4万亿美元节支目标。单靠让老年人为联邦医疗保险支付更多费用，同样做不到。因此，正如我几个月前所说，我们必须审视整份预算。无论在哪里发现浪费，我们都必须加以消除，也必须就那些值得支持的优先事项作出艰难取舍。
And that means trimming the defense budget, while still meeting our security needs. It means we'll have to tackle entitlements, as long as we keep faith with seniors and children with disabilities by maintaining the fundamental security that Medicare and Medicaid provide. And, yes, we're going to have to tackle spending in the tax code. 这意味着，在满足国家安全需要的同时削减国防预算；也意味着我们必须处理法定福利项目，同时信守对老年人和残障儿童的承诺，维持联邦医疗保险和医疗补助所提供的基本保障。是的，我们还必须处理以税收优惠形式存在的支出。
There's been a lot of discussion about revenues and raising taxes in recent weeks, so I want to be clear about what we're proposing here. I spent the last two years cutting taxes for ordinary Americans, and I want to extend those middle-class tax cuts. The tax cuts I'm proposing we get rid of are tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires; tax breaks for oil companies and hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners. 近几周围绕财政收入和增税有过许多讨论，所以我要明确说明我们的主张。过去两年，我一直在为普通美国人减税，而且希望延长这些面向中产阶级的减税措施。我主张取消的是给予百万富翁和亿万富翁的税收优惠，是给予石油公司、对冲基金经理和公务机机主的税收优惠。
It would be nice if we could keep every tax break there is, but we've got to make some tough choices here if we want to reduce our deficit. And if we choose to keep those tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, if we choose to keep a tax break for corporate jet owners, if we choose to keep tax breaks for oil and gas companies that are making hundreds of billions of dollars, then that means we've got to cut some kids off from getting a college scholarship. 如果所有税收优惠都能保留，当然很好。但如果想削减赤字，我们就必须在这里作出一些艰难选择。如果选择保留给百万富翁和亿万富翁的税收优惠，选择保留给公务机机主的税收优惠，选择保留给那些赚取数千亿美元利润的石油和天然气公司的税收优惠，那么就意味着有些孩子将失去大学奖学金。
That means we've got to stop funding certain grants for medical research. That means that food safety may be compromised. That means that Medicare has to bear a greater part of the burden. Those are the choices we have to make. 这意味着我们必须停止为某些医学研究项目提供资助，意味着食品安全可能受到影响，也意味着联邦医疗保险不得不承担更大的压力。这就是我们必须作出的取舍。
So the bottom line is this: Any agreement to reduce our deficit is going to require tough decisions and balanced solutions. And before we ask our seniors to pay more for health care, before we cut our children's education, before we sacrifice our commitment to the research and innovation that will help create more jobs in the economy, I think it's only fair to ask an oil company or a corporate jet owner that has done so well to give up a tax break that no other business enjoys. I don't think that's real radical. I think the majority of Americans agree with that. 所以，归根结底：任何削减赤字的协议都需要艰难的决定和均衡的解决方案。在要求老年人为医疗保健支付更多费用之前，在削减孩子们的教育投入之前，在牺牲我们对研究和创新的承诺——而这些研究和创新将帮助经济创造更多就业——之前，我认为，要求经营状况如此优越的石油公司或公务机机主放弃一项其他企业享受不到的税收优惠，不过是公平之举。我不认为这有多激进。我相信大多数美国人都赞同这一点。
So the good news is, because of the work that's been done, I this we can actually bridge our differences. I think there is a conceptual framework that would allow us to make huge progress on our debt and deficit, and do so in a way that does not hurt our economy right here and right now. 好消息是，鉴于已经完成的工作，我认为我们确实能够弥合分歧。我认为，我们已有一个概念性框架，可以让我们在处理债务和赤字问题上取得巨大进展，同时又不损害此时此刻的经济。
And it's not often that Washington sees both parties agree on the scale and the urgency of the challenge at hand. Nobody wants to put the creditworthiness of the United States in jeopardy. Nobody wants to see the United States default. So we've got to seize this moment, and we have to seize it soon. The Vice President and I will continue these negotiations with both leaders of both parties in Congress for as long as it takes, and we will reach a deal that will require our government to live within its means and give our businesses confidence and get this economy moving. 华盛顿很少出现两党对眼前挑战的规模和紧迫性达成一致的局面。没有人希望美国的信用受到威胁，也没有人希望看到美国违约。因此，我们必须抓住这一时机，而且必须尽快抓住。无论需要多久，副总统和我都会继续同国会两党的领导人谈判；我们将达成一项协议，要求政府量入为出，提振企业信心，并让经济运转起来。
So, with that, I will take your questions. I've got my list here. Starting off with Ben Feller, Associated Press. 那么，现在我来回答各位的问题。名单就在我手上。先请美联社的本·费勒。
Question: Thank you very much, Mr. President. I'd like to follow up on the comments you just made as you try to reach a deal to raise the debt limit and cut the deficit. You keep saying that there needs to be this balanced approach of spending cuts and taxes. But Republicans say flatly, they won't -- 提问：非常感谢，总统先生。您正在努力就提高债务上限和削减赤字达成协议，我想就您刚才的评论继续追问。您一再表示，需要采取兼顾削减支出和税收的均衡办法。但共和党人直截了当地说，他们不会——
President Obama: That they don't want a balanced approach. 奥巴马总统：也就是说，他们不想要均衡的办法。
Question: They don't want any tax increases, as they put it. And the House Speaker says not only that he doesn't support that, but that plan won't -- will not pass the House. So my question is will you insist, ultimately, that a deal has to include those tax increases that you just laid out? Is that an absolute red line for you? And if it is, can you explain to us how that can possibly get through the Congress? 提问：按他们的说法，他们不接受任何增税。众议院议长不仅说他不支持，还说这一方案不会——不会在众议院获得通过。所以我的问题是，您最终是否会坚持协议必须包含您刚刚提出的那些增税措施？这是您绝对不可退让的红线吗？如果是，您能否向我们解释，这样的方案怎么可能在国会通过？
President Obama: Look, I think that what we've seen in negotiations here in Washington is a lot of people say a lot of things to satisfy their base or to get on cable news, but that hopefully, leaders at a certain point rise to the occasion and they do the right thing for the American people. And that's what I expect to happen this time. Call me naïve, but my expectation is that leaders are going to lead. 奥巴马总统：听着，我认为我们在华盛顿的谈判中看到，很多人为了迎合自己的基本盘或登上有线电视新闻节目，会说出各种各样的话；但愿到了某个时刻，领导人能够担起责任，为美国人民做正确的事情。我期待这一次也会如此。你们可以说我天真，但我期待领导人真正发挥领导作用。
Now, I just want to be clear about what's at stake here. The Republicans say they want to reduce the deficit. Every single observer who's not an elected official, who's not a politician, says we can't reduce our deficit in the scale and scope that we need to without having a balanced approach that looks at everything. 现在，我只想明确说明这里利害何在。共和党人说他们想削减赤字。每一位不是民选官员、不是政客的观察人士都表示，如果不采取全面审视各个方面的均衡办法，我们就无法按照所需的规模和范围削减赤字。
Democrats have to accept some painful spending cuts that hurt some of our constituencies and we may not like. And we've shown a willingness to do that for the greater good. To say, look, there are some things that are good programs that are nice to have; we can't afford them right now. 民主党人必须接受一些痛苦的支出削减，这些削减会伤害我们的部分支持群体，我们自己也未必喜欢。为了更大的公共利益，我们已经表明愿意这样做。也就是说，有些项目固然不错、能有当然很好，但我们目前负担不起。
I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to have difficult conversations with the Pentagon saying, you know what, there's fat here; we're going to have to trim it out. And Bob Gates has already done a good job identifying 400 billion dollars in cuts, but we're going to do more. And I promise you the preference of the Pentagon would not to cut any more, because they feel like they've already given. 作为三军统帅，我必须同五角大楼进行艰难的谈话，告诉他们：这里存在冗余，我们必须把它削减掉。鲍勃·盖茨已经做得很好，找出了4000亿美元的削减空间，但我们还会进一步削减。我可以向你们保证，五角大楼当然不希望再削减，因为他们觉得自己已经作出了让步。
So we're going to have to look at entitlements -- and that's always difficult politically. But I've been willing to say we need to see where we can reduce the cost of health care spending and Medicare and Medicaid in the out-years, not by shifting costs on to seniors, as some have proposed, but rather by actually reducing those costs. But even if we're doing it in a smart way, that's still tough politics. But it's the right thing to do. 所以，我们必须审视法定福利项目——这在政治上总是很困难。但我一直愿意明确表示，我们需要研究如何在未来年份降低医疗支出以及联邦医疗保险和医疗补助的成本；不是像有些人提议的那样把成本转嫁给老年人，而是切实降低这些成本。即使我们以明智的方式去做，这在政治上仍然艰难，但这是正确的事。
So the question is, if everybody else is willing to take on their sacred cows and do tough things in order to achieve the goal of real deficit reduction, then I think it would be hard for the Republicans to stand there and say that the tax break for corporate jets is sufficiently important that we're not willing to come to the table and get a deal done. Or, we're so concerned about protecting oil and gas subsidies for oil companies that are making money hand over fist -- that's the reason we're not going to come to a deal. 所以问题在于：如果其他各方都愿意动自己的“禁区”，愿意为真正削减赤字这一目标去做艰难的事情，那么共和党人恐怕很难站在那里说，公务机税收优惠重要到了让他们不愿回到谈判桌前、达成协议的地步；或者说，他们太在意保护那些赚得盆满钵满的石油公司的油气补贴，以至于这就成了不愿达成协议的理由。
I don't think that's a sustainable position. And the truth of the matter is, if you talk to Republicans who are not currently in office, like Alan Simpson who co-chaired my bipartisan commission, he doesn't think that's a sustainable position. Pete Domenici, Republican, co-chaired something with Alice Rivlin, the Democrat, says that's -- he doesn't think that's a sustainable position. You can't reduce the deficit to the levels that it needs to be reduced without having some revenue in the mix. 我认为这种立场无法长久维持。事实上，如果你去问那些目前不在任的共和党人，比如曾与他人共同主持我设立的两党委员会的艾伦·辛普森，他也不认为这种立场站得住脚。共和党人皮特·多梅尼奇曾与民主党人爱丽丝·里夫林共同主持一个委员会，他也说——他也不认为这种立场站得住脚。如果不把一定的财政收入纳入方案，就不可能把赤字削减到应有的水平。
And the revenue we're talking about isn't coming out of the pockets of middle-class families that are struggling. It's coming out of folks who are doing extraordinarily well and are enjoying the lowest tax rates since before I was born. 我们所说的财政收入并非来自生活艰难的中产阶级家庭的口袋，而是来自那些收入极其优厚、享受着自我出生之前以来最低税率的人。
If you are a wealthy CEO or a health -- hedge fund manager in America right now, your taxes are lower than they have ever been. They're lower than they've been since the 1950s. And you can afford it. You'll still be able to ride on your corporate jet; you're just going to have to pay a little more. 如果你是当今美国一位富有的首席执行官，或者对——对冲基金经理，你缴纳的税比以往任何时候都少，甚至低于20世纪50年代以来的任何时期。你负担得起。你仍然可以乘坐自己的公务机，只是需要多付一点钱。
And if we -- I just want to emphasize what I said earlier. If we do not have revenues, that means there are a bunch of kids out there who are not getting college scholarships. If we do not have those revenues, then the kinds of cuts that would be required might compromise the National Weather Service. It means that we would not be funding critical medical research. It means that food inspection might be compromised. 而且，如果我们——我只想再次强调刚才说过的话。如果没有这些财政收入，就意味着许多孩子拿不到大学奖学金；如果没有这些收入，所需的支出削减可能会影响国家气象局；意味着我们无法资助至关重要的医学研究；也意味着食品检查工作可能受到影响。
And I've said to some of the Republican leaders, you go talk to your constituents, the Republican constituents, and ask them are they willing to compromise their kids' safety so that some corporate jet owner continues to get a tax break. And I'm pretty sure what the answer would be. 我对一些共和党领导人说过：你们去同自己的选民、同共和党选民谈谈，问问他们是否愿意牺牲孩子的安全，只为让某个公务机机主继续享受税收优惠。我相当确定他们会给出什么答案。
So we're going to keep on having these conversations. And my belief is, is that the Republican leadership in Congress will, hopefully sooner rather than later, come to the conclusion that they need to make the right decisions for the country; that everybody else has been willing to move off their maximalist position -- they need to do the same. 所以，我们会继续进行这些对话。我相信，国会共和党领导层迟早——但愿越早越好——会得出结论：他们需要为国家作出正确的决定。其他各方都已愿意放弃自己的最高要价，他们也必须这样做。
Question: You think they'll ultimately give in? 提问：您认为他们最终会让步吗？
President Obama: My expectation is that they'll do the responsible thing. 奥巴马总统：我期待他们会做负责任的事。
Chuck Todd. 查克·托德。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. There have been a lot of questions about the constitutionality -- constitutional interpretations of a few decisions you've made, so I'll just simply ask: Do you believe the War Powers Act is constitutional? Do you believe that the debt limit is constitutional, the idea that Congress can do this? And do you believe that marriage is a civil right? 提问：谢谢您，总统先生。对于您作出的几项决定，人们提出了很多关于合宪性——宪法解释的问题，所以我就直截了当地问：您认为《战争权力法》符合宪法吗？您认为债务上限符合宪法吗，也就是国会可以设置这种上限吗？您认为婚姻是一项公民权利吗？
President Obama: Well, that was a hodgepodge. Chuck, we're going to assign you to the Supreme Court, man. 奥巴马总统：嗯，这可真是一锅大杂烩。查克，我们要把你派到最高法院去，老兄。
I'm not a Supreme Court justice so I'm not going to -- putting my constitutional law professor hat on here. Let me focus on, initially, the issue of Libya. I want to talk about the substance of Libya because there's been all kinds of noise about process and congressional consultation and so forth. Let's talk about concretely what's happened. 我不是最高法院大法官，所以我不会——在这里戴上宪法学教授的帽子。先让我集中谈谈利比亚问题。我想谈利比亚问题的实质，因为围绕程序、国会磋商等问题已经有了各种杂音。我们来具体看看究竟发生了什么。
Muammar Qaddafi, who, prior to Osama bin Laden, was responsible for more American deaths than just about anybody on the planet, was threatening to massacre his people. And as part of an international coalition, under a U.N. mandate that is almost unprecedented, we went in and took out air defense systems so that an international coalition could provide a no-fly zone, could protect -- provide humanitarian protection to the people on the ground. 穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲在奥萨马·本·拉登之前造成的美国人死亡人数，几乎超过地球上的任何其他人；他当时正威胁要屠杀自己的人民。我们依据一项几乎前所未有的联合国授权，作为国际联盟的一员采取了行动，摧毁防空系统，使国际联盟能够设立禁飞区，并向——向当地民众提供人道主义保护。
I spoke to the American people about what we would do. I said there would be no troops on the ground. I said that we would not be carrying the lion's share of this operation, but as members of NATO, we would be supportive of it because it's in our national security interest and also because it's the right thing to do. 我曾向美国人民说明我们会做什么。我说不会派遣地面部队，也说我们不会承担这次行动的主要负担；但作为北约成员，我们会给予支持，因为这符合我们的国家安全利益，也是正确的事情。
We have done exactly what I said we would do. We have not put any boots on the ground. And our allies -- who, historically, we've complained aren't willing to carry enough of the load when it comes to NATO operations -- have carried a big load when it comes to these NATO operations. And as a consequence, we've protected thousands of people in Libya; we have not seen a single U.S. casualty; there's no risks of additional escalation. This operation is limited in time and in scope. 我们完全按照我所说的去做了。我们没有派一兵一卒进入地面战场。我们的盟友——过去我们总抱怨他们在北约行动中不愿承担足够责任——这一次承担了北约行动的很大一部分。因此，我们保护了数千名利比亚民众；没有一名美国人伤亡；也不存在进一步升级的风险。这次行动在时间和范围上都是有限的。
So I said to the American people, here's our narrow mission. We have carried out that narrow mission in exemplary fashion. And throughout this process we consulted with Congress. We've had 10 hearings on it. We've sent reams of information about what the operations are. I've had all the members of Congress over to talk about it. So a lot of this fuss is politics. 所以，我向美国人民说明了我们这项范围明确而有限的任务。我们以堪称典范的方式执行了这项任务。在整个过程中，我们一直同国会磋商。国会为此举行了10场听证会；我们提交了大量有关行动情况的资料；我还邀请所有国会议员前来讨论。因此，这些喧嚷有很大一部分是政治作秀。
And if you look substantively at what we've done, we have done exactly what we said to do, under a U.N. mandate, and we have protected thousands of lives in the process. And as a consequence, a guy who was a state sponsor of terrorist operations against the United States of America is pinned down and the noose is tightening around him. 如果从实质上审视我们的所作所为，就会看到，我们依据联合国授权，完全履行了先前的承诺，并在此过程中保护了数千人的生命。结果是，一个曾支持针对美利坚合众国的恐怖主义活动的人，如今已被困住，套在他脖子上的绳索正在收紧。
Now, when you look at the history of the War Powers resolution, it came up after the Vietnam War in which we had half-a-million soldiers there, tens of thousands of lives lost, hundreds of billions of dollars spent -- and Congress said, you know what, we don't want something like that happening again. So if you're going to start getting us into those kinds of commitments you've got to consult with Congress beforehand. 回顾《战争权力决议》的历史，它是在越南战争之后出台的。那场战争中，我们在那里部署了50万军人，数万人丧生，花费数千亿美元——国会于是说，我们不希望这样的事情再次发生。因此，如果你要让国家卷入那种程度的承诺，就必须事先同国会磋商。
And I think that such consultation is entirely appropriate. But do I think that our actions in any way violate the War Powers resolution? The answer is no. So I don't even have to get to the constitutional question. There may be a time in which there was a serious question as to whether or not the War Powers resolution -- act was constitutional. I don't have to get to the question. 我认为这种磋商完全恰当。但我是否认为我们的行动以任何方式违反了《战争权力决议》？答案是否定的。所以我甚至无须触及合宪性问题。或许曾经有必要认真讨论《战争权力决议》——这项法案是否符合宪法，但我无须回答这个问题。
We have engaged in a limited operation to help a lot of people against one of the worst tyrants in the world -- somebody who nobody should want to defend -- and we should be sending a unified message to this guy that he should step down and give his people a fair chance to live their lives without fear. And this suddenly becomes the cause célèbre for some folks in Congress? Come on. 我们开展的是一次有限行动，目的是帮助众多民众抵抗世界上最恶劣的暴君之一——一个不该有任何人为之辩护的人。我们应当向这个人发出一致的信息：他必须下台，给自己的人民一个不必生活在恐惧之中的公平机会。可这件事竟突然成了国会某些人的热门议题？得了吧。
So you had, what, a three-parter? What are the other two? 所以，你刚才是问了三个问题，对吧？另外两个是什么？
Question: There is some question about the constitutionality of the War Powers Act. 提问：人们对《战争权力法》是否符合宪法存在一些疑问。
President Obama: I'm just saying I don't have to reach it. That's a good legal answer. 奥巴马总统：我只是说，我不必回答这个问题。这是个不错的法律式回答。
Question: [Inaudible.] 提问：[听不清。]
President Obama: Let me start by saying that this administration, under my direction, has consistently said we cannot discriminate as a country against people on the basis of sexual orientation. And we have done more in the two and a half years that I've been in here than the previous 43 Presidents to uphold that principle, whether it's ending 'don't ask, don't tell,' making sure that gay and lesbian partners can visit each other in hospitals, making sure that federal benefits can be provided to same-sex couples. 奥巴马总统：首先我要说，本届政府在我的领导下始终坚持，作为一个国家，我们不能基于性取向歧视任何人。在我任职的这两年半里，为了坚持这一原则，我们所做的比此前43位总统都多：无论是废除“不问，不说”政策，确保同性恋伴侣可以到医院探望彼此，还是确保同性伴侣能够获得联邦福利。
Across the board -- hate crimes -- we have made sure that that is a central principle of this administration, because I think it's a central principle of America. 在所有方面——包括仇恨犯罪问题——我们都确保这一原则成为本届政府的核心原则，因为我认为它也是美国的核心原则。
Now, what we've also done is we've said that DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, is unconstitutional. And so we've said we cannot defend the federal government poking its nose into what states are doing and putting the thumb on the scale against same-sex couples. 与此同时，我们还认定，《捍卫婚姻法》违反宪法。因此我们表示，联邦政府不能对各州的做法横加干涉，更不能在天平上压上砝码，使同性伴侣处于不利地位。
What I've seen happen over the last several years, and what happened in New York last week I think was a good thing, because what you saw was the people of New York having a debate, talking through these issues. It was contentious; it was emotional; but, ultimately, they made a decision to recognize civil marriage. And I think that's exactly how things should work. 过去几年里发生的变化，以及上周纽约州发生的事情，在我看来都是好事。因为你们看到，纽约州人民展开辩论，充分讨论这些问题。过程充满争议、也令人情绪激动，但他们最终决定承认民事婚姻。我认为事情就应该这样推进。
And so I think it is -- I think it is important for us to work through these issues -- because each community is going to be different and each state is going to be different -- to work through them. 所以我认为，我们逐步讨论并解决这些问题非常重要——因为每个社区都会有所不同，每个州也会有所不同——我们必须一步步处理。
In the meantime, we filed a -- we filed briefs before the Supreme Court that say we think that any discrimination against gays, lesbians, transgenders is subject to heightened scrutiny, and we don't think that DOMA is unconstitutional [sic]. And so I think the combination of what states are doing, what the courts are doing, the actions that we're taking administratively, all are how the process should work. 与此同时，我们已经向最高法院提交了——提交了法律意见书，表明我们认为任何针对男同性恋者、女同性恋者和跨性别者的歧视都应受到更严格的司法审查，而且我们不认为《捍卫婚姻法》违宪【原文如此】。因此，我认为，各州的作为、法院的作为以及我们通过行政手段采取的行动结合在一起，正是这一进程应有的运作方式。
Question: Are you at all uncomfortable that there could be different rules in different states, you know, and for somebody to make the argument that's what we saw during segregation -- 提问：各州可能实行不同规则，您对此完全不会感到不安吗？有人可能会说，这正是我们在种族隔离时期所看到的情况——
President Obama: Chuck, I think what you're seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they've got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out. 奥巴马总统：查克，我认为你现在看到的是，美国人民正在深刻认识到，男同性恋者、女同性恋者和跨性别者是我们的兄弟姐妹、我们的子女、我们的表亲、我们的朋友和同事，他们必须像其他每一位美国人一样受到对待。我相信，这一原则终将胜出。
It's not going to be perfectly smooth, and it turns out that the President -- I've discovered since I've been in this office -- can't dictate precisely how this process moves. But I think we're moving in a direction of greater equality and I think that's a good thing. 这个过程不会一帆风顺。我就任以后才发现，原来总统也无法精确指挥这一进程如何推进。但我认为，我们正朝着更加平等的方向前进，这是一件好事。
Julianna. 朱莉安娜。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. I only have a two-parter. 提问：谢谢您，总统先生。我只有两个问题。
President Obama: Thanks. 奥巴马总统：谢谢。
Question: Are you concerned that the current debate over debt and deficits is preventing you from taking the kind of decisive and more balanced action needed to create jobs in this country, which is the number one concern for Americans? 提问：债务和赤字问题的当前争论，是否让您无法采取我国创造就业所需的那种果断而更均衡的行动？创造就业是美国人最关心的问题。
And also, one of the impediments to job growth that the business community repeatedly cites is the regulatory environment. So do you think that the NLRB complaint against Boeing, that this has created some of the -- is an example of the kinds of regulations that chill job growth, and also that you yourself have called 'just plain dumb'? 此外，商界一再指出，监管环境是妨碍就业增长的因素之一。那么，国家劳资关系委员会对波音公司的申诉，在您看来是否造成了某种——是否属于那种抑制就业增长、而且您本人也称之为“愚蠢透顶”的监管？
President Obama: I think it's important to understand that deficit reduction, debt reduction, should be part of an overall package for job growth over the long term. It's not the only part of it, but it's an important part of it. 奥巴马总统：有一点很重要，那就是要明白，削减赤字和债务应当是促进长期就业增长的一揽子方案的一部分。它不是方案的全部，却是其中重要的一环。
President Obama: So as I mentioned at the top, I think it's important for us to look at rebuilding our transportation infrastructure in this country. That could put people back to work right now -- construction workers back to work right now. And it would get done work that America needs to get done. We used to have the best roads, the best bridges, the best airports. We don't anymore. And that's not good for our long-term competitiveness. 奥巴马总统：所以，正如我开场时提到的，我认为我们必须着眼于重建美国的交通基础设施。这样现在就能让人们重返岗位——现在就让建筑工人重返岗位，同时完成美国本来就需要完成的工作。我们过去拥有最好的公路、最好的桥梁和最好的机场，如今却不再如此。这对我们的长期竞争力不利。
So we could put people to work right now and make sure that we're in a good position to win the future, as well. I think -- 所以，我们现在既能让人们就业，也能确保自己处在赢得未来的有利位置。我认为——
Question: -- spending and [inaudible.] 提问：——支出和[听不清。]
President Obama: I'm going to get to it. I think that it's important for us to look at the tax code and figure out, are there ways that we can simplify it and also build on the work that we've already done, for example, saying to small businesses or start-up businesses, you don't have to pay capital gains when you're in start-up mode, because we want you to get out there and start a business. That's important. Making sure that SBA is helping to get financing to small businesses, that's important. 奥巴马总统：我马上就会谈到。我认为，审视税法、研究能否加以简化，同时在已经开展的工作基础上继续推进，非常重要。例如，我们对小企业或初创企业说，在创业阶段无须缴纳资本利得税，因为我们希望你们放手创办企业。这很重要。确保小企业管理局帮助小企业获得融资，也很重要。
So there are a whole range of things that we can be doing. I think these trade deals will be important -- because right now South Korea, frankly, has a better deal when it comes to our trading relationship than we do. Part of the reason I want to pass this trade deal is you see a whole bunch of Korean cars here in the United States and you don't see any American cars in Korea. So let's rebalance that trading relationship. That's why we should get this passed. 因此，我们可以做的事情很多。我认为这些贸易协定会很重要——因为坦率地说，在我们目前同韩国的贸易关系中，韩国享有的条件比我们更有利。我希望通过这项贸易协定，部分原因就在于：美国街头有大量韩国汽车，在韩国却看不到美国汽车。因此，让我们重新平衡这种贸易关系。这就是我们应该推动协定通过的原因。
So there are a range of things that we could be doing right now. Deficit and debt reduction should be seen as part of that overall process, because I think if businesses feel confident that we've got our act together here in Washington, that not only is the government not going to default but we're also preparing for a future in which the population is getting older and we're going to have more expenses on the Medicare side and Social Security, that businesses will feel more confident about investing here in the United States of America. 所以，我们现在可以采取一系列行动。削减赤字和债务应当被视为整个进程的一部分。因为我认为，如果企业相信华盛顿已经把事情理顺，相信政府不仅不会违约，而且还在为一个人口老龄化、联邦医疗保险和社会保障支出将会增加的未来作准备，那么企业就会更有信心在美利坚合众国投资。
So I don't think they're contradictory. And as I've said before, certainly in my job, but I think Congress, as well, they've got to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. So we can focus on jobs at the same time as we're focusing on debt and deficit reduction. 所以我认为，两者并不矛盾。我以前说过，就我的工作而言是这样，我想国会也一样：必须具备同时处理两件事的能力。因此，我们可以在关注债务和赤字削减的同时关注就业。
Now, one of the things that my administration has talked about is, is there, in fact, a bunch of -- a tangle of regulations out there that are preventing businesses from growing and expanding as quickly as they should. Keep in mind that the business community is always complaining about regulations. When unemployment is at 3 percent and they're making record profits, they're going to still complain about regulations because, frankly, they want to be able to do whatever they think is going to maximize their profits. 本届政府讨论过的一个问题是：外面是否确实存在一大堆——一团乱麻般的法规，妨碍企业以应有的速度成长和扩张。请记住，商界总是在抱怨监管。即使失业率只有3%、企业利润创下纪录，他们仍会抱怨监管，因为坦率地说，他们希望可以随心所欲地采取一切他们认为能让利润最大化的行动。
I've got an obligation to make sure that we're upholding smart regulations that protect our air and protect our water and protect our food. If you're flying on a plane, you want to make sure that there are some regulations in place to assure safety in air travel, right? So there are some core regulations that we've got to maintain. 我有责任确保我们维持明智的监管，保护空气、水源和食品。如果你乘坐飞机，当然希望有相关规定保障航空安全，对吧？所以，有些核心监管规定我们必须保留。
But what I have done -- and this is unprecedented, by the way, no administration has done this before -- is I've said to each agency, don't just look at current regulations -- or don't just look at future regulations, regulations that we're proposing, let's go backwards and look at regulations that are already on the books, and if they don't make sense, let's get rid of them. And we are in the process of doing that, and we've already identified changes that could potentially save billions of dollars for companies over the next several years. 但我所做的——顺便说一句，这是前所未有的，此前没有哪届政府这样做过——是要求每一个机构，不要只审视现行法规——或者说，不要只审视未来准备出台的法规；我们还要回过头去审视已经列入法规汇编的规定，如果不合理，就予以废除。我们正在这样做，也已经找出了若干调整方案，未来几年可能为企业节省数十亿美元。
Now, you asked specifically about one decision that was made by the National Labor Relations Board, the NLRB, and this relates to Boeing. Essentially, the NLRB made a finding that Boeing had not followed the law in making a decision to move a plant. And it's an independent agency. It's going before a judge. So I don't want to get into the details of the case. I don't know all the facts. That's going to be up to a judge to decide. 你刚才特别问到国家劳资关系委员会就波音公司作出的一项决定。简单来说，委员会认定波音公司在决定迁移一家工厂时没有遵守法律。这个委员会是一个独立机构，案件将交由法官审理。因此，我不想讨论案件细节。我并不了解所有事实，那要由法官裁决。
What I do know is this -- that as a general proposition, companies need to have the freedom to relocate. They have to follow the law, but that's part of our system. And if they're choosing to relocate here in the United States, that's a good thing. And what it doesn't make -- what I think defies common sense would be a notion that we would be shutting down a plant or laying off workers because labor and management can't come to a sensible agreement. 我确实知道的是：一般而言，企业需要拥有迁址的自由。企业必须守法，但迁址自由也是我们制度的一部分。如果企业选择在美国国内迁址，那是好事。我认为有一种想法不合——不合常理，那就是仅仅因为劳资双方无法达成明智的协议，我们就关闭一家工厂或解雇工人。
So my hope is, is that even as this thing is working its way through, everybody steps back for a second and says, look, if jobs are being created here in the United States, let's make sure that we're encouraging that. And we can't afford to have labor and management fighting all the time, at a time when we're competing against Germany and China and other countries that want to sell goods all around the world. And obviously, the airplane industry is an area where we still have a huge advantage, and I want to make sure that we keep it. 所以我希望，即使这件事仍在按程序处理，各方也能暂且退一步说：如果就业岗位正在美国国内创造出来，我们就应当予以鼓励。在我们与德国、中国以及其他希望向全球销售商品的国家竞争之际，我们承受不起劳资双方没完没了地争斗。显然，飞机制造业仍是我们拥有巨大优势的领域，我要确保我们保持这种优势。
Mark Lander. 马克·兰德勒。
Question: Thank you very much, Mr. President. Yesterday, Admiral McRaven testified before Congress that he was concerned that there wasn't a clear procedure to be followed if a terrorist were captured alive abroad. The administration has also been clear that it doesn't want to continue to send suspected terrorists to Guantanamo. 提问：非常感谢，总统先生。麦克雷文海军上将昨天在国会作证时表示，他担心在海外活捉恐怖分子后，没有明确的处置程序可供遵循。本届政府也明确表示，不希望继续把恐怖主义嫌疑人送往关塔那摩。
What message do you have for American men and women in uniform who are undertaking missions, like the very risky one to capture and kill bin Laden, about what they should do in the event that they capture someone alive? And does the lack of these clear procedures raise the risk that forces might be more inclined to kill suspected terrorists in the field, rather than capture them alive, thus depriving the U.S. of the intelligence that they could provide? 对于承担此类任务的美国军人——例如活捉或击毙本·拉登那次风险极高的行动——如果他们活捉了某个人，您希望向他们传达什么信息？缺乏这些明确程序，是否会增加一种风险，即部队在前线可能更倾向于击毙而不是活捉恐怖主义嫌疑人，从而使美国无法获得他们可能提供的情报？
President Obama: Well, first of all, my top priority in each and every one of these situations is to make sure that we're apprehending those who would attack the United States; that we are getting all the intelligence that we can out of these individuals, in a way that's consistent with due process of law; and that we try them, we prosecute them, in a way that's consistent with rule of law. 奥巴马总统：首先，在每一种此类情形中，我的首要任务都是确保我们抓获那些意图袭击美国的人；确保在符合正当法律程序的前提下，从这些人身上获取一切可能获得的情报；并确保以符合法治的方式审判和起诉他们。
And, frankly, there are going to be different dispositions of the case depending on the situation. And there are going to be sometimes where a military commission may be appropriate. There are going to be some times where Article III courts are appropriate in terms of prosecution. And we do have a process to work through all the agencies -- Department of Defense, Department of Justice, FBI, anybody else who might be involved in these kinds of operations -- to think through on a case-by-case basis how a particular individual should be dealt with. 坦率地说，案件会因具体情况不同而有不同的处置方式。有时由军事委员会审理可能合适，有时由《宪法》第三条所设法院负责起诉审判更为合适。我们确实有一套跨部门程序，由国防部、司法部、联邦调查局以及其他可能参与此类行动的机构共同研究，根据每个案件的具体情况决定如何处置特定人员。
And I think that when it comes to our men and women in uniform who might be carrying out these missions, the instructions are not going to be based on whether or not the lawyers can sort out how we detain them or how we prosecute them. Their mission is to make sure that they apprehend the individual; they do so safely with minimum risk to American lives. And that's always going to be the priority, is just carrying out the mission. And that message is sent consistently to our men and women in uniform anytime they start carrying out one of these missions. 对于可能执行这些任务的军人，我认为，他们接到的指令不会取决于律师能否理清应当怎样拘押或起诉目标。他们的任务是确保抓获目标，并在把美国人生命风险降到最低的情况下安全完成抓捕。首要任务始终是完成使命。每当军人开始执行此类任务时，我们都会始终如一地向他们传达这一信息。
But I think it's important to understand, and the American people need to be assured that anytime we initiate a mission like this, our top priorities are making sure this person is not able to carry out attacks against the United States and that we're able to obtain actionable intelligence from those individuals. And so that mitigates against this danger that you're suggesting that our main goal is going to be to kill these individuals as opposed to potentially capturing them. Okay? 但有一点必须明白，美国人民也需要确信：每当我们发起这样的行动时，最优先的事项都是确保此人无法袭击美国，并确保我们能从这些人身上获得可付诸行动的情报。因此，这会降低你所说的那种风险，即我们的主要目标将变成击毙这些人，而非在可能的情况下活捉他们。明白吗？
Mike Emanuel, FOX. 福克斯新闻的迈克·伊曼纽尔。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. Last week when you gave your Afghanistan drawdown speech, the word 'victory,' in terms of the overall war in Afghanistan, was not in your speech. So I'm wondering, sir, if you can define for the 100,000 troops you have in harm's way in Afghanistan 'victory' in the war, and for their families, as well, sir. 提问：谢谢您，总统先生。上周您发表阿富汗撤军讲话时，在谈到整个阿富汗战争时并没有使用“胜利”这个词。所以，总统先生，我想请您为身处阿富汗险境的10万名军人以及他们的家属说明，这场战争中的“胜利”究竟是什么。
President Obama: Well, I didn't use 'victory' in my West Point speech, either. What I said was we can be successful in our mission, which is narrowly drawn, and that is to make sure that al Qaeda cannot attack the United States of America or our allies or our interests overseas, and to make sure that we have an Afghan government that -- and an Afghan people that can provide for their own security. 奥巴马总统：嗯，我在西点军校的讲话中也没有使用“胜利”一词。我说的是，我们可以成功完成范围明确而有限的使命，那就是确保基地组织无法袭击美利坚合众国、我们的盟友或海外利益，并确保阿富汗政府和——阿富汗人民能够保障自身安全。
We are being successful in those missions. And the reason that we're in a position to draw down 10,000 troops this year and a total of 33,000 troops by the end of next summer is precisely because of the extraordinary work of our men and women in uniform. What they've been able to do is to severely cripple al Qaeda's capacities. 我们正在成功完成这些使命。我们之所以能够今年撤出1万名军人，并在明年夏末前共撤出3.3万名军人，恰恰是因为我们的军人作出了非凡贡献。他们已经严重削弱了基地组织的能力。
Obviously bin Laden got the most attention, but even before the bin Laden operation we had decimated the middle ranks and some of the upper ranks of al Qaeda. They're having a great deal of difficulty operating, a great deal of difficulty communicating and financing themselves, and we are going to keep the pressure on. And in part that's because of the extraordinary sacrifices that have been made by our men and women in uniform in Afghanistan. 显然，本·拉登受到的关注最多；但即使在针对本·拉登的行动之前，我们也已经重创基地组织的中层，并消灭部分高层人员。他们在行动、通信和筹措资金方面都面临极大困难，而我们还会继续施压。这在一定程度上要归功于驻阿富汗美军所作出的巨大牺牲。
What we've also been able to do is to ramp up the training of Afghan forces. So we've got an additional 100,000 Afghan troops, both Army and police, that have been trained as a consequence of this surge. And that is going to give the Afghans more capacity to defend themselves because it is in our national interest to make sure that you did not have a collapse of Afghanistan in which extremist elements could flood the zone once again, and over time al Qaeda might be in a position to rebuild itself. 我们还加快了阿富汗部队的训练。因此，随着增兵行动的开展，我们又训练了10万名阿富汗军人和警察。这将增强阿富汗人自卫的能力，因为确保阿富汗不会崩溃符合我们的国家利益；如果阿富汗崩溃，极端主义分子可能再次大量涌入，基地组织也可能逐渐获得重建能力。
So what I laid out was a plan in which we are going to be drawing down our troops from Afghanistan after 10 very long years and an enormous sacrifice by our troops. But we will draw them in a -- draw them down in a responsible way that will allow Afghanistan to defend itself and will give us the operational capacity to continue to put pressure on al Qaeda until that network is entirely defeated. 所以，我提出的是这样一项方案：在经历漫长的10年、军人作出巨大牺牲之后，我们将从阿富汗撤军。但我们会以——以负责任的方式撤军，既让阿富汗能够自卫，也让我们保留继续向基地组织施压的行动能力，直至这一网络被彻底击败。
Question: The attack on the Intercontinental Hotel yesterday, sir? And does that concern you that Afghan forces may not be able to step up if these guys are able to attack a high-profile target in the nation's capital? 提问：总统先生，昨天洲际酒店遭到袭击，您怎么看？这些人有能力袭击首都的高知名度目标，这是否让您担心阿富汗部队可能无法接过重任？
President Obama: Well, keep in mind the drawdown hasn't begun. So we understood that Afghanistan is a dangerous place, that the Taliban is still active, and that there are still going to be events like this on occasion. The question is, in terms of overall trend, is Afghanistan capacity increasing. 奥巴马总统：请记住，撤军尚未开始。我们一直清楚阿富汗是个危险的地方，塔利班仍然活跃，类似事件有时仍会发生。问题在于，从总体趋势看，阿富汗的能力是否正在增强。
Kabul, for example, which contains a huge proportion of the Afghan population as a whole, has been largely policed by Afghan forces for quite some time. And they've done a reasonably good job. Kabul is much safer than it was, and Afghan forces in Kabul are much more capable than they were. 例如，喀布尔居住着阿富汗全国人口的很大一部分，长期以来治安工作基本由阿富汗部队负责。他们做得相当不错。喀布尔比过去安全得多，驻喀布尔的阿富汗部队也比过去更有能力。
That doesn't mean that there are not going to be events like this potentially taking place, and that will probably go on for some time. Our work is not done. But as I said in my speech, the tide of war is receding. We have shifted to a transition phase. And much like we've seen in Iraq, where we've drawn down our troops, the remainder of our troops will be coming out by the end of this year, but Iraq has been able to maintain a democratic government and to tamp down violence there -- we think a similar approach makes sense in Afghanistan. 这并不意味着今后不会发生类似事件，而且这种情况可能还会持续一段时间。我们的工作尚未完成。但正如我在讲话中所说，战争的浪潮正在退去。我们已经转入过渡阶段。这与我们在伊拉克看到的情况十分相似：我们已经从伊拉克撤出大批部队，剩余部队将在今年年底前撤离，但伊拉克仍维持着民选政府，也遏制了当地的暴力活动——我们认为，在阿富汗采取类似做法是合理的。
But even in Iraq, you still see the occasional attack. These are still countries that are digging themselves out of a lot of war, a lot of conflict. They're dangerous places. And so they're not going to be perfectly safe, even if we were there. But we can improve the chances for the Afghan people to defend themselves. 但即使在伊拉克，偶发袭击依然存在。这些国家仍在努力摆脱长期战争与冲突造成的影响，依然是危险的地方。因此，即便我们留在那里，它们也不可能绝对安全。但我们可以提高阿富汗人民保卫自己的能力。
Jim Sciutto. 吉姆·休托。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. You're aware that Senators Kerry and McCain have a proposal on the Senate floor to give you the leeway to continue operations in Libya for a further year. You've just said that this, from the beginning, has been an operation limited in time and scope. Initially you said days, not weeks. Are you prepared, are the American people prepared for this operation, with American support, to continue for a further year? And is there any other definition of success than Qaddafi being removed from power? 提问：谢谢您，总统先生。您知道，克里和麦凯恩两位参议员已在参议院提出一项议案，授权您把利比亚行动再延续一年。您刚刚表示，这从一开始就是一次在时间和范围上有限的行动。您最初说过是几天，而不是几周。您是否已经准备好、美国人民是否已经准备好，让这场有美国支持的行动再持续一年？除了卡扎菲下台，是否还有其他成功的定义？
President Obama: Well, first of all, Jim, just a slight correction. What I told the American people was that the initial phase where Americans were in the lead would take days, perhaps weeks. And that's exactly what happened, right? I mean, after -- around two weeks, a little less than two weeks, we had transitioned where NATO had taken full control of the operation. So promise made, promise kept. 奥巴马总统：首先，吉姆，我稍微纠正一点。我当时告诉美国人民的是，由美国发挥主导作用的初始阶段会持续几天，或许几周。事情也确实如此，对吧？大约两周后——还不到两周——我们就完成了交接，由北约全面接管行动。因此，承诺已经兑现。
Second, I think when you have the former Republican nominee for President, John McCain, and the former nominee for President on the Democratic side, John Kerry, coming together to support what we're doing in Libya, that should tell the American people that this is important. And I very much appreciate their efforts in that regard. 第二，曾获共和党总统候选人提名的约翰·麦凯恩与曾代表民主党角逐总统候选人提名的约翰·克里共同支持我们在利比亚的行动，这应当让美国人民明白，这件事很重要。我也非常感谢他们在这方面所作的努力。
Third, when it comes to our definitions of success, the U.N. mandate has said that we are there to make sure that you do not see a massacre directed against Libyan civilians by the Libyan regime. The Libyan regime's capacity has been greatly reduced as a consequence of our operation. That's already been successful. What we've seen both in the East and in the West is that opposition forces have been able to mobilize themselves and start getting organized, and people are starting to see the possibility of a more peaceful future on the horizon. 第三，谈到我们对成功的定义，联合国授权规定，我们在那里是为了确保利比亚政权不会屠杀利比亚平民。由于我们的行动，利比亚政权的能力已经大幅削弱。这本身就是已经取得的成功。我们在东部和西部都看到，反对派力量已经能够动员起来、开始组织起来，人们也开始看到地平线上一个更加和平的未来。
What is also true is, as long as Qaddafi is still presenting himself as the head of the Libyan government, and as long as he still controls large numbers of troops, the Libyan people are going to be in danger of counter-offensives and of retribution. So there is no doubt that Qaddafi stepping down from power is -- from the international community's perspective -- going to be the primary way that we can assure that the overall mission of Libya's people being protected is accomplished. 同样确凿的是，只要卡扎菲仍自称利比亚政府首脑，只要他还控制着大量军队，利比亚人民就会面临反攻和报复的危险。因此毫无疑问，从国际社会的角度看，卡扎菲下台将是我们确保保护利比亚人民这一整体使命得以完成的主要途径。
And I just want to point out -- I know it's something you know -- the International Criminal Court identified Qaddafi as having violated international law, having committed war crimes. What we've seen is reports of troops engaging in horrible acts, including potentially using rape as a weapon of war. And so when you have somebody like that in charge of large numbers of troops, I think it would be hard for us to feel confident that the Libyan people are going to be protected unless he steps down. 我还要指出——我知道你也清楚这一点——国际刑事法院认定卡扎菲违反了国际法，犯下了战争罪。我们看到有报道说，其部队实施了骇人听闻的暴行，其中包括可能把强奸当作战争武器。这样一个人掌握着大量军队，如果他不下台，我们很难有信心认为利比亚人民能够得到保护。
Now, what that means, whether there's the possibility of Libyans arriving at some sort of political settlement, that I think is something that ultimately the Libyan people are going to have to make a decision about -- because the international community is there in service of that broader goal, of a peaceful Libya. 至于这意味着什么，利比亚人是否可能达成某种政治解决方案，我认为最终要由利比亚人民自己决定——因为国际社会的介入，是为实现一个更广泛的目标服务，也就是建设一个和平的利比亚。
Question: Would you accept a political settlement with him involved as success from the American perspective? 提问：从美国的角度看，如果政治解决方案中仍有他参与，您会认为那是成功吗？
President Obama: I would accept him stepping down so that he is not directing armed forces against the Libyan people. He needs to step down. He needs to go. 奥巴马总统：我能接受的是他下台，不再指挥武装力量对付利比亚人民。他必须下台，必须离开。
Laura Meckler. 劳拉·梅克勒。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. In these debt talks, would you accept -- would you like to see some sort of tax breaks aimed at stimulating the economy, even though that would of course add to the deficit itself? 提问：谢谢您，总统先生。在这些债务谈判中，您是否会接受——是否希望看到某些旨在刺激经济的税收优惠，尽管这样做当然会增加赤字？
And I'd also like to follow up on one of your earlier answers about same-sex marriage. You said that it's a positive step that so many states, including New York, are moving towards that. Does that mean that you personally now do support same-sex marriage, putting aside what individual states decide? Is that your personal view? 我还想就您先前有关同性婚姻的回答继续追问。您说，包括纽约州在内的许多州都在朝这个方向发展，这是积极的一步。撇开各州分别作出的决定，这是否意味着您个人现在支持同性婚姻？这是您的个人观点吗？
President Obama: I'm not going to make news on that today. Good try, though. 奥巴马总统：我今天不会在这个问题上制造新闻。不过，问得不错。
And with respect to the deficit and debt talks and where we need to go, I do think it's important, since we're looking at how do we reduce the debt and deficit both in a 10-year window as well as beyond a 10-year window, to understand that one of the most important things we can do for debt and deficit reduction is to grow the economy. 至于赤字和债务谈判以及我们下一步该怎么走，我认为有一点很重要：既然我们考虑的是如何在10年期内以及10年之后削减债务和赤字，就必须明白，削减债务和赤字最重要的办法之一就是推动经济增长。
And so if there are steps that in the short term may reduce the amount of cash in the treasury but in the long term mean that we're growing at 3.5 percent instead of 2.5 percent, then those ideas are worth exploring. 因此，如果有些措施在短期内可能减少国库收入，却能让经济长期增速从2.5%提高到3.5%，那么这些主张就值得研究。
Obviously that was what we did in December during the lame duck session, when Democrats and Republicans came together and we said, you know what, a payroll tax cut makes sense in order to boost the economy; unemployment insurance makes sense in order to boost the economy. All that stuff puts money in people's pockets at a time when they're still struggling to dig themselves out of this recession. 显然，这正是我们去年12月“跛脚鸭”会期所做的事情。当时民主、共和两党走到一起，我们说：削减工资税有助于提振经济，失业保险也有助于提振经济。在人们仍在艰难摆脱这场衰退的时刻，所有这些措施都能把钱放进他们的口袋。
And so the American people have an extra thousand dollars, on average, in their pockets because of the tax cuts that we initiated. And that has helped cushion some of the tough stuff that happened in the first six months of this year, including the effects on oil prices as a consequence of what happened in the Middle East as well as what happened in Japan. 因此，由于我们推出的减税措施，美国人手里平均多出了1000美元。这有助于缓冲今年头六个月发生的一些艰难情况，其中包括中东局势和日本发生的事件对油价造成的影响。
I think that it makes perfect sense for us to take a look at can we extend the payroll tax, for example, an additional year, and other tax breaks for business investment that could make a big difference in terms of creating more jobs right now. 我认为，我们完全应该研究能否把工资税减税再延长一年，以及能否推出其他鼓励企业投资的税收优惠；这些措施能够在当前创造更多就业方面发挥很大作用。
What we need to do is to restore business confidence and the confidence of the American people that we're on track -- that we're not going to get there right away, that this is a tough slog, but that we still are moving forward. And I think that it makes sense, as we're looking at an overall package, to see, are there some things that we can do to sustain the recovery, so long as the overall package achieves our goals -- the goals that I set out, which is $4 trillion within a 10-to 12-year window, and making sure that we're bending the costs of things like health care over the long term. 我们需要恢复企业和美国人民的信心，让他们相信我们走在正确轨道上——我们不会马上到达终点，这是一段艰苦的跋涉，但我们仍在向前迈进。我认为，在审视整体方案时，研究是否能采取某些措施来维持复苏势头，是合理的；前提是整体方案能实现我们的目标——也就是我提出的目标：在10至12年内节省4万亿美元，并确保医疗保健等项目的长期成本增速得到遏制。
Question: I'm sorry, I know you don't want to say anything further on the same-sex marriage issue, but what you said before really led me to believe that that's what is in your personal mind. And I'm wondering what's the distinction you're drawing. 提问：抱歉，我知道您不想进一步谈同性婚姻问题，但您刚才的话确实让我觉得，这就是您个人心里的看法。我想知道，您所作的区分到底是什么。
President Obama: Laura, I think this has been asked and answered. I'll -- I'll just -- I'll...keep on giving you the -- the same answer until I give you a different one, all right? And that won't be today. 奥巴马总统：劳拉，我想这个问题已经问过、也回答过了。我会——我只会——会……继续给你同样的——同样的答案，直到我给出一个不同的答案，好吗？但不会是今天。
Question: That's going to be -- [inaudible.] 提问：那会是——[听不清。]
President Obama: Yes, exactly. I thought you'd like that one. 奥巴马总统：对，正是如此。我就知道你会喜欢这个回答。
Antonieta Cádiz? There you are. 安东涅塔·卡迪斯？你在那里。
Question: Thank you very much, Mr. President. First, if you receive a mandatory E-verify bill only without legalization, are you planning to veto that deal? 提问：非常感谢，总统先生。首先，如果您收到的法案只规定强制使用E-Verify电子就业资格核验系统，却没有合法化方案，您打算否决吗？
And second, on Fast and Furious, members of Congress and the government of Mexico are still waiting for answers. Are you planning to replace ATF leadership? And when can we expect the results of the current investigation? 第二，关于“速度与激情”行动，国会议员和墨西哥政府仍在等待答案。您是否打算撤换烟酒枪炮及爆炸物管理局的领导层？我们什么时候能看到当前调查的结果？
President Obama: On the second question, as you know, my attorney general has made clear that he certainly would not have ordered gun running to be able to pass through into Mexico. The investigation is still pending. I'm not going to comment on a current investigation. I've made very clear my views that that would not be an appropriate step by the ATF, and we got to find out how that happened. As soon as the investigation is completed, I think appropriate actions will be taken. 奥巴马总统：关于第二个问题，正如你所知，司法部长已经明确表示，他当然不会下令放任枪支被偷运进入墨西哥。调查仍在进行，我不会就一项正在进行的调查发表评论。我已经非常明确地表达了自己的看法：烟酒枪炮及爆炸物管理局采取那种做法并不妥当，我们必须查明事情为何会发生。调查一旦完成，我相信就会采取适当行动。
With respect to E-verify, we need comprehensive immigration reform. I've said it before. I will say it again. I will say it next week. And I'll say it six months from now. We've got to have a system that makes sure that we uphold our tradition as a nation of laws and that we also uphold our tradition as a nation of immigrants. And that means tough border security, going after employers that are illegally hiring and exploiting workers, making sure that we also have a pathway for legal status for those who are living in the shadows right now. 至于E-Verify，我们需要全面的移民改革。我以前说过，现在再说一遍，下周还会说，六个月后也会说。我们必须建立一套制度，既确保维护我国作为法治国家的传统，也维护我国作为移民国家的传统。这意味着加强边境安全，打击非法雇用和剥削劳动者的雇主，同时也要确保为目前生活在阴影中的人提供获得合法身份的途径。
We may not be able to get everything that I would like to see in a package, but we have to have a balanced package. E-verify can be an important enforcement tool if it's not riddled with errors, if U.S. citizens are protected -- because what I don't want is a situation in which employers are forced to set up a system that they can't be certain works. 我们或许无法在一项方案中实现我希望看到的一切，但方案必须均衡。如果E-Verify不会错误百出，如果美国公民能够受到保护，它就可以成为重要的执法工具——因为我不希望出现这样的局面：雇主被迫建立一套自己也无法确信有效的制度。
And we don't want to expose employers to the risk where they end up rejecting a qualified candidate for a job because the list says that that person is an illegal immigrant, and it turns out that the person isn't an illegal immigrant. That wouldn't be fair for the employee and would probably get the employer in trouble as well. 我们也不希望雇主面临这样的风险：名单说某个人是非法移民，雇主因而拒绝一名合格的求职者，结果这个人其实并非非法移民。这对求职者不公平，也很可能让雇主惹上麻烦。
So I think the goal right now is to let's continue to see if we can perfect the E-verify system. Let's make sure that we have safeguards in place to prevent the kind of scenarios that I talked about. 所以，我认为当前的目标应当是继续研究如何完善E-Verify系统，并确保有适当的保障措施，防止我刚才描述的那些情况发生。
But let's also not lose sight of some of the other components to immigration reform. For example, making sure that DREAM Act kids -- kids who have grown up here in the United States, think of themselves as Americans, who are not legal through no fault of their own, and who are ready to invest and give back to our country and go to school and fight in our military and start businesses here -- let's make sure that those kids can stay. 但我们也不能忽视移民改革的其他组成部分。例如，要确保《梦想法案》所涉及的孩子——这些孩子在美国长大，把自己看作美国人；他们没有合法身份并非自身过错；他们愿意为我们的国家投入和作出回馈，愿意上学、参军和在这里创业——能够留下来。
We need to have a more balanced approach than just a verification system. 我们需要一种比单纯实行身份核验制度更为均衡的办法。
Question: Mr. President -- Mr. President, you don't have any timeline for the [inaudible] 提问：总统先生——总统先生，对于[听不清]，您没有任何时间表吗？
President Obama: I don't have an answer as to whether the investigation is completed yet, and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on the investigation if I don't -- if it's not yet completed. 奥巴马总统：我无法回答调查是否已经结束；如果调查尚未——尚未结束，我就不宜对其发表评论。
Jessica Yellin. Congratulations, your first question here. 杰茜卡·耶林。祝贺你，这是你第一次在这里提问。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. 提问：谢谢您，总统先生。
President Obama: No pressure. You're going to do great. 奥巴马总统：别有压力。你会表现得很好的。
Question: Thank you. Your administration has laid out four different dates by which you've said that the debt ceiling must be raised or the U.S. would face potential dire consequences. Three of those dates have come and gone and we haven't faced financial calamity. Some of your critics have argued that these are then scare tactics to force a deal. So why should the American people believe that the August 2nd deadline is the final deadline by which a deal must be raised? And would you also spell out for us what you believe will happen if the debt ceiling is not raised by that date? 提问：谢谢。本届政府先后提出过四个日期，表示必须在这些日期之前提高债务上限，否则美国可能面临严重后果。其中三个日期已经过去，我们却没有遭遇金融灾难。您的一些批评者因此声称，这是为迫使各方达成协议而使用的恐吓手段。那么，美国人民为什么应该相信8月2日是提高债务上限的最终期限？您能否具体说明，如果届时不提高债务上限，您认为会发生什么？
President Obama: Jessica, let's be clear. We haven't given out four different dates. We have given out dates that are markers for us getting into trouble. It's the equivalent of you're driving down the street and the yellow light starts flashing. The yellow light is flashing. Now, it hasn't been a red light yet. So what Tim Geithner has said is, technically speaking, we're in a position now where we're having to do a whole bunch of things to make sure that our bills are paid. 奥巴马总统：杰茜卡，我们说清楚一点。我们没有给出四个不同的最后期限，而是给出了一些标志着我们开始陷入麻烦的日期。这就像你开车行驶在街上，黄灯开始闪烁。黄灯现在正在闪烁，但还没有变成红灯。所以蒂姆·盖特纳的意思是，从技术上讲，我们目前不得不采取一系列措施，确保所有账单都能支付。
By August 2nd, we run out of tools to make sure that all our bills are paid. So that is a hard deadline. And I want everybody to understand that this is a jobs issue. This is not an abstraction. If the United States government, for the first time, cannot pay its bills, if it defaults, then the consequences for the U.S. economy will be significant and unpredictable. And that is not a good thing. 到了8月2日，我们将用尽一切确保全部账单得到支付的手段。所以这是一个硬性期限。我要让大家明白，这关系到就业，不是什么抽象问题。如果美国政府有史以来第一次无法偿付账单，如果它发生违约，那么美国经济将面临重大且无法预料的后果。这绝不是好事。
We don't know how capital markets will react. But if capital markets suddenly decide, you know what, the U.S. government doesn't pay its bills, so we're going to start pulling our money out, and the U.S. Treasury has to start to raise interest rates in order to attract more money to pay off our bills, that means higher interest rates for businesses; that means higher interest rates for consumers. So all the headwinds that we're already experiencing in terms of the recovery will get worse. 我们不知道资本市场会作何反应。但如果资本市场突然认定，美国政府不偿付账单，因而开始撤走资金；美国财政部又不得不提高利率，以吸引更多资金来清偿账单，那么企业的利率会更高，消费者的利率也会更高。这样一来，当前已经阻碍经济复苏的所有逆风都会变得更强。
That's not my opinion. I think that's a consensus opinion. And that means that job growth will be further stymied, it will be further hampered, as a consequence of that decision. So that's point number one. 这不是我个人的看法，而是我认为各方一致认可的看法。这意味着，这一决定将进一步抑制、进一步阻碍就业增长。这是第一点。
Point number two, I want to address what I've been hearing from some quarters, which is, well, maybe this debt limit thing is not really that serious; we can just pay interest on the debt. This idea has been floating around in some Republican circles. 第二点，我想回应一些方面传出的说法。他们认为，债务上限或许没有那么严重，我们只需支付债务利息。这种观点一直在共和党的一些圈子里流传。
This is the equivalent of me saying, you know what, I will choose to pay my mortgage, but I'm not going to pay my car note. Or I'm going to pay my car note but I'm not going to pay my student loan. Now, a lot of people in really tough situations are having to make those tough decisions. But for the U.S. government to start picking and choosing like that is not going to inspire a lot of confidence. 这就等于我说：我选择偿还住房按揭，却不还汽车贷款；或者我还汽车贷款，却不还学生贷款。现在，很多处境极其艰难的人不得不作出这样的痛苦选择。但如果美国政府也开始这样挑挑拣拣，就无法激发多少信心。
Moreover, which bills are we going to decide to pay? These guys have said, well, maybe we just pay the interest on -- for bondholders. So are we really going to start paying interest to Chinese who hold treasuries and we're not going to pay folks their Social Security checks? Or we're not going to pay to veterans for their disability checks? I mean, which bills, which obligations, are we going to say we don't have to pay? 此外，我们到底决定支付哪些账单？这些人说，或许我们只支付——只向债券持有人支付利息。那么，我们真的要开始向持有美国国债的中国人支付利息，却不向国内民众发放社会保障金吗？或者不向退伍军人发放残障补助？我的意思是，我们到底要说哪些账单、哪些义务可以不履行？
And last point I want to make about this. These are bills that Congress ran up. The money has been spent. The obligations have been made. So this isn't a situation -- I think the American people have to understand this -- this is not a situation where Congress is going to say, okay, we won't -- we won't buy this car or we won't take this vacation. 关于这一点，我最后还想说：这些账单是国会欠下的。钱已经花了，义务也已经形成。所以当前的情况并不是——美国人民必须明白——并不是国会说，好吧，我们不——我们不买这辆车，或者不去度这个假。
They took the vacation. They bought the car. And now they're saying maybe we don't have to pay, or we don't have to pay as fast as we said we were going to, or -- that's not how responsible families act. And we're the greatest nation on Earth, and we can't act that way. 他们已经度了假，也已经买了车。现在他们却说，也许我们不必付钱，或者不必按照原先说好的速度付钱，或者——负责任的家庭不会这样行事。我们是地球上最伟大的国家，不能这样行事。
So this is urgent and it needs to get settled. 所以这件事十分紧迫，必须解决。
Question: So is August 2nd a yellow light or a red light? 提问：那么，8月2日是黄灯还是红灯？
President Obama: I think people should think of -- look, I'm the President of the United States and I want to make sure that I am not engaging in scare tactics. And I've tried to be responsible and somewhat restrained so that folks don't get spooked. 奥巴马总统：我想大家应该这样理解——听着，我是美国总统，我要确保自己没有使用恐吓手段。我一直努力以负责任、相对克制的方式处理此事，以免人们受到惊吓。
August 2nd is a very important date. And there's no reason why we can't get this done now. We know what the options are out there. This is not a technical problem any longer. This is a matter of Congress going ahead and biting the bullet and making some tough decisions. Because we know what the decisions are. 8月2日是一个非常重要的日期。我们没有理由不能现在就把事情办妥。我们知道有哪些选项。这已经不再是技术问题，而是国会必须咬紧牙关、作出一些艰难决定的问题，因为我们知道需要作出哪些决定。
We've identified what spending cuts are possible. We've identified what defense cuts are possible. We've identified what health care cuts are possible. We've identified what loopholes in the tax code can be closed that would also raise revenue. We've identified what the options are. And the question now is are we going to step up and get this done. 我们已经找出了可行的支出削减项目，找出了可行的国防开支削减，找出了可行的医疗保健开支削减，也找出了税法中哪些漏洞可以堵上、同时增加财政收入。有哪些选项，我们已经一清二楚。现在的问题是，我们是否愿意挺身而出，把事情办成。
And, you know, Malia and Sasha generally finish their homework a day ahead of time. Malia is 13, Sasha is 10. 你们知道，玛丽亚和萨莎通常会提前一天做完作业。玛丽亚13岁，萨莎10岁。
Question: Impressive. 提问：令人佩服。
President Obama: It is impressive. They don't wait until the night before. They're not pulling all-nighters. They're 13 and 10. Congress can do the same thing. If you know you've got to do something, just do it. 奥巴马总统：确实令人佩服。她们不会等到最后一个晚上，也不会熬通宵。她们才13岁和10岁。国会也能做到这一点。既然知道必须做一件事，那就去做。
And I've got to say, I'm very amused when I start hearing comments about, well, the President needs to show more leadership on this. Let me tell you something. Right after we finished dealing with the government shutdown, averting a government shutdown, I called the leaders here together. I said we've got to get done -- get this done. I put Vice President Biden in charge of a process -- that, by the way, has made real progress -- but these guys have met, worked through all of these issues. 我还必须说，每当听见有人评论“总统需要在这件事上展现更多领导力”时，我都觉得很好笑。让我告诉你们一些情况。我们刚处理完、刚避免政府停摆，我就把各位领导人召集到这里。我说，我们必须把事情办——把这件事办妥。我让副总统拜登负责一个磋商进程——顺便说一句，这个进程已经取得切实进展——各方人员一直在开会，逐项研究了所有这些问题。
I met with every single caucus for an hour to an hour and a half each -- Republican senators, Democratic senators; Republican House, Democratic House. I've met with the leaders multiple times. At a certain point, they need to do their job. 我同每一个党团都分别开了一个小时到一个半小时的会——共和党参议员、民主党参议员、众议院共和党人、众议院民主党人。我还多次与各位领导人会面。到了某个时刻，他们必须尽自己的职责。
And so, this thing, which is just not on the level, where we have meetings and discussions, and we're working through process, and when they decide they're not happy with the fact that at some point you've got to make a choice, they just all step back and say, well, you know, the President needs to get this done -- they need to do their job. 所以，这种做法根本不坦诚：我们不断开会讨论、逐步推进程序；等到他们因为最终必须作出选择而感到不满时，就全都退到一旁说：“这个嘛，总统必须把事情办好。”他们必须尽自己的职责。
Now is the time to go ahead and make the tough choices. That's why they're called leaders. And I've already shown that I'm willing to make some decisions that are very tough and will give my base of voters further reason to give me a hard time. But it's got to be done. 现在就是着手作出艰难选择的时候。他们之所以被称为领导人，原因正在于此。我已经表明，自己愿意作出一些极其艰难的决定，哪怕这些决定会让我的选民基本盘有更多理由责难我。但这件事必须完成。
And so there's no point in procrastinating. There's no point in putting it off. We've got to get this done. And if by the end of this week, we have not seen substantial progress, then I think members of Congress need to understand we are going to start having to cancel things and stay here until we get it done. 所以，拖延毫无意义，推迟也毫无意义。我们必须把事情办妥。如果到本周结束时仍看不到实质性进展，我认为国会议员就必须明白，我们将不得不开始取消其他安排，所有人都要留在这里，直到事情完成。
They're in one week, they're out one week. And then they're saying, Obama has got to step in. You need to be here. I've been here. I've been doing Afghanistan and bin Laden and the Greek crisis. You stay here. Let's get it done. 他们工作一周，休会一周，然后还说奥巴马必须介入。你们必须留在这里。我一直都在这里。我一直在处理阿富汗、本·拉登和希腊危机。你们也留在这里。让我们把事情办妥。
All right. I think you know my feelings about that. 好了。我想你们已经知道我对此是什么态度。
Caren Bohan. 卡伦·博汉。
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. You talked about the payroll tax holiday and possibly extending that. Are you worried, though, that by adding a discussion of short-term measures on the economy into these discussions about long-term deficit reductions that that may complicate the conversation and make it harder to pass a debt limit? 提问：谢谢您，总统先生。您谈到工资税暂时减免政策以及可能延长这项政策。但您是否担心，把短期经济措施的讨论加入长期削减赤字的谈判，可能会让磋商变得复杂，使提高债务上限更加难以通过？
President Obama: I will -- let me put it this way. If we've got a good deal on debt and deficit reduction that focuses not just on the 10-year window but also the long term, we will get it done. And then we can argue about some other things -- because I think that's very important. 奥巴马总统：我会——这么说吧。如果我们能就削减债务和赤字达成一项好协议，既着眼于10年期，也着眼于更长远的未来，我们就会把它落实。至于其他一些事情，可以随后再讨论——因为我认为这非常重要。
I will say that precisely because tough votes in Congress are often avoided, that it may make sense to also deal with something like a payroll tax cut at the same time -- because it does have budget implications and the American people need to know that we're focused on jobs and not just on deficit reduction, even though, as I said, deficit reduction helps to serve the job agenda. I think they want to have some confidence that we've got a plan that's helping right now. 我要说，正因为国会经常回避艰难的表决，把工资税减税之类的问题同时处理，或许是合理的——因为这确实会影响预算，而且美国人民需要知道，我们关注的不只是削减赤字，也关注就业；尽管正如我所说，削减赤字也有助于推进就业议程。我认为，他们希望相信我们有一项当前就能提供帮助的方案。
But I don't think it should be a complicating factor -- because if Mitch McConnell and John Boehner came to me and said, all right, we're ready to make a deal, here's a balanced approach to debt and deficit reduction, but we want to argue about payroll tax cuts later, they're not set to expire until the end of this year -- if that was a situation that they presented, then I think we would have a serious conversation about that. I would not discount that completely. 但我认为，这不应该成为一个使问题复杂化的因素。因为如果米奇·麦康奈尔和约翰·博纳来找我说：“好吧，我们准备达成协议。这是一项兼顾各方的债务和赤字削减方案，但工资税减税要留到以后再讨论；反正这项政策要到今年年底才到期。”如果他们提出的是这种安排，我认为我们会认真讨论。我不会把这种可能性完全排除。
I do think that the steps that I talked about to deal with job growth and economic growth right now are vitally important to deficit reduction. Just as deficit reduction is important to grow the economy and to create jobs -- well, creating jobs and growing the economy also helps reduce the deficit. If we just increased the growth rate by one percentage point, that would drastically bring down the long-term projections of the deficit, because people are paying more into the coffers and fewer people are drawing unemployment insurance. It makes a huge difference. 我确实认为，我刚才谈到的那些当前促进就业和经济增长的措施，对削减赤字至关重要。削减赤字有助于经济增长和创造就业；同样，创造就业和推动经济增长也有助于削减赤字。如果我们仅仅把经济增长率提高一个百分点，长期赤字预测就会大幅下降，因为缴纳财政收入的人会更多，领取失业保险的人会更少。这会带来巨大差别。
And this may be sort of a good place to wrap up. You know, every day I get letters from folks all around the country who show incredible resilience, incredible determination, but they are having a very, very tough time. 这里或许正好可以作为收尾。你们知道，我每天都会收到来自全国各地民众的来信。他们表现出非凡的韧性和决心，但日子过得非常、非常艰难。
They're losing their homes. Some have lost their businesses. Some have lost work and have not been able to find jobs for months, maybe a year, maybe a year and a half. And they feel some desperation. And some folks who are working just are having a tough time paying the bills because they haven't seen their wages or incomes go up in 10 years, and the costs of everything else have gone up. 他们正在失去住房。有些人失去了自己的企业，有些人失业后几个月都找不到工作，或许是一年，或许是一年半。他们感到有些绝望。还有些人虽然有工作，却仍难以支付账单，因为他们的工资或收入10年都没有增长，其他一切成本却都在上涨。
And every day that weighs on me. Every minute of every day that weighs on me. Because I ran for President precisely to make sure that we righted this ship and we start once again creating a situation where middle-class families and people who aspire to be in the middle class, if they're working hard, then they're living a better life. 这每天都沉甸甸地压在我心上，每天的每一分钟都压在我心上。因为我竞选总统，恰恰是为了确保我们能够扭转航向，再次创造这样一种局面：中产阶级家庭以及那些渴望进入中产阶级的人，只要努力工作，生活就能变得更好。
Now, these structural changes in our economy that have been going on for a decade -- in some cases, longer -- they're not going to be solved overnight. But we know what to do. We know that if we are educating our kids well, then they're going to be more competitive. We know that if we are investing in things like infrastructure, it pays off. 现在，我们的经济已经发生了持续10年的结构性变化——有些变化甚至持续了更久——这些问题不可能一夜之间解决。但我们知道该做什么。我们知道，把孩子教育好，他们就会更有竞争力；我们也知道，投资基础设施之类的项目会带来回报。
I was in Alcoa, in Iowa, one of our most successful companies. They took a big hit during the recession, but they still invested 90 million dollars in new equipment in a plant that makes airplane wings and parts for automobiles. And they've bounced back. They've hired back all their people and are increasing market share because they made those investments. 我去过艾奥瓦州的美国铝业公司，那是我们最成功的企业之一。它在经济衰退期间遭受重创，却仍投资9000万美元，为一家生产飞机机翼和汽车零部件的工厂购置新设备。现在它已经恢复元气，重新聘回所有员工，市场份额也在扩大，原因正是它作出了那些投资。
Well, just like a company like Alcoa, America has got to make some investments. We know that we've got to get control of our deficit. There are some things that aren't going to solve all our problems but can make progress right now. And the question is whether or not Democrats and Republicans are willing to put aside the expedience of short-term politics in order to get it done. 那么，就像美国铝业这样的企业一样，美国也必须作出一些投资。我们知道必须控制赤字。有些事情不能解决我们的全部问题，却能让我们现在就取得进展。问题在于，民主党人和共和党人是否愿意抛开短期政治上的权宜算计，把事情办成。
And these folks are counting on us. They desperately want to believe that their leadership is thinking about them and not playing games. And I think that if all the leadership here in Washington has the faces and the stories of those families in mind, then we will solve this debt limit issue; we will put in place steps like a payroll tax cut and infrastructure development; we'll continue to fund education; we'll hold true to our commitment to our seniors. 这些民众正指望着我们。他们迫切希望相信，领导人心里想的是他们，而不是在玩政治游戏。我认为，如果华盛顿的所有领导人都把这些家庭的面孔和故事放在心上，我们就能解决债务上限问题；就能采取工资税减税和基础设施建设等措施；就能继续资助教育；也能恪守我们对老年人的承诺。
These are solvable problems, but it does require us just getting out of the short-term and, frankly, selfish approach that sometimes politics breeds. We've got to think a bit long term. 这些问题都可以解决，但这确实要求我们摆脱短视，而且坦率地说，摆脱政治有时会滋生的自私做法。我们必须把眼光放得长远一些。
Thank you very much, everybody. 非常感谢各位。
