Thank you! Everybody, please have a set. 谢谢大家！各位，请就座。
To Leader Reid, to Steny Hoyer, John Larson, Xavier Becerra, Jim Clyburn, Chris Van Hollen, to an extraordinary leader and extraordinary Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and to all the members here today, thank you very much for having me. Thanks for having me and thanks for your tireless efforts waged on behalf of health insurance reform in this country. 致里德领袖、斯特尼·霍耶、约翰·拉森、泽维尔·贝塞拉、吉姆·克莱本、克里斯·范霍伦，致一位杰出的领袖、杰出的众议院议长南希·佩洛西，以及今天在座的所有成员，非常感谢你们邀请我。感谢你们的邀请，感谢你们为这个国家的医疗保险改革所进行的不懈努力。
I have the great pleasure of having a really nice library at the White House. And I was tooling through some of the writings of some previous Presidents and I came upon this quote by Abraham Lincoln: “I am not bound to win, but I’m bound to be true. I’m not bound to succeed, but I’m bound to live up to what light I have.” 我很荣幸在白宫拥有一间非常棒的图书馆。我在翻阅一些前任总统的著作时，偶然看到了亚伯拉罕·林肯的这段话："我并非注定获胜，但我注定忠诚。我并非注定成功，但我注定要践行我所拥有的那点光明。"
This debate has been a difficult debate. This process has been a difficult process. And this year has been a difficult year for the American people. When I was sworn in, we were in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression. Eight hundred thousand people per month were losing their jobs. Millions of people were losing their health insurance. And the financial system was on the verge of collapse. 这场辩论异常艰难。这个过程异常艰难。对美国人民来说，这一年也异常艰难。我就职时，我们正处于大萧条以来最严重的衰退之中。每个月有八十万人失去工作。数百万人失去医疗保险。金融体系处于崩溃的边缘。
And this body has taken on some of the toughest votes and some of the toughest decisions in the history of Congress. Not because you were bound to win, but because you were bound to be true. Because each and every one of you made a decision that at a moment of such urgency, it was less important to measure what the polls said than to measure what was right. 而你们这个机构承担了国会历史上一些最艰难的投票和一些最艰难的决定。不是因为你注定获胜，而是因为你注定要忠诚。因为你们每一个人都做出了决定：在如此紧迫的时刻，衡量民意调查怎么说，远不如衡量什么才是正确的来得重要。
A year later, we’re in different circumstances. Because of the actions that you’ve taken, the financial system has stabilized. The stock market has stabilized. Businesses are starting to invest again. The economy, instead of contracting, is now growing again. There are signs that people are going to start hiring again. There’s still tremendous hardship all across the country, but there is a sense that we are making progress -- because of you. 一年后，我们处于不同的境况。因为你们所采取的行动，金融体系已经稳定下来。股市已经稳定。企业开始重新投资。经济不再是萎缩，而是重新增长。有迹象表明人们将开始重新招聘。全国各地仍然存在巨大的困难，但有一种感觉是我们正在取得进展——因为你们。
But even before this crisis, each and every one of us knew that there were millions of people across America who were living their own quiet crises. Maybe because they had a child who had a preexisting condition and no matter how desperate they were, no matter what insurance company they called, they couldn’t get coverage for that child. 但即使在这场危机之前，我们每一个人都知道，全美有数百万人正经历着自己默默的危机。也许是因为他们有一个患有既往疾病的孩子，无论他们多么绝望，无论他们给哪家保险公司打电话，都无法为那个孩子获得保险。
Maybe it was somebody who had been forced into early retirement, in their 50s not yet eligible for Medicare, and they couldn’t find a job and they couldn’t find health insurance, despite the fact that they had some sort of chronic condition that had to be tended to. 也许是一个被迫提前退休的人，五十多岁还不够资格享受医保，他们找不到工作，也找不到医疗保险，尽管他们有某种需要治疗的慢性病。
Every single one of you at some point before you arrived in Congress and after you arrived in Congress have met constituents with heart-breaking stories. And you’ve looked them in the eye and you’ve said, we’re going to do something about it -- that’s why I want to go to Congress. 你们每一个人，在进入国会之前和进入国会之后的某个时刻，都遇到过有着令人心碎故事的选民。你看着他们的眼睛说，我们要为此做些什么——这就是我想进入国会的原因。
And now, we’re on the threshold of doing something about it. We’re a day away. After a year of debate, after every argument has been made, by just about everybody, we’re 24 hours away. 而现在，我们正处于采取行动的门槛上。我们离目标只有一天之遥。经过一年的辩论，在几乎每个人提出了每一种论点之后，我们离目标只有24小时了。
As some of you know, I’m not somebody who spends a lot of time surfing the cable channels, but I’m not completely in the bubble. I have a sense of what the coverage has been, and mostly it’s an obsession with “What will this mean for the Democratic Party? What will this mean for the President’s polls? How will this play out in November? Is this good or is this bad for the Democratic majority? What does it mean for those swing districts?” 正如你们中一些人所知，我不是一个花大量时间浏览有线电视频道的人，但我也并非完全与世隔绝。我了解报道的内容，主要是一种痴迷："这对民主党意味着什么？这对总统的民调意味着什么？这在11月会如何影响选情？这对民主党多数地位是好是坏？这对那些摇摆选区意味着什么？"
And I noticed that there’s been a lot of friendly advice offered all across town. Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Karl Rove -- they’re all warning you of the horrendous impact if you support this legislation. Now, it could be that they are suddenly having a change of heart and they are deeply concerned about their Democratic friends. They are giving you the best possible advice in order to assure that Nancy Pelosi remains Speaker and Harry Reid remains Leader and that all of you keep your seats. That’s a possibility. 我注意到全城都在提供大量的"友好建议"。米奇·麦康奈尔、约翰·博纳、卡尔·罗夫——他们都在警告你支持这项立法将带来的可怕影响。当然，他们可能是突然改变了心意，深深关心着他们的民主党朋友。他们正在给你最好的建议，以确保南希·佩洛西继续担任议长、哈里·里德继续担任领袖，你们所有人都能保住席位。这是一种可能。
But it may also be possible that they realize after health reform passes and I sign that legislation into law, that it’s going to be a little harder to mischaracterize what this effort has been all about. 但也可能的是，他们意识到在医改通过、我签署该立法成为法律之后，要歪曲这项努力的真正内涵将会困难一些。
Because this year, small businesses will start getting tax credits so that they can offer health insurance to employees who currently don’t have it. Because this year, those same parents who are worried about getting coverage for their children with preexisting conditions now are assured that insurance companies have to give them coverage -- this year. 因为今年，小企业将开始获得税收抵免，以便它们能为目前没有保险的员工提供医疗保险。因为今年，那些担心无法为患有既往疾病的孩子获得保险的父母，现在可以确信保险公司必须为他们提供保障——就在今年。
Because this year, insurance companies won’t suddenly be able to drop your coverage when you get sick -- or impose lifetime limits or restrictive limits on the coverage that you have. Maybe they know that this year, for the first time, young people will be able to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they’re 26 years old and they’re thinking that just might be popular all across the country. 因为今年，保险公司不能再在你生病时突然取消你的保险——也不能对你已有的保险设定终身限额或限制性限额。也许他们知道，今年年轻人将首次能够留在父母的医疗保险上直到26岁，他们在想这可能在全国都很受欢迎。
And what they also know is what won’t happen. They know that after this legislation passes and after I sign this bill, lo and behold nobody is pulling the plug on Granny. It turns out that in fact people who like their health insurance are going to be able to keep their health insurance; that there’s no government takeover. People will discover that if they like their doctor, they’ll be keeping their doctor. In fact, they’re more likely to keep their doctor because of a stronger system. 他们还知道什么不会发生。他们知道，在这项立法通过、我签署这项法案之后，看吧，没有人会拔掉奶奶的呼吸管。事实证明，喜欢自己医疗保险的人将能够保留自己的医疗保险；不存在政府接管。人们会发现，如果他们喜欢自己的医生，他们就能保留自己的医生。事实上，由于一个更强大的体系，他们更有可能保留自己的医生。
It’ll turn out that this piece of historic legislation is built on the private insurance system that we have now and runs straight down the center of American political thought. It turns out this is a bill that tracks the recommendations not just of Democrat Tom Daschle, but also Republicans Bob Dole and Howard Baker; that this is a middle-of-the-road bill that is designed to help the American people in an area of their lives where they urgently need help. 这项历史性立法是建立在我们现有的私人保险体系之上的，它沿着美国政治思想的正中心延伸。事实证明，这项法案不仅遵循了民主党人汤姆·达施勒的建议，也遵循了共和党人鲍勃·多尔和霍华德·贝克的建议；这是一项走中间路线的法案，旨在帮助美国人民解决生活中迫切需要帮助的领域。
Now, there are some who wanted a single-payer government-run system. That’s not this bill. The Republicans wanted what I called the “foxes guard the henhouse approach” in which we further deregulate the insurance companies and let them run wild, the notion being somehow that that was going to lower costs for the American people. I don’t know a serious health care economist who buys that idea, but that was their concept. 有些人想要一个单一付款人的政府运营体系。这不是这项法案。共和党人想要的是我所说的"狐狸看守鸡舍"方案，即我们进一步放松对保险公司的监管，让它们肆无忌惮，其理念是这会降低美国人民的成本。我不知道有哪位严肃的医保经济学家会认同这个想法，但那是他们的概念。
And we rejected that, because what we said was we want to create a system in which health care is working not for insurance companies but it’s working for the American people, it’s working for middle class families. 而我们拒绝了那个方案，因为我们的主张是，我们要建立一个让医疗保健不是为保险公司服务、而是为美国人民服务、为中产阶级家庭服务的体系。
So what did we do? What is the essence of this legislation? Number one, this is the toughest insurance reforms in history. We are making sure that the system of private insurance works for ordinary families. A prescription -- this is a patient’s bill of rights on steroids. So many of you individually have worked on these insurance reforms -- they are in this package -- to make sure that families are getting a fair deal; that if they’re paying a premium, that they’re getting a good service in return; 那么我们做了什么？这项立法的本质是什么？第一，这是历史上最严格的保险改革。我们在确保私人保险体系为普通家庭服务。一张处方——这是打了类固醇的《患者权利法案》。你们中很多人 individually 都曾致力于这些保险改革——它们都在这个方案中——以确保家庭获得公平的待遇；如果他们支付了保费，就能得到相应的优质服务；
making sure that employers, if they are paying premiums for their employees, that their employees are getting the coverage that they expect; that insurance companies are not going to game the system with fine print and rescissions and dropping people when they need it most, but instead are going to have to abide by some basic rules of the road that exemplify a sense of fairness and good value. That’s number one. 确保如果雇主为员工支付保费，员工就能获得他们所期望的保障；确保保险公司不会利用细则、撤销保险和在最需要时抛弃投保人来操纵体系，而是必须遵守一些体现公平和物有所值的基本规则。这是第一点。
The second thing this does is it creates a pool, a marketplace, where individuals and small businesses, who right now are having a terrible time out there getting health insurance, are going to be able to purchase health insurance as part of a big group -- just like federal employees, just like members of Congress. They are now going to be part of a pool that can negotiate for better rates, better quality, more competition. 第二件事是创建一个池，一个市场，在那里个人和小企业——他们目前在外面获得医疗保险非常困难——将能够作为一个大群体的一部分购买医疗保险，就像联邦雇员一样，就像国会议员一样。他们现在将成为一个能够谈判更优惠费率、更高质量和更多竞争的池的一部分。
And that’s why the Congressional Budget Office says this will lower people’s rates for comparable plans by 14 to 20 percent. That’s not my numbers -- that’s the Congressional Budget Office’s numbers. So that people will have choice and competition just like members of Congress have choice and competition. 这就是为什么国会预算办公室说这将使同等计划的费率降低14%到20%。这不是我的数字——这是国会预算办公室的数字。这样人们就能像国会议员一样拥有选择和竞争。
Number three, if people still can’t afford it we’re going to provide them some tax credits -- the biggest tax cut for small businesses and working families when it comes to health care in history. 第三，如果人们仍然负担不起，我们将为他们提供一些税收抵免——这是历史上针对小企业和工薪家庭在医疗保健方面最大规模的减税。
And number four, this is the biggest reduction in our deficit since the Budget Balance Act -- one of the biggest deficit reduction measures in history -- over $1.3 trillion that will help put us on the path of fiscal responsibility. 第四，这是自《预算平衡法》以来我们赤字的最大幅度减少——历史上最大的赤字削减措施之一——超过1.3万亿美元，将有助于使我们走上财政责任之路。
And that’s before we count all the game-changing measures that are going to assure, for example, that instead of having five tests when you go to the doctor you just get one; that the delivery system is working for patients, not just working for billings. And everybody who’s looked at it says that every single good idea to bend the cost curve and start actually reducing health care costs are in this bill. 这还没有算上所有那些改变格局的措施，例如确保你去看医生时只做一次检查而不是五次；确保医疗服务体系为患者服务，而不仅仅是为收费服务。每一个研究过的人都表示，每一个扭转成本曲线、真正开始降低医疗成本的好主意都在这项法案中。
So that’s what this effort is all about. Toughest insurance reforms in history. A marketplace so people have choice and competition who right now don’t have it and are seeing their premiums go up 20, 30, 40, 50 percent. Reductions in the cost of health care for millions of American families, including those who have health insurance. The Business Roundtable did their own study and said that this would potentially save employers $3,000 per employee on their health care because of the measures in this legislation. 这就是这项努力的全部内容。历史上最严格的保险改革。一个让目前没有选择和竞争、保费上涨20%、30%、40%、50%的人们拥有选择和竞争的市场。为数百万美国家庭——包括那些已有医疗保险的人——降低医疗成本。商业圆桌会议自行研究后表示，由于这项立法中的措施，每位员工的医疗保健费用可能会为雇主节省3000美元。
And by the way, not only does it reduce the deficit -- we pay for it responsibly in ways that the other side of the aisle that talks a lot about fiscal responsibility but doesn’t seem to be able to walk the walk can’t claim when it comes to their prescription drug bill. We are actually doing it. This is paid for and will not add a dime to the deficit -- it will reduce the deficit. 顺便说一句，它不仅减少了赤字——我们还以负责任的方式为其提供资金，而对岸那个大谈财政责任却似乎无法说到做到的政党，在他们的处方药法案上是无法做出这种声明的。我们实际上做到了。这项立法已获资金支持，不会给赤字增加一分钱——它将减少赤字。
Now, is this bill perfect? Of course not. Will this solve every single problem in our health care system right away? No. There are all kinds of ideas that many of you have that aren’t included in this legislation. I know that there has been discussion, for example, of how we’re going to deal with regional disparities and I know that there was a meeting with Secretary Sebelius to assure that we can continue to try to make sure that we’ve got a system that gives people the best bang for their buck. 那么，这项法案完美吗？当然不。它能立即解决我们医疗体系中的每一个问题吗？不能。你们中很多人有各种各样的想法并没有包含在这项立法中。我知道，例如，关于如何处理地区差异已经有过讨论，我知道与西贝利厄斯部长举行过会议，以确保我们能继续努力建立一个让人们获得最大性价比的体系。
So this is not -- there are all kinds of things that many of you would like to see that isn’t in this legislation. There are some things I’d like to see that’s not in this legislation. But is this the single most important step that we have taken on health care since Medicare? Absolutely. Is this the most important piece of domestic legislation in terms of giving a break to hardworking middle class families out there since Medicare? Absolutely. Is this a vast improvement over the status quo? Absolutely. 所以这并不是——你们中很多人希望看到的各种内容并不在这项立法中。有些我希望看到的内容也不在这项立法中。但这是自医保制度以来我们在医疗保健方面迈出的最重要的一步吗？绝对是。这是自医保制度以来在给辛劳的中产阶级家庭减轻负担方面最重要的国内立法吗？绝对是。这是对现状的巨大改善吗？绝对是。
Now, I still know this is a tough vote, though. I know this is a tough vote. I’ve talked to many of you individually. And I have to say that if you honestly believe in your heart of hearts, in your conscience, that this is not an improvement over the status quo; 尽管如此，我仍然知道这是一次艰难的投票。我知道这是一次艰难的投票。我与你们中许多人单独谈过。我必须说，如果你在内心深处、在你的良知中真诚地相信，这并不是对现状的改善；
if despite all the information that’s out there that says that without serious reform efforts like this one people’s premiums are going to double over the next five or 10 years, that folks are going to keep on getting letters from their insurance companies saying that their premium just went up 40 or 50 percent; if you think that somehow it’s okay that we have millions of hardworking Americans who can’t get health care and that it’s all right, it’s acceptable, in the wealthiest nation on Earth that there are children with chronic illnesses that can’t get the care that they need -- 如果尽管现有的所有信息都表明，没有像这样的严肃改革努力，人们的保费将在未来五到十年内翻倍，人们将继续收到保险公司的信函说他们的保费刚刚上涨了40%或50%；如果你认为在某种意义上我们有数百万辛勤工作的美国人无法获得医疗保健是可以接受的、可容忍的，在地球上最富裕的国家有患慢性病的孩子无法获得他们需要的护理——
if you think that the system is working for ordinary Americans rather than the insurance companies, then you should vote no on this bill. If you can honestly say that, then you shouldn’t support it. You’re here to represent your constituencies and if you think your constituencies honestly wouldn’t be helped, you shouldn’t vote for this. 如果你认为这个体系是在为普通美国人服务而不是为保险公司服务，那么你应该对这项法案投反对票。如果你能诚实地这么说，那你就不应该支持它。你们在这里代表你们的选民，如果你认为你的选民确实不会从中受益，你就不应该投票支持。
But if you agree that the system is not working for ordinary families, if you’ve heard the same stories that I’ve heard everywhere, all across the country, then help us fix this system. Don't do it for me. Don’t do it for Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid. Do it for all those people out there who are struggling. 但如果你同意这个体系没有为普通家庭服务，如果你听到过我在全国各地、到处都听到的同样故事，那就帮助我们修复这个体系。不要为我做。不要为南希·佩洛西或哈里·里德做。为所有那些在困境中挣扎的人做。
Some of you know I get 10 letters a day that I read out of the 40,000 that we receive. Started reading some of the ones that I got this morning. “Dear President Obama, my daughter, a wonderful person, lost her job. She has no health insurance. She had a blood clot in her brain. She’s now disabled, can’t get care.” “Dear President Obama, I don’t yet qualify for Medicare. COBRA is about to run out. I am desperate, don't know what to do.” 你们中一些人知道，我每天从收到的四万封信中读十封。今天早上我开始读了一些我收到的信。"亲爱的奥巴马总统，我的女儿，一个好人，失去了工作。她没有医疗保险。她脑部有血栓。她现在残疾了，无法获得治疗。""亲爱的奥巴马总统，我还不够资格享受医保。COBRA保险即将到期。我非常绝望，不知道该怎么办。"
Do it for them. Do it for people who are really scared right now through no fault of their own, who’ve played by the rules, who’ve done all the right things, and have suddenly found out that because of an accident, because of an ailment, they’re about to lose their house; or they can’t provide the help to their kids that they need; 为他们做。为那些此刻真正感到恐惧的人做，他们并非因为自己的过错而陷入困境，他们遵守规则，做对了所有事情，却突然发现因为一次意外、因为一场疾病，他们即将失去自己的房子；或者他们无法为孩子提供所需的帮助；
or they’re a small business who up until now has always taken pride in providing care for their workers and it turns out that they just can’t afford to do it anymore and they’ve having to make a decision about do I keep providing health insurance for my workers or do I just drop their coverage or do I not hire some people because I simply can’t afford it -- it’s all being gobbled up by the insurance companies. 或者他们是一家小企业，一直以来都以能为员工提供保障而自豪，结果却发现他们再也负担不起了，他们不得不做出决定：是继续为员工提供医疗保险，还是取消他们的保险，还是不雇佣一些人，因为我实在负担不起了——这一切都被保险公司吞噬了。
Don’t do it for me. Don’t do it for the Democratic Party. Do it for the American people. They’re the ones who are looking for action right now. 不要为我做。不要为民主党做。为美国人民做。他们才是此刻正在寻求行动的人。
I know this is a tough vote. And I am actually confident -- I’ve talked to some of you individually -- that it will end up being the smart thing to do politically because I believe that good policy is good politics. I am convinced that when you go out there and you are standing tall and you are saying I believe that this is the right thing to do for my constituents and the right thing to do for America, that ultimately the truth will out. 我知道这是一次艰难的投票。而我实际上有信心——我与你们中一些人单独谈过——最终这将被证明在政治上也是明智之举，因为我相信好政策就是好政治。我深信，当你走出去、挺直腰杆、说"我相信这是对我的选民正确的做法，是对美国正确的做法"时，真相最终会大白于天下。
I had a wonderful conversation with Betsy Markey. I don't know if Betsy is around here. There she is right there. Betsy is in a tough district. The biggest newspaper is somewhat conservative, as Betsy described. They weren’t real happy with health care reform. They were opposed to it. Betsy, despite the pressure, announced that she was in favor of this bill. And lo and behold, the next day that same newspaper runs an editorial saying, you know what, we’ve considered this, we’ve looked at the legislation, and we actually are pleased that Congresswoman Markey is supporting the legislation. 我与贝齐·马基进行了一次精彩的对话。我不知道贝齐在不在这里。她就在那里。贝齐所在的选区很艰难。最大的报纸比较保守，正如贝齐所描述的。他们不太喜欢医保改革。他们反对改革。贝齐不顾压力，宣布支持这项法案。结果你猜怎么着，第二天那家同样的报纸发表了一篇社论说，你知道吗，我们考虑了这件事，我们研究了这项立法，我们实际上很高兴马基众议员支持这项立法。
When I see John Boccieri stand up proud with a whole bunch of his constituencies -- in as tough a district as there is and stand up with a bunch of folks from his district with preexisting conditions and saying, you know, I don’t know what is going on Washington but I know what’s going on with these families -- I look at him with pride. 当我看到约翰·博切里骄傲地站起来，身边是他的一大批选民——在一个极其艰难的选区，与一群来自他选区、患有既往疾病的人站在一起说，你知道，我不知道华盛顿发生了什么，但我知道这些家庭发生了什么——我带着骄傲看着他。
Now, I can’t guarantee that this is good politics. Every one of you know your districts better than I do. You talk to folks. You’re under enormous pressure. You’re getting robocalls. You’re getting e-mails that are tying up the communications system. I know the pressure you’re under. I get a few comments made about me. I don’t know if you’ve noticed. I’ve been in your shoes. I know what it’s like to take a tough vote. 现在，我不能保证这在政治上有利。你们每个人都比我更了解你们的选区。你们与人们交谈。你们承受着巨大的压力。你们接到自动电话。你们收到使通信系统瘫痪的电子邮件。我知道你们承受的压力。关于我也有一些评论。我不知道你们有没有注意到。我曾经和你们一样。我知道投艰难的一票是什么感觉。
But what did Lincoln say? “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.” Two generations ago, folks who were sitting in your position, they made a decision -- we are going to make sure that seniors and the poor have health care coverage that they can count on. And they did the right thing. 但林肯怎么说？"我并非注定获胜，但我注定忠诚。"两代人之前，坐在你们位置上的人做出了一个决定——我们要确保老年人和穷人拥有他们可以信赖的医疗保障。他们做了正确的事。
And I’m sure at the time they were making that vote, they weren’t sure how the politics were either, any more than the people who made the decision to make sure that Social Security was in place knew how the politics would play out, or folks who passed the civil rights acts knew how the politics were going to play out. They were not bound to win, but they were bound to be true. 我确信在他们投票的时候，他们也不确定政治上的结果会怎样，就像决定确保社会保障制度建立的人不知道政治上会如何发展一样，也像通过民权法案的人不知道政治上会如何发展一样。他们并非注定获胜，但他们注定忠诚。
And now we’ve got middle class Americans, don’t have Medicare, don’t have Medicaid, watching the employer-based system fray along the edges or being caught in terrible situations. And the question is, are we going to be true to them? 而现在我们有了中产阶级美国人，他们没有医保，没有医疗补助，看着基于雇主的体系在边缘处磨损，或陷入可怕的处境。问题是，我们要对他们忠诚吗？
Sometimes I think about how I got involved in politics. I didn’t think of myself as a potential politician when I get out of college. I went to work in neighborhoods, working with Catholic churches in poor neighborhoods in Chicago, trying to figure out how people could get a little bit of help. And I was skeptical about politics and politicians, just like a lot of Americans are skeptical about politics and politicians are right now. 有时候我会想我是如何涉足政治的。我大学毕业时并不认为自己会成为政治家。我去社区工作，与芝加哥贫困社区的教堂合作，试图想办法让人们获得一点帮助。我对政治和政客持怀疑态度，就像现在很多美国人对政治和政客持怀疑态度一样。
Because my working assumption was when push comes to shove, all too often folks in elected office, they’re looking for themselves and not looking out for the folks who put them there; that there are too many compromises; that the special interests have too much power; they just got too much clout; there’s too much big money washing around. 因为我的工作假设是：当压力来临时，当选的官员往往只为自己着想，而不为把他们选上去的人着想；妥协太多；特殊利益集团权力太大；他们影响力太大；有太多的大资金在流转。
And I decided finally to get involved because I realized if I wasn’t willing to step up and be true to the things I believe in, then the system wouldn’t change. Every single one of you had that same kind of moment at the beginning of your careers. Maybe it was just listening to stories in your neighborhood about what was happening to people who’d been laid off of work. Maybe it was your own family experience, somebody got sick and didn’t have health care and you said something should change. 最终我决定参与其中，因为我意识到如果我不愿意站出来、忠诚于我所信仰的东西，这个体系就不会改变。你们每一个人在职业生涯的起点都有过同样的时刻。也许只是听社区里关于失业者遭遇的故事。也许是你自己的家庭经历，有人生病了却没有医疗保险，你说应该有所改变。
Something inspired you to get involved, and something inspired you to be a Democrat instead of running as a Republican. Because somewhere deep in your heart you said to yourself, I believe in an America in which we don’t just look out for ourselves, that we don’t just tell people you’re on your own, that we are proud of our individualism, we are proud of our liberty, but we also have a sense of neighborliness and a sense of community -- 某种东西激励你参与其中，某种东西激励你成为民主党人而不是以共和党人身份参选。因为在你内心深处，你对自己说，我相信这样一个美国：我们不仅仅关注自己，我们不仅仅告诉人们你只能靠自己，我们为我们的个人主义感到自豪，我们为我们的自由感到自豪，但我们也有一份邻里之情和一份社区意识——
and we are willing to look out for one another and help people who are vulnerable and help people who are down on their luck and give them a pathway to success and give them a ladder into the middle class. That’s why you decided to run. 我们愿意互相照顾，帮助脆弱的人，帮助那些运气不好的人，给他们一条通向成功的道路，给他们一架通往中产阶级的阶梯。这就是你决定参选的原因。
And now a lot of us have been here a while and everybody here has taken their lumps and their bruises. And it turns out people have had to make compromises, and you’ve been away from families for a long time and you’ve missed special events for your kids sometimes. And maybe there have been times where you asked yourself, why did I ever get involved in politics in the first place? And maybe things can’t change after all. 现在我们中很多人在这里已经有一段时间了，在座的每个人都受过挫折和伤痛。事实证明，人们不得不做出妥协，你离开家人已经很长时间了，有时你错过了孩子们的特别活动。也许有时候你问过自己，我当初为什么要涉足政治？也许事情终究无法改变。
And when you do something courageous, it turns out sometimes you may be attacked. And sometimes the very people you thought you were trying to help may be angry at you and shout at you. And you say to yourself, maybe that thing that I started with has been lost. 当你做了一些勇敢的事情，结果有时候你会遭到攻击。有时候那些你以为你在试图帮助的人可能会生你的气、冲你大喊。你对自己说，也许我最初的那份初心已经失去了。
But you know what? Every once in a while, every once in a while a moment comes where you have a chance to vindicate all those best hopes that you had about yourself, about this country, where you have a chance to make good on those promises that you made in all those town meetings and all those constituency breakfasts and all that traveling through the district, all those people who you looked in the eye and you said, you know what, you’re right, the system is not working for you and I’m going to make it a little bit better. 但你知道吗？偶尔，偶尔会有一个时刻到来，让你有机会证明你对自己、对国家的所有最美好的期望，让你有机会兑现你在所有那些市民大会、所有那些选民早餐会、所有那些走访选区过程中许下的承诺，你曾看着所有那些人的眼睛说，你知道吗，你说得对，这个体系没有为你服务，我要让它变得好一点。
And this is one of those moments. This is one of those times where you can honestly say to yourself, doggone it, this is exactly why I came here. This is why I got into politics. This is why I got into public service. This is why I’ve made those sacrifices. Because I believe so deeply in this country and I believe so deeply in this democracy and I’m willing to stand up even when it’s hard, even when it’s tough. 这就是这样的一个时刻。这就是这样的一个时刻，你可以诚实地对自己说，天哪，这正是我来这里的原因。这就是我涉足政治的原因。这就是我从事公共服务的原因。这就是我做出那些牺牲的原因。因为我如此深切地相信这个国家，如此深切地相信这个民主制度，即使困难，即使艰难，我也愿意站出来。
Every single one of you have made that promise not just to your constituents but to yourself. And this is the time to make true on that promise. We are not bound to win, but we are bound to be true. We are not bound to succeed, but we are bound to let whatever light we have shine. We have been debating health care for decades. It has now been debated for a year. It is in your hands. It is time to pass health care reform for America, and I am confident that you are going to do it tomorrow. 你们每一个人都不仅对你们的选民、也对自己做出了那个承诺。现在就是兑现那个承诺的时候。我们并非注定获胜，但我们注定忠诚。我们并非注定成功，但我们注定要让我们的光芒闪耀。我们为医疗保健辩论了几十年。它现在已经被辩论了一年。它掌握在你们手中。是时候为美国通过医疗保健改革了，我有信心你们明天就会做到。
Thank you very much, House of Representatives. Let’s get this done. 非常感谢你们，众议院。让我们把这件事做成。