奥巴马“八年长跑” 2016年任内最后一次国情咨文演讲（视频+双语全文）
文 | 中国日报网
当地时间12日晚，美国总统奥巴马在华盛顿发表了上任最后一次国情咨文，这也是他第八次进行国情咨文演讲。演讲视频和双语全文如下：
https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=e0180f3ahwv&width=500&height=375&auto=0
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans:
议长先生、副总统先生、各位国会议员和美国同胞们：
Tonight marks the eighth year I've come here to report on the State of the Union. And for this final one, I'm going to try to make it shorter. I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa.
今晚是我在这里做国情咨文的第八个年头，也是最后一次。我将尽量简而言之。我知道你们中有些人急着回爱荷华州（译者注：两党党内预选进行地）。
I also understand that because it's an election season, expectations for what we'll achieve this year are low. Still, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach you and the other leaders took at the end of last year to pass a budget and make tax cuts permanent for working families. So I hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform, and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse. We just might surprise the cynics again.
我也理解此时正当大选之季，因此公众对我们今年成就的期望并不高。但是，议长先生，您以及其他领导人去年年末通过了建设性的预算决议，使得工薪家庭减税计划能够长久实施下去，我对此深表感激。因此我衷心希望今年两党能够在一些重要事务上同心协作，比如，推行刑事司法改革，帮助那些与处方药滥用行为抗争的人们。我们很可能会让质疑者们再次大吃一惊。
But tonight, I want to go easy on the traditional list of proposals for the year ahead. Don't worry, I've got plenty, from helping students learn to write computer code to personalizing medical treatments for patients. And I'll keep pushing for progress on the work that still needs doing. Fixing a broken immigration system. Protecting our kids from gun violence. Equal pay for equal work, paid leave, raising the minimum wage. All these things still matter to hardworking families; they are still the right thing to do; and I will not let up until they get done.
但在今晚，我打算少谈些像往年那样的发展计划。别担心，我还是有很多计划要谈，比如，帮助学生学习编写计算机代码，以及对病人进行个性化治疗。我将继续推动这些未竟事业的进步。完善有漏洞的移民体系。保护我们的孩子们免遭枪械暴力。继续推行同工同酬及带薪休假，并提高最低工资水平。所有的这一切对于努力工作的家庭们来说依然至关重要；这些仍是我们要做的对的事情。我绝不会放松这些工作，直至他们完成为止。
But for my final address to this chamber, I don't want to talk just about the next year. I want to focus on the next five years, ten years, and beyond.
但这是我最后一次在此发表讲话，我不想只谈论来年的事宜。我想关注今后的五年、十年，甚至更久远的事情。
I want to focus on our future.
我更关注我们的未来。
We live in a time of extraordinary change – change that's reshaping the way we live, the way we work, our planet and our place in the world. It's change that promises amazing medical breakthroughs, but also economic disruptions that strain working families. It promises education for girls in the most remote villages, but also connects terrorists plotting an ocean away. It's change that can broaden opportunity, or widen inequality. And whether we like it or not, the pace of this change will only accelerate.
我们生活在一个充满巨变的时代，这场巨变改变了我们的生活、工作方式，改变了我们的星球和我们在世界上的地位。这种巨变预示着医学将出现重大突破，也会带来困扰着工薪家庭的经济动荡。它为生活在边远山区的女孩们带去教育的希望，却也使远距重洋的恐怖分子得以串通一气策划阴谋。这场巨变能够带来机遇，也会扩大不公。无论我们喜欢与否，这场巨变的进度只会越来越快。
America has been through big changes before – wars and depression, the influx of immigrants, workers fighting for a fair deal, and movements to expand civil rights. Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears. We did not, in the words of Lincoln, adhere to the "dogmas of the quiet past." Instead we thought anew, and acted anew. We made change work for us, always extending America's promise outward, to the next frontier, to more and more people. And because we did – because we saw opportunity where others saw only peril – we emerged stronger and better than before.
美国曾经历过种种巨变——战争，萧条，移民涌入，工人运动，以及民权运动。每一次，总有人告诉我们要畏惧未来。每当美国受到某些组织或者言论威胁，将要失控，这些人就告诉我们要停止变革，并承诺恢复往日的辉煌。但每一次，我们都能够克服恐惧。用林肯的话来说，我们并未遵循“平静的过去时代的信条”。相反地，我们能够用新的思维思考，以新的方式行事。我们巧妙地利用变化，始终将美国的潜力扩展至更广阔的前沿，惠及更多的民众。正缘于此——因为他人眼中的风险在我们看来是机遇——我们变得比以前更强更好。
What was true then can be true now. Our unique strengths as a nation – our optimism and work ethic, our spirit of discovery and innovation, our diversity and commitment to the rule of law – these things give us everything we need to ensure prosperity and security for generations to come.
过去的真理，现在亦未曾改变。我们的乐观主义与职业道德，我们的发现与创新精神，我们种族多样化和法治信条，这些都是我们作为一个国家所拥有的独一无二的优点，使我们具备了世代繁荣昌盛、国泰民安的一切条件。
In fact, it's that spirit that made the progress of these past seven years possible. It's how we recovered from the worst economic crisis in generations. It's how we reformed our health care system, and reinvented our energy sector; how we delivered more care and benefits to our troops and veterans, and how we secured the freedom in every state to marry the person we love.
事实上，正因有了这种精神力量，我们过去七年才可能取得进步。它使我们得以从几代以来最严重的经济危机中恢复；是我们改革医疗体系、改造能源部门的动力；保证了我们给予军人和老兵更多关心和福利。也正因为此，我们能够让每个州的人都获得了与所爱的人结婚的自由。
But such progress is not inevitable. It is the result of choices we make together. And we face such choices right now. Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear, turning inward as a nation, and turning against each other as a people? Or will we face the future with confidence in who we are, what we stand for, and the incredible things we can do together?
但是，这些进步并不是注定会发生的，而是我们共同选择的结果。我们当下正面临着这样的选择。面对时代的变化，我们是将以恐惧对之，闭门造车，各自为战？还是自我肯定，坚持立场，相信我们能共创奇迹？
So let's talk about the future, and four big questions that we as a country have to answer – regardless of who the next President is, or who controls the next Congress.
让我们先来谈谈未来，以及美国需要回答的四个大问题——无论下一届美国总统是谁，无论哪个党派掌控国会。
First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy?
首先，我们如何在新经济中给每个人公平的机会和保障？
Second, how do we make technology work for us, and not against us – especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change?
第二，我们如何让技术为我们服务，而不是与我们对抗——尤其是面临气候变化这样急需应对的挑战的时候？
Third, how do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman?
第三，我们如何保障美国的安全，同时，在不充当世界警察的前提下，引领整个世界？
And finally, how can we make our politics reflect what's best in us, and not what's worst?
最后，我们如何制定政策，使其反映出美国的好，而不是美国的恶？
Let me start with the economy, and a basic fact: the United States of America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. We're in the middle of the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history. More than 14 million new jobs; the strongest two years of job growth since the '90s; an unemployment rate cut in half. Our auto industry just had its best year ever. Manufacturing has created nearly 900,000 new jobs in the past six years. And we've done all this while cutting our deficits by almost three-quarters.
我先说说经济，基本的事实是这样的：现在，在全球范围内，美国经济是最为强大且坚固的。纵观历史，我们现在处于私营部门连续创造就业机会最长的一段时期中。我们创造了逾1400万个新的就业岗位；这是自20世纪90年代以来就业增长最为强劲的两年；失业率下降了一半。汽车行业也创造了最辉煌的一年。在过去的六年里，制造业创造了将近90万个新的就业岗位。而且，我们在取得这些成绩的同时，还将赤字减少了近四分之三.
Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction. What is true – and the reason that a lot of Americans feel anxious – is that the economy has been changing in profound ways, changes that started long before the Great Recession hit and haven't let up. Today, technology doesn't just replace jobs on the assembly line, but any job where work can be automated. Companies in a global economy can locate anywhere, and face tougher competition. As a result, workers have less leverage for a raise. Companies have less loyalty to their communities. And more and more wealth and income is concentrated at the very top.
任何声称美国经济正在衰落的说法都是在传播虚构事实。实际情况——同时也是许多美国人感到焦虑的原因——是美国经济正在经历巨大变革，而且这变革早在大萧条发生之前就已经开始，到现在还没有结束。今天，能够被高科技取代的工作岗位并不仅限于生产线，还包括任何可以实现自动化的岗位。在经济全球化中，公司可以落户于世界任何地方，也会面临更加激烈的竞争。其结果是，雇员要求加薪的筹码变少。公司对其所在群体的忠诚度更低。同时，越来越多的财富和收入积聚到社会顶层阶级手中。
All these trends have squeezed workers, even when they have jobs; even when the economy is growing. It's made it harder for a hardworking family to pull itself out of poverty, harder for young people to start on their careers, and tougher for workers to retire when they want to. And although none of these trends are unique to America, they do offend our uniquely American belief that everybody who works hard should get a fair shot.
这些变化趋势挤压了雇员的生存空间，即使他们拥有工作，即使美国经济一直在增长。工薪家庭想要通过努力工作，摆脱贫困，年轻人想要开创自己的事业，雇员想要适时退休，都已经不太容易。虽然面临这些变革的不只有美国，但是这些的确违背了独有的美国式信念，那就是，任何努力工作的人都应当得到公平待遇。
For the past seven years, our goal has been a growing economy that works better for everybody. We've made progress. But we need to make more. And despite all the political arguments we've had these past few years, there are some areas where Americans broadly agree.
在过去的七年中，我们的目标一直都是，保持经济增长，以造福每一个人。我们已经取得了一些进步。但是，我们需要继续努力。尽管在过去的一些年中，我们有过许多政治上的争论，但是在一些领域，我们取得了普遍的共识。
We agree that real opportunity requires every American to get the education and training they need to land a good-paying job. The bipartisan reform of No Child Left Behind was an important start, and together, we've increased early childhood education, lifted high school graduation rates to new highs, and boosted graduates in fields like engineering. In the coming years, we should build on that progress, by providing Pre-K for all, offering every student the hands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one, and we should recruit and support more great teachers for our kids.
我们一致认为，真正的机会在于每一个美国人都能获得能够必要的教育及培训，让他们能够胜任一份收入理想的工作。“不让一个孩子掉队”的两党改革政策，就是一个重要的开端，同时，我们加强了儿童早期教育，进一步提高了高中毕业率，使工程学等专业毕业生得以增长。未来，我们要以这些成绩为基础，通过普及全民早教，让所有学生都接受计算机实践和数学课程培训，为他们将来步入职场做好准备。同时，我们要为孩子们招录更多优秀的教师，并给予这些教师更好的待遇。
And we have to make college affordable for every American. Because no hardworking student should be stuck in the red. We've already reduced student loan payments to ten percent of a borrower's income. Now, we've actually got to cut the cost of college. Providing two years of community college at no cost for every responsible student is one of the best ways to do that, and I'm going to keep fighting to get that started this year.
同时，我们要让每个美国人都能上得起大学。因为，勤奋的学生不应该因为贫困被挡在校门之外。我们已经将助学贷款的还款额降至借款人收入的10%。接下来，我们需要降低大学费用。两年制的社区大学将为每一位有责任感的学生提供免费教育，这是降低大学费用最理想的方式之一。我会不断努力让这个方案在今年启动。
Of course, a great education isn't all we need in this new economy. We also need benefits and protections that provide a basic measure of security. After all, it's not much of a stretch to say that some of the only people in America who are going to work the same job, in the same place, with a health and retirement package, for 30 years, are sitting in this chamber. For everyone else, especially folks in their forties and fifties, saving for retirement or bouncing back from job loss has gotten a lot tougher. Americans understand that at some point in their careers, they may have to retool and retrain. But they shouldn't lose what they've already worked so hard to build.
当然，在新经济中，我们所需要的不仅仅是优质的教育。我们还需要能够提供基本生活保障的福利和保护措施。如果说在座的各位，是美国为数不多的能够在同一个地方从事同一份工作30年，还能获得健康和养老保障的人，也不算夸张。而对于其他人，特别是四五十岁的美国人来说，为退休后的生存点钱或是在失业后重振旗鼓，已经越来越困难。大家都认识到，在他们职业生涯的某个时刻，他们不得不重新接受培训，重新学习技能。但是，他们不应当失去他们这么多年辛勤工作所获得的东西。
It won't be easy. Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I'll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far. Voices that help us see ourselves not first and foremost as black or white or Asian or Latino, not as gay or straight, immigrant or native born; not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans first, bound by a common creed. Voices Dr. King believed would have the final word – voices of unarmed truth and unconditional love.
这并不是一件容易的事。我们的民主道路也很艰难。但是，我能保证，一年之后，我已不再是美国总统，我将和你们一样，是一个普通的美国公民，那些曾经帮助美国前进的公平与远见之声、坚韧之声，以及幽默与和善之声，也会让我倍受鼓舞。这些声音告诉我们，每个人的身份，无论黑人还是白人，无论亚裔还是拉丁裔，无论性取向如何，无论是移民还是土生土长的美国人，无论是民主党还是共和党，我们首先都是美国人，并且有着共同的信念。用马丁•路德•金的话来总结就是：不靠武装发声的真理以及无条件的爱。
They're out there, those voices. They don't get a lot of attention, nor do they seek it, but they are busy doing the work this country needs doing.
这些人，这些声音一直都在。寂静无声，不求关注，但却一直在为这个国家奔忙。
I see them everywhere I travel in this incredible country of ours. I see you. I know you're there. You're the reason why I have such incredible confidence in our future. Because I see your quiet, sturdy citizenship all the time.
在美国这片热土上，我所到之处都能看到这么一群美国人的身影。我看到了你们所有人，我知道你们都是其中的一员。正因为有你们，我才能如此自信于美国的未来。因为我知道一直有着默默无闻，坚定勇敢的美国公民为美国的未来奋斗。
I see it in the worker on the assembly line who clocked extra shifts to keep his company open, and the boss who pays him higher wages to keep him on board.
有一位在装配流水线上工作的工人，每天加班加点以确保公司正常运营，而他的老板也会给他加薪，让他继续坚守岗位。
I see it in the Dreamer who stays up late to finish her science project, and the teacher who comes in early because he knows she might someday cure a disease.
有一个女孩有着自己的科学梦想，为完成科学项目彻夜不休，而她的老师会提前进教室给她上课，因为他知道，总有一天她会成功发现某种治疗疾病的良方。
I see it in the American who served his time, and dreams of starting over – and the business owner who gives him that second chance. The protester determined to prove that justice matters, and the young cop walking the beat, treating everybody with respect, doing the brave, quiet work of keeping us safe.
有一位美国人服完刑期，想要重新开始，而有位老板给了他第二次开始人生的机会；抗议者希望彰显社会公平正义；年轻的警官在街上巡查，尊重他人，兢兢业业，默默守护我们的安全。
I see it in the soldier who gives almost everything to save his brothers, the nurse who tends to him 'til he can run a marathon, and the community that lines up to cheer him on.
有个士兵为救自己同胞不惜一切，身受重伤；有位护士悉心照料他，直至他痊愈参加马拉松；而所在社区的人纷纷为他加油。
It's the son who finds the courage to come out as who he is, and the father whose love for that son overrides everything he's been taught.
有这么个孩子勇敢地做自己，敢于出柜，而深爱他的父亲也会放弃自己的旧观念继续爱他。
I see it in the elderly woman who will wait in line to cast her vote as long as she has to; the new citizen who casts his for the first time; the volunteers at the polls who believe every vote should count, because each of them in different ways know how much that precious right is worth.
有一位老妇人，只要自己还有选举权，她都会亲自排队去投上一票；有位美国新公民第一次高兴地投上自己的选票；选举站的志愿者深信每一票都很重要，因为他们都懂得这投票权的分量有多重。
That's the America I know. That's the country we love. Clear-eyed. Big-hearted. Optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. That's what makes me so hopeful about our future. Because of you. I believe in you. That's why I stand here confident that the State of our Union is strong.
这就是我所认识的美国。这就是我们热爱着的国家。人们明辨是非，慷慨善良，并且乐观地相信，不靠武器发声的真理和无条件的爱必将主导这个世界。因此我才如此坚信美国的未来。因为有你们，我相信你们。因为美国的强大，我才能如此自信地站在这里。
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
谢谢，上帝保佑你们，上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
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