VOA慢速英语:Obama Seeks Quick Passage of Bill to Create Jobs

President Obama is urging Congress to approve a plan designed to create jobs. He announced his proposals Thursday night in a speech to Congress.
奥巴马总统敦促国会批准一项旨在创造就业机会的计划。他在周四晚上的国会演讲中宣布了他的建议。

BARACK OBAMA: "I am sending this Congress a plan that you should pass right away. It’s called the American Jobs Act.  There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans -- including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything."
奥巴马：“我给国会送去了一个你们应当立即通过的计划。它是我们所知的《美国就业法案》。关于这项立法应该毫无争议。这里这份建议里的一切条款都得到了民主党和共和党——包括今晚在座的各位的支持。而这个法案里的一切都会得到回报的。

The plan will cost almost four hundred fifty billion dollars. As a spending bill, it goes first to the House of Representatives, which the Republican Party controls.
该计划将耗资近四千五百亿美元。作为一个开支法案，它必须首先提交到共和党控制的众议院。

The speech followed months of political battles over how to lower federal budget deficits and the fourteen-trillion-dollar national debt.
在经历了关于降低联邦预算赤字和14万亿美元国债的数月政治斗争之后发表了此次演讲。

A compromise in July provided for one trillion dollars in spending cuts over the next ten years. In return, Congress raised the government's debt limit. But that deal failed to prevent a reduction in the nation's credit rating.
在7月份达成的一项妥协将在未来十年削减1万亿美元开支。作为回报，美国国会提高了政府的债务上限。但这一协议并未能阻止美国信用评级的下降。

In his message, Mr. Obama called on Republicans and democrats to stop arguing and put people back to work.
在他讲话中，奥巴马先生呼吁共和党和民主党停止争论，并让人们重返工作岗位。

BARACK OBAMA: "The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities.  The question tonight is whether we’ll meet ours. The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.”
奥巴马：“这个国家的人民努力工作以尽到他们的责任。今晚的问题是我们是否能尽到我们的责任？问题是，国家正在经历危机的时候，我们能否停止政治游戏，做一些事情来帮助经济复苏。”

His jobs plan includes extended cuts in the payroll tax for workers and employers. It also includes assistance for businesses that add workers.
他的就业计划包括延长削减工人和雇主的工资税，还包括为企业增加员工提供援助。

The plan aims to put people to work repairing and modernizing roads, railways, airports, waterways and at least thirty-five thousand schools. It also includes financial aid to state and local governments and job training to help the long-term unemployed. And it includes steps to increase the employment of military veterans.
该计划旨在把人们投入到公路、铁路、机场、航道以及不少于3.5万所学校的修葺与现代化工作中去。它还包括对州、地方政府以及职业培训的财政援助，以帮助长期失业者。并包括提高退伍军人就业的措施。

The president said he will release a deficit plan a week from Monday. It will not only cover the cost of the jobs bill, he said, but deal with debt in the long term.
奥巴马总统称，他将从下周一开始公布一个赤字计划，该计划不仅将覆盖就业法案的开支，还将从长远上处理债务问题。

The recent budget compromise created a twelve-member congressional committee. That committee has until late November to identify one and a half trillion in additional savings over the next ten years.
最近达成的预算妥协造就了一个由12人组成国会委员会。该委员会必须在11月底前确定未来十年削减的另外1.5万亿美元。

Among Republicans, House Speaker John Boehner said Mr. Obama's proposals "merit consideration." He also said he hopes the president gives serious consideration to Republican proposals.
众议院议长共和党人John Boehner称奥巴马的建议“值得考虑”。他还表示，希望总统能认真考虑共和党的提议。

Representative Steve King of Iowa said he did not believe the House would pass the whole bill.
爱荷华州的众议员Steve King称，他不相信众议院能通过整个法案。

STEVE KING: "I am really doubtful if there is going to be a movement in this House to pick up a package. There might be a couple of things that we could try to lift out of it. I am not sure what they are at this point."
STEVE KING：“我真的怀疑这届众议院会全盘通过这一议案，我们可能会试图删掉一些内容。目前我不清楚他们会怎样做。”

Mr. Obama also urged Congress to approve trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea. That was one of the few times in the speech when Republicans stood and cheered. Most Democrats stayed seated.
奥巴马还敦促国会批准与巴拿马，哥伦比亚和韩国的贸易协定。这是讲话中数次共和党起立欢呼而大多数民主党人依旧坐着的时刻之一。

Mr. Obama said some lawmakers might feel that differences can be settled only by voters at the ballot box. But he said Americans who are struggling financially need a Congress that will act now.
奥巴马先生说，一些国会议员可能会觉得只能由投票箱中的选票来解决分歧。但他说，在财务上挣扎的美国人需要国会立即采取行动。

BARACK OBAMA: "Know this: the next election is fourteen months away. And the people who sent us here -- the people who hired us to work for them -- they don’t have the luxury of waiting fourteen months."
奥巴马：“知道这一点：距离下次选举还有14个月时间。而将我们送到这里的人们，雇佣我们为他们工作的人们并没有等待14个月时间的奢侈机会。”

Opinion polls show that most Americans have lost hope that politicians can bring down the high unemployment rate. Currently the national rate is 9.1 percent.
民调显示，大多数美国人已经对政治家能够降低高企的失业率失去了希望。目前美国失业率为9.1%。