VOA慢速英语:President Obama Makes His Case for Jobs Plan

President Obama and his wife Michelle traveled to the states of North Carolina and Virginia this week.  The Obamas were seeking support for the president’s four hundred forty-seven billion dollar jobs plan.
本周，奥巴马总统和他的妻子米歇尔前往北卡罗莱纳州和弗吉尼亚州。奥巴马夫妇此行目的是为奥巴马总统提出的4470亿就业计划寻求支持。

The American Jobs Act calls for cutting wage taxes on most businesses.  It seeks to prevent public employees like teachers, police and firefighters from losing their jobs to budget cutting measures.  And it calls for more federal spending on roads and transportation infrastructure to help create jobs.
美国就业法案要求大多数企业削减工资税。该法案是为了防止像教师、警察和消防队员一类公共雇员因为削减预算措施而失去工作，它同时呼吁政府提高在道路和交通基础设施建设方面的开支，以帮助创造就业机会。

Last week, the Senate blocked a vote on the full bill.
上周，参议院否决了整个法案。

On Sunday, the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives said some parts of the bill are like those in a plan put forward by the Republican Party.  Eric Cantor urged President Obama to find common ground with House Republicans.
上周日，众议院的多数党领袖表示，该议案部分内容和共和党提出的一项计划相似。Eric Cantor敦促奥巴马总统与众议院共和党人寻求共同点。

ERIC CANTOR: "We want the president to work with us.  We want him to stop campaigning.  Let's go find the things that are in common between this plan and his."
ERIC CANTOR：“我们希望总统与我们合作，我们希望他停止的游说行动，让我们一起来彼此的方案中的共同点。”

Republicans in Congress offered their own plans to improve job growth earlier in the year.  They have called for cutting tax rates and limiting government rules on businesses.
今年早些时候，国会里的共和党人提出自己的计划，以改善就业增长。他们呼吁削减税率和限制政府对企业的管理。

Last week, Congress passed free trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.  Both Mister Obama and Congressional Republicans agree the deals should create jobs at home and open markets to American exports.
上周，美国国会通过与韩国，哥伦比亚和巴拿马的自由贸易协定。奥巴马和国会共和党人都同意这一协定会为本土创造就业机会和为美国出口打开市场。

United States trade officials say every billion dollars in new exports supports six thousand additional jobs.  Last year, exports to South Korea alone stood at about thirty-nine billion dollars.  President Obama signs the trade agreements into law Friday.
美国贸易官员称，每新增10亿美元出口可以增加6000个额外的就业机会。去年，仅出口到韩国就有约390亿美元。奥巴马在周五将这一贸易协定签署成为法律。

But, the president says a lack of jobs continues to hurt economic growth.
但是奥巴马总统称，缺乏就业机会将会继续损害经济增长。

The unemployment rate held at nine point one percent in September.  The economy added over one hundred thousand jobs during the month.  But economists say that is not enough to markedly bring down jobless rate.
九月份的失业率维持在9.1%。本月美国经济增长了创造了10万个就业机会。但经济学家称，这仍不能显著降低失业率。

In Hampton, Virginia, First Lady Michelle Obama joined her husband in speaking to armed service members.  She spoke about part of his jobs plan aimed at helping veterans find jobs after they leave the armed forces.
在弗吉尼亚州的汉普顿，第一夫人米歇尔-奥巴马与丈夫一起对现役军人发表了讲话。她谈到了奥巴马的就业方案中部分旨在帮助退伍军人找到工作。

MICHELLE OBAMA: "And this commitment puts us a quarter of the way towards reaching the president's challenge to the private sector to hire or train 100,000 vets and military spouses by the end of 2013."
MICHELLE OBAMA：“这一承诺使得总统提出的私营部门在2013年前雇用或培训10万名退伍军人和军嫂挑战实现了1/4。”

President Obama has said lawmakers will now have to vote on parts of his jobs plan.  And, he said, they will have to explain why they voted the way they did.
美国总统奥巴马曾表示，国会议员现在不得不对他提出的就业法案的部分内容进行投票，他说，而且他们将不得不解释他们投票的原因。