第一篇：美國總統奧巴馬電臺的演講

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Obama focused on Women’s History Month and paid homage to the accomplishments of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in the effort to increase the role of women in government.Despite the important strides that have been made to create a more equal society, he emphasized his resolve to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act as an important step towards achieving egalitarian status for women.Prepared Remarks of President

Barack Obama Weekly Address

Saturday, March 5, 2011

March is Women’s History Month, a time not only to celebrate the progress that women have made, but also the women throughout our history who have made that progress possible.One inspiring American who comes to mind is Eleanor Roosevelt.In 1961, the former First Lady was unhappy about the lack of women in government, so she marched up to President Kennedy and handed him a three-page list of women who were qualified for top posts in his administration.This led the President to select Mrs.Roosevelt as the head of a new commission to look at the status of women in America, and the unfairness they routinely faced in their lives.Though she passed away before the commission could finish its work, the report they released spurred action across the country.It helped galvanize a movement led by women that would help make our society a more equal place.It’s been almost fifty years since the Roosevelt commission published its findings – and there have been few similar efforts by the government in the decades that followed.That’s why, last week, here at the White House, we released a new comprehensive report on the status of women in the spirit on the one that was released half a century ago.There was a lot of positive news about the strides we’ve made, even in recent years.For example, women have caught up with men in seeking higher education.In fact, women today are more likely than men to attend and graduate from college.Yet, there are also reminders of how much work remains to be done.Women are still more likely to live in poverty in this country.In education, there are areas like math and engineering where women are vastly outnumbered by their male counterparts.This is especially troubling, for we know that to compete with nations around the world, these are the fields in which we need to harness the talents of all our people.That’s how we’ll win the future.And, today, women still earn on average only about 75 cents for every dollar a man earns.That’s a huge discrepancy.And at a time when folks across this country are struggling to make ends meet – and many families are just trying to get by on one paycheck after a job loss – it’s a reminder that achieving equal pay for equal work isn’t just a women’s issue.It’s a family issue.In one of my first acts as President, I signed a law so that women who’ve been discriminated against in their salaries could have their day in court to make it right.But there are steps we should take to prevent that from happening in the first place.That’s why I was so disappointed when an important bill to give women more power to stop pay disparities – the Paycheck Fairness Act – was blocked by just two votes in the Senate.And that’s why I’m going to keep up the fight to pass the reforms in that bill.Achieving equality and opportunity for women isn’t just important to me as President.It’s something I care about deeply as the father of two daughters who wants to see his girls grow up in a world where there are no limits to what they can achieve.As I’ve traveled across the country, visiting schools and meeting young people, I’ve seen so many girls passionate about science and other subjects that were traditionally not as open to them.We even held a science fair at the White House, where I met a young woman named Amy Chyao.She was only 16 years old, but she was actually working on a treatment for cancer.She never thought, “Science isn’t for me.” She never thought, “Girls can’t do that.” She was just interested in solving a problem.And because someone was interested in giving her a chance, she has the potential to improve lives.That tells me how far we’ve come.But it also tells me we have to work even harder to close the gaps that still exist, and to uphold that simple American ideal: we are all equal and deserving of the chance to pursue our own version of happiness.That’s what Eleanor Roosevelt was striving toward half a century

ago.That’s why this report matters today.And that’s why, on behalf of all our daughters and our sons, we’ve got to keep making progress in the years ahead.

第二篇：美國總統奧巴馬每周電臺演講2011obm0924

【美國總統電臺演說】2011-09-24 Over the last few weeks, I’ve been making the case that we need to act now on the American Jobs Act, so we can put folks back to work and start building an economy that lasts into the future.Education is an essential part of this economic agenda.It is an undeniable fact that countries who out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow.Businesses will hire wherever the highly-skilled, highly-trained workers are located.But today, our students are sliding against their peers around the globe.Today, our kids trail too many other countries in math, science, and reading.As many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school.And we’ve fallen to 16th in the proportion of our young people with a college degree, even though we know that sixty percent of new jobs in the coming decade will require more than a high school diploma.What this means is that if we’re serious about building an economy that lasts – an economy in which hard work pays off with the opportunity for solid middle class jobs – we had better be serious about education.We have to pick up our game and raise our standards.As a nation, we have an obligation to make sure that all children have the resources they need to learn – quality schools, good teachers, the latest textbooks and the right technology.That’s why the jobs bill I sent to Congress would put tens of thousands of teachers back to work across the country, and modernize at least 35,000 schools.That's why Congress should pass that bill right now.But money alone won’t solve our education problems.We also need reform.We need to make sure that every classroom is a place of high expectations and high performance.That’s been our vision since taking office.And that’s why instead of just pouring money into a system that’s not working, we launched a competition called Race to the Top.To all fifty states, we said, “If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student achievement, we’ll show you the money.”

For less than one percent of what we spend on education each year, Race to the Top has led states across the country to raise their standards for teaching and learning.These standards were developed, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country.And since then, we have seen what’s possible when reform isn’t just a top-down

mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals;school boards and communities.That’s why in my State of the Union address this year, I said that Congress should reform the No Child Left Behind law based on the same principles that have guided Race to the Top.While the goals behind No Child Left Behind were admirable, experience has taught us that the law has some serious flaws that are hurting our children instead of helping them.Teachers are being forced to teach to a test, while subjects like history and science are being squeezed out.And in order to avoid having their schools labeled as failures, some states lowered their standards in a race to the bottom.These problems have been obvious to parents and educators all over this country for years.But for years, Congress has failed to fix them.So now, I will.Our kids only get one shot at a decent education.And they can’t afford to wait any longer.Yesterday, I announced that we’ll be giving states more flexibility to meet high standards for teaching and learning.It’s time for us to let states, schools and teachers come up with innovative ways to give our children the skills they need to compete for the jobs of the future.This will make a huge difference in the lives of students all across the country.Yesterday, I was with Ricky Hall, the principal of a school in Worcester, Massachusetts.Every single student who graduated from Ricci’s school in the last three years went on to college.But because they didn’t meet the standards of No Child Left Behind, Ricci’s school was labeled as failing last year.That will change because of what we did yesterday.From now on, we’ll be able to encourage the progress at schools like Ricci’s.From now on, people like John Becker, who teaches at one of the highest-performing middle schools in D.C., will be able to focus on teaching his 4th graders math in a way that improves their performance instead of just teaching to a test.Superintendents like David Estrop from Ohio will be able to focus on improving teaching and learning in his district instead of spending all his time on bureaucratic mandates from Washington that don’t get results.This isn’t just the right thing to do for our kids – it’s the right thing to do for our country, and our future.It is time to put our teachers back on the job.It is time to rebuild and modernize our schools.And it is time to raise our standards, up our game, and do everything it takes to prepare our children succeed in the global economy.Now is the time to once again make our education system the envy of the world.

第三篇：美國總統奧巴馬每周電臺演講09.08.02

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly Address

Saturday, August 1st, 2009 Today, I’d like to talk with you about a subject that I know is on everyone’s mind, and that’s the state of our economy.Yesterday, we received a report on our Gross Domestic Product.That’s a measure of our overall economic performance.The report showed that in the first few months of this year, the recession we faced when I took office was even deeper than anyone thought at the time.It told us how close we were to the edge.But it also revealed that in the last few months, the economy has done measurably better than expected.And many economists suggest that part of this progress is directly attributable to the Recovery Act.This and the other difficult but important steps that we have taken over the last six months have helped put the brakes on this recession.We took unprecedented action to stem the spread of foreclosures by helping responsible homeowners stay in their homes and pay their mortgages.We helped revive the credit markets and open up loans for families and small businesses.And we enacted a Recovery Act that put tax cuts directly into the pockets of middle-class families and small businesses;extended unemployment insurance and health insurance for folks who have lost jobs;provided relief to struggling states to prevent layoffs of teachers and police officers;and made investments that are putting people back to work rebuilding and renovating roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals.Now, I realize that none of this is much comfort for Americans who are still out of work or struggling to make ends meet.And when we receive our monthly job report next week, it is likely to show that we are continuing to lose far too many jobs in this country.As far as I’m concerned, we will not have a recovery as long as we keep losing jobs.And I won’t rest until every American who wants a job can find one.But history shows that you need to have economic growth before you have job growth.And the report yesterday on our economy is an important sign that we’re headed in the right direction.Business investment, which had been plummeting in the past few months, is showing signs of stabilizing.This means that eventually, businesses will start growing and hiring again.And that’s when it will really feel like a recovery to the American people.This won’t happen overnight.As I’ve said before, it will take many more months to fully dig ourselves out of a recession – a recession that we’ve now learned was even deeper than anyone thought.But I’ll continue to work every day, and take every step necessary, to make sure that happens.I also want to make sure that we don’t return to an economy where our growth is based on inflated profits and maxed-out credit cards – because that doesn’t create a lot of jobs.Even as we rescue this economy, we must work to rebuild it stronger than before.We’ve got to build a new foundation strong enough to withstand future economic storms and support lasting prosperity.Next week, I’ll be talking about that new foundation when I head to Elkhart County in Indiana – a city hard hit not only by the economic crisis of recent months but by the broader economic changes of recent decades.For communities like Elkhart to thrive, we need to recapture the spirit of innovation that has always moved America forward.That means once again having the best-educated, highest skilled workforce in the world.That means a health care system that makes it possible for entrepreneurs to innovate and businesses to compete without being saddled with skyrocketing insurance costs.That means leading the world in building a new clean energy economy with the potential to unleash a wave of innovation – and economic growth – while ending our dependence on foreign oil.And that means investing in the research and development that will produce the technologies of the future – which in turn will help create the industries and jobs of the future.Innovation has been essential to our prosperity in the past, and it will be essential to our prosperity in the future.But it is only by building a new foundation that we will once again harness that incredible generative capacity of the American people.All it takes are the policies to tap that potential – to ignite that spark of creativity and ingenuity – which has always been at the heart of who we are and how we succeed.At a time when folks are experiencing real hardship, after years in which we have seen so many fail to take responsibility for our collective future, it’s important to keep our eyes fixed on that horizon.Every day, I hear from Americans who are feeling firsthand the pain of this recession;these are folks who share their stories with me in letters and at town hall meetings;folks who remain in my mind and on my agenda each and every day.I know that there are countless families and businesses struggling to just hang on until this storm passes.But I also know that if we do the things we know we must, this storm will pass.And it will yield to a brighter day.

第四篇：美國總統奧巴馬每周電臺演講02.2

Remarks of President Barack Obama Weekly Address February 20, 2010

The other week, men and women across California opened up their mailboxes to find a letter from Anthem Blue Cross.The news inside was jaw-dropping.Anthem was alerting almost a million of its customers that it would be raising premiums by an average of 25 percent, with about a quarter of folks likely to see their rates go up by anywhere from 35 to 39 percent.Now, after their announcement stirred public outcry, Anthem agreed to delay their rate hike until May 1st while the situation is reviewed by the state of California.But it’s not just Californians who are being hit by rate hikes.In Kansas, one insurance company raised premiums by 10 to 20 percent only after asking to raise them by 20 to 30 percent.Last year, Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield raised rates by 22 percent after asking to raise them by up to 56 percent.And in Maine, Anthem is asking to raise rates for some folks by about 23 percent.The bottom line is that the status quo is good for the insurance industry and bad for America.Over the past year, as families and small business owners have struggled to pay soaring health care costs, and as millions of Americans lost their coverage, the five largest insurers made record profits of over $12 billion.And as bad as things are today, they’ll only get worse if we fail to act.We’ll see more and more Americans go without the coverage they need.We’ll see exploding premiums and out-of-pocket costs burn through more and more family budgets.We’ll see more and more small businesses scale back benefits, drop coverage, or close down because they can’t keep up with rising rates.And in time, we’ll see these skyrocketing health care costs become the single largest driver of our federal deficits.That’s what the future is on track to look like.But it’s not what the future has to look like.The question, then, is whether we will do what it takes, all of us – Democrats and Republicans – to build a better future for ourselves, our children, and our country.That’s why, next week, I am inviting members of both parties to take part in a bipartisan health care meeting, and I hope they come in a spirit of good faith.I don’t want to see this meeting turn into political theater, with each side simply reciting talking points and trying to score political points.Instead, I ask members of both parties to seek common ground in an effort to solve a problem that’s been with us for generations.It’s in that spirit that I have sought out and supported Republican ideas on reform from the very beginning.Some Republicans want to allow Americans to purchase insurance from a company in another state to give people more choices and bring down costs.Some Republicans have also suggested giving small businesses the power to pool together and offer health care at lower prices, just as big companies and labor unions do.I think both of these are good ideas – so long as we pursue them in a way that protects benefits, protects patients, and protects the American people.I hope Democrats and Republicans can come together next week around these and other ideas.To members of Congress, I would simply say this.We know the American people want us to reform our health insurance system.We know where the broad areas of agreement are.And we know where the sources of disagreement lie.After debating this issue exhaustively for a year, let’s move forward together.Next week is our chance to finally reform our health insurance system so it works for families and small businesses.It’s our chance to finally give Americans the peace of mind of knowing that they’ll be able to have affordable coverage when they need it most.What’s being tested here is not just our ability to solve this one problem, but our ability to solve any problem.Right now, Americans are understandably despairing about whether partisanship and the undue influence of special interests in Washington will make it impossible for us to deal with the big challenges that face our country.They want to see us focus not on scoring points, but on solving problems;not on the next election but on the next generation.That is what we can do, and that is what we must do when we come together for this bipartisan health care meeting next week.Thank you, and have a great weekend.

第五篇：美國總統奧巴馬每周電臺演講09

美國總統奧巴馬每周電臺演講09.19 Remarks of President Barack Obama As prepared for delivery Saturday, September 18, 2010 Washington, DC

Back in January, in my State of the Union Address, I warned of the danger posed by a Supreme Court ruling called Citizens United.This decision overturned decades of law and precedent.It gave the special interests the power to spend without limit – and without public disclosure – to run ads in order to influence elections.Now, as an election approaches, it’s not just a theory.We can see for ourselves how destructive to our democracy this can become.We see it in the flood of deceptive attack ads sponsored by special interests using front groups with misleading names.We don’t know who’s behind these ads or who’s paying for them.Even foreign-controlled corporations seeking to influence our democracy are able to spend freely in order to swing an election toward a candidate they prefer.We’ve tried to fix this with a new law – one that would simply require that you say who you are and who’s paying for your ad.This way, voters are able to make an informed judgment about a group’s motivations.Anyone running these ads would have to stand by their claims.And foreign-controlled corporations would be restricted from spending money to influence elections, just as they were before the Supreme Court opened up this loophole.This is common sense.In fact, this is the kind of proposal that Democrats and Republicans have agreed on for decades.Yet, the Republican leaders in Congress have so far said “no.” They’ve blocked this bill from even coming up for a vote in the Senate.It’s politics at its worst.But it’s not hard to understand why.Over the past two years, we have fought back against the entrenched special interests – weakening their hold on the levers of power in Washington.We have taken a stand against the worst abuses of the financial industry and health insurance companies.We’ve rolled back tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.And we’ve restored enforcement of common sense rules to protect clean air and clean water.We have refused to go along with business as usual.Now, the special interests want to take Congress back, and return to the days when lobbyists wrote the laws.And a partisan minority in Congress is hoping their defense of these special interests and the status quo will be rewarded with a flood of negative ads against their opponents.It’s a power grab, pure and simple.They’re hoping they can ride this wave of unchecked influence all the way to victory.What is clear is that Congress has a responsibility to act.But the truth is, any law will come too late to prevent the damage that has already been done this election season.That is why, any time you see an attack ad by one of these shadowy groups, you should ask yourself, who is paying for this ad? Is it the health insurance lobby? The oil industry? The credit card companies?

But more than that, you can make sure that the tens of millions of dollars spent on misleading ads do not drown out your voice.Because no matter how many ads they run – no matter how many elections they try to buy – the power to determine the fate of this country doesn’t lie in their hands.It lies in yours.It’s up to all of us to defend that most basic American principle of a government of, by, and for the people.What’s at stake is not just an election.It’s our democracy itself.Thank you.