President Barack Obama speaks from the White House briefing room, Sunday, July 31, 2011, in Washington, about a deal being reached to raise the debt limit. (dailycaller.com)

President Obama’s Sunday evening debt-ceiling speech

Good evening. There are still some very important votes to be taken by members of Congress, but I want to announce that the leaders of both parties, in both chambers, have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default — a default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy.

晚上好。现在国会议员还有一些重要的票要投，但是我要宣布参众两院的两党领导人已经达成削减赤字和避免债务违约的协议，债务违约将给美国经济带来灾难性影响。

The first part of this agreement will cut about $1 trillion in spending over the next 10 years — cuts that both parties had agreed to early on in this process. The result would be the lowest level of annual domestic spending since Dwight Eisenhower was President — but at a level that still allows us to make job-creating investments in things like education and research. We also made sure that these cuts wouldn’t happen so abruptly that they’d be a drag on a fragile economy.

协议的第一部分要求在未来10年里削减约1万亿美元的开支，而削减开支这项内容在投票表决的初期两党就已经一致同意。这将使美国的年度国内开支降至自艾森豪威尔总统以来的最低水平，但是在这个开支水平我们还能投资诸如教育和研究等领域来创造就业机会。我们保证不会过急削减开支以免拖累脆弱的经济。

Now, I’ve said from the beginning that the ultimate solution to our deficit problem must be balanced. Despite what some Republicans have argued, I believe that we have to ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share by giving up tax breaks and special deductions. Despite what some in my own party have argued, I believe that we need to make some modest adjustments to programs like Medicare to ensure that they’re still around for future generations.

从一开始，我就已经说过我们赤字问题的最终解决方法必须是平衡的。不管一些共和党人争辩什么，我相信，我们不得不要求最富裕的美国人和最大的企业放弃税额优惠和特殊扣减，缴纳公平的税收份额。不管我所在党派的一些成员争辩什么，我相信，我们需要对诸如医疗保健等项目做一些最适度的调整来确保未来世代都受益于此。

That’s why the second part of this agreement is so important. It establishes a bipartisan committee of Congress to report back by November with a proposal to further reduce the deficit, which will then be put before the entire Congress for an up or down vote. In this stage, everything will be on the table. To hold us all accountable for making these reforms, tough cuts that both parties would find objectionable would automatically go into effect if we don’t act. And over the next few months, I’ll continue to make a detailed case to these lawmakers about why I believe a balanced approach is necessary to finish the job.

这就是协议第二部分如此重要的原因。协议第二部分是要在国会建立一个两党联立的委员会在今年11月前就“进一步削减赤字”提出建议。这个建议将在整个国会进行一同意或不同意的表决。在这个阶段，一切都将进行公开讨论。我们所有人对这些改革和艰难的削减赤字负责，如果我们不采取行动，两党将发现不利后果会自动生效。在接下来的几个月里，我将继续向立法者说明我相信平衡方法的原因。

Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. I believe that we could have made the tough choices required — on entitlement reform and tax reform — right now, rather than through a special congressional committee process. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need, and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year.

那么现在这次谈判是不是我喜欢的呢？不是。我相信我们本来可以使我们面临的津贴改革和税收改革选择成为必须的，但是现在要通过一项特殊的国会委员会程序。然而这种妥协的确为我们需要的赤字减少政策提供了严肃的成立方式，并且使两党都抱着强烈的愿望，要在今年年底前完成一个平衡的计划。

Most importantly, it will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America. It ensures also that we will not face this same kind of crisis again in six months, or eight months, or 12 months. And it will begin to lift the cloud of debt and the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over our economy.

最重要的是，这份协议将使我们避免债务违约，并且结束华盛顿施加给美国其他地方的危机。它还将确保我们在接下来的6个月、或者8个月、甚至12个月里不会再次面临同类危机。它将拨开一直笼罩在我们经济之上的债务和不确定性的迷雾。

Now, this process has been messy; it’s taken far too long. I’ve been concerned about the impact that it has had on business confidence and consumer confidence and the economy as a whole over the last month. Nevertheless, ultimately, the leaders of both parties have found their way toward compromise. And I want to thank them for that.

现在这个过程有点麻烦，花了太多太多的时间了，在过去的一个月里，我一直在担心其对企业信心和消费者信心乃至整个经济的影响。虽然如此，但是最后两党领导人已经都做出了让步。对此，我予以感谢。

Most of all, I want to thank the American people. It’s been your voices — your letters, your emails, your tweets, your phone calls — that have compelled Washington to act in the final days. And the American people’s voice is a very, very powerful thing.

最重要的是，我要感谢美国人民。这些都是你们的声音——你们的信，你们的电邮，你们的推文，还有你们的电话，正是这些迫使华盛顿在这最后几天里采取行动。美国人民的声音真的非常非常有力量。

We’re not done yet. I want to urge members of both parties to do the right thing and support this deal with your votes over the next few days. It will allow us to avoid default. It will allow us to pay our bills. It will allow us to start reducing our deficit in a responsible way. And it will allow us to turn to the very important business of doing everything we can to create jobs, boost wages, and grow this economy faster than it’s currently growing.

然而，这并不意味着一切水到渠成了。我要敦促两党成员做正确的事，在接下来的几天里能够用你的选票支持这个协议。它将使我们避免债务违约，它将让我们把账结清，它将允许我们以负责任的方式减少赤字，并且它将使我们尽一切努力创造就业机会、提高薪金，以比现在快的速度发展经济。

That’s what the American people sent us here to do, and that’s what we should be devoting all of our time to accomplishing in the months ahead.

这正是美国人民让我们在这儿做的事，这也是我们接下来几个月里要花所有精力做的事。

Thank you very much, everybody.

谢谢！

来源：Agencies   编辑：许银娟