重庆大坪医院消化内科:[双语阅读]奥巴马总统在白宫记者会上的讲话

23 June 2009

Opening Remarks by President Obama at News Conference

Addresses the situation in Iran, clean energy and health care reform

(begin text)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

June 23, 2009

Remarks of President Barack Obama

News Conference Opening Remarks – As Prepared for Delivery

James A. Brady Briefing Room, The White House

Washington, DC

Today, I want to start by addressing three issues, and then I’ll take your questions.

First, I’d like to say a few words about the situation in Iran. The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost.

I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not at all interfering in Iran’s affairs. But we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the Iranian people, and to a remarkable opening within Iranian society. And we deplore violence against innocent civilians anywhere that it takes place.

The Iranian people are trying to have a debate about their future. Some in the Iranian government are trying to avoid that debate by accusing the United States and others outside of Iran of instigating protests over the elections. These accusations are patently false and absurd. They are an obvious attempt to distract people from what is truly taking place within Iran’s borders. This tired strategy of using old tensions to scapegoat other countries won’t work anymore in Iran. This is not about the United States and the West; this is about the people of Iran, and the future that they – and only they – will choose.

The Iranian people can speak for themselves. That is precisely what has happened these last few days. In 2009, no iron fist is strong enough to shut off the world from bearing witness to the peaceful pursuit of justice. Despite the Iranian government’s efforts to expel journalists and isolate itself, powerful images and poignant words have made their way to us through cell phones and computers, and so we have watched what the Iranian people are doing.

This is what we have witnessed. We have seen the timeless dignity of tens of thousands Iranians marching in silence. We have seen people of all ages risk everything to insist that their votes are counted and their voices heard. Above all, we have seen courageous women stand up to brutality and threats, and we have experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets. While this loss is raw and painful, we also know this: those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people have a universal right to assembly and free speech. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect those rights, and heed the will of its own people. It must govern through consent, not coercion. That is what Iran’s own people are calling for, and the Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government.

The second issue I want to address is our ongoing effort to build a clean energy economy.

This week, the House of Representatives is moving ahead on historic legislation that will transform the way we produce and use energy in America.  It is legislation that will finally spark a clean energy transformation that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and confront the carbon pollution that threatens our planet.

This energy bill will create a set of incentives that will spur the development of new sources of energy, including wind, solar, and geothermal power.  It will also spur new energy savings, like efficient windows and other materials that reduce heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer.

These incentives will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy.  And that will lead to the development of new technologies that lead to new industries that could create millions of new jobs in America – jobs that cannot be shipped overseas.

At a time of great fiscal challenges, this legislation is paid for by the polluters who currently emit the dangerous carbon emissions that contaminate the water we drink and pollute the air we breathe.  It also provides assistance to businesses and communities as they make the gradual transition to clean energy technologies.

This legislation is extraordinarily important for our country, and has taken a great effort on the part of many over the course of months. I want to thank the Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman; his colleagues on that committee, Congressmen John Dingell, Ed Markey, and Rick Boucher. I also want to thank Charlie Rangel, the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, and Collin Peterson, the Chair of the Agriculture Committee, for their many and ongoing contributions to this process. I also want to express my appreciation to Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

We all know why this is so important. The nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy.  That is what this legislation seeks to achieve – it is a bill that will open the door to a better future for this nation. And that is why I urge members of the House to come together and pass it.

The last issue I’d like to address is health care.

Right now, Congress is debating various health care reform proposals.  This is obviously a complicated issue, but I am very optimistic about the progress they’re making.

Like energy, this is legislation that will be paid for.  It will not add to our deficits over the next decade.  We will find the money through savings and efficiencies within the health care system – some of which we’ve already announced.

We will also ensure that the reform we pass brings down the crushing cost of health care.  We simply cannot have a system where we throw good money after bad habits.  We must control the skyrocketing costs that are driving families, businesses, and our government into greater and greater debt.

There is no doubt that we must preserve what is best about our health care system, and that means allowing Americans who like their doctors and their health care plans to keep them.  But unless we fix what is broken in our current system, everyone’s health care will be in jeopardy.  Unless we act, premiums will climb higher, benefits will erode further, and the rolls of uninsured will swell to include millions more Americans.  Unless we act, one out of every five dollars we earn will be spent on health care within a decade.  And the amount our government spends on Medicare and Medicaid will eventually grow larger than what our government spends on anything else today.

When it comes to health care, the status quo is unsustainable.  Reform is not a luxury, it is a necessity.  And so I hope that Congress will continue to make significant progress on this issue in the weeks ahead.

And now, I’d be happy to take your questions.

(end text)

奥巴马总统在白宫记者会上的讲话

奥巴马总统于2009年6月23日在白宫举行记者会，在会上谈到伊朗问题、清洁能源和医疗保险体制改革。以下是有关伊朗的讲话内容，由美国国务院国际信息局翻译。

白宫新闻秘书办公室

2009年6月23日

奥巴马总统的讲话

今天，我想先谈三个问题，然后再回答你们的问题。

首先，我想就伊朗局势说几句话。美国和国际社会对过去几天[伊朗]发生的威胁、殴打和监禁事件感到震惊和愤慨。我强烈谴责这些非正义的行为，并与美国人民一道对失去的每一个无辜生命表示哀悼。

我已明确表示，美国尊重伊朗伊斯兰共和国的主权，丝毫没有干涉伊朗的事务。但我们必须为伊朗人民的勇气和尊严以及伊朗社会内部不同寻常的开放作证。我们强烈反对发生在世界任何地方的针对无辜平民的暴力。

伊朗人民正在努力争取就自己的未来命运展开辩论。为了逃避这场辩论，伊朗有些人——特别是伊朗政府内的某些人——指责美国和伊朗境外的其他人煽动围绕选举问题举行抗议活动。这些指责毫无根据，显然是企图转移人们的视线，避免人们关注伊朗境内正在发生的真实情况。这种利用原有的紧张关系使其他国家充当替罪羊的惯用伎俩在伊朗再也行不通了。这不是关于美国或西方的问题，而是关系到伊朗人民的问题，关系到他们——惟有他们——对未来所作的选择。

伊朗人民能够表明自己的主张。这正是近日来发生的情况。2009年，没有任何铁腕足以阻止世界目睹这一对正义的和平追求。尽管伊朗政府试图驱逐记者并自我封闭，震撼人心的画面和愤怒的语言通过手机和电脑传递到我们这里，我们因此目睹了伊朗人民的行动。

这就是我们所目睹的。成千上万的伊朗人举行和平示威，我们看到了他们不朽的尊严。我们看到人民不分年龄大小，均在奋不顾身地请愿，要求他们的选票得到承认，他们的意见得到表达。我们尤其看到无畏的妇女在抵抗残暴和威胁，我们看到一名妇女在街上死在自己的血泊中那悲哀的一幕。这一生命的损失令人无比悲伤，但我们知道：那些捍卫正义的人们在历史上始终站在正确的一边。

正如我在开罗所说，压制思想决不会让这些思想消失。伊朗人民拥有集会和言论自由的普世权利。如果伊朗政府希望得到国际社会的尊重，那么它必须尊重这些权利，听从本国人民的意愿。治国须顺应民意，不可胁迫强制。这就是伊朗人民现在的要求，最终将由伊朗人民评判其政府的行为。