美国总统奥巴马每周演讲2015.03.07

国际妇女节讲话：让女孩子都上学

Weekly Address: Let Girls Learn

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the President discussed an issue close to his heart: education for adolescent girls around the world. Earlier this week, he and the First Lady announced ―Let Girls Learn,‖ a whole of government initiative that will build on investments we have made and successes we have achieved in global primary school education, and expand them to help adolescent girls complete their education and pursue their broader aspirations. 62 million girls around the world – half of whom are adolescent – are not in school and therefore have diminished economic opportunities. Yet when a girl receives a quality education, she is more likely to earn a decent living, raise a healthy, educated family, and improve the quality of life for herself, her family, and her community. That’s why the President and First Lady have made addressing this problem a priority because every girl has so much to offer to the world, and no girl should be denied her chance to learn.

Hi, everybody. Sunday is International Women’s Day -- a day to celebrate remarkable women and girls worldwide, and to re-dedicate ourselves to defending the fundamental rights and dignity of all people.

That’s why, this week, Michelle and I launched a new initiative on a topic that’s close to both our hearts: girls’ education.

It’s called ―Let Girls Learn.‖ And its goal is to help more girls around the world go to school and stay in school. Right now, 62 million girls who should be in school, are not. And that’s not an accident. It’s the direct result of barriers, large and small, that stand in the way of girls who want to learn.

Maybe their families can’t afford the school fees. Maybe the risk of being hurt or kidnapped or even killed by men who will do anything to stop girls from learning is just too great. Or maybe they aren’t in school because they’re expected to get married and become mothers while they’re still teenagers -- or even earlier. In too many parts of the world, girls are still valued more for their bodies than for their minds. That’s just plain wrong. And we all have to do more to stop it.

That’s the idea behind ―Let Girls Learn.‖ We’re making it clear to any country that’s our partner -- or that wants to be our partner -- that they need to get serious about increasing the number of girls in school. Our diplomats and development experts are already hard at work. Our Peace Corps volunteers will play a big role, too. And we’re putting our partnerships with NGOs, businesses and foundations to work on behalf of girls everywhere.

I come to this issue as the leader of the world’s largest economy, and Commander-in-Chief of the world’s most powerful military, and I’m convinced that a world in which girls are educated is a safer, more stable, more prosperous place. When girls are educated, their future children are healthier and better nourished. Their future wages increase, which in turn strengthens their families’ security. National growth gets a boost, too. And places where women and girls are treated as full and equal citizens tend to be more stable and more democratic.

But I also come to this issue as the father of two wonderful young women. And I know that there are lots of girls just like Malia and Sasha out there -- girls who are funny and caring and inquisitive and strong, and have so much to offer the world.

It’s a privilege to be the parent of girls. And we want to make sure that no girl out there is denied her chance to learn -- that no girl is prevented from making her unique contributions to the world. Because every girl -- every girl -- deserves our respect. And every girl deserves an education. Thanks, and have a great weekend.

第二篇：美国总统奥巴马每周电台演讲02.21

美国总统奥巴马每周电台演讲02.21

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.