华盛顿当地时间2011年1月25日晚，美国总统奥巴马在国会发表2011年国情咨文，回顾美国对世界的贡献，号召美国人民“做大事”，促进经济增长，维护全球安全。以下是演讲全文：

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:
众议院议长先生、副总统先生、各位国会议员、尊敬的客人们、同胞们：

Tonight I want to begin by congratulating the men and women of the 112th Congress, as well as your new Speaker, John Boehner. And as we mark this occasion, we are also mindful of the empty chair in this Chamber, and pray for the health of our colleague – and our friend – Gabby Giffords.
今晚我想首先向美国第112届国会的男女议员、你们的新议长约翰·博纳表示祝贺。在我们庆祝这一时刻时，我们仍然很清楚一位国会议员的座位是空着的，让我们为我们的同事、我们的朋友加布里埃尔·吉福兹的健康祈祷。

It’s no secret that those of us here tonight have had our differences over the last two years. The debates have been contentious; we have fought fiercely for our beliefs. And that’s a good thing. That’s what a robust democracy demands. That’s what helps set us apart as a nation.
我们这些今晚出席这一活动的人在过去两年曾存在分歧，这不是秘密。辩论是非常激烈的，我们为我们各自的观点进行了激烈的斗争。这是一件好事，这是强有力的民主所要求的。这种争论帮助美国成为区别于其它国家的民主国家。

But there’s a reason the tragedy in Tucson gave us pause. Amid all the noise and passions and rancor of our public debate, Tucson reminded us that no matter who we are or where we come from, each of us is a part of something greater – something more consequential than party or political preference.
但图森市的悲剧给了我们一个停止争论的理由。我们进行的公共辩论引发了噪音、情绪、怨恨。图森的悲剧提醒我们，不管我们是谁、来自何方，我们中的每一个人都是一个更伟大事务的一部分，它比政党或者政治倾向更具必然性。

We are part of the American family. We believe that in a country where every race and faith and point of view can be found, we are still bound together as one people; that we share common hopes and a common creed; that the dreams of a little girl in Tucson are not so different than those of our own children, and that they all deserve the chance to be fulfilled.
我们是美国大家庭的组成部分。我们相信，在这个各种种族、信仰、观点并存的国家，我们仍是一个团结在一起的民族。我们拥有共同的希望和信条，图森小女孩的梦想与我们自己孩子的梦想没有什么大的差别，这些梦想都应获得实现的机会。

That, too, is what sets us apart as a nation.
这也是使我们作为一个国家产生分歧的原因。

Now, by itself, this simple recognition won’t usher in a new era of cooperation. What comes of this moment is up to us. What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.
现在，简单地认识到这一点本身将不会开启一个合作的新时代。这一时刻所能产生的成果取决于我们。这一时刻所产生的成果将不会由我们是否今晚坐在一起而决定，它将被我们明天是否合作所决定。

I believe we can. I believe we must. That’s what the people who sent us here expect of us. With their votes, they’ve determined that governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties. New laws will only pass with support from Democrats and Republicans. We will move forward together, or not at all – for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.
我认为我们能够实现合作。我认为我们必须这样。这是那些把我们送到这里的人们所期望的。他们通过他们的选票决定，执政将是两党共同的责任。新的法案只有在获得民主党和共和党议员的支持下才能通过。在面对比党派或者政治更大的挑战面前，我们将一起前行，或者原地不动。

At stake right now is not who wins the next election – after all, we just had an election. At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country, or somewhere else. It’s whether the hard work and industry of our people is rewarded. It’s whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but a light to the world.
现在的利害不是谁将赢得下次选举，毕竟，我们刚刚举行完一次选举。现在的利害是新的就业机会和新的行业是否会在美国生根或者在其它地方。这事关我们人民的辛劳工作和行业是否能得到回报。这事关我们是否能继续保持领导能力，这种领导能力使美国不只局限于地图上的某一个地方，美国因为这种领导能力而成为世界的灯光。

We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.
我们作好了前进的准备。在我们大多数人经历最为糟糕的经济衰退两年后，股市已再次大幅上升。公司赢利在增加。经济在再次增长。

But we have never measured progress by these yardsticks alone. We measure progress by the success of our people. By the jobs they can find and the quality of life those jobs offer. By the prospects of a small business owner who dreams of turning a good idea into a thriving enterprise. By the opportunities for a better life that we pass on to our children.
但我们从不只以这些标准来衡量进展。我们以我们人民的成功来评估进展，通过他们所能找到的工作和这些工作所提供的生活质量，通过小企业主把好点子的梦想转变成兴旺发达的企业的前景，通过我们给我们孩子更好生活的机遇。

That’s the project the American people want us to work on. Together.
这是一个美国人民想让我们从事的事业，美国人民想让我们共同致力于这项事业。

We did that in December. Thanks to the tax cuts we passed, Americans’ paychecks are a little bigger today. Every business can write off the full cost of the new investments they make this year. These steps, taken by Democrats and Republicans, will grow the economy and add to the more than one million private sector jobs created last year.
我们去年12月作了这方面的工作。由于我们通过的减税法案，美国人今天收到的支票金额要比过去多。所有的企业都可以把它今年所作投资的全部开支注销。这些由民主党人和共和党人合作采取的措施将使经济增长，增加就业岗位，私人行业去年已创造的1百多万个就业岗位。

But we have more work to do. The steps we’ve taken over the last two years may have broken the back of this recession – but to win the future, we’ll need to take on challenges that have been decades in the making.
但我们有更多的工作要做。我们在过去两年所采取的措施可能已克服了经济衰退的主要困难，但是为了赢得未来，我们必须直面应对那些在过去数十年来一直积累起来的挑战。

Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business downtown. You didn’t always need a degree, and your competition was pretty much limited to your neighbors. If you worked hard, chances are you’d have a job for life, with a decent paycheck, good benefits, and the occasional promotion. Maybe you’d even have the pride of seeing your kids work at the same company.
许多观看今晚演讲的人可能还记得那个找到好工作意味着在附近工厂或者市中心商业区就业的时候。你并不总是需要获得一个学位，你的竞争基本只限于你的邻居。如果你努力工作，你可能会终身拥有这个职位，这个工作会给你带来体面的收入、好的福利，有时还会获得升职。你可能还会拥有看到你的孩子在同一公司工作的自豪感。

That world has changed. And for many, the change has been painful. I’ve seen it in the shuttered windows of once booming factories, and the vacant storefronts of once busy Main Streets. I’ve heard it in the frustrations of Americans who’ve seen their paychecks dwindle or their jobs disappear – proud men and women who feel like the rules have been changed in the middle of the game.
世界已发生了变革。对于许多人来说，变革是痛苦的。在曾经一度业务繁忙工厂面临关闭时，我透过百叶窗看到了这种痛苦；在一度繁忙的商业街道空空如也的店门前，我看到了这种痛苦；在那些看到收入不断缩水或者失业美国人的绝望言论中，我听到了这种痛苦。这就好像，在比赛进行到一半时，表现出色而又颇感自豪的运动员发现规则突然改变了。

They’re right. The rules have changed. In a single generation, revolutions in technology have transformed the way we live, work and do business. Steel mills that once needed 1,000 workers can now do the same work with 100. Today, just about any company can set up shop, hire workers, and sell their products wherever there’s an internet connection.
他们是正确的，规则发生了变化。仅仅用了一代人的时间，技术革命已改变了我们的工作、生活和做生意的方式。一度需要1000名工人的钢铁厂现在用100名工人就可以完成同样的工作。今天，任何一家公司都可以设立商店、雇佣员工、把产品销售给有互联网连接的所有地方。

Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world. And so they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science. They’re investing in research and new technologies. Just recently, China became home to the world’s largest private solar research facility, and the world’s fastest computer.
与此同时，中国和印度等国已意识到，它们在作出一些变革后将能够在新世界里与其它国家进行竞争。所以，他们开始对他们的孩子进行更早和更长时间的教育，更加重视数学和科学。他们投资于研发和新技术。就在不久之前，中国已拥有世界上最大的私营太阳能研究设施，世界上运行速度最快的计算机。

So yes, the world has changed. The competition for jobs is real. But this shouldn’t discourage us. It should challenge us. Remember – for all the hits we’ve taken these last few years, for all the naysayers predicting our decline, America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world. No workers are more productive than ours. No country has more successful companies, or grants more patents to inventors and entrepreneurs. We are home to the world’s best colleges and universities, where more students come to study than any other place on Earth.
所以，是的，世界发生了变革。就业岗位的竞争是真实存在的，但这不应当使我们灰心，它应当成为激励我们的动力。请记住，尽管我们在过去几年遭受到了巨大打击，尽管所有的悲观者预言美国在衰落，但美国仍是世界上最大、最繁荣的经济体。我们工人的劳动生产率是最高的，我们的公司是最成功的，我们的投资者和企业家所拥有的专利数是最多的。我们拥有世界上最好的院校和大学，来美国就读的学生超过任何其它国家。

What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea – the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny. That is why centuries of pioneers and immigrants have risked everything to come here. It’s why our students don’t just memorize equations, but answer questions like “What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?”
更为重要的是，我们是首个以思想立国的国家，这个思想是我们中的每个人都应当有机会来塑造自己的命运。这就是为什么先驱们和移民们数个世纪以来不惜冒着失去一切的风险来到美国的原因。这就是我们的学生不只是记住方程式，而是会提出“你认为这个想法如何？你想如何改变世界？当你长大后你想成为什么样的人”等问题。

The future is ours to win. But to get there, we can’t just stand still. As Robert Kennedy told us, “The future is not a gift. It is an achievement.” Sustaining the American Dream has never been about standing pat. It has required each generation to sacrifice, and struggle, and meet the demands of a new age.
我们将赢得未来，但为了实现这一点，我们不能原地踏步。正如罗伯特·肯尼迪所说的那样“未来不是一个礼物，它是一个成就。”维持美国梦从来不是墨守成规。它需要每一代人作出牺牲、斗争，满足新时代的要求。

Now it’s our turn. We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. We have to make America the best place on Earth to do business. We need to take responsibility for our deficit, and reform our government. That’s how our people will prosper. That’s how we’ll win the future. And tonight, I’d like to talk about how we get there.
现在轮到我们这一代人了。我们知道在我们的时代为工作和行业进行竞争需要什么。我们需要在创新、教育和建设方面超越其它国家。我们要使美国成为商业环境最好的国家。我们需要对我们的赤字负责任，对我们的政府进行改革。这就是我们的人民实现繁荣的方法。这就是我们如何赢得未来的方法。今晚，我想谈谈我们如何作到这些。

The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation.
赢得未来的首个步骤是鼓励美国人创新。

None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be, or where the new jobs will come from. Thirty years ago, we couldn’t know that something called the Internet would lead to an economic revolution. What we can do – what America does better than anyone – is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We are the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives. It’s how we make a living.
我们所有人都无法肯定地预言下一个主要行业将是什么行业或者新的就业岗位来自哪里。三十年前，我们不知道一个被称作互联网的东西会引发经济革命。我们所能做的是，争取在这些方面比其它国家的人做得更好，激发美国人民的创造性和想像力。我们是一个将车开到车道上、把计算机放在办公室的国家，是一个拥有爱迪生、莱特兄弟的国家，是一个拥有谷歌和脸谱（Facebook）的国家。在美国，创新不只改变我们的生活，更重要的是，这是我们赖以谋生的方法。

Our free enterprise system is what drives innovation. But because it’s not always profitable for companies to invest in basic research, throughout history our government has provided cutting-edge scientists and inventors with the support that they need. That’s what planted the seeds for the Internet. That’s what helped make possible things like computer chips and GPS.
我们的自由企业制度驱动着创新，但是由于公司投资基础研究并不总是有利可图，在历史上，我们的政府向一流的科学家和发明家提供了他们所需要的支持。这些支持种下了互联网的种子，这些支持帮助制造出计算机芯片和全球定位仪这样的东西。

Just think of all the good jobs – from manufacturing to retail – that have come from those breakthroughs.
想想所有的好工作，从制造业到零售业都来自于这些突破。

Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik¸ we had no idea how we’d beat them to the moon. The science wasn’t there yet. NASA didn’t even exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn’t just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.
半个世纪之前，当苏联人发射一颗名为“伴侣号”的人造卫星从而在太空竞赛领域击败我们时，我们不知道我们如何在登月方面击败他们。那方面的科学当时还不存在，美国宇航局当时甚至都还未组建。但在更好的研究和教育方面投资后，我们不仅超过了苏联人，我们还推动了一系列的创新，这些创新创造了新的行业和数百万个新就业岗位。

This is our generation’s Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race. In a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal. We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.
这是我们那一代人创造的“伴侣号”走在世界前沿的时刻。我在两年前说过，我们需要将研发拓展到自太空竞赛高峰后再也没有出现过的新层次上。我将在未来几周内向国会提交一份预算案，它将帮助我们实现这一目标。我们将投资于生物医药研究、信息技术，尤其是清洁能源技术，这一投资将会强化我们的安全、保护我们的地球、为我们的人民创造无数新就业岗位。

Already, we are seeing the promise of renewable energy. Robert and Gary Allen are brothers who run a small Michigan roofing company. After September 11th, they volunteered their best roofers to help repair the Pentagon. But half of their factory went unused, and the recession hit them hard.
我们已看到了可再生能源的潜力。罗伯特·阿伦和加里·阿伦是一对在密歇根州经营屋顶公司的兄弟。他们在“9·11”恐怖袭击事件后志愿派出他们最好的装修屋顶员工来帮助维修五角大楼，但是他们工厂的半个厂区没有开工，经济衰退重创了他们的工厂。

Today, with the help of a government loan, that empty space is being used to manufacture solar shingles that are being sold all across the country. In Robert’s words, “We reinvented ourselves.”
今天，在政府贷款的帮助下，空闲的厂房被用于制造销往全球各地的太阳能电池板。用罗伯特的话说：“我们再造了自己。”

That’s what Americans have done for over two hundred years: reinvented ourselves. And to spur on more success stories like the Allen Brothers, we’ve begun to reinvent our energy policy. We’re not just handing out money. We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo Projects of our time.
这就是美国人在过去两百多年里一直在做的事情，再造自我。为了推动更多像阿伦兄弟这样的成功故事，我们已开始再造我们的能源政策。我们将不只提供款项，我们还将提供挑战。我们将告诉美国的科学家和工程师，如果他们组建他们领域最好的科学家小组，致力解决清洁能源最困难问题，我们将向我们时代的 “阿波罗项目”提供资金支持。

At the California Institute of Technology, they’re developing a way to turn sunlight and water into fuel for our cars. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, they’re using supercomputers to get a lot more power out of our nuclear facilities. With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
在加州理工学院，科学家正在寻找一种将太阳光和水转换成汽车燃料的方法。在橡树岭国家实验室，科学家们正在通过超级计算机以使从我们的核设施获得更多能量。在进行更多的研究和激励措施后，我们可以用生物燃料来打破我们对石油的依赖，成为在2015年前首个拥有一百万电动汽车上路的国家。

We need to get behind this innovation. And to help pay for it, I’m asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re doing just fine on their own. So instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy, let’s invest in tomorrow’s.
我们需要找到创新背后的要素。为了向创新提供经费支持，我将请求国会取消向石油公司所提供的数十亿美元税款补贴。我不知道你是否注意到这一情况，但石油公司自身运营得很不错。所以，与其向昨天的能源业提供补贴，我们不如投资于未来的能源。

Now, clean energy breakthroughs will only translate into clean energy jobs if businesses know there will be a market for what they’re selling. So tonight, I challenge you to join me in setting a new goal: by 2035, 80% of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources. Some folks want wind and solar. Others want nuclear, clean coal, and natural gas. To meet this goal, we will need them all – and I urge Democrats and Republicans to work together to make it happen.
现在，清洁能源领域的技术突破只有在业界知道有销售市场的情况下才会转变成清洁能源业的工作岗位。所以，今晚，我想让你们和我一起来制订一个新目标：争取在2035年之前使美国85%的电力供应量来自清洁能源。一些人想要风力和太阳能，其它人想要核电、清洁煤炭和天然气。为了实现这一目标，我们将需要所有这些清洁能源。我呼吁民主党人和共和党人通过合作来实现这一目标。

Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America’s success. But if we want to win the future – if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas – then we also have to win the race to educate our kids.
保持我们在研究和技术领域的领导地位对于美国的成功至关重要。如果我们想拥抱未来，如果我们想让创新在美国而不是海外创造就业岗位，那么我们必须赢得教育我们孩子的竞赛。

Think about it. Over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school degree. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us – as citizens, and as parents – are willing to do what’s necessary to give every child a chance to succeed.
思考一下吧，在未来十年，近半数新就业岗位将需要拥有高中以上的教育程度。虽然如此，美国仍有近四分之一的学生甚至未完成中学教育。我们教育和科学的教育质量落后于许多国家。美国年轻人拥有大学学位比例的排行已降至世界第九位。所以问题是，我们所有的人，作为公民，作为父母，是否愿意做那些必要的事情以便让每个孩子都有成功的机会？

That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It’s family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.
这一责任不仅是在我们的教室内开始的，也是在我们的家庭和社区里开始的。是家庭首先培养了孩子爱好学习的习惯，只有父母在确保关掉电视的情况下，孩子的家庭作业才会完成。我们需要教育我们的孩子，不仅是超级碗比赛的获胜者值得庆祝，那些科学大赛的赢家也应当值得庆祝。成功不是名气或者公共关系所带来的，它是由辛劳的工作和自律造就的。

Our schools share this responsibility. When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance. But too many schools don’t meet this test. 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.”
我们的学校也有责任。当一名儿童步入教室，它就应当是一个被寄以厚望和拥有很高教学能力的地方。但是太多的学校未能达到这一标准。这就是为什么我们没有向教育系统注入大笔资金原因，我们启动了一个名为“冲顶赛跑”的竞争。我们对所有50个州说：“如果你们能够向我们展示提高教师质量和学生成就的最具创新力的方案，我们将向你们提供款项。”

Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than one percent of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states 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 Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids.
“冲顶赛跑”是我们公共学校在十年内所进行的最有意义的改革。它只使用了不到我们每年教育开支的1%的经费，但它已使40个州提高了教学和学习标准。这些标准不是由华盛顿所决定的，它是由美国各个州的共和党和民主党州长们所决定的。“冲顶赛跑”应当成为我们今年所采取的方法。我们今年将用一个更为灵活、专注于用给我们的孩子带来最大益处的法律来取代《不让一个儿童落后法》。

You see, we know what’s possible for our children when reform isn’t just a top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals; school boards and communities.
你们应该知道，当改革不仅仅是从上到下的指示时，我们的孩子所能够取得的成绩有多大。改革措施将由当地的教师和校长、校董事会和社区来决定。

Take a school like Bruce Randolph in Denver. Three years ago, it was rated one of the worst schools in Colorado; located on turf between two rival gangs. But last May, 97% of the seniors received their diploma. Most will be the first in their family to go to college. And after the first year of the school’s transformation, the principal who made it possible wiped away tears when a student said “Thank you, Mrs. Waters, for showing… that we are smart and we can make it.”
以丹佛的布鲁斯·兰多夫学校为例，它在三年前被评为是科罗拉多州最差的学校之一，它位于两个敌对黑帮争夺的地盘内。但在去年五月，该校97%的高三学生获得了毕业证，大多数人将是他们家庭中上大学的第一人。在学校实现转变后的第一年，一位学生的话使这一切成为现实的校长流下了眼泪。这个学生说： “感谢你，威特斯女士，感谢你向我们表明，我们是聪明的，我们能够成功。”

Let’s also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a child’s success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom. In South Korea, teachers are known as “nation builders.” Here in America, it’s time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect. We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. And over the next ten years, with so many Baby Boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.
让我们也记住，除了父母之外，对一个孩子成功的最大影响来自于站在教室前的男女教师们。在韩国，教师们被称作“国家建造者”。在美国，现是我们该以同样程度的尊重对待那些教育我们孩子的人的时候了。我们应当奖励好教师，停止为糟糕的教师找借口。在未来十年，由于非常多的婴儿潮一代教师将退休，我们将需要准备10万名科学、技术、工程和数学学科教师。

In fact, to every young person listening tonight who’s contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child – become a teacher. Your country needs you.
事实上，对于今晚收听讲演的、正在考虑职业选择的年轻人，如果你想让我们国家前途有所不同，如果你想让一个孩子的生命有所不同，成为一位教师吧。你的国家需要你。

Of course, the education race doesn’t end with a high school diploma. To compete, higher education must be within reach of every American. That’s why we’ve ended the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that went to banks, and used the savings to make college affordable for millions of students. And this year, I ask Congress to go further, and make permanent our tuition tax credit – worth $10,000 for four years of college.
当然，教育竞赛不会止步于高中毕业证。为了竞争，必须让每位美国人都有接受高等教育的机会。这就是我们为什么结束向银行提供没有充分根据的税款补贴，用节省下来的钱来使数百万学生能有能力上大学。我今年将请求国会采取进一步措施，使我们的学费税收抵免永久化，对一个人四年的大学来说，这笔钱相当于1万美元。

Because people need to be able to train for new jobs and careers in today’s fast-changing economy, we are also revitalizing America’s community colleges. Last month, I saw the promise of these schools at Forsyth Tech in North Carolina. Many of the students there used to work in the surrounding factories that have since left town. One mother of two, a woman named Kathy Proctor, had worked in the furniture industry since she was 18 years old. And she told me she’s earning her degree in biotechnology now, at 55 years old, not just because the furniture jobs are gone, but because she wants to inspire her children to pursue their dreams too. As Kathy said, “I hope it tells them to never give up.”
由于人们需要在今天快速变化的经济领域里接受新工作和职业的培训，我们也将重新使美国的社区学院恢复活力。我上个月看到了北卡罗来纳州福费斯社区技术学院的潜力，学院的许多学生曾在现在已搬离城镇的附近工厂就业。凯西·普罗克托是一位两个孩子的母亲，她18岁就开始在家具业工作。她告诉我，现年55岁的她正在攻读生物技术学位，不只是因为家具业的工作没有了，而是因为她想鼓励她的孩子也追求他们的梦想。凯西说：“我希望这将能教会他们永不放弃。”

If we take these steps – if we raise expectations for every child, and give them the best possible chance at an education, from the day they’re born until the last job they take – we will reach the goal I set two years ago: by the end of the decade, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
如果我们采取这些措施，如果我们提高对每个孩子的期待值，给他们在教育方面最好的机遇，从他们出生至他们上一次的就业岗位，我们将实现我在两年前确定的目标：在这个十年结束的时候，美国将再度成为拥有大学生比例最高的国家。

One last point about education. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet live every day with the threat of deportation. Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense.
有关教育的最后一点。今天，我们的学校里有数百万学业优秀的非美国公民。一些人是非法工人的孩子，他们与他们父母的行为没有任何关系。他们是以美国人的身份长大的，宣誓效忠美国，但却每天生活在将被驱逐的威胁之下。其它人来自海外，在我们的院校和大学里学习，但他们一旦获得学位，我们就把他们送回国和我们进行竞争。这没有道理。

Now, I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration. I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. I know that debate will be difficult and take time. But tonight, let’s agree to make that effort. And let’s stop expelling talented, responsible young people who can staff our research labs, start new businesses, and further enrich this nation.
现在，我强烈地认为，我们应当一下子解决非法移民的问题。我作好了与共和党人和民主党人合作以保护我们边境的准备，执行我们的法律，解决数百万生活在阴影之下的非法移民问题。我知道，这方面的辩论将是艰难的，将需要时间。但是今晚，让我们就开始作出努力达成共识。停止驱逐那些有才能、负责任的年轻人，他们可以在我们的实验室工作、创业、给美国带来新的财富。