如何评价奥巴马 2014 年的国情咨文（State of the Union address）? - 知乎336被浏览16089分享邀请回答2618 条评论分享收藏感谢收起Fourth Presidential State of the Union Address
delivered 2 February 2005
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[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from
Thank you all.
Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress,
fellow citizens:
As a new Congress gathers, all of us in
the elected branches of government share a great privilege: We've been
placed in office by the votes of the people we serve. And tonight that is a privilege we share
with newly elected leaders of Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories,
Ukraine, and a free and sovereign Iraq.
Two weeks ago, I stood on the steps of
this Capitol and renewed the commitment of our nation to the guiding
ideal of liberty for all. This evening I will set forth policies to
advance that ideal at home and around the world.
Tonight, with a healthy, growing economy,
with more Americans going back to work, with our nation an active force
for good in the world, the state of our union is confident and strong.
Our generation has been blessed by the
expansion of opportunity, by advances in medicine, by the security
purchased by our parents' sacrifice. Now, as we see a little gray in the
mirror -- or a lot of gray -- and we watch our children moving into
adulthood, we ask the question: What will be the state of their union?
Members of Congress, the choices we make
together will answer that question. Over the next several months, on
issue after issue, let us do what Americans have always done and build a
better world for our children and our grandchildren.
First, we must be good stewards of this
economy and renew the great institutions on which millions of our fellow
citizens rely. America's economy is the fastest growing
of any major industrialized nation. In the past four years, we've provided
tax relief to every person who pays income taxes, overcome a recession,
opened up new markets abroad, prosecuted corporate criminals, raised
homeownership to its highest level in history. And in the last year
alone, the United States has added 2.3 million new jobs.
When action was needed, the Congress
delivered, and the nation is grateful. Now we must add to these achievements. By
making our economy more flexible, more innovative and more competitive,
we will keep America the economic leader of the world.
America's prosperity requires restraining
the spending appetite of the federal government. I welcome the bipartisan enthusiasm for
spending discipline. I will send you a budget that holds the
growth of discretionary spending below inflation, makes tax relief
permanent, and stays on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009. My budget substantially reduces or
eliminates more than 150 government programs that are not getting
results, or duplicate current efforts, or do not fulfill essential
priorities. The principle here is clear: Taxpayer
dollars must be spent wisely or not at all.
To make our economy stronger and more
dynamic, we must prepare a rising generation to fill the jobs of the
21st century. Under the No Child Left Behind Act,
standards are higher, test scores are on the rise, and we're closing the
achievement gap for minority students. Now we must demand better results from
our high schools so every high school diploma is a ticket to success.
We will help additional -- an additional 200,000
workers to get training for a better career by reforming our
job-training system and strengthening America's community colleges. And we will make it easier for Americans
to afford a college education by increasing the size of Pell Grants.
To make our economy stronger and more
competitive, America must reward, not punish, the efforts and dreams of
entrepreneurs. Small business is the path of
advancement, especially for women and minorities. So we must free small businesses from
needless regulation and protect honest job creators from junk lawsuits.
Justice is distorted and our economy is
held back by irresponsible class actions and frivolous asbestos claims.
And I urge Congress to pass legal reforms
this year.
To make our economy stronger and more
productive, we must make health care more affordable and give families
greater access to good coverage and more control over their health
decisions.
I -- I ask Congress to move forward on a
comprehensive health-care agenda with tax credits to help low-income
w a community health center
improved information technology to prevent medical error and needless
association health plans for small businesses and their
employees,& expanded health savings accounts, and medical liability reform that
will reduce health-care costs and make sure patients have the doctors
and care they need.
To keep our economy growing, we also need
reliable supplies of affordable, environmentally responsible energy. Nearly four years ago, I submitted a
comprehensive energy strategy that encourages conservation, alternative
sources, a modernized electricity grid and more production here at home,
including safe, clean nuclear energy.
My Clear Skies legislation will cut
power-plant pollution and improve the health of our citizens. And my budget provides strong funding for
leading-edge technology, from hydrogen-fueled cars to clean coal to
renewable sources such as ethanol. Four years of debate is enough. I urge
Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less
dependent on foreign energy.
All these proposals are essential to
expand this economy and add new jobs, but they are just the beginning of
our duty. To build the prosperity of future
generations, we must update institutions that were created to meet the
needs of an earlier time. Year after year, Americans are burdened
by an archaic, incoherent federal tax code. I've appointed a bipartisan
panel to examine the tax code from top to bottom. And when their
recommendations are delivered, you and I will work together to give this
nation a tax code that is pro-growth, easy to understand, and fair to
America's immigration system is also
outdated -- unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of
our country. We should not be content with laws that punish hardworking
people who want only to provide for their families, and deny businesses willing workers,
and invite chaos at our border. It is time for an immigration policy that
permits temporary guest workers to fill jobs Americans will not take,
that rejects amnesty, that tells us who is entering and leaving our
country, and that closes the border to drug dealers and terrorists.
One of America's most important
institutions -- a symbol of the trust between generations -- is also in
need of wise and effective reform. Social Security was a great moral success
of the 20th century, and we must honor its great purposes in this new
century. The system, however, on its current path,
is headed toward bankruptcy. And so we must join together to strengthen
and save Social Security. Today, more than 45 million Americans
receive Social Security benefits, and millions more are nearing
retirement. And for them, the system is sound and fiscally strong.
I have a message for every American who
is 55 or older: Do not let anyone mislead you. For you, the Social
Security system will not change in any way.
For younger workers, the Social Security
system has serious problems that will grow worse with time. Social Security was created decades ago,
for a very different era. In those days, people did not live as long,
benefits were much lower than they are today, and a half century ago,
about 16 workers paid into the system for each person drawing benefits.
Our society has changed in ways the
founders of Social Security could not have foreseen. In today's world,
people are living longer and therefore drawing benefits longer. And
those benefits are scheduled to rise dramatically over the next few
decades. And instead of 16 workers paying in for
every beneficiary, right now it's only about three workers. And over the
next few decades, that number will fall to just two workers per
beneficiary. With each passing year, fewer workers are
paying ever- higher benefits to an ever-larger number of retirees.
So here is the result: Thirteen years
from now, in 2018, Social Security will be paying out more than it takes
in. And every year afterward will bring a new shortfall, bigger than the
year before. For example, in the year 2027, the
government will somehow have to come up with an extra 200 billion
dollars to
keep the system afloat. And by 2033, the annual shortfall would be more
than 300 billion dollars. By the year 2042, the entire system would be
exhausted and bankrupt. If steps are not taken to avert that
outcome, the only solutions would be dramatically higher taxes, massive
new borrowing, or sudden and severe cuts in Social Security benefits or
other government programs.
I recognize that 2018 and 2042 may seem a
long way off. But those dates aren't so distant, as any parent will tell
you. If you have a 5-year-old, you're already concerned about how you'll
pay for college tuition 13 years down the road. If you've got children in their 20s, as
some of us do, the idea of Social Security collapsing before they retire
does not seem like a small matter. And it should not be a small matter
to the United States Congress.
You and I share a responsibility. We must
pass reforms that solve the financial problems of Social Security once
and for all. Fixing Social Security permanently will
require an open, candid review of the options. Some have suggested limiting benefits for
wealthy retirees. Former Congressman Tim Penny has raised
the possibility of indexing benefits to prices rather than wages. During the 1990s, my predecessor,
President Clinton, spoke of increasing the retirement age. Former Senator John Breaux suggested
discouraging early collection of Social Security benefits. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
recommended changing the way benefits are calculated.
All these ideas are on the table.
I know that none of these reforms would
be easy. But we have to move ahead with courage and honesty, because our
children's retirement security is more important than partisan politics.
I will work with members of Congress to
find the most effective combination of reforms. I will listen to anyone
who has a good idea to offer.
We must, however, be guided by some basic
principles:
- We must make Social Security permanently
sound, not leave that task for another day.
- We must not jeopardize our economic
strength by increasing payroll taxes.
- We must ensure that lower-income
Americans get the help they need to have dignity and peace of mind in
their retirement.
- We must guarantee that there is no change
for those now retired or nearing retirement.
- And we must take care that any changes in
the system are gradual, so younger workers have years to prepare and
plan for their future.
As we fix Social Security, we also have
the responsibility to make the system a better deal for younger workers.
And the best way to reach that goal is through voluntary personal
retirement accounts.
Here is how the idea works: Right now, a set portion of the money you
earn is taken out of your paycheck to pay for the Social Security
benefits of today's retirees. If you're a younger worker, I believe you
should be able to set aside part of that money in your own retirement
account, so you can build a nest egg for your own future.
Here is why the personal accounts are a
better deal: Your money will grow, over time, at a
greater rate than anything the current system can deliver. And your account will provide money for
retirement over and above the check you will receive from Social
Security. In addition, you'll be able to pass along
the money that accumulates in your personal account, if you wish, to
your children and -- or grandchildren. And best of all, the money in the account
is yours, and the government can never take it away.
The goal here is greater security in
retirement, so we will set careful guidelines for personal accounts:
We'll make sure the money can only go
into a conservative mix of bonds and stock funds. We'll make sure that your earnings are
not eaten up by hidden Wall Street fees. We'll make sure there are good options to
protect your investments from sudden market swings on the eve of your
retirement.
We'll make sure a personal account cannot
be emptied out all at once, but rather paid out over time, as an
addition to traditional Social Security benefits. And we'll make sure this plan is fiscally
responsible by starting personal retirement accounts gradually and
raising the yearly limits on contributions over time, eventually
permitting all workers to set aside 4 percentage points of their payroll
taxes in their accounts. Personal retirement accounts should be
familiar to federal employees, because you already have something
similar, called the Thrift Savings Plan, which lets workers deposit a
portion of their paychecks into any of five different broadly based
investment funds.
It's time to extend the same security and
choice and ownership to young Americans.
Our second great responsibility to our
children and grandchildren is to honor and to pass along the values that
sustain a free society. So many of my generation, after a long
journey, have come home to family and faith, and are determined to bring
up responsible, moral children. Government is not the source of these
values, but government should never undermine them.
Because marriage is a sacred institution
and the foundation of society, it should not be redefined by activist
judges. For the good of families, children and society, I support a
constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage.
Because a society is measured by how it
treats the weak and vulnerable, we must strive to build a culture of
life. Medical research can help us reach that
goal, by developing treatments and cures that save lives and help people
overcome disabilities. And I thank the Congress for doubling the
funding of the National Institutes of Health. To build a culture of life, we must also
ensure that scientific advances always serve human dignity, not take
advantage of some lives for the benefit of others.
We should all be able to agree -- We should all be able to agree on some
clear standards. I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos
are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts and that
human life is never bought or sold as a commodity. America will continue to lead the world
in medical research that is ambitious, aggressive, and always ethical.
Because courts must always deliver
impartial justice, judges have a duty to faithfully interpret the law,
not legislate from the bench. As President, I have a constitutional
responsibility to nominate men and women who understand the role of
courts in our democracy and are well-qualified to serve on the bench,
and I have done so.
The Constitution also gives the Senate a
responsibility: Every judicial nominee deserves an up-or-down vote.
Because one of the deepest values of our
country is compassion, we must never turn away from any citizen who
feels isolated from the opportunities of America. Our government will continue to support
faith-based and community groups that bring hope to harsh places. Now we need to focus on giving young
people, especially young men in our cities, better options than apathy
or gangs or jail.
Tonight I propose a three-year initiative
to help organizations keep young people out of gangs and show young men
an ideal of manhood that respects women and rejects violence. Taking on gang life will be one part of a
broader outreach to at-risk youth, which involves parents and pastors,
coaches and community leaders, in programs ranging from literacy to
sports. And I am proud that the leader of this
nationwide effort will be our First Lady, Laura Bush.
Because HIV/AIDS brings suffering and
fear into so many lives, I ask you to reauthorize the Ryan White Act to
encourage prevention and provide care and treatment to the victims of
that disease. And as we update this important law, we
must focus our efforts on fellow citizens with the highest rates of new
cases: African-American men and women.
Because one of the main sources of our
national unity is our belief in equal justice, we need to make sure
Americans of all races and backgrounds have confidence in the system
that provides justice. In America we must make doubly sure no
person is held to account for a crime he or she did not commit. So we
are dramatically expanding the use of DNA evidence to prevent wrongful
conviction. Soon I will send to Congress a proposal
to fund special training for defense counsel in capital cases, because
people on trial for their lives must have competent lawyers by their
Our third responsibility to future
generations is to leave them an America that is safe from danger and
protected by peace. We will pass along to our children all
the freedoms we enjoy. And chief among them is freedom from fear. In the three and a half years since
September the 11th, 2001, we've taken unprecedented actions to protect
Americans. We've created a new department of
government to defend our homeland, focused the FBI on preventing
terrorism, begun to reform our intelligence agencies, broken up terror
cells across the country, expanded research on defenses against
biological and chemical attack, improved border security, and trained
more than a half million first responders. Police and firefighters, air marshals,
researchers and so many others are working every day to make our
homeland safer, and we thank them all.
Our nation, working with allies and
friends, has also confronted the enemy abroad with measures that are
determined, successful, and continuing. The Al Qaida terror network that attacked
our country still has leaders, but many of its top commanders have been
removed. There are still governments that sponsor
and harbor terrorists, but their number has declined. There are still regimes seeking weapons
of mass destruction, but no longer without attention and without
consequence. Our country is still the target of
terrorists who want to kill many and intimidate us all. And we will stay
on the offensive against them until the fight is won.
Pursuing our enemies is a vital
commitment of the war on terror. And I thank the Congress for providing
our service men and women with the resources they have needed. During
this time of war, we must continue to support our military and give them
the tools for victory.
Other nations around the globe have stood
with us. In Afghanistan, an international force is helping provide
security. In Iraq, 28 countries have troops on the ground. The United
Nations and the European Union provided technical assistance for the
elections. And NATO is leading a mission to help train Iraqi officers.
We're cooperating with 60 governments in
the Proliferation Security Initiative to detect and stop the transit of
dangerous materials. We're working closely with the
governments in Asia to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear
ambitions. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and nine other
countries have captured or detained Al Qaida terrorists.
In the next four years, my Administration
will continue to build the coalitions that will defeat the dangers of
our time. In the long term, the peace we seek will
only be achieved by eliminating the conditions that feed radicalism and
ideologies of murder. If whole regions of the world remain in
despair and grow in hatred, they will be the recruiting grounds for
terror, and that terror will stalk America and other free nations for
decades. The only force powerful enough to stop
the rise of tyranny and terror and replace hatred with hope is the force
of human freedom.
Our enemies know this, and that is why
the terrorist Zarqawi recently declared war on what he called the &evil
principle& of democracy. And we've declared our own intention:
America will stand with the allies of freedom to support democratic
movements in the Middle East and beyond, with the ultimate goal of
ending tyranny in our world.
The United States has no right, no desire,
and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else.
is one -- That is one of the main differences
between us and our enemies. They seek to impose and expand an empire of
oppression, in which a tiny group of brutal, self-appointed rulers
control every aspect of every life. Our aim is to build and preserve a
community of free and independent nations, with governments that answer
to their citizens and reflect their own cultures.
And because democracies respect their own
people and their neighbors, the advance of freedom will lead to peace.
That advance has great momentum in our
time, shown by women voting in Afghanistan, and Palestinians choosing a
new direction, and the people of Ukraine asserting their democratic
rights and electing a president. We are witnessing landmark events in the
history of liberty. And in the coming years, we will add to that story.
The beginnings of reform and democracy in
the Palestinian territories are now showing the power of freedom to
break old patterns of violence and failure.
Tomorrow morning, Secretary of State Rice
departs on a trip that will take her to Israel and the West Bank for
meetings with Prime Minister Sharon and President Abbas. She will
discuss with them how we and our friends can help the Palestinian people
end terror and build the institutions of a peaceful, independent,
democratic state. To promote this democracy, I will ask
Congress for 350 million dollars to support Palestinian political, economic and
security reforms. The goal of two democratic states, Israel
and Palestine, living side by side in peace is within reach, and America
will help them achieve that goal.
To promote peace and stability in the
broader Middle East, the United States will work with our friends in the
region to fight the common threat of terror, while we encourage a higher
standard of freedom. Hopeful reform is already taking hold in
an arc from Morocco to Jordan to Bahrain. The government of Saudi Arabia
can demonstrate its leadership in the region by expanding the role of
its people in determining their future. And the great and proud nation
of Egypt, which showed the way toward peace in the Middle East, can now
show the way toward democracy in the Middle East.
To promote peace in the broader Middle
East, we must confront regimes that continue to harbor terrorists and
pursue weapons of mass murder. Syria still allows its territory and
parts of Lebanon to be used by terrorists who seek to destroy every
chance of peace in the region.You have passed, and we are applying, the
Syrian Accountability Act. And we expect the Syrian government to end
all support for terror and open the door to freedom.
Today, Iran remains the world's primary
state sponsor of terror -- pursuing nuclear weapons while depriving its
people of the freedom they seek and deserve. We are working with European allies to
make clear to the Iranian regime that it must give up its uranium
enrichment program and any plutonium reprocessing and end its support
for terror. And to the Iranian people, I say tonight:
As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.
Our generational commitment to the
advance of freedom, especially in the Middle East, is now being tested
and honored in Iraq. That country is a vital front in the war on terror,
which is why the terrorists have chosen to make a stand there. Our men and women in uniform are fighting
terrorists in Iraq so we do not have to face them here at home.
The victory of freedom in Iraq will
strengthen a new ally in the war on terror, inspire democratic reformers
from Damascus to Tehran, bring more hope and progress to a troubled
region, and thereby lift a terrible threat from the lives of our
children and grandchildren. We will succeed because the Iraqi people
value their own liberty, as they showed the world last Sunday. Across Iraq, often at great risk,
millions of citizens went to the polls and elected 275 men and women to
represent them in a new transitional national assembly. A young woman in Baghdad told of waking
to the sound of mortar fire on election day and wondering if it might be
too dangerous to vote. She said, &Hearing those explosions, it occurred
to me, the they are they are
losing. So I got my husband, and I got my parents, and we all came out and voted
together.&
Americans recognize that spirit of
liberty, because we share it. In any nation, casting your vote is an act
of civic responsibility. For millions of Iraqis, it was also an act of
personal courage, and they have earned the respect of us all.
One of Iraq's leading democracy and human
rights advocates is Safia Taleb al-Suhail. She says of her country, &We
were occupied for 35 years by Saddam Hussein. That was the real
occupation. Thank you to the American people who paid the cost, but most
of all to the soldiers.& Eleven years ago, Safia's father was
assassinated by Saddam's intelligence service. Three days ago in
Baghdad, Safia was finally able to vote for the leaders of her country.
And we are honored that she is with us tonight.
The terrorists and insurgents are
violently opposed to democracy and will continue to attack it. Yet the
terrorists' most powerful myth is being destroyed. The whole world is seeing that the car
bombers and assassins are not only fighting coalition forces, they are
trying to destroy the hopes of Iraqis, expressed in free elections.
And the whole world now knows that a
small group of extremists will not overturn the will of the Iraqi
We will succeed in Iraq because Iraqis
are determined to fight for their own freedom and to write their own
history. As Prime Minister Allawi said in his speech to Congress last
September, &Ordinary Iraqis are anxious to shoulder all the security
burdens of our country as quickly as possible.& That is the natural desire of an
independent nation, and it also is the stated mission of our coalition
The new political situation in Iraq opens
a new phase of our work in that country. At the recommendation of our
commanders on the ground and in consultation with the Iraqi government,
we will increasingly focus our efforts on helping prepare more capable
Iraqi security forces -- forces with skilled officers and an effective
command structure.
As those forces become more self-reliant
and take on greater security responsibilities, America and its coalition
partners will increasingly be in a supporting role. In the end, Iraqis
must be able to defend their own country, and we will help that proud,
new nation secure its liberty. Recently an Iraqi interpreter said to a
reporter, &Tell America not to abandon us.& He and all Iraqis can be certain: While
our military strategy is adapting to circumstances, our commitment
remains firm and unchanging. We are standing for the freedom of our
Iraqi friends, and freedom in Iraq will make America safer for
generations to come.
We will not set an artificial timetable
for leaving Iraq, because that would embolden the terrorists and make
them believe they can wait us out. We are in Iraq to achieve a result: a
country that is democratic, representative of all its people, at peace
with its neighbors and able to defend itself. And when that result is achieved, our men
and women serving in Iraq will return home with the honor they have
Right now, Americans in uniform are
serving at posts across the world, often taking great risks on my
orders. We have given them training and equipment. And they have given
us an example of idealism and character that makes every American proud.
The volunteers of our military are
unrelenting in battle, unwavering in loyalty, unmatched in honor and
decency, and every day they are making our nation more secure.
Some of our service men and women have
survived terrible injuries, and this grateful nation will do everything
we can to help them recover.
And we have said farewell to some very
good men and women who died for our freedom and whose memory this nation
will honor forever.
One name we honor is Marine Corps
Sergeant Byron Norwood of Pflugerville, Texas, who was killed during the
assault on Fallujah. His mom, Janet, sent me a letter and told me how
much Byron loved being a Marine and how proud he was to be on the front
line against terror. She wrote, &When Byron was home the last
time, I said that I wanted to protect him like I had since he was born.
He just hugged me and said, 'You've done your job, Mom. Now it is my
turn to protect you.'& Ladies and gentlemen, with grateful
hearts, we honor freedom's defenders and our military families,
represented here this evening by Sergeant Norwood's mom and dad, Janet
and Bill Norwood.
In these four years, Americans have seen
the unfolding of large events. We have known times of sorrow and hours
of uncertainty and days of victory. In all this history, even when we
have disagreed, we have seen threads of purpose that unite us.
The attack on freedom in our world has
reaffirmed our confidence in freedom's power to change the world. We're
all part of a great venture: to extend the promise of freedom in our
country, to renew the values that sustain our liberty and to spread the
peace that freedom brings.
As Franklin Roosevelt once reminded
Americans, &Each age is a dream that is dying or one that is coming to
And we live in the country where the
biggest dreams are born.
The abolition of slavery was only a dream
-- until it was fulfilled.
The liberation of Europe from fascism was
only a dream -- until it was achieved.
The fall of imperial communism
was only a dream -- until, one day, it was accomplished.
Our generation has dreams of its own, and
we also go forward with confidence. The road of providence is uneven and
unpredictable, yet we know where it leads: It leads to freedom.
Thank you. And may God bless America.
Also in this database:
State of the Union Addresses
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