奥巴马总统在安赛乐米塔尔集团克利夫兰钢铁厂英语演讲稿.docx

奥巴马总统在安赛乐米塔尔集团克利夫兰钢铁厂英语演讲稿THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Ohio! (Applause.) It is good to be backin Cleveland. The last timeI was herewas about a year ago, in the final days of the campaign. I know how much you misshearing how Iapprove this message every night on your TV. (Laughter.) I will say it is niceto behere when the only real battle for Ohio is the Browns-Bengals game thisSunday. (Applause.)Hes got the Browns shirt right here, Brownscap. (Laughter.)I want to thank Scotty for thatterrific introduction. Give him a biground of applause. (Applause.) He is a natural. I want to thank your CEO, Lakshmi Mittal, forinvesting in Americaand the Cleveland area. We appreciate him. (Applause.) And I want to thankall of you forhaving me here today.Along with me, there are a coupleof people I just want to acknowledge. First of all,Americas Secretary of Energy, Ernie Moniz, is here. Right there. (Applause.) AndCongresswomanMarcy Kaptur is here. Give Marcy a biground of applause. (Applause.) Fightingfor working people every day.And earlier this afternoon I hada chance to see your mayor, Frank Jackson; your countyexecutive, EdFitzGerald. And even though theyre nothere, I want to thank them for the greatwork theyre doing on behalf ofworking people throughout the region. (Applause.)And then, finally, I want tothank Mark and Gary for showing me one of the biggest steelplants inAmerica. And they told me that folks areproud to have been making steel right here fora century - 100 years - righthere. (Applause.) And they explained that, today, the steelyoumake in Cleveland is some of the strongest youll find anywhere in theworld. Its one of themost productiveplants in the world. Best workers in theworld. (Applause.)And whats remarkable is, whenyou think about it, go back to where this plant was just afew years ago. The economy was in free fall, auto industryon the brink of collapse. And thatmeantdemand for steel had dried up. The blastfurnaces went quiet. About 1,200steelworkerspunched out for what might have been the last time. And that all came at the end of a decadewhenthe middle class was already working harder and harder just to get by, andnearly one inthree American manufacturing jobs had vanished - a lot of themgoing overseas. And that couldhavedevastated this community for good.But we rolled up our sleeves, wemade some tough choices. We rescued andretooled theAmerican auto industry; it saved more than a million jobs. We bet on American ingenuity andAmericanworkers. (Applause.) And assembly lines started humming again, andautomakersstarted to make cars again. And just a few months after this plant shutdown, your plantmanager got the call: Fire those furnaces back up, get those workers back on the job. And overthe last four years, youve madeyourselves one of the most productive steel mills not just inAmerica, but inthe world. In the world. (Applause.)So you retooled to make thestronger steel that goes into newer, better American cars andtrucks. You created new partnerships with schools andcommunity colleges to make sure thatfolks who work here have the high-techskills they need for the high-tech jobs - because I waslooking around thisfactory, and theres a whole bunch of computer stuff going on.One of your engineers - and Iwant to make sure I get Margarets name right here -Margaret Krolikowski. Did I get that right, Margaret? (Applause.) Wheres Margaret? Whereisshe? There is she is, back there. So Im going to quote you - Im going toquote you. Hereswhat Margaretsaid: “When we came back, we wanted tomake sure we were in a position wherewe never shut down again.” Never shut down again. And that means making sure that workershereare constantly upgrading their skills and investments being made in thestate-of-the-arttechnology.And it was interesting, when Iwas meeting a number of the folks who were giving me thetour - folks who havebeen here 30 years, 40 years - but obviously the plant has changed, andsoduring that period theyve had to upgrade their skills. And thats whats happened. And thestory of this plant is the story ofAmerica over the last five years. Wehavent just beenrecovering from a crisis. What weve been trying to do is rebuild a new foundation for growthandprosperity to protect ourselves from future crises. And because of the grit and resilienceandoptimism of the American people, were seeing comeback stories like yours allacrossAmerica.Over the last 44 months, ourbusinesses have created 7.8 million new jobs. Last month,another 200,000 Americans went back to work. (Applause.) And a lot of those jobs are inmanufacturing. So now weve got more work to do to get thoseengines of the economy churningeven faster. But because weve been willing to do some hard things, not just kick thecan downthe road, factories are reopening their doors, businesses are hiringnew workers, companies thatwere shipping jobs overseas, theyre starting totalk about bringing those jobs back to America.Were starting to see that.And let me give you an example,because we were talking about this - Mr. Mittal and otherswere talking aboutwhats different now. Take a look atwhat weve done with American energy.For years, folks have talked about reducing our dependence on foreignoil - but we didnt reallydo it. Andwe were just importing more and more oil, sending more and more moneyoverseas.Gas prices keep on going upand up and up. We finally decided wewere going to do somethingabout it.So we invested in new Americantechnologies to reverse our addiction to foreign oil,double wind power, doublesolar power,re oil,re natural gas, and do itall in a waythat is actually bringing down some of our pollution, making our entireeconomymore energy-efficient. Today, we generatemore renewable energy than ever.re natural gas than anybody in the world. Just yesterday, we learned that for thefirsttime since 1995, the United States of America produces more of our own oil hereat homethan we buy from other countries. First time since 1995. (Applause.) And thats a big deal.Thats what America has done these past fiveyears.And that is a huge competitiveadvantage for us. Part of the reasoncompanies now want tomove - we were just talking about it - this plant, ifits located in Germany, energy costs aredouble, maybe triple; same inJapan. So this gives us a big edge. But this is also important: Wereached the milestone not just because wereproducing more energy, but also were wastingless energy. And this plant is a good example of it. We set new fuel standards that doublethedistance our cars and trucks go on a gallon of gas by the middle of the nextdecade. Thatsaves the average driver,everybody here, more than $8,000 at the pump over the life of a newcar. You like that? (Applause.) We launched initiatives to put people to work upgrading ourhomes, andour businesses, and our factories so were wasting less energy. All that savesbusinesses money on theirenergy bills. Your plant is one of thehundreds to answer that call.And if youresaving money on energy costs, that means you can invest in equipment, investinworkers, hire more people,re products.And heres another thing: Between more clean energy, less wastedenergy, the carbonpollution thats helping to warm the planet, that actuallystarts going down. And thats goodnewsfor anybody who cares about leaving a planet to our kids that is as beautifulas the one wegot from our parents and our grandparents. (Applause.) So its a win-win. Our economykeepsgrowing, creating new jobs, which means that strengthening our energysecurity and increasingenergy efficiency doesnt have to be a choice betweenthe environment and the economy -we can do both.So weve tackled the way we useenergy. Thats making America morecompetitive in order toattract good jobs. Weve also tackled our deficits. A lot of people have been concerned aboutdeficits. Since I took office, we cut them inhalf. That makes America more attractivewhen itcomes to business investment decisions.And weve tackled a broken healthcare system. Obviously, were not doneyet. (Applause.)Obviously, were not done yet. But over the last three years, health carecosts have grown at theslowest pace on record. And this is a great place to work thanks to a great steelworkperation between management and labor. (Applause.) But just keep in mindthatif businesses health care costs are growing at about one-third the ratethat they were a decadeago, that makes America a more affordable place to dobusiness, and it also means that theinvestors here, if theyre putting lessmoney into health care costs, they can put more money interms of hiring moreworkers and making sure that theyre getting good pay.So thats what all these toughdecisions are about: Reversing theforces that have hurt themiddle class for a long, long time, and building aneconomy where anybody, if you work hard,you can get ahead. Thats what plants like this have always beenabout. Its not that itseasywork. But it means if you work hard, youvegot a chance to buy a home, youve got achance to retire, youve got a chanceto send your kids to school, you have a chance to maybetake a little vacationonce in a while. Thats what peoplestrive for. And thats what will makethe21st century an American century, just like the last century was.But I didnt run for President togo back to where we were. I want us togo forward. I want usto go towards thefuture. (Applause.) I want us to get us to where we need tobe. I want tosolve problems, not justput them off. I want to solveproblems. And weve got to do moretocreate more good, middle-class jobs like the ones folks have here.That means weve got to doeverything we can to prepare our children and our workers forthe competitionthat theyre going to face. We should bedoing everything we can to help putsome sort of advanced education withinreach for more young people. Noteverybody has got togo to a four-year college, but just looking at theequipment around here, youve got to have alittle bit of advancedtraining. It may come through acommunity college or it may come througha technical school, but weve got tomake sure you can get that education, your kids can getthat education withoutgoing broke - without going broke, without going into debt. (Applause.)So were working on that.Another thing we should beworking on: Fixing a broken immigrationsystem. (Applause.)When you think about this whole region, a lotof folks forget, but almost everybody who workedin that plant 100 years agocame from someplace else. And so wevegot now a new generation ofhopeful, striving immigrants; weve got to makesure that they come legally and that we dowhat we need to secure our borders,but weve also got to make sure that were providing themopportunity just likeyour parents, grandparents, great-grandparents received when theyarrived atthis plant. And thats important. (Applause.) And, by the way, it will help oureconomy grow because then theyrepaying taxes and helping to invest and build here inAmerica.We should do everything we can torevitalize American manufacturing. Manufacturing is -thats the hub of our economy. When our manufacturing base is strong, theentire economy isstrong. A lot ofservice jobs depend on servicing manufacturing jobs. And, typically,manufacturing jobs pay alittle bit better. So thats been apath, a ticket to the middle class.Sowhen we make steel and cars, make them here in America, that helps. Like I said, the workmay be hard but itgivney to buy a home and raise a kid, retire and send yourkidsto school.And those kinds of jobs also tellus something else. Its not just howmuch you get in yourpaycheck, its also a sense of, “Im making something andIm helping to build this country.”Ithelps establish a sense of - that were invested in this country. (Applause.) It tells us whatwere worth as a community. One of your coworkers, Mike Longa - wheresMike?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Back here.THE PRESIDENT: Is he back here? Thats Mike right there. Mike grew up here. His momand dad worked at this plant. This plant helped put Mike and four brothersand/or sistersthrough college. And oncethis plant started growing again, Mike got his chance to be asteelworker here,and provide for his own two young kids. So its a generational thing, and Iwant to keep that going.In my State of the Union address,I talked about how we created Americas firstmanufacturing innovationinstitute right here in Ohio. MarcyKaptur has been a big proponentof this, because she knows how importantmanufacturing is. I want to create moreof them -places where businesses are working with universities and theyrepartnering to figure out whatare the new manufacturing techniques that keep usat the cutting edge so that China orGermany dont get ahead of us in terms ofthe equipment thats being invested. Wewant to beat the cutting edge, so what were producing is always the beststeel, its always the best cars.Butthat requires research and investment.And your Senator, Sherrod Brown,helped us to create that first manufacturing hub inYoungstown. And hes now leading a bipartisan effort -(applause) - hes now leading abipartisan effort with Senator Blunt ofMissouri to move more of these manufacturinginnovation hubs all across thecountry. And Congress should passSherrods bill. We should bedoingeverything we can to guarantee the next revolution in manufacturing happensright herein Cuyahoga, happens right here in Ohio, happens right here inAmerica. (Applause.)And let me make one lastpoint. We have to do everything we canto make sure everyAmerican has access to quality, affordable health care,period. (Applause.) You may have readwe had some problems lastmonth with websites. Im not happy aboutthat. And then I had apress conferencetoday and I said, you know what, we fumbled the ball in terms of the rollout.But we always knew this was goingto be hard. Theres a reason why folkshad tried to do itfor 100 years and hadnt done it. And its complicated. There are a lot of players involved. Thestatus quo is entrenched. And so, yes, theres no question the rollouton the Affordable CareAct was much tougher than we expected. But I want everybody here to understand, I amgoingto see this through. (Applause.) I want millions of Americans to make surethat theyre notgoing broke when they get sick and they can go to a doctorwhen their kids get sick. And werenotapologizing for that. We are going toget this done. (Applause.)So were going to get the websiteworking the way its supposed to. Theplans are already outthere that are affordable and people can get taxcredits. Were going to help folks whoseoldplans have been canceled by the insurers - many of them werent very good- and were goingto make sure that they can get newer, better options.But were not going to go back tothe old system, because the old system was broken. Andevery year, thousands of Americans wouldget dropped from coverage or denied their medicalhistory or exposed tofinancial ruin. You guys are lucky thatyou work at a company with astrong union that gives you good healthbenefits. (Applause.) But you know friends and familymembers whodont have it, and you know what its like when they get sick. You know how scaryit is for them when theyget sick. Or some of them have healthinsurance - they think they do -and they get sick, and suddenly theinsurance company says, oh, Im sorry, you owe $50,000.Thats not covered. Or they jack up your premium so you cantafford it because you had somesort of preexisting condition. That happens every day.So were not going to let thathappen. Were not going to let folks whopay their premiumson time get jerked around. And were not going to walk away from the 40 million Americanswithouthealth insurance. (Applause.) We are not going to gut this law. We will fix what needsto be fixed, but weregoing to make the Affordable Care Act work. And those who say theyreopposed to it and cant offer a solution, wellpush back. (Applause.)I got to give your Governor alittle bit of credit. John Kasich, alongwith a lot of statelegislators who are here today, they expanded Medicaidunder the Affordable Care Act. Andthinkabout that. Just that one step means asmany as 275,000 Ohioans are going to have healthinsurance. And it doesnt depend on a website. Thats already happening because oftheAffordable Care Act. (Applause.)And I think its fair to say thatthe Governor didnt do it because he just loves me so much. (Laughter.) We dont agree on much, but he saw, well, this makes sense - why wouldntwe dothis? Why wouldnt we make surethat hundreds of thousands of people right here in Ohio havesomesecurity? It was the right thing todo. And, by the way, if every Republicangovernor didwhat Kasich did here rather than play politics about it, youdhave another 5.4 million Americanswho could get access to health care nextyear, regardless of what happens with the website.Thats their decision not to do it. And its the wrong decision. Theyve got to go ahead andsign folks up.So the bottom line is sometimeswe just have to set aside the politics and focus on whatsgood forpeople. Whats good to grow our middleclass? Whats going to help keep planslike thisgrowing? Whats going to makesure were putting more people back to work? Whats going toreally make a difference in terms of our kids getting agreat education?And, look, weve done itbefore. Thats the good news. The good news is that America is -look, wemake mistakes. We have ourdifferences. Our politics g