Remarks by The President on Health Care...(2)
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2009-08-08 06:33 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON HEALTH CARE
AND THE SENATE VOTE ON F-22 FUNDING

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  Before I talk about the progress we’re making on health insurance reform, I want to say a few words about a very important vote that just took place in Congress.

Long before I took this office, I argued that meeting our greatest challenges would require not only changing policies in Washington, but changing the way we do business in Washington.  I also promised that part of that change would be eliminating waste and inefficiency1 in our defense2 projects -- reform that will better protect our nation, better protect our troops, and save taxpayers3 tens of billions of dollars.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will do whatever it takes to defend the American people, which is why we’ve increased our funding for our military, and why we will always give our men and women in uniform the equipment and support that they need to get the job done.

But I reject the notion that we have to waste billions of taxpayer4 dollars on outdated5 and unnecessary defense projects to keep this nation secure.  That's why I’ve taken steps to greatly reduce no-bid defense contracts.  That's why I've signed overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation to limit cost overruns on weapons systems before they spiral out of control.  And that's why I'm grateful that the Senate just voted against an additional $1.75 billion to buy F-22 fighter jets that military experts and members of both parties say we do not need.

At a time when we’re fighting two wars and facing a serious deficit6, this would have been an inexcusable waste of money.  Every dollar of waste in our defense budget is a dollar we can’t spend to support our troops, or prepare for future threats, or protect the American people.  Our budget is a zero-sum game, and if more money goes to F-22s, it is our troops and citizens who lose.

So I want to thank Secretary Gates for his outspoken7 leadership on this issue.  I want to thank every member of Congress who put politics aside to do what’s right for the American military and the American taxpayers.  And I particularly want to thank Senators Levin and McCain for helping8 to make this happen.

Now, I’ve also said that health care costs are the biggest drivers of our deficit.  Nobody disputes that.  So I’m looking forward to meeting with several members of Congress who are working to pass health insurance reform that will bring down long-term costs, expand coverage9, and provide more choice.

I know that there are those in this town who openly declare their intention to block reform.  It's a familiar Washington script that we've seen many times before.  These opponents of reform would rather score political points than offer relief to Americans who've seen premiums10 double and costs grow three times faster than wages.  They would maintain a system that works for the insurance and the drug companies, while becoming increasingly unaffordable for families and for businesses.

But there are many others who are working hard to address this growing crisis.  I know that there is a tendency in Washington to accentuate12 the differences instead of underscoring common ground.  But make no mistake:  We are closer than ever before to the reform that the American people need, and we're going to get the job done.  I have urged Congress to act, and the health care reform bills making their way through the respective committees in the House and the Senate reflect a hard-earned consensus13 about how to move forward.  So let me just lay out the substantial common ground in the current bills.
 
We've agreed that our health reform bill will extend coverage and include unprecedented14 insurance protections for the American people.  Under each of these bills, you won't be denied coverage if you've got a preexisting medical condition.  You won't lose your health care if you change jobs, if you lose your job, or if you start a business.  And you won't lose your insurance if you get sick.

We've agreed that our health reform bill will promote choice.  America -- Americans will be able to compare the price and quality of different plans, and pick the plan that they want. If you like your current plan, you will be able to keep it.  Let me repeat that:  If you like your plan, you'll be able to keep it.  And each bill provides for a public option that will keep insurance companies honest, ensuring the competition necessary to make coverage affordable11.

We've agreed that our health reform bill will emphasize prevention and wellness.  By investing in programs that help Americans live healthier lives, we will save money, prevent illness, and increase the competitiveness of our country.  We've agreed that our health reform bill will protect American families from financial catastrophe15 if they get sick.  That's why each of these bills has out-of-pocket limits that will help ensure that families don't go bankrupt because of illness.  And we have agreed that our health reform bill will include dramatic measures to cut costs while improving quality.#p#分页标题#e#

Each of these bills improves oversight16 while cracking down on waste.  Each will help reduce unwarranted giveaways to insurance companies in Medicare.  And each of these bills will provide incentives17 so that patients get the best care, not just the most expensive care.

The consensus that we've forged is not limited to Congress. Indeed, we've forged a level of consensus on health care that has never been reached in the history of this country.  Health care providers have agreed to do their part to reduce the rate of growth in health care spending.  The pharmaceutical18 industry has agreed to spending reductions that will make prescription19 drugs more affordable for seniors.  Hospitals have agreed to bring down costs.  The American Nurses Association and the American Medical Association, who represent millions of nurses and doctors who know our health care system best, have announced their support for reform.

So we have traveled long and hard to reach this point.  I know that we have further to go.  But I have to say that the American people are absolutely clear that this won't be easy but that the road that we have traveled doesn't just stretch back through the six months of my administration -- it stretches back year after year, decade after decade, through all the times that Washington has failed to tackle this problem.

Time and again, we've heard excuses to delay and defeat reform.  Time and again, the American people have suffered because people in Washington played the politics of the moment instead of putting the interests of the American people first.  That's how we ended up with premiums rising three times faster than wages.  That's how we ended up with businesses choosing between shedding benefits and shutting their doors.  That's how we've been burdened with runaway20 costs and huge gaps in coverage.

That's the status quo.  That's what we have right now.  And the American people understand that the status quo is unacceptable.  They don't care who's up or who's down politically in Washington.  They care about what's going on in their own lives.  They don't care about the latest line of political attack.  They care about whether their families will be crushed by rising premiums; whether the businesses they work for will have to cut jobs; or whether their children are going to be saddled with debt.

So I understand that some will try to delay action until the special interests can kill it, while others will simply focus on scoring political points.  We've done that before.  And we can choose to follow that playbook again, and then we'll never get over the goal line, and we'll face an even greater crisis in the years to come.  That's one path we can travel.

Or, we can come together and insist that this time it will be different.  We can choose action over inaction.  We can choose progress over the politics of the moment.  We can build on the extraordinary common ground that's been forged, and we can do the hard work needed to finally pass the health insurance reform that the American people deserve.

And I can guarantee you that when we do pass this bill, history won't record the demands for endless delay or endless debates in the news cycle –- it will record the hard work done by the members of Congress to pass the bill, and the fact that the people who sent us here to Washington insisted upon change. That's the work that we've come here to do, and I look forward to working with Congress in the days ahead to getting the job done.

Thank you, everybody.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 inefficiency N7Xxn     
n.无效率,无能;无效率事例
参考例句:
  • Conflict between management and workers makes for inefficiency in the workplace. 资方与工人之间的冲突使得工厂生产效率很低。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This type of inefficiency arises because workers and management are ill-equipped. 出现此种低效率是因为工人与管理层都能力不足。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 defense AxbxB     
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
参考例句:
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
3 taxpayers 8fa061caeafce8edc9456e95d19c84b4     
纳税人,纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
  • She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。
4 taxpayer ig5zjJ     
n.纳税人
参考例句:
  • The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
  • The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。
5 outdated vJTx0     
adj.旧式的,落伍的,过时的;v.使过时
参考例句:
  • That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了,许多地址已经改了。
  • Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。
6 deficit tmAzu     
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差
参考例句:
  • The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
  • We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。
7 outspoken 3mIz7v     
adj.直言无讳的,坦率的,坦白无隐的
参考例句:
  • He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
  • She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。
8 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
9 coverage nvwz7v     
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖
参考例句:
  • There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
  • This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。
10 premiums efa999cd01994787d84b066d2957eaa7     
n.费用( premium的名词复数 );保险费;额外费用;(商品定价、贷款利息等以外的)加价
参考例句:
  • He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 affordable kz6zfq     
adj.支付得起的,不太昂贵的
参考例句:
  • The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
  • There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。
12 accentuate 4I2yX     
v.着重,强调
参考例句:
  • She has beautiful eyes, so we should accentuate them in the makeup.她眼睛很美丽,我们在化妆时应该突出她的眼睛。
  • Mrs Obamas speeches rarely accentuate the positive.奥巴马夫人的演讲很少强调美国积极的一面。
13 consensus epMzA     
n.(意见等的)一致,一致同意,共识
参考例句:
  • Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗?
  • What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么?
14 unprecedented 7gSyJ     
adj.无前例的,新奇的
参考例句:
  • The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
  • A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。
15 catastrophe WXHzr     
n.大灾难,大祸
参考例句:
  • I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
  • This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。
16 oversight WvgyJ     
n.勘漏,失察,疏忽
参考例句:
  • I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
  • Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。
17 incentives 884481806a10ef3017726acf079e8fa7     
激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 ); 刺激; 诱因; 动机
参考例句:
  • tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
  • Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者,提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
18 pharmaceutical f30zR     
adj.药学的,药物的;药用的,药剂师的
参考例句:
  • She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
  • We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。
19 prescription u1vzA     
n.处方,开药;指示,规定
参考例句:
  • The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
  • The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。
20 runaway jD4y5     
n.逃走的人,逃亡,亡命者;adj.逃亡的,逃走的
参考例句:
  • The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
  • He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。
TAG标签: health Obama remark
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