美国总统在罗得岛学院就经济政策英语演讲稿

美国总统在罗得岛学院就经济政策英语演讲稿

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody! (Applause.) Can

everybody please give Lisbeth a biground of applause? That was

a great introduction. (Applause.)

Happy Halloween, everybody. I see a lot of you came as

college students. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you!

THE PRESIDENT: I love you, too. Those of you who have seats,

feel free to sit down. Those ofyou who don’t, don’t. (Laughter.)

I am not going to be too long. I’ve got to get back and trick-or-treat tonight with Michelle. Although, Malia and Sasha are a little

old --

AUDIENCE: Aww --

THE PRESIDENT: It’s so sad. (Laughter.) I used to be able to

-- we’d dress them up, and westill have the pictures. They’ll

resent them later, but at the time they were fine with it. Theywere

so cute.

A good thing about being President is we never run out of

Presidential M&Ms -- (laughter) -- so we’re going to be giving

those out.

AUDIENCE: (Inaudible.) (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: You want some? Is that what you said? Only

to kids. (Laughter.)

We’re so proud of Lisbeth, not just for the wonderful

introduction but for being so determinedabout her education.

And she’s a really remarkable young lady. I had a chance to

speak to herbefore we came out. It turns out she went to school

with my niece and nephew --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Classical!

THE PRESIDENT: That’s right. At Classical, is that right? So

that was neat.

I have also brought some Halloween characters with me: Our

Secretary of Labor, Tom Perez. (Applause.) They are all dressed up

as really outstanding public servants. (Laughter.) AndTom has just

been doing extraordinary work. His lovely daughter is there,

who’s a freshman atBrown. Your great senators, Jack Reed and

Sheldon Whitehouse. (Applause.) Your outstandingCongressman,

David Cicilline, is here. (Applause.) Jim Langevin is here.

(Applause.) And we’reproud of both of them.

But despite how much I love all the folks I just mentioned,

the people I really came to see isyou. (Applause.) Because every

decision I make every single day -- all the policies I pursue

asPresident -- are all aimed at making sure we restore the

promise of this country for yourgeneration and for every

generation that comes after.

Now, the good news is we’ve made a lot of progress since

the worst economic crisis of ourlifetimes. So when I first came

into office, the economy was in a freefall, the auto industry wasin

a freefall. Banks were frozen up. We were losing 800,000 jobs a

month. Over the past 55months, our businesses have now added

10.3 million new jobs. (Applause.) For the first time inmore than

six years, the unemployment rate is below 6 percent. Over the

past six months,our economy has grown at its fastest pace in

more than 10 years.

And in education, dropout rates are down, the national

graduation rate is the highest on record,more young people are

earning their college degrees than ever before. (Applause.) Good

job,young people.

In energy, we’re less dependent on foreign oil than any time

in nearly three cturing -- the quintessential

producer of middle-class jobs, the heart of Rhode

Island’seconomy for decades -- manufacturing has now created

700,000 new jobs since early 2019. Tenmillion Americans have

gained the peace of mind that comes with having health

insurance. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you!

THE PRESIDENT: You’re welcome.

Deficits have come down. Health care inflation has come

down. There’s almost no economicmeasure by which we

haven’t made substantial progress over this period of time.

We’rebetter off than we were. (Applause.)

So, look, the progress has been hard. It’s sometimes been

challenging in particular it’s been steady and it’s

been real. Now, the thing is, though, what’s also true is

thatmillions of Americans don’t yet feel the benefits of a

growing economy where it matters most --and that’s in their

own lives. There are still a lot of folks who are working hard, but

havingtrouble making ends meet.

I know that many of you are working while you go to school.

Some of you are helping supportyour parents or siblings. Here in

Rhode Island, and across the country, there are still too

manypeople who are working too many hours and don’t have

enough to show for it. And this isn’tjust the hangover from the

Great Recession; some of this has to do with trends that date

back20, 30 years. And I’ve always said that recovering from the

crisis of 2019 was the first thing wehad to do, but our economy

won’t be healthy until we reverse some of these longer-termtrends, this erosion of middle-class jobs and income.

And here in Rhode Island, my administration recently

announced a grant to help more long-term unemployed folks get

the training and mentoring they need to get back to work.

(Applause.) And all across the country, we’re taking similar

actions, community bycommunity, to keep making progress.

We’ve got to harness the momentum that we’re seeing in

the broader economy and makesure the economy is working for

every single American. We’ve got to keep making smartchoices.

And today, here at RIC, I want to focus on some common-sense

steps we can take tohelp working families right now. In particular,

I want to zero in on the choices we need tomake to ensure that

women are full and equal participants in the economy. (Applause.)

Now, men, I don’t want you to feel neglected. I like men

just fine. (Laughter.) But part of thereason that I want this focus

is because I was raised by a single mom, and know what it was

likefor her to raise two kids and go to work at the same time, and

try to piece things togetherwithout a lot of support. And my

grandmother, who never graduated from college but workedher

way up to become vice president of a bank, I know what it was

like for her to hit the glassceiling, and to see herself passed over

for promotions by people that she had trained. And sosome of

this is personal, but some of it is also what we know about our

economy, which is it’schanging in profound ways, and in many

ways for the better because of the participation ofwomen more

fully in our economy.

So earlier today, I met with a group of women business

owners and working moms, and Lisbethand your president here,

and they were sharing stories that probably sound familiar to a

lot ofpeople -- studying for finals after working a full shift;

searching for childcare when thebabysitter cancels at the last

minute; using every penny of their savings so they can afford

tostay home with their new baby.

And so I kept on hearing my own story. I kept on hearing

about my mom struggling to putherself through school, or my

grandmother hitting that glass ceiling. And I thought

aboutMichelle, and I told some stories about when Michelle and

I were younger and getting starting,and we were struggling to

balance two careers while raising a family. And my job forced me

totravel a lot, which made it harder on Michelle, and we would

feel some of the guilt that somany people feel -- we’re working,

we’re thinking about the kids, we’re wondering

whetherwe’re bad parents, we’re wondering whether we were

doing what we need to do on the job. Andas the catch-22 of

working parents, we wanted to spend time with our kids, but we

also wantedto make sure that we gave them the opportunities

that our hard work was providing.

And then, of course, I think about my daughters. And the

idea that my daughters wouldn’thave the same opportunities

as somebody’s sons -- well, that’s unacceptable. That’s

notacceptable. (Applause.)

So I say all this because -- to the men here, we all have a

stake in choosing policies that helpwomen succeed. Women

make up about half of America’s workforce. (Applause.) For

more thantwo decades, women have earned over half of the

higher education degrees awarded in thiscountry. And you look

at the RIC student body, almost 70 percent women. (Applause.)

Incolleges nationwide, there are more women graduating than

men -- which means that for thefirst time, America’s highly

educated workforce will be made up of more women than men.

(Applause.)

But here’s the challenge -- that’s all good news -- the

challenge is, our economy and some ofthe laws and rules

governing our workplaces haven’t caught up with that reality. A

lot ofworkplaces haven’t caught up with that reality. So while

many women are working hard tosupport themselves and their

families, they’re still facing unfair choices, outdated

workplacepolicies. That holds them back, but it also holds all of

us back. We have to do better, becausewomen deserve better.

And, by the way, when women do well, everybody does well.

(Applause.)

So women deserve a day off to care for a sick child or sick

parent without running intohardship. And Rhode Island has got

the right idea. You’re one of just three states where paidfamily

leave is the law of the land. (Applause.) More states should

choose to follow your lead.

It was interesting talking to some of the small business

owners in the meeting. They weresaying how the Rhode Island

law actually helped them do a better job recruiting and

retainingoutstanding employees. And so that shows you

something -- that this is not just a nice thingto do; it’s good

policy. It’s good for business. It’s good for the economy.

(Applause.)

Without paid leave, when a baby arrives or an aging parent

needs help, workers have to makepainful decisions about

whether they can afford to be there when their families need

themmost. Many women can’t even get a paid day off to give

birth to their child. I mean, there are alot of companies that still

don’t provide maternity leave. Of course, dads should be there,

let’s make this happen for women and for men, and

make our economy stronger. (Applause.) We’ve got to broaden

our laws for family leave.

Moms and dads deserve a great place to drop their kids off

every day that doesn’t cost theman arm and a leg. We need

better childcare, daycare, early childhood education policies.

(Applause.) In many states, sending your child to daycare costs

more than sending them to apublic university.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: True!

THE PRESIDENT: True. (Laughter.) And too often, parents

have no choice but to put theirkids in cheaper daycare that

maybe doesn’t have the kinds of programming that makes a

bigdifference in a child’s development. And sometimes there

may just not be any slots, or the bestprograms may be too far

away. And sometimes, someone, usually mom, leaves the

workplace tostay home with the kids, which then leaves her

earning a lower wage for the rest of her life as aresult. And that’s

not a choice we want Americans to make.

So let’s make this happen. By the end of this decade, let’s

enroll 6 million children in high-quality preschool, and let’s

make sure that we are making America stronger. That is good

forfamilies; it’s also good for the children, because we know

investing in high-quality earlychildhood education makes all the

difference in the world, and those kids will do better. So weneed

family leave, we need better child care policies, and we need to

make sure that women getan honest day’s pay for an honest

day’s work. (Applause.)

About 28 million Americans would benefit if we raised the

minimum wage to $10.10 an hour -- (applause) -- like Sheldon

Whitehouse and Jack Reed support. And let me say this:

Minimumwage -- those aren’t just teenage jobs that are

impacted. We’re not just talking about youngpeople. My first

job was at Baskin Robbins. And I got paid the minimum wage and

it was g that hat and the apron was -- (laughter) --

yeah.

But the truth is, the average worker who would benefit from

an increase in the minimum wageis 35 years old -- 35. A majority

of low-wage workers are women. A lot of them have

now, somebody working full-time on the minimum wage makes

$14,500 a year -- $14,500. If they’re a parent, that means

they’re below the poverty line. Nobody who worksfull-time in

America should be below the poverty line. (Applause.) They

should not be raisingtheir kids below the poverty line. I am not

going to give up this fight. And we needRepublicans in Congress

to stop blocking a minimum wage increase and give America a

raise. (Applause.)

And if a woman is doing the same work as a man, she

deserves to get paid just like the mandoes. (Applause.) Even

though it’s 2019, there are women still earning less than men

for doingthe same work. And women of color face an even

greater wage gap. (Applause.) And at a timewhen women are the

primary breadwinners in more households than ever, that hurts

the wholefamily if they’re not getting paid fairly. Again, men, I

just want you to pay attention. WhenMichelle and I were starting

off, there were stretches of time where Michelle was making

moremoney than me, and I wanted to make sure she was making

every dime that she deserved. (Laughter.) Right? I don’t know

how I benefit by her getting paid less than a man. Right?

AUDIENCE: Right!

THE PRESIDENT: Okay! Men, I just want you to be clear.

(Laughter.)

And it starts with recent college graduates. Women often

start their careers with lower pay, andthen the gap grows over

time -- especially if they get passed over for promotions and then

theyget fewer raises, or they take time off to care for family

members. So you get a situation wherewomen are doing the

same work as men, but the structure, the expectations somehow

is, well,they’ll take time off for family, and once they take time

off that means that it’s okay to paythem a little bit less. And that

builds up over time.

And we’ve got to have a reversal of those kinds of policies

and that kind of mindset. We’ve gotto catch up to the 21st

century. We need to pass a fair pay law, make our economy

stronger. Itwill be good for America, and it will be good for our

families and good for our kids. (Applause.)

While we’re on the topic, women deserve to make their

own health care choices -- notpoliticians or insurance companies.

(Applause.) And that’s why the Affordable Care Act is

soimportant. (Applause.) Insurance plans -- because we passed

the Affordable Care Act,insurance plans now have to cover the

basics, including contraceptive care, and prenatal care,and

maternity care. (Applause.)

That means a working mom doesn’t have to put off the care

she needs just so she can pay herbills on time. Tens of millions of

women have new access to preventive care like

mammogramswith no co-pays, no out-of-pocket expenses.

(Applause.) It means that a cash-strapped studentdoesn’t have

to choose between the care that she needs and the cost of

textbooks. (Applause.)

And because of the Affordable Care Act, because of

Obamacare -- (applause) -- because of thatlaw, no insurance

company can deny you coverage based on a preexisting

condition like breastcancer, or charge you more for the same care

just because you’re a woman. (Applause.) That’sthe right thing

to do.

So no matter how many times Republicans threaten to repeal

this law, we’re going to keep itin place -- because it’s working.

(Applause.) Not only is it covering more people, not only is

itprotecting women and people with preexisting conditions from

discrimination, but it’s actuallybeen part of the trend that’s

lowering health care inflation. We’re actually saving

moneybecause the system is getting smarter and there’s more

preventive care instead of emergencycare, and we’re changing

how health care is delivered. (Applause.) Which is why I’m pretty

surethat in 10 years they’re not going to call it Obamacare

anymore. (Laughter.) Republicans will belike, oh, I was for that,

yes. (Laughter.) That’s how that works.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We’ll remember.

THE PRESIDENT: You’ll remember though. You’ll remind

them. (Applause.)

Now, to really make sure that women are full and equal

participants in our economy, we can dosome of this

administratively. But it requires not just changing laws; it requires

changingattitudes. And more and more companies are changing

attitudes. And this is really good news.

JetBlue, for example, has a flexible work-from-home plan for

its customer service reps. They’vefound it’s led to happier,

more productive employees and lower costs. Google increased

paidleave for new parents -- moms and dads -- to five months -- five months -- and that helped cutthe rate of women leaving

the company by half. And when I was having a conversation

withsome of the women business owners before I came out here,

they were saying it’s really costlywhen you lose a good

employee and you’ve got to train somebody all over again. It’s

muchmore sensible from a business perspective to invest in them

and make them feel like you’vegot their backs, and they’ll stay

with you.

And it’s not just these big corporations that are embracing

these policies. So Cheryl Snead, whois the CEO of Banneker

Industries -- where’s Cheryl? She was here just a second. There

she isback there. So Banneker Industries, a supply chain

management firm, is based in NorthSmithfield. And when Cheryl

was in college, she studied mechanical engineering. At the

time,there weren’t that many African American women in

mechanical engineering. There stillaren’t. (Laughter.) We’re

working to change that.

Cheryl wants to do something about that. Her company has

made it a priority to find talentedyoung women and minority

students, encourage them to study science and math in

college,hire them once they graduate. (Applause.) And what

Cheryl was explaining was that having adiverse workforce, having

more women in the workforce, all that makes her a

strongercompany. And it’s not just good for the workers -- it’s

good for business.

So if large businesses like Google, small businesses like

Cheryl’s all see the wisdom of this, let’sjoin them. Let’s

encourage more women and more girls into fields like science

and technologyand engineering and math. And let’s work with

those companies to ensure that family-friendlypolicies can

support more women in that workforce. (Applause.)

Ann-Marie Harrington -- where is Ann? Ann-Marie is right

here. So Ann-Marie, she’s thepresident of a company called

Embolden, based in Pawtucket. And it provides web services

tocommunity foundations and non-profits. A small business --

about 20 employees; 21 I thinkshe said. She just hired somebody,

must have been. (Laughter.) But she lets them work fromhome

and keep a flexible schedule when they need to. And she says

that’s increased hercompany’s productivity.

So I’m taking a page from these companies’ playbooks.

This summer I directed the federalagencies in the executive

branch to put flexible workplace policies in wherever

possible;make it clear that all federal employees have the right to

request them. We want the besttalent to serve our country, and

that means making it a little bit easier for them to maintainthat

work-family balance.

But these are issues that are too important to hinge on

whether or not your boss isenlightened. We have to raise our

voices to demand that women get paid fairly. We’ve got toraise

our voices to make sure women can take time off to care for a

loved one, and that momsand dads can spend time with a new

baby. We’ve got to raise our voices to make sure that

ourwomen maintain and keep their own health care choices.

We’ve got to raise our voices tobasically do away with policies

and politicians that belong in a “Mad Men” episode. “Mad

Men”is a good show, but that’s not who we want making

decisions about our workplaces these women

succeed, America succeeds. And we need leaders who

understand that. That’swhat we need. (Applause.)

So if you care about these policies, you got to keep pushing

for them. This shouldn’t bepartisan. Republicans and

Democrats should be supportive of all these issues.

I was talking to Tom Perez; he had just come back from

Europe. He was talking to chambers ofcommerce and

conservative politicians. They were all supportive of family leave,

supportiveof childcare, because they understood it actually made

the economy more productive. Thisisn’t a liberal or

conservative agenda.

When I talk to women, like the ones I spoke to earlier, when

I hear folks’ stories from acrossthe country, and when I think

about my own mom and how she made it all work, or

mygrandmother, nobody is looking at these issues through

partisan lenses. We’re not Democratsfirst or Republicans first,

we are Americans first. And as Americans, it’s up to us to protect

andrestore the ideals that made this country great. (Applause.)

And that is, that in this country, no matter who you are, what

you look like, where you comefrom, whether you are male or you

are female -- here in America, you can make it if you ’s

the promise of America. That’s the future I’m going to fight

for. (Applause.) I want youto fight there with me.

Thank you, everybody. God bless you.