口译辅导：奥巴马就美国汽车业形势发表讲话
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody.One of the challenges we’ve confronted from the beginning of this
administration is what to do with the state of the struggling auto industry. In
recent months, my Auto Task Force has been reviewing requests by General Motors
and Chrysler for additional government assistance, as well as plans developed by
each of these companies to restructure, to modernize, and to make themselves
more competitive. Our evaluation is now complete. But before I lay out what
needs to be done going forward, I want to say a few words about where we are and
what led us to this point.
It will come as no surprise that some Americans who have suffered most
during this recession have been those in the auto industry and those working for
companies that support it. Over the past year, our auto industry has shed over
400,000 jobs, not only at plants that produce cars, but at the businesses that
produce the parts that go into them and the dealers that sell and repair them.
More than one in 10 Michigan residents is out of work -- the most of any state.
And towns and cities across the great Midwest have watched unemployment climb
higher than it’s been in decades.
The pain being felt in places that rely on our auto industry is not the
fault of our workers; they labor tirelessly and desperately want to see their
companies succeed. It’s not the fault of all the families and communities that
supported manufacturing plants throughout the generations. Rather, it’s a
failure of leadership -- from Washington to Detroit -- that led our auto
companies to this point.
Year after year, decade after decade, we’ve seen problems papered over and
tough choices kicked down the road, even as foreign competitors outpaced us.
Well, we’ve reached the end of that road. And we, as a nation, cannot afford to
shirk responsibility any longer. Now is the time to confront our problems
head-on and do what’s necessary to solve them.
We cannot, and must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply
vanish. This industry is like no other -- it’s an emblem of the American spirit;
a once and future symbol of America’s success. It’s what helped build the middle
class and sustained it throughout the 20th century. It’s a source of deep pride
for the generations of American workers whose hard work and imagination led to
some of the finest cars the world has ever known. It’s a pillar of our economy
that has held up the dreams of millions of our people. And we cannot continue to
excuse poor decisions. We cannot make the survival of our auto industry
dependent on an unending flow of taxpayer dollars. These companies -- and this
industry -- must ultimately stand on their own, not as wards of the state.
And that’s why the federal government provided General Motors and Chrysler
with emergency loans to prevent their sudden collapse at the end of last year --
only on the condition that they would develop plans to restructure. In keeping
with that agreement, each company has submitted a plan to restructure. But after
careful analysis, we’ve determined that neither goes far enough to warrant the
substantial new investments that these companies are requesting.
And so today I’m announcing that my administration will offer GM and
Chrysler a limited additional period of time to work with creditors, unions, and
other stakeholders to fundamentally restructure in a way that would justify an
investment of additional taxpayer dollars. During this period they must produce
plans that would give the American people confidence in their long-term
prospects for success.
Now, what we’re asking for is difficult. It will require hard choices by
companies. It will require unions and workers who have already made
extraordinarily painful concessions to do more. It’ll require creditors to
recognize that they can’t hold out for the prospect of endless government
bailouts. It’ll have to -- it will require efforts from a whole host of other
stakeholders, including dealers and suppliers. Only then can we ask American
taxpayers who have already put up so much of their hard-earned money to once
more invest in a revitalized auto industry.
But I’m confident that if each are willing to do their part, if all of us
are doing our part, then this restructuring, as painful as it will be in the
short term, will mark not an end, but a new beginning for a great American
industry -- an auto industry that is once more out-competing the world; a 21st
century auto industry that is creating new jobs, unleashing new prosperity, and
manufacturing the fuel-efficient cars and trucks that will carry us towards an
energy-independent future. I am absolutely committed to working with Congress
and the auto companies to meet one goal: The United States of America will lead
the world in building the next generation of clean cars.
And no one can deny that our auto industry has made meaningful progress in
recent years -- and this doesn’t get talked about often enough. Some of the cars
made by American workers right now are outperforming the best cars made abroad.
In 2008, the North American Car of the Year was a GM. This year, Buick tied for
first place as the most reliable car in the world. Our companies are investing
in breakthrough technologies that hold the promise of new vehicles that will
help America end its addiction to foreign oil.
But our auto industry is not moving in the right direction fast enough to
succeed in a very tough environment. So let me discuss what measures need to be
taken by each of the auto companies requesting taxpayer assistance, and I’ll
start with General Motors.
GM has made a good faith effort to restructure over the past several months
-- but the plan that they’ve put forward is, in its current form, not strong
enough. However, after broad consultation with a range of industry experts and
financial advisors, I’m absolutely confident that GM can rise again, providing
that it undergoes a fundamental restructuring. As an initial step, GM is
announcing today that Rick Wagoner is stepping aside as Chairman and CEO. This
is not meant as a condemnation of Mr. Wagoner, who’s devoted his life to this
company and has had a distinguished career; rather, it’s a recognition that will
take new vision and new direction to create the GM of the future.
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