口译辅导：奥巴马访弱势群体学校发表演讲
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you. Well, what anextraordinary day. It is good to be here with all of you.
I want to, first of all, thank President Bill Clinton for joining us here
today -- where’s President Clinton? -- (applause) -- for his lifetime of service
to our country, but also the fact that he created AmeriCorps, and that not only
made this day possible, it has directly enlisted more than half a million
Americans in service to their country; service that has touched the lives of
millions more.
Now, it just so happens that one of those people who have been touched by
AmeriCorps was FLOTUS, otherwise known as First Lady of the United States --
(laughter) -- Michelle Obama, who ran a AmeriCorps-sponsored program, Public
Allies, in Chicago. (Applause.)
I also want to thank former First Lady Rosalynn Carter for being here --
(applause) -- for her advocacy on behalf of those with mental illness, and for
her husband’s continued good works that inspire us all. I am thrilled to have
Caroline Kennedy here -- (applause) -- for carrying on her family’s long legacy
of service.
To my congressional colleagues who did such a fantastic job on a bipartisan
basis ushering this through, starting with the two leaders of the House and the
Senate, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, I’m grateful to them, and obviously to
Barbara Mikulski and Orrin Hatch, George Miller, the entire delegation who
helped to shepherd this through -- please give them a huge round of applause.
(Applause.)
To my outstanding Vice President, Joe Biden. (Applause.) To Dr. Jill Biden.
(Applause.) A couple of outstanding public servants in their own right, please,
a warm welcome for General Colin Powell and his wonderful wife, Alma.
(Applause.) For the outstanding Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.
(Applause.) And I’ve got to give some special props to my fellow Illinoisan, a
great friend, Dick Durbin. (Applause.)
Finally -- and I know that I’ve got some prepared remarks -- but I just
want to go ahead and say it now. There are very few people who have touched the
life of this nation in the same breadth and the same order of magnitude than the
person who is seated right behind me. And so this is just an extraordinary day
for him. And I am truly grateful and honored to call him a friend, a colleague,
and one of the finest leaders we’ve ever had -- Ted Kennedy. (Applause.)
All right. I want to thank the students and the faculty of the SEED School
-- (applause) -- our hosts for today -- and their headmaster, Charles Adams.
Where’s Mr. Adams? Is he here? (Applause.) A shining example of how AmeriCorps
alums go on to do great things. This school is a true success story -- a place
where for four of the last five years, every graduate from the SEED School was
admitted to college -- every graduate. (Applause.)
It’s a place where service is a core component of the curriculum. And just
as the SEED School teaches reading and writing, arithmetic and athletics, it
also prepares our young Americans to grow into active and engaged citizens. And
what these students come to discover through service is that by befriending a
senior citizen, or helping the homeless, or easing the suffering of others, they
can find a sense of purpose and renew their commitment to this country that we
love.
And that is the spirit in which we gather today, as I sign into law a bill
that represents the boldest expansion of opportunities to serve our communities
and our country since the creation of AmeriCorps -- (applause) -- a piece of
legislation named for a man who has not only touched countless lives, but who
still sails against the wind, a man who’s never stopped asking what he can do
for his country, and that’s Senator Edward M. Kennedy. (Applause.)
In my address to a joint session of Congress in February, I asked for swift
passage of this legislation, and these folks on the stage came through. So,
again, I want to thank wide bipartisan majorities in the House and the Senate
who came together to pass this bill -- especially Barbara Mikulski, Mike Enzi,
Chris Dodd, John McCain, who’s not here, Thad Cochran, as well as, on the House
side, Representatives Miller and Carolyn McCarthy, Buck McKeon and Howard
Berman.
More than anyone else, the new era of service we enter in today has been
made possible by the unlikely friendship between these two men, Orrin Hatch and
Ted Kennedy. They may be the odd couple of the Senate. (Laughter.) One is a
conservative Republican from Utah; the other is, well, Ted Kennedy. (Laughter.)
But time and again, they placed partnership over partisanship to advance this
nation even in times when we were told that wasn’t possible. (Applause.)
Senator Hatch was shaped by his experience as a young missionary serving
others, a period he has called the greatest of his life. And last year he
approached Senator Kennedy to share his ideas about service. Out of that
conversation came this legislation. And last month, at Senator Hatch’s selfless
request, the Senate unanimously chose to name this bill after his dear friend,
Ted. (Applause.) That’s the kind of class act that Orrin Hatch is.
I’ve told this story before. When I moved to Chicago more than two decades
ago to become a community organizer, I wasn’t sure what was waiting for me
there, but I had always been inspired by the stories of the civil rights
movement, and President Kennedy’s call to service, and I knew I wanted to do my
part to advance the cause of justice and equality.
And it wasn’t easy, but eventually, over time, working with leaders from
all across these communities, we began to make a difference -- in neighborhoods
that had been devastated by steel plants that had closed down and jobs that had
dried up. We began to see a real impact in people’s lives. And I came to realize
I wasn’t just helping people, I was receiving something in return, because
through service I found a community that embraced me, citizenship that was
meaningful, the direction that I had been seeking. I discovered how my own
improbable story fit into the larger story of America.
It’s the same spirit of service I’ve seen across this country. I’ve met
countless people of all ages and walks of life who want nothing more than to do
their part. I’ve seen a rising generation of young people work and volunteer and
turn out in record numbers. They’re a generation that came of age amidst the
horrors of 9/11 and Katrina, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an economic
crisis without precedent. And yet, despite all this -- or more likely because of
it -- they’ve become a generation of activists possessed with that most American
of ideas, that people who love their country can change it.
They’re why the Peace Corps had three applications for every position
available last year; why 35,000 young people applied for only 4,000 slots in
Teach for America; why AmeriCorps has seen a 400-percent increase in
applications in just the past four months. And yet, even as so many want to
serve, even as so many are struggling, our economic crisis has forced our
charities and non-for-profits to cut back.
What this legislation does, then, is to help harness this patriotism and
connect deeds to needs. It creates opportunities to serve for students, seniors,
and everyone in between. It supports innovation and strengthens the nonprofit
sector. And it is just the beginning of a sustained, collaborative and focused
effort to involve our greatest resource -- our citizens -- in the work of
remaking this nation.
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