Weekly Address: Time to Lift the Minimum Wage and Give America a Raise

每周演講：是提高最低工資和給美國加薪的時候了

Hi, everybody.

大家好！

Restoring the idea of opportunity for all requires a year of action from all of us.  Wherever I can act on my own, I will – and whenever I can ask more Americans to help, I’ll do that too.

為所有人恢復機會的想法，需要我們大家在今年做出不懈努力，在我能獨自采取行動的地方，我會毫不猶豫地這樣去做——在我可以請求美國人民幫助的時候，我也會毫不遲疑地發出聲音。

In my State of the Union Address, for example, I asked more business leaders to take action to raise their employees’ wages. Because even though our economy is growing, and our businesses have created about eight and a half million new jobs over the past four years, average wages have barely budged.

例如，在國情咨文中，我請求更多的企業領袖采取行動，提高員工工資。因為，盡管我們的經濟正在增長，過去四年中，我們的企業已創造了八百五十萬個新工作，可我們的平均工資卻幾乎沒有增加。

So it’s good news that, earlier this week, one of America’s largest retailers, The Gap, decided to raise wages for its employees beginning this year.  Their decision will benefit about 65,000 workers in the U.S.  That means more families will be able to raise their kids, finish their studies, or keep up on their bills with a little less financial stress and strain.

所以，本周早些時候，美國最大零售商之一蓋普公司決定，今年開始為員工提高工資，這是個好消息。他們的決定將惠及約65,000名美國工人。這意味著更多的家庭，將能以更小的財政壓力和負擔，撫養孩子、完成學業或支付賬單。

Gap’s CEO explained their decision simply – he said, “[It’s] right for our brands, good for our people, and beneficial to our customers.”  And he’s right – raising Americans’ wages isn’t just a good deed; it’s good business and good for our economy.  It helps reduce turnover, it boosts productivity, and it gives folks some more money to spend at local businesses.

蓋普的首席執行官簡單解釋了他們的決定——他表示：“[這一決定]對我們的品牌是合適的，對我們的員工是有幫助的，對我們的客戶也是有益的。”他是正確的——提高美國人民的工資，不只是件善事；它是件好事，有益于我們的經濟。它幫助減少人員流動率、它提高生產力，它給人們更多的錢可以花到當地企業身上。

And as a chief executive myself, that’s why I took action last week to lift more workers’ wages by requiring federal contractors to pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour.

正是出于這一理由，作為美國總統，我上周采取行動，要求聯邦承包商支付員工每小時至少10.10美元的合理工資，以此提高更多工人的工資。

In the year since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, six states have passed laws to raise theirs, and more states are working on it as we speak.  But only Congress can finish the job and lift Americans’ wages across the country.

自我首先請求國會提高最低工資以來的一年中，六個州已通過提高最低工資的立法，就在我們談話過程中，更多的州正在完成立法程序。但是，只有國會可以完成這一工作，在全國范圍提高美國人民的工資。

Right now, there’s a bill before Congress that would boost America’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.  That’s easy to remember – “ten-ten.”  That bill would lift wages for more than 16 million Americans without requiring a single dollar in new taxes or spending.  But even though a majority of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans across the country support raising the minimum wage, Republicans in Congress don’t want to give it a vote.

此刻，就有一份把美國最低工資提高到每小時10.10美元的法案已送達國會。這很容易記住——“兩個10”。不需要增加一美元的稅收或財政支出，這份法案將為1600萬美國人提高工資。不過，盡管全國絕大多數民主黨人、無黨派人士和共和黨人都支持提高最低工資，國會共和黨人卻不想就該法案進行表決。

Hardworking Americans deserve better than “no.”  Let’s tell Congress to say “yes.”  Pass that bill.  Give America a raise.  Because here in America, no one who works hard should have to live in poverty – and everyone who works hard should have a chance to get ahead.

勤奮工作的美國人民應該得到比“不”更好的答案。讓我們告訴國會說“同意”吧。通過這一法案！給美國加薪吧！努力工作的人，不應該生活在貧困之中——每位努力工作的人，都應該擁有獲得成功的機會！

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

謝謝！祝周末愉快！

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