奥巴马每日发言after regulatory reform meeting(2009-02-25)

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AFTER REGULATORY REFORM MEETING
Diplomatic Reception Room
February 25, 2009

3:56 P.M. EST

          THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  This afternoon, I met with members of my economic team and some key leaders in Congress to discuss the threats to our financial markets in this new century and how we must transform our regulatory system to meet them.

     In recent months, we've seen turmoil¹ on Wall Street like we haven't seen in decades, as major financial institutions have faltered² or have been sold off.  And we have seen the fallout on Main Street, as the market crisis became a credit crisis, and families struggle to get loans to buy a home or a car, to start a small business or to pay for college.

     This financial crisis was not inevitable³.  It happened when Wall Street wrongly presumed markets would continuously rise, and traded in complex financial products without fully⁴ evaluating their risks.  Here in Washington, our regulations lagged behind changes in our markets -- and too often, regulators failed to use the authority that they had to protect consumers, markets and the economy.

     We now know from painful experience that we can no longer sustain 21 -- 21st century markets with 20th century regulations, and that while free markets are the key to our progress, they do not give us free license⁵ to take whatever we can get, however we can get it.

     But let me be clear:  The choice we face is not between some oppressive government-run economy or a chaotic⁶ and unforgiving capitalism⁷.  Rather, strong financial markets require clear rules of the road, not to hinder financial institutions, but to protect consumers and investors⁸, and ultimately to keep those financial institutions strong.  Not to stifle⁹, but to advance competition, growth and prosperity.  And not just to manage crises, but to prevent crises from happening in the first place, by restoring accountability, transparency and trust in our financial markets.  These must be the goals of a 21st century regulatory framework that we seek to create.

     Our meeting today was a critical first step in developing that framework.  And I'm grateful for the legislative¹⁰ leaders who join me here with Secretary Geithner and Dr. Summers.  We had a terrific conversation.  I think this is an area where there is a growing consensus¹¹ and where I think the capacity for people from different political parties and different perspectives to come together and solve problems.

     I've asked my economic team to develop recommendations for regulatory reform, and then to collaborate¹² with these members of Congress and others from both sides of the aisle¹³ so they can start crafting legislation in the coming weeks and months.

     We will not always see eye to eye in our work.  We may disagree -- and disagree strongly -- about particular provisions.  But there are certain core principles that I believe must shape any proposal for reform -- and these are the principles that will guide our work.

     First, financial institutions that pose serious risks, systemic risks, to our market should be subject to serious oversight¹⁴ by the government.  And here's why.  When the Federal Reserve steps in as a lender of last resort, which it's had to do repeatedly since this financial crisis began, it's providing an insurance policy underwritten by the American taxpayer¹⁵.  And taxpayers¹⁶ should be assured that the Fed thoroughly¹⁷ understands the institutions that it is effectively insuring and actively¹⁸ monitoring them to make sure that they're not taking risks that will cost taxpayers in the long term.

     Second, our regulatory system -- and each of our major markets -- must be strong enough to withstand both system-wide stress and the failure of one or more large institutions.  And that means modernizing¹⁹ and streamlining our regulatory structure, and monitoring both the scale and scope of risks that institutions can take.

     Third, to rebuild trust in our markets, we must redouble our efforts to promote openness, transparency and plain language throughout our financial system.

     Fourth, we need strong and uniform supervision²⁰ of financial products marketed to investors and consumers.  And we should base this oversight not on abstract models created by the institutions themselves, but on actual data on how actual people make financial decisions.

     Fifth, we must demand strict accountability, starting at the top.  Executives who violate the public trust must be held responsible.

     Sixth, we must make sure our system of regulations covers appropriate institutions and markets, and is comprehensive and free of gaps, and prevents those being regulated from cherry-picking among competing regulators.

     Finally, we must recognize that the challenges we face are not just American challenges, they are global challenges.  So as we work to set high regulatory standards here in the United States, we have to challenge other countries around the world to do the same.  That's how we will stop financial crises from spilling across borders and prevent global crises of the sort that we now face.

     In the end, the work of constructing a new regulatory framework will not be easy -- and reform will not happen overnight.  But we must never forget that our market has always been the engine of America's success -- rewarding innovators and risk-takers, creating opportunities for generations of Americans and prosperity that is the envy of the world.

     And I have the utmost confidence that if these outstanding public servants standing²¹ beside me are working in concert, if we all do our jobs, if we once again guide the market's invisible hand with a higher principle, our markets will recover.  Our economy will once again thrive, and America will once again lead the world in this new century as it did in the last.

     So, thank you very much, everybody.

                                        END                         4:03 P.M. EST

1 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

2 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

3 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

7 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。

10 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

11 consensus   

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？

12 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

13 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

14 oversight   

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。

15 taxpayer   

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。

16 taxpayers   

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。

17 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

18 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

19 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

20 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

21 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。