奥巴马每周电视讲话：总统阐述消费者金融保护局的作用

Hi, everybody.

嗨，大家好。

Three years ago this weekend, we put in place tough new rules of the road for the financial sector¹ so that irresponsible behavior on the part of the few could never again cause a crisis that harms millions of middle-class families.

三年前的这个周末，我推出了严苛的法规规范金融板块，以便使这个领域少数人的不负责任行为再也不造成损害成千上万中产阶级的危机。

As part of that reform,

作为这个改革的一部分，

we set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the first-ever independent consumer watchdog with one job:

我们设立了消费者金融保护局，有史以来第一个独立的消费者看门狗，它的唯一职责就是：

to protect families from that sort of behavior.

保护家庭不受各种行为损害。

Two years ago, I nominated a man named Rich Cordray, a former attorney general from Ohio, to run this consumer protection bureau.

两年前，我提名前俄亥俄州大法官理查德·科迪领导消费者保护局。

But Republicans in the Senate refused to give him a simple up-or-down vote,

但是参议院的共和党人拒绝给他简单是或否投票，

not because they didn't think he was the right person for the job,

不是因为他们认为他不是这个位子的合适人选，

but because they didn't like the law that set up the consumer watchdog in the first place.

而是因为他们首先不喜欢设立消费者看门狗。

So last year, I acted on my own to put him in charge,

于是在去年，我自己行动让他担当此任

because without a director, the CFPB couldn't use all the tools at its disposal to protect consumers from shady mortgage lenders, or unscrupulous credit reporting agencies, or predatory lenders who targeted veterans and seniors.

因为没有领导，消费者金融保护局就无法全力保护消费者不受针对退伍军人和老人的阴险的抵押放贷人或草率的信誉评级机构或掠夺性放贷人的损害。

And I'm pleased to say that he was finally confirmed this week by a bipartisan vote.

我很高兴地说他最终将在本周由两党投票确认领导岗位。

Because of the work that's been done at the CFPB over the past two years,

由于过去两年消费者金融保护局所做的工作，

today, mortgage lenders, student lenders, payday lenders, and credit reporting and debt collection agencies all face greater scrutiny².

现今的抵押贷款放贷人、学生贷款放贷人、发薪日贷款放贷人、信誉评级机构和讨债机构都会面临更加严格的审查。

And if they don't play by the rules, you now have somewhere to go to get some measure of justice.

如果他们不遵守规则，你现在有地方讨回公道了。

In fact, the CFPB has already addressed more than 175,000 complaints from every state.

事实上，消费者金融保护机构处理了全国各州超过175，000件投诉。

Today, as part of the CFPB'sKnow Before You Oweefforts,

今天，作为消费者金融保护局任务一部分的事先知情努力，

students and their parents can get a simple report with the information they need to make informed decisions before taking out student loans-and more than 700 colleges have stepped up to make this information clear and transparent³.

学生们和他们的家长可以在借学生贷款前得到一份他们要做出知情决定需要信息的简单易懂材料，超过700所大学采取措施使之清晰透明。

And if you've noticed that some credit card forms are actually easier to understand than they used to be,

如果你已经感到有些信用卡的表格比过去确实容易懂了，

that's because of the work that Rich's team and others in the Administration have done.

那就是因为理查德的团队和政府其它部门工作的结果。

Today, veterans have the tools they need to defend against dishonest lenders and mortgage brokers⁴ who try to prey⁵ on them when they come home.

今天，退伍军人们有了防卫退伍后觊觎他们的不诚信贷款人和抵押贷款经纪人的利器。

Seniors are better protected from someone who sees their homes or retirement⁶ savings⁷ as an easy target.

老人们可以更好地防止被一些人盯上他们的房子和退休金。

And thanks to the hard work of folks at the CFPB, so far six million Americans have gotten more than $400 million in refunds⁸ from companies that engaged in unscrupulous practices.

而且多亏了消费者金融保护局的工作，迄今为止已经有六百万美国人得到了来自行为草率公司超过4亿美元的返款。

That's money we didn't have the power to recover before.

这些钱是过去我们无力要回的。

You know, we've come a long way over the past four and a half years.

就如同你们所知，我们在过去的四年半走了很多弯路。

Our economy's growing.

我们的经济在增长。

Our businesses have created 7.2 million new jobs in the past 40 months.

我们的企业在过去的40个月里创造了720万个新就业机会。

We've locked in new safeguards to protect against another crisis and end bailouts for good.

我们已经有新的卫士防止其它危机而且结束政府救助。

And even though more work remains⁹, our financial system is more fair and much more sound than it was.

尽管还有很多工作要做，我们的金融体系比过去更加公平，更加健全。

We've still got a long way to go to restore the sense of security that too many middle-class families are still fighting to rebuild.

恢复那么多中产阶级家庭一直为之奋斗的安全感，我们还有很长的路要走。

But if we keep moving forward with our eyes fixed¹⁰ on that North Star of a growing middle class, then I'm confident we'll get to where we need to go.

但是如果我们将成长的中产阶级作为目标并且坚持不懈，我坚信我们一定达到我们的目标。

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

谢谢大家，祝你们周末愉快。

1 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

2 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

3 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

4 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

5 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

6 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

7 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

8 refunds   

n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Tomorrow he would return them to the store and claim refunds. 明天他要把它们退还给商店并要求退款。 来自辞典例句
• The new method means that taxpayers get refunds much faster. 这种新办法意味着纳税人可以较快地领到退还款。 来自辞典例句

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。