U.S. President Barack Obama is urging Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work together on efforts to create jobs. The president hosted a meeting with top lawmakers from both parties at the White House Tuesday.
美国总统奥巴马星期二在白宫主持民主、共和两党资深议员会议时敦促两党共同努力创造就业。
President Obama says Republicans and Democrats can cooperate to strengthen the economy, even though they disagree on many issues.
奥巴马总统说，共和党和民主党议员可以携手努力增强经济，尽管两党在很多问题上存有分歧。
"I think it's fair to say that the American people are frustrated with the lack of progress on some key issues," he said. "And although the parties are not going to agree on every single item, there should be some areas where we can agree."
他说：“美国人民对一些关键问题缺乏进展感到沮丧，我认为这样说非常恰当。尽管两党不会对每一项议题都有共识，但是总是有一些方面我们可能存在共识。”
Minority Republicans have blocked Democratic initiatives on health care and other domestic issues.
在国会中占少数的共和党议员试图阻止通过民主党就医保改革和其他国内议题提出的计划。
With the U.S. unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, the president said he hopes Congress will soon approve incentives for small businesses to add workers.
美国目前的失业率达到9.7%，鉴于此，奥巴马说，他希望国会尽快批准帮助小企业创造就业的刺激措施。
"A good place to start, and what I hope to spend a lot of time on in these discussions today, is how we can move forward on a jobs package," President Obama said.
他说：“我们的合作正好从这个议案开始，我希望今天我们能多花时间讨论如何推动一项创造就业的方案。”
Mr. Obama also said he hoped for an agreement on ways to reduce the U.S. debt and budget deficit, which are at record highs.
奥巴马还说，他希望议员们就如何减少创记录的美国债务和预算赤字取得一致。
He met with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the top House Republican, Minority Leader John Boehner, as well as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other lawmakers.
奥巴马总统会见了众议院议长南希.佩洛西、众议院少数党领袖约翰.博纳、参议院多数党领袖哈里.雷德、参议院少数党领袖米奇.麦康纳尔和其他议员。
The president said he looks forward to having more bipartisan meetings in the future.
奥巴马说，他期待今后能够举行更多的两党议员会议。
"My hope is this is not going to be a rare situation; we're going to be doing these on a regular basis," he said. "And I'm very thankful that everybody here has taken the time to come. I'm confident that if we move forward in a spirit of keeping in mind what's best for the American people that we should be able to accomplish a lot."
他说：“我希望，这样的会议在今后不会是偶然的事情，我们将定期举行两党会议。我非常感谢各位抽时间参加会议。如果我们牢记什么是美国人民的最佳利益，我深信我们就能够成就很多事情。”
Mr. Obama's approval ratings average just below 50 percent in recent polls, down sharply from this time last year. Approval ratings for Congress are significantly lower, averaging just over 22 percent.
最近几项民调显示，奥巴马的民众支持率平均得分只有接近50%，大大低于去年同期的得分。国会的支持率也大幅度下降，平均支持率刚过22%。 |