Obama in Hawaii for APEC Summit

 　　U.S. President Barack Obama is in his native Hawaii Saturday to host a two-day economic summit with Asia-Pacific leaders.

　　The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit begins a nine-day trip for the president aimed at improving U.S. ties with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

　　Obama is expected to discuss a proposed Pacific Rim¹ free-trade zone including the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

　　Japan has expressed interest in joining the trade zone talks, boosting the chances of attracting other regional economic powers.  China is not part of the talks, but has said it would consider joining.

　　President Obama is scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the summit and will also hold one-on-one talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

　　Analysts² say Obama is using the trip to reassure³ allies the U.S. will play a key role in the region and serve as a counterweight to China's rising status.

　　From Hawaii, Obama will stop briefly⁴ in Australia then make his second presidential trip to Indonesia, where he spent part of his boyhood.  He also will become the first U.S. president to attend the East Asia Summit, on the tourist island of Bali.

　　During his weekly address Saturday, the president turned his attention to finding jobs for U.S. military veterans.  He recorded the message Friday - the Veterans Day holiday in the United States - while aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, docked San Diego, California.

　　The president challenged businesses to hire more veterans, especially those returning from overseas tours of duty.

　　Obama says he is ready to sign legislation giving tax credits to businesses that hire veterans.  The Senate has passed the measure and the House of Representatives is set to vote on the bill during the coming week.  The measure is part of the president's $447 billion jobs package.

　　Republicans also used their weekly message to focus on jobs for veterans.

　　Congressman⁵ Joe Heck says Congress must step up and work together to help veterans who sacrifice so much for the country.

1 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。