Weekly Address: President Obama Calls on Congress to Enact Reforms to Stop a "Potential Corporate Takeover of Our Elections"
奥巴马每周电视讲话：奥巴马总统号召国会通过改革法案终止“潜在公司团体操纵我们的选举【注1】”
WASHINGTON – In the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling, which gives special interests, corporations – and potentially foreign nationals – the power to spend unlimited money to influence the outcome of elections, President Barack Obama called on Congress to enact reforms to limit this power and protect the integrity of our democracy. With these reforms, campaign committees will have to reveal who is funding them, and their leaders or financers will have to claim responsibility for their ads. Also, the reforms will restrict foreign corporations and foreign nationals from spending money in American elections. These reforms will help ensure the government works for the American people, not the special interests.
华盛顿消息：由于最近最高法院的裁决规定，使得特殊利益集团，公司甚至可能包括外国侨民有权为影响选举结果而投入不受限的大量资金。巴拉克·奥巴马总统号召国会通过改革法案来限制这些权力并保卫我们民主的完整性。通过这些改革，竞选委员会将必须披露谁为其提供资金支持。竞选委员会的领导者和资助方必须对他们的竞选广告负责。同时，改革也将限制外国公司和外国侨民在美国选举中提供资金赞助。改革将确保政府为美国民众服务，而不是为特殊利益集团服务。
Over the past few weeks, as we’ve debated reforms to hold Wall Street accountable and protect consumers and small businesses in our financial system, we’ve come face-to-face with the great power of special interests in the workings of our democracy. Of course, this isn’t a surprise. Every time a major issue arises, we’ve come to expect that an army of lobbyists will descend on Capitol Hill in the hopes of tilting the laws in their favor.
过去的几周里，在让华尔街负起责任以及保护消费者和中小企业等一系列有关我们金融系统改革的辩论中，我们面对面地见识了强大的利益集团对民主的操纵。当然，这没什么值得惊讶的。每当有重大议题出现，游说军团就会在国会山不期而至，让法律向他们的利益倾斜。
That’s one of the reasons I ran for President: because I believe so strongly that the voices of ordinary Americans were being drowned out by the clamor of a privileged few in Washington. And that’s why, since the day I took office, my administration has been taking steps to reform the system. Recently, however, the Supreme Court issued a decision that overturned decades of law and precedent – dealing a huge blow to our efforts to rein in this undue influence. In short, this decision gives corporations and other special interests the power to spend unlimited amounts of money – literally millions of dollars – to affect elections throughout our country. This, in turn, will multiply their influence over decision-making in our government.
这是我竞选总统的原因之一：因为我坚信美国普通民众的声音早被华盛顿少数特权集团的喧闹声淹没。这也是我主政以来，我所领导的政府一直在采取改革措施来改革这一系统的原因。然而，最高法院最近颁布的裁决结果却颠覆了几十年来的法律和惯例。这对我们控制(对选举施加)过度影响的努力是个重大打击。简单的说，这项裁决结果使得公司和特殊利益集团可以为影响全国选举而不受限制的花钱（轻易地就可达到数百万美元）。进而会使得他们对政府决策进程的影响力成倍增加。
In the starkest terms, members will know – when pressured by lobbyists – that if they dare to oppose that lobbyist’s client, they could face an onslaught of negative advertisements in the run up to their next election. And corporations will be allowed to run these ads without ever having to tell voters exactly who is paying for them. At a time when the American people are already being overpowered in Washington by these forces, this will be a new and even more powerful weapon that the special interests will wield.
最严峻的情形，国会议员们都知道，面临游说团体的压力时，如果他们胆敢反对游说集团的雇主，他们就将在接下来的选举投票前期面临负面广告宣传的猛烈抨击。而且那些公司获准播放这些广告，根本就不用告诉选民谁为这些广告付费。一旦美国人民被华盛顿的这些势力所压制，这又将成为这些特殊利益集团所使用的新的、更加强大的武器。
In fact, it’s exactly this kind of vast power that led a great Republican President – Teddy Roosevelt – to tackle this issue a century ago. He warned of the dangers of limitless corporate spending in our political system. He actually called it “one of the principal sources of corruption in our political affairs.” And he proposed strict limits on corporate influence in elections. “Every special interest is entitled to justice,” he said. “but not one is entitled to a vote in Congress, to a voice on the bench, or to representation in any public office.”
实际上，正是这股强大的势力导致一个世纪前伟大的共和党总统——泰迪·罗斯福（Teddy Roosevelt）着手处理这一难题。他对我们政治体系中的无节制公司团体资助发出警告，甚至称其为“政治事务中主要的腐败根源之一”。他提议对公司团体影响选举的行为进行严格限制。他说：“每个特殊利益团体都有权享有公正，但并不是每一个都有权享有国会投票权，法庭申辩权，或者是公共部门的代表权。”
In the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling, we face a similar challenge. That’s why it’s so important that Congress consider new reforms to prevent corporations and other special interests from gaining even more clout in Washington. And almost all of these reforms are designed to bring new transparency to campaign spending. They are based on the principle espoused by former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis – that sunlight is the best disinfectant.
由于最近最高法院的裁决规定，我们也面临同样的挑战。这也是为什么国会考虑新的改革法案——以规避公司团体以及特殊利益集团在华盛顿获得更大影响力——显得如此重要的原因。所有的改革法案都是为了给竞选支出带来新的透明性。这都是基于前最高法院的路易斯·布兰德斯（Louis Brandeis）大法官拥护的原则——阳光是最好的消毒剂。
Shadowy campaign committees would have to reveal who’s funding their activities to the American people. And when corporations and other special interests take to the airwaves, whoever is running and funding the ad would have to appear in the advertisement and claim responsibility for it – like a company’s CEO or an organization’s biggest contributor. This will mean citizens can evaluate the claims in these ads with information about an organization’s real motives.
影子竞选委员会必须披露他们对美国民众进行的一切活动的资金来源。当公司团体和其他特殊利益集团利用广播进行宣传的时候，无论是谁运营还是资助这些广告，都必须明确地在广告中声明对其负责——就像一个公司的首席执行官或一个组织的最大出资人一样。这也意味着民众能通过对广告中的声明进行评估进而获得这些组织的真实动机的相关信息。
We know how important this is. We’ve all seen groups with benign-seeming names sponsoring television commercials that make accusations and assertions designed to influence the public debate and sway voters’ minds. Now, of course every organization has every right in this country to make their voices heard. But the American people also have the right to know when some group like “Citizens for a Better Future” is actually funded entirely by “Corporations for Weaker Oversight.”
我们都知道这有多么重要。我们也见识过这些团体用些表面上看起来和善的名字，通过资助电视广告来控告（竞选对手）和维护自己的主张，蓄意影响公开辩论和动摇选民的意愿。当然，每个组织都有权利使得自己的声音在这个国家受到关注。但美国人民同样有权利知道像“美好未来公民促进会”这样的组织实际完全是由“松散监管公司联合会”所资助的事实。
In addition, these reforms would address another troubling aspect of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Under the bill Congress will consider, we’ll make sure that foreign corporations and foreign nationals are restricted from spending money to influence American elections, just as they were in the past – even through U.S. subsidiaries. And we’d keep large contractors that receive taxpayer funds from interfering in our elections as well, to avoid the appearance of corruption and the possible misuse of tax dollars.
另外，这些改革法案还将应对最高法院裁定的另一个麻烦。在国会考虑的法案中，我们将严格限制外国公司以及外国侨民出资对美国选举施加影响，即便通过其在美国的分支机构也不例外，这就跟过去一样。同时我们也可以防止大量接受纳税人基金资助的承包商干涉我们的选举，以避免可能出现的腐败以及税款的滥用。
Now, we can expect that these proposed changes will be met with heavy resistance from the special interests and their supporters in Congress. But I’m calling on leaders in both parties to resist these pressures. For what we are facing is no less than a potential corporate takeover of our elections. And what is at stake is no less than the integrity of our democracy. This shouldn’t be a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. This is an issue that goes to whether or not we will have a government that works for ordinary Americans – a government of, by, and for the people. That’s why these reforms are so important. And that’s why I’m going to fight to see them passed into law.
Thanks so much.
现在，我们可以想见这些提议的改革措施将受到特殊利益集团以及其在国会的支持者的强烈抵制。但我号召两党的领导们一起应对这些压力。因为我们面对的不仅仅是潜在公司团体操纵我们的选举。处在危急关头的也不仅仅是民主的完整性。这不应该单单是民主党或共和党所面临的问题。这是一个关系到我们能否拥有一个为普通美国民众服务的政府的问题——一个代表美国人民，由美国人民选举出来的，为美国人民服务的政府。这就是这些改革如此重要的原因。也是我一直为将这些改革法案变成法律而不懈奋斗的原因。
非常感谢收听
|