Because
of you, we’ve been able to get a lot done over the last 20 months. Together, we’re jumpstarting a new American clean energy industry -- an industry with the potential to generate perhaps millions of jobs building wind turbines and solar panels, and manufacturing the batteries for the cars of the future, building nuclear plants, developing clean coal technology. There are other countries that are fighting for those jobs, in China and India and in Germany and other parts of Europe. But the United States doesn’t play for second place. As long as I’m President, I’m going to keep fighting night and day to make sure that we win those jobs, that those are jobs that are created right here in the United States of America and that your members are put to work. (Applause.)So
the message I want to deliver to our competitors -- and to those in Washington who’ve tried to block our progress at every step of the way -- is that we are going to rebuild this economy stronger than before, and at the heart of it are going to be three powerful words: Made in America. Made in America. (Applause.)That’s
why we’re finally enforcing our trade laws -- in some cases for the very first time. That’s why we’re fighting for tax breaks for companies that invest here in the United States as opposed to companies that are investing overseas or that keep their profits offshore. Because it is my belief -- and I know it’s the belief of this room -- that there are no better workers than U.S. workers. There are no better workers than your members. (Applause.) And they are absolutely committed to making sure that America is on the rise again. And we are going to keep moving forward with them -- not moving backwards but moving forward with them.As
we rebuild our economy, we’re going to rebuild America as well. Over the last 20 months, bulldozers（推土机） and backhoes（挖沟机） have been whirring in communities across the country, as construction crews from local companies repair roads and bridges, railways and ports. That was part of our plan, and it’s put hundreds of thousands of folks to work. But there’s a lot more to do to rebuild our infrastructure for the 21st century, and a lot more Americans who are ready and willing to do that work. So that, too, is an area where we’ve got to keep moving forward.We’re
going to have to cut taxes for middle-class families, and after a tough fight, we finally extended emergency unemployment assistance for folks who had lost their jobs. (Applause.) We passed the Fair Pay Act to help put a stop to pay discrimination. We’ve reversed the executive orders of the last administration that were designed to undermine organized labor. I’ve appointed folks who actually are fulfilling their responsibilities to make sure our workplaces are safe, whether in a mine or in an office, a factory or anyplace else. And we are going to keep on fighting to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. (Applause.)With
your help, we passed health reform, enshrining（铭记，珍藏） the idea that everybody in America should be able to get decent health care and shouldn’t go bankrupt when they get sick -- health reform that is preventing insurers from denying and dropping people’s coverage; that’s lowering the price of prescription drugs（处方药） for our seniors. It’s going to make health care more affordable for everybody, including businesses, which means they can hire more workers.Together,
we passed Wall Street reform, to protect consumers in our financial system and put an end to taxpayer bailouts and stop the abuses that almost dragged our economy into another Great Depression.Now,
the steps we’re taking are making a difference, but the fact is -- and Rich mentioned this -- it took us nearly a decade to dig ourselves into the hole that we’re in. It’s going to take a lot longer than any of us would like to climb out of that hole. And I’d be lying to you if I thought that all these changes are going to be happening overnight. We’ve still got some tough times ahead. And your members obviously are bearing the brunt of a lot of those tough times.But
here’s what we’re not going to do. We’re not going to go back to digging the hole. We’re not going to go back to the policies that took Bill Clinton’s surplus（剩余，顺差） and in eight years turned it into record deficits. (Applause.) We’re not going back to policies that saw people working harder and harder but falling further and further behind. We’re not going back to policies that gave corporate special interests free rein towrite their own rules, and produced the greatest economic crisis in generations. We are not going back to those ideas.
Because as hard as it is out there right now for a lot of folks, as far as we’ve got to go, what’s clear is that our nation is headed in the right direction. Our economy is growing again instead of shrinking. We’re adding jobs in the private sector instead of losing them. America is moving forward.
And we’re moving forward largely without any help from the opposition party -- a party that has voted no on just about every turn. No on making college more affordable. No on clean energy jobs. No on broadband. No on high-speed rail. No on water and highway projects. That doesn’t stop them from showing up at the ribbon cuttings. (Applause.) It doesn’t stop them from sending out press releases. They’ve even said no to tax cuts for small businesses and 95 percent of working families. They just said no to a small business tax cut again just last week.
As we speak, they’ve been trying to block an emergency measure to save the jobs of police officers and firefighters and teachers and other critical public servants across the country who may be laid off because of state and local budget cuts.
And as if that was not enough, now they’re talking about repealing（废除，撤销） this and repealing that. I guess they want to go back to hidden credit card fees and mortgage penalties（处罚，惩罚） buried in the fine print. They want to go back to a system that allowed for taxpayer bailouts. They want to go back to allowing insurance companies to discriminate against people based on preexisting conditions. They would repeal the tax cuts for small businesses that provide health care for their employees. They want to go backwards; we want to move America forward.
And that’s what the choice is going to be in this upcoming election, and all your members need to understand it. I know if you’re talking to a lot of your locals, I’m sure they’re feeling like, boy, change is not happening fast enough; we are still hurting out here. They’re frustrated. They’ve got every right to be frustrated. And I am happy, as President of the United States, to take responsibility for making decisions now that are going to put us in a strong position down the road. And they need to know that, that we’re going to be working with you to make sure that we’re putting ourselves in a position where folks are working and working for a good wage and good benefits.
But you have to remind them for the next three months, this election is a choice. You’ve got these folks who drove America’s economy into a ditch（沟渠，壕沟） , and for the last 20 months, we put on our boots and we got into the mud and we’ve been shoving that car out of the ditch inch by inch, and they’ve been standing on the side the whole time watching, telling us, no, you’re not pushing hard enough, you’re not doing it the right way -- not lifting a finger to help. And now we’ve finally got that car up on the blacktop（柏油路） there, about to drive, and they say they want the keys back. (Laughter.) Well, you can’t have the keys, because you don’t know how to drive. (Laughter.) You don’t know how to drive. (Laughter.) You’re not going to get the keys back. (Applause.) You’re not going to get them back.
Somebody pointed out to me that when you’re in a car and you want to go forward, you put it in “D.” (Laughter.) You want to go back in the ditch, you put it on “R.” (Laughter.) So I just want everybody to think about that. (Applause.)
