Hi, everybody. On Tuesday, I gave my final State of the Union Address. And a focus was this:how do we make the new economy work better for everyone, not just those at the top?
After the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, we're in the midst of the longest streak ofprivate-sector job growth in our history. More than 14 million new jobs. An unemploymentrate cut in half. At the same time, our economy continues to go through profound changesthat began long before the Great Recession hit. It's changed to the point where even when folkshave jobs; even when the economy is growing; it's harder for working families to pullthemselves out of poverty, harder for young people to start out on their careers, and tougherfor workers to retire when they want to.
That's a big part of the reason a lot of working families are feeling anxious. And it offends ourfundamentally American belief that everybody who works hard should be able to get ahead.
That's why we've been fighting so hard to give families more opportunity and more security –by working to create more good jobs, invest in our middle class, and help working people get araise. That's what the Affordable Care Act is all about – filling in the gaps in employer-basedcare so that when somebody loses a job, or goes back to school, or starts that new business,they still have health care. And it's why I believe we've got to take steps to modernize ourunemployment insurance system.
If a hardworking American loses her job, regardless of what state she lives in, we should makesure she can get unemployment insurance and some help to retrain for her next job. If she'sbeen unemployed for a while, we should reach out to her and connect her with careercounseling. And if she finds a new job that doesn't pay as much as her old one, we should offersome wage insurance that helps her pay her bills. Under my plan, experienced workers whonow make less than $50,000 could replace half of their lost wages – up to $10,000 over twoyears. It's a way to give families some stability and encourage folks to rejoin the workforce –because we shouldn't just be talking about unemployment; we should be talking about re-employment.
That's when America works best – when everyone has opportunity; when everyone has somesecurity; and when everyone can contribute to this country we love. That's how we make surethat hardworking families can get ahead. And that's what I'll be fighting for with every last dayof my presidency.
Thanks, everybody. Have a great weekend.
以上英語演講稿是小編整理，希望大家喜歡。