2013年01月22號美國總統Obama就職演說（中英文字幕版）

美國總統Obama當地時間1月21日在國會山發表其第二任期就職演講。Obama在演講中追溯美國民主傳統和憲法精神，通過闡述就業、醫保、移民、財政、同性戀及氣候變化威脅等多項議題與現實有力契合，偉大國家的塑造必須依賴每個美國人的力量，而非少數人的成功，並強調國家團結的重要性。

我們知道，我們老舊的觀念不足以滿足時代的需要。我們必須應用新理念和新技術重塑我們的政府，改進我們的稅法，改革我們的學校，讓我們的公民擁有他們所需要的技能，更加努力地工作，學更多的知識，向更高處發展。這意味著變革，我們的目標是：國家可以獎勵每個美國人的努力和果斷。

這是現在需要的。這將給我們的信條賦予真正的意義。

我們，人民，仍然認為，每個公民都應當獲得基本的安全和尊嚴。我們必須做出艱難抉擇，降低醫療成本，縮減赤字規模。但我們拒絕在照顧建設國家的這一代和投資即將建設國家的下一代間做出選擇。因為我們記得過去的教訓：老年人的夕陽時光在貧困中度過，家有殘障兒童的父母無處求助。我們相信，在這個國家，自由不只是那些幸運兒的專屬，或者說幸福只屬於少數人。我們知道，不管我們怎樣負責任地生活，我們任何人在任何時候都可能面臨失業、突發疾病或住房被可怕的颶風摧毀的風險。

我們通過醫療保險、聯邦醫療補助計畫、社會保障項目向每個人做出承諾，這些不會讓我們的創造力衰竭，而是會讓我們更強大。這些不會讓我們成為充滿不勞而獲者的國度，這些讓我們敢於承擔風險，讓國家偉大。

我們，人民，仍然相信，我們作為美國人的義務不只是對我們自己而言，還包括對子孫後代。我們將應對氣候變化的威脅，認識到不採取措施應對氣候變化就是對我們的孩子和後代的背叛。一些人可能仍在否定科學界的壓倒性判斷，但沒有人能夠避免熊熊火災、嚴重旱災、更強力風暴帶來的災難性打擊。通向可再生能源利用的道路是漫長的，有時是困難的。但美國不能抵制這種趨勢，我們必須引領這種趨勢。我們不能把製造新就業機會和新行業的技術讓給其他國家，我們必須明確這一承諾。這是我們保持經濟活力和國家財富(我們的森林和航道，我們的農田與雪峰)的方法。這將是我們保護我們星球的辦法，上帝把這個星球託付給我們。這將給我們的建國之父們曾宣佈的信條賦予意義。

我們，人民，仍然相信持久的安全與和平，不需要持續的戰爭。我們勇敢的士兵經受了戰火的考驗，他們的技能和勇氣是無可匹敵的。我們的公民依然銘記著那些陣亡者，他們非常清楚我們為自由付出的代價。明白他們的犧牲將讓我們永遠對那些試圖傷害我們的勢力保持警惕。但我們也是那些贏得和平而不只是戰爭的人們的後代，他們將仇敵轉變成最可靠的朋友，我們也必須把這些經驗帶到這個時代。

我們將通過強大的軍力和法制保護我們的人民，捍衛我們的價值觀。我們將展現試圖和平解決與其它國家分歧的勇氣，但這不是因為我們對面臨的危險持幼稚的態度，而是因為接觸能夠更持久地化解疑慮和恐懼。美國將在全球保持強大的聯盟，我們將更新這些能擴展我們應對海外危機能力的機制。因為作為世界上最強大的國家，我們在世界和平方面擁有最大的利益。我們將支持從亞洲到非洲、從美洲至中東的民主國家，因為我們的利益和良心驅使我們代表那些想獲得自由的人們採取行動。我們必須成為貧困者、病患者、被邊緣化的人士、異見受害者的希望來源，不僅僅是出於慈善，也是因為這個時代的和平需要不斷推進我們共同信念中的原則：寬容和機遇，人類尊嚴與正義。

我們，人民，今天宣告的最明白的事實是——我們所有人都是生而平等的，這是依然引領我們的恒星。它引領我們的先輩穿越紐約塞尼加瀑布城(女權抗議事件)、塞爾馬(黑人權力事件)和石牆騷亂(同性戀與員警發生的暴力事件)，引領著所有的男性和女性，留下姓名和沒留姓名的人。在偉大的征程中，一路上留下足跡的人。曾經聽一位牧師說，我們不能獨自前行。Martin Luther King, Jr.說，我們個人的自由與地球上每個靈魂的自由不可分割。

繼續先輩開創的事業是我們這代人的任務。直到我們的妻子、母親和女兒的付出能夠與她們的努力相稱，我們的征途才會結束。我們的征途不會終結，我們要讓同性戀的兄弟姐妹在法律之下得到與其他人同樣的待遇。如果我們真正是生而平等的，那麼我們對彼此的愛也應該是平等的。我們的征途沒有結束，直到沒有公民需要等待數個小時去行使投票權。我們的征途不會結束，直到我們找到更好的方法迎接努力、有憧憬的移民，他們依舊視美國是一塊充滿機會的土地。直到聰穎年輕的學生和工程師為我們所用，而不是被逐出美國。我們的征途不會結束，直到我們所有的兒童，從底特律的街道到阿巴拉契亞的山嶺，再到康涅狄格州紐鎮安靜的小巷，直到他們得到關心和珍視，永遠避免受到傷害。

那是我們這一代的任務——讓生存、自由和追求幸福的言語、權力和價值切實體現在每個美國人的身上。我們的立國文本沒有要求我們將每個人的生活一致化。這並不意味著，我們會以完全一樣的方式去定義自由，沿著同樣的道路通向幸福。進步不會終止幾個世紀以來一直糾結的關於政府角色的爭論，但這要求我們現在就採取行動。

目前是由我們決策，我們不能拖延。我們不能將絕對主義當作原則，或者以表像代替政治，或將中傷視作理性的辯論。我們必須行動，要意識到我們的工作並不完美。我們必須行動，意識到今天的勝利是並不完全的。這些將有賴於未來4年、40年或是400年致力於這項事業的人，去推進當年在費城制憲會議大廳傳承給我們的永恆精神。

我的美國同胞，我今天在你們面前宣讀的誓詞，如同在國會山服務的其他人曾宣讀過的誓詞一樣，是對上帝和國家的誓詞，不是對黨派或是派別的，我們必須在任期內忠實地履行這些承諾。但我今天宣讀的誓詞與士兵報名參軍或者是移民實現夢想時所宣讀的誓詞沒有多少差別。我的誓詞與我們所有的人向我們頭頂飄揚的、讓我們心懷自豪的國旗所表達的誓言沒有多大差別。

這些是公民的誓詞，代表著我們最偉大的希望。

你和我，作為公民，都有為這個國家設定道路的權力。

你和我，作為公民，有義務塑造我們時代的辯題，不僅是通過我們的選票，而且要為捍衛悠久的價值觀和持久的理想發聲。

現在讓我們相互擁抱，懷著莊嚴的職責和無比的快樂，這是我們永恆的與生俱來的權利。有共同的努力和共同的目標，用熱情與奉獻，讓我們回應歷史的召喚，將珍貴的自由之光帶入並不確定的未來。

感謝你們，上帝保佑你們，願上帝永遠保佑美利堅合眾國。

以下是Obama第二任期就職演說英文版：

    MR. OBAMA: Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.

For more than two hundred years, we have.

Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.

Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers。

Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.

Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character.

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people.

This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.

For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.

That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time.

For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction – and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride.

They are the words of citizens, and they represent our greatest hope.

You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.

You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.

Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

Thank you, God Bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America.

文字來源
http://news.sina.com.cn/w/2013-01-22/042326089521.shtml