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克林顿1997年第二次就职演说

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克林顿1997年第二次就职演说 英文版

January 20, 1997

My fellow citizens:

At this last presidential inauguration of the 20th century, let us lift our eyes toward the challenges that await us in the next century. It is our great good fortune that time and chance have put us not only at the edge of a new century, in a new millennium, but on the edge of a bright new prospect in human affairs, a moment that will define our course, and our character, for decades to come. We must keep our old democracy forever young. Guided by the ancient vision of a promised land, let us set our sights upon a land of new promise.

The promise of America was born in the 18th century out of the bold conviction that we are all created equal. It was extended and preserved in the 19th century, when our nation spread across the continent, saved the union, and abolished the awful scourge of slavery.Then, in turmoil and triumph, that promise exploded onto the world stage to make this the American Century.

And what a century it has been. America became the world's mightiest industrial power; saved the world from tyranny in two world wars and a long cold war; and time and again, reached out across the globe to millions who, like us, longed for the blessings of liberty.

Along the way, Americans produced a great middle class and security in old age; built unrivaled centers of learning and opened public schools to all; split the atom and explored the heavens; invented the computer and the microchip; and deepened the wellspring of justice by making a revolution in civil rights for African Americans and all minorities, and extending the circle of citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.

Now, for the third time, a new century is upon us, and another time to choose. We began the 19th century with a choice, to spread our nation from coast to coast. We began the 20th century with a choice, to harness the Industrial Revolution to our values of free enterprise, conservation, and human decency. Those choices made all the difference.

At the dawn of the 21st century a free people must now choose to shape the forces of the Information Age and the global society, to unleash the limitless potential of all our people, and, yes, to form a more perfect union.

When last we gathered,our march to this new future seemed less certain than it does today.We vowed then to set a clear course to renew our nation.

In these four years, we have been touched by tragedy, exhilarated by challenge, strengthened by achievement. America stands alone as the world's indispensable nation. Once again, our economy is the strongest on Earth. Once again, we are building stronger families, thriving communities, better educational opportunities, a cleaner environment. Problems that once seemed destined to deepen now bend to our efforts: our streets are safer and record numbers of our fellow citizens have moved from welfare to work.

And once again, we have resolved for our time a great debate over the role of government. Today we can declare: Government is not the problem, and government is not the solution. We—the American people, we are the solution. Our founders understood that well and gave us a democracy strong enough to endure for centuries, flexible enough to face our common challenges and advance our common dreams in each new day.

As times change, so government must change. We need a new government for a new century—humble enough not to try to solve all our problems for us, but strong enough to give us the tools to solve our problems for ourselves; a government that is smaller, lives within its means, and does more with less. Yet where it can stand up for our values and interests in the world, and where it can give Americans the power to make a real difference in their everyday lives, government should do more, not less. The preeminent mission of our new government is to give all Americans an opportunity,—not a guarantee, but a real opportunity to build better lives.

Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to us. Our founders taught us that the preservation of our liberty and our union depends upon responsible citizenship. And we need a new sense of responsibility for a new century. There is work to do, work that government alone cannot do: teaching children to read; hiring people off welfare rolls; coming out from behind locked doors and shuttered windows to help reclaim our streets from drugs and gangs and crime; taking time out of our own lives to serve others.

Each and every one of us, in our own way, must assume personal responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families, but for our neighbors and our nation. Our greatest responsibility is to embrace a new spirit of community for a new century. For any one of us to succeed, we must succeed as one America.

The challenge of our past remains the challenge of our future, will we be one nation, one people, with one common destiny, or not? Will we all come together, or come apart?

The divide of race has been America's constant curse. And each new wave of immigrants gives new targets to old prejudices. Prejudice and contempt, cloaked in the pretense of religious or political conviction are no different. These forces have nearly destroyed our nation in the past. They plague us still. They fuel the fanaticism of terror. And they torment the lives of millions in fractured nations all around the world.

We shall overcome them. And we shall replace them with the generous spirit of a people who feel at home with one another.

Our rich texture of racial, religious and political diversity will be a Godsend in the 21st century. Great rewards will come to those who can live together, learn together, work together, forge new ties that bind together.

As this new era approaches we can already see its broad outlines. Ten years ago, the Internet was the mystical province of physicists; today, it is a commonplace encyclopedia for millions of schoolchildren. Scientists now are decoding the blueprint of human life. Cures for our most feared illnesses seem close at hand.

The world is no longer divided into two hostile camps. Instead, now we are building bonds with nations that once were our adversaries. Growing connections of commerce and culture give us a chance to lift the fortunes and spirits of people the world over. And for the very first time in all of history, more people on this planet live under democracy than dictatorship.

My fellow Americans, as we look back at this remarkable century, we may ask, can we hope not just to follow, but even to surpass the achievements of the 20th century in America and to avoid the awful bloodshed that stained its legacy? To that question, every American here and every American in our land today must answer a resounding "Yes."

This is the heart of our task. With a new vision of government, a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of community, we will sustain America's journey. The promise we sought in a new land we will find again in a land of new promise.

In this new land, education will be every citizen's most prized possession. Our schools will have the highest standards in the world, igniting the spark of possibility in the eyes of every girl and every boy. And the doors of higher education will be open to all. The knowledge and power of the Information Age will be within reach not just of the few, but of every classroom, every library, every child. Parents and children will have time not only to work, but to read and play together. And the plans they make at their kitchen table will be those of a better home, a better job, the certain chance to go to college.

Our streets will echo again with the laughter of our children, because no one will try to shoot them or sell them drugs anymore. Everyone who can work, will work, with today's permanent under class part of tomorrow's growing middle class. New miracles of medicine at last will reach not only those who can claim care now, but the children and hardworking families too long denied.

We will stand mighty for peace and freedom, and maintain a strong defense against terror and destruction. Our children will sleep free from the threat of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Ports and airports, farms and factories will thrive with trade and innovation and ideas. And the world's greatest democracy will lead a whole world of democracies.

Our land of new promise will be a nation that meets its obligations, a nation that balances its budget, but never loses the balance of its values. A nation where our grandparents have secure retirement and health care, and their grandchildren know we have made the reforms necessary to sustain those benefits for their time. A nation that fortifies the world's most productive economy even as it protects the great natural bounty of our water, air, and majestic land.

And in this land of new promise, we will have reformed our politics so that the voice of the people will always speak louder than the din of narrow interests, regaining the participation and deserving the trust of all Americans.

Fellow citizens, let us build that America, a nation ever moving forward toward realizing the full potential of all its citizens. Prosperity and power, yes, they are important, and we must maintain them. But let us never forget: The greatest progress we have made, and the greatest progress we have yet to make, is in the human heart. In the end, all the world's wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength and decency of the human spirit.

Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to us down there, at the other end of this Mall, in words that moved the conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of old, he told of his dream that one day America would rise up and treat all its citizens as equals before the law and in the heart. Martin Luther King's dream was the American Dream. His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed. Our history has been built on such dreams and labors. And by our dreams and labors we will redeem the promise of America in the 21st century.

Fellow citizens, we must not waste the precious gift of this time. For all of us are on that same journey of our lives, and our journey, too, will come to an end. But the journey of our America must go on.

And so, my fellow Americans, we must be strong, for there is much to dare. The demands of our time are great and they are different. Let us meet them with faith and courage, with patience and a grateful and happy heart. Let us shape the hope of this day into the noblest chapter in our history. Yes, let us build our bridge. A bridge wide enough and strong enough for every American to cross over to a blessed land of new promise.

May those generations whose faces we cannot yet see, whose names we may never know, say of us here that we led our beloved land into a new century with the American Dream alive for all her children; with the American promise of a more perfect union a reality for all her people; with America's bright flame of freedom spreading throughout all the world.

From the height of this place and the summit of this century, let us go forth. May God strengthen our hands for the good work ahead, and always, always bless our America.

克林顿1997年第二次就职演说 中文版

1997年1月20日

同胞们:

藉此20世纪最后一届总统就职演说之际,让我们拭目以待下一世纪我们将面临的挑战。所幸的是时间和机遇不仅将我们置身于一个新世纪的边缘,一个新的千年,而且将我们置身于人类事业一个崭新的、光辉的边缘,一个决定我们未来数十年方向和地位的时刻。我们必须使我们古老的民主永葆青春。在“希望之乡”这一古老憧憬的指引下,让我们着眼于新的“希望之乡”。

美国的希望源于18世纪一种无畏的信念:人生来皆平等。在19世纪,我们的国家横跨大陆,拯救了联邦,废除了恐怖的奴隶制的蹂躏。然后,一种在辛劳和胜利之中扩展开来的信念奔上了世界的舞台,使本世纪成为美国的世纪。

这是怎样的一个世纪啊。美国成为了世界上最强大的工业大国,它把世界从两次世界大战和旷日持久的冷战的暴虐中拯救出来,并且一再向全球上百万像我们一样渴望自由赐福的人们伸出了援助之手。

在这一进程中,美国产生了庞大的中产阶级和养老保障制度;建立了无与伦比的学习中心,并对全民开放公立学校;实现了核裂变,对太空进行探测;发明了计算机和微芯片;通过发起一场非裔美国人和少数民族的民权运动及扩大妇女的公民权利、就业机会和人身尊严,而深掘了正义之泉。

现在是第三次,一个新世纪正朝我们走来,这又是一个选择的时候。我们进入19世纪时有一个选择,使我们国家从一个海岸扩展到另一个海岸。我们进入20世纪时有一个选择,使工业革命能保护我们自由企业的价值观、保护自然环境和人类尊严,这些选择使一切迥然不同。

在21世纪的曙光来临之际,一个自由的民族必须做出选择,去打造信息时代和全球一体化的力量。去释放全民无尽的潜能,并且最终建立一个更完美的联邦国家。

上次我们在此相聚时,我们向这个新未来的进军似乎没有今天这么明确,我们那时曾宣誓,要确立新的道路,复兴我们的国家。

在这四年中,我们感到悲剧带来的触动,挑战带来的兴奋,因成就而凝聚在一起。美国作为世界不可缺少的国家巍然挺立,我们再一次拥有强大的经济力量,再一次建立起更加稳定的家庭和繁荣的社区,提供更好的教育机会以及更清洁的环境。曾经似乎注定要恶化的问题现在也屈服于我们的努力,我们的街道更加安全,越来越多的同胞从依赖福利救济走向就业岗位。

我们再一次地解决了当前关于政府角色问题的巨大争论。今天我们可以宣称:政府不是问题所在,也不是问题的解决所在,我们——美国人民——才是问题的解决者。我们的先驱们也深深地了解这一点,他们给予我们可以持续几个世纪的强有力的民主精神以及灵活多变的能力。足以让我们在每一个新的日子里迎接我们共同的挑战并开拓我们共同的梦想。

时代在变,因此我们的政府也应该做出改变。在新的世纪里我们需要一个新的政府——它要足够的谦逊,不仅仅是为我们解决所有的问题,更要足够强大去为我们提供解决问题的手段,这是个较小的政府,并以它自己的方式生存,投入少收获多。在这个世界上,哪里能够支持美国人的价值观和利益,哪里就能够给美国人民力量,使他们每天的生活日新月异。政府应该做的更多而不是更少。我们新政府重大的任务不是给所有的美国人一个保证,而是一个机会,一个能实现更加美好生活的真正的机会。

除此之外,同胞们,未来就在我们的手中。我们的先驱告诫我们,保持自由与团结需要有责任感的人。在新的世纪里,我们需要一个新的责任意识。我们有很多事要做,这些工作仅仅靠政府是不能完成的。比如,教孩子读书,雇佣那些没有福利的人们,走出封闭的家园,帮助人们远离毒品与犯罪,从我们的生活中抽出时间去帮助他人。

我们每个人都应该以自己的方式去履行责任,不单单是为了我们自己和家人,而是为了我们的社会和国家。我们最重要的责任是在新世纪里,要持有一种新的团体精神。为了每一个人的成功,作为一个整体的美国我们必须成功。

过去的挑战仍是我们未来的挑战,我们会不会成为一个拥有共同命运的国家?我们是携手并进,还是分崩离析呢?

种族分裂一直是美国的祸根。而且每一次新的移民浪潮都会给旧有偏见新的冲击。偏见与蔑视总是披着宗教或者政治的外衣,其实它们没什么两样。过去这些势力差点毁掉我们的国家,现在仍然折磨着我们。它们煽动恐怖行为,并且在世界各地分裂国家,使数百万人民遭受苦难。

我们应该战胜分裂主义,我们应该以一个民族宽宏大量的精神让大家感受到我们彼此是一家人。

在21世纪,种族、宗教和政治的多样性是上帝给予的恩赐。那些一起生活、学习、工作,并且彼此之间建立新的纽带的人将会获得回报。

随着新时代的来临,我们已经注意到了这个时代的显著特征。十年前,互联网是物理学家专有的研究领域,现在却已经成为数百万学龄儿童常用的百科全书。科学家正在破解人类生命的蓝图,找到治愈目前我们最为害怕疾病的方法。

这个世界不再分为两大敌对的阵营。相反,我们正与过去的敌时国家建立关系。随着商业与文化联系的日益加强,使我们有机会提升全世界的物质与精神水平。这也是历史上首次人民生活在民主的世界里,而不是独裁专政之中。

同胞们,在我们回首这个不同寻常的世纪时,也许我们会问,我们所希望的不仅是踏着先人的脚步,更应该超越20世纪美国所有的成就,还有避免发生玷污先辈英明的流血事件吗?对于这个问题,在座的每一个美国人和所有的美国人此时此刻都会异口同声地回答:“是的。”

这就是我们的核心任务,伴随着政府新的政见,新的责任感,新的团体精神,我们将会使美国的征程走得一帆风顺。我们过去在新大陆追寻到的希望,将在这块充满新希望的土地上再次获得。

在这个新的土地上,每个人都会受到教育。我们学校的教育水平是全世界最高的,在每个孩子的眼中都能点燃智慧的火花。高等学校的大门将会对所有人敞开,这个信息时代的知识和力量不仅仅普及到一部分人那里,更要普及到每一个教室,每一座图书馆,甚至每一个孩子身上。父母亲不仅有时间工作,而且还有时间陪孩子一起读书、玩耍。并且人们茶余饭后谈论的事情就是能有个更好的住房,更好的工作和上大学的机会。

街道上会再次回荡起孩子们的笑声,因为不会再有人对他们开枪或者卖给他们毒品。每一个有能力工作的人都会去工作,一部分低收入的人群将成为中产阶级。新研制的药品不仅可以满足那些有需要的人,也会适用于长期被忽视的孩子和辛苦工作的人们。

我们坚决支持自由与和平,抵制恐怖和破坏行为。我们的孩子将会远离核武器、化学武器和生物武器的威胁。海港、航空港、农场以及工厂将会随着商贸、创新方法和新思想而兴旺起来。世界上最伟大的民主国家将引领整个世界的民主政治潮流。

我们充满新希望的国土将会是一个敢于承担责任、平衡预算、永远不会失去价值平衡的国家。在这个国家里,我们的祖父母领取退休养老金和医疗保障,并且他们的子孙们也知道我们的政府为维持他们年老时的利益而进行的必要改革。在这个国家里,我们要加强发展世界上最具有生产力的经济,同时也要保护水、空气和土地等伟大的自然资源。

在这个充满希望的国土上,我们将对我们的政治进行变革,使人们的呼声高于狭隘利益的喧嚣,重新赢取美国人民的信任。

同胞们,让我们建设这样的美国,一个永远前进,以充分发挥全民潜力的国家。我们必须保持繁荣强大。但是我们不能忘记:我们已取得的伟大成就,以及我们将取得的伟大的成就是在人民的心中。最终,全世界的财富和万马千军都无法与人类的精神力量和精神文明相匹敌。

34年前有一个人,他的一生为我们今天所歌颂,他就在那边,在广场的另一端对我们演讲,他的话打动了国民的良知。像是一个古代的预言家,他诉说着他的梦想:有一天美国终会站起来,在法律面前和人们的心中所有公民都将得到平等对待。马丁·路德·金的梦是美国之梦。他所追寻的正是我们所要追求的,不断地去努力实现我们生活的信条。我们的历史就建立在这样的梦想和努力之上。有了我们的梦想和努力,我们一定会重塑21世纪美国的希望。

同胞们,我们不能浪费当前宝贵的时间了。因为我们大家都在生命的同一旅途上,我们的旅途会有终点。但我们的美国之路必须走下去。

而且,同胞们,我们要变得更强,因为有更多的挑战在等着我们。我们这个时代的需要很奇妙而且富有多样性。让我们充满信仰,鼓起勇气,以感激幸福的心耐心地面对这些挑战。让我们重塑今天的希望,去谱写历史的新篇章。是的,让我们架起桥梁,一座足以让每个美国人走向充满希望之地的桥梁。

我们还看不到我们的后代们的面孔,也永远不会知道他们的名字,但是当他们谈论到我们的时候,希望他们会说我们把祖国领进了新的世纪,把有活力的美国梦留给了所有的子孙。

让我们从此地之峰,从世纪之巅前进。愿上帝给我们强有力的双手,做好未来的工作,并且永远永远保佑我们的美国。


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