2013-1-21奥巴马就职演讲全文

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Vice president

Members of the united states congress,distinguished guests, and fellow citizens, each time we gather to inaugurate apresident, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. Weaffirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nationtogether is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or theorigins of our names. What makes us exceptional, what makes us American is ourallegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuriesago, ‘we held the truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable right, thatamong these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’ Today we continuea never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realitiesof 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, itmust be secured by His’ people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did notfight to replace the tyranny of a King with the privileges of a few or the ruleof a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for thepeople, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed. For morethan two hundred years, we have. Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn bysword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty andequality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew andvowed to move forward together. Together, we determined that a modern economyrequires railroads and highway to speed travel and commerce, schools andcolleges to train our workers. Together, we discovered that a free market onlythrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. Together, weresolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect itspeople from life’s worst hazards and misfortune. Through it all, we have never relinquishedour skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction thatall society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration ofinitiative and enterprise, our insistence on hard work and personalresponsibility. These are constants in our character. We always understood thatwhen times change, so must we, that fidelity to our founding principles requiresnew responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedomsultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meetthe demands of today’s world by acting alone that American soldiers could havemet the forces of fascism or communism with markets and militias. No singleperson can train all the math and science teachers, we will need to equip ourchildren for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs thatwill bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we mustdo these things together, as one nation, and one people. This generation ofAmericans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved ourresilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’spossibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this worldwithout boundaries demands: youth and drive, diversity and openness, an endlesscapacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are madefor 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 dovery well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’sprosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We knowthat America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in theirwork; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink ofhardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakestpoverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, becauseshe 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 theneeds of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake ourgovernment, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizenswith the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher. Butwhile the means will change, our purpose endures, a nation that rewards theeffort and determination of every single American. That is what this momentrequires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed. We, the people,still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security anddignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care andthe size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choosebetween caring for the generation that built this country and investing in thegeneration 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 adisability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country freedomis reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that nomatter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may facea job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. Thecommitments we make to each other through Medicare, and Medicaid, and socialsecurity, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us. They donot make us a nation of takers, they free us to take the risks that make thiscountry great. We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americansare not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threatof climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our childrenand future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment ofscience, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires andcrippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainableenergy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resistthis transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations thetechnology that will power new jobs and new industries we must claim itspromise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our nationaltreasure, our forests and waterways, our croplands and snowcapped peaks. Thatis how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s whatwill lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared. We, the people, stillbelieve that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Ourbrave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatchedin 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 theirsacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. Butwe are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war who turnedsworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons intothis time as well. We will defend our people and uphold our values through strengthof arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve ourdifferences with other nations peacefully, not because we are naïve about thedangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion andfear. America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of theglobe, and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to managecrisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its mostpowerful nation. We still support democracy from Asia to Africa, from theAmericans to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compelus to ace on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source ofhope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice, not outof mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance ofthose principles, that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity,human dignity and justice. We, the people, declare today that the most evidentof 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 footprintsalong this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone, tohear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to thefreedom of every soul on Earth. It is now our generation ‘s task to carry onwhat those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, ourmothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey isnot complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone elseunder the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love wecommit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete untilno citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Ourjourney is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the strivinghopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity until brightyoung students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelledfrom our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from thestreet 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 isour generation’s task, to make these words, these rights, these values, ‘oflife, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’, real for every American. Beingtrue to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour oflife, it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, orfollow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us tosettle centuries long debates about the role of government for all time but itdoes require us to act in our time. For now decisions are upon us, and wecannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitutespectacle 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’svictories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand herein four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance thetimeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall. My fellowAmericans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited byothers who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party orfaction, 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 takeneach time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. Myoath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that wavesabove and that fills our hearts with pride. They are the words of citizens, andthey represent our greatest hope. You and I, as citizen, have the power to setthis country’s course. You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape thedebates of our time, not only with the votes we cast, but with the voice welift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. Let each of usnow embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasing birthright. Withcommon effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answerthe call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light offreedom. Thank you, God Bless you, and may He forever bless these United Statesof America.

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