THE PRESIDENT: Vice President Biden, Mr.Chief Justice,
members of the United States Congre, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:
Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witne 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 happine.”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’ve never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth.(Applause.) The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyrannyof 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.
And 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 ensurecompetition 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
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 of initiative and enterprise, our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character.
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 businees to our shores.Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people.(Applause.)
This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience.A decade of war is now ending.(Applause.) An economic recovery has begun.(Applause.) America’s poibilities are limitle, for we poe all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openne; an endle capacityfor 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.(Applause.)
For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it.(Applause.) We believe that America’s prosperitymust rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle cla.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.(Applause.)
We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time.So we mustharne new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reformour schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, 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 anddignity.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.(Applause.) For we remember the leons 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 happine 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 lo, or a sudden illne, 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.(Applause.) They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.(Applause.)
拜登副总统，最高法院首席大法官先生， 美国国会议员们，尊敬的客人们，同胞们：当我们每次聚集在一起为总统举行就职典礼时，我们都是在见证美国宪法的不朽力量。我们是在又一次立下美国民主的承诺。 我们再次提醒说，把这个国家凝聚在一起的不是我们的肤色，不是信仰的教条，也不是我们的姓
氏源于何处。使我们与众不同——使我们成为美国人——的，是我们对一个在两个多世纪以前发表的宣言中所表述的理念：
“我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的：人人生而平等，他们都从他们的造物主那里被赋予了某些不可剥夺的权利，包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。”今天，我们仍在继续这个永恒的旅程，让那些字句体现在我们这个时代的现实中。因为历史告诉我们，虽然这些真理是不言而喻的，但它们却不会自动实现；虽然自由是上帝给我们的礼物，但自由只能靠他在世间的子民的奋斗才能获得。1776年爱国先驱们所进行的斗争并不是以少数人的特权或乌合之众的统治来替代专制君主。他们为我们缔造的是一个共和国，一个民有、民治、民享的政府，并将捍卫这个建国理念的任务交给一代又一代的后人。
两百多年的历史证明，我们做到了。从皮鞭下和刺刀尖流出的鲜血中，我们发现，建立在自由和平等原则之上的合众国不能一半是蓄奴的，一半是自由的。我们浴火重生，我们发誓共同努力向前。
我们共同决定，现代经济需要铁路和公路，以加快旅行和商业，也需要中小学和大学来培训我们的工人。
我们一起发现，只有确保竞争和公平的法规健全，自由市场才能欣欣向荣。
我们一同决定，一个伟大国家必须关照弱者，并保护我们的人民免受生活中最严重的危险和不幸。在做这一切的时候，我们从来没有放弃对政府集中权力的怀疑，我们也没有屈就于那种相信只靠政府就可以解决所有社会弊病的幻想。我们一直保持着自己的秉性，推崇创造力和企业家精神，坚持辛勤工作和个人责任。但是我们也很明白，随着时代的变化，我们也必须变化；我们出于对基本原则的忠诚，需要对新的挑战做出新的回应；我们为保护个人自由就最终需要集体作出努力。美国人民如果再单打独斗去应付当今世界的挑战，等于让美国军队以长枪和民兵组织去面对法西斯主义或共产主义的武装。没有任何一个个人有能力训练出我们后代的教育需要的所有数学和科学教师，或者建造出能把新的工作和商业机会带给我们的道路、网络、实验室。现在比以往任何时候都需要我们共同努力，作为一个国家人民的整体，来做这些事情。
我们这一代美国人经历过危机的考验，这些危机坚定了我们的决心，也证明了我们的耐力。长达10年的战争即将结束，经济复苏已经开始，美国的潜力是无限的，因为我们拥有这个全球化的世界需要的所有特质：我们年轻有动力，多元而开放，我们有应对危机的无限能力和创新发展的天赋。美国同胞们，我们为这个时刻而生，只要我们共同努力，我们就能牢牢抓住这个机会。我们美国人知道，我们的国家不可能在只有越来越少的人富有、越来越多的人捉襟见肘的情况下取得成功，我们相信美国的繁荣有赖于更多的人成为中产阶级，我们知道美国的振兴取决于每个人都能在工作中找到独立与自信，也取决于人们诚实的劳动让家庭脱离贫困。当一个出身贫困的年轻女孩知道，她与任何人都享有同样的成功机会，身为美国人，她不仅仅是在上帝眼中，而且在每一个人的眼中，她都享有自由与平等，这样我们才算是遵守了立国的原则。我们明白，目前那些陈旧的政府计划跟不上时代。我们必须驾驭新的思想和技术以重塑政府，更新税法，改革学校，并让公民能够掌握新技能，以便更加努力工作，学习更多的知识，以达到更高的目标。我们的方法虽然会改
变，但目的始终如一：建设一个奖励每个人的努力和决心的国家。这是当下所需要的。这是我们信念的真正意义所在。我们，美国人，仍然相信，每位公民都应该得到基本的安全和尊严。我们必须作出降低我们的医保费用和赤字规模的艰难抉择。但是，我们拒绝接受这种看法，亦即美国必须在照顾建设了国家的那代人和投资于开创国家未来的那代人之间作出选择。我们记得过去的教训：老人的暮年在贫困中度过，残疾孩子的父母走投无路。我们不相信，在这个国家里自由只属于幸运者，幸福只属于少数人。我们知道，无论我们平日如何负责，我们当中任何人，在任何时候，都有可能面临失业、突然生病或者房子被风暴卷走的情况。我们通过联邦医疗保险、医疗补助计划以及社会安全保障为彼此作出的承诺，不仅不会挫伤我们的积极性，反而使我们更加强壮。它们不会使我们成为一群不劳而获的人，反而使我们敢于去冒险，这才使国家强大。
