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.
science, (Applause.) but Some may none still deny theoverwhelming judgment of
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’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure -- our forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow-capped 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 requireperpetual war.(Applause.) Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage.(Applause.) 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.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 leons 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 na?ve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.(Applause.)
America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe.And we willrenew 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 democracyfrom Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and ourconscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom.And we must be asource 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.(Applause.)
我们，美国人，依然相信我们作为美国人的承诺不仅是对自己的，也是对所有子孙后代的。我们会对气候变化的can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful
威胁做出回应，因为我们了解如果不这样做，将会违背对子孙后代的承诺。有些人可能依然不承认科学的判断，但所有人都无法不去正视疯狂的野火、残酷的干旱、更大风暴的袭击。
通往可持续发展能源的道路会是漫长的，而且有时会很艰难。但美国不能抗拒这个转变，而是必须领导这个转变。我们不能将可以增加就业、诞生新型产业的这些技术拱手让给其它国家，我们必须拥有这些技术。这是维护我们经济的活力与国家财富的途径，这些财富包括我们的森林、江河、农田、雪山。这是保护我们的地球的途径，那是上帝交给我们去守护的。这也是我们为先驱们宣示的信念增加新的含义的途径。我们，美国人，依然相信不必通过无休止的战争就能获得永久的安全与和平。我们的军人久经战火考验，技能和勇气都举世无双。我们的人民永远铭记先烈们的牺牲，珍惜自由的来之不易。不忘先烈们的牺牲将让我们永远对敌人保持警惕。但是我们同样牢记那些不仅能够赢得战争、还能赢得和平、化顽敌为挚友的人们。这些经验教训，我们今天必须发扬光大。
我们将通过加强武装力量和法制来保卫我们的人民和价值体系。我们将通过试图与其它国家和平地解决争端来显示我们的勇气——这不是出于对我们面临的危险的无知，而是相信协商能够更长久地解除怀疑与恐惧。美国将继续在世界每个角落都保持积极的联盟，我们也将继续维护那些令我们能够在国外应付危机的机制，因为没有哪个国家会比世界上最强大的国家更需要一个和平的世界。我们将支持从亚洲到非洲、从拉美到中东的民主发展，因为利益和良知促使我们去支持那些希望自由的人们。我们也必须是贫困、疾病、歧视、偏见的受害者们的后援——这不仅仅是出于慈善为怀，也因为我们时代的和平需要不断地推动我们共同信念所基于的原则，包括宽容、机遇、人类尊严与公正。
我们，美国人，今天宣布，最不言自明的真理——人人生而平等——仍然是指引我们的北斗星，就像当年这条真理在色内加瀑布[i]、塞尔玛[ii]、石墙[iii]这些地方指引着人们，它指引着在这个宏大的草坪上留下了足迹的所有知名和不知名的人们。他们来到这里聆听宣讲，说我们不能独自行进；他们来聆听一位王者[iv]说，我们的个人自由与地球上每个人的自由是紧密地联系在一起的。如今到了我们这一代人去接过先驱们开创的使命的时候了。在我们的妻子、母亲、女儿，在得到与她们的付出相符的待遇之前，我们的使命还没有完成；在我们同性恋的兄弟和姐妹像其他人一样在法律上被视真正平等之前，我们的使命还没有完成- 因为如果我们之间真正平等，那么可以肯定，我们所承诺的彼此相爱也必须是平等的。在所有公民行使投票权不必被迫等待几个小时之前，我们的使命还没有完成。在我们找到一个更好的方式来欢迎那些仍然可以把美国看作一个充满机遇的土地，乐于奋斗，充满希望的移民之前，在那些聪明的年轻学生和工程师被纳入到我们的劳动大军之中而不是被驱逐出境之前，我们的使命还没有完成。在从底特律的街头到阿巴拉契亚山间到纽顿安静的小巷中，我们所有的孩子们都知道他们在被关心和爱护，安全有保障之前，我们的使命还没有完成。
这是我们这一代人的使命真正成为每一个美国人的现实。忠实我们国家的创始文件，并不需要我们生活的每一个范畴都看法一致，也并不意味着我们以完全相同的方式定义自由，或者遵循同样的路径追求幸福。进步并不强迫我们放弃几个世纪以来关于所有政府作用的辩论 - 但需要我们在我们的时代采取行动。我们现在就要做出抉择，我们不能承受拖延的后果。我们不能误以为毫无妥协余地是在坚持原则，或者以做秀取代政治，或者以相互指责取代理性的辩论。我们必须行动，尽管知道我们的工作不会十全十美。我们必须行动，尽管知道今天的胜利只是部分的成功，它将更多地取决于今后四年、四十年乃至四百年后站在这里的人们，继续
发扬从费城独立厅传到我们手中的超越时代的精神。我的美国同胞们，我今天在你们面前宣誓，就和过去在这座国会山上宣誓过的人一样，是对上帝和国家而不是对一个政党或者派别的誓词。我们必须在任职期间忠实履行我们的誓言。我的誓词，和每次军人接受任务、移民实现梦想时的誓词，并无太大不同；和我们面对在空中飘扬，让我们心中充满自豪的国旗所做的宣誓，也无太大差异。这些是美国公民的心声，代表了我们最大的希望。你们和我，作为美国公民，有确定国家未来前程的权力。你们和我，作为美国公民，有塑造我们时代话语的责任，不仅通过我们投下的选票，也通过为了维护我们最永久的价值观及理想而发出的大声疾呼。让我们每个人用庄严的责任和无与伦比的欢悦，来拥抱我们与生俱来的永恒权利。凭借共同的努力，凭借热情和执着，让我们响应历史的召唤，承载一个珍爱自由之光的未知未来。
感谢你们，上帝保佑你们，愿上帝永远佑护美利坚合众国。
[i] 1848年，美国争取妇女投票权的人士在纽约州的色内加瀑布地区召开大会。这次大会被认为是现代女权运动的开创性事件。
[ii] 1965年3月，在美国民权运动的高潮中，非洲裔美国人组织了从阿拉巴马的塞尔玛出发的大游行。游行者与警察发生对峙。
[iii] 1969年6月，纽约市警察检查在一个名叫―石墙‖的小酒吧，与里面的同性恋者发生暴力冲突，被同性恋权利运动认为是一个标志性的事件。
[iv] 这里使用的是双关语。―King‖在英文中为―王‖之意，但也是马丁·路德·金的姓。
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.(Applause.) Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law –- (applause) -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.(Applause.) Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.(Applause.) 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 -- (applause) -- until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.(Applause.) 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 happine 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 alldefine liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise path to happine.Progre 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.(Applause.)
For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay.We cannot mistake absolutism forprinciple, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.(Applause.) 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 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the timele spirit once conferred to us in aspare 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 spoketoday 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 theflag 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 indefense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.(Applause.)
Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lastingbirthright.With common effort and common purpose, with paion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.
Thank you.God ble you, and may He forever ble these United States of America.(Applause.)
