名人演講:Renew Our Nation 重塑我們的國家[喬治沃克·布什]

Renew Our Nation 重塑我們的國家
—— George Walker Bush 喬治沃克·布什

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[00:05.45]President Clinton,

[00:07.06]distinguished guests

[00:08.70]and my fellow citizens,

[00:12.85]The peaceful transfer of authority

[00:14.61]is rare in history,

[00:17.24]yet common in our country.

[00:19.83]With a simple oath,

[00:20.86]we affirm old traditions

[00:22.12]and make new beginnings.

[00:24.65]As I begin,

[00:26.74]I thank President Clinton

[00:28.20]for his service to our nation.

[00:39.35]And I thank Vice President Gore

[00:41.08]for a contest conducted with spirit

[00:43.88]and ended with grace.

[00:52.57]I am honored and humbled

[00:53.59]to stand here,

[00:54.51]where so many of America's leaders

[00:57.35]have come before me,

[00:59.47]and so many will follow.

[01:02.36]We have a place,

[01:03.47]all of us,

[01:04.75]in a long story.

[01:06.88]A story we continue,

[01:09.17]but whose end we will not see.

[01:12.51]It is the story of a new world

[01:14.38]that became a friend

[01:15.29]and liberator of the old,

[01:17.64]a story of a slave-holding society

[01:21.03]that became a servant of freedom,

[01:23.91]the story of a power

[01:25.08]that went into the world

[01:26.41]to protect but not possess,

[01:28.93]to defend but not to conquer.

[01:32.99]It is the American story.

[01:35.74]A story of flawed

[01:36.95]and fallible people,

[01:38.84]united across the generations

[01:40.64]by grand and enduring ideals.

[01:44.59]The grandest of these ideals

[01:46.30]is an unfolding American promise

[01:49.80] that everyone belongs,

[01:52.18]that everyone deserves a chance,

[01:55.26]that no insignificant person

[01:57.66]was ever born.

[02:00.34]Americans are called

[02:01.77]to enact this promise in our lives

[02:04.75]and in our laws;

[02:07.49]and though our nation has sometimes halted,

[02:10.73]and sometimes delayed,

[02:13.32]we must follow no other course.

[02:16.56]Through much of the last century,

[02:17.99]America's faith in freedom

[02:19.79]and democracy was a rock

[02:22.16]in a raging sea.

[02:24.95]Now it is a seed upon the wind,

[02:27.68]taking root in many nations.

[02:30.81]Our democratic faith

[02:32.59]is more than the creed of our country,

[02:35.88]it is the inborn hope of our humanity,

[02:39.11]an ideal we carry but do not own,

[02:42.66]a trust we bear

[02:44.73]and pass along;

[02:47.31]and even after

[02:48.53]nearly 225 years,

[02:51.48]we have a long way

[02:52.43]yet to travel.

[02:54.76]While many of our citizens prosper,

[02:57.97]others doubt the promise,

[03:00.37]even the justice,

[03:02.30]of our own country.

[03:04.59]The ambitions

[03:05.64]of some Americans

[03:06.42]are limited by failing schools

[03:08.45]and hidden prejudice

[03:09.92]and the circumstances of their birth.

[03:13.28]And sometimes our differences run so deep,

[03:16.15]it seems we share a continent,

[03:18.79]but not a country.

[03:21.42]We do not accept this,

[03:23.97]and we will not allow it.

[03:26.40]Our unity,

[03:28.12]our union,

[03:29.58]is the serious work of leaders

[03:31.34]and citizens in every generation.

[03:35.05]And this is my solemn pledge,

[03:37.83]I will work to build a single nation

[03:40.25]of justice and opportunity.

[03:52.56]I know this is in our reach

[03:55.23]because we are guided

[03:56.10]by a power larger than ourselves

[03:59.40]who creates us equal in His image.

[04:03.57]And we are confident in principles

[04:05.34]that unite and lead us onward.

[04:08.57]America has never been united

[04:10.80]by blood or birth or soil.

[04:14.50]We are bound by ideals

[04:15.42]that move us beyond our backgrounds,

[04:18.05]lift us above our interests

[04:21.07]and teach us

[04:22.09]what it means to be citizens.

[04:24.41]Every child must

[04:25.28]be taught these principles.

[04:27.48]Every citizen must uphold them.

[04:30.58]And every immigrant,

[04:31.55]by embracing these ideals,

[04:33.16]makes our country more,

[04:35.20]not less, American.

[04:38.18]Today,

[04:46.40]we affirm a new commitment

[04:47.92]to live out our nation's promise

[04:50.67]through civility, courage,

[04:53.51]compassion and character.

[04:57.36]America, at its best,

[04:59.38]matches a commitment to principle

[05:02.16]with a concern for civility.

[05:04.89]A civil society demands

[05:06.27]from each of us good will

[05:07.49]and respect, fair dealing

[05:09.01]and forgiveness.

[05:12.46]Some seem to believe

[05:14.43]that our politics

[05:16.20]can afford to be petty

[05:18.59]because, in a time of peace,

[05:20.21]the stakes of our debates

[05:21.42]appear small.

[05:23.61]But the stakes for America

[05:25.86]are never small.

[05:28.10]If our country does not lead

[05:29.63]the cause of freedom,

[05:30.69]it will not be led.

[05:32.73]If we do not turn the hearts of children

[05:34.76]toward knowledge and character,

[05:36.99]we will lose their gifts

[05:38.26]and undermine their idealism.

[05:40.93]If we permit our economy

[05:42.38]to drift and decline,

[05:44.20]the vulnerable will suffer most.

[05:48.06]We must live up to

[05:48.93]the calling we share.

[05:51.30]Civility is not a tactic

[05:53.78]or a sentiment.

[05:55.72]It is the determined choice

[05:56.90]of trust over cynicism,

[05:59.38]of community over chaos.

[06:03.14]And this commitment,

[06:03.79]if we keep it,

[06:05.27]is a way to shared accomplishment.

[06:09.31]America, at its best, is also courageous.

[06:12.71]Our national courage

[06:13.89]has been clear in times

[06:15.21]of depression and war,

[06:17.08]when defending common dangers

[06:18.55]defined our common good.

[06:21.28]Now we must choose

[06:22.41]if the example of our fathers and mothers

[06:25.39]will inspire us or condemn us.

[06:29.64]We must show courage

[06:30.67]in a time of blessing

[06:32.61]by confronting problems instead of

[06:34.24]passing them on to future generations.

[06:44.66]Together, we will reclaim America's schools,

[06:47.51]before ignorance and apathy claim

[06:49.43]more young lives.

[06:51.82]We will reform Social Security and Medicare,

[06:54.65]sparing our children

[06:56.32]from struggles we have the power

[06:57.60]to prevent.

[06:59.37]And we will reduce taxes,

[07:01.26]to recover the momentum

[07:02.42]of our economy

[07:04.04]and reward the effort

[07:04.90]and enterprise of working Americans.

[07:10.36]We will build our defenses beyond challenge,

[07:13.90]lest weakness invite challenge.

[07:21.80]We will confront weapons of mass destruction,

[07:24.67]so that a new century is spared new horrors.

[07:28.72]The enemies of liberty

[07:29.69]and our country

[07:30.52]should make no mistake

[07:32.49]America remains engaged

[07:33.92]in the world

[07:35.19]by history and by choice,

[07:38.03]shaping a balance of power

[07:40.37]that favors freedom.

[07:42.82]We will defend our allies

[07:44.28]and our interests.

[07:45.64]We will show purpose

[07:46.95]without arrogance.

[07:48.68]We will meet aggression

[07:49.64]and bad faith

[07:50.80]with resolve and strength.

[07:53.43]And to all nations,

[07:55.40]we will speak for the values

[07:57.68]that gave our nation birth.

[08:07.98]America, at its best,

[08:10.28]is compassionate.

[08:12.30]In the quiet of American conscience,

[08:15.15]we know that deep,

[08:16.20]persistent poverty

[08:18.39]is unworthy of our nation's promise.

[08:21.63]And whatever our views of its cause,

[08:24.30]we can agree that children at risk

[08:27.04]are not at fault.

[08:29.26]Abandonment and abuse

[08:30.67]are not acts of God,

[08:33.00]they are failures of love.

[08:41.90]The proliferation of prisons,

[08:43.41]however necessary,

[08:45.40]is no substitute for hope

[08:47.53]and order in our souls.

[08:50.77]Where there is suffering,

[08:51.84]there is duty.

[08:53.56]Americans in need are not strangers,

[08:56.84]they are citizens,

[08:58.73]not problems, but priorities.

[09:02.57]And all of us are diminished

[09:03.94]when any are hopeless.

[09:12.48]Government has great responsibilities

[09:14.96]for public safety and public health,

[09:17.54]for civil rights

[09:18.75]and common schools.

[09:21.25]Yet compassion is the work of a nation,

[09:24.28]not just a government.

[09:26.61]Some needs and hurts are so deep

[09:29.39]they will only respond to a mentor's touch

[09:32.62]or a pastor's prayer.

[09:34.95]Church and charity,

[09:36.82]synagogue and mosque

[09:38.64]lend our communities their humanity,

[09:41.49]and they will have an honored place

[09:42.90]in our plans and in our laws.

[09:52.91]Many in our country do not know

[09:54.39]the pain of poverty,

[09:57.06]but we can listen to those who do.

[09:58.48]I can pledge our nation to a goal:

[10:02.82]When we see that wounded traveler

[10:04.75]on the road to Jericho,

[10:07.59]we will not pass to the other side.

[10:17.00]America, at its best,

[10:18.06]is a place where personal responsibility

[10:20.89]is valued and expected.

[10:24.02]Encouraging responsibility

[10:25.34]is not a search for scapegoats,

[10:27.81]it is a call to conscience.

[10:30.54]Though it requires saCRIfice,

[10:33.12]it brings a deeper fulfillment.

[10:36.10]We find the fullness of life

[10:38.58]not only in options,

[10:40.26]but in commitments.

[10:41.82]We find that children

[10:43.04]and community

[10:44.46]are the commitments

[10:46.10]that set us free.

[10:48.55]Our public interest

[10:49.52]depends on private character,

[10:52.04]on civic duty

[10:53.22]and family bonds

[10:54.03]and basic fairness,

[10:57.16]on uncounted,

[10:59.03]unhonored acts of decency

[11:01.35]which give direction to our freedom.

[11:04.80]Sometimes in life we are called

[11:06.06]to do great things.

[11:08.50]But as a saint of our times has said,

[11:11.09]every day we are called

[11:12.15]to do small things with great love.

[11:17.41]The most important tasks

[11:19.02]of a democracy

[11:20.85]are done by everyone.

[11:23.39]I will live and lead by these principles:

[11:26.38]to advance my convictions

[11:27.85]with civility,

[11:29.98]to pursue the public interest

[11:31.44]with courage,

[11:33.28]to speak for greater justice

[11:34.59]and compassion,

[11:36.31]to call for responsibility

[11:38.79]and try to live it as well.

[11:41.23]In all of these ways,

[11:43.15]I will bring the values of our history

[11:46.28]to the care of our times.

[11:49.77]What you do is as important

[11:51.55]as anything government does.

[11:54.18]I ask you to seek a common good

[11:55.74]beyond your comfort;

[11:57.47]to defend needed reforms

[11:58.90]against easy attacks;

[12:01.32]to serve your nation,

[12:02.64]beginning with your neighbor.

[12:05.11]I ask you to be citizens:

[12:07.38]citizens, not spectators;

[12:09.66]citizens, not subjects;

[12:12.09]responsible citizens,

[12:14.07]building communities of service

[12:16.55]and a nation of character.

[12:27.52]Americans are generous

[12:28.73]and strong and decent,

[12:30.00]not because we believe in ourselves,

[12:32.87]but because we hold beliefs

[12:34.65]beyond ourselves.

[12:37.33]When this spirit of citizenship is missing,

[12:39.87]no government program can replace it.

[12:43.25]When this spirit is present,

[12:45.68]no wrong can stand against it.

[12:55.60]After The Declaration of Independence

[12:57.07]was signed,

[12:58.73]Virginia statesman John Page

[13:00.31]wrote to Thomas Jefferson,

[13:02.93]We know the race is not to the swift

[13:05.35]nor the battle to the strong.

[13:07.94]Do you not think an angel rides

[13:09.46]in the whirlwind

[13:11.04]and directs this storm

[13:13.57]Much time has passed

[13:14.69]since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration.

[13:17.92]The years and changes accumulate,

[13:20.84]but the themes of this day

[13:22.72]he would know:

[13:24.38]our nation's grand story of courage

[13:27.27]and its simple dream of dignity.

[13:30.25]We are not this story's author,

[13:32.33]who fills time and eternity

[13:33.90]with His purpose.

[13:35.57]Yet His purpose is achieved in our duty,

[13:38.30]and our duty is fulfilled

[13:39.73]in service to one another.

[13:42.40]Never tiring,

[13:44.27]never yielding,

[13:45.90]never finishing,

[13:47.86]we renew that purpose today,

[13:49.79]to make our country more just

[13:51.71]and generous,

[13:52.97]to affirm the dignity

[13:54.34]of our lives and every life.

[13:57.99]This work continues.

[13:59.97]This story goes on.

[14:02.44]And an angel still rides in the whirlwind

[14:05.32]and directs this storm.

[14:07.75]God bless you all,

[14:09.27]and God bless America.