Sitting in the office of the Secretary of State and knowing that I’m here in this position after so many luminaries in my own country have held it, it is a very humbling experience. And I often marvel at what they achieved. And I think a lot about George Marshall and Harry Truman and the Marshall Plan. What an amazing decision — to rebuild former enemies with an eye toward the future. And I think about it in very personal terms, because at the end of World War II, my late father had served in the Navy, so when he left service as so many men of that time did and returned to private life, the last thing he wanted to hear his president or secretary of State say was, “Guess what? We’re going to still be taxing you to send money to Germany, to Europe. We’re going to rebuild Japan because we believe it is in the best interests of your children.”
我現在擔任國務卿一職，深知在我之前曾有許多杰出人物擔任過這個職務，我實在自嘆不如。我常對他們的成就感到由衷敬佩。我常思及喬治‧馬歇爾、哈里‧杜魯門和馬歇爾計劃。憑著對未來的展望重建昔日的敵國，是一個多么令人贊嘆的決定。我回首這段往事時有著深刻的個人體驗，因為在二次大戰結束時，我的先父在海軍服役之后像當時許多男子一樣退伍并重新過起普通人的生活，而他當時最不想聽到自己的總統或國務卿這樣說：“你知道嗎？我們還是要向你們征稅，然后把錢送到德國，送到歐洲。我們要重建日本，因為我們相信這對你們的子孫后代最有利。”

But it wasn’t only our public leadership who sounded that note. It was also our business leadership as well who basically said, “Okay, we get it. And we’re willing to do our part as well.” In fact, when support for the program was flagging, the White House and the State Department called the heads of large corporations and universities and asked them to fan out across the United States making the case. So the United States invested $13 billion over four years, which in today’s money would be about 150 billion.
但當時不只是我們的政府領導人發出了這樣的呼聲。我們的工商界領袖也表示：“我們能夠理解。我們也愿意盡一份力量。”事實上，當這項計劃得到的支持低落之時，白宮和國務院聯絡大公司和大學的領導人，請他們到美國各地奔走呼吁。因此美國在四年之間投資了130億美元，相當于今天的1,500億美元。

Imagine leaders today in either government or business going to their people and saying something similar. When the Berlin Wall fell, Helmut Kohl said, “We’re going to pay what it takes to reunify Germany and we’re going to rebuild our neighbors because the wall is gone,” and people said, “Oh, what a incredible investment of our money. We won; we should be the ones getting all the benefits.” But no; it was a decision that was supported by both government and business.
想象一下今天政府或工商界領導人也對本國民眾說出類似的話。當柏林墻倒下時，赫爾默特‧科爾說：“我們為了德國的統一不惜一切代價。我們要重建我們的鄰舍，因為圍墻已經倒下。”而民眾則可能說：“我們要投入多大一筆錢啊。我們是勝利者，我們應該獲得所有惠益。”但事實并非如此，那個決定得到了政府和工商業的雙重支持。

We face a lot of similar challenges today, and we need visionary leaders in both government and business. But those leaders need to be guided by these principles. Whether we’re talking about politics or economics, openness, transparency, freedom and fairness stand the test of time. And in the 21st century, every citizen who is now potentially connected with everyone else in the world will not sit idly by if those principles do not deliver, and if governments and business do not make good on when we’ll provide long-term opportunity for all.
我們今天面臨著很多類似的挑戰，我們需要有遠見卓識的政府和工商界領導人。但這些領導人必須遵循上述原則。無論我們談的是政治還是經濟，開放、透明、自由和公平都禁得起時間的考驗。在21世紀，如果這些原則沒有兌現，如果政府和企業沒有如期履行為全體人民提供長期機會的承諾，那么當今世界每一位有著潛在的相互聯系的公民都不會袖手旁觀。

This agenda is good for Asia, it’s good for America, it’s good for business. Most importantly, it’s good for people. And I absolutely believe it will help us create more a peaceful, stable, and prosperous world for the rest of this century. Thank you all very much.
這個議程對亞洲有利，對美國有利，對企業有利。但最重要的，它對人民有利。我堅信，它能幫助我們在本世紀未來的歲月里建設一個更和平、更穩定、更繁榮的世界。非常感謝大家。