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This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for 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.
這一代美國人經歷了危機的考驗，經濟危機堅定了我們的決心，證明了我們的恢復力。長達十年的戰爭正在結束，經濟的復蘇已經開始。美國的可能性是無限的，因為我們擁有當今沒有邊界的世界所需要的所有品質：年輕與活力、多樣性與開放、無窮的冒險精神以及創造的天賦才能。我親愛的同胞們，我們正是為此刻而生，我們更要在此刻團結一致，抓住當下的機會。
For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. 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.
因為我們，美國人民，清楚如果只有不斷萎縮的少數人群體獲得成功，而大多數人不能成功，我們的國家就無法成功。我們相信，美國的繁榮必須建立在不斷上升的中產階級的寬闊臂膀之上，我們知道美國的繁榮只有這樣才能實現。只有當每個人都能找到工作中的自立與自豪時才能實現。只有當誠實勞動獲得的薪水足夠讓家庭擺脫困苦的懸崖時才能實現。我們忠誠于我們的事業，保證讓一個出生于最貧窮環境中的小女孩都能知道，她有同其他所有人一樣的成功機會。因為她是一個美國人，她是自由的、平等的。她的自由平等不僅由上帝來見證，更由我們親手保護。
We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and 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.
我們知道，我們已然陳舊的程序不足以滿足時代的需要。我們必須應用新理念和新技術重塑我們的政府，改進我們的稅法，改革我們的學校，讓我們的公民擁有他們所需要的技能，更加努力地工作，學更多的知識，向更高處發展。這意味著變革，我們的目標是：國家可以獎勵每個美國人的努力和果斷。這是現在需要的。這將給我們的信條賦予真正的意義。
We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. 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. For we remember the lessons 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 happiness 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 loss, or a sudden illness, 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. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.
我們，人民，仍然認為，每個公民都應當獲得基本的安全和尊嚴。我們必須做出艱難抉擇，降低醫療成本，縮減赤字規模。但我們拒絕在照顧建設國家的這一代和投資即將建設國家的下一代間做出選擇。因為我們記得過去的教訓：老年人的夕陽時光在貧困中度過，家有殘障兒童的父母無處求助。我們相信，在這個國家，自由不只是那些幸運兒的專屬，或者說幸福只屬于少數人。我們知道，不管我們怎樣負責任地生活，我們任何人在任何時候都可能面臨失業、突發疾病或住房被可怕的颶風摧毀的風險。我們通過醫療保險、聯邦醫療補助計劃、社會保障項目向每個人做出承諾，這些不會讓我們的創造力衰竭，而是會讓我們更強大。這些不會讓我們成為充滿不勞而獲者的國度，這些讓我們敢于承擔風險，讓國家偉大。
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. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful 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 is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped 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.
我們，人民，仍然相信，我們作為美國人的義務不只是對我們自己而言，還包括對子孫后代。我們將應對氣候變化的威脅，認識到不采取措施應對氣候變化就是對我們的孩子和后代的背叛。一些人可能仍在否定科學界的壓倒性判斷，但沒有人能夠避免熊熊火災、嚴重旱災、更強力風暴帶來的災難性打擊。通向可再生能源利用的道路是漫長的，有時是困難的。但美國不能抵制這種趨勢，我們必須引領這種趨勢。我們不能把制造新就業機會和新行業的技術讓給其他國家，我們必須明確這一承諾。這是我們保持經濟活力和國家財富(我們的森林和航道，我們的農田與雪峰)的方法。這將是我們保護我們星球的辦法，上帝把這個星球托付給我們。這將給我們的建國之父們曾宣布的信條賦予意義。
We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in 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 their sacrifice 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 lessons into this time as well.
我們，人民，仍然相信持久的安全與和平，不需要持續的戰爭。我們勇敢的士兵經受了戰火的考驗，他們的技能和勇氣是無可匹敵的。我們的公民依然銘記著那些陣亡者，他們非常清楚我們為自由付出的代價。明白他們的犧牲將讓我們永遠對那些試圖傷害我們的勢力保持警惕。但我們也是那些贏得和平而不只是戰爭的人們的后代，他們將仇敵轉變成最可靠的朋友，我們也必須把這些經驗帶到這個時代。
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 naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew 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 democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source 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.
我們將通過強大的軍力和法制保護我們的人民，捍衛我們的價值觀。我們將展現試圖和平解決與其它國家分歧的勇氣，但這不是因為我們對面臨的危險持幼稚的態度，而是因為接觸能夠更持久地化解疑慮和恐懼。美國將在全球保持強大的聯盟，我們將更新這些能擴展我們應對海外危機能力的機制。因為作為世界上最強大的國家，我們在世界和平方面擁有最大的利益。我們將支持從亞洲到非洲、從美洲至中東的民主國家，因為我們的利益和良心驅使我們代表那些想獲得自由的人們采取行動。我們必須成為貧困者、病患者、被邊緣化的人士、異見受害者的希望來源，不僅僅是出于慈善，也是因為這個時代的和平需要不斷推進我們共同信念中的原則：寬容和機遇，人類尊嚴與正義。
