克林顿就职演说.docx

1、克林顿就职演说First Inaugural Address of William J. ClintonJanuary 20, 1993My fellow citizens :Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.This ceremony is held in the depth of winter. But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring. A spring reborn in the worlds olde

2、st democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.When our founders boldly declared Americas independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change. Not change for changes sake, but change to preserve Americas idea

3、ls; life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless. Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American.On behalf of our nation, I salute my predecessor, President Bush, for his half-century of service to America. And I

4、 thank the millions of men and women whose steadfastness and sacrifice triumphed over Depression, fascism and Communism.Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the Cold War assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new

5、plagues.Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy that is still the worlds strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our people.When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slo

6、wly across the land by horseback and across the ocean by boat. Now, the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.Communications and commerce are global; investment is mobile; technology is almost magical; and ambition for a better life is now univ

7、ersal. We earn our livelihood in peaceful competition with people all across the earth.Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our time is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy.This new world has already enriched the lives of mill

8、ions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it. But when most people are working harder for less; when others cannot work at all; when the cost of health care devastates families and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises, great and small; when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens

9、 of their freedom; and when millions of poor children cannot even imagine the lives we are calling them to lead, we have not made change our friend.We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps. But we have not done so. Instead, we have drifted, and that drifting has eroded our resources

10、, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence.Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. And Americans have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people. We must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who came before us.From our revolution, the Civil War, to the G

11、reat Depression to the civil rights movement, our people have always mustered the determination to construct from these crises the pillars of our history.Thomas Jefferson believed that to preserve the very foundations of our nation, we would need dramatic change from time to time. Well, my fellow ci

12、tizens, this is our time. Let us embrace it.Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.And so today, we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift; a new season of

13、American renewal has begun. To renew America, we must be bold. We must do what no generation has had to do before. We must invest more in our own people, in their jobs, in their future, and at the same time cut our massive debt. And we must do so in a world in which we must compete for every opportu

14、nity. It will not be easy; it will require sacrifice. But it can be done, and done fairly, not choosing sacrifice for its own sake, but for our own sake. We must provide for our nation the way a family provides for its children.Our Founders saw themselves in the light of posterity. We can do no less

15、. Anyone who has ever watched a childs eyes wander into sleep knows what posterity is. Posterity is the world to come; the world for whom we hold our ideals, from whom we have borrowed our planet, and to whom we bear sacred responsibility. We must do what America does best: offer more opportunity to

16、 all and demand responsibility from all.It is time to break the bad habit of expecting something for nothing, from our government or from each other. Let us all take more responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families but for our communities and our country. To renew America, we must revita

17、lize our democracy.This beautiful capital, like every capital since the dawn of civilization, is often a place of intrigue and calculation. Powerful people maneuver for position and worry endlessly about who is in and who is out, who is up and who is down, forgetting those people whose toil and swea

18、t sends us here and pays our way.Americans deserve better, and in this city today, there are people who want to do better. And so I say to all of us here, let us resolve to reform our politics, so that power and privilege no longer shout down the voice of the people. Let us put aside personal advant

19、age so that we can feel the pain and see the promise of America. Let us resolve to make our government a place for what Franklin Roosevelt called bold, persistent experimentation, a government for our tomorrows, not our yesterdays. Let us give this capital back to the people to whom it belongs.To re

20、new America, we must meet challenges abroad as well at home. There is no longer division between what is foreign and what is domestic; the world economy, the world environment, the world AIDS crisis, the world arms race; they affect us all.Today, as an old order passes, the new world is more free bu

21、t less stable. Communisms collapse has called forth old animosities and new dangers. Clearly America must continue to lead the world we did so much to make.While America rebuilds at home, we will not shrink from the challenges, nor fail to seize the opportunities, of this new world. Together with ou

22、r friends and allies, we will work to shape change, lest it engulf us.When our vital interests are challenged, or the will and conscience of the international community is defied, we will act; with peaceful diplomacy when ever possible, with force when necessary. The brave Americans serving our nati

23、on today in the Persian Gulf, in Somalia, and wherever else they stand are testament to our resolve.But our greatest strength is the power of our ideas, which are still new in many lands. Across the world, we see them embraced, and we rejoice. Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on ever

24、y continent who are building democracy and freedom. Their cause is Americas cause.The American people have summoned the change we celebrate today. You have raised your voices in an unmistakable chorus. You have cast your votes in historic numbers. And you have changed the face of Congress, the presi

25、dency and the political process itself. Yes, you, my fellow Americans have forced the spring. Now, we must do the work the season demands.To that work I now turn, with all the authority of my office. I ask the Congress to join with me. But no president, no Congress, no government, can undertake this

26、 mission alone. My fellow Americans, you, too, must play your part in our renewal. I challenge a new generation of young Americans to a season of service; to act on your idealism by helping troubled children, keeping company with those in need, reconnecting our torn communities. There is so much to

27、be done; enough indeed for millions of others who are still young in spirit to give of themselves in service, too.In serving, we recognize a simple but powerful truth, we need each other. And we must care for one another. Today, we do more than celebrate America; we rededicate ourselves to the very

28、idea of America.An idea born in revolution and renewed through two centuries of challenge. An idea tempered by the knowledge that, but for fate we, the fortunate and the unfortunate, might have been each other. An idea ennobled by the faith that our nation can summon from its myriad diversity the de

29、epest measure of unity. An idea infused with the conviction that Americas long heroic journey must go forever upward.And so, my fellow Americans, at the edge of the 21st century, let us begin with energy and hope, with faith and discipline, and let us work until our work is done. The scripture says,

30、 And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.From this joyful mountaintop of celebration, we hear a call to service in the valley. We have heard the trumpets. We have changed the guard. And now, each in our way, and with Gods help, we must answer the call

31、.Thank you, and God bless you all.【中文译文】：美国复兴的新时代比尔克林顿 第一次就职演讲星期三,1993年1月20日同胞们：今天，我们庆祝美国复兴的奇迹。这个仪式虽在隆冬举行，然而，我们通过自己的言语和向世界展示的面容、却促使春回大地-回到了世界上这个最古老的民主国家，并带来了重新创造美国的远见和勇气。当我国的缔造者勇敢地向世界宣布美国独立，并向上帝表明自己的目的时，他们知道，美国若要永存，就必须变革。不是为变革而变革，而是为了维护美国的理想-为了生命、自由和追求幸福而变革。尽管我们随着当今时代的节拍前进，但我们的使命永恒不变。每一代美国人，部必须为作为一个

32、美国人意味着什么下定义。今天，在冷战阴影下成长起来的一代人，在世界上负起了新的责任。这个世界虽然沐浴着自由的阳光，但仍受到旧仇宿怨和新的祸患的威胁。我们在无与伦比的繁荣中长大，继承了仍然是世界上最强大的经济。但由于企业倒闭，工资增长停滞、不平等状况加剧，人民的分歧加深，我们的经济已经削弱。当乔治华盛顿第一次宣读我刚才宜读的誓言时，人们骑马把那个信息缓慢地传遍大地，继而又来船把它传过海洋。而现在，这个仪式的情景和声音即刻向全球几十亿人播放。通信和商务具有全球性，投资具有流动性；技术几乎具有魔力；改善生活的理想现在具有普遍性。今天，我们美国人通过同世界各地人民进行和平竞争来谋求生存。各种深远而强大的力量正在震撼和改造我们的世界，当今时代的当务之急是我们能否使变革成为我们的朋友，而不是成为我们的敌人。这个新世界已经使几百万能够参与竞争并且取胜的美国人过上了富裕的生活。但是，当多数人干得越多反而挣得越少的时候，当有些人根本不可能工作的时候，当保健费用的重负使众多家庭不堪承受、使大大小小的企业濒临破产的时候，当犯罪活动的恐惧使守法公民不能自由行动的时候，当千百万贫穷儿童甚至不能想象我们呼唤他们过的那种生活