Energy and the National GoalsA Crisis of ConfidenceWord文件下载.docx

1、 Good Evening:This a special night for me. Exactly three years ago, on July 15, 1976, I accepted the nomination of my party to run for President of the United States. I promised you a President who is not isolated from the people, who feels your pain, and who shares your dreams, and who draws his st

2、rength and his wisdom from you.During the past three years Ive spoken to you on many occasions about national concerns, the energy crisis, reorganizing the government, our nations economy, and issues of war and especially peace. But over those years the subjects of the speeches, the talks, and the p

3、ress conferences have become increasingly narrow, focused more and more on what the isolated world of Washington thinks is important. Gradually, youve heard more and more about what the government thinks or what the government should be doing and less and less about our nations hopes, our dreams, an

4、d our vision of the future.Ten days ago, I had planned to speak to you again about a very important subject - energy. For the fifth time I would have described the urgency of the problem and laid out a series of legislative recommendations to the Congress. But as I was preparing to speak, I began to

5、 ask myself the same question that I now know has been troubling many of you: Why have we not been able to get together as a nation to resolve our serious energy problem?Its clear that the true problems of our nation are much deeper - deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than

6、inflation or recession. And I realize more than ever that as President I need your help. So, I decided to reach out and to listen to the voices of America.I invited to Camp David people from almost every segment of our society - business and labor, teachers and preachers, governors, mayors, and priv

7、ate citizens. And then I left Camp David to listen to other Americans, men and women like you. It has been an extraordinary ten days, and I want to share with you what Ive heard.First of all, I got a lot of personal advice. Let me quote a few of the typical comments that I wrote down.This from a sou

8、thern governor: “Mr. President, you are not leading this nation - youre just managing the government.”“You dont see the people enough anymore.”“Some of your Cabinet members dont seem loyal. There is not enough discipline among your disciples.”“Dont talk to us about politics or the mechanics of gover

9、nment, but about an understanding of our common good.”“Mr. President, were in trouble. Talk to us about blood and sweat and tears.”“If you lead, Mr. President, we will follow.”Many people talked about themselves and about the condition of our nation. This from a young woman in Pennsylvania: “I feel

10、so far from government. I feel like ordinary people are excluded from political power.”And this from a young Chicano: “Some of us have suffered from recession all our lives.”“Some people have wasted energy, but others havent had anything to waste.”And this from a religious leader: “No material short

11、age can touch the important things like Gods love for us or our love for one another.”And I like this one particularly from a black woman who happens to be the mayor of a small Mississippi town: “The big shots are not the only ones who are important. Remember, you cant sell anything on Wall Street u

12、nless someone digs it up somewhere else first.”This kind of summarized a lot of other statements: “Mr. President, we are confronted with a moral and a spiritual crisis.”Several of our discussions were on energy, and I have a notebook full of comments and advice. Ill read just a few.“We cant go on co

13、nsuming forty percent more energy then we produce. When we import oil we are also importing inflation plus unemployment.”“Weve got to use what we have. The Middle East has only five percent of the worlds energy, but the United States has twenty-four percent.”And this is one of the most vivid stateme

14、nts: “Our neck is stretched over the fence and OPEC has a knife.”“There will be other cartels and other shortages. American wisdom and courage right now can set a path to follow in the future.”This was a good one: “Be bold, Mr. President. We may make mistakes, but we are ready to experiment.”And thi

15、s one from a labor leader got to the heart of it: “The real issue is freedom. We must deal with the energy problem on a war footing.”And the last that Ill read: “When we enter the moral equivalent of war, Mr. President, dont issue us BB guns.”These ten days confirmed my belief in the decency and the strength and the wisdom of the American people, but it also bore out some of my longstanding concerns about our nations underlying problems.I know, of course, being President, that government actions and legislation can be very importa