2016年奥巴马国情咨文演讲

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans:
议长先生、副总统先生、各位国会议员和美国同胞们：

Tonight marks the eighth year I've come here to report on the State of the Union. And for this final one, I'm going to try to make it shorter. I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa.
今晚是我在这里做国情咨文的第八个年头，也是最后一次。我将尽量简而言之。我知道你们中有些人急着回爱荷华州（译者注：两党党内预选进行地）。

I also understand that because it's an election season, expectations for what we'll achieve this year are low. Still, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach you and the other leaders took at the end of last year to pass a budget and make tax cuts permanent for working families. So I hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform, and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse. We just might surprise the cynics again.
我也理解此时正当大选之季，因此公众对我们今年成就的期望并不高。但是，议长先生，您以及其他领导人去年年末通过了建设性的预算决议，使得工薪家庭减税计划能够长久实施下去，我对此深表感激。因此我衷心希望今年两党能够在一些重要事务上同心协作，比如，推行刑事司法改革，帮助那些与处方药滥用行为抗争的人们。我们很可能会让质疑者们再次大吃一惊。

But tonight, I want to go easy on the traditional list of proposals for the year ahead. Don't worry, I've got plenty, from helping students learn to write computer code to personalizing medical treatments for patients. And I'll keep pushing for progress on the work that still needs doing. Fixing a broken immigration system. Protecting our kids from gun violence. Equal pay for equal work, paid leave, raising the minimum wage. All these things still matter to hardworking families; they are still the right thing to do; and I will not let up until they get done.
但在今晚，我打算少谈些像往年那样的发展计划。别担心，我还是有很多计划要谈，比如，帮助学生学习编写计算机代码，以及对病人进行个性化治疗。我将继续推动这些未竟事业的进步。完善有漏洞的移民体系。保护我们的孩子们免遭枪械暴力。继续推行同工同酬及带薪休假，并提高最低工资水平。所有的这一切对于努力工作的家庭们来说依然至关重要；这些仍是我们要做的对的事情。我绝不会放松这些工作，直至他们完成为止。

But for my final address to this chamber, I don't want to talk just about the next year. I want to focus on the next five years, ten years, and beyond.
但这是我最后一次在此发表讲话，我不想只谈论来年的事宜。我想关注今后的五年、十年，甚至更久远的事情。

I want to focus on our future.
我更关注我们的未来。

We live in a time of extraordinary change – change that's reshaping the way we live, the way we work, our planet and our place in the world. It's change that promises amazing medical breakthroughs, but also economic disruptions that strain working families. It promises education for girls in the most remote villages, but also connects terrorists plotting an ocean away. It's change that can broaden opportunity, or widen inequality. And whether we like it or not, the pace of this change will only accelerate.
我们生活在一个充满巨变的时代，这场巨变改变了我们的生活、工作方式，改变了我们的星球和我们在世界上的地位。这种巨变预示着医学将出现重大突破，也会带来困扰着工薪家庭的经济动荡。它为生活在边远山区的女孩们带去教育的希望，却也使远距重洋的恐怖分子得以串通一气策划阴谋。这场巨变能够带来机遇，也会扩大不公。无论我们喜欢与否，这场巨变的进度只会越来越快。

America has been through big changes before – wars and depression, the influx of immigrants, workers fighting for a fair deal, and movements to expand civil rights. Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears. We did not, in the words of Lincoln, adhere to the "dogmas of the quiet past." Instead we thought anew, and acted anew. We made change work for us, always extending America's promise outward, to the next frontier, to more and more people. And because we did – because we saw opportunity where others saw only peril – we emerged stronger and better than before.
美国曾经历过种种巨变——战争，萧条，移民涌入，工人运动，以及民权运动。每一次，总有人告诉我们要畏惧未来。每当美国受到某些组织或者言论威胁，将要失控，这些人就告诉我们要停止变革，并承诺恢复往日的辉煌。但每一次，我们都能够克服恐惧。用林肯的话来说，我们并未遵循“平静的过去时代的信条”。相反地，我们能够用新的思维思考，以新的方式行事。我们巧妙地利用变化，始终将美国的潜力扩展至更广阔的前沿，惠及更多的民众。正缘于此——因为他人眼中的风险在我们看来是机遇——我们变得比以前更强更好。

What was true then can be true now. Our unique strengths as a nation – our optimism and work ethic, our spirit of discovery and innovation, our diversity and commitment to the rule of law – these things give us everything we need to ensure prosperity and security for generations to come.
过去的真理，现在亦未曾改变。我们的乐观主义与职业道德，我们的发现与创新精神，我们种族多样化和法治信条，这些都是我们作为一个国家所拥有的独一无二的优点，使我们具备了世代繁荣昌盛、国泰民安的一切条件。

In fact, it's that spirit that made the progress of these past seven years possible. It's how we recovered from the worst economic crisis in generations. It's how we reformed our health care system, and reinvented our energy sector; how we delivered more care and benefits to our troops and veterans, and how we secured the freedom in every state to marry the person we love.
事实上，正因有了这种精神力量，我们过去七年才可能取得进步。它使我们得以从几代以来最严重的经济危机中恢复；是我们改革医疗体系、改造能源部门的动力；保证了我们给予军人和老兵更多关心和福利。也正因为此，我们能够让每个州的人都获得了与所爱的人结婚的自由。

But such progress is not inevitable. It is the result of choices we make together. And we face such choices right now. Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear, turning inward as a nation, and turning against each other as a people? Or will we face the future with confidence in who we are, what we stand for, and the incredible things we can do together?
但是，这些进步并不是注定会发生的，而是我们共同选择的结果。我们当下正面临着这样的选择。面对时代的变化，我们是将以恐惧对之，闭门造车，各自为战？还是自我肯定，坚持立场，相信我们能共创奇迹？