For us, they fought and
died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg;
Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again, these
men and women
struggled and sacrificed and
worked till their hands were raw so that we
might live a better life. They saw America
as bigger than the sum of our individual
ambitions; greater than all the differences
of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we
continue today. We
remain the most
prosperous,
powerful
nation on Earth. Our workers are no less
productive than when this crisis began. Our
minds are no less inventive, our goods and
services no less needed than they were last
week or last month or last year. Our
capacity remains undiminished. But our time
of
standing pat, of protecting narrow
interests and
putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has
surely passed. Starting today, we must
pick ourselves up,
dust ourselves off, and begin
again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look,
there is work to be done. The state of the
economy
calls for action, bold and
swift,
and we will act -- not only to create new
jobs, but to lay a new foundation for
growth. We will build the roads and bridges,
the
electric grids and digital lines that
feed our commerce and bind us together. We
will restore science to its rightful place,
and
wield technology's wonders to raise
health care's quality and lower its cost. We
will
harness the sun and the winds and the
soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.
And we will
transform our schools and
colleges and universities to meet the
demands of a new age. All this we can do.
And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who
question the scale of our
ambitions -- who
suggest that our system cannot tolerate too
many big plans. Their memories are short.
For they have forgotten what this country
has already done; what free men and women
can
achieve when imagination is joined to
common purpose, and
necessity to courage.
What the
cynics fail to
understand is that the ground has shifted
beneath them -- that the stale political
arguments that have consumed us for so long
no longer apply. The question we ask today
is not whether our government is too big or
too small, but whether it works -- whether
it helps families find jobs at a decent
wage, care they can afford, a retirement
that is
dignified. Where the answer is yes,
we intend to move forward. Where the answer
is no, programs will end. And those of us
who manage the public's dollars will be held
to account -- to
spend wisely,
reform bad
habits, and do our business in the light of
day -- because only then can we
restore the
vital
trust between a people and their
government.
Nor is the question
before us whether the market is a force for
good or ill. Its power to
generate wealth
and expand freedom is unmatched, but this
crisis has reminded us that without a
watchful eye, the market can
spin out of
control -- and that a nation cannot prosper
long when it favors only the prosperous. The
success of our economy has always depended
not just on the size of our
gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity;
on our ability to extend opportunity to
every willing heart -- not out of charity,
but because it is the surest route to our
common good.
As for our common
defense, we reject as false the choice
between our safety and our ideals. Our
Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can
scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to
assure the rule of law and the rights of
man, a charter expanded by the blood of
generations. Those ideals still light the
world, and we will not give them up for
expedience's sake. And so to all other
peoples and governments who are watching
today, from the grandest capitals to the
small village where my father was born: Know
that America is a friend of each nation and
every man, woman and child who seeks a
future of peace and dignity, and that we are
ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier
generations faced down
fascism and
communism
not just with missiles and tanks, but with
sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.
They understood that our power alone cannot
protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as
we please. Instead, they knew that our power
grows through its
prudent use; our security
emanates from the justness of our cause, the
force of our example, the tempering
qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of
this
legacy. Guided by these
principles once
more, we can meet those new threats that
demand even greater effort -- even greater
cooperation and understanding between
nations. We will begin to responsibly leave
Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned
peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and
former foes, we will work tirelessly to
lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the
specter of a warming planet. We will not
apologize for our way of life, nor will we
waver in its defense, and for those who seek
to advance their aims by inducing terror and
slaughtering innocents, we say to you now
that our spirit is stronger and cannot be
broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will
defeat you.
For we know that our
patchwork heritage is a strength, not a
weakness. We are a nation of Christians and
Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and
nonbelievers. We are shaped by every
language and culture, drawn from every end
of this Earth; and because we have tasted
the bitter swill of civil war and
segregation, and emerged from that dark
chapter stronger and more united, we cannot
help but believe that the old hatreds shall
someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall
soon dissolve; that as the world grows
smaller, our common humanity shall reveal
itself; and that America must play its role
in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we
seek a new way forward, based on mutual
interest and mutual respect. To those
leaders around the globe who seek to sow
conflict, or blame their society's ills on
the West: Know that your people will judge
you on what you can build, not what you
destroy. To those who cling to power through
corruption and
deceit and
the silencing of dissent, know that you are
on the wrong side of history; but that we
will extend a hand if you are willing to
unclench
your fist.
To the people of poor
nations, we pledge to work alongside you to
make your farms flourish and let clean
waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and
feed hungry minds. And to those nations like
ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we
can no longer afford indifference to
suffering outside our borders; nor can we
consume the world's resources without regard
to effect. For the world has changed, and we
must change with it.
As we consider the road
that unfolds before us, we remember with
humble gratitude those brave Americans who,
at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts
and distant mountains. They have something
to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes
who lie in Arlington whisper through the
ages. We honor them not only because they
are guardians of our liberty, but because
they embody the spirit of service; a
willingness to find meaning in something
greater than themselves. And yet, at this
moment -- a moment that will define a
generation -- it is precisely this spirit
that must inhabit us all.
For as much as
government can do and must do, it is
ultimately the faith and determination of
the American people upon which this nation
relies. It is the kindness to take in a
stranger when the levees break, the
selflessness of workers who would rather cut
their hours than see a friend lose their job
which sees us through our darkest hours. It
is the firefighter's courage to storm a
stairway filled with smoke, but also a
parent's willingness to nurture a child,
that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be
new. The instruments with which we meet them
may be new. But those values upon which our
success
depends -- hard work and honesty,
courage and fair play, tolerance and
curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these
things are old. These things are true. They
have been the quiet force of progress
throughout our history. What is demanded
then is a return to these truths. What is
required of us now is a new era of
responsibility -- a recognition, on the part
of every American, that we have duties to
ourselves, our nation and the world; duties
that we do not grudgingly accept but rather
seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that
there is nothing so satisfying to the
spirit, so defining of our character, than
giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the
price and
the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of
our confidence -- the knowledge that God
calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of
our liberty and our creed -- why men and
women and children of every race and every
faith can join in celebration across this
magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father
less than 60 years ago might not have been
served at a local restaurant can now stand
before you to take a most sacred
oath.
So let us mark this day
with
remembrance, of who we are and how far
we have traveled. In the year of America's
birth, in the coldest of months, a small
band of patriots huddled by dying campfires
on the shores of an icy river. The capital
was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The
snow was stained with blood. At a moment
when the outcome of our revolution was most
in doubt, the father of our nation ordered
these words be read to the people: