-精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 1 下焚祥岼處傍哂猟井Chief Justice Rehnquist, President Carter, President Bush, President Clinton, distinguished guests and my fellow citizens, the peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet common in our country. With a simple oath, we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings. As I begin, I thank President Clinton for his service to our nation. -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 2 And I thank Vice President Gore for a contest conducted with spirit and ended with grace. I am honored and humbled to stand here, where so many of Americas leaders have come before me, and so many will follow. We have a place, all of us, in a long story - a story we continue, but whose end we will not see. It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old, a story of a slave-holding society that became a servant of freedom, the story of a power that went into the world -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 3 to protect but not possess, to defend but not to conquer. It is the American story - a story of flawed and fallible people, united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals. The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born. -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 4 Americans are called to enact this promise in our lives and in our laws. And though our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course. Through much of the last century, Americas faith in freedom and democracy wasa rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations. -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 5 Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along. And even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel. While many of our citizens prosper, others doubt the promise, even the justice, of our own country. The ambitions of some Americans are limited by failing schools and hidden prejudice and the circumstances of their -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 6 birth. And sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent, but not a country. We do not accept this, and we will not allow it. Our unity, our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens in every generation. And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity. I know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves who creates us equal in His image. -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 7 And we are confident in principles that unite and lead us onward. America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American. Today, we affirm a new -精选财经经济类资料- -最新财经经济资料-感谢阅读- 8 commitment to live out our nations promise through civility, courage, compassion and charac