“We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief
Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and
fellow citizens:
Each time we gather to inaugurate a president;
we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm
the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation
together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the
origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American
– is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two
centuries ago:
“We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Today we continue a never-ending
journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our
time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident,
they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it
must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not
fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule
of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for
the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.
For more than two hundred years, we
have.
Through blood drawn by lash and
blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of
liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made
ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.
Together, we determined that a
modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce;
schools and colleges to train our workers.
Together, we discovered that a free
market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair
play.
Together, we resolved that a great
nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst
hazards and misfortune.
Through it all, we have never
relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the
fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone.
Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and
personal responsibility, are constants in our character.
But we have always understood that
when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles
requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual
freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people
can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American
soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and
militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers
we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and
networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our
shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one
nation, and one people.
This generation of Americans has
been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience.
A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun.
America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that
this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and
openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention.
My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so
long as we seize it together.
For we, the people, understand that
our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many
barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the
broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives
when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages
of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true
to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she
has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she
is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our
own.
We understand that outworn programs
are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and
technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools,
and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more,
and reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose
endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every
single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what
will give real meaning to our creed.
We, the people, still believe that
every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must
make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our
deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring
for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that
will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when
twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability
had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is
reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no
matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face
a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The
commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social
Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us.
They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that
make this country great.
We, the people, still believe that
our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all
posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that
the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.
Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid
the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more
powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long
and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we
must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will
power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is
how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests
and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will
preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend
meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.
We, the people, still believe that
enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our
brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched
in skill and courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have
lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of
their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us
harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the
war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry
those lessons into this time as well.
We will defend our people and uphold
our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the
courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not
because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more
durably lift suspicion and fear. America will remain the anchor of strong
alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions
that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater
stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support
democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because
our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long
for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the
marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because
peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our
common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and
justice.
We, the people, declare today that
the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star
that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and
Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and
unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that
we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is
inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.
It is now our generation’s task to
carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until
our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their
efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters
are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal,
then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our
journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to
exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a
better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as
a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted
in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is
not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills
of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and
cherished, and always safe from harm.
That is our generation’s task – to
make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American. Being true to our
founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it
does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the
same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle
centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does
require us to act in our time.
For now decisions are upon us, and
we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or
substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned
debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We
must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial, and that it will
be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred
years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare
Philadelphia hall.
My fellow Americans, the oath I have
sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this
Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction – and we must
faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But
the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each
time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. My
oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves
above and that fills our hearts with pride.
They are the words of citizens, and
they represent our greatest hope.
You and I, as citizens, have the
power to set this country’s course.
You and I, as citizens, have the
obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast,
but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring
ideals.
Let each of us now embrace, with
solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common
effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call
of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of
freedom.
Thank you, God Bless you, and may He
forever bless these United States of America.
Publisher: Prince Kelly Udebhulu ( Esan People News )
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