At the dawn of the 21st century a free people must now choose to shape the forces of the Information Age and the global society, 在二十一世纪的曙光来临之际，一个自由的民族现在必须做出选择，去打造信息时代和全球一体化的力量，

to unleash¹ the limitless potential of all our people, and, yes, to form a more perfect union. 去释放全民无尽的潜能，并且，去成就一个更完美的联邦国家。

When last we gathered, our march to this new future seemed less certain than it does today. 上次我们在此相聚时，我们向这个新未来的进军似乎没有今天这么明确，

We vowed² then to set a clear course to renew our nation. 我们那时曾宣誓确立新的道路，复兴我们的国家。

In these four years, we have been touched by tragedy, exhilarated by challenge, strengthened by achievement. 在这四年中，悲剧使我们动容，挑战使我们兴奋，成就使我们强大。

America stands alone as the world s in dispensable nation. Once again, our economy is the strongest on Earth. 美国作为世界不可缺少的国家巍然挺立。再一次，我们的经济是世界上最强大的；

Once again, we are building stronger families, thriving communities, better educational opportunities, a cleaner environment. 再一次，我们建设着更牢固的家庭，繁荣的社区，更好的教育机会，更清洁的环境。

Problems that once seemed destined³ to deepen⁴ now bend to our efforts: 曾经似乎注定要恶化的问题现在也屈服于我们的努力：

our streets are safer and record numbers of our fellow citizens have moved from welfare to work. 我们的街道更安全，参加工作不再领取社会福利的公民人数比任何时候都多。

And once again, we have resolved for our time a great debate over the role of government. 再一次，我们解决了当前关于政府角色问题的巨大争论。

Today we can declare: Government is not the problem, and government is not the solution. 今天我们可以宣告：政府不是问题的产生者，政府也不是问题的解决者。