布什总统的告别演说（全文）
德先生存眷
本地时间15日晚上8时（北京时间16日9时），美国总统布什向全国颁发电视告别演说，深思911恐惧袭击以及布什政府八年来为反恐所做的勤奋。布什的演说耗时10至15分钟，谈及他在总统生活生计中获得的体味教训，以及他对将来的观点。
列位公民：八年来，我有幸担任你们的总统。新世纪的第一个十年是一段意义严重的期间——一个时间分界点。今晚，我怀着一颗感激的心，恳求一个最初的时机，就我们一路走过的路程以及国度的将来，与诸位分享一些设法。
五天后，世界将目击美国民主的活力。根据我们立国时的传统，总统之位将传给你们——美国人民所抉择的继任者。站在国会山的台阶上的，将是一个其故事能够阐明我们国度耐久许诺的人。那是我们全国的期看与骄傲的深入。我和所有美国人一路，向总统被选人奥巴马、他的老婆米歇儿以及他们两个标致的女儿致以最美妙的祝福。
今晚，我满怀感恩——感恩副总统切尼以及行政成员们；感激劳拉，她给那个家带来欢乐，给我的生活带来爱；感激我们了不得的女儿芭芭拉和詹娜；感激我的父母亲，他们的楷模为我供给了一生的力量。最重要的是，我感激美国人民给我的相信。我感激你们的祈求鼓励了我的灵魂。我感激你们在过往八年让我目击了无数表现勇气、大方与慈祥的动作。
今晚，我的思路回到我站在那个处所向你们致辞的第一个晚上——2001年9月11日。那天早上，恐惧分子夺走了近3000人命，那是自珍珠港事务以来，美国遭遇的最严峻的袭击。我记得于三天后站在世贸中心的废墟中的情形，四周是全天候工做的救援人员。
我记得我跟那些在五角大楼烟雾充满的走廊里工做的勇猛灵魂谈话，跟那些登上93号航班最末成为英雄的人们的老婆们谈话。我记得阿琳·霍华德（Arlene Howard），她把已经陨落的儿子的差人勋章给了我，提醒我我们失往了什么。我仍然戴着他的徽章。
跟着时间的流逝，大大都美国人能够回回911之前的生活，但我就不克不及。天天早上，我都收到一份关于我国面对威胁的简报。我宣誓要尽我所能包管我们的平安。
在过往七年，一个新的疆土平安部成立了。戎行、谍报界以及FBI已经警告革新。我们的国度配备了新的东西往监控恐惧分子的活动，冻结他们的金融，突破他们的阴谋。并且在强大盟友的撑持下，我们向恐惧分子以及那些撑持他们的人们倡议了战斗。
阿富汗已经从塔利班窝躲基地组织、在大街上对妇女行石刑的国度酿成一个年轻的民主体，与恐惧主义斗争，鼓舞女孩子往上学。伊拉克已经从一个残暴的专制国度和美国的死敌酿成一个位于中东之心的阿拉伯民主体，酿成美国的伴侣。
良多那些决定引起合法性的争论，但其成果却是无须争论的。七年多里，美国领土没有再遭遇又一次恐惧袭击。那要回功于那些日夜辛勤工做庇护我们的平安的人们——执法人员，谍报阐发家，疆土平安和外交人员，以及美国武拆队伍的男女成员。
在求助紧急时刻，公民自愿保卫国度，那是我们国度之福。我爱护保重与那些无私的爱国者以及他们的家人的会面。美国欠你们一份感恩。致今晚所有在聆听的全体男女军人：做为你们的全军总司令是登峰造极的荣耀。
我们的队伍倡议的战斗属于更为普遍的、两种底子差别的轨制之间的斗争的一部门。在此中一种轨制下，一小撮狂热分子要求全体从命一种压制性的意识形态，迫使妇女卑屈，杀戮不崇奉者。而另一种轨制则是基于如许的自信心：自在是全能的天主付与所有人的礼品，自在与正义照亮和平之路。
那是我们的立国崇奉。从持久来看，妥帖那种崇奉是庇护我们公民的独一可行办法。当人们生活在自在之中，他们就不会情愿抉择逃求恐惧主义运动的指导。当人们对将来充满期看，他们就不会情愿把生命交给暴力与极端主义。
因而，美国在全世界妥帖人的自在、人的权力以及人的威严。我们撑持异见人士及年轻的民主体，供给爱滋病药物让接近灭亡的病人恢复活气，不让疟疾损害母亲与婴儿。那个仅为自在而生的伟大共和国率领世界走向自在属于所有国度的新期间。
八年来，我们还勤奋扩展国内的时机与期看。在全国，学生们正起来称心公立学校进步了的原则。一种新的医疗处方药福利正为长者及残疾人带来心里的平静。每一个纳税人要付出的收进税削减了。
透过以崇奉为根底的项目，上瘾者与受苦者找到了新期看。懦弱的生命得到更好的庇护。用于退伍军人的资金几乎翻了一番。美国的空气、水和陆地愈加清洁。并且联邦法官席上有了像法官阿利托（Sam Alito）和首席法官罗伯茨（John Roberts）如许睿智的新成员。
当我们的富贵面对挑战，我们起来面临。面临金融瓦解的前景，我们摘取了勇敢办法庇护我们的经济。勤奋工做的家庭面对十分困难的时刻，但假设我们不摘取动作，缺失会严峻得多。所有美国人连合在一路，凭着决心以及勤奋的工做，我们将让经济重上增长之路。我们将再一次向世界展现美国自在企业系统的弹性。
和此前负责那个办公室所有人一样，我曾履历挫折。假设还有时机，在一些工作上我会改动做法。然而，我在干事的时候老是心怀我们国度的更佳利益。我根据我的良心，并做了我认为准确的工作。你可能不会附和我所做出的一些困难决定。但我期看你们大白我情愿做出那些困难的决定。
将来十年，我们的国度将面对更多困难的抉择，一些指引性的原则能够指明我们的标的目的。
虽然我们的国度比七年前平安，我们的公众所面对的最严峻威胁仍然是再度发作的恐惧袭击。我们的仇敌很有耐烦，决心再次袭击。美国没有逃求挑起抵触，也不该该遭受那些抵触。但我们已经肩负持重的责任，我们必需面临。我们必需抵抗自满。我们必需连结决心。我们绝不克不及放松警惕。
与此同时，我们必需陆续怀着自信心与明白的目标与世界接触。面临海外的威胁，转向内部逃求安抚是很有诱惑力的。但是我们必需回绝孤立主义及做为其同伴的庇护主义。在21世纪，国内的平安与富贵有赖于自在在海外的扩展。假设美国不率领自在事业，那项事业就得不到指引。
在我们处理那些挑战——以及其他一些我们无法在今晚揣测的挑战时，美国必需庇护我们的道德明白性。我经常跟你们说善与恶。那令一些人感应不温馨。但善恶存在于世上，两者之间不会有任何妥协。无论在何时何地，把杀戮无辜者做为妥帖意识形态的手段都是错误的做法。
让人们脱节压迫和失看是永久准确的。国度必需陆续为正义和实剃头言。我们必需始末情愿动作起来保卫它们，推进和平的事业。
杰斐逊总统曾写道，“我喜好将来的梦想更甚于过往的汗青。”在我分开那个他于两个世纪前所在的处所时，我附和他的那种乐看精神。美国是一个年轻的国度，充满活力、不竭生长和自我更新。以至在最困难的时刻，我们城市放面前面宽广的地平线。
我对美国的誓言有自信心，因为我晓得我们人民的特量。那是一个鼓舞移民为自在的梦想而冒险的国度。那是一个公民能够在求助紧急的时刻表示平静，在磨难面前展现同情的国度。我们看到，我们四周就有美国特量的楷模。劳拉和我已经邀请傍边一些人今晚到白宫。
我们看到里卡斯钠博士（Dr. Tony Recasner）的美国特量，那位校长在卡特里娜飓风的废墟中创办一所新的特许学校。我们看到麦地那（Julio Medina）身上的美国特量，那位前囚犯率领一个以崇奉为根底的项目，搀扶帮助囚犯重回社会。我们在上士麦达德（Staff Sergeant Aubrey McDade）身上的美国特量，他负责伊拉克的一次暗藏并挽救了三名同伴的海军陆战队队员。
我们在克里斯托夫（Bill Krissoff）那位来自加州的外科医生身上看到美国特量。他的儿子内森（Nathan）是一位海军陆战队队员，在伊拉克献出了生命。当我和克里斯托夫及其家人会面时，他带来了一些令人食惊的新闻：他告诉我，他像加进海军医疗队以纪念他的儿子。那位好人60岁了——连年龄上限大了18岁。
但他的豁免申请得到了批准，并且在过往的一年里，他已经承受战地医学操练。克里斯夫少校今晚不克不及出席，因为他很快就要摆设到伊拉克，在那里，他将帮手挽救美国受伤的勇士，庇护他已逝儿子的遗产。
从那些公民身上，我们看到了我们国度最美妙的一面——弹性与期看，关心与强大。那些长处让我对美国怀着不成摆荡的自信心。我们曾面对求助紧急与考验，前面还会有更多求助紧急与考验。但凭着人民的勇气，以及我们对抱负的自信心，那个伟大的国度永不怠倦……永不摆荡……永不失败。
担任你们的总统是我一生的荣幸。我们有过好日子也有过困难日子。但每一天，我都因我们国度的伟大而遭到鼓励，都因我们公众的仁慈感应振奋。可以代表我们所爱的那个国度，那是我的福份。我将永久为一个比其他任何头衔更有意义的身份而感应荣幸：美利坚合寡国公民。
最初，我的美国同胞们：晚安。愿天主保佑白宫和我们的下一任总统。愿天主保佑你们和我们了不得的国度。谢谢你们。
Fellow citizens: For eight years, it has been my honor to serve as your President. The first decade of this new century has been a period of consequence – a time set apart. Tonight, with a thankful heart, I have asked for a final opportunity to share some thoughts on the journey that we have traveled together and the future of our Nation.
Five days from now, the world will witness the vitality of American democracy. In a tradition dating back to our founding, the presidency will pass to a successor chosen by you, the American people. Standing on the steps of the Capitol will be a man whose story reflects the enduring promise of our land. This is a moment of hope and pride for our whole Nation. And I join all Americans in offering best wishes to President-elect Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two beautiful girls.
Tonight I am filled with gratitude – to Vice President Cheney and members of the Administration; to Laura, who brought joy to this house and love to my life; to our wonderful daughters, Barbara and Jenna; to my parents, whose examples have provided strength for a lifetime. And above all, I thank the American people for the trust you have given me. I thank you for the prayers that have lifted my spirits. And I thank you for the countless acts of courage, generosity, and grace that I have witnessed these past eight years.
This evening, my thoughts return to the first night I addressed you from this house – September 11, 2001. That morning, terrorists took nearly 3,000 lives in the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor. I remember standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center three days later, surrounded by rescuers who had been working around the clock.
I remember talking to brave souls who charged through smoke-filled corridors at the Pentagon and to husbands and wives whose loved ones became heroes aboard Flight 93. I remember Arlene Howard, who gave me her fallen son’s police shield as a reminder of all that was lost. And I still carry his badge.
As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before Nine-Eleven. But I never did. Every morning, I received a briefing on the threats to our Nation. And I vowed to do everything in my power to keep us safe.
Over the past seven years, a new Department of Homeland Security has been created. The military, the intelligence community, and the FBI have been transformed. Our Nation is equipped with new tools to monitor the terrorists’ movements, freeze their finances, and break up their plots. And with strong allies at our side, we have taken the fight to the terrorists and those who support them.
Afghanistan has gone from a nation where the Taliban harbored al Qaeda and stoned women in the streets to a young democracy that is fighting terror and encouraging girls to go to school. Iraq has gone from a brutal dictatorship and a sworn enemy of America to an Arab democracy at the heart of the Middle East and a friend of the United States.
There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions. But there can be little debate about the results. America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil. This is a tribute to those who toil night and day and night to keep us safe – law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts, homeland security and diplomatic personnel, and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.
Our Nation is blessed to have citizens who volunteer to defend us in this time of danger. I have cherished meeting these selfless patriots and their families. America owes you a debt of gratitude. And to all our men and women in uniform listening tonight: There has been no higher honor than serving as your Commander in Chief.
The battles waged by our troops are part of a broader struggle between two dramatically different systems. Under one, a small band of fanatics demands total obedience to an oppressive ideology, condemns women to subservience, and marks unbelievers for murder. The other system is based on the conviction that freedom is the universal gift of Almighty God and that liberty and justice light the path to peace.
This is the belief that gave birth to our Nation. And in the long run, advancing this belief is the only practical way to protect our citizens. When people live in freedom, they do not willingly choose leaders who pursue campaigns of terror. When people have hope in the future, they will not cede their lives to violence and extremism.
So around the world, America is promoting human liberty, human rights, and human dignity. We are standing with dissidents and young democracies, providing AIDS medicine to bring dying patients back to life, and sparing mothers and babies from malaria. And this great republic born alone in liberty is leading the world toward a new age when freedom belongs to all nations.
For eight years, we have also strived to expand opportunity and hope here at home. Across our country, students are rising to meet higher standards in public schools. A new Medicare prescription drug benefit is bringing peace of mind to seniors and the disabled. Every taxpayer pays lower income taxes.
The addicted and suffering are finding new hope through faith-based programs. Vulnerable human life is better protected. Funding for our veterans has nearly doubled. America’s air, water, and lands are measurably cleaner. And the Federal bench includes wise new members like Justice Sam Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.
When challenges to our prosperity emerged, we rose to meet them. Facing the prospect of a financial collapse, we took decisive measures to safeguard our economy. These are very tough times for hardworking families, but the toll would be far worse if we had not acted. All Americans are in this together. And together, with determination and hard work, we will restore our economy to the path of growth. We will show the world once again the resilience of America’s free enterprise system.
Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I have always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.
The decades ahead will bring more hard choices for our country, and there are some guiding principles that should shape our course.
While our Nation is safer than it was seven years ago, the gravest threat to our people remains another terrorist attack. Our enemies are patient and determined to strike again. America did nothing to seek or deserve this conflict. But we have been given solemn responsibilities, and we must meet them. We must resist complacency. We must keep our resolve. And we must never let down our guard.
At the same time, we must continue to engage the world with confidence and clear purpose. In the face of threats from abroad, it can be tempting to seek comfort by turning inward. But we must reject isolationism and its companion, protectionism. Retreating behind our borders would only invite danger. In the 21st century, security and prosperity at home depend on the expansion of liberty abroad. If America does not lead the cause of freedom, that cause will not be led.
As we address these challenges – and others we cannot foresee tonight – America must maintain our moral clarity. I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere.
Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This Nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense and to advance the cause of peace.
President Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” As I leave the house he occupied two centuries ago, I share that optimism. America is a young country, full of vitality, constantly growing and renewing itself. And even in the toughest times, we lift our eyes to the broad horizon ahead.
I have confidence in the promise of America because I know the character of our people. This is a Nation that inspires immigrants to risk everything for the dream of freedom. This is a Nation where citizens show calm in times of danger and compassion in the face of suffering. We see examples of America’s character all around us. And Laura and I have invited some of them to join us in the White House this evening.
We see America’s character in Dr. Tony Recasner, a principal who opened a new charter school from the ruins of Hurricane Katrina. We see it in Julio Medina, a former inmate who leads a faith-based program to help prisoners returning to society. We see it in Staff Sergeant Aubrey McDade, who charged into an ambush in Iraq and rescued three of his fellow Marines.
We see America’s character in Bill Krissoff, a surgeon from California. His son Nathan, a Marine, gave his life in Iraq. When I met Dr. Krissoff and his family, he delivered some surprising news: He told me he wanted to join the Navy Medical Corps in honor of his son. This good man was 60 years old – 18 years above the age limit.
But his petition for a waiver was granted, and for the past year he has trained in battlefield medicine. Lieutenant Commander Krissoff could not be here tonight, because he will soon deploy to Iraq, where he will help save America’s wounded warriors and uphold the legacy of his fallen son.
In citizens like these, we see the best of our country – resilient and hopeful, caring and strong. These virtues give me an unshakable faith in America. We have faced danger and trial, and there is more ahead. But with the courage of our people and confidence in our ideals, this great Nation will never tire … never falter … and never fail.
It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country and uplifted by the goodness of our people. I have been blessed to represent this Nation we love. And I will always be honored to carry a title that means more to me than any other: citizen of the United States of America.