버락 오마바 취임연설 전문(영문)

다음은 블룸버그 통신이 제공한 버락 오바마 미국 대통령의 취임 연설 전문이다.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for
the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by
our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our
nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown
throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The
words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the
still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken
amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments,
America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision
of those in high office, but because We the People have remained
faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our
founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our
nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and
hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed
and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our
collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation
for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses
shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too
many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use
energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and
statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of
confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America?셲
decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower
its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They
are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in
a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear,
unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances
and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that
for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the
time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to
reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to
carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on
from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all
are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue
their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that
greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has
never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not
been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer
leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and
fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers
of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure
in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path
towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and
traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured
the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

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?셲 wonders to raise health care?셲 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?셲 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?셲 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 non-believers. 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?셲 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?셲 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?셲
courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a
parent?셲 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 sixty 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?셲 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:

?쏬et it be told to the future world...that in the depth of
winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that
the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came
forth to meet [it].??

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of
our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope
and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure
what storms may come. Let it be said by our children?셲 children
that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end,
that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed
on the horizon and God?셲 grace upon us, we carried forth that
great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future
generations.

박병희 기자 nut@asiae.co.kr