A New Era of Service

一个志愿服务的新时代

[这是Obama发表在《时代》周刊的呼吁志愿服务的文章，用Google Translate http://translate.google.com/

翻译成中文后，略加编辑，似乎还不错。在此为大家提供一个参考]

I started my career more than two decades ago as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, working with churches to help neighborhoods that had been devastated by plant closings. Block by block, we fought to create job-training programs, improve housing conditions and help people live their lives with some measure of dignity. And eventually, I realized that I wasn't just helping other people — through service, I also found a community that embraced me, a church to belong to and the direction I'd been seeking. Through service, I found that my own story fit into a larger American story.

我的职业生涯开始于20多年前, 作为芝加哥南部一个社区组织者， 我与教堂一起帮助由于工厂关闭而受困社区。一个街区又一个街区，我们力争创造就业培训计划，改善住房条件，并帮助人们过上有一定程度尊严的生活。最终，我意识到，我并不仅仅是在帮助他人——通过服务，我还发现了一个接纳我的社区，一个我可归属的教会，以及我一直在寻求的人生方向。通过服务，我发现我个人的故事融入了更宏大的美国故事。

It's an experience that Americans of all ages and backgrounds have every day on battlefields and in classrooms, food pantries and even corporate boardrooms. Last year 62 million Americans gave 8 billion hours of service. Back in January, I joined with Colin Powell to ask Americans to give back on Martin Luther King Jr. Day; the result was the largest ever turnout for that day of service.

在战场上，在教室里，在食品储藏间中（注：可能是指食品分发中心），甚至在各家公司的董事会议室里，不同年龄和背景的美国人每天都在志愿服务。去年六千二百万美国人贡献了八十亿小时的无偿服务。在今年的1月份，我和科林鲍威尔一起，号召美国人民把马丁路德金日贡献回社会；结果这一天参与志愿服务人数是有史以来最多的。 

For decades, leaders from both parties have sought to promote that ethic of service: President Richard Nixon expanded opportunities for senior citizens to serve; President George H.W. Bush called for volunteers to serve as "points of light" in their communities; President Bill Clinton established the Corporation for National and Community Service. And on Sept. 11, 2008, in the midst of a spirited general-election campaign, Senator John McCain and I put aside our differences and came together in New York City to issue a joint call to public service. It was an important reminder that while our politics is often focused on what divides us, there is much more that unites us.

几十年来，国会两党的领导人一直追求推进志愿服务这一道德风尚：尼克松总统扩展了年长者为社会志愿服务的机会;乔治HW布什总统曾呼吁志愿者担任自己社区的“闪光点”;克林顿总统建立了一个为国家和社区服务的专门机构。2008年9月11日，在激情高涨的总统竞选中，参议员麦凯恩和我搁置分歧，共同在纽约市发表一项关于公共服务联合呼吁。推进志愿服务给了我们一个重要的醒示，就是虽然我们搞政治时往往侧重于我们的分歧，但有很多事情上我们可以团结在一起。

In this spirit, Congress is now poised to send me bipartisan legislation — the Serve America and GIVE Acts — that, if passed, will usher in a new era of service in this new century.

本着这一精神，国会已准备呈交给我一项两党共同的立法——为美国服务法案和世代振兴志愿服务和教育法案（GIVE），如果获得通过，这将在新世纪开创一个志愿服务的新时代。

This legislation will help connect people at all stages of life with opportunities to serve. It will establish an army of 250,000 Americans a year who are willing to serve part time or full time working to meet our most pressing challenges, from modernizing our schools to building homes for those in need. And this legislation will provide new support for social entrepreneurship, identifying and nurturing promising new service programs around the country.

这项立法将有助于在生命各个阶段的人们都能找到志愿服务的机会。它将建立一支每年有250000美国人的志愿者队伍，兼职或全职，以满足从学校现代化到为贫困者的建造家园的最紧迫的挑战。这一立法将对社会企业精神提供新的支持，可在全国各地发现和培养有前途的新的志愿服务项目。 

Members of Congress from across the political spectrum — from Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Enzi and Representative Howard (Buck) McKeon to Senators Ted Kennedy and Barbara Mikulski and Representative George Miller — have pledged their support for this legislation. I urge Congress to follow their lead and move quickly to pass it so that I can sign it into law. And I pledge that my Administration will also do its part to help more Americans serve their communities. At this time of economic crisis, when so many people are in need of help, this work could not be more urgent.

从参议员奥林哈奇，迈克恩兹，众议员霍华德麦克科恩到参议员泰德肯尼迪， 芭芭拉米库斯基，众议员乔治米勒——来自不同政治背景的国会成员都已承诺支持这项立法。我敦促国会紧跟他们并迅速采取行动以通过这项立法，这样我可以签署它成为法律。我保证，我的行政机构也将尽自己的一份力量，以帮助更多的美国人为他们的社区服务。在这经济危机的时刻，当如此多的人需要帮助，这项工作(通过这项立法)万分紧迫。

But we know that government alone is not the answer to the challenges we face. Yes, our government must rebuild our schools, but we also need people to serve as mentors and tutors in those schools. Yes, our government must modernize our health-care system, but we also need people to volunteer in our hospitals and communities to care for the sick and help people lead healthier lives. Yes, our government must maintain the finest military in the history of the world, but that is only possible if brave men and women across America sign up to serve in that military.

但我们知道，单靠政府是不能解决我们所面临的挑战。是的，我们的政府必须重建我们的学校，但我们也需要人去担任学校里的指导和教师。是的，我们的政府必须使我们的健康保健制度现代化，但我们也需要志愿者在医院和社区照顾病人和帮助人们过上更健康的生活。是的，我们的政府必须维持世界历史上最棒的军队，但这只有美国各地勇敢的男女们都踊跃参军才有可能。

And while our government can provide every opportunity imaginable for us to serve our communities, it is up to each of us to seize those opportunities. To do our part to lift up our fellow Americans. To realize our own true potential by hitching our wagon to something bigger than ourselves.

我们的政府可以给我们为社区服务提供一切可以想象的机会，但全靠我们每个人去抓住这些机会。尽我们的一份努力去帮助我们的美国同胞吧。投身于超越自我的伟大事业以实现我们自己的真正的潜力。

In the end, I have no illusions about the magnitude of the challenges we face. But I have no doubt that we can meet them if we each do our part. So I urge you to get involved, right now, at this defining moment in history. I'm not going to tell you what your role should be; that's for you to discover. And I won't promise that it will always be easy or that you'll accomplish all your goals all at once.

总之，我不会轻估我们面临挑战的严重性。但我毫不怀疑，如果我们每个人尽自己的力量，我们是能够对付这些挑战的。所以，我敦促你们现在就投身于这个决定性的历史时刻。我不会告诉你应该担当的角色，你的作用由你自己去发现。我不会保证你会一帆风顺或很快就会完成你所有目标。

But as I learned in the shadow of an empty steel plant more than two decades ago, while you can't necessarily bend history to your will, you can do your part to see that, in the words of Dr. King, it "bends toward justice." So I hope that you will stand up and do what you can to serve your community, shape our history and enrich both your own life and the lives of others across this country.

不过，正如我20多年前在一个空关的钢厂阴影下学到的那样，你不一定能让历史按您的意愿走，但你可以参与去见证历史。用金博士话来说，历史会“走向正义”。所以，我希望你能站出来，尽可能为你的社区做一些事，塑造我们的历史并在这个国家丰富自己的生命得同时也丰富别人的生命。