專四晨讀美文：Clinton's Farewell Speech

Clinton's Farewell Speech
My fellow citizens,
tonight is my last opportunity to speak to you
from the Oval Office as your president.
I am profoundly grateful to you
for twice giving me the honor to serve,
to work for you and with you
to prepare our nation for the 21st century.
And I'm grateful to Vice President Gore,
to my Cabinet secretaries, and to all those
who have served with me for the last eight years.
This has been a time of dramatic transformation,
and you have risen to every new challenge.
You have made our social fabric stronger,
our families healthier and safer,
our people more prosperous.
You, the American people,
have made our passage into the global information age
an era of great American renewal.
In all the work I have done as president,
every decision I have made,
every executive action I have taken,
every bill I have proposed and signed,
I've tried to give all Americans
the tools and conditions to build the future of our dreams,
in a good society, with a strong economy,
a cleaner environment,
and a freer, safer, more prosperous world.
I have steered my course by our enduring values.
Opportunity for all. Responsibility from all.
A community of all Americans.
I have sought to give America a new kind of government,
smaller, more modern, more effective,
full of ideas and policies appropriate to this new time,
always putting people first,
always focusing on the future.
Working together, America has done well.
Our economy is breaking records,
with more than 22 million new jobs,
the lowest unemployment in 30 years,
the highest home ownership ever,
the longest expansion in history.
As for me, I'll leave the presidency more idealistic,
more full of hope than the day I arrived
and more confident than ever
that America's best days lie ahead.
My days in this office are nearly through,
but my days of service, I hope, are not.
In the years ahead,
I will never hold a position higher
or a covenant more sacred
than that of president of the United States.
But there is no title
I will wear more proudly than that of citizen.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America.