We’ll invest in new capabilities, even as we reduce waste and wartime spending. We will ensure equal treatment for all servicemembers, and equal benefits for their families -- gay and straight. (Applause.) We will draw upon the courage and skills of our sisters and daughters and moms, because women have proven under fire that they are ready for combat.

盡管減少了浪費和戰時支出，我們還是會加大能力建設方面的投入。我們將確保現役人員的同等待遇以及給予他們家庭的同等利益，不論同性戀或異性戀。(掌聲)我們信賴姐妹、女兒和母親們的勇氣和技能，因為女性已經被證明做好了進入戰場的準備。

We will keep faith with our veterans, investing in world-class care, including mental health care, for our wounded warriors -- (applause) -- supporting our military families; giving our veterans the benefits and education and job opportunities that they have earned. And I want to thank my wife, Michelle, and Dr. Jill Biden for their continued dedication to serving our military families as well as they have served us. Thank you, honey. Thank you, Jill. (Applause.)

我們將信守對退伍軍人的承諾，為了經歷創傷的戰士提供世界級的醫護，包括精神護理；(掌聲)援助軍人家庭；給予退伍軍人贏得的福利，以及受教育和工作的機會。在此，我也要感謝我的妻子米歇爾，和吉爾·拜登(副總統喬·拜登的妻子——譯者注)博士，感謝她們長期致力于為軍人家庭提供服務，當然她們也為我們服務。謝謝你，親愛的。謝謝你，吉爾。(掌聲)

Defending our freedom, though, is not just the job of our military alone. We must all do our part to make sure our God-given rights are protected here at home. That includes one of the most fundamental right of a democracy: the right to vote. (Applause.) When any American, no matter where they live or what their party, are denied that right because they can’t afford to wait for five or six or seven hours just to cast their ballot, we are betraying our ideals. (Applause.)

然而，保衛我們自由并不僅僅是軍隊的職責。我們必須從我做起，在國內保衛我們的天賦權利。其中最重要的基本民主權利之一是：投票權。(掌聲)如果任何美國人——無論住在何處或屬于哪個政黨——因為等不起5個、6個或7個小時來投票而舍棄了這項權利，那么我們就被判了自己的理想。(掌聲)

So tonight, I’m announcing a nonpartisan commission to improve the voting experience in America. And it definitely needs improvement. I’m asking two long-time experts in the field -- who, by the way, recently served as the top attorneys for my campaign and for Governor Romney’s campaign -- to lead it. We can fix this, and we will. The American people demand it, and so does our democracy. (Applause.)

因此，今晚我將宣布一個無黨派的委員會，來改進美國的投票體驗。當然，這最終需要通過國會批準。這個委員會將由兩位實踐領域的資深專家來領導，他們分別是我與羅姆尼州長競選期間的最高法律顧問。我們可以解決這個問題。美國人要求解決這個問題，我們的民主制度也要去解決這個問題。(掌聲)

Of course, what I’ve said tonight matters little if we don’t come together to protect our most precious resource: our children. It has been two months since Newtown. I know this is not the first time this country has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is different. Overwhelming majorities of Americans -- Americans who believe in the Second Amendment -- have come together around common-sense reform, like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. (Applause.) Senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our help to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because these police chiefs, they’re tired of seeing their guys and gals being outgunned.

當然，如果我們不齊心協力保護我們最珍貴的資源——我們的孩子們，我今晚所說的這些就都沒有意義。紐鎮校園槍擊事件已經過去兩個月了。我知道這不是美國第一次就緩解涉槍暴力展開辯論，但這次有所不同。數量龐大的美國人——他們信賴第二修正案——聯合起來希望改變常識，諸如設立持槍者背景情況調查，以使犯罪分子難以獲得槍支。(掌聲)來自兩黨的參議員聯合起來草擬新的嚴格法律，以防止槍支轉售給犯罪分子。警方要求我們立法禁止戰爭武器和大容量彈匣槍支攜帶上街，因為他們再也受不了警察反被對方火力壓制。

Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. (Applause.) Now, if you want to vote no, that’s your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun -- more than a thousand.

這些提案，每一個都都有理由交國會投票表決。(掌聲)現在，如果你想投反對票，這是你的權利。但這些提案有理由提交表決。因為就在紐鎮槍擊事件兩個月后，又有1000多個生日慶祝、畢業典禮、年度紀念被從我們的生活中偷走了，所用的是一支槍、一顆子彈。

One of those we lost was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton. She was 15 years old. She loved Fig Newtons and lip gloss. She was a majorette. She was so good to her friends they all thought they were her best friend. Just three weeks ago, she was here, in Washington, with her classmates, performing for her country at my inauguration. And a week later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school, just a mile away from my house.

其中有一個失去生命的叫海迪亞·潘德爾頓的小女孩。她才15歲。她喜歡無花果酥和唇膏。她是學校的樂隊指揮。她對朋友們很好，他們都把她當最好的朋友。就在三周以前，她還在華盛頓，和同學們一起在我的就職典禮上演奏。一周以后放學時，她在芝加哥一個公園里遭槍擊身亡，那里離我家不過一英里。

Hadiya’s parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They deserve a vote. They deserve a vote. (Applause.) Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. (Applause.) The families of Newtown deserve a vote. (Applause.) The families of Aurora deserve a vote. (Applause.) The families of Oak Creek and Tucson and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence –- they deserve a simple vote. (Applause.) They deserve a simple vote.

海迪亞的父母內特和克里歐今晚就在會場，同時在場還有20多名被涉槍暴力奪去親人的美國人。他們有理由要求一個表決。他們有理由要求一個表決。(掌聲)嘉比·吉福德有理由要求表決。(掌聲)紐鎮槍擊案受害者家庭有理由要求表決。(掌聲)奧羅拉電影院槍擊案家庭有理由要求表決。(掌聲)奧克里克、圖森和布萊克斯堡的受害者家庭有理由要求表決。(掌聲)無數被涉槍暴力摧毀的社區有理由要求表決——他們有理由要求一個簡單的表決。(掌聲)他們有理由要求一個簡單的表決。

Our actions will not prevent every senseless act of violence in this country. In fact, no laws, no initiatives, no administrative acts will perfectly solve all the challenges I’ve outlined tonight. But we were never sent here to be perfect. We were sent here to make what difference we can, to secure this nation, expand opportunity, uphold our ideals through the hard, often frustrating, but absolutely necessary work of self-government.

我們的行動不可能防止這個國家所有無意義的暴力行為。事實上，沒有哪個法律、倡議、行政行為能夠完全完美地解決所有以上提到的挑戰。但我們不是來尋求完美的。我們是來尋求力所能及的改變的，來保護國家、拓展機會，在困難且經常是令人沮喪的境況下堅持我們的理想，進行絕對必要的自我管理。