奧巴馬父親節演講稿

　　Hi, everybody. This Sunday is Father’s Day, and so I wanted to take a moment to talk about the most important job many of us will ever have and that’s being a dad.

　　Today we’re blessed to live in a world where technology allows us to connect instantly with just about anyone on the planet. But no matter how advanced we get, there will never be a substitute for the love and support and, most importantly, the presence of a parent in a child’s life. And in many ways, that’s uniquely true for fathers.

　　I never really knew my own father. I was raised by a single mom and two wonderful grandparents who made incredible sacrifices for me. And there are single parents all across the country who do a heroic job raising terrific kids. But I still wish I had a dad who was not only around, but involved; another role model to teach me what my mom did her best to instill – values like hard work and integrity; responsibility and delayed gratification – all the things that give a child the foundation to envision a brighter future for themselves.

　　That’ s why I try every day to be for Michelle and my girls what my father was not for my mother and me. And I’ve met plenty of other people – dads and uncles and men without a family connection –who are trying to break the cycle and give more of our young people a strong male role model.

　　Being a good parent – whether you’re gay or straight; a foster parent or a grandparent – isn’t easy. It demands your constant attention, frequent sacrifice, and a healthy dose of patience. And nobody’s perfect. To this day, I’m still figuring out how to be a better husband to my wife and father to my kids.

　　And I want to do what I can as President to encourage marriage and strong families. We should reform our child support laws to get more men working and engaged with their children. And my Administration will continue to work with the faith and other community organizations, as well as businesses, on a campaign to encourage strong parenting and fatherhood.

　　Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned along the way, it’s that all our personal successes shine a little less brightly if we fail at family. That’s what matters most. When I look back on my life, I won’t be thinking about any particular legislation I passed or policy I promoted. I’ll be thinking about Michelle, and the journey we’ve been on together. I’ll be thinking about Sasha’s dance recitals and Malia’s tennis matches –about the conversations we’ve had and the quiet moments we’ve shared. I’ll be thinking about whether I did right by them, and whether they knew, every day, just how much they were loved.

　　That’s what I think being a father is all about. And if we can do our best to be a source of comfort and encouragement to our kids; if we can show them unconditional love and help them grow into the people they were meant to be; then we will have succeeded.

　　Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, and have a great weekend.

　　大家好。週日是父親節，所以我想花點時間談談我們都有的重要工作—當爸爸。

　　今天我們有幸生活在這樣一個世界，在這裡科技讓我們可以和世界上任何人即時的保持聯絡。不管我們多麼先進，在孩子的一生中，愛和支援，特別是父母的存在，是最重要的，無可替代的。而且在很多方面，對父親們更是唯一的正確。

　　我從來沒有了解過我的父親。我是由單親母親和兩位優秀的祖父母撫養成人，他們為我做出了巨大犧牲。全國各地都有單親父母承擔撫養可憐的孩子們的偉大工作。但是我始終希望我有個父親不僅在身邊，而且還融入我的生活;成為我媽媽嘔心瀝血地教我做的身體力行的榜樣—勤奮誠實的價值觀的榜樣;責任感和知足感的榜樣—所有給孩子展望他們的更加光明的未來的基礎的東西。

　　這就是為什麼我每天都在為米切爾和我的兩個女兒做的而我的父親無法為我的母親和我做的。我認識很多其他人—沒有完整家庭的父親、叔伯和男人—他們正在努力打破侷限給更多年輕人一個強大的男性的榜樣作用。

　　當好父母—不管你是同性戀或異性戀;養父母或祖父母—決非易事。它要求你永遠的操心，經常的犧牲，不至於把孩子寵壞的耐心。沒有人完美無缺。每當這一天，我都冥思苦想如何做我妻子更好的丈夫和我的孩子們的更好的父親。

　　我作為總統希望做的是鼓勵婚姻和穩固的家庭。我們應該改革我們的兒童撫養法讓更多的男人努力融入他們的孩子們的生活。本屆政府將繼續與宗教和其他社群組織以及企業合作，鼓勵雙親責任和父性。

　　因為如果說我在成長之路上學到了一件事，那就是如果家庭不幸，我們所有個人的成功都少了一點兒明亮的光澤，這才是最重要的。當我回顧我的一生，我不會想到我通過的任何法案或我提倡的政策。我想到的是米切爾和我們共同走過的旅程。我想到的是薩沙的個人舞蹈演出和瑪利亞的網球比賽—想到我們的交流和我們共享的靜謐時光。我想到的是我們為她們做的是否正確，她們是否懂得，她們每天得到多少愛。

　　這就是我認為作為一個父親的全部。如果我們能成為我們的孩子們的滿足和鼓勵的最好的源泉;如果我們能獻給他們無條件的愛和幫助他們成長為他們希望的成年人;那麼我們就成功了。

　　祝父親們節日快樂，週末愉快。