Hello! Hello, everybody! Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Everybody, please have a seat. Thank you very much. Thank you. Let me just begin by making a few acknowledgements. First of all, I’ve got some outstanding fathers here in the first row who aren’t seeing their kids enough because I’m working them all the time -- three members of my Cabinet: Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner -- Attorney General Eric Holder -- and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke are here. 大家好！大家好！非常感谢。谢谢。非常感谢。请大家坐下。非常感谢。谢谢。让我先向几位致谢。首先，第一排就坐着几位杰出的父亲，他们因为被我使唤得太狠而没空陪孩子——我的三位内阁成员：财政部长蒂姆·盖特纳——司法部长埃里克·霍尔德——以及商务部长骆家辉都来了。
In addition, we’ve got one of my heroes and I’m sure one of yours, somebody whose shoulders I stand on and allowed me to become President of the United States, and that’s Congressman from the great state of Georgia, John Lewis, is here. A fierce advocate on behalf of the District of Columbia, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is here. 此外，我们还迎来了一位我的英雄，我相信也是你们的英雄，一位让我得以站在他的肩膀上、成为美国总统的人——来自伟大的佐治亚州的国会议员约翰·刘易斯今天也来了。还有一位为哥伦比亚特区奔走呼号的坚定倡导者——国会议员埃莉诺·霍姆斯·诺顿也来了。
I want to acknowledge the Mayor of Washington, D.C., Adrian Fenty in the house. The executive director of ARC, Edmund Fleet, is here. I want to thank all the panel discussion participants who are involved in today’s events, and I want to thank Nurney Mason -- a Washington, D.C. icon. Nurney founded Mason’s Barbershop in 1961. That’s the year I was born. It’s still going strong. He is here with his children and his grandchildren. Where is he? There he is right there. I could use a little trim. 我要向在场的华盛顿市长阿德里安·芬蒂致意。ARC的执行董事埃德蒙·弗利特也来了。我要感谢所有参与今天活动的座谈嘉宾，还要感谢纳尼·梅森——一位华盛顿特区的传奇人物。纳尼在1961年创办了梅森理发店，那一年我出生。至今生意依旧兴隆。今天他和他的儿女、孙辈一起来了。他在哪儿？就在那儿。我正好该理个发了。
One year ago this week, we kicked off a national conversation on fatherhood and personal responsibility, and members of our administration fanned out all across the country to hear from fathers and families about the challenges that they face. Secretary Arne Duncan, our Secretary of Education, held a discussion in New Hampshire about the link between fatherhood and educational achievement. Gary Locke talked to fathers in California about balancing the needs of their families with the demands of their jobs. 整整一年前的这一周，我们发起了一场关于父亲角色与个人责任的全国性对话，政府成员奔赴全国各地，倾听父亲和家人们讲述他们所面临的种种挑战。教育部长阿恩·邓肯在新罕布什尔州主持了一场讨论，探讨父亲角色与教育成就之间的联系。骆家辉则在加利福尼亚州与父亲们交流，谈论如何在家庭需要与工作要求之间寻求平衡。
Secretary Shinseki, of Veterans Affairs, held a town hall for military and veteran dads in North Carolina. And Attorney General Holder traveled to Georgia for a forum about fathers in our criminal justice system. 退伍军人事务部长新关在北卡罗来纳州为军人父亲和退伍军人父亲举办了一场市民大会。司法部长霍尔德则前往佐治亚州，参加了一场关于刑事司法体系中父亲角色的论坛。
And in each of these places, each of these leaders posed a simple question: How can we as a nation -- not just the government, but businesses and community groups and concerned citizens -- how can we all come together to help fathers meet their responsibilities to our families and communities? 在每一个这样的地方，这些领导者们都提出了一个简单的问题：作为一个国家——不仅仅是政府，还包括企业、社区团体和热心的公民——我们如何才能齐心协力，帮助父亲们履行对家庭和社区的责任？
And we did this because we know the vital role fathers play in the lives of our children. Fathers are our first teachers and coaches -- or in my house, assistant teachers and assistant coaches -- to mom. But they’re our mentors, our role models. They show us by the example they set the kind of people they want us to become. 我们之所以这样做，是因为我们深知父亲在孩子们的生命中扮演着至关重要的角色。父亲是我们最早的老师和教练——或者在我家，是妈妈的助教和助理教练——但他们更是我们的导师、我们的榜样。他们用自己所树立的榜样告诉我们，他们希望我们成为怎样的人。
But we also know that what too many fathers being absent means -- too many fathers missing from too many homes, missing from too many lives. We know that when fathers abandon their responsibilities, there’s harm done to those kids. We know that children who grow up without a father are more likely to live in poverty. They’re more likely to drop out of school. They’re more likely to wind up in prison. They’re more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. They’re more likely to run away from home. They’re more likely to become teenage parents themselves. 但我们也清楚，太多父亲的缺席意味着什么——太多父亲从太多家庭中消失，从太多生命中缺席。我们知道，当父亲抛弃自己的责任时，孩子们会因此受到伤害。我们知道，在没有父亲陪伴下长大的孩子，更可能生活在贫困之中，更可能辍学，更可能锒铛入狱，更可能酗酒吸毒，更可能离家出走，也更可能在少年时就为人父母。
And I say all this as someone who grew up without a father in my own life. He left my family when I was two years old. And while I was lucky to have a wonderful mother and loving grandparents who poured everything they had into me and my sister, I still felt the weight of that absence. It’s something that leaves a hole in a child’s life that no government can fill. 我说这些，是作为一个自己生活中也没有父亲陪伴长大的人。在我两岁时，他离开了我们家。虽然我很幸运，有一位出色的母亲和慈爱的祖父母，把全部心血都倾注到我和妹妹身上，但我仍能感受到那种缺失的份量。这种缺失会在一个孩子的生活中留下一个空洞，任何政府都无法填补。
So we can talk all we want here in Washington about issues like education and health care and crime; we can build good schools; we can put money into creating good jobs; we can do everything we can to keep our streets safe -- but government can’t keep our kids from looking for trouble on those streets. Government can’t force a kid to pick up a book or make sure that the homework gets done. Government can’t be there day in, day out, to provide discipline and guidance and the love that it takes to raise a child. That’s our job as fathers, as mothers, as guardians for our children. 所以，我们尽可以在华盛顿谈论教育、医疗、犯罪这些议题；我们可以兴建好学校；我们可以投入资金创造好工作；我们可以竭尽全力让街道安全——但政府无法阻止孩子们在街头惹是生非。政府无法强迫一个孩子拿起书本，也无法确保作业得以完成。政府无法日复一日地提供抚养一个孩子所需的管教、引导和爱。这是我们作为父亲、作为母亲、作为孩子监护人应尽的职责。
The fact is, it’s easy to become a father, technically -- any guy can do that. It’s hard to live up to the lifelong responsibilities that come with fatherhood. And it’s a challenge even in good times, when our families are doing well. It’s especially difficult when times are tough, families are straining just to keep everything together. 事实是，从技术上说，成为父亲很容易——任何男人都能做到。难的是肩负起伴随父亲身份而来的终身责任。即便在顺境中、家人都过得不错时，这也是一种挑战。而在时世艰难、家庭勉力维持之际，就更加困难了。
In a time of war, many of our military families are stretched thin, with fathers doing multiple tours of duty far away from their children. In difficult economic times, a lot of fathers are worried about whether they’re going to be able to keep their job, or find a job, or whether they’ll be able to pay the bills and give their children the kinds of opportunities that if they didn’t have them themselves, at least they wished for their children. 在战争年代，我们许多军人家庭都疲于奔命，父亲们一次次远赴他乡执行任务，远离自己的孩子。在经济困难时期，许多父亲忧心自己能否保住饭碗、能否找到工作，能否付得起账单，能否给孩子们提供这样一种机会——即便自己不曾拥有，至少也曾期盼孩子能够拥有。
And there are a lot of men who are out of work and wrestling with the shame and frustration that comes when you feel like you can’t be the kind of provider you want to be for the people that you love. 还有许多失业的男人，正与那种羞愧和挫败感苦苦抗争——当你觉得自己无法成为你所希望的那种、能为自己所爱之人提供依靠的养家之人时，这种感受便油然而生。
But here’s the key message I think all of us want to send today to fathers all across the country: Our children don’t need us to be superheroes. They don’t need us to be perfect. They do need us to be present. They need us to show up and give it our best shot, no matter what else is going on in our lives. They need us to show them -- not just with words, but with deeds -- that they, those kids, are always our first priority. 但今天我们所有人都想向全国父亲传达的关键信息是：孩子们不需要我们成为超级英雄。他们不需要我们完美无缺。他们确实需要我们在场。他们需要我们出现，尽己所能，无论生活中正发生什么。他们需要我们用行动——而不仅仅是言辞——向他们表明，那些孩子，永远是我们心中的头等大事。
Those family meals, afternoons in the park, bedtime stories; the encouragement we give, the questions we answer, the limits we set, the example we set of persistence in the face of difficulty and hardship -- those things add up over time, and they shape a child’s character, build their core, teach them to trust in life and to enter into it with confidence and with hope and with determination. 那些家庭聚餐、公园里的午后、睡前故事；我们给予的鼓励、回答的提问、立下的规矩、在艰难困苦面前所树立的坚持榜样——这一切日积月累，塑造着孩子的品格，构筑他们的内核，教会他们信赖生活，并以自信、希望和决心投身其中。
And that’s something they’ll always carry with them: that love that we show not with money, or fame, or spectacular feats, but through small daily acts -- the love we show and that we earn by being present in the lives of our children. 这是他们将永远带在身上的东西：那种爱，不是用金钱、名望或惊天动地的壮举来彰显，而是通过日复一日的小事来呈现——那种我们因陪伴在孩子生活中而展现并赢得的爱。
Now, unfortunately, the way we talk about fatherhood in this country doesn’t always reinforce these truths. When we talk about issues like child care and work-family balance, we call them “women’s issues” and “mothers’ issues.” Too often when we talk about fatherhood and personal responsibility, we talk about it in political terms, in terms of left and right, conservative/liberal, instead of what’s right and what’s wrong. And when we do that, we’ve gotten off track. So I think it’s time for a new conversation around fatherhood in this country. 然而遗憾的是，在这个国家，我们谈论父亲角色的方式并不总能强化这些真理。当我们谈论育儿和工作与家庭平衡等议题时，我们称之为"女性议题"和"母亲议题"。太多时候，当我们谈论父亲角色和个人责任时，我们用政治化的语言，用左右之分、保守与自由之分来谈论，而不是分辨是非对错。当我们这样做时，就已经偏离了正轨。所以我认为，是时候在这个国家展开一场关于父亲角色的新对话了。
We can all agree that we’ve got too many mothers out there forced to do everything all by themselves. They’re doing a heroic job, often under trying circumstances. They deserve a lot of credit for that. But they shouldn’t have to do it alone. The work of raising our children is the most important job in this country, and it’s all of our responsibilities -- mothers and fathers. 我们都可以认同，有太多的母亲被迫独自承担一切。她们常常在艰难的处境中做着了不起的事，理应为此赢得许多赞誉。但她们本不该独自承担。抚养孩子是这个国家最重要的工作，是我们所有人的责任——母亲和父亲共同的责任。
Now, I can’t legislate fatherhood -- I can’t force anybody to love a child. But what we can do is send a clear message to our fathers that there is no excuse for failing to meet their obligations. What we can do is make it easier for fathers who make responsible choices and harder for those who avoid those choices. What we can do is come together and support fathers who are willing to step up and be good partners and parents and providers. 当然，我无法用立法来规定父亲的责任——我无法强迫任何人去爱一个孩子。但我们能做的，是向父亲们传递一个明确的信息：不履行义务没有任何借口。我们能做的，是让做出负责任选择的父亲更轻松，让逃避这些选择的人更困难。我们能做的，是团结起来，支持那些愿意挺身而出、成为好伴侣、好父母、好供养者的父亲。
And that’s why today we’re launching the next phase of our work to promote responsible fatherhood -- a new, nationwide Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative. This is a call to action with cities and states, with individuals and organizations across the country -- from the NFL Players Association to the National PTA, to everyday moms and dads -- we’re raising awareness about responsible fatherhood and working to re-engage absent fathers with their families. 正因如此，今天我们启动推动负责任父亲角色的下一阶段工作——一项全新的、全国性的"父亲与导师计划"。这是一次行动号召，面向全国各地的城市和州、个人与组织——从NFL球员协会到全国PTA，再到普通的爸爸妈妈——我们正在提升对负责任父亲角色的认知，并致力于让缺席的父亲重新回归家庭。
As part of this effort, we’ve proposed a new and expanded Fatherhood, Marriage and Families Innovation Fund. And we plan to seek out and support the very best, most successful initiatives in our states and communities -- those that are offering services like job training, or parenting skills classes, domestic violence prevention -- all which help provide the kind of network of support for men, particularly those in vulnerable communities. 作为这项工作的一部分，我们提议设立一个全新且扩大的"父亲、婚姻与家庭创新基金"。我们计划发掘并支持各州和各社区中最优秀、最成功的项目——那些提供就业培训、育儿技能课程、家庭暴力预防等服务的项目——所有这些都有助于为男性，尤其是身处弱势社区的男性，建立起一张支持网络。
We’re also going to help dads who get caught up -- we want to make sure that they’re caught up on child support payments and that we re-engage them in their children’s lives. We’re going to support efforts to build healthy relationships between parents as well -- because we know that children benefit not just from loving mothers and loving fathers, but from strong and loving marriages as well. 我们也将帮助那些拖欠抚养费的父亲——我们要确保他们补齐抚养费，并让他们重新融入孩子的生活。我们还将支持父母之间建立健康关系的努力——因为我们知道，孩子不仅受益于慈爱的母亲和慈爱的父亲，也受益于坚固而充满爱的婚姻。
We’re also launching a new transitional jobs initiative for ex-offenders and low-income, non-custodial fathers -- because these are men who often face serious barriers to finding work and keeping work. We’ll help them develop the skills and experience they need to move into full-time, long-term employment, so they can meet their child support obligations and help provide for their families. 我们还将为刑满释放人员和低收入、非监护权的父亲启动一项新的过渡性就业计划——因为这些男性在寻找和保住工作时往往面临重重障碍。我们将帮助他们掌握所需技能和经验，迈向全职、长期的就业，从而履行抚养义务、为家庭提供支持。
And under Eric Holder’s direction, our Justice Department is planning to create its first “Fathering Re-Entry Court” for ex-offender dads -- and to help replicate this program in courts across the country. The idea here is very simple: to reach fathers right as they’re leaving the criminal justice system and connect them immediately to the employment and services they need to start making their child support payments and reconnecting them with their families. 在埃里克·霍尔德的领导下，司法部正计划为刑满释放的父亲设立首个"父亲回归法庭"——并帮助在全国各地的法院推广这一项目。这里的理念非常简单：在父亲们即将离开刑事司法体系之际接触他们，立刻将他们与所需的就业和服务对接起来，让他们开始支付抚养费，并重新与家人建立联系。
This program was inspired by leaders like Peter Spokes, who was the executive director of the National Center for Fathering -- a good friend to many in our administration, all of whom were deeply saddened by his recent passing. And we are honored to have Peter’s wife, Barbara, with us here today. Where’s Barbara? I just saw her earlier. There she is. Thank you. 这一计划受到了彼得·斯波克斯等人的启发——他是全国父亲中心的执行董事，也是我们政府中许多人的好朋友，众人都因他不久前的离世而深感悲痛。今天，我们很荣幸彼得的爱妻芭芭拉也来到现场。芭芭拉在哪儿？我刚才还看到她。在那儿。谢谢你。
So these initiatives are a good start. But ultimately, we know that the decision to be a good father -- that’s up to us, each of us, as individuals. It’s one that men across this country are making every single day -- attending those school assemblies; parent-teacher conferences; coaching soccer, Little League; scrimping and saving, and working that extra shift so that their children can go to college. 所以，这些举措是一个良好的开端。但归根结底，我们知道，做一个好父亲的决定——在于我们自己，在于我们每一个人。这是全国各地的男性每天都在做出的选择——出席学校集会、参加家长会、辅导足球和小联盟；省吃俭用，多上一个班次，好让孩子们能上大学。
And plenty of fathers -- and men who aren’t fathers as well -- are stepping up to serve as mentors and tutors and big brothers and foster parents to young people who don’t have any responsible adult in their lives. 还有许多父亲——以及尚未为人父的男性——也在挺身而出，担任导师、辅导员、大哥哥和寄养父母，去关怀那些生命中没有任何负责任成年人的年轻人。
Even when we give it our best efforts, there will still be plenty of days of struggle and heartache when we don’t quite measure up -- talking to the men here now. Even with all the good fortune and support Michelle and I have had in our lives, I’ve made plenty of mistakes as a parent. I’ve lost count of all the times when the demands of work have taken me from the duties of fatherhood. And I know I’ve missed out on moments in my daughters’ lives that I’ll never get back, and that’s a loss that’s hard to accept. 即便我们尽了最大努力，仍会有许多挣扎和心痛的日子，觉得自己不够称职——这话我是在对在场的男士们说。即便米歇尔和我在生活中拥有那么多幸运和支持，作为父母，我也犯过许多错。我已经数不清有多少次，工作的需求使我放下了身为父亲的职责。我知道，我错过了女儿们生命中的某些时刻，再也无法挽回，这是一种难以接受的损失。
But I also know the feeling that one author described when she wrote that “to have a child…is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” Think about that -- to have a child is to have your heart walking around outside your body. 但我也理解一位作者笔下所描述的那种感受，她写道："拥有一个孩子……就是永远决定让你的心在身体之外行走。"想一想——拥有一个孩子，就是让你的心在身体之外行走。
I’m sure a lot of fathers here know that same memory that I have, of driving home with Michelle and Malia right after she was born, going about 10 miles an hour. Your emotions swinging between unadulterated joy and sheer terror. And I made a pledge that day that I would do everything I could to give my daughter what I never had -- that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father. 我确信在场的许多父亲都和我有着同样的记忆：玛丽亚出生后，我和米歇尔开车带她回家，车速大概只有每小时十英里。你的心情在纯粹的喜悦和彻头彻尾的恐惧之间来回摇摆。那天我立下誓言，要竭尽所能给女儿我所不曾拥有的东西——如果此生我能成就什么，我要做一个好父亲。
And like a lot of the men here, since that time I’ve found there’s nothing else in my life that compares to the pleasures I take in spending time with my girls. Nothing else comes close to the pride I feel in their achievement and the satisfaction I get in watching them grow into strong, confident young women. 和这里的许多男士一样，自那以后我发现，生命中再没有别的事能与陪伴女儿们所带来的快乐相提并论。再没有什么能比得上我为她们的成就所感到的骄傲，以及看着她们成长为坚强、自信的年轻女性时所获得的满足。
Over the course of my life, I have been an attorney, I’ve been a professor, I’ve been a state senator, I’ve been a U.S. senator -- and I currently am serving as President of the United States. But I can say without hesitation that the most challenging, most fulfilling, most important job I will have during my time on this Earth is to be Sasha and Malia’s dad. 在我的一生中，我曾做过律师、当过教授、做过州参议员、做过联邦参议员——如今正担任美利坚合众国总统。但我可以毫不犹豫地说，在我此生所从事的工作中，最具挑战、最令我满足、也最重要的，是做萨莎和玛丽亚的爸爸。
So you don’t need a fancy degree for that. You don’t need a lot of money for that. No matter what doubts we may feel, what difficulties we may face, we all have to remember being a father -- it’s not just an obligation and a responsibility; it is a privilege and a blessing, one that we all have to embrace as individuals and as a nation. 做父亲这件事，不需要多显赫的学位，也不需要多丰厚的财富。无论我们怀有怎样的疑虑、面临怎样的困难，我们都必须铭记，做父亲——它不仅是一种义务和责任；更是一种特权与恩赐，是我们每一个人、整个国家都应当珍视拥抱的恩赐。
So, Happy Father’s Day, everybody. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. 所以，祝大家父亲节快乐。愿上帝保佑你们。愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。