肯尼迪就民主党全国代表大会会址发表讲话

完全听懂这些，你就可以国外随意行走。

 Thanks very much, Barbara Mikulski, for your very eloquent, your eloquent introduction. 
Distinguished legislator, great spokeswoman for economic democracy and social justice in 
this 
country, I 
thank you for your eloquent introduction.

Well, things worked out a little different from the way I 
thought, but let 
me tell you, I 
still 
love 
New York.

My fellow Democrats and my fellow 
Americans, I have come here tonight 
not 
to argue as a 
candidate but 
to affirm a cause.

I'm asking you I 
am asking you to 
renew 
the 
commitment of the Democratic Party to 
economic justice.

I am asking you to renew our commitment 
to a fair and lasting prosperity that 
can put 
America back to work.

This is the cause that brought 
me into 
the campaign and that sustained me for nine months 
across a 100,000 miles in 40 different states. We had our losses, but the pain of our defeats is 
far, far less than the pain of the people that 
I 
have met.

We have learned that 
it is important 
to take issues seriously, but 
never to 
take ourselves too 
seriously.


The serious issue before us tonight is the cause for which 
the Democratic Party has stood in 
its finest hours, the cause that keeps our Party 
young and makes it, in 
the second century of 
its age, 
the largest political party in this republic and the longest lasting political party on 
this 
planet.

Our cause has been, since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the cause of the common 
man and 
the common woman.

Our commitment has been, since the days of Andrew Jackson, to all 
those he called "the 
humble members of society the 
farmers, mechanics, and laborers." On 
this foundation we 
have defined our values, refined our policies, and refreshed our faith.

Now I take the unusual step of carrying the cause and the commitment of my campaign 
personally to our national convention. I speak out of a deep sense of urgency about the 
anguish and anxiety I 
have seen across America.

I speak out of a deep belief in the ideals of the 
Democratic Party, and in the potential of that 
Party and of a President 
to make a difference. And I speak out of a deep trust in our capacity 
to proceed with boldness and a common vision 
that will feel and heal the suffering of our time 
and the divisions of our Party.

The economic plank of this platform on its face concerns only material things, but 
it 
is also a 
moral 
issue that I raise tonight. It has taken many forms over many years. In 
this campaign 
and in this country that we seek to 
lead, the challenge in 1980 is to give our voice and our 
vote for these fundamental democratic principles.

Let 
us pledge that we will 
never misuse unemployment, high 
interest rates, and human 
misery as false weapons against 
inflation.

Let 
us pledge that employment will be the first priority of our economic policy.

Let 
us pledge that there will be security for all 
those who are now at work, and let 
us pledge 
that 
there will be jobs for all who are out of work. and we will 
not 
compromise on the issues 
of jobs.


These are not simplistic pledges. 
Simply put, they are the heart of our tradition, and they 
have been the soul of our Party across the generations. It is the glory and the greatness of 
our tradition 
to speak for those who 
have no 
voice, to 
remember those who are forgotten, to 
respond to 
the frustrations and fulfill 
the aspirations of all Americans seeking a better life in a 
better land.

We dare not 
forsake that 
tradition.

We cannot let 
the great purposes of the Democratic Party become the bygone passages of 
history.


We must not permit 
the Republicans to 
seize and run on 
the slogans of prosperity. We heard 
the orators at their convention all 
trying to talk like Democrats. They proved that even 
Republican 
nominees can quote Franklin Roosevelt to 
their own purpose.


The Grand Old Party thinks it 
has found a great 
new 
trick, but 40 years ago an earlier 
generation of Republicans attempted the same trick. And Franklin Roosevelt himself replied, 
"Most Republican 
leaders have bitterly fought and blocked the forward surge of average men 
and women 
in their pursuit of happiness. Let 
us not be deluded that overnight 
those leaders 
have suddenly become the friends of average men and women."


"You know," he continued, "very few of us are that gullible." And four years later when the 
Republicans tried that trick again, Franklin Roosevelt asked, "Can 
the Old Guard pass itself off 
as the New Deal? I think not. We have all 
seen 
many marvelous stunts in the circus, but 
no 
performing elephant could turn a handspring without falling flat on its back."


The 1980 Republican 
convention was awash with crocodile tears for our economic distress, but 
it is by their long record and not their recent words that you shall know 
them.

The same Republicans who are talking about 
the crisis of unemployment 
have nominated a 
man who once said, and I quote, "Unemployment insurance is a prepaid vacation plan 
for 
freeloaders." 
And that nominee is no 
friend of labor.

The same Republicans who are talking about 
the problems of the inner cities have nominated 
a man who said, and I quote, "I have included 
in my morning and evening prayers every day 
the prayer that 
the Federal Government not bail out New York." And that 
nominee is no friend 
of this city and our great 
urban centers across this nation.

The same Republicans who are talking about security for the elderly have nominated a man 
who said just 
four years ago 
that "Participation 
in social security should be made voluntary." 
And that nominee is no 
friend of the senior citizens of this nation.

The same Republicans who are talking about preserving the environment 
have nominated a 
man who 
last year made the preposterous statement, and I quote, "Eighty percent of our air 
pollution 
comes from plants and trees." And that 
nominee is no friend of the environment.

And the same Republicans who are invoking Franklin Roosevelt 
have nominated a man who 
said in 1976, and these are his exact words, "Fascism was really the basis of the New Deal." 
And that nominee whose name is Ronald Reagan 
has no right 
to quote Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt.

The great adventures which our opponents offer is a voyage into the past. Progress is our 
heritage, not theirs. What 
is right for us as Democrats is also the right way for Democrats to 
win.


The commitment I seek is not to outworn views 
but to old values that will 
never wear out. 
Programs may sometimes become obsolete, but the ideal of fairness always endures. 
Circumstances may change, but 
the work of compassion 
must continue. 
It is surely correct 
that we cannot solve problems by throwing money at them, but it is also correct 
that we dare 
not 
throw out our national problems onto a scrap heap of inattention and indifference.

The poor may be out of political 
fashion, but 
they are not without 
human 
needs. The middle 
class may be angry, but they have not 
lost 
the dream that all Americans can advance 
together.

The demand of our people in 1980 is not for smaller government or bigger government but for 
better government. Some say that government 
is always bad and that spending for basic 
social programs is the root of our economic evils. But we reply: The present 
inflation and 
recession cost our economy 200 billion dollars a 
year. 
We reply: Inflation and unemployment 
are the biggest spenders of all.

The task of leadership in 1980 is not 
to parade scapegoats or to 
seek refuge in reaction, but 
to match our power to 
the possibilities of progress. While others talked of free enterprise, it 
was the Democratic Party that acted and we ended excessive regulation 
in the airline and 
trucking industry, and we restored competition 
to the marketplace. And I 
take some 
satisfaction 
that 
this deregulation legislation that I sponsored and passed in 
the Congress of 
the United States.

As Democrats we recognize that each 
generation of Americans has a rendezvous with a 
different 
reality. The answers of one generation 
become the questions of the next generation. 
But 
there is a guiding star in the American firmament. It 
is as old as the revolutionary belief 
that all people are created equal, and as clear as the contemporary condition of Liberty City 
and the South 
Bronx. Again and again Democratic leaders have followed that star and they 
have given new meaning to 
the old values of liberty and justice for all.

We are the of the New Freedom, the New Deal, and the New Frontier. We have always been 
the party of hope. 
So this year let 
us offer new 
hope, new hope to an 
America uncertain about 
the present, but unsurpassed in its potential for 
the future.

To all those who are idle in the cities and industries of America let 
us provide new 
hope for the 
dignity of useful work. Democrats have always believed that a basic civil right of all 
Americans 
is that 
their right 
to earn 
their own way. The party of the people must always be the party of 
full 
employment.

To all those who doubt the future of our economy, let 
us provide new 
hope for the 
reindustrialization of America. And let our vision reach beyond the next election or the next 
year to a new generation of prosperity. If we could rebuild Germany and Japan after World 
War II, then surely we can reindustrialize our own 
nation and revive our inner cities in the 
1980's.



To all those who work hard for a living wage let 
us provide new hope that their price of their 
employment shall 
not be an unsafe workplace and a death at an earlier age.


To all those who inhabit our land from California to 
the New York Island, 
from the Redwood 
Forest 
to 
the 
Gulf stream waters, let us provide new 
hope that prosperity shall 
not be 
purchased by poisoning the air, the rivers, and the natural resources that are the greatest gift 
of this continent. We must insist that our children and our grandchildren 
shall inherit a land 
which 
they can truly call 
America the beautiful.

To all those who see the worth of their work and their savings taken by inflation, let us offer 
new 
hope for a stable economy. We must 
meet 
the pressures of the present by invoking the 
full 
power of government to 
master increasing prices. In 
candor, we must say that 
the Federal 
budget can be balanced only by policies that bring us to a balanced prosperity of full 
employment and price restraint.

And to all those overburdened by an 
unfair tax structure, let 
us provide new 
hope for real 
tax 
reform. 
Instead of shutting down 
classrooms, let 
us shut off tax shelters. Instead of cutting 
out 
school lunches, let 
us cut off tax subsidies for expensive business lunches that are nothing 
more than food stamps for the rich.

The tax cut of our Republican opponents takes the name of tax reform in vain. It is a 
wonderfully Republican idea that would redistribute income in the wrong direction. It's good 
news for any of you with incomes over 200,000 
dollars a year. For the few of you, it offers a 
pot of gold worth 
14,000 dollars. But the Republican tax cut 
is bad news for the middle 
income families. For the many of you, they plan 
a pittance of 200 dollars a year, and that 
is 
not what the Democratic Party means when we 
say tax reform.

The vast 
majority of Americans cannot afford 
this panacea from a Republican 
nominee who 
has denounced the progressive income tax as the invention of Karl Marx. I am afraid he has 
confused Karl Marx with Theodore Roosevelt that 
obscure Republican president who sought 
and fought 
for a tax system based on ability to 
pay. Theodore Roosevelt was not Karl Marx, 
and the Republican 
tax scheme is not 
tax reform.

Finally, we 
cannot have a fair prosperity in 
isolation 
from a fair society. So I will continue to 
stand for a national 
health insurance. We must 
not 
surrender We 
must 
not surrender to 
the 
relentless medical inflation that can bankrupt almost anyone and that may soon break the 
budgets of government at every level. Let us insist on real controls over what doctors and 
hospitals can 
charge, and let us resolve that the state of a family's health shall 
never depend 
on the size of a family's wealth.

The President, the Vice President, the members 
of Congress have a medical plan 
that 
meets 
their needs in full, and whenever senators and representatives catch a little cold, 
the Capitol 
physician will see them immediately, treat 
them promptly, fill a prescription on the spot. We 
do not get a bill even if we ask for it, and when 
do you 
think was the last 
time a member of 
Congress asked for a bill from the Federal 
Government?


And I 
say again, as I 
have before, if health insurance is good enough for the President, the 
Vice President, the Congress of the United States, then it's good enough for you and every 
family in America.


There were some who said we should be silent about our differences on issues during this 
convention, but 
the heritage of the Democratic Party 
has been a history of democracy. We 
fight hard because we care deeply about our principles and purposes. We did not 
flee this 
struggle. 
We welcome the contrast with 
the empty and expedient 
spectacle last month 
in 
Detroit where no 
nomination was contested, 
no 
question was debated, and no one dared to 
raise any doubt or dissent.

Democrats can be proud that we chose a different course and a different platform.


We can be proud that our Party stands for investment in safe energy, instead of a nuclear 
future that 
may threaten the future itself. We must 
not permit the neighborhoods of America 
to be permanently shadowed by the fear of another Three Mile Island.


We can be proud that our party stands for a fair housing law 
to unlock the doors of 
discrimination once and for all. The American 
house will be divided against itself so long as 
there is prejudice against any American buying or renting a home.

And we can be proud that our party stands plainly and publicly and persistently for the 
ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Women 
hold their rightful place at our convention, and women 
must 
have their rightful 
place 
in the Constitution of the United States. On this issue we will not yield. we will not equivocate. 
we will 
not rationalize, explain, or excuse. We will 
stand for E.R.A. and for the recognition at 
long last 
that our nation was made 
up of founding mothers as well as founding fathers.

A fair prosperity and a just society are within our vision and our grasp, and we do 
not have 
every answer. There are questions not 
yet asked, waiting for us in the recesses of the future. 
But of this much we can be certain because it is the lesson of all of our history: Together a 
President and the people can 
make a difference. I 
have found that faith still alive wherever I 
have traveled across this land. 
So let 
us reject 
the counsel of retreat and the call 
to reaction. 
Let 
us go 
forward 
in the knowledge that history only helps those who 
help themselves.

There will be setbacks and sacrifices in the years ahead. but I am convinced that we as a 
people are ready to give something back to our country in return 
for all 
it has given 
to us.

Let 
this be our commitment: Whatever sacrifices must be made will be shared and shared 
fairly. And let 
this be our confidence: At 
the end of our journey and always before us shines 
that 
ideal of liberty and justice for all.



In 
closing, let 
me say a few words to all 
those that I 
have met and to all those who 
have 
supported me at 
this convention and across the country. There were hard hours on our 
journey, and often we sailed against 
the wind. 
But always we kept our rudder true, and there 
were so 
many of you who stayed the course and shared our hope. You gave your help. but 
even more, you gave your hearts.

And because of you, this has been a happy campaign. You welcomed Joan, me, and our family 
into your homes and neighborhoods, 
your churches, your campuses, your union halls. And 
when I think back of all the miles and all 
the months and all 
the memories, I think of you. And 
I recall 
the poet's words, and I say: "What golden friends I 
had."


Among you, my golden 
friends across this land, 
I have listened and learned.


I have listened to 
Kenny Dubois, a glassblower in Charleston, West 
Virginia, who 
has ten 
children to support but has lost 
his job after 35 years, just three years short of qualifying for 
his pension.

I have listened to 
the Trachta family who farm in Iowa and who wonder whether they can 
pass the good life and the good earth on 
to their children.

I have listened to 
the grandmother in East Oakland who no 
longer has a phone to call her 
grandchildren because she gave it up to pay the rent on 
her small apartment.

I have listened to 
young workers out of work, to students without 
the tuition 
for college, and 
to families without 
the chance to own a home.

I have seen 
the closed factories and the stalled assembly lines of Anderson, Indiana and 
South 
Gate, California, and I have seen too 
many, far too many idle men and women 
desperate to work.

I have seen 
too many, far too 
many working families desperate to protect the value of their 
wages from the ravages of inflation.

Yet 
I 
have also sensed a yearning for a new 
hope among the people in every state where I 
have been.

And I 
have felt it in 
their handshakes, I saw 
it in their faces, and I shall 
never forget the 
mothers who carried children 
to our rallies.

I shall always remember the elderly who have lived in an 
America of high purpose and who 
believe that it can all happen again.

Tonight, in 
their name, I 
have come here to speak for them. And for their sake, I ask you 
to 
stand with 
them. On 
their behalf I ask you to 
restate and reaffirm the timeless truth of our 
Party.



I congratulate President Carter on his victory here.

I am confident 
that 
the Democratic Party will reunite on the basis of Democratic principles, 
and that 
together we will 
march 
towards a Democratic victory in 
1980.

And someday, long after this convention, long after the signs come down and the crowds stop 
cheering, and the bands stop playing, 
may it be 
said of our campaign 
that we kept 
the faith.

May it be said of our Party in 1980 that we found our faith again.

And may it be said of us, both in dark passages and in 
bright days, in 
the words of Tennyson 
that 
my brothers quoted and loved, and that 
have special 
meaning for me now:

"I am a part of all 
that 
I 
have met 
To [Tho] much 
is taken, much abides 
That which we are, we are One 
equal 
temper of heroic hearts 
Strong in will 
To strive, to 
seek, to 
find, and not 
to yield."

For me, a few 
hours ago, this campaign came to an 
end.


For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the 
hope still lives, and the dream shall 
never die.