As you all know,our two countries broke from each other over what Thomas Jefferson referred to as “certain inalienable rights”.And while we Americans and British might dispute the justice of his claims,what is never in dispute is that children have certain obvious rights,and the gradual erosion of those rights has led to scores of children worldwide being denied the joys and security of childhood.
I would therefore like to propose tonight that we install in every home a Children's Universal Bill of Rights, the tenets of which are:
1. The right to be loved without having to earn it
2. The right to be protected, without having to deserve it
3. The right to feel valuable, even if you came into the world with nothing
4. The right to be listened to without having to be interesting
5. The right to be read a bedtime story, without having to compete with the evening news
6. The right to an education without having to dodge bullets at schools
7. The right to be thought of as adorable - (even if you have a face that only a mother could love)..
我们都知道，我们两国在托马斯·杰弗逊提出的所谓“几个不可妥协的权利”上决裂。当我们美国人和英国人在争执各自要求的公平时，又有什么关于孩子们不可妥协的权利之争呢，对这些权利的逐步剥夺已经导致了世界上的很多孩子失去欢快乐趣和童年的安全感。
因此我建议今晚我们就为每个家庭建立一部全体儿童权利条约，这些条例是：
不必付出就可享受的被爱的权利 ；
不必乞求就可享有的被保护的权利 ；
即使来到这个世界时一无所有，也要有被重视的权利； 即使不引人注意也会有被倾听的权利 ；
不须要与晚间新闻和复活节抗争，就能在睡觉前听一段故事的权利；
不须要躲避子弹，可以在学校受教育的权利 ；
哪怕你只有妈妈才会爱的脸蛋，也要有被人尊重的权利。