美国国家公共电台 NPR--The House has approved a bill to fight domestic terrorism

The House has approved a bill to fight domestic terrorism

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland about a newly passed bill targeting domestic terrorism, and the partisan² divides that make Senate approval unlikely.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he'll schedule a procedural vote next week on a bill aimed at addressing domestic terrorism. It's called the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022. The House passed it just days after the racist³ attack in Buffalo⁴, N.Y., an attack President Biden has referred to as an act of domestic terrorism. But only one House Republican voted for it. Shortly after the vote, I spoke⁵ with House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer.

So let's start with why you think the country needs this law. Because I think of the Patriot⁶ Act passed over 20 years ago, and it led to the chipping away of constitutional liberties, government overreach, the racial and religious profiling of Arab and Muslim communities. Could this have the potential to do the same thing?

STENY HOYER: Well, I certainly hope not. But as you may recall, in this procedure, we had this bill and we were about to bring it to the floor. And there were a number of questions raised that it was not defined sufficiently⁷, that the ACLU, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and a number of other organizations had concerns that its targeting would be not what was intended but in a broader way so that it would put at risk constitutional First Amendment⁸ rights. We took it back to the drawing boards, and we modified the language so to be sure that it was focused on domestic terrorism. But in any event, we think that we have ensured that this language will not adversely⁹ affect in the way that you just described.

FADEL: But the Republicans do sort of voice those grievances¹⁰, that this would pin a domestic terrorism label on people, for example, parents who criticize their school boards.

HOYER: I think there's a clear distinction between bringing your grievances, making your points made, but you cross the line when you threaten people with death, as the insurrectionists of January 6 did, saying that they wanted to kill the vice¹¹ president of the United States or they wanted to kill the speaker of the House of Representatives. That clearly is not the kind of political debate that our constitutional framers had in mind. And we think this bill makes that distinction and makes it properly.

FADEL: And how does that apply to white supremacism and white supremacist groups?

HOYER: The distinction is, is it a First Amendment - they articulated a particular position. That's one thing. But when they articulate a particular position and then plan or advocate and perpetrate acts of violence in furtherance of that ideology¹², whether it's a hate ideology, a bigoted¹³ ideology, a replacement¹⁴ ideology, if that leads to action and proposal for action and plans for action, then that crosses the line legally. And from a security standpoint, we need to have agencies that can deal with that before, as we saw in Buffalo, 10 people being killed or we've seen in too many places.

FADEL: What happens to this? I mean, will it even pass the Senate? Is there any hope for it?

HOYER: I don't know whether it'll pass the Senate. Unfortunately, the Senate is too frequently a place that good bills supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans go to die. And that's because of the filibuster¹⁵ and the need to pass a bill with 60 votes, not 50 votes. And I've urged to the Senate to eliminate the filibuster so that the majority could rule. Otherwise the people's will can be subverted¹⁶ by a minority.

FADEL: So does this bill then just become politics? I mean, we're coming up on the midterms. Is this an attempt by the Democrats¹⁷ to get something, anything done? I mean, you got a big infrastructure¹⁸ package passed but nothing on climate change, nothing on gun control. The child care tax credit wasn't extended. Is it an attempt to get something to stick?

HOYER: Certainly, we want to pass this. We want to see it become law because we think it's good policy and it's protection of people from the results of hate and prejudice and bigotry¹⁹. Sadly, 40% of the American people are like 75% of the Senate. So the Senate is, in many ways, not a representative body of the majority of Americans. Having said that, we're going to keep trying to pass legislation that we think the American people thinks is appropriate. And I can't believe that the majority of American people do not believe that we are not - ought not to be trying to prevent hate groups engendering²⁰ and inciting²¹ the kind of activity that we saw in Buffalo, N.Y., and that we've seen so many places around this country resulting in the deaths of many, many, many people.

FADEL: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, thank you so much for your time.

HOYER: You bet. Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

3 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

4 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

7 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

8 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

9 adversely   

ad.有害地

参考例句：

• We commented adversely upon the imbecility of that message of telegraphic style. 我们对着这条电报式的愚蠢的留言发泄了一通不满。
• Widely fluctuating exchange rates may adversely affect international trade. 浮动幅度很大的汇率可能会对国际贸易产生有害的影响。

10 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

13 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

14 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

15 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

16 subverted   

v.颠覆，破坏（政治制度、宗教信仰等）( subvert的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某人）道德败坏或不忠

参考例句：

• Their wills could be subverted only by death. 只有死神才能使他们放弃他们的意志。 来自教父部分
• Indiana State laws deliberately subverted the intent of the constitutions 14th Amendment. 印第安纳州的法律有意歪曲联邦宪法第十四条修正案的愿意。 来自辞典例句

17 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

19 bigotry   

n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等

参考例句：

• She tried to dissociate herself from the bigotry in her past.她力图使自己摆脱她以前的偏见。
• At least we can proceed in this matter without bigotry.目前这件事咱们至少可以毫无偏见地进行下去。

20 engendering   

v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Certain soluble extracts of B pertussis may prove to be effective without engendering serious side effects. 某些可溶性百日咳杆菌提取物，可证明用之有效，也不产生严重副作用。 来自辞典例句
• The engendering, classification, path and control of environmental pollution transference were discussed. 对环境污染转嫁的产生、分类、途径及其控制与防范进行了分析。 来自互联网

21 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。