美国国家公共电台 NPR--Kevin McCarthy leads his first border trip in his new role as House speaker

Kevin McCarthy leads his first border trip in his new role as House speaker

Transcript¹

With Republicans in control of the House, Kevin McCarthy aimed to make good on promises he and his party made on the campaign trail to focus on border issues. He did that with a trip to the border.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

For the first time as House speaker, Kevin McCarthy led a group of Republican freshman² lawmakers on a trip to the southern border in Arizona. McCarthy talked to reporters at a private ranch³ next to a border wall and praised his conference for tackling an issue he claims the Biden administration has not been doing enough on.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEVIN MCCARTHY: The freshman member that I brought here - they have done more in four weeks of looking at the border than the president has done in 40 years.

FADEL: Of course, Democrats⁴ dispute that claim. But with Republicans now in control of the House, McCarthy is trying to make good on campaign promises about the border. NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales joins us from Arizona.

Good morning, Claudia.

CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE⁵: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So tell us, what area of the border did you visit, and what was the purpose of this trip for these lawmakers?

GRISALES: Right. We navigated⁶ here by GPS coordinates⁷. So there was no traditional street address. It was remote, but it was surrounded by beautiful vistas⁸ and mountains. This was in Cochise County in Arizona. And this group of lawmakers visited the Tucson region for a briefing, followed by an aerial tour from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Afterwards, they held a press conference at a private ranch, where McCarthy said that the Republican-led House would tackle improvements to border security.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MCCARTHY: Republicans have been taking action. We've got a lot of ideas inside Congress. But it's different than the Congress before. We're just not going to write the bill and put it onto the floor. We're going to listen to the people that are on the border. We're going to listen to border agents.

GRISALES: But we should note, they do not have much of a legislative⁹ path forward. They only control the House - one chamber¹⁰. Unless they decide to work with Democrats, they're not going to see a lot of progress on those plans.

FADEL: Now, McCarthy was joined by an all-freshman delegation¹¹. Why is that notable? What's the thinking there?

GRISALES: Yes. A senior GOP aide told me this freshman group showcases the next generation of lawmakers who could take the lead on these issues, like Arizona's Juan Ciscomani. You might remember him as the freshman who offered the Spanish-language rebuttal to President Biden's recent State of the Union address.

FADEL: Right.

GRISALES: At the press conference, he listed the different groups they heard from during the visit, specifically on the issue of fentanyl coming over the border.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JUAN CISCOMANI: We just sat in the roundtable. There, we heard from mayors, from elected officials on the county side, from law enforcement, from border patrol, from sheriffs, from ranchers, private-sector business owners, and they all have the same feeling about this. It's a crisis that is impacting everyone in different ways.

GRISALES: But we should note that the abundance of fentanyl in the U.S. is something that both Democrats and Republicans name as a major concern. Some argue Republicans have tried to pin the blame on migrants who are coming to the U.S.-Mexico border to seek asylum¹². But we've learned that is largely not the case.

FADEL: So how are Republicans challenging the Biden administration on this issue? What are they doing?

GRISALES: Well, McCarthy did not lay out a very prescriptive legislative agenda on this issue. He says it is early days but has pledged to bring members from Washington out to border areas to hold hearings. He told reporters that he wants to talk to Americans where they are, and it has already started. For example, the House Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing next week in Yuma, Ariz., about 200 miles west of here. And they'll also have a visit to the border as well.

McCarthy says there's much more of this to come. As for Democrats, they're not planning to take part in these field hearings so far, or these visits. They argue that these are just largely photo ops.

FADEL: NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thank you so much.

GRISALES: 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 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

3 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

4 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》

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 navigated   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的过去式和过去分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• He navigated the plane through the clouds. 他驾驶飞机穿越云层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ship was navigated by the North Star. 那只船靠北极星来导航。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 vistas   

长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景

参考例句：

• This new job could open up whole new vistas for her. 这项新工作可能给她开辟全新的前景。
• The picture is small but It'shows broad vistas. 画幅虽然不大，所表现的天地却十分广阔。

9 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

10 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

11 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

12 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。