NPR 2008-06-21

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told the House Judiciary Committee today that top White House officials deliberately¹ misled him about the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.

McClellan testified that he was asked to exonerate² former presidential advisor³ Karl Rove and Lewis Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice⁴ President Dick Cheney. The spokesman later learned both men had leaked Plame’s identity to reporters. Florida Democrat⁵ Robert Wexler asked McClellan about Cheney's role. " There is a lot of suspicion there, because there are questions that have never been answered despite the fact that we said at some point we would address these issues." "So, this suspicion leads you to believe that Vice President Cheney could have authorized⁶ Mr. Libby's leak?" "I can't rule it out." But Texas Republican Lamar Smith said it was hard to take McClellan seriously. “There was spin in the White House Press Office. What White House has not had a communications operation that advocates for its policies?” Debbie Elliott, NPR News, the Capitol.

Without mentioning opponent Barack Obama by name, presumptive Republican presidential nominee⁷ John McCain told an audience in Ottawa, Canada today, if elected, he won't retreat behind protectionist walls. McCain ticked off a host of ties between the US and Canada he said were important. "Canada and America are joined in other vital causes around the world: from the fight against nuclear proliferation to the fight against global warming; from the fight for justice in Haiti to the fight for democracy in Afghanistan. And I thank you for it." McCain remarked specifically about the controversial North American Free Trade Agreement. He told members of the Economic Club of Canada he will abide⁸ by the agreement if elected.

Obama, for his part, took on rival McCain on another issue, that of opening up areas off the US coast to oil and gas drilling. At a campaign appearance in Jacksonville, Florida, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said he sees no reason to change the government's 27-year moratorium⁹ on offshore¹⁰ drilling, a move McCain supports. "The fact is Senator McCain's decision to team up with George Bush on offshore drilling violates the bipartisan consensus¹¹ that we’ve had for decades, that has protected Florida's pristine¹² coastline from drilling." McCain previously¹³ had backed the moratorium. Though this week, he said he would support lifting the ban and giving states the option to decide whether to open the areas off their coast to exploration.

The Food & Drug Administration has reportedly sent inspectors¹⁴ to Florida and Mexico to examine tomato farms as the government appears to be narrowing in on the source of a salmonella outbreak. The FDA, in a conference call with reporters, would not say where in Florida or Mexico the hunt is being centered. But investigators¹⁵ said today they will be paying especially close attention to large packing houses. The outbreak has left more than 550 people ill in 32 states.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 221 points today to close at 11,842. The S&P lost 25 points. This is NPR.

The compromise war funding bill, now on its way to the Senate, includes a major concession¹⁶ by the Bush administration: language to block a half dozen rules that would limit federal funding for the Medicaid Health Program. NPR's Julie Rovner has more.

The Medicaid language has drawn¹⁷ a veto threat all year from Bush officials. They say the rules are needed to prevent states and healthcare providers from abusing the Medicaid Program, whose funding is shared between Washington and the states. But governors and advocates for the poor say the rules would end up hurting the low-income patients the program is supposed to help. The final compromise passed by the House Thursday night would block six of seven controversial regulations until next April 1st, leaving final decisions in the hands of the next president and Congress. Still in play, however, is a rule to limit funding for out-patient care and another set to take effect in August to limit funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, SCHIP. Julie Rovner, NPR News, Washington.

The International Monetary¹⁸ Fund, in its latest forecast for the US economy, says it appears growth has flatlined and will likely show only slight improvement next year. The IMF also called on the interest rate setting arm of the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates on hold. In its annual forecast, the group said it expects the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the US economy, to show no growth in the final quarter of this year compared with last year.

United Airlines is planning to resurrect a rule from the past: the idea of requiring minimum stayovers for nearly all of its domestic flights beginning in October. The second largest US airline made the announcement today, along with saying it is upping the price of its cheapest fares by as much as 90 dollars one way.

1 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

2 exonerate   

v.免除责任，确定无罪

参考例句：

• Nothing can exonerate her from that.任何解释都难辞其咎。
• There is no reason to exonerate him from the ordinary duties of a citizen.没有理由免除他做公民应尽的义务。

3 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

4 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。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

7 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

8 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

9 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

10 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

11 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

12 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

17 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

18 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。