美国国家公共电台 NPR House GOP Leaders Forced To Again Delay Vote On Compromise Immigration Bill

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We're going to hear now about congressional efforts to pass an immigration bill. The House of Representatives had planned on voting this afternoon on a bill written around President Trump¹'s immigration priorities. And with its passage in doubt, Republicans have delayed the vote until tomorrow. The GOP just can't get on the same page when it comes to immigration.

NPR's Scott Detrow is on Capitol Hill as he joins us now. Hey there, Scott.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE²: Hey, Audie.

CORNISH: So why is this so difficult when you have control of the House and the Senate?

DETROW: Yeah. There are some narrow compromises that likely would have bipartisan support, could pass pretty easily. Having protections for people in the Deferred³ Action for Childhood Arrivals program, pairing that with billions of dollars for border security - that would likely pass. But President Trump is insisting that any measure has to be broad and make changes to legal immigration as well, curbing⁴ it.

That loses all Democratic support. They're willing to trade for border security but not that. So then you're left with just Republicans. And the Republican Party is really split on immigration. There are many who want permanent protections for DACA. All of the Republican leaders do. But there is a significant chunk⁵ that wants to take a much more hard-line approach and generally views that idea as amnesty.

CORNISH: Given all this, why did House Speaker Paul Ryan move forward with these votes?

DETROW: Well, he's been forced into a corner by a group of moderate Republicans who were frustrated⁶ with the situation and were on the verge⁷ of siding with Democrats⁸ to force a vote on that narrower bill that the White House opposes. So House Speaker Paul Ryan, feeling the political pressure, came up with this compromise.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PAUL RYAN: Because a discharge petition would have brought legislation to the floor that the president would have surely vetoed. It would have been an exercise in futility⁹. But a lot of our members want to be able to express themselves by voting for the policies that they like so that they can express their votes on the floor.

DETROW: And that was a bit of an admission there that part of this bill that has now been delayed is political theater, allowing votes even though it's unlikely to pass. But Ryan is in a real political bind¹⁰ right now. He's a lame¹¹ duck. He's retiring at the end of the year. He wants to remain speaker through then. And he needs to keep his members happy in order to stay in place.

CORNISH: But the president came to Capitol Hill - right? - and, like, lobbied House Republicans personally. What does it say that they're having such a hard time still finding the votes they need?

DETROW: Well, the president continually shifts where he stands on immigration, more broadly first saying he wants to see some sort of path for DACA, then having a real hard-line approach, and then this week going back and forth¹² on saying he couldn't change his policy on separating families and then proceeding¹³ to do exactly that. He did come to Capitol Hill to endorse¹⁴ this effort.

A couple problems, though - first of all, he said he endorsed¹⁵ any bill they would pass, not the specific endorsement¹⁶ for this measure that leaders were looking for. Second, during the meeting and then later on Twitter, he insulted South Carolina Republican Mark Sanford, who lost a primary this month mostly because he's criticized President Trump. Idaho Republican Raul Labrador said that attack may have lost Trump some votes on this bill.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RAUL LABRADOR: The reason he was there was to emphasize that he had our backs, and I think a different message was sent during that day.

DETROW: So you see it again and again. With the exception of the big tax overhaul¹⁷ earlier this year, the president just has not been able to close deals. And when asked what specifically he wants with a lot of these policies, he either doesn't give a clear answer or gives a clear answer and then goes and changes his mind. So there's concern. Why should I take a tough vote if the president's going to undermine what I vote for the next day?

CORNISH: And what should we be looking for tomorrow? What's set to happen?

DETROW: I think a big question - does this vote even come up? If it does come up, does it fail? Most people expect it to fail. There's not that much optimism it'll pass. After that, are there calls for House Speaker Paul Ryan to step down early from leadership?

CORNISH: NPR's Scott Detrow - Scott, thank you.

DETROW: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF RICHARD HOUGHTEN'S "SAVING A LIFE")

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 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。

3 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

4 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

5 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

6 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

8 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》

9 futility   

n.无用

参考例句：

• She could see the utter futility of trying to protest. 她明白抗议是完全无用的。
• The sheer futility of it all exasperates her. 它毫无用处，这让她很生气。

10 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

11 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

12 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

13 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

14 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

15 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

17 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。