美国国家公共电台 NPR House Democrats Say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Born For This Moment In History

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

At the beginning of this year, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was facing a lot of questions. Could she lead the Democrats¹? How would she handle President Trump²? In 2019, there have been intraparty fights, a government shutdown, skirmishes with the Republicans and, of course, impeachment⁴. NPR congressional reporter Claudia Grisales talked to Democrats about Pelosi's return to speaker of the House.

CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE⁵: It wasn't that long ago that House Democrats didn't know who would lead them. They were warring over the speakership just days after the 2018 midterm elections handed them back the majority. But Nancy Pelosi was certain of her fate.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NANCY PELOSI: I have overwhelming support in my caucus⁶ to be speaker of the House.

GRISALES: But moderates in her party weren't so sure. Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota was part of a wave of new members who flipped⁷ districts that Trump won in 2016, and he wasn't a Pelosi fan initially⁸.

DEAN PHILLIPS: I came here intending - intending - to find new leadership.

GRISALES: But he was persuaded to vote for Pelosi and now calls it one of the most meaningful decisions in his political career.

PHILLIPS: Thank goodness that we have Nancy Pelosi speaking for the House of Representatives because I do not think there is a better, more qualified⁹, more principal and more effective person for these times and these circumstances than she is.

GRISALES: Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton was one of the most public critics who tried to elect someone else as speaker, but he also fell in line and now joins others heaping on the praise.

SETH MOULTON: She kept the party together through an incredibly contentious¹⁰ and difficult time.

GRISALES: Her longtime allies on Capitol Hill agree. Debbie Dingell of Michigan says Pelosi knows how to lead a rambunctious¹¹ group of lawmakers.

DEBBIE DINGELL: She took up one of the most diverse caucuses¹² in the history of this country, people with lots of intense, strong, emotional passions, different thoughts and brought us together.

GRISALES: Another reason House Democrats are united behind Pelosi is how she's handled Trump. Here's Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.

JAN SCHAKOWSKY: The one person - of course, the only woman, too - to stand up in the Oval Office and point to the president of the United States and take him to task.

GRISALES: Speaker Pelosi met one of her biggest challenges as calls for impeachment from within her caucus grew. Many on the left wanted action after special counsel Robert Mueller found instances the president obstructed¹³ an investigation¹⁴ into Russian interference in the 2016 election. But Pelosi strongly resisted, saying impeachment needed to have support from Republicans and the public.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PELOSI: I don't think there's anything more divisive we can do than to impeach³ a president of the United States.

GRISALES: But that changed when a whistleblower said the president was pressuring Ukraine to investigate a political rival in exchange for congressionally approved military aid. Once Pelosi got onboard with impeachment, she led her caucus through a contentious process. But that wasn't all. She also helped negotiate a major trade deal and a massive bipartisan spending package. Here's Schakowsky again.

SCHAKOWSKY: I think that she runs circles as a strategist around pretty much everybody.

GRISALES: Even though impeachment is what helped bring her caucus together, she's rejected that's what her legacy¹⁶ will be. Pelosi at a recent CNN town hall stressed how she got a major health care bill passed.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PELOSI: No. I want to be part - remembered as part of the Affordable¹⁷ Care Act, about - I want to be...

GRISALES: Pelosi doesn't seem worried about her legacy. She has her hands full keeping her caucus together as they head into another partisan¹⁵ national election in 2020. How she handles that will determine whether she'll remain speaker. Claudia Grisales, NPR News, Washington.

1 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》

2 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。

3 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

4 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

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 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

7 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

10 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

11 rambunctious   

adj.喧闹的；粗鲁的

参考例句：

• Their rambunctious son always got into trouble.他们那个不受管束的儿子老是惹麻烦。
• It's not the chirping,rambunctious play that they did when they first arrived.他们现在已经不像刚开始见面那会儿，总是冲着对方乱叫，或者在玩耍时动作粗暴。

12 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

13 obstructed   

阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• Tall trees obstructed his view of the road. 有大树挡着，他看不到道路。
• The Irish and Bristol Channels were closed or grievously obstructed. 爱尔兰海峡和布里斯托尔海峡或遭受封锁，或受到了严重阻碍。

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 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。

16 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

17 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。