美国国家公共电台 NPR House Democrats Play Catch-Up On Agenda After Shutdown

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Democratic control of the House of Representatives gives the party a chance to set the national agenda - a chance; not a guarantee. The Democrats¹' first four weeks were consumed by a high-stakes shutdown standoff with President Trump² that is not quite over yet. They've tried to catch up, though, ahead of President Trump's prime-time State of the Union address tomorrow night. NPR's Kelsey Snell reports.

KELSEY SNELL, BYLINE³: The Democrats came into power in the House with a long list of plans. They wanted to kick off the year by overhauling⁴ campaign and ethics⁵ rules before launching bills on everything from health care and prescription⁶ drugs to building better roads and bridges. Instead, their earliest days in office have been defined by President Trump.

DAVID CICILLINE: There's no question. The government shutdown, you know, consumed everyone's attention. The president, I think, did that purposely.

SNELL: That's Congressman⁷ David Cicilline. He leads a team of Democrats tasked with setting up policy and messaging priorities for the House. Up until last week, those plans were on pause. Committees couldn't form, legislation stalled and their whole message was about ending the shutdown. Now that it's over, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says it's up to Democrats to make up for lost time. And he promises anxious members, we'll have a chance to do it soon.

STENY HOYER: There's this frustration⁸ about focusing on the negative aspect of shutting down the government of the United States of America. But I think they're going to feel a lot better four months from now because I think we're going to have dealt with a lot of very substantive⁹ issues that we talked about in the campaign.

SNELL: Hoyer says committees are getting ready to take up plans to lower the cost of prescription drugs and move bills to retrain workers and get more people good paying jobs. Democrats have higher-than-usual approval ratings after the shutdown, and polls show a majority of voters sided with Democrats in that fight. Members like progressive caucus¹⁰ co-chair Pramila Jayapal say that gives Democrats a powerful platform.

PRAMILA JAYAPAL: We didn't back down on this president, and we showed that we will hold him accountable. That got us enormous credibility with the American public.

SNELL: But that may not be helpful for many of the more moderate Democrats who won tough races in previously¹¹ Republican districts on promises to overcome gridlock. That's why losing the early weeks of legislating¹² has been particularly frustrating¹³ for a lot of freshmen¹⁴. They wanted a head start before the State of the Union where Trump will set his own agenda. And their class co-chair Colin Allred says his fellow newbies are itching¹⁵ to show their constituents¹⁶ that they can deliver on their campaign promises.

COLIN ALLRED: We are, at its outset, delivering to a majority. And we are the class that, I think, in many ways, is closest to kind of the people. And so we want to make sure that folks who've been here are aware of what our parties are.

SNELL: Specifically, Allred says Democrats want to protect pre-existing conditions, the defining issue that helped them win this new majority.

ALLRED: Those are things that no matter where you are on the spectrum¹⁷, you have a common denominator of agreement. And then we'll probably have some discussions on the things that are a little bit different.

SNELL: More complicated areas like how far left to go on Medicare for all will wait. The slow start is beginning to pick up. Democrats held their first hearings and reintroduced legislation to close the gender¹⁸ pay gap. More experienced hands like Hoyer and Jayapal also want to remind members that there's still lots of time before the 2020 election.

JAYAPAL: You know, we're in January. (Laughter) I mean, we're not in June. You know, if this is still the case in June, that would be a - that would obviously be a problem.

SNELL: Vulnerable Democrats are hoping she's right because by June, their next campaign could already be underway. Kelsey Snell, NPR News, the Capitol.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE HAGGIS HORNS' "CURSE OF THE HAGGIS")

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 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。

4 overhauling   

n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
• Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改，而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网

5 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

6 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

9 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

10 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。

11 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。

12 legislating   

v.立法，制定法律( legislate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Why are the senators sitting there without legislating? 为什么那些议员们做在那里不立法？ 来自互联网
• From legislating and protecting peasant's interests organizationally. " 从立法和组织上保护农民利益。 来自互联网

13 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 freshmen   

n.（中学或大学的）一年级学生( freshman的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We are freshmen and they are sophomores. 我们是一年级学生，他们是二年级学生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• University freshmen get lots of razzing, but they like the initiation. 大一新生受各种嘲弄，但是他们对这种入门经验甘之如饴。 来自辞典例句

15 itching   

adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他痒得几乎忍不住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My nose is itching. 我的鼻子发痒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

18 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。