VOA慢速英语2016--奥巴马邀请两党议员同访古巴

AS IT IS 2016-03-12 Obama Invites Lawmakers On Cuba Trip 奥巴马邀请两党议员同访古巴

Democratic and Republican lawmakers will join President Barack Obama on his trip to Cuba later in March.

Obama invited members of both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party to join him in Cuba.

Both Democrats¹ and Republicans have accepted the invitation from the president. Patrick Leahy, the senate’s longest serving member and Jeff Flake², a Republican from Arizona, accepted the president’s invitation.

Flake and Leahy are part of a group of 46 senators going to Cuba.

“Excited to do it,” Flake said about the trip to Cuba. “I’m glad the president is going. This is a big deal. It will be good for the Cuban people.”

One senator, Bill Nelson of Florida, did not accept the invitation. His state is home to many Cuban-Americans. Those Cuban-Americans blame Cuba for many human rights violations³.

“They invited me to go along, and I cannot go,” Nelson said. I don’t want any attendance by me as Florida’s senior senator that would in any way be interpreted that you overlook the human rights abuses of [the] Castro [regime] in Cuba. It’s not time for me to go.”

Top members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee were invited, but will not attend. Republican Senator Bob Corker and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin will not travel to Cuba.

Senators not traveling with the president will be watching closely how the human rights issue will be handled.

“There’s a lot of potential in Cuba,” Cardin said. “But they still are not doing what is necessary on human rights. But through U.S. involvement, we will be able to see greater change.”

Obama's trip to Cuba will mark the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited the island in nearly 90 years.

Words in This Story

interpret - v. to explain the meaning of; to understand

handle - v. to direct; to react to a situation or problem

potential - n. having the ability to become something in the future

overlook – v. to fail to see or notice something

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 flake   

v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片

参考例句：

• Drain the salmon,discard the skin,crush the bones and flake the salmon with a fork.将鲑鱼沥干，去表皮，粉碎鱼骨并用餐叉子将鱼肉切成小薄片状。
• The paint's beginning to flake.油漆开始剥落了。

3 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。