US Senate Votes to Silence Lawmaker Elizabeth Warren

 

This is What’s Trending Today.

The Twitter hashtag #LetLizSpeak was trending on social media Wednesday.

And over 6 million people saw a video from Elizabeth Warren, a member of the United States Senate. She posted her video on Facebook Tuesday night.

Warren is a member of the Democratic Party from Massachusetts. And Liz is a nickname for Elizabeth.

On Tuesday, the Senate was considering whether to approve Senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican, as the next U.S. Attorney General. Sessions is President Donald Trump’s choice for the position. The attorney general is a member of the president’s cabinet and heads the Department of Justice.

During the Senate debate on Sessions’ nomination², Warren read a letter written by Coretta Scott King.

King was the wife of civil rights leader Martin Luther King [Junior] She wrote the letter in 1986, when Sessions, then a lawyer for the federal government, was being considered for a federal court judgeship.

Tuesday night, Warren was reading Coretta Scott King’s letter aloud on the Senate floor. King wrote that Sessions used his power in Alabama to “chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens...”

That is when Senator Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana, intervened. He warned Warren that Senate rules bar one senator from speaking badly about another.

Warren was permitted to continue reading the letter. But she was stopped again, this time by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Warren was told she could not continue reading the letter. She said, “I am surprised that the words of Coretta Scott King are not suitable for debate in the United States Senate.”

Warren asked to continue speaking, but her appeal was rejected. A majority of senators voted to bar her from speaking about Sessions until after his confirmation³ hearing on Wednesday.

Warren left the Senate floor, went to a nearby room and continued reading the letter. She posted the video to her Facebook page. By Wednesday afternoon, the 15-minute video received over 400,000 comments.

Some of them included: “We love you,” “Thank you so much for displaying what real leadership is,” and “Standing strong and proud beside you from Kentucky, Senator Warren.”

Warren then said “I think (the letter) is relevant to everyone who is about to vote on Jeff Sessions.”

The Democratic leadership in the Senate accused the Republican senators of only enforcing the rule because a Democrat¹ was speaking.

Many people also used the Twitter hashtag #LetLizSpeak to express their support for Warren.

Wednesday morning, the Massachusetts senator met with civil rights leaders and Democratic Party supporters outside the Senate.

At the same time, other senators, including former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, read King’s letter on the Senate floor without being stopped.

And that’s What’s Trending Today.

Words in This Story

chill – n. a cold and unfriendly quality

suitable – adj. having the qualities that are right, needed, or appropriate for something

relevant – adj. of or relating to evidence to prove or disprove an issue under consideration

1 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。

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。