IN THE NEWS - Senators Aim to Avoid Delays Over Bush's Court

IN THE NEWS - Senators Aim to Avoid Delays Over Bush's Court Nominees¹
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Saturday, May 21, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English.

 
Jimmy Stewart in 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'
JAMES STEWART: "You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked! Well I'm not licked. And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause even if this room gets filled with lies like these; and the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place. Somebody will listen to me."

In the nineteen thirty-nine film "Mister Smith Goes to Washington," a senator faces the threat of expulsion. So he begins a filibuster². The senator, played by James Stewart, talks and talks. He talks for hours, until he is too weak to continue.

A filibuster is the use of methods such as long speeches and readings to delay legislative³ action. United States senators have a long tradition of filibusters⁴. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina set the record in the Senate for the longest. In nineteen fifty-seven, he spoke⁵ against a civil rights bill. He filibustered⁶ for twenty-four hours and eighteen minutes.

Currently the Senate is dealing⁷ with the issue of seven judges nominated by President Bush for federal appeals court positions. Many Democrats⁸ say the nominees are too conservative. But Democrats are a minority in the one-hundred-member Senate. A filibuster, however, would let them block action.

Republicans want to confirm the nominees. Under current rules, sixty senators would have to agree to end a filibuster. But Republicans have a majority of just fifty-five seats. So they would need Democratic support.

Another possibility is to change Senate rules so that a simple majority could vote to end filibusters. Democrats have threatened to slow all action in the Senate if the rules are changed. They say the filibuster protects minority rights.

There has even been talk of an extreme step, a so-called "nuclear option." Republicans could bar filibusters on court nominees.

President Bush has been calling for an "up-or-down" vote on his nominees -- in other words, a fair vote, a simple yes or no.

Many Americans, both liberal and conservative, say they are concerned about the idea of limiting filibusters. They wonder what effect it could have on future decisions, such as appointments to the Supreme⁹ Court.

Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He says both parties have increasingly used filibusters on judicial¹⁰ nominees.

The possibility of a bitter fight in the coming days has led a number of moderate senators to seek a compromise.

So, why the name "filibuster"? We looked in the Merriam-Webster and American Heritage online dictionaries. A filibuster was someone involved in private military actions in foreign countries -- also known as a pirate. In Dutch the term for pirate meant freebooter. And a freebooter became a "filibustero" in Spanish. So when senators took control of the Senate floor, that was seen as acting¹¹ like a filibuster.

IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English, was written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.

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Sound from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"

1 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

2 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 filibusters   

n.掠夺兵( filibuster的名词复数 )；暴兵；（用冗长的发言）阻挠议事的议员；会议妨碍行为v.阻碍或延宕国会或其他立法机构通过提案( filibuster的第三人称单数 )；掠夺

参考例句：

• This Republican leadership has waged 78 filibusters and we still have six months to go. 而这届参议院上台才一年半，共和党领导层已经应用了78次。 来自互联网
• Yes, there were filibusters in the past-most notably by segregationists trying to block civil rights legislation. 没错，过去也有使用阻挠立法手段的——尤其是种族隔离分子阻止民权法案使用过。 来自互联网

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 filibustered   

v.阻碍或延宕国会或其他立法机构通过提案( filibuster的过去式和过去分词 )；掠夺

参考例句：

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

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 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。