2006年VOA标准英语-Bush to Deliver State of the Union Amid Pa

By Jim Malone
Washington
27 January 2006

President Bush delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday to outline his policy objectives for the year ahead.  But at the moment, there appears to be a great deal of disunity between Republicans and Democrats¹ over issues like national security, congressional corruption² and the Supreme³ Court.

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George Bush 
  

Over the past week, President Bush has mounted a vigorous defense⁴ of a domestic surveillance program being conducted by the National Security Agency that he says targets communications with suspected terrorists.

"The program is legal, it is designed to protect civil liberties and it is necessary," said Mr. Bush.

Democrats complain that the president may have broken the law when he bypassed a 1978 statute⁵ that requires a court warrant before the government can engage in domestic spying.

"This is a very serious discussion of the balance between liberty and security," said Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California, the leader of Democrats in the House of Representatives.  "Our founding fathers understood it very well.  They wrote it into the Constitution.  We take an oath to uphold that Constitution."

Several recent public opinion polls suggest the president may have the upper hand in the political debate over domestic eavesdropping⁶.

For example, a New York Times/CBS News poll found 68 percent of those surveyed support eavesdropping without a court warrant of people considered suspicious by the government.  But only 28 percent support the monitoring of phone calls and emails that is aimed at ordinary Americans.

Republicans believe most Americans will support the president's efforts to monitor suspected terrorists while many Democrats contend Mr. Bush has begun to infringe⁷ on civil liberties.

Jack⁸ Abramoff   
  
Another issue that could figure prominently in this year's midterm congressional elections is the budding corruption scandal involving former high-powered Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Abramoff has admitted trying to bribe⁹ a member of Congress, and there is growing concern that the scandal could involve several other lawmakers who accepted political donations and favors either from Abramoff or his clients.

Recent polls suggest a growing number of Americans have a negative view of Congress because of the scandal, and Democrats believe voters could hold Republicans accountable in November, perhaps jeopardizing¹⁰ Republican control of the Senate and House of Representatives.

 
Harry¹¹ Reid, center, at Democratic political event to outline agenda for reform in Washington (file photo) 
  
"In his speech, the president needs to tell the American people what he is going to do to end the culture of corruption and lay out solutions that will make America stronger," said Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate Democratic leader.

Republicans point out that some of the donations in question went to Democratic lawmakers and the Abramoff scandal really points out the need for lobbying reform in Washington.

Lawmakers from both parties have put forward reform proposals that would limit gifts and travel paid for by lobbyists.

"We clearly have seen very, very great problems and the present laws have been violated and we know that there needs to be a way to address the concerns that have been raised all the way across the spectrum," said Republican Congressman¹² David Dreier of California.

University of Virginia political expert Larry Sabato says there will be more pressure on congressional Republicans to enact¹³ reform since they are the party of power in Washington.

"So that the Republicans can say, you see, we have taken care of this problem ourselves, you do not have to vote for our opponents, the Democrats, in order to clean up the mess," he explained.  "If they do not take that action, I think they are handing the Democrats an enormous stick with which to beat them over the head during the general election campaign."
 

Samuel Alito   
  
The other example of the political divide at the moment is the confirmation¹⁴ battle over President Bush's choice for the Supreme Court, federal appeals Judge Samuel Alito.

Judge Alito appears on track to be confirmed with only a handful of Democratic votes in the Senate.

Historically, Supreme Court nominees¹⁵ who were considered qualified¹⁶ could usually count on bipartisan support but that seems increasingly unlikely in an age of sharp and at times rancorous political divisions.

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 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 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。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

6 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

7 infringe   

v.违反，触犯，侵害

参考例句：

• The jury ruled that he had infringed no rules.陪审团裁决他没有违反任何规定。
• He occasionally infringe the law by parking near a junction.他因偶尔将车停放在交叉口附近而违反规定。

8 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

9 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

10 jeopardizing   

危及，损害( jeopardize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Plans may also become inefficient in the attainment of objectives by jeopardizing group satisfactions. 用危及群体利益方法去达到目标的计划，也是无效率的。
• That boosted government revenues in the short term, but is now jeopardizing them. Morales将天然气工业，电信业和部分采矿业收归国有的举措吓跑了投资者们。

11 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

12 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。

13 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

14 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。

15 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

16 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。