2006年VOA标准英语-US House Speaker on Defensive as Probe of Congr

By Dan Robinson
Washington
05 October 2006

Majority Republicans in the House of Representatives have moved to prevent further damage from the scandal involving a former Republican congressman¹, Mark Foley, who resigned amid revelations he sent sexually explicit² e-mails to teenage congressional pages. A congressional ethics³ panel announced its own investigation⁴, coinciding with a federal probe, as opposition⁵ Democrats⁷ responded to comments by the Republican House Speaker, who has refused to resign over the matter.

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Dennis Hastert speaks during a news conference outside his office,  October 5, 2006

With Republicans desperate to prevent more damage to their efforts to keep control of Congress in the November legislative⁸ election, Speaker Dennis Hastert has been under strong pressure to resign.

He had issued sometimes conflicting accounts of when he first became aware of the behavior of former Congressman Foley, and steps he took to stop the lawmaker's actions.

Speaking in his home state of Illinois Thursday, Hastert expressed regret over the Foley scandal but said he had no intention of resigning. "I am deeply sorry that this has happened. And the bottom line is that we are taking responsibility because ultimately, as someone has said in Washington before, the buck⁹ stops here," he said.

Hastert, some other Republicans and conservative commentators¹⁰ have alleged¹¹ that Democratic party organizations were behind revelations of e-mails and Internet "Instant Messages" the former lawmaker sent to male teenage congressional pages.

He says he was merely reflecting what he was hearing or seeing in media reports about what he called people who leaked the e-mails.

Republicans, Hastert says, acted "immediately" after learning about e-mail and other messages Foley sent. He said he learned about what he calls the most explicit e-mails only last week. "I, first of all, learned of this last Friday, when we were about to leave Congress for, you know, the break to go out and campaign," he said.

That again appeared to contradict a former longtime congressional staffer, Kirk Fordham, who resigned Wednesday, insisting he informed Hastert's staff "at the highest level" before 2005 about Foley's behavior.

Fordham is now talking with the F.B.I. about what he knows, and his attorney, Timothy Heaphy, had this statement: "Kirk continues to believe strongly that all the facts need to come out first to investigators¹², and he will continue to be completely forthcoming, but because there is an ongoing¹³ investigation he can't comment any farther."

At the White House, presidential spokesman Tony Snow fielded numerous questions from reporters, and sought to deflect¹⁴ questions about the possible impact of the scandal on Republican chances in the November congressional election. "Anybody who gets up here and tries to make grand predictions about what an event is going to mean in an election that is more than a month away is absolutely certain to be wrong and also be guilty of committing folly¹⁵ from the podium," he said.

Hastert had been under intense pressure from conservatives in the Republican party to step down, although others continued to voice support for him.

Former conservative Republican lawmaker Vin Weber told C-SPAN television Republicans have to unite and reorganize. "They [Republicans] desperately¹⁶ have to come together. I mean we are essentially¹⁷ right now sort of running around like chickens with our heads cut off one month before the election," he said.

Hastert told reporters he intends to run for re-election next year as the Republican Speaker if his party retains control of the House.

A House committee overseeing the conduct of lawmakers announced its own investigation. Congressman Doc Hastings detailed¹⁸ plans to make full use of powers to subpoena¹⁹ and discipline members of Congress. "The American people, and especially the parents of all current and former pages, are entitled to know how this situation was handled, and we are determined²⁰ to answer their questions," he said.

Congressman Howard Berman, the panel's ranking Democrat⁶, says politics should be kept out of the inquiry²¹. "We all have strong partisan²² feelings, we have passionate²³ concerns about issues, we have ideological²⁴ and philosophical²⁵ differences, but on this committee and for purposes of this investigation, we are going to put those partisan considerations totally aside," he said.

But partisan battles continue. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi welcomed the House inquiry, but again portrayed²⁶ Republicans as having tried to cover up the Foley matter.

Earlier reports that a former director of the F.B.I., Louis Freeh, would be called upon to conduct an investigation of the congressional page program proved premature²⁷, with Hastert telling reporters lawmakers are still seeking "a person of high caliber²⁸" for that role.

1 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。

2 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

3 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。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 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。

7 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》

8 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。

9 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

10 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

12 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。

15 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

16 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

17 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

18 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

19 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

20 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

21 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

22 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

23 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

24 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

25 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

26 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

27 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

28 caliber   

n.能力；水准

参考例句：

• They ought to win with players of such high caliber.他们选手的能力这样高,应该获胜。
• We are always trying to improve the caliber of our schools.我们一直在想方设法提高我们学校的水平。