2006年VOA标准英语-Democratic Victory in US Congress Would Bring N

By Dan Robinson
Washington
03 November 2006

If Democratic Party candidates win a majority in the Senate or House of Representatives in the November 7 congressional election, the party would gain control of key committees overseeing government operations.

 
US Capitol, Washington DC
A Democratic majority in one or both houses of Congress would mean Republicans would have to give up coveted² chairmanships that allow the majority party to shape the congressional agenda.

With opinion polls indicating Democrats³ have a greater chance of winning control of the 435-member House of Representatives, more media attention, and Republican campaign rhetoric⁴, has focused on who may control key committees there than in the 100-member Senate.

If Democrats won control of the House, they would select committee chairmen, and  would also vote to make Nancy Pelosi the first woman ever to be Speaker of the House.
 
The House International Relations Committee would likely be headed by California Congressman⁵ Tom Lantos, known for his fiery⁶ speeches on behalf of human rights, tough rhetoric toward regimes in Iran and Syria, and his strong support of Israel.

 
Tom Lantos (file photo)
"Israel is not facing just the terrorists Hamas and Hezbollah," said Mr. Lantos.  "Those criminal groups are merely proxies⁷ for the real masters of terror, Syria and Iran."

In the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Ike Skelton would likely use his chairmanship to focus greater scrutiny⁸ on Pentagon spending for U.S. troops and equipment, as well as spending in Iraq.

In Congress since 1976, Skelton has become one of the sharpest critics of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq.

 
Ike Skelton (file photo)
"Continuing violence in Iraq underscores two facts - that the administration has failed not only to bring about stability for the Iraqi people, that American intervention⁹ in Iraq is inhibiting¹⁰ our counter-terrorism efforts in other parts of the world, and, thirdly, the military of the U.S. is less ready today than it was when we went into Iraq," he said.

Republicans are bracing¹¹ for the possibility American voters will make them the minority in the House, and they are aiming their campaign criticism at two Democrats who would head two of the most powerful committees on Capitol Hill.

New York's Charles Rangel, the gravel-voiced critic of administration economic and foreign policy, and four-decade veteran John Conyers of Michigan, would head the Ways and Means, and Judiciary Committees respectively.

Both have been key targets of Republican campaign advertisements and speeches delivered by President Bush in support of his party's candidates.

 
George W. Bush
"The person that wants to become head of the Ways and Means Committee for the Democrats said that he can't think of one tax cut that he would extend," said Mr. Bush.  "That's code word for, get ready, if the Democrats take the House, your taxes are going up."

Congressman Conyers has been an irritant for President Bush on issues ranging from prewar intelligence on Iraq to the Patriot¹² Act, legislation Congress approved giving the government new powers to fight terrorists.

In 2004, Conyers led Democratic calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense¹³ Donald Rumsfeld over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, involving mistreatment of Iraqi detainees by some U.S. troops.

"And, we definitely still demand the immediate¹⁴ resignation of Donald Rumsfeld," said Mr. Conyers.  "There is no way that we can timidly rationalize what his responsibilities are as secretary of defense, an experienced secretary of defense, that had to have known what we were allowing to be done in these camps."

Bush political adviser¹⁵ Karl Rove has also used campaign appearances to criticize lawmakers like Conyers and others he asserts would weaken U.S. efforts to fight terrorists.

 
Karl Rove (file photo)
"The problem for these Democrats is that policies and votes have consequences, and their policies and their votes would make us more, not less vulnerable, and, in war, weakness invites and emboldens¹⁶ your enemies, and it is an invitation for disaster," said Mr. Rove.

A Democrat¹ who may be in a position to subject government operations to the most scrutiny is Congressman Henry Waxman, who would head the House Government Reform Committee.

Frequently chiding¹⁷ Republicans for what he calls their failure to conduct proper oversight¹⁸, Waxman would use committee subpoena¹⁹ powers to probe more deeply into reported waste and fraud by U.S. contractors²⁰ in Iraq, and alleged²¹ connections between White House officials and convicted former lobbyist Jack²² Abramoff, who has tainted²⁴ both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

One choice facing the Democrats and potential Speaker Pelosi involves the House Intelligence Committee.  

That panel saw often bitter feuding²⁵ between its Republican chairman, Peter Hoekstra, and ranking Democrat Jane Harman, a potential choice to head the committee and a critic of Bush administration handling of military tribunals to try terrorist suspects.

"We do need tough aggressive policies, but they have to be consistent with our constitution and the moral authority of the United States," she said.

However, internal party politics could prevent Harman from getting the Intelligence Committee chair.

Besides Congressmen Rangel and Conyers, a Democratic majority in the House may bring additional African American lawmakers, and other women, into positions of power.

James Clyburn of South Carolina may compete for the post of Democratic Whip, the third ranking spot behind the Speaker and the Majority Leader.  Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson would be in line to chair the Homeland Security Committee.

As the potential head of the House Rules Committee, New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter²⁶ would exert control over how legislation is amended²⁷ before consideration by the House, a process Democrats have accused Republicans of manipulating to ram²³ through President Bush's priorities with minimal²⁸ debate.

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 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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》

4 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

5 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。

6 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

7 proxies   

n.代表权( proxy的名词复数 )；（测算用的）代替物；（对代理人的）委托书；（英国国教教区献给主教等的）巡游费

参考例句：

• SOCKS and proxies are unavailable. Try connecting to XX again? socks和代理不可用。尝试重新连接到XX吗？ 来自互联网
• All proxies are still down. Continue with direct connections? 所有的代理仍然有故障。继续直接连接吗？ 来自互联网

8 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

9 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

10 inhibiting   

抑制作用的，约束的

参考例句：

• The high cost of borrowing is inhibiting investment by industry in new equipment. 借款的高成本抑制了企业对新设备的投资。
• The pesticides affect the nervous system by inhibiting the enzyme cholinesterase. 这类农药抑制胆碱酯酶而影响神经系统。

11 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

12 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

13 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。

14 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

15 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

16 emboldens   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This condition emboldens employers and brokers to exploit more the migrant workers. 这样的情形使得雇主及仲介业者得以大胆地剥削移民劳工。 来自互联网
• In turn, Kobe's growing confidence emboldens his teammates to play even better. 反过来，科比增加了对他们的信任也促使队友们打得更好。 来自互联网

17 chiding   

v.责骂，责备( chide的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was chiding her son for not being more dutiful to her. 她在责骂她儿子对她不够孝尽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She called back her scattered maidens, chiding their alarm. 她把受惊的少女们召唤回来，对她们的惊惶之状加以指责。 来自辞典例句

18 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

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 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 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

22 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。

23 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

24 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

26 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

27 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

28 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。