2006年VOA标准英语-Democratic Hispanic Lawmaker to Head US House I

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
01 December 2006

A Democratic lawmaker and three-decade veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol has been selected to head the committee in the U.S. House of Representatives overseeing U.S. intelligence activities. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, Texas Congressman² Silvestre Reyes has been a key critic of the Bush administration on such issues as anti-terrorist surveillance, and has pledged to sharply increase oversight³ of intelligence agencies.

 
US Rep. Silvestre Reyes makes statements during illegal immigration hearing in Laredo, Texas, 7 July 2006
On such controversial matters as border security, and the electronic anti-terrorist eavesdropping⁴ program approved by President Bush after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, Silvestre Reyes has been soft-spoken as he and other Democrats⁶ questioned administration policies.

But when he did raise his voice, at hearings and Democratic news conferences, the former Texas Border Patrol agent and Vietnam veteran, made it perfectly⁷ clear where he stood.

As in one news event this past September, Reyes frequently accused President Bush and majority Republicans of trying to ram⁵ legislation through Congress without sufficient oversight hearings.

"One of the things that got us into the situation where we are today has been deception⁸, deceiving the American people, deceiving members of Congress, by people in the administration, hyping intelligence. It is vitally important that the Congress act as a check and balance," he said. "We have not done oversight. We have been rubber stamping literally⁹ everything that the administration sends up here with little or no oversight."

Strong words from Reyes, who was elected to Congress in 1996 after a 26-year career watching the U.S. border with Mexico.

A former chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus¹⁰, among other roles, and a member of the U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Group, Reyes represents a district that includes the city of El Paso.

His selection ended weeks of speculation¹¹ about who future Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would choose to head the House Intelligence Committee.

Pelosi bypassed Congressman Alcee Hastings, an African-American lawmaker in line for the chairmanship, who faced ethics-related questions because he was impeached¹² as a federal judge before coming to Congress.

She also passed over California Democrat¹ Jane Harman, the outspoken¹³ former ranking member on the committee, whose tenure¹⁴ had expired and with whom Pelosi was reported to have had personal differences.

In a written statement, Reyes signaled how he intends to direct the committee's activities, saying it is important, "to ask the tough questions and enact¹⁵ strong policies to keep [Americans] safe while protecting constitutionally-guaranteed rights."

He is also expected to stress bipartisan cooperation with Republicans, who will be in the minority starting in January, an issue he addressed in a recent news conference.

"The White House, the administration, crafts up the changes that they want in order to rectify¹⁶ the situation that they are in because of the secrecy¹⁷ they have employed, and then they expect us to go along," he said. "And when we offer amendments¹⁸ that make it a workable solution, it is categorically rejected. And this by the people that claimed to be bipartisan.

The House Intelligence Committee, more than its counterpart in the Senate, has been marked by feuding¹⁹ between Republicans and Democrats over such issues as leaks of information to the media, which Republicans blamed on Democrats.

Outgoing panel Chairman Peter Hoekstra, who had a good relationship with President Bush, wished Reyes success, pledging Republicans will work "in a bipartisan manner" on strengthening U.S. human intelligence and other matters.

As a key Hispanic lawmaker, Reyes is expected to stress the need for more diversity in the intelligence community.

 
Nancy Pelosi (file photo)  
In selecting him, future Speaker Pelosi also follows through on her pledge to reflect more diversity in key appointments as Democrats take control during the new 110th Congress.

A Pelosi statement said Reyes understands that diversity in background, ethnicity and religion among those in the U.S. intelligence community will help them "succeed against the hardest intelligence targets they will face.

The selection of Reyes may help Democrats solidify²⁰ existing, and attract additional, support from Hispanic-Americans who will be increasingly important on the road to the 2008 presidential and congressional elections.

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 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 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》

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

11 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

12 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

14 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

15 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。

16 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。

17 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

18 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

19 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

20 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。