2006年VOA标准英语-Bush to Address Nation on Immigration

By Paula Wolfson
Washington
14 May 2006

President Bush is preparing to address the American people on the controversial issue of illegal immigration. Mr. Bush will make a nationally broadcast speech Monday, highlighting the need for new immigration laws.

----------------------------------------------------

George W. Bush  
  

The president will talk about an issue that has divided America: how to stem the tide of illegal immigration, and what to do about the estimated 12 million undocumented aliens in the United States.

Some in Washington say the illegal immigrants are criminals and border security is the only answer. Others say there is no way to deport¹ so many people, many of whom have already put down roots in communities across the nation, and steps should be taken to give them some sort of legal status.

President Bush has been urging a middle ground. In his speech Monday he is expected to urge members of Congress to adopt a comprehensive approach that secures America's borders, while presenting illegal immigrants already in the country with a way to remain as guest workers.

White House officials say the president has been looking at some new ideas and one is to bring in National Guard units to help with border security.

The National Guard is the only branch of the military organized on the state level.

Guard members usually serve on a part time basis, and their traditional role has been to help their states cope with emergencies. But in recent years, Guard units have been called up for extended duty in the war on terrorism.

A few Guard members are already working to support the Border Patrol in some parts of the country, and White House National Security Advisor² Steven Hadley says that support role could be expanded. 

He spoke³ on CNN's Late Edition program.

 
Steven Hadley 
  
"The notion of using the National Guard to support the Border Patrol is not a new one. This is something that is already being done. It is not a militarization of the border," he said. "It is about assisting the civilian⁴ Border Patrol."

Hadley said several lawmakers are enthusiastic about the idea of deploying⁵ thousands of National Guard troops along the border with Mexico. Among them is the top Republican in the Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist. He also appeared on CNN.

"I think that is the least we can do," said Frist. "Securing our borders is a federal responsibility. We need to act. We have failed miserably⁶ in the past."

But Senator Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat⁷ on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he is concerned the Guard is already overextended with its commitments in Iraq. He told CNN more border agents should be in place, and the Guard should not be used.

"We are stretching them pretty thin now and we are going to make Border Patrol out of them? What I wish they had done was when we asked them two years why don't you fund the Border Patrol positions that the Congress has provided? You know what we got from Homeland Security for an answer? Nothing at all," concluded Leahy.

But Senator Leahy praised President Bush for advocating a comprehensive approach to the problem. Senate leaders say they hope to have an immigration reform bill acceptable to the White House completed in the next few weeks.

They acknowledge the most difficult part of the legislative⁸ process will still lie ahead: reconciling their version of the legislation with the tough border security bill that cleared the House of Representatives late last year.

1 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 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。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

6 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

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。