2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Immigration Proposals Face Uphill Bat

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
16 May 2006
 
As the Senate continues work on immigration reform, President Bush's proposals to strengthen U.S. border security still face an uphill battle in the House of Representatives.

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Despite the president's call for Congress to send him an immigration bill he could sign, few lawmakers are ready to predict whether the House and Senate can come up with final legislation before November's mid-term congressional elections.

 

John Boehner  
  

In an off-camera briefing on Tuesday for reporters, House Republican Majority Leader John Boehner praised the president for helping¹ to frame the immigration debate.

He called Bush's proposals a big step in the right direction, but added serious disagreements remain over a guest worker program, which President Bush supports, and the general question of providing a path to citizenship².

Any bill emerging from the Senate will have to be reconciled with a measure passed by the House last December.

That legislation takes a much stronger enforcement approach than the bill being considered by the Senate, and would make illegal presence in the U.S. a felony rather than a civil offense³.

Boehner expresses confidence that Republican Congressman⁴ James Sensenbrenner, the primary backer of the tougher House bill, will be able to work with Senate negotiators to produce a responsible immigration bill.
 

Marsha Blackburn  
  
But a statement by Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn underscores resistance among conservative House Republicans to changing legislation the House passed last December:

"Let's say no to amnesty, or any type of amnesty, said Marsha Blackburn. "Let's continue to support construction of a border, whether it's a wall or surveillance. Let's secure our border."

President Bush says tougher border measures would include deployment⁵ of up to 6,000 National Guard troops, but stresses this should not be considered a militarization of the border with Mexico.

These steps would combine with a guest worker program to give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, but the president reiterated⁶ this should not be considered amnesty.

Republican divisions, meanwhile, are being used by opposition⁷ Democrats⁹ to score political points. The number two Democratic leader in the House, Congressman Steny Hoyer, described Republicans as "deeply, viscerally and vigorously divided."

Hispanic members of Congress used a Capitol Hill news conference to underscore their support for the Senate version of immigration reform.

Luis Gutierrez is an Illinois Democrat⁸ and member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus¹⁰:

"The question we have before us [is] do we continue to welcome people who seek a better life, who are entrepreneurial and hard-working, and ready to roll up their sleeves, and earn each opportunity," said Luis Gutierrez. "Or do we roll up that welcome mat and retreat behind multi-billion dollar fences, mass deportations, militarized borders, and punitive¹¹ penalties that would make felons¹² of social work or religious leaders, nannies and even a bus-boy?"

While praising President Bush for asserting leadership on the immigration issue, Hispanic lawmakers said his Monday speech failed to offer enough specifics.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

3 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

4 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。

5 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

6 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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》

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 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

12 felons   

n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎

参考例句：

• Aren't those the seats they use for transporting convicted felons? 这些坐位不是他们用来押运重犯的吗？ 来自电影对白
• House Republicans talk of making felons out of the undocumented and those who help them. 众议院共和党议员正商议对未登记的非法移民以及包庇他们的人课以重罪。 来自互联网