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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Deborah Tate
Washington, DC
01 September 2006
watch Profile Senator Lugar
The U.S. Congress is returning from its month-long August recess1 to face an ambitious legislative2 agenda and midterm elections in November. Several major issues such as the Iraq war and the Israel-Hezbollah conflict will likely dominate the remaining months of this congressional session. One lawmaker who will play a key role in the process is Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
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Senator Richard Lugar
RepubicanSenator Richard Lugar is one of Capitol Hill's most influential3 voices in foreign policy.
Whether he's talking about Iraq.... "The people of Iraq desperately4 need their government to deliver tangible5 benefits".
....or China... "Beijing must reassess its regional priorities."
.... his words have impact.
"The world has many dangers and many possibilities, and I have cherished the chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee because it offers opportunities to learn more, not only for my own curiosity, to satisfy that, but likewise for other members and through television, a broad audience in our country," said the senator.
Lugar has been chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee since 2003. It is the second time he has chaired the panel. He also served from 1985 to 1987.
In a VOA interview he talks about the demands of the job, which he has to balance with his responsibilities as a member of the Agriculture Committee.
"I am constantly trying to stay in touch with all of the committee work of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee. That includes meetings with other members, memos6 that they produce, staff-generated materials, and a long stream of visitors."
That long stream of visitors includes his constituents7 from Indiana and, on this day, actress Angelina Jolie, Goodwill8 Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner9 for Refugees. It also includes a large number of foreign dignitaries.
"I suspect the value of having these conversations is not only to indicate that our country takes seriously the thoughts of people of other countries and as a courteous10 gesture," he says, "but to interrogate11 these visitors as to what is really occurring in their countries."
The senator deals with top administration officials -- including the president. But some lawmakers, including those in President Bush's Republican Party, have expressed frustration12 that Congress is not consulted more often about foreign policy. Asked about this, Lugar is characteristically diplomatic.
"I can understand that members of the administration feel they have to keep fairly close counsel. Perhaps they have not reached out on all occasions as widely and ideally as they should. On the other hand, we have a responsibility in the checks and balances to hold hearings, to raise questions, whether they are reaching out or not."
Richard Lugar began his public career as a member of the Indianapolis school board in the Midwestern U.S. state of Indiana from 1964 to 1967. It was during the civil rights struggle in the United States.
"It was a time of great turmoil13 in public education," he recalls. "It was a time of great turmoil in the cities of America. I rapidly found how the civil rights revolution was coming upon the schools as well as the civil government of our city, and these were very, very controversial, and sometimes even dangerous times."
Lugar worked to promote voluntary public school desegregation. His efforts were noticed by Republican Party officials, who urged him to run for mayor.
Lugar served two terms as Indianapolis mayor and went on to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976. He is running for his sixth term this year, and he is unopposed.
Of all the achievements of his Senate career, he is most proud of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. The 1991 bill was sponsored by Senator Lugar and then-Senator Sam Nunn. It provides funding to former Soviet14 states to dismantle15 their nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
"That was the beginning of what has led to the dismantling16 of well over 60 percent of the warheads literally17 taken off the missiles pointed18 at the United States, the destruction of well over 60 percent of all the missiles, of the silos in which the missiles are based, of all the ground work."
He keeps track of the effort with a wall chart in his Capitol Hill office. "Over at the left," he shows us, "we have identified 13,300 warheads that the former Soviet Union had aimed at the United States of America, any one of which could have destroyed my hometown of Indianapolis. Now, as of last year, 1628 of those warheads have been deactivated19, that is taken off of missiles."
With an ambitious committee and Senate agenda expected in the coming months, the 74-year-old Lugar shows no sign of slowing down, or giving up his role as one of the Senate's most influential voices on foreign policy.
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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3
influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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4
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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memos
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| n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知 | |
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constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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interrogate
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| vt.讯问，审问，盘问 | |
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frustration
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| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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Soviet
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| adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃 | |
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dismantle
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| vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消 | |
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dismantling
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| （枪支）分解 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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deactivated
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| v.解除动员( deactivate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；复员；使不活动 | |
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