2007年VOA标准英语-US Senate Panel Subpoenas Documents from Bush A

By Deborah Tate
Capitol Hill
27 June 2007

A U.S. Senate panel has issued subpoenas¹ to the White House, Vice² President Dick Cheney's office, the Justice Department and the National Security Council for documents relating to a controversial wiretapping program. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

Sen. Patrick Leahy discusses the Senate Judiciary Committee's issuance of subpoenas for legal basis of domestic surveillance program on Capitol Hill, 27 June 2007

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat³, issued the subpoenas after his panel made repeated requests for the documents, to no avail.

"We have made nine formal requests over the past year and a half, both with Republicans and Democrats⁴, to the Department of Justice and the White House seeking information and documents about legal justification," he said. "We have gotten no responses. There has been a consistent pattern of evasion⁵ and misdirection."

At issue is a surveillance program, set up after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, that allows the National Security Agency to monitor, without court warrants, phone calls and e-mails between suspected terrorists overseas and people in the United States.

President Bush defended the program, but many in Congress argued it violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which requires warrants.

Earlier this year, the administration agreed to have the program subject to review by a special court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, and sought revisions to the FISA law. Majority Democrats in Congress believe the proposed revisions to the law would give the executive branch unprecedented⁶ power not enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

The Bush administration has three weeks to respond to the subpoenas.

A spokesman said administration officials would respond appropriately, and added that it is unfortunate that congressional Democrats continue to choose the route of confrontation⁷.

The showdown between the White House and Congress could ultimately be resolved in the U.S. court system.

1 subpoenas   

n.（传唤出庭的）传票( subpoena的名词复数 )v.（用传票）传唤（某人）( subpoena的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• My company has complied with committee subpoenas by supplying documents confirming all that I have said. 本公司按照委员会的要求，提供了能够证实我刚才发言的文件。 来自辞典例句
• Congressional Investigations: Subpoenas and Contempt Power. Report for Congress April 2, 2003. 金灿荣：《美国国会的监督功能》，载《教学与研究》2003年第2期。 来自互联网

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 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。

4 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》

5 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

6 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

7 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。