VOA常速英语2008年-Key US Lawmakers Seek to Resolve Standoff Over

By Deborah Tate
Washington
15 February 2008

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee is to meet with his House counterpart Friday to try to resolve the political standoff over legislation to overhaul¹ wiretapping legislation before current law expires Saturday. President Bush is making a last minute appeal to lawmakers to approve the legislation, saying he would delay his scheduled departure to Africa later Friday if it would help advance the bill. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

A law that authorizes² intelligence agencies to monitor, without warrants, telephone calls and emails between Americans and suspected terrorists overseas expires Saturday.

President Bush wants the House of Representatives to approve new wiretapping legislation passed by the Senate before the current law runs out. The Senate bill includes a provision that would give legal immunity³ to phone companies that took part in the Bush administration wiretapping program after September 11, 2001. Some 40 lawsuits⁴ are pending⁵ against phone companies for allegedly violating privacy laws.

The Democratically-controlled House has refused to include the provision in the version of the legislation it has passed, and the President has said he would veto any legislation that does not contain it.

In a written statement, Mr. Bush said the House's willingness to permit the current wiretap law to expire without passing the Senate bill will harm the U.S. ability to conduct surveillance to detect new threats to American security.

The Director of National Intelligence, Michael McConnell, offered his own appeal to lawmakers during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. "We must get the new bill passed immediately if we are to maintain our capabilities⁷ to stop terrorist attacks against the nation," he said.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat⁶, said if current law expires, it would not jeopardize⁸ the security of Americans. She noted⁹ that under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act suspected terrorists' communications could still be monitored, although court warrants could be required. "The new cases would be covered with underlying¹⁰ FISA act. They are covered in every way," she said.

That brought a sharp response from the Senate's top Republican, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "The notion that somehow no harm is done by allowing the law to expire is simply incorrect. In fact, it borders on outrageous," he said.

McConnell blamed House Democrats¹¹ for causing a crisis.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry¹² Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said it was President Bush and congressional Republicans who were to blame because they refused to allow a short-term extension of the current law to give lawmakers more time to resolve the standoff over the new legislation.

On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Reid read a letter he sent to President Bush. "I regret your reckless attempt to manufacture crisis over the reauthorization of foreign surveillance law. Instead of needlessly frightening the country, you should work with Congress is a calm, constructive¹³ way to provide our intelligence professionals with all the needed tools, while respecting the privacy of law-abiding Americans," he said.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat from West Virgnia, is to meet with his House counterpart, Democratic Congressman¹⁴ Silvestre Reyes of Texas, in an effort to end the standoff. He believes that much of the problem is political, that House Democrats did not want to be pressured to accept the Senate bill without adequate time to consider it.

"There is something called human nature. It is not illegal to talk about human nature on the floor of the United States Senate. They have been jammed, they have been pushed down to a two or three-day period when they need to make a decision. They resent that. But if they were given a period of time, they would come, in my judgment¹⁵, to where we are, and the bill would go to the president and he would sign it," he said.

Rockefeller played a key role in getting the Democratically-led Senate to approve the provision granting legal immunity to phone companies.

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

3 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

4 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

5 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

6 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。

7 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 jeopardize   

vt.危及，损害

参考例句：

• Overworking can jeopardize your health.工作过量可能会危及你的健康。
• If you are rude to the boss it may jeopardize your chances of success.如果你对上司无礼，那就可能断送你成功的机会。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

11 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》

12 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

13 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

14 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。

15 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。