奥巴马呼吁美国国会今年向前推进移民改革

 　　奥巴马呼吁美国国会今年向前推进移民改革

        WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday called on U.S. Congress to move forward the immigration reform this year, after the once hot-button issue has been overshadowed for months in Washington.

　　Obama made remarks in a televised White House event, renewing his efforts to build momentum¹ for immigration reform, the top legislative² priority of his second-term.

　　"We should pass immigration reform. It's good for our economy. It's good for our national security. It's good for our people," said Obama, "And we should do it this year."

　　Obama said although Democrats³ and Republicans still have some " really big disagreements" on certain issues, everybody knows the country's "immigration system is broken" across the country and across the political spectrum⁴.

　　Obama tried to increase pressure on Republicans in the House of Representatives, saying that now it is up to them "to decide whether reform becomes a reality or not."

　　He urged them to pass an immigration reform bill similar to the one that was passed in June by the Senate, which he said was not perfect but still "fair and just" and met "core challenges."

　　The Obama administration's focus on immigration reform has been distracted for months following turmoil⁵ in Washington over the National Security Agency's secret intelligence surveillance, the Syria chemical weapons crisis, the Iran nuclear issue and the recent 16-day partial government shutdown. The issue is also widely expected to meet greater resistance in House of Representatives.

1 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

2 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。

3 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》

4 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

5 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。