Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan thinks it's time for Democrats to reset their agenda

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Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan thinks it's time for Democrats² to reset³ their agenda

Transcript⁴

NPR's Debbie Elliott talks to Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio about the issues facing the Democrats' agenda, and why President Biden can't seem to get a win on Capitol Hill.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:

President Biden is marking a year in office, with much of his agenda stalled and the American public weary from the pandemic and anxious about inflation. Just this week, Democrats failed to move ahead with voting rights legislation. Biden's massive domestic policy and spending plan also faces an uncertain future. And now some of his fellow Democrats say it's time for a reset. Congressman⁵ Tim Ryan of Ohio is one of the Democrats critical of his own party right now, and he told me there are several reasons the president can't seem to get a win.

TIM RYAN: It's a complicated scenario⁶ that the president finds himself in and we all find ourselves in here, with a deeply divided Congress, very slim majorities for his party. But what I would like to see is for the president to organize the next year around some consensus⁷. It can't be about Democrats and Republicans. And that's why I think, you know, getting us around these tax cuts, I think, can be something that we could either get bipartisan support on or pass as Democrats. Fentanyl poisoning is still a huge issue around the country, and we have some history of a bipartisan deal around the comprehensive Addiction⁸ and Recovery Act that we passed a few years ago. So there's some things that I think we could move forward on, and we need the president to lead on these issues. And I'm hoping - and from his speech this week, it feels like he wants to move in that direction as well.

ELLIOTT: But he also tried, I think, at his news conference to put a bit of the blame on Republicans. Let's listen to what he said.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: One thing I haven't been able to do so far is get my Republican friends to get in the game of making things better in this country.

ELLIOTT: So with two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, being the ones who got in the way of getting voting rights legislation passed this week, is it really fair to put the blame on Republicans here?

RYAN: Well, we're having a conversation now about two Democrats, which, of course, you know, have frustrated⁹ me and the president and his administration and a lot of people in Congress. There's no question. But there's 49 Republicans who haven't lifted a finger. You know, where's the Mitt¹⁰ Romneys? You know, where are these guys that are retiring that don't have to face election this year? Look; there's plenty of blame to go around here. We need to let that go and say, what are we going to do moving forward?

We have some big accomplishments¹¹. I mean, the rescue package, which put billions of dollars into local communities, counties and cities that are now pushing that money out in infrastructure¹² projects and job creation projects - that's not insignificant¹³. This huge infrastructure bill that was done in a bipartisan way with 20 Republican senators - and so let's go out and brag¹⁴ about that and pin the Republicans as not wanting to solve these problems. But we've got to be very aggressive. We've got to take the gloves off, step up and lead this country in the direction that the American people want us to go in. And if we provide some relief with tax cuts, put money in people's pockets, their anxiety level will be reduced. We can reestablish trust with the American people, and then they will trust us to lead them in the coming years.

ELLIOTT: You are running for Senate. It's a very difficult environment for Democrats, both nationally and in Ohio. You're running for the seat that's held right now by Republican Rob Portman, who is retiring. Political observers seem to think that Republicans are poised¹⁵ to retake Congress. How do you press the case that Democrats deserve to stay in power right now when they're not addressing these very issues that you're talking about?

RYAN: Well, I think we have to - I think we already - you know, we cut taxes. We did the infrastructure bill. But look; I'm not running as a Democrat¹; I'm running as an Ohioan. I'm running as someone who's lived in the state for a good part of my 48 years. And so we'll take on the Democrats like I have my entire career, and we'll take on Republicans like I have my entire career because my focus is working people in Ohio, and that's a winner back home.

ELLIOTT: I want to circle back finally to something you talked about, you know, early on, and that's the divide in this country. How do you see the country moving from the current ideological¹⁶ divide, where even people in the same family really have a hard time finding...

RYAN: (Laughter).

ELLIOTT: ...Common ground to talk about the future of our democracy?

RYAN: Well, you know, that's why I think the economic arguments are so important. When you look at the polling, too, you know, it's like, the No. 1 issue for women is the economy. The No. 1 issue for Black people is the economy. The No. 1 issue for Latinos is the economy. So focusing on those economic issues, I think, are important. Let's talk about things and propose things in the context of lifting all boats. I'll just say this at the end. When you look at the founding documents that established our country, what do we talk about in those documents? The common good. Provide for the common defense¹⁷. The general welfare. Our country was established to lift everybody up, and we got to get back to that and stop all the division. Let's all move forward together.

ELLIOTT: Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio. Thank you so much for taking time to speak with us.

RYAN: Thank you so much.

1 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。

2 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》

3 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

4 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

5 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。

6 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

7 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

8 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

11 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

14 brag   

v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的

参考例句：

• He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。
• His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

15 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

16 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

17 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。