美国国家公共电台 NPR--Rep. Self was among a small group that held up House Speaker McCarthy's election

Rep. Self was among a small group that held up House Speaker McCarthy's election

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel discusses GOP divisions with freshman² Rep. Keith Self of Texas, one of the Republican holdouts who eventually backed Kevin McCarthy's House speaker bid.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

House Republicans came together yesterday to approve new operating rules for Congress - that in spite of the concerns of some Republicans. They feared House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made too many concessions³ to the right wing of the party in order to obtain his post. McCarthy won the speaker's gavel Saturday after a grueling 15 rounds of voting over five days. That very public display of Republican disunity has raised questions about McCarthy's power and the ability of Republicans to govern. So what are their prospects⁴ going forward? We asked Texas Congressman⁵ Keith Self, who initially⁶ opposed McCarthy before changing his mind on Friday. Good morning, Congressman.

KEITH SELF: Good morning. Glad to be here.

FADEL: Thank you for being here. I'd love to start with the original reason you opposed McCarthy and then changed your vote.

SELF: My original intent was to try to change the culture of Congress. The last few years, we've seen the speaker rule with an iron fist. We've seen that there have been no amendments⁷ on the floor for six years. We've seen spending go vertical⁸. We've seen the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill that spends money on everything. All of this, regular members of Congress had absolutely no say-so on. And I could see that. And as a freshman congressman, I won't be in leadership. I won't be a committee chair. And I wanted to have some input⁹ to how Congress operates. So I thought that this was an excellent exercise for us to claw back some of the authority for regular members of Congress to have some input into what happens.

FADEL: What specific concessions did Speaker McCarthy agree to that ultimately won you over?

SELF: There are two aspects of this that are particularly attractive to me. The single-issue bills - I mean, there can only be a single issue on a bill. And the second one is the germaneness¹¹. Whatever the discussion or amendments that come to the floor, they must be germane¹⁰ to the bill that we are discussing, that we're trying to pass. Of course, I'm delighted in several of the tax issues, the supermajority for a tax increase. I'm delighted in that.

FADEL: The dysfunction in the party that was on display last week over the speaker vote, it did raise some questions about whether there will be consistent political gridlock going forward. What do you say to Americans who are worried that basic things just won't get done in Congress, like avoiding default on America's trillions of dollars in debt?

SELF: That was not the discord¹². That was democracy in action. That was what the House is supposed to look like, debate, discussion, votes until we get it right. So that's where I stand.

FADEL: One of the handshake concessions was not to allow a debt increase without spending cuts. But that's going to be difficult, nearly impossible, in a divided government. Is allowing a debt default off the table this year?

SELF: A divided government is normally good for the American people. I don't know what we will be able to do. And I'm not going to speculate on what we might be able to do. But this is exactly where we took the House. We want more debate. We want to address the issues.

FADEL: I think that's true, having a diversity of opinions and people governing with their constituents¹³ in mind. But also, a lot of Americans who support one party or the other get worried about gridlock, where nothing gets done.

SELF: I will tell you, when we've had the government shutdowns in the past...

FADEL: Yeah.

SELF: ...The people down on Main Street, their lives kept going. Commerce kept moving. The highways were full. So this is a Washington insider deal. And I leave it at that.

FADEL: Unless it hurts the American pocketbook, people can't pay for their things, their homes, their lives. And that's why I kind of asked about debt default and the concerns around that.

SELF: We're not going to default. That's not going to happen. You need to dismiss that idea. We will not default. That would have repercussions¹⁴ around the world, so we are not going to default.

FADEL: What are your constituents saying? How did they react to watching what happened last week and your decision to hold out and then to vote for McCarthy?

SELF: I came to Washington to be a voice and a vote for my constituents. And I believe that I'm doing that. And I will continue to be both a voice and a vote for congressional District three in Texas.

FADEL: How has it been as - in your first week?

SELF: Well, as you know, it was pretty wild and pretty crazy.

FADEL: Yeah.

SELF: But I think that was democracy in action. And I think, at the end of the day, we got some things that will change the culture of Congress.

FADEL: Texas freshman Congressman Keith Self, thanks so much for your time.

SELF: Thank you.

1 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。

2 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

3 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

4 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

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 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

8 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

9 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

10 germane   

adj.关系密切的，恰当的

参考例句：

• He asks questions that are germane and central to the issue.他问了一些与论点有密切关系的重要问题。
• Fenton was a good listener,and his questions were germane.芬顿听得聚精会神，提问也切中要害。

11 germaneness   

参考例句：

12 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

13 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》