美国国家公共电台 NPR--The GOP-controlled House will first take up legislation indicating its priorities

The GOP-controlled House will first take up legislation indicating its priorities

Transcript¹

With the House finally seated after a week of drama, the legislative² agenda is set to fulfill³ several GOP campaign promises to oppose abortion⁴, investigate Democrats⁵ and target IRS funding.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

After a dramatic fight to elect Kevin McCarthy speaker, House Republicans pivoted⁶ this week to trying to make good on their campaign promises. The first pieces of legislation taken up in the new Congress are meant to send a message on what the majority's governing priorities will be. For the Republican-controlled House, that means cutting government funding, opposing abortion rights and investigating the federal investigators⁷.

NPR's Barbara Sprunt joins us now. So Republicans intend to launch a number of high-profile investigations⁸, but this week they also voted along party lines to create a new subcommittee on the, quote, "weaponization" of the federal government. What's this panel supposed to do?

BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE⁹: Well, this falls under the House Judiciary. It has pretty broad jurisdiction¹⁰. It will have the authority to investigate the government, including ongoing¹¹ criminal investigations at the Justice Department. This has been a focus for incoming Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, who has long been a vocal¹² critic of the FBI. Speaker McCarthy has said it could even look into the handling of classified documents that were found at President Biden's Delaware residence and at his old think tank office.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEVIN MCCARTHY: It could go from that committee or others, but I think Congress has to investigate this.

SPRUNT: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called this committee extreme and noted¹³ that with Democrats in control of the Senate, not much of the House agenda will be getting through.

MART?NEZ: All right, now, in the first new bill of the new Congress, Republicans voted this week to undermine a familiar political target for the party, and that's the Internal Revenue Service.

SPRUNT: Exactly. And it would undo¹⁴ about $80 billion in new funding for the IRS that was passed into law over the summer as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. With that Democratic firewall in the Senate, this is a great example of a bill that plays great with the conservative base but is never going to be signed into law by President Biden. The money is intended to increase staffing at the agency, but Republicans have claimed falsely during the campaign season that it would create a, quote, "army" of IRS agents to go after Americans and small businesses. The Republican bill would add to the deficit¹⁵, I think it's worth noting. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that without this new funding for more staff to improve tax collection, the deficit would actually grow by about 114 billion over the next decade. So it would cost more than the new funding.

MART?NEZ: I know abortion also was an issue this week, and House Republicans passed two abortion-related measures. Barbara, is this surprising, considering that opposition¹⁷ to abortion rights is one of the reasons why Republicans didn't fare as well in the midterm elections?

SPRUNT: Well, opposition to abortion rights is a pretty universally held view in the Republican Party at this point. It's another example of how they use this first week to not only make good on their campaign promises that they ran on in the midterms, but show voters that they're still talking about issues that they really care about. And just like the IRS bill, there's virtually zero chances that this moves on. But it shows that they're not shying away from issues that are important to the base.

MART?NEZ: All right, so taxes, abortion, traditional partisan¹⁶ issues - is this what we should expect in Congress or any areas at all where there's bipartisanship maybe on the horizon?

SPRUNT: There are. Members of both parties this week voted to establish a new select committee on China, investigating China's growing global influence. Republican Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin will chair that committee, and he's called on Democrats and Republicans to work together on this issue.

MART?NEZ: All right. That's NPR's Barbara Sprunt. Barbara, thanks.

SPRUNT: 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 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 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

4 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

5 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》

6 pivoted   

adj.转动的，回转的，装在枢轴上的v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的过去式和过去分词 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开

参考例句：

• His old legs and shoulders pivoted with the swinging of the pulling. 他一把把地拉着，两条老迈的腿儿和肩膀跟着转动。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海
• When air is moving, the metal is pivoted on the hinge. 当空气流动时，金属板在铰链上转动。 来自辞典例句

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

9 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

10 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

13 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。

14 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

15 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

16 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

17 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。