美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Asking God To Forgive Me': N.C. Lawmaker Seeks Redemption For War Votes

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

On Memorial Day, we honor those who died while serving in the military. One congressman¹ has made it his life's cause to honor service members who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. North Carolina Republican Walter B. Jones says he regrets voting to start those wars, and now he wants to end America's military presence in Afghanistan. NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis reports.

SUSAN DAVIS, BYLINE²: Fourteen years later, Congressman Walter Jones still remembers with full clarity the day he started to regret his vote to go to war.

WALTER JONES: This is the first funeral I went to that made me start thinking that I made the wrong decision of giving Bush the authority to go into Iraq.

DAVIS: Jones is pointing to a picture of Marine³ Sergeant⁴ Michael Bitz. He died in Iraq on March 23, 2003. Jones attended the funeral and recalls the moment Bitz's wife read the last letter she received from him.

JONES: She reads the letter, obviously very difficult for her to read because it's a letter of love and appreciation⁵. And I think everybody there was teary-eyed. And the closing in the letter - I'm paraphrasing⁶ - was that I might not see you on Earth, but I will see you in heaven. Love, Michael.

DAVIS: Bitz's portrait hangs on the wall outside of Jones' congressional office. His is one of 568 pictures of Marines killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. They're part of a makeshift memorial on the walls outside of his office. All were stationed at Camp Lejeune, which is in Jones' district. Jones is a devout⁷ Catholic, and the memorial he started 10 years ago is a type of penance⁸; so too is his letter writing. Jones tries to write to the family of every service member killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

JONES: I have signed over 12,000 letters to families and extended families who've lost loved ones in the Iraq and Afghanistan War. And that was, for me, asking God to forgive me for my mistake.

DAVIS: Jones' profound regret for his votes to authorize⁹ the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is well known on Capitol Hill. For years, his was a lonely voice in the Republican Party calling to bring all combat troops home. But last week at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, Jones was not alone. Here's Kentucky Republican Tom Massie.

THOMAS MASSIE: My concern is that our colleagues have forgotten about the war in Afghanistan, these wars that are dragging on. And there are lives over there, and we're still losing lives over there for goals that I don't think our colleagues can define.

DAVIS: Massie is one of nine co-sponsors - four Republicans and five Democrats¹⁰ - who support new legislation by Jones to cut off money for all combat operations in Afghanistan. Massie tells me it bothers him that most members of the House have never had to take a tough vote on the wars. And he's right. Nearly 8 of 10 sitting House members were elected after the wars were authorized¹¹ in 2001 and 2002. And in the years since, Congress has never revisited that debate except to provide trillions for military operations. That's unacceptable for Alaska Republican Don Young, another co-sponsor at the press conference.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

DON YOUNG: Let's find out where American people are. Let's understand one thing - 16 years is too long.

DAVIS: Congress is generally reluctant to get in front of the White House on military operations. The Trump¹² administration says an updated Afghanistan strategy is coming soon. It could call for more ground troops. Here's Jones' top Democratic co-sponsor, California Congressman John Garamendi.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

JOHN GARAMENDI: Apparently¹³, the administration is unsure what it wants to do. I can assure you that Congress is equally unsure.

DAVIS: And that's why Garamendi says Congress should have it out.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

GARAMENDI: Don't you suppose we really ought to debate this, that we really ought to get into the details about how we win this war? We certainly know how we got into it. How do we get out of it?

DAVIS: For this small group of lawmakers, the answer is to end it. They say it's gone on too long and cost too much. Back outside his office, Jones stares at the faces of the dead. For him, the past 14 years have also been about seeking redemption for those votes to go to war.

JONES: Everybody has their way of dealing¹⁴ with pain, and my pain is primarily because all these faces never had a chance to live.

DAVIS: For now, on Afghanistan, Congress waits for President Trump, and Jones waits for forgiveness. Susan Davis, NPR News, the Capitol.

(SOUNDBITE OF ANGEL OLSEN SONG, "UNF***THEWORLD")

1 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。

2 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。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

5 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

6 paraphrasing   

v.释义，意译( paraphrase的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'm paraphrasing but this is honestly what he said. 我是在转述，但这的确是他说的意思。 来自柯林斯例句

7 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

8 penance   

n.（赎罪的）惩罪

参考例句：

• They had confessed their sins and done their penance.他们已经告罪并做了补赎。
• She knelt at her mother's feet in penance.她忏悔地跪在母亲脚下。

9 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

10 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》

11 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

12 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。