美国国家公共电台 NPR Homeland Security Secretary Says She 'Did Not Hear' Trump Use 'That' Vulgar Word

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The secretary of Homeland Security says she did not hear President Trump¹ use a vulgarity in an immigration meeting with lawmakers last week. Kirstjen Nielsen testified today at a Senate hearing, and two senators who were in the hearing were also at the immigration meeting in question. Today's hearing got pretty contentious². NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE³: Nielsen appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and spent a lot of her time answering questions about the president's language at the White House immigration meeting last week. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont pressed Nielsen about the vulgarity the president was widely reported to have used to describe African nations.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PATRICK LEAHY: You're under oath. Did President Trump use this word or a substantially similar word to describe certain countries?

KIRSTJEN NIELSEN: I did not hear that word used. No, Sir.

LEAHY: I'm not - that's not the question. Did he use anything similar to that describing certain countries?

NIELSEN: The conversation was very impassioned. I don't dispute that the president was using tough language. Others in the room were also using tough language.

NAYLOR: She didn't elaborate what that tough language was. Trump also reportedly wondered why more people from countries like Norway weren't immigrating⁴ to the United States. Nielsen said he was merely referring to a conversation he had just had with Norway's prime minister, who said people in her country were hard-working, not the overwhelmingly white population of the country. In fact Nielsen testified she did not know Norway's racial makeup⁵. Democrats⁶ on the panel used the hearing to vent⁷ their outrage⁸ over the president's comments. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey⁹ said he was seething¹⁰ with anger.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CORY BOOKER: When the commander in chief speaks or refuses to speak, those words just don't dissipate like mist in the air. They fester. They become poison. They give license¹¹ to bigotry¹² and hate in our country.

NAYLOR: Senators also pressed Nielsen about the Deferred¹³ Action for Childhood Arrivals program known as DACA under which some 700,000 mostly young people brought to the country illegally by their parents have been allowed to stay. Under an order signed by President Trump, the program ends March 5. Trump has said he wants to extend it but has also tweeted that Democrats aren't serious about getting a deal to extend it. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called the current state of immigration negotiations¹⁴, quote, "an S-show" and indicated he's been whipsawed by the president's changing positions.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LINDSEY GRAHAM: Tuesday we had a president that I was proud to golf with, call my friend, who understood immigration had to be bipartisan. You had to have border security. It is essential you have border security with a wall, but he also understood the idea that we had to do it with compassion¹⁵. Now, I don't know where that guy went. I want him back.

NAYLOR: Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who had previously¹⁶ confirmed Trump's language at last Thursday's meeting, indicated one sticking point in immigration negotiations was the president's insistence¹⁷ that Congress appropriate all the money he wants to build a border wall with Mexico this year rather than spreading the appropriations¹⁸ and construction out over a longer period.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DICK DURBIN: Is the president realistic when he says he wants 20 billion so he can build the wall in one year?

NIELSEN: I think the president is encouraging us to go as quickly as we can. As you know, it's a very complicated issue - building the wall - for a whole variety of reasons.

NAYLOR: And further complicating¹⁹ the issue - unless a deal is reached on DACA, there's a real possibility the government could shut down on Friday. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.

1 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。

2 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

3 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。

4 immigrating   

v.移入( immigrate的现在分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• I have to tie up loose ends before immigrating to America. 移民美国前，我先要处理手头上的一些琐事。 来自互联网
• Marrying an American citizen is a guaranteed ticket to immigrating to America. 与美国公民结婚是移民美国最佳的门票。 来自互联网

5 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

6 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》

7 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

8 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

9 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

10 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。

11 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

12 bigotry   

n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等

参考例句：

• She tried to dissociate herself from the bigotry in her past.她力图使自己摆脱她以前的偏见。
• At least we can proceed in this matter without bigotry.目前这件事咱们至少可以毫无偏见地进行下去。

13 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

14 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

15 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

16 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

17 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

18 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

19 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。