美国国家公共电台 NPR As GOP Mulls 2018 Agenda, Trump Asks Lawmakers To 'Give A Little' On Immigration

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Republican lawmakers were on their way to a retreat yesterday when the train that carried them crashed. The Amtrak train struck a garbage truck. No lawmakers were hurt, but one person was killed. And that was the prelude¹ to a meeting at the luxury resort in West Virginia called The Greenbrier, a meeting that was meant to focus on the year ahead. NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis is near the site of that meeting. She's on the line. Hi, Sue.

SUSAN DAVIS, BYLINE²: Hey, Steve.

INSKEEP: How did lawmakers respond at the moment of this train crash?

DAVIS: What is fortunate for a lot of people on the train is that there's actually a lot of doctors in Congress. So the doctors onboard and some of the non-doctors got off the train as fast as they could and tried to help with immediate³ medical intervention⁴ for the people that were affected⁵ in the train crash. As you said, there was one fatality⁶. Two additional people were hospitalized. No members of Congress suffered any major injuries, although there was a number of concussions⁷.

And there was a bit of a surreal moment in this crash because two of the lawmakers who jumped off the train were Ohio Republican Brad Wenstrup and Arizona Senate Republican Jeff Flake⁸, two of the same lawmakers that were also at the congressional shooting last summer and were there to also apply medical care to Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

INSKEEP: Unbelievable time in Congress. And this latest incident comes at a moment when President Trump⁹ has just given his State of the Union speech. The question is, what can lawmakers try to accomplish for the year ahead? And Trump had some stuff for him. He wants an infrastructure¹⁰ plan. He wants paid family leave. He wants to cut the cost of prescription¹¹ drugs, he says. What do Republicans in Congress think about those ideas?

DAVIS: He is probably not going to find a lot of conservative champions for causes like paid family leave or lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Anything that expands the size of the federal government or requires more government regulation doesn't really have a lot of friends in the House particularly. There's a lot of support for this idea of an infrastructure bill even across the aisle¹². There's just still really no idea yet of how they need to pay for it, which is the really big question.

I will say, not just because of that train accident that was sort of a rallying mood for Republicans, a somber¹³ mood, but they're coming here really unified¹⁴. I mean, the mood of the party is really positive around the president. The State of the Union was a rallying moment. They're just not really quite sure yet what to do with this unity¹⁵.

INSKEEP: Do they agree - are they unified on immigration?

DAVIS: That is still a tough question. You know, the immigration debate in Congress is really the logjam on 2018. Lawmakers I talked to say it's really hard to plan for the year until they figure out how they get out of this immigration debate. Part of the challenge that the president still has is making sure enough Republicans are going to get onboard behind his plan.

Especially in the House, there are a lot of immigration hardliners who just don't want to support anything that involves a path to citizenship¹⁶ for any number of people. So - and then the trick here is the president really needs Democrats¹⁷ to vote for this bill in the end. This has to be bipartisan. It's the only way it gets done. I think right now, the mood in both parties is that they're not any closer to an immigration deal.

INSKEEP: Do you get any sense of anxiety among Republicans as more and more lawmakers announced their retirements¹⁸ ahead of what looks like it could be a very tough election?

DAVIS: Yes. And Vice¹⁹ President Mike Pence came here last night. He was a keynote dinner speaker. And he gave - outlined what I think the Republican argument is going to be into 2018. He says they have a very good story to tell. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the same. They're calling 2017 the best year for the conservative cause in 30 years, pointing to things like the confirmation²⁰ of Neil Gorsuch, the tax cut bill they passed.

So they want to make 2018 about 2017. I don't know how hard that's going to be for them to do. But Pence also pledged to Republicans here that he and the president are going to hit the campaign trail hard for all of these down-ballot Republicans who are facing midterm election year headwinds. And he made the point that Donald Trump - the party under Donald Trump defies conventional wisdom when it comes to who wins elections. And he predicted that they would hold both their majorities in the House and in the Senate.

INSKEEP: Reminder²¹ of 2016, when Mitch McConnell told us the party was at an all-time high and people guffawed²², but it turned out to be a pretty successful year for them.

DAVIS: There you go.

INSKEEP: Sue, thanks very much.

DAVIS: You're welcome.

INSKEEP: That's NPR congressional correspondent Susan Davis.

1 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。

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 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

7 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

8 flake   

v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片

参考例句：

• Drain the salmon,discard the skin,crush the bones and flake the salmon with a fork.将鲑鱼沥干，去表皮，粉碎鱼骨并用餐叉子将鱼肉切成小薄片状。
• The paint's beginning to flake.油漆开始剥落了。

9 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。

10 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。

11 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

12 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

13 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

14 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

15 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

16 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

17 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》

18 retirements   

退休( retirement的名词复数 )； 退职； 退役； 退休的实例

参考例句：

• We've had two retirements in our office this year. 今年我们办公室已有二人退休。
• Those may take the form of sackings redundancies, temporary layoffs or retirements. 这些形式有开除，作为编余人员，暂时解雇或退休。

19 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

20 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

21 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

22 guffawed   

v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They all guffawed at his jokes. 他们听了他的笑话都一阵狂笑。
• Hung-chien guffawed and said, "I deserve a scolding for that! 鸿渐哈哈大笑道：“我是该骂！ 来自汉英文学 - 围城