美国国家公共电台 NPR The Quiet Rage Of Mazie Hirono

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The Senate plans a different sort of summer. Instead of going home this August, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell canceled the recess¹, says he wants to approve more of President Trump²'s judicial³ nominees⁵, who face Democratic resistance. The resisting Democrats⁷ include Hawaii's Mazie Hirono. She's the Senate's only immigrant, and its first Asian-American female senator. Here's NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁸: Even in Hawaii, Mazie Hirono is viewed as the, quote, "good girl" of politics - polite, never in your face, not a boat rocker. But in the last year and a half, as one Hawaii columnist⁹ put it, she's become, quote, "a bad ass¹⁰."

MAZIE HIRONO: I always was. I just wasn't very noisy about it. I've been a fighter all my life. I just don't look like that.

TOTENBERG: Hirono recalls a breakfast in 1994 when Ben Cayetano, who was running for governor, was trying to talk her out of running for lieutenant¹¹ governor because he said she wouldn't help the Democratic ticket.

HIRONO: And I said, well, that's all fine and good, but it's all [expletive] and I'm running. And by the time the primary election comes, people will know who I am.

TOTENBERG: They did. What's more - in the general election, Hirono actually got significantly more votes than Cayetano.

HIRONO: If I had to wait around for somebody to pick me for lieutenant governor, I would never have been picked.

TOTENBERG: In the U.S. Senate, she's known as a workhorse, not a show horse as one of her colleagues put it. But she's the only senator who asks every nominee⁴ for any position if they've ever been accused of sexual misconduct and if they've ever signed a nondisclosure agreement. For years, she refused requests for interviews from the national media, seeing little purpose in it, but after a while, she figured out it would help her advance causes she cares about.

HIRONO: I have said to my staff for many years now people are getting screwed in our country every single second, minute, hour of the day. And by our efforts, if we can decrease that number, we will be making a difference. We will be doing our jobs.

TOTENBERG: In fact, Mazie Hirono plays the political game with a quiet rage, bred of personal experience. Born on a rice farm in Japan, she lived with her mother and three siblings¹² in harsh conditions. Her father, an alcoholic¹³ and gambler, left the family with his parents, and by the time Hirono was 7, her mother was plotting an escape for herself and her children. They would eventually travel by ship in steerage for a week to Hawaii. There, they lived in a boarding house crowded into one room and sharing a stove and refrigerator with the other boarders. Hirono's mother supported them by working low-wage jobs.

HIRONO: No job security, no health care, no nothing - I don't remember ever going to a doctor in those years. And my greatest fear was that my mother would get sick.

TOTENBERG: After graduating from college and law school with honors, she practiced law and was elected to the state legislature. Her activism in politics sprang from the Vietnam War and from a book, "The Feminine Mystique."

HIRONO: Literally¹⁴, the light bulb went on, and I thought, why do I think that some guy is going to take care of me? What? Where do I get that from?

TOTENBERG: Indeed, she was 42 when she finally took the plunge¹⁵, marrying Leighton Kim Oshima. Her friends were shocked by her choice of mate because she'd broken up with Oshima 13 years earlier, and as she puts it...

HIRONO: It was one of these breakups where I burned all his pictures and stuff like that (laughter).

TOTENBERG: Hirono, a Democrat⁶, sees herself today as strategic and able to build bridges. In fact, in the Senate, the first bill she got enacted¹⁶ into law was with the help of then-Senator, now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a man she agrees with about, well, almost nothing. Hirono was trying to move a bill out of committee and onto the Senate floor, and because it involved a charitable tax provision to help victims of a typhoon in the Philippines, there was a deadline.

HIRONO: I'm on the floor about 11 p.m. or so, and I see Jeff Sessions come walking in, and I know he's there to object.

TOTENBERG: A single senator's objection would doom¹⁷ the bill, so she did something unusual. She went to the Republican cloakroom.

HIRONO: I began to talk with him, and I said, why is your caucus¹⁸ so against this bill?

TOTENBERG: Sessions explained that the Republicans felt they had to be consistent in opposing this sort of special tax provision.

HIRONO: And I said, let me tell you why this is important. And then I think what did it was I said I am speaking to this.

TOTENBERG: You're gesturing to your heart.

HIRONO: Yes. And we often don't communicate that way.

TOTENBERG: Sessions did officially object that night but made clear he would work out a compromise.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JEFF SESSIONS: That would accomplish the senator's goals without offending the budget niceties.

TOTENBERG: With Sessions' willingness and Hirono's doggedness, the bill was enacted into law the day before the deadline. Four years later, however, Hirono went to Sessions to tell him she could not support his nomination¹⁹ to be attorney general. Hirono's interactions with Sessions are an example of her soft heart and hard head. She's needed both in the last year. Diagnosed with kidney cancer, she's undergone two major operations. After the second one, a teeth-grindingly painful operation to remove five inches of her rib²⁰, she was out for 10 days but back on the Senate floor in time for the big vote on repeal²¹ of Obamacare. She had not planned to speak, had no prepared remarks, and she was uncharacteristically emotional.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HIRONO: I was born at home in rural Japan. I lost a sister to pneumonia²² when she was only 2 years old. She died at home, not in hospital where maybe her life could have been saved. It's hard for me to talk about this. I think you can tell.

TOTENBERG: Then she turned to her kidney cancer and the treatment enabled by having health insurance that was saving her life.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HIRONO: When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer and facing my first surgery, I heard from so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle²³ who wrote me wonderful notes sharing with me their own experience with major illness in their families. You showed me your care. You showed me your compassion²⁴. Where is that tonight?

TOTENBERG: Hirono's voice is rarely that openly passionate²⁵. Indeed, she can often have a rather flat affect, an unassuming, even cool, public presence that is in sharp contrast to her earthiness and colorful language in private. After a long, hard day, I asked her why her skepticism about Trump judicial nominees is any different from Republican skepticism about Obama nominees. She said that what she cares about is that judges are fair, qualified²⁶ and care about individual and civil rights.

HIRONO: If that's considered liberal as opposed to what I call justice and fairness, as I'm wont²⁷ to say, [expletive] them.

TOTENBERG: Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

1 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

2 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。

3 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

4 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

5 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

6 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

7 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》

8 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。

9 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

10 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

11 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

12 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

13 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

14 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

15 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

16 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

17 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

18 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

19 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

20 rib   

n.肋骨，肋状物

参考例句：

• He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
• He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨，医生已包扎好了。

21 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

22 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

23 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。

24 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。

25 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

26 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

27 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。