美国国家公共电台 NPR Veterans Affairs Secretary Evicts Members Of Congress From Offices In VA Hospitals

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

The secretary of Veterans Affairs has told several members of Congress that they're being evicted² from offices that they've been using in VA hospitals. Now, House members use these offices to meet with veterans to talk through their benefits and their care. NPR's Greg Allen has been looking into what this means.

GREG ALLEN, BYLINE³: Congressman⁴ Brian Mast represents a district on Florida's Atlantic Coast that extends from Palm Beach north to Port St. Lucie. Like many of his constituents⁵, Mast is a veteran. He lost both his legs working as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan.

BRIAN MAST: I get all of my health care from the VA so I'm there regularly getting health care needs taken care of.

ALLEN: Mast has been an activist⁶ on veterans issues in Congress since he was elected in 2016. Last year he became the first congressman to open an office inside a VA facility, the VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Five other members of Congress, all Democrats⁸, in Florida, followed suit. Last month they all received a letter from the VA telling them their time was up and they would have to move out by the end of the year.

Mast urged the VA to reconsider its decision and released a video of a hearing in April in which he questioned VA Secretary Robert Wilkie over security issues and suicides at the West Palm Beach hospital. Mast pressed him on when he would visit.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROBERT WILKIE: I will say as soon as possible. But let me also finish.

MAST: I was a bomb technician. We used to always use vague terms like that so people would never know exactly when we'd get on the ground. I would like a more specific answer.

WILKIE: The problem is, is that...

ALLEN: Congressman Mast believes the dispute with the VA is personal. Secretary Wilkie denies it. He says the decision to evict¹ members of Congress from offices in VA facilities has nothing to do with that hearing or congressional oversight⁹ of the agency. In a letter to Mast, Wilkie said the VA needs the offices for clinical space. Mast's office, he says, will be used for a smoking cessation program. Here's Wilkie recently on Fox News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WILKIE: I want the space - I want it for our veterans. I'm not stopping the Congress from getting their oversight in. They have offices that are already paid for.

ALLEN: Mast and his congressional colleagues want to stay. They're co-sponsoring a bill requiring the VA to allow members of Congress to use its facilities to meet with constituents. At a news conference in Washington, Mast said it's an easy way to improve veterans' care.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MAST: We provide veterans with more access to care, more services and more oversight without in any way negatively affecting anybody, in spaces smaller than the size of the stage that we're sitting on.

ALLEN: The VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach is a sprawling¹⁰ complex spread out over 1.7 million square feet.

(SOUNDBITE OF ELEVATOR CLOSING)

ALLEN: Inside, in addition to the pharmacy¹¹, chapel¹², clinics and other medical facilities, there's a coffee shop, food court and a retail¹³ store. And down one hallway, about the size of a large broom closet, is the windowless congressional office. Vietnam veteran Dennis Gelsomino acknowledges it's a small space but important for people like him.

DENNIS GELSOMINO: Having that office in there is a conduit for veterans to go in and speak with a representative - it's a little bit higher up - and can voice their concerns and, in some cases, get a congressional inquiry¹⁴ on what's going on with their case.

ALLEN: After seeing what Mast had done in West Palm Beach, Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy, a Democrat⁷ from Central Florida, opened an office at the VA hospital in Orlando. Like Mast, she received an eviction¹⁵ notice from the VA and rejects the notion that it's because the hospitals need more space.

STEPHANIE MURPHY: Let's be clear. This decision came from Washington, not Orlando or West Palm Beach. Our partners in our local hospitals see the value that we offer. And so this isn't an issue with them. This is coming from Washington.

ALLEN: Murphy, Mast and other members of Congress hope Secretary Wilkie will reconsider his decision and allow them to keep their offices in the VA. In the meantime, they expect a hearing soon on a bill that would make that the law. Greg Allen, NPR News, West Palm Beach.

1 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。

2 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

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 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。

5 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 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。

8 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》

9 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

10 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

11 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

12 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

13 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

14 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

15 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。