美国国家公共电台 NPR Remembering A Congressman Who Bucked His Party On An Impeachm

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

When I met Tom Railsback a few years ago, he told me he'd worried about going to a Chamber¹ of Commerce meeting in Peoria in the fall of 1974.

Tom Railsback of Illinois was a middle-aged² Republican congressman³ from the middle of a state in the middle of America when he was on the House Judiciary Committee in 1974 that heard the case for impeachment⁴ against President Richard Nixon.

Mr. Railsback greatly admired President Nixon. His opening of the door to China, he told me, had to be the most brilliant foreign policy move ever. But when President Nixon refused to turn over records and recordings⁵ requested by Congress, Tom Railsback took to the floor to say, if the Congress doesn't get the material we think we need and then votes to exonerate⁶, we'll be regarded as a paper tiger.

Tom Railsback worked with Democrats⁷ to draft an article of impeachment that charged President Nixon with abusing his authority to obstruct⁸ the Watergate investigation⁹. It was this article that won support from six Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. And when Richard Nixon realized he could not take Republican support for granted, he resigned in August of 1974.

Tom Railsback, as of this moment, is a dead duck, declared the Journal Star of Peoria, the major newspaper in his district.

How will this play in Peoria was an old vaudeville¹⁰ phrase that people in the Nixon administration also used to ask if a policy would be popular in what they took to be the heart of America, which was in Tom Railsback's district. So when the congressman was invited for lunch at the Peoria Chamber of Commerce just a few weeks later, he knew friends and neighbors who had supported him would be there and be upset. But I figured, he told me, you have to look the people you represent in the eye, give them a chance to tell you you're wrong.

Tom Railsback remembered that when he walked into the Peoria dining room, it fell silent. Then he heard one person start to applaud, then a few more. Soon, people all over the room stood up to applaud. People came up to shake my hand, he said, and tell me, Tom, I disagree with that vote, but you did what you thought was right, and I'm glad you represent me.

Tom Railsback died this week at the age of 87. He was reelected to Congress after his impeachment vote time after time after time.

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1 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

2 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

3 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。

4 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

5 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

6 exonerate   

v.免除责任，确定无罪

参考例句：

• Nothing can exonerate her from that.任何解释都难辞其咎。
• There is no reason to exonerate him from the ordinary duties of a citizen.没有理由免除他做公民应尽的义务。

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 obstruct   

v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物

参考例句：

• He became still more dissatisfied with it and secretly did everything in his power to obstruct it.他对此更不满意，尽在暗里使绊子。
• The fallen trees obstruct the road.倒下的树将路堵住了。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 vaudeville   

n.歌舞杂耍表演

参考例句：

• The standard length of a vaudeville act was 12 minutes.一个杂耍节目的标准长度是12分钟。
• The mayor talk like a vaudeville comedian in his public address.在公共演讲中，这位市长讲起话来像个歌舞杂耍演员。