PBS高端访谈:民主党大会第一天20多名妇女采取行动

 　　GWEN IFILL: More than two dozen women will take the convention stage tonight to talk about the role of women in the party. Many more will be on the convention floor.

　　Joining us to talk about that, their role of women in the party, are Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Kamala Harris, attorney general of California.

　　Welcome to you both.

　　Senator Gillibrand, I'm really very curious about what you thought about what Ray just talked about EMILY's List, whether women are really running for office, whether they are inspired to.

　　SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): Yes.

　　And this year, specifically in this U.S. Senate, we have 11 women running for the Senate, the most ever. We have six incumbents¹ and we have five challengers. But it's not surprising, because we have Patty Murray, the chair of the DSCC, who looked for those candidates and found these strong women challengers.

　　And a couple of those seats are pickup² seats for Democrats³.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: I want to ask you both about women voters, because we have heard the Republicans say last week that, yes, the Democrats argue they're better for women, but in fact women have been most affected⁴ by this bad economy, by the slow recovery.

　　Attorney General Kamala Harris, don't they have a point?

　　KAMALA HARRIS, California Attorney General: Well, women's issues are no different than anyone's. But women do disproportionately have the responsibility for raising families and taking care of senior and aging parents.

　　But women care equally as much about what's happening with the economy. Women care equally as much certainly about the Affordable⁶ Care Act and what is going to happen when we roll it out in 2014 in terms of eliminating preexisting condition issues.

　　So women are intelligent people...

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　KAMALA HARRIS: ... who pay attention to issues, and they read.

　　And their circumstances may vary depending on where they live, but the are reality is that they're paying attention to all these issues and they are going to make decisions based on what makes sense for the country.

　　SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: And the number one issue in this election is the economy.

　　And women are key to economic security in this country. Women aren't being paid a dollar on the dollar. It's not surprising that President Obama, the first bill he signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to make sure that women no longer are going to earn 78 cents on the dollar.

　　It really makes a difference because these economic issues fundamentally affect every American family, and equal pay is fundamental to that.

　　GWEN IFILL: And yet so often when we talk about women's issues in politics, we're talking about reproductive issues, we're talking about health issues.

　　I wonder, Attorney General Harris, whether the Todd Akin⁵ comment about legitimate⁷ rape⁸ and the debate about that in the Republican Party, whether that in some ways was a godsend to Democrats, even though it took your eye off of the economy as an issue.

　　KAMALA HARRIS: Well, I think it also highlighted -- you know, I'm a career prosecutor⁹. And so the idea that someone would refer to a legitimate rape is quite offensive, if not shocking.

　　And I think it highlight what we need still to do to educate people about crimes against women and violence against women and the need to take it seriously, so that we encourage victims to come forward, because often women who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault are reluctant to come forward because they are concerned that they will be unfairly judged.

　　GWEN IFILL: But Senator, in a conversation like we're having this year about the economy, does it seem when we get stuck in social debates that we are off the point?

　　SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: No.

　　Women's reproductive freedom, our ability to make our own health care decisions, the decision to make sure that being a woman is not a preexisting condition are fundamental to the well-being¹⁰ of women. The debates we're having about whether Medicare will be privatized fundamentally affects seniors.

　　The majority of seniors are women. So when you're talking about women who are becoming 65 and wondering is Medicare going to become a voucher¹¹ system, that's really important. And so what we're seeing here is the defining of what Democrats stand for. We stand for equal pay for equal work. We stand for a safety net for our seniors that guarantees their health care.

　　We stand for opportunity for all American families and for every child in this country to reach their God-given potential. And fundamentally that also means being able to make decisions about your body. There's a very big difference. And we have seen it's not just about what Todd Akin said. It's about this effort over the beginning of this Congress, HR-3, HR-1. The first bill was to take away a safety net for health care for women. HR-3 made abortion¹² illegal.

　　These are the kind of things that the efforts were being made in these pieces of legislation.

　　KAMALA HARRIS: Right. And you can look at the issue of defunding of Planned Parenthood...

　　SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: Yes.

　　KAMALA HARRIS: ... and the idea that it is a one-issue organization.

　　It's about reproductive rights and the myriad¹³ of issues that come up for women in that area. And the idea that we would defund it I think also shows a certain level of ignorance, frankly¹⁴, about the health needs and concerns that women have. And that's what that comment highlighted to me.

　　And I think the policies that are being suggested as the smart policies by the Republican ticket should concern all women.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: You talked about health...

　　SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: Which just gets back to your first question. If we had 51 percent of women in Congress, do you think we'd be debating birth control?

　　KAMALA HARRIS: Exactly.

　　SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: No. We'd be talking about the economy. We'd be talking about jobs, what are the best economic engines and how can we create the better landscapes for these small businesses to be successful?

　　KAMALA HARRIS: Exactly right.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Let me ask you. You both, I think, talked about health care. The Supreme¹⁵ Court had something important to say about health care, voted ultimately to uphold the president's health care reform.

　　Attorney General Harris, it hasn't really become an issue, a talking point yet in this campaign, but what's at stake when it comes to the Supreme Court as to whether President Obama's reelected or Governor Romney?

　　KAMALA HARRIS: Oh, there's so much that is at stake.

　　As a lawyer, I think that we know that the Supreme Court will make decisions that will impact us for generations to come. Think Brown v. Board of Education. Think of cases that have interpreted the Constitution of the United States around civil rights. And so when we talk about the importance of the presidency¹⁶, it certainly is about present economic issues and things of that nature, but this could have impacts for hundreds of years who is nominated to the Supreme Court.

　　GWEN IFILL: I do have to ask this question. There are going to be 28 women paraded on the stage tonight to talk about the power of women in the Party. Shouldn't we be past this?

　　SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: Listen, we only have 17 percent of women in Congress. We only have 17 women senators. We only have six governors who are women.

　　We still have a very long way to go.

　　KAMALA HARRIS: Absolutely.

　　SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: And when the House of Representatives is having a hearing about access to birth control, and the first panel is devoid¹⁷ of a woman, women's voices aren't being heard.

1 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。

2 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

3 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》

4 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。

5 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

6 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

7 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

8 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

9 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

10 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

11 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

12 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

13 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

14 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

15 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

16 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

17 devoid   

adj.全无的，缺乏的

参考例句：

• He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
• The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。