PBS高端访谈:美国监控规则的下一步是什么?

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: And now we look at what's next for the rules governing U.S. surveillance.

　　Over the weekend, the Senate failed to extend three key provisions of the Patriot¹ Act set to expire in a week. They headed out of town for a recess², leaving little time left to come to consensus³.

　　To help us understand what lies ahead, NewsHour political director Lisa Desjardins joins us.

　　So, Lisa, what happened? They were there into the wee hours Saturday morning, and this — is the Patriot Act hanging by a thread?

　　LISA DESJARDINS: This was a test for new Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He took a very strategic risk here, Judy, something that has worked in the past for both sides, and he set a high-stakes vote on a deadline when Congress was going out of town.

　　That worked with things like the debt limit, the fiscal⁴ cliff. Did not work this time. It was blocked by Rand Paul and some Democrats⁵, notably⁶ Ron Wyden of Oregon, some other conservatives as well. It came to that midnight vote and they could not get 60 votes for any one kind of agreement, though it is important to note that on the major votes that happened in that midnight session, one vote did turn out better than the other.

　　That's the vote for the revised version of the surveillance powers, one that would limit what the NSA could do. That's called the USA Freedom Act. That was just three votes short, vs. a straight extension with 15 votes short.

　　And one thing I noticed, real quickly, Judy, is that that — the division in the Republican Party on these votes was on geographic⁷ lines. You looked at Southern senators, Midwestern senators, they all wanted a straight extension. If you have looked at senators, say, in the Southwest, they were willing to revise.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Clearly, Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, didn't want this to happen. What went wrong?

　　LISA DESJARDINS: I think that it was really just a showdown over how the Senate works.

　　Rand Paul was able to use the power of a single senator and a few other senators. And the truth is, a single senator can hold up the Senate for three or four days. Mitch McConnell could have kept the Senate going for three or four days and run the clock, but he didn't.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: So, just quickly, Lisa, they come back Sunday, an unusual Sunday session at the end of the Memorial week break.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: What needs to happen then? And, meantime, the government has to start planning to cut back on surveillance.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: First of all, senators need to buy their plane tickets. A lot of these Western senators, to come back by Sunday at 4:00, have got to start planning now.

　　But, meanwhile, we're going to have very serious talks over the phone, probably starting Wednesday, Thursday, to see if they can come up with a deal. And, Judy, really, there's no known solution right now. It's possible we could see these provisions expire at least for a short time. Completely unknown right now.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we will be watching it all week.

　　Lisa Desjardins, thank you.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: You got it.

1 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

2 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。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

5 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》

6 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

7 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法