VOA慢速英语2018 特朗普宣布新的司法部长和联合国大使人选（在线收听）

Trump Announces New Attorney General and UN Ambassador Picks

United States President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will nominate former attorney general William Barr to lead the Justice Department. Trump told reporters that Barr was “my first choice since day one.”

美国总统川普周五宣布提名前司法部长威廉·巴尔（William Barr）为司法部部长。川普对记者表示，巴尔是“我上任第一天以来的首选。”

Barr held the same position from 1991 to 1993 under former President George H.W. Bush.

巴尔于1991年到1993年期间，在老布什政府下担任过相同职位。

Trump also said he would nominate Heather Nauert as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert is the current State Department spokeswoman. She also is acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs.

川普还表示，他将提名海瑟·诺尔特（Heather Nauert）为美国驻联合国大使。诺尔特是现任国务院发言人，她还担任了负责公共外交和公共事务的副国务卿。

Trump said Nauert is “very talented, very smart, very quick.”

川普称诺尔特“非常有才华、非常聪明、非常敏捷。”

Barr confirmed that he had accepted the president’s nomination. He is currently a business lawyer. Barr will replace acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker who was appointed last month after Jeff Sessions resigned.

巴尔证实他已经接受了川普总统的提名。他目前是一位商业律师。巴尔将取代代理司法部长马修·惠特克（Matthew Whitaker）的位置，后者上个月在杰夫·塞申斯（Jeff Sessions）辞职得到了任命。

Both the attorney general and U.N. ambassador positions require Senate confirmation. Trump said he hopes the process would be completed quickly, but Congress closes for its winter break in one week. The newly-elected Senate is seated on January 3.

司法部长和联合国大使职位都需要获得参议院批准。川普表示，他希望这个过程能够迅速完成，但是国会在一周内即将迎来冬休。新一届参议院将于1月3日到任。

Barr will have to answer questions at his confirmation hearing about the special counsel investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. That investigation is being led by Robert S. Mueller III.

巴尔在他的提名确认听证会上将必须回答有关特别检察官调查俄罗斯干预2016年总统大选的问题。罗伯特·穆勒三世（Robert S. Mueller III）领导了这项调查。

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal serves on the Judiciary Committee that will question Barr. He said in a statement that he would “demand that Mr. Barr make a firm…commitment to protect the Mueller investigation, operate independently of the White House, and uphold the law.”

民主党参议员理查德·布鲁门萨尔（Richard Blumenthal）在负责质询巴尔的司法委员会就职。他在一份声明中表示，他将要求“巴尔先生做出坚定承诺来保护穆勒的调查，独立于白宫行事并维护法律。”

The investigation, and the Justice Department’s supervision of it, have angered the President.

这项调查以及司法部对此的监督激怒了总统。

Trump dismissed his former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, partly because Sessions had removed himself from the investigation.

川普政府解雇了前任司法部长塞申斯，部分是因为塞申斯把自己从这项调查中摘了出来。

Trump renewed his attacks on Friday, tweeting that he planned to do “a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report.”

川普政府周五再次发起攻击，他在推特上表示，他打算“就穆勒的报告出台一份重要的反制报告。”

“This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States!” Trump wrote.

川普写道：“再也不允许这种事情发生在未来的美国总统身上。”

The Mueller investigation appears to be nearing its end.

穆勒的调查似乎即将结束。

The Trump administration expects that Barr’s nomination will be well-received by Republicans, who respect his experience. Officials also hope Democrats might consider Barr a traditional republican with no personal ties to the president.

川普政府期望巴尔的提名会受到共和党的欢迎，共和党人尊重他的经验。有关官员也希望民主党人会将巴尔视为跟川普没有私人关系的传统共和党人。

Nauert joined the State Department in 2017 after working as a TV reporter for Fox News. The 48-year-old spokesperson would replace U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced she was leaving the position at the end of the year.

诺尔特在担任福克斯新闻的电视台记者之后，于2017年加入了美国国务院。这位48岁的发言人将取代联合国大使尼基·黑利（Nikki Haley）的位置，后者宣布她将在今年年底辞职。

Nauert has joined Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on several international trips.

诺尔特跟随国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥（Mike Pompeo）进行了几次国际出访。

Nauert would be responsible for voicing the administration’s foreign policy positions to diplomats at the U.N.

诺尔特将负责向联合国外交官表达美国政府的外交政策立场。

Among those are continued support for Israel and for economic sanctions against North Korea and Iran.

其中包括继续支持以色列以及对朝鲜和伊朗的经济制裁。

If she accepts the position, Nauert will most likely face difficult questions from the Senate about her lack of experience as a diplomat.

如果诺尔特接受这个职位，她将可能面临参议院对她缺乏外交官经验的刁难。

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

talented –adj. having a special ability to do something well

commitment –n. a promise to do something

counter – adj. something in defense or in response to something

allow –v. to permit

sanctions – n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country