VOA慢速英语2015 国会、总统返回华盛顿

 

AS IT IS 2015-01-06 Congress, President Return to Washington 国会、总统返回华盛顿

The 114th Congress began meeting for the first time on Monday as President Barack Obama returned from his vacation in Hawaii.

The Republican Party now controls the United States Congress. Voters elected enough Republican candidates to give that party majorities in the House and Senate in elections last November. Political observers say the next two years will be difficult for both President Obama, a Democrat¹, and his political opponents.

Mr. Obama will have to defend his current policies from change. Republicans must show that they can work with the president on issues that are important to all Americans and to Republican voters.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN Sunday that a government divided between a Republican Congress and a Democratic president can still work. He said voters want the government to make progress on important issues.

Republicans oppose the president on health care, immigration and Cuba

However, many Republican lawmakers want to weaken some of the programs approved earlier in Mr. Obama’s presidency². They include the Affordable³ Care Act, which many call Obamacare. It requires most Americans to buy health insurance.

Many legislators also want to end the president’s new immigration policy. The policy lets many people who entered the country illegally stay and possibly seek U.S. citizenship⁴. Republicans are also critical of the president’s recent decision to open diplomatic relations with Cuba. For more than 50 years, the United States had sought to isolate⁵ the communist nation. Many Republicans do not believe that policy should have changed.

Policy towards Ukraine, Islamic State and Iran also in dispute

Republican lawmakers are often quick to criticize Mr. Obama on his foreign policy. Senator Bob Corker will become the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He had this to say:

“I have no earthly idea how the administration plans to go about degrading and destroying ISIS in Syria.”

Senator John McCain has also been critical of how Obama has dealt with the conflict in Ukraine. He said:

“This president (Obama) does not understand Vladimir Putin. He does not understand his ambitions, he does not understand that Vladimir Putin is an old KGB colonel bent⁶ on restoration of the Russian Empire.”

International negotiations⁷ on Iran’s nuclear program are to restart in a week. Senator Corker and other Republicans have said lawmakers may support stronger restrictions⁸ on Iran if the negotiations fail.

President Obama threatens vetoes

To his critics, President Obama has said he will use his veto power if Congress tries to change his policies.

Other members of Congress have already looked ahead to the next election. Chuck Schumer is a Democratic Senator from New York. He had this to say on CNN’s State of the Union program:

“If we put together a strong economic message aimed at the middle class, not only will it unify⁹ our party, but we can actually do really well in 2016.”

Words in This Story

majorities/majority – n. the group or party that is the greater part of a large group

vacation – n. a period of time that a person spends away from home, school, or business in order to relax or travel

health insurance – n. an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies

isolate – v. to put or keep (someone or something) in a place or situation that is separate from others

veto – n. rejection

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

5 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

6 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。