VOA慢速英语2019 美众议院议长佩洛西就要求草拟弹劾条款

US House Speaker Asks Lawmakers to Prepare Articles of Impeachment¹

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives has directed congressional leaders to take steps aimed at removing the president from office.

美国众议院议长指示国会领导人，采取措施赶总统下台。

Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked lawmakers chairing House committees to prepare articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump². The Democratic Party controls the House of Representatives and all of its committees.

众议院议长南希·佩洛西（Nancy Pelosi）要求主持众议院各委员会的议员们起草弹劾特朗普总统的条款。民主党控制着众议院及众议院所有委员会。

Impeachment is the process by which the lower house of Congress brings charges against a U.S. president. The Senate decides if the president remains³ in office in a trial overseen⁴ by the Chief Justice of the Supreme⁵ Court.

弹劾是国会众议院对美国总统提出指控的过程。在最高法院首席大法官监督下，参议院进行审理决定总统是否继续任职。

In a recorded statement, Pelosi said that the facts of the case were not disputed. She said, "The president abused his power for his own personal political benefit at the expense of our national security..."

佩洛西在一份正式声明中表示，此案事实没有争议。她说：“总统为了个人的政治利益而滥用职权，以我们的国家安全为筹码。”

Pelosi made the announcement as Democratic lawmakers push to have an impeachment vote in the House before the Christmas holiday.

佩洛西宣布这一消息时，民主党正在推动众议院在圣诞节假期前对弹劾进行投票。

Only two presidents have been impeached⁶: Andrew Johnson in 1868, and Bill Clinton in 1998. But neither man was forced from office. In 1974, Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency⁷ when it appeared he would be impeached.

史上只有两名总统被弹劾：1868年的安德鲁·约翰逊和1998年的比尔·克林顿。但两人都不是被迫下台的。1974年，理查德·尼克松辞任总统，当时他似乎将要遭到弹劾。

Impeachment hearings continue

弹劾听证会继续进行

Pelosi's announcement follows a day of hearings in which a group of law professors met with the House Committee on the Judiciary.

在佩洛西发表声明之前，一群法学院教授参加了众议院司法委员会进行的为期一天的听证会。

Democratic lawmakers asked three of the four constitutional experts to give evidence. They were Noah Feldman of Harvard University Law School, Pamela Karlan of Stanford University Law School and Michael Gerhardt of the North Carolina School of Law. Republican committee members asked Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School.

民主党议员邀请这四位宪法专家中的三位前来作证。他们分别是哈佛大学法学院的诺亚·费尔德曼，斯坦福大学法学院的帕梅拉·卡兰以及北卡罗来纳大学法学院的迈克尔·格哈特。该委员会的共和党成员邀请了乔治华盛顿大学法学院的乔纳森·特利。

Much of the hearing dealt with what the writers of the 232-year-old U.S. Constitution would think about the act of impeaching⁸ a president.

听证会大部分时间都在探讨美国这部有232年历史的宪法的起草者对弹劾总统行为的看法。

Feldman said the writers of the Constitution would have considered what Trump did "as exactly the kind of abuse of office, high crimes and misdemeanors, that they were worried about."

费尔德曼表示，宪法起草者会认为，特朗普总统的所作所为“正如他们担心的那种显滥用职权，构成重罪与轻罪。”

Congressman⁹ Doug Collins, a Republican, answered by saying, "I don't think we have any idea what they would think, with all due respect."

共和党议员道格·柯林斯回应称：“恕我直言，他们会怎么想，我们无从得知。”

The Judiciary Committee is studying whether Trump's actions rate as something punishable by impeachment. The Constitution says the president must be guilty of "high crimes and misdemeanors."

司法委员会正在研究特朗普的行为是否构成弹劾的条件。宪法规定，总统必须犯下重罪与轻罪（才会被弹劾）。

Turley told lawmakers that the writers of the Constitution wanted impeachment to be used rarely. He argued against moving ahead without additional evidence.

特利对议员们表示，宪法起草者希望尽量不要启动弹劾。他反对在没有其它证据的情况下继续推动弹劾。

Democratic lawmakers say Trump abused his power by withholding¹⁰ about $400 million in military aid from Ukraine last summer. Congress approved the aid earlier this year. The Ukrainians eventually received the assistance.

民主党议员表示，特朗普滥用权力在今年夏天扣押了向乌克兰提供的约4亿美元的军事援助。国会今年年初批准了这笔援助。乌克兰人最终也得获得了这笔援助。

The Democrats¹¹ say Trump withheld¹² the aid because he wanted Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation¹³ of former Vice¹⁴ President Joe Biden. Biden is seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination¹⁵.

民主党表示，特朗普扣押援助是因为他希望乌克兰官员宣布对前副总统乔·拜登进行调查。拜登正在寻求获得民主党的总统提名。

White House officials have publicly released records of two telephone calls between Trump and Ukraine's president. However, lawmakers dispute the meaning of what was said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he did not feel pressured by Trump, who says he did nothing wrong.

白宫官员公布了特朗普和乌克兰总统的两次通话记录。但是，议员们对通话所传达的意思表示怀疑。乌克兰总统沃伦米尔·泽伦斯基称没有受到特朗普的压力，而特朗普称自己没有做错任何事情。

Words in This Story

articles – n. (pl.) a part of a legal document that deals with one subject

benefit – n. a good result or effect from some action

expense – n. cost; the amount of money spent on something

misdemeanor – n. wrongdoing; crime

1 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。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 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。

8 impeaching   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的现在分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

9 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。

10 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

11 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》

12 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

15 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。