VOA慢速英语2021--美国议员呼吁特朗普下台

The United States House of Representatives has prepared a resolution calling for the impeachment¹ of President Donald Trump³. The document charges the president with inciting⁴ insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building last week.

A pro-Trump mob attacked and occupied the building as lawmakers were completing the presidential election process January 6.

The Trump presidency⁵ is to end on January 20, when President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in to his four-year term. However, many lawmakers are warning that Trump could cause damage during his remaining days in office.

Congress was meeting to officially confirm Biden as the winner of the 2020 election when the mob attacked. Moments earlier, Trump had urged the crowd to march to the Capitol. He called for a hard fight, adding "you'll never take back our country with weakness."

The violence that followed forced lawmakers to flee for safety. It resulted in five deaths, including a police officer who was beaten protecting the Capitol.

Lawmakers returned and completed the election business after the building was secured. Republican Senator Mitt⁶ Romney of Utah spoke⁷ about the violence.

"What happened here today was an insurrection incited⁸ by the president of the United States."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer Monday told Democratic House members to return to Washington on Tuesday. He said the house would then consider a separate resolution calling on Vice⁹ President Mike Pence to use a Constitutional rule to remove Trump from office. That resolution is expected to pass, but Pence is unlikely to honor it.

Hoyer says the House will then consider the impeachment resolution on Wednesday.

Trump had been impeached¹⁰ by the House in late 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction¹¹ of Congress. But the Republican-majority Senate cleared him of all charges.

What has changed this time?

It is unclear how the impeachment process will proceed this time. Many Republicans condemned¹² Trump's action but only a few have called for him to step down.

On Friday, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska blamed Trump for the riots. She told the Anchorage Daily News, "I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage."

Pat Toomey, a Republican Senator of Pennsylvania, did not think that Congress could impeach² Trump before Biden is inaugurated. But he said, "I think the president has disqualified himself from ever, certainly, serving in office again."

The Senate will not return until Jan. 19. But Democrats¹³ will be in the majority with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking vote after her swearing-in on Jan. 20.

Additionally, an ABC News/Ipsos public opinion study released on Sunday found that a majority of Americans questioned, 56 percent, say that Trump should be removed from office "before his term ends."

President-elect Joe Biden has condemned Trump in connection with the Capitol attack. He has also repeatedly said that it is up to Congress to decide what to do.

Trump abandoned and silenced

Several members of the Trump administration including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao resigned after the Capitol attack, accusing the president of responsibility for the riot.

On Friday, Twitter announced it had permanently¹⁴ banned Trump from posting on the social media website. The company said it was concerned that the president would use it for "further incitement¹⁵ of violence."

On Sunday, the Professional Golfers' Association of America, or PGA, said its 2022 PGA Championship will not be played at the Trump-owned golf center in Bedminster, New Jersey¹⁶. The championship is one of the four major professional golf competitions in the world.

Around the nation, newspapers are calling for lawmakers to resign if they supported Trump's call to cancel election results. And businesses are now saying they will end financial support for those lawmakers.

Citigroup, one of the largest banks in America told employees, "We want you to be assured that we will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law."

Words in This Story

insurrection - n. a usually violent attempt to take control of a government

inaugurate - v. to introduce a newly- elected official into office with an official ceremony

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 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

3 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。

4 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

5 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。

6 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

9 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。

10 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》

11 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

12 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

13 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》

14 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

15 incitement   

激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物

参考例句：

• incitement to racial hatred 种族仇恨的挑起
• Interest is an incitement to study. 兴趣刺激学习。

16 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。