Newly Elected Indian-American Congressman

 

By Subhash Vohra

Republican candidate Bobby Jindal made history on November 2 by becoming the first Indian-American elected to the U.S. Congress in nearly 50 years. Mr. Jindal lost a close election for governor of Louisiana last year. This time, he trounced his opponents and won 78 % of the vote. His election is the first for an Indian-American since 1956, when Dalip Singh Saund won a seat in Congress from California. In an exclusive interview with VOA, Mr. Jindal expressed his excitement about coming to Washington and talked about his hopes and plans.

Bobby Jindal's landslide¹ victory symbolizes² the achievement every Indian-American, and perhaps every immigrant, aspires³ to. He broke racial barriers in a district that is majority white and conservative. He owes this success to the voters of his constituency, campaign volunteers of the Republican Party, his hard work, and above all, he says to this country of opportunities.

"I think it is absolutely the strength of America," he said. "This is a country of opportunities where people are judged on their ability and their performance. I think that is very important. What makes the American system so successful is the fact that immigrants and their children born here can get ahead, can do very well, just do hard work."

In 1956, Indian-born Dilip Singh Saund was the first native of Asia to be elected to the U.S. Congress. In Saund's time, even American citizenship⁴ for a native of India was a rarity.

"I think we all follow those who came before us, we are certainly grateful for the example he and others have established for us," Mr. Jindal noted⁵. "I am building on those who came before me, and many more, certainly will come after me. I certainly hope many many more Indian Americans come after me and work in appointed and elected positions. I think we are a large diverse community that has a lot to offer, and it makes sense that as many people as possible do participate."

Bobby Jindal was hired by Louisiana's governor to fix the state's problems in healthcare. He was credited with slashing⁶ the system's multi-million dollar budget deficit⁷ and steering⁸ it towards a surplus. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Bobby Jindal Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation⁹ for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Jindal says he is very excited about coming back to Washington and hopes to get a good committee assignment in the area of his expertise¹⁰.

"Well, one of my priorities is to work on health care," he added. "My background on health care is in the state health department, I worked on the Federal Medicare Commission, I worked with the current administration on health care issues. I would like to get involved in helping¹¹ to lower the cost of health care for working families, for retirees and to improve our quality while also increasing the affordability¹². I think there are many things we can do in reducing the bureaucracy to make it easier for small businesses to provide their employees with health coverage¹³."

Mr. Jindal says it's certainly a plus to be entering the U.S. Congress, in the wake of an election that gave President Bush a second term and his own Republican Party even greater majority in both houses.

"It is a great opportunity to get things done, obviously, but I think it is also important, and the President has indicated he wants to reach across the aisle¹⁴ and welcome and work with Democrats¹⁶ as well as Republicans," he said. "We are not Republicans or Democrats first, we are citizens first. We have to work for that shared goal first. So, I think it certainly makes it easier to fix the agenda in a friendly Congress. But we have to stop partisan¹⁷ fighting and work together on common goals like health care and other issues."

The Indian-American community is delighted to see Bobbby Jindal in Congress. Indian relatives of the U.S. politician danced in the streets and distributed sweets in a dusty northern town in the Indian State of Punjab after he became the second man of Indian origin to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Mr. Jindal says he hopes to further solidify¹⁸ relations between the world's two largest democracies.

"I am really very grateful for their support and good wishes," he said. "I absolutely think it makes sense for America and India to improve and strengthen their relationship. We are talking about two large democracies with open markets, you are talking about India being a natural ally in the war against international terrorism, a great example in South Asia that serves as an example for peaceful regimes. So I think the opportunities for two countries to work together are wonderful. I intend certainly, I encourage this administration or any president, to make a visit to India to continue to build our relationship. I think it is very important whether the administration is Democrat¹⁵ or Republican. I think the two countries share many many common interests."

Bobby Jindal, who was born in the United States after his parents emigrated from India in the late 1960s, says that, if aspiring¹⁹ young Indian-Americans and other South Asian-Americans, work hard, they can accomplish anything in America and can hope to reach almost any position.

This report was written by Subhash Vohra, for VOA news now, I'm Bob Doughty²⁰.

注释：
landslide 巨大的胜利
immigrant 移民，侨民
aspire 热望
barrier 障碍
conservative 保守派
constituency 支持者
rarity 稀有
diverse 不同
make sense 有意义
healthcare 卫生保健
slash 削减
multi-million 数百万
get involved in 涉及
retiree 退休人员
bureaucracy 官僚作风
aisle 走廊，过道

1 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

2 symbolizes   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The use of light and dark symbolizes good and evil. 用光明与黑暗来象征善与恶。
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace. 她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 aspires   

v.渴望，追求( aspire的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The fame to which he aspires was beyond his reach. 他追求的名誉乃是他所不能及的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• An old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop a thousand li. 老骥伏枥，志在千里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

7 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

8 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

9 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

10 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 affordability   

可购性

参考例句：

• Performance-Based Logistics Affordability: Can We Afford Categorical Conversion to Performance-Based Acquisition? 基于性能的后期的可承受性：能否担负得起向基于性能的采办的无条件的转变？
• There would be no crisis of affordability, as't for food or clothing. 就想食物与服装一样，因为供给没有危机。

13 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

14 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

15 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。

16 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》

17 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

18 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。

19 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

20 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。