2007年VOA标准英语-US Attorney General Under Fire Over Sacked Pros

By Jim Malone
Washington
13 March 2007

A political firestorm has erupted between Congress and the Bush administration over the firing of federal prosecutors¹ late last year.  U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales acknowledged Tuesday that mistakes were made, but is resisting demands from some Democrats² that he resign.  More now from VOA National correspondent Jim Malone in Washington.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

At issue is the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year by the Justice Department.

U.S. attorneys are federal prosecutors responsible for enforcing the law in dozens of geographic³ districts around the country.

The attorneys are appointed to four-year terms by the president, usually on the recommendation of local political leaders, and can be replaced at any time.

Democrats in Congress believe the firings of the prosecutors were politically motivated and are demanding hearings to look into the controversy⁴.

On Tuesday, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York renewed a demand that Attorney General Gonzales resign over the matter.

"The latest revelations prove beyond any reasonable doubt that there has been unprecedented⁵ breach⁶ of trust, abuse of power and misuse⁷ of the Justice Department," he said.  "And that is very serious and very important.  The U.S. attorneys are in their own districts the lead enforcer of the rule of law, without fear or favor."

But Gonzales gave every indication that he is staying on at a Justice Department news conference.

The attorney general defended the firing of the eight prosecutors last year as the right decision but expressed regret that Congress was not told sooner about White House involvement in the process.

"I acknowledge that mistakes were made here," he said.  "I accept responsibility and my pledge to the American people is to find out what went wrong here, to assess accountability and to make improvements so that the mistakes that occurred in this instance do not occur in the future."

Gonzales said he blocked a proposal from former White House counsel Harriet Miers to fire all 93 U.S. attorneys shortly after President Bush won re-election in 2004.

Gonzales accepted the resignation of his top aide, Kyle Sampson, who had failed to brief other Justice Department officials about his discussions on the prosecutors with former White House counsel Miers.

The Justice Department instead decided⁸ to fire eight U.S. attorneys last year for what were described as performance reasons, but Gonzales said he was not involved in any of the discussions related to replacing the prosecutors.

White House counselor⁹ Dan Bartlett told reporters traveling with President Bush in Mexico that Mr. Bush continues to have confidence in Attorney General Gonzales.

"He is a stand up guy," he said.  "He is a person who comes to the job every day doing the best he can to serve the United States of America."

The firings have provoked an angry reaction from key Democrats in Congress, including the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

"Frankly¹⁰, I find it frustrating¹¹ and it makes me quite angry and there will be hearings," he said.

Some Republicans are expressing concern about the issue as well.  Congressman¹² James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, told the Associated Press that Gonzales and the Justice Department will have to explain the dismissals or they will lose the confidence of Congress.

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a friend of the attorney general and normally one of the administration's strongest defenders¹³ in the Senate, is also looking for answers.

"I have known the attorney general for a long time, as a personal matter, and I am concerned," he said.  "But I know the person and so I am willing to give him an opportunity to come forward and explain himself.  I will have to agree with Senator Leahy that appearances are troubling."

Some of the prosecutors fired have said that they felt pressured by Republican lawmakers to speed up investigations¹⁴ of voter fraud allegations involving Democrats prior to last year's congressional midterm elections.

1 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

2 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》

3 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

6 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

7 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

10 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

11 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。